Misplaced Pages

#528471

94-724: An arquebus ( / ˈ ɑːr k ( w ) ə b ə s / AR -k(w)ə-bəs ) is a form of long gun that appeared in Europe and the Ottoman Empire during the 15th century. An infantryman armed with an arquebus is called an arquebusier . The term arquebus was applied to many different forms of firearms from the 15th to 17th centuries, but it originally referred to "a hand-gun with a hook-like projection or lug on its under surface, useful for steadying it against battlements or other objects when firing". These "hook guns" were in their earliest forms of defensive weapons mounted on German city walls in

188-462: A hand cannon . The arquebus has at times been known as the harquebus , harkbus , hackbut , hagbut , archibugio , haakbus , schiopo , sclopus , tüfenk , tofak , matchlock , and firelock . The musket, essentially a large arquebus, was introduced around 1521, but fell out of favor by the mid-16th century due to the decline of armor. The term, however, remained and musket became a generic descriptor for smoothbore gunpowder weapons fired from

282-574: A long gun was the standard type of cannon mounted by a sailing vessel, called such to distinguish it from the much shorter carronades . In informal usage, the length was combined with the weight of the shot, yielding terms like "long 9s", referring to full-length cannons firing a 9-pound round shot. Qi Jiguang Qi Jiguang ( Chinese : 戚繼光 ; pinyin : Qī Jìguāng ; Wade–Giles : Ch'i Chi -Kuang , November 12, 1528 – January 17, 1588), courtesy name Yuanjing , art names Nantang and Mengzhu , posthumous name Wuyi ,

376-495: A blast on the bamboo flute, at which they deploy themselves in front of the troops, with each platoon (哨) putting in front one team (隊). They [the musketeer team members] wait until they hear their own leader fire a shot, and only then are they allowed to give fire. Each time the trumpet gives a blast, they fire one time, spread out in battle array according to the drilling patterns. If the trumpet keeps blasting without stopping, then they are allowed to fire all together until their fire

470-422: A bow or crossbow, so the arquebus required more standardization and this made it harder to resupply by looting bodies of fallen soldiers. Gunpowder production was also far more dangerous than arrow or bolt production. An arquebus was also significantly more dangerous to its user. The arquebusier carries a lot of gunpowder on his person and has a lit match in one hand. The same goes for the soldiers next to him. Amid

564-474: A bow or crossbow. Although some plate armors were bulletproof, these armors were unique, heavy, and expensive. A cuirass with a tapul was able to absorb some musket fire due to being angled. Otherwise, most forms of armor a common soldier would wear (especially cloth, light plate, and mail) had little resistance against musket fire. Arrows, however, were relatively weaker in penetration, and heavier than bows or crossbows that required more skill and reload time than

658-499: A decisive victory at Cen Harbor ( 岑港 ) in 1558. Henceafter, his troops continued to deal blows to the pirates at Taozhu ( 桃渚 ), Haimen Garrison and Taizhou . After the victory at Cen Harbor, not only was Qi not credited for his valor, he was almost demoted over slander that he liaised with wokou pirates. With the situation in Zhejiang under control, Qi shifted his focus to drilling his soldiers. He drafted mainly miners and farmers from

752-617: A handgun, making the long gun more expensive to transport, and more difficult and tiring to carry. The increased moment of inertia makes the long gun slower and more difficult to traverse and elevate , and it is thus slower and more difficult to adjust the aim. However, this also results in greater stability in aiming. The greater amount of material in a long gun tends to make it more expensive to manufacture, other factors being equal. The greater size makes it more difficult to conceal, and more inconvenient to use in confined quarters, as well as requiring larger storage space. As long guns include

846-495: A highly skilled archer ; other military writers such as Humfrey Barwick and Barnabe Rich argued the opposite. An arquebus angled at 35 degrees could throw a bullet up to 1,000 m (3,300 ft) or more. An arquebus shot was considered deadly at up to 400 yards (360 m) while the heavier Spanish musket was considered deadly at up to 600 yards (550 m). During the Japanese Invasions of Korea , Korean officials said they were at

940-467: A hundred men due to fighting and disease. Seeing the pirate infestation in Fujian subdued, Qi then returned to Zhejiang to regroup. The pirates took the opportunity to invade Fujian again, this time succeeding in conquering Xinghua (興化, present day Putian ). In April 1563, Qi Jiguang led 10,000 troops into Fujian and reclaimed Xinghua. Over the next year, a series of victories by Qi Jiguang's army finally saw

1034-432: A lit match made stealth and concealment nearly impossible, particularly at night. Even with successful concealment, the smoke emitted by a single arquebus shot would make it quite obvious where the shot came from, at least in daylight. While with a bow or crossbow a soldier could conceivably kill silently, this was of course impossible with an explosion-driven projectile weapon, such as the arquebus. The noise of arquebuses and

SECTION 10

#1732851948529

1128-563: A little before 1475. The matchlock arquebus was the first firearm equipped with a trigger mechanism. It is also considered to be the first portable shoulder-arms firearm. The Ottomans made use of arquebuses as early as the first half of the fifteenth century. During the Ottoman–Hungarian wars of 1443–1444, it was noted that Ottoman defenders in Vidin had arquebuses. Based on the earliest known contemporary written sources, Godfrey Goodwin dates

1222-651: A martial educator and defensive planner in the Ming military forces. He is regarded as a hero in Chinese culture. Qi Jiguang was born in the town of Luqiao in Shandong province to a family with a long military tradition. His forefather served as a military leader under the Hongwu Emperor and died in battle. When Zhu Yuanzhang became the founding emperor of the Ming dynasty , he bestowed upon

1316-406: A method of getting the musketeers and others with guns not only to practice firing but to keep on doing so in a very effective battle order (that is to say, they do not fire at will or from behind a barrier ...). Just as soon as the first rank has fired, then by the drill [they have learned] they will march to the back. The second rank either marching forward or standing still, will then fire just like

1410-531: A quarter ducats while an arquebus only a little over one ducat. Another advantage of arquebuses over other equipment and weapons was its short training period. While a bow potentially took years to master, an effective arquebusier could be trained in just two weeks. The arquebus spread further east, reaching India by 1500, Southeast Asia by 1540, and China sometime between 1523 and 1548. They were introduced to Japan in 1543 by Portuguese traders who landed by accident on Tanegashima (種子島), an island south of Kyūshū in

1504-465: A reference to the gun's standardized bore. The caliver allowed troops to load bullets faster since they fit their guns more easily, whereas before soldiers often had to modify their bullets into suitable fits, or even made their own prior to battle. The matchlock arquebus is considered the forerunner to the flintlock musket . The term arquebus is derived from the Dutch word haakbus ("hook gun"). which

1598-658: A severe disadvantage against Japanese troops because their arquebuses "could reach beyond several hundred paces". In 1590, Smythe noted that arquebusiers and musketeers firing at such extreme distances rarely seemed to hit anything and instead decided to argue effective range, claiming that English archers like the ones from the Hundred Years' War would be more effective at 200–240 yards (180–220 m) than arquebusiers or musketeers, but by that point there were no longer enough skilled archers in England to properly test his theories. Perhaps

1692-412: A siege, it was also easier to fire an arquebus out of loopholes than it was a bow and arrow. It was sometimes advocated that an arquebusier should load his weapon with multiple bullets or small shot at close ranges rather than a single ball. Small shot did not pack the same punch as a single round ball but the shot could hit and wound multiple enemies. An arquebus also has superior penetrating power to

1786-547: A stock that is braced against the shoulder, the recoil when firing is transferred directly into the body of the user. This allows better control of aim than handguns, which do not include stock, and thus all their recoil must be transferred to the arms of the user. It also makes it possible to manage larger amounts of recoil without damage or loss of control; in combination with the higher mass of long guns, this means more propellant (such as gunpowder ) can be used and thus larger projectiles can be fired at higher velocities . This

1880-537: A systematic fashion. Volley fire was implemented with cannons as early as 1388 by Ming artillerists, but volley fire with matchlocks was not implemented until 1526 when the Ottoman Janissaries utilized it during the Battle of Mohács . The matchlock volley fire technique was next seen in mid-16th-century China as pioneered by Qi Jiguang and in late-16th-century Japan. Qi Jiguang elaborates on his volley fire technique in

1974-490: Is 26 inches (66 cm) with the stock in the extended position. Examples of various classes of small arms generally considered long arms include, but are not limited to shotguns , personal defense weapons , submachine guns , carbines , assault rifles , designated marksman rifles , sniper rifles , anti-material rifles , light machine guns , medium machine guns , and heavy machine guns . Almost all long arms have front grips (forearms) and shoulder stocks, which provide

SECTION 20

#1732851948529

2068-525: Is exhausted, and it's not necessary [in this case] to divide into layers. In Europe, William Louis, Count of Nassau-Dillenburg theorized that by applying to firearms the same Roman counter march technique as described by Aelianus Tacticus , matchlocks could provide fire without cease. In a letter to his cousin Maurice of Nassau, Prince of Orange , on 8 December 1594, he wrote: I have discovered evolutionibus [a term that would eventually be translated as drill ]

2162-454: Is one of the main reasons for the use of long guns over handguns—faster or heavier projectiles help with penetration and accuracy over longer distances. Shotguns are long guns that are designed to fire many small projectiles at once. This makes them very effective at close ranges, but with diminished usefulness at long ranges, even with shotgun slugs they are mostly only effective to about 100 yd (91 m). In historical navy usage,

2256-446: Is such a powerful weapon and is so accurate that even bow and arrow cannot match it, and ... nothing is so strong as to be able to defend against it. In Europe, Maurice of Nassau pioneered the countermarch volley fire technique. After outfitting his entire army with new, standardized arms in 1599, Maurice of Nassau attempted to recapture Spanish forts built on former Dutch lands. In the Battle of Nieuwpoort in 1600, he administered

2350-401: Is unclear whether these were arquebuses or small cannons as late as 1444, but according to Gábor Ágoston the fact that they were listed separately from cannons in mid-15th century inventories suggest they were handheld firearms. In Europe, a shoulder stock , probably inspired by the crossbow stock, was added to the arquebus around 1470 and the appearance of the matchlock mechanism is dated to

2444-508: The Jixiao Xinshu : All the musketeers, when they get near the enemy are not allowed to fire early, and they're not allowed to just fire everything off in one go, [because] whenever the enemy then approaches close, there won't be enough time to load the guns (銃裝不及), and frequently this mismanagement costs the lives of many people. Thus, whenever the enemy gets to within a hundred paces' distance, they [the musketeers] are to wait until they hear

2538-511: The Black Army of Hungary wielded an arquebus, and one in five when accounting for the whole army, which was an unusually high proportion at the time. Although they were present on the battlefield King Mathias preferred enlisting shielded men instead due to the arquebus's low rate of fire. While the Black Army adopted arquebuses relatively early, the trend did not catch on for decades in Europe and by

2632-454: The Italian Wars in the first half of the 16th century. Frederick Lewis Taylor claims that a kneeling volley fire may have been employed by Prospero Colonna 's arquebusiers as early as the Battle of Bicocca (1522). However, this has been called into question by Tonio Andrade who believes this is an overinterpretation as well as a mis-citation of a passage by Charles Oman suggesting that

2726-510: The feudal knights , even until the time of Miguel de Cervantes (1547–1616). Eventually the Mamluks under Qaitbay were ordered in 1489 to train in the use of al-bunduq al-rasas (arquebuses). However, in 1514 an Ottoman army of 12,000 soldiers wielding arquebuses devastated a much larger Mamluk army. The arquebus had become a common infantry weapon by the 16th century due to its relative cheapness—a helmet, breastplate and pike cost about three and

2820-510: The 16–17th century, surpassing even Ottoman, Japanese, and European firearms. European observers of the Lê–Mạc War and later Trịnh–Nguyễn War also noted the proficiency of matchlock making by the Vietnamese. The Vietnamese matchlock was said to have been able to pierce several layers of iron armour, kill two to five men in one shot, yet also fire quietly for a weapon of its caliber. The arquebus

2914-438: The 18th century. Its name has been ascribed to the sensation of drinking it and to its use in treating the wounded. It remains in production by various companies and is drunk as a digestif . Long gun The actual length of the barrels of a long gun is subject to various laws in many jurisdictions, mainly concerning minimum length, sometimes as measured in a specific position or configuration. The National Firearms Act in

Arquebus - Misplaced Pages Continue

3008-431: The Dutch side. Although the battle was principally won by the decisive counterattack of the Dutch cavalry and despite the failure of the new Dutch infantry tactic in stopping the veteran Spanish tercios , the battle is considered a decisive step forward in the development early modern warfare , where firearms took on an increasingly large role in Europe in the following centuries. "Musket" eventually overtook "arquebus" as

3102-601: The Ottoman Empire. This early firearm was a hand cannon , whose roots trace back to China, with a serpentine lever to hold matches. However it did not have the matchlock mechanism traditionally associated with the arquebus. The exact dating of the matchlock addition is disputed. The first references to the use of what may have been arquebuses ( tüfek ) by the Janissary corps of the Ottoman army date them from 1394 to 1465. However, it

3196-581: The Ottomans they criticized them thus, "God curse the man who invented them, and God curse the man who fires on Muslims with them." Insults were also levied against the Ottomans for having "brought with you this contrivance artfully devised by the Christians of Europe when they were incapable of meeting the Muslim armies on the battlefield". Similarly, musketeers and musket-wielding infantrymen were despised in society by

3290-554: The Qi family the hereditary post of commander-in-chief of Dengzhou Garrison, a district of the present day Penglai . Qi Jiguang's father Qi Jingtong ( 戚景通 ) (1473–1544) was a skilled martial arts expert and an upright and devoted military general. Strongly influenced by his family, Qi Jiguang took an early interest in the military. As a child, he built ramparts from clay, piled up rubble to form barracks, and made flags from bamboo sticks and paper to play war games with his friends and himself as

3384-484: The Spanish arquebusiers knelt to reload, when in fact Oman never made such a claim. This is contested by Idan Sherer, who quotes Paolo Giovio saying that the arquebusiers kneeled to reload so that the second line of arquebusiers could fire without endangering those in front of them. The Mamluks in particular were conservatively against the incorporation of gunpowder weapons. When faced with cannons and arquebuses wielded by

3478-468: The United States sets a minimum length of 16 inches (41 cm) for rifle barrels and 18 inches (46 cm) for shotgun barrels. Canada sets a minimum of 18.5 inches (47 cm) for either. In addition, Canada sets a minimum fireable length for long guns with detachable or folding stocks 26 inches (66 cm). In the United States, the minimum length for long guns with detachable or folding stocks

3572-457: The age of 22, Qi Jiguang headed for Beijing to take part in the martial imperial examination . During this time, Mongol troops led by Altan Khan broke through the northern defenses and laid siege to Beijing. Candidates participating in the martial arts exam were mobilized to defend the nine gates of the capital. Qi Jiguang twice submitted defense proposals to the emperor and was noted to have displayed extraordinary valor and military cunning during

3666-476: The appearance of the serpentine lever by around 1411, handguns were fired from the chest, tucked under one arm, while the other arm maneuvered a hot pricker to the touch hole to ignite the gunpowder. The matchlock, which appeared roughly around 1475, changed this by adding a firing mechanism consisting of two parts, the match, and the lock. The lock mechanism held within a clamp a 60-to-90 cm (2-to-3 ft) long length of smoldering rope soaked in saltpeter, which

3760-462: The arquebus was apparent by the Battle of Cerignola of 1503, which is the earliest-recorded military conflict where arquebuses played a decisive role in the outcome of the battle. In Russia, a small arquebus called pishchal ( Russian : пищаль ) appeared in 1478 in Pskov. The Russian arquebusiers, or pishchal'niki , were seen as integral parts of the army and one thousand pishchal'niki participated in

3854-556: The arquebusiers by the English and the Venetians often used archers to lay down cover fire during the long reloading process. The Ottomans often supported their arquebusiers with artillery fire or placed them in fortified wagons, a tactic they borrowed from the Hussites. Sixteenth-century military writer John Smythe thought that an arquebus could not match the accuracy of a bow in the hands of

Arquebus - Misplaced Pages Continue

3948-469: The basis of reliable evidence." They claim that the version of events describing volley fire was written several years after the battle, and an earlier account says to the contrary that guns were fired en masse. Even so, both Korean and Chinese sources note that Japanese gunners were making use of volley fire during the Japanese invasions of Korea from 1592 to 1598. Regarding Iranian use of the arquebus, much of

4042-488: The battle, and saw the defeat of the invaders. In 1553, Qi Jiguang was promoted to Assistant Regional Military Commissioner ( 都指揮僉事 ) of Shandong's defense force against wokou pirates. The marauders that terrorized the Eastern coastlines were hardly pirates. They constructed inland bases on land and besieged walled cities. They conducted continuous raids for at least two decades. Additionally, they weren't just Japanese. Most of

4136-433: The blast of a bamboo flute. They started firing after their leader fired and fired once at the blast of a trumpet, and then spread out according to their drilling pattern. Each layer could also fire once at the blowing of a horn and were supported by close-quarters troops who could advance should the need arise. To avoid self-inflicted injuries and ensure a consistent rate of fire in the heat of battle, Qi emphasized drilling in

4230-414: The commander. When his father died, Qi Jiguang took over the commandership of Dengzhou Garrison at the age of 17. As his siblings were still young, he married Lady Wang and left domestic affairs to her. Besides building up the naval defense at the garrison, he also led his troops in the defense of Jizhou (薊州, east of present-day Beijing ) against Mongol raiders during spring time from 1548 to 1552. At

4324-455: The confusion, stress and fumbling of a battle, arquebusiers are potentially a danger to themselves. Early arquebuses tended to have a drastic recoil. They took a long time to load making them vulnerable while reloading unless using the 'continuous fire' tactic, where one line would shoot and, while the next line shot, would reload. They also tended to overheat. During repeated firing, guns could become clogged and explode, which could be dangerous to

4418-467: The county of Yiwu because he believed these people to be honest and hardworking. He also oversaw the construction of 44 naval vessels of various sizes to be used against pirates at sea. The first trial for Qi's new army came in 1559. After a month-long battle with wokou pirate in Taizhou Prefecture, the pirates suffered over 5,000 casualties, while Qi's army established a name for itself among both

4512-554: The credit for their increase in use can be attributed to Shah Ismail I who, after being defeated by the firearm-using Ottomans in 1514, began extensive use of arquebuses and other firearms himself with an estimated 12,000 arquebusiers in service less than 10 years after his initial defeat by the Ottomans. According to a 1571 report by Vincentio d'Alessandri, Persian arms including arquebuses "were superior and better tempered than those of any other nation", suggesting that such firearms were in common use among middle eastern powers by at least

4606-487: The dominant term for similar firearms starting from the 1550s. Arquebuses are most often associated with matchlocks. The arquebus had many advantages but also severe limitations on the battlefield. This led to it often being paired up with other weaponry to mitigate these weaknesses. Qi Jiguang from China developed systems where soldiers with traditional weaponry stayed right behind the arquebusiers to protect them should enemy infantry get too close. Pikemen were used to protect

4700-403: The early 15th century. The addition of a shoulder stock, priming pan, and matchlock mechanism in the late 15th century turned the arquebus into a handheld firearm and also the first firearm equipped with a trigger. The exact dating of the matchlock's appearance is disputed. It could have appeared in the Ottoman Empire as early as 1465 and in Europe a little before 1475. The heavy arquebus, which

4794-410: The effective use of arquebus equipped troops with different mixtures of troops deployed in 12-man teams. The number of arquebuses assigned to each team could vary depending on the context but theoretically in certain cases all members of the team could have been deployed as gunners. These formations also made use of countermarch volley fire techniques. Firearm platoons deployed one team in front of them at

SECTION 50

#1732851948529

4888-676: The exercise he wrote the Records of Military Training ( 練兵實紀 ), which became an invaluable reference for military leaders after him. During the early reign of the Wanli Emperor (1570s), the Mongol army led by Dong Huli, chieftain of the Duoyan tribe, continuously invaded the Ming territory. Qi Jiguang's troops defeated them many times and captured Dong Huli's younger brother Changtu. When Dong Huli brought his nephew and 300 clansmen to beg tearfully for mercy at

4982-560: The final annexation of Pskov in 1510 as well as the conquest of Smolensk in 1512. The Russian need to acquire gunpowder weaponry bears some resemblance to the situation the Iranians were in. In 1545 two thousand pishchal'niki (one thousand on horseback) were levied by the towns and outfitted at treasury expense. Their use of mounted troops was also unique to the time period. The pishchal'niki eventually became skilled hereditary tradesmen farmers rather than conscripts. Arquebuses were used in

5076-570: The first use of the arquebus by the Janissaries to no earlier than 1465. According to contemporary accounts, 400 arquebusiers served in Sultan Murad II's campaign in the 1440s when he crossed Bosporus straits and arquebuses were used in combat by the Ottomans at the second battle of Kosovo in 1448. Ottomans also made some use of Wagon Fortresses which they copied from the Hussites , which often involved

5170-417: The first. After that the third and following ranks will do the same. When the last rank has fired, the first will have reloaded, as the following diagram shows. Once volley firing had been developed, the rate of fire and efficiency was greatly increased and the arquebus went from being a support weapon to the primary focus of most early modern armies. The wheellock mechanism was utilized as an alternative to

5264-724: The form of two books on military strategy , the Ji Xiao Xin Shu ( 紀效新書 ) and the Lianbing Shiji ( 練兵實紀 ) or Record of Military Training. He also wrote a great number of poems and proses , which he compiled into the Collection of Zhizhi Hall ( 止止堂集 ), named after his study hall during his office in Jizhou. A type of hard pancake called guangbing (光餅, Foochow Romanized : guŏng-biāng , known as kompyang in Malaysia and Indonesia )

5358-653: The front of their formations and bowmen at the back, where they could not see their targets and aim appropriately. Arquebuse de L'Hermitage, a clear spirit made by macerating and distilling a large variety of plants, was supposedly invented in 1857 by a herbalist of the Marist Brothers in the Hermitage Monastery in Saint-Genis-Laval , France although other sources assert it was produced in France and Piedmont since

5452-484: The gun. In 1584 the Ming General Qi Jiguang composed an 11-step song to practice the procedure in rhythm: "One, clean the gun. Two, pour the powder. Three, tamp the powder down. Four, drop the pellet. Five, drive the pellet down. Six, put in paper (stopper). Seven, drive the paper down. Eight, open the flashpan cover. Nine, pour in the flash powder. Ten, close the flashpan, and clamp the fuse. Eleven, listen for

5546-405: The gunner and those around him. Furthermore, the amount of smoke produced by black-powder weapons was considerable, making it hard to see the enemy after a few salvos, unless there was enough wind to disperse the smoke quickly. (Conversely, this cloud of smoke also served to make it difficult for any archers to target the opposing soldiers who were using firearms.) Before the wheellock, the need for

5640-465: The gunpowder the match had to be detached while loading the gun. In some instances the match would also go out, so both ends of the match were kept lit. This proved cumbersome to maneuver as both hands were required to hold the match during removal, one end in each hand. The procedure was so complex that a 1607 drill manual published by Jacob de Gheyn in the Netherlands listed 28 steps just to fire and load

5734-724: The imperial guards. With the revolt against the Yuan dynasty in mid-14th century, the Hongwu Emperor drove the Mongols north beyond the Great Wall and founded the Ming dynasty . However, he did not manage to eliminate Mongolian power, which continued to pester the northern frontier for the next two hundred years. When Qi was in Beijing in 1550, Altan Khan , ruler of the Tumed Mongols , broke through

SECTION 60

#1732851948529

5828-547: The matchlock as early as 1505, but was more expensive to produce at three times the cost of a matchlock and prone to breakdown, thus limiting it primarily to specialist firearms and pistols. The snaphance flintlock was invented by the mid-16th century and then the "true" flintlock in the early 17th century, but by this time the generic term for firearms had shifted to musket , and flintlocks are not usually associated with arquebuses. The earliest known examples of an "arquebus" date back to 1411 in Europe and no later than 1425 in

5922-490: The mid-16th century. While the use of 12,000 arquebusiers is impressive, the firearms were not widely adopted in Iran. This is in no small part due to the reliance on light cavalry by the Iranians. Riding a horse and operating an arquebus are incredibly difficult which helped lead to both limited use and heavy stagnation in the technology associated with firearms. These limitations aside, the Iranians still made use of firearms and Europe

6016-587: The most important advantage of the arquebus over muscle-powered weapons like longbows was sheer power. A shot from a typical 16th-century arquebus boasted between 1,300 to 1,750 J (960 to 1,290 ft⋅lbf) of kinetic energy , depending on the powder quality. A longbow arrow by contrast was about 80 J (59 ft⋅lbf), while crossbows could vary from 100 to 200 J (74 to 148 ft⋅lbf) depending on construction. Thus, arquebuses could easily defeat armor that would be highly effective against arrows or bolts, and inflict far greater wounds on flesh. The disparity

6110-626: The most important weapons in Japan. Oda Nobunaga revolutionized musket tactics in Japan by splitting loaders and shooters and assigning three guns to a shooter at the Battle of Nagashino in 1575, during which volley fire may have been implemented. However, the volley fire technique of 1575 has been called into dispute in recent years by J. S. A. Elisonas and J. P. Lamers in their translation of The Chronicle of Oda Nobunaga by Ota Gyuichi. In Lamers' Japonius he says that "whether or not Nobunaga actually operated with three rotating ranks cannot be determined on

6204-421: The new techniques and technologies for the first time. The Dutch marched onto the beach where the fort was located and fully utilized the countermarching tactic. By orienting all of his arquebusiers into a block, he was able to maintain a steady stream of fire out of a disciplined formation using volley fire tactics. The result was a lopsided victory with 4,000 Spanish casualties to only 1,000 dead and 700 wounded on

6298-453: The northern defenses and nearly devastated Beijing. In 1571, the Ming dynasty bestowed the title "Lord Shunyi" ( 順義王 ) upon Altan Khan and established trade with the Mongols. Altan Khan then forbade his subordinates from raiding Chinese settlements. However, other Mongols led by Jasaghtu Khan continued to test Qi's defenses, though without much success. In the next year, he was given command of

6392-482: The outpost, Qi Jiguang accepted their surrender. Dong released captives from his previous plunders and vowed to never invade Jizhou again. Qi was politically connected to Zhang Juzheng and fell out of favor with the Wanli Emperor after the death of Zhang. In early 1583, Qi was relieved of his duty. His wife left him soon after and he spent the rest of his years in poverty and ailing health. He died on 17 January 1588. Qi Jiguang documented his ideas and experience in

6486-547: The people of Zhejiang and its enemies. Partly as a result of Qi's military success in Zhejiang, pirate activities surged in the province of Fujian . More than 10,000 pirates had established strongholds along the coast from Fu'an in the north to Zhangzhou in the south. In July 1562, Qi Jiguang led 6,000 elite troops south into Fujian. Within two months, his army had eradicated three major lairs of wokou pirates at Hengyu ( 橫嶼 ), Niutian ( 牛田 ) and Lindun ( 林墩 ). However, his own army also suffered significant losses of nearly

6580-465: The physical strength of the user for propulsion of the projectile, making it easier to find a suitable recruit. It also meant that, compared to an archer or crossbowman, an arquebusier lost less of his battlefield effectiveness due to fatigue, malnutrition, or sickness. The arquebusier also had the added advantage of frightening enemies (and horses) with the noise. Wind could reduce the accuracy of archery, but had much less of an effect on an arquebus. During

6674-454: The pirate problem in Fujian resolved. In September 1565, a major battle against wokou pirates was fought on the island of Nan'ao , which lies near the boundary between the provinces of Fujian and Guangdong . There Qi joined arms with his old comrade Yu Dayou again to defeat the remnant of the combined Japanese and Chinese pirate force. After eliminating the pirate threat, Qi Jiguang was called to Beijing in late 1567 to take charge of training

6768-401: The placing of arquebusiers in the protective wagons and using them against the enemy. Arquebusiers were also used effectively at the battle of Bashkent in 1473 when they were used in conjunction with artillery. The arquebus was used in substantial numbers for the first time in Europe during the reign of King Matthias Corvinus of Hungary (r. 1458–1490). One in four soldiers in the infantry of

6862-404: The procedure required to reload the weapon. Qi Jiguang gave a eulogy on the effectiveness of the gun in 1560: It is unlike any other of the many types of fire weapons. In strength it can pierce armor. In accuracy it can strike the center of targets, even to the point of hitting the eye of a coin [i.e., shooting right through a coin], and not just for exceptional shooters. ... The arquebus [鳥銃]

6956-477: The recorded strength was 30,000. Furthermore, many of his soldiers who were young and strong men deserted to make a living elsewhere, leaving behind the old and the weak. The troops also lacked training and discipline, while the defense works were dilapidated due to years of negligence. In the fall of 1555, Qi was sent to Zhejiang where the pirating situation had spiraled out of control. Together with two other generals, Yu Dayou and Tan Lun , Qi led Ming forces to

7050-582: The region controlled by the Shimazu clan . By 1550, arquebuses known as tanegashima , teppō (鉄砲) or hinawaju (火縄銃) were being produced in large numbers in Japan. The tanegashima seem to have utilized snap matchlocks based on firearms from Goa , India, which was captured by the Portuguese in 1510. Within ten years of its introduction upwards of three hundred thousand tanegashima were reported to have been manufactured. The tanegashima eventually became one of

7144-428: The resources needed to make gunpowder were less universally available than the resources needed to make bolts and arrows. Finding and reusing arrows or bolts was a lot easier than doing the same with arquebus bullets. This was a useful way to reduce the cost of practice or resupply oneself if control of the battlefield after a battle was retained. A bullet must fit a barrel much more precisely than an arrow or bolt must fit

7238-445: The ringing in the ears that it caused could also make it hard to hear shouted commands. In the long run, the weapon could make the user permanently hard of hearing. Though bows and crossbows could shoot over obstacles by firing with high-arcing ballistic trajectories they could not do so very accurately or effectively. Sir John Smythe blamed the declining effectiveness of the longbow in part on English commanders who would place firearms at

7332-487: The shoulder ("shoulder arms") into the mid-19th century. At least on one occasion musket and arquebus were used interchangeably to refer to the same weapon, and even referred to as an arquebus musket . A Habsburg commander in the mid-1560s once referred to muskets as double arquebuses . The matchlock firing mechanism also became a common term for the arquebus after it was added to the firearm. Later flintlock firearms were sometimes called fusils or fuzees . Prior to

7426-572: The signal, then open the flashpan cover. Aiming at the enemy, raise your gun and fire." Reloading a gun during the 16th century took anywhere from 20 seconds to a minute under the most ideal conditions. The development of volley fire —by the Ottomans, the Chinese, the Japanese, and the Dutch—made the arquebus more feasible for widespread adoption by militaries. The volley fire technique transformed soldiers carrying firearms into organized firing squads with each row of soldiers firing in turn and reloading in

7520-459: The small arms ranks. This idea of lower-skilled, lightly armoured units was the driving force in the infantry revolution that took place in the 16th and 17th centuries and allowed early modern infantries to phase out the longbow . An arquebusier could carry more ammunition and powder than a crossbowman or longbowman could with bolts or arrows . Once the methods were developed, powder and shot were relatively easy to mass-produce, while arrow making

7614-408: The standard bows. Producing an effective arquebusier required much less training than producing an effective bowman. Most archers spent their whole lives training to shoot with accuracy, but with drill and instruction, the arquebusier was able to learn his profession in months as opposed to years. This low level of skill made it a lot easier to outfit an army in a short amount of time as well as expand

7708-428: The time, they worked together with mixed Chinese bands, with the latter frequently dominating. Even Chinese explorers provided their leadership. However, the Japanese pirates were the main combatants. Japan served as the base of the invasion, and the Japanese provided all military expertise and equipment. When Qi Jiguang took over the command of Shandong 's coastal defense, he had less than 10,000 troops at hand, though

7802-493: The troops in Jizhou to defend against the Mongols. Qi oversaw the repair work on the segment of the Great Wall between Shanhai Pass and Juyong Pass . He also directed the construction of watchtowers along the wall. After two years of hard work, more than 1,000 watchtowers were completed, giving the defensive capability in the north a great boost. In the winter of 1572, Qi also conducted a month-long military exercise involving more than 100,000 troops. Based on his experience with

7896-571: The turn of the 16th century only around 10% of Western European infantrymen used firearms. Arquebuses were used as early as 1472 by the Portuguese at Zamora. Likewise, the Castilians used arquebuses as well in 1476. The French started adopting the arquebus in 1520. However, arquebus designs continued to develop and in 1496 Philip Monch of the Palatinate composed an illustrated Buch der Strynt un(d) Buchsse(n) on guns and "harquebuses". The effectiveness of

7990-542: The usage of arquebuses by the Ming army ten years earlier, and the capture of arquebuses from Europeans by the Xu brother pirates, which later came into possession of a man named Bald Li, from whom the Ming officials captured the arquebuses. About 10,000 muskets were ordered by the Central Military Weaponry Bureau in 1558 and the firearms were used to fight off pirates. Qi Jiguang developed military formations for

8084-407: The user the ability to hold the firearm more steadily than a handgun. In addition, the long barrel of a long gun usually provides a longer distance between the front and rear sights , providing the user with more precision when aiming. The presence of a stock makes the use of a telescopic sight or red dot sight easier than with a handgun. The mass of a long gun is usually greater than that of

8178-415: Was a Chinese military general and writer of the Ming dynasty . He is best known for leading the defense on the coastal regions against wokou pirate activities in the 16th century, as well as for the reinforcement of the Great Wall of China . Qi is also known for writing the military manuals Jixiao Xinshu and Lianbing Shiji or Record of Military Training ( 練兵實紀 ), which he based on his experience as

8272-410: Was a genuine craft requiring highly skilled labor. However, the arquebus was more sensitive to rain, wind, and humid weather. At the Battle of Villalar , rebel troops experienced a significant defeat partially due to having a high proportion of arquebusiers in a rainstorm which rendered the weapons useless. Gunpowder also ages much faster than a bolt or an arrow, particularly if improperly stored. Also,

8366-446: Was applied to an assortment of firearms from the 15th to 17th centuries. It originally referred to "a hand-gun with a hook-like projection or lug on its under surface, useful for steadying it against battlements or other objects when firing". The first certain attestation of the term arquebus dates back to 1364, when the lord of Milan Bernabò Visconti recruited 70 archibuxoli , although in this case it almost certainly referred to

8460-445: Was even greater with a 16th-century heavy musket, which were 2,300 to 3,000 J (1,700 to 2,200 ft⋅lbf). Most high-skilled bowmen achieved a far higher rate of shot than the matchlock arquebus, which took 30–60 seconds to reload properly. The arquebus did, however, have a faster rate of fire than the most powerful crossbow , a shorter learning curve than a longbow , and was more powerful than either. The arquebus did not rely on

8554-448: Was introduced to the Ming dynasty in the early 16th century and was used in small numbers to fight off pirates by 1548. There is, however, no exact date for its introduction and sources conflict on the time and manner in which it was introduced. Versions of the arquebus' introduction to China include the capture of firearms by the Ming during a battle in 1523, the capture of the pirate Wang Zhi, who had arquebuses, in 1558, which contradicts

8648-452: Was the match. Connected to the lock lever was a trigger, which lowered the match into a priming pan when squeezed, igniting the priming powder, causing a flash to travel through the touch hole, also igniting the gunpowder within the barrel, and propelling the bullet out the muzzle. While matchlocks provided a crucial advantage by allowing the user to aim the firearm using both hands, it was also awkward to utilize. To avoid accidentally igniting

8742-466: Was then called a musket , was developed to better penetrate plate armor and appeared in Europe around 1521. Heavy arquebuses mounted on war wagons were called arquebus à croc . These carried a lead ball of about 100 grams (3.5 oz). A standardized arquebus, the caliver , was introduced in the latter half of the 16th century. The name "caliver" is an English derivation from the French calibre –

8836-435: Was very important in facilitating that as Europeans supplied Iran with firearms and sent experts to help them produce some of the firearms themselves. Iran also made use of elephant mounted arquebusiers which would give them a clear view of their targets and better mobility. Southeast Asian powers started fielding arquebuses by 1540. Đại Việt was considered by the Ming to have produced particularly advanced matchlocks during

#528471