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"Evolution
of Weaponry"
A
Brief Survey of Weapons Evolution
The
Mounted Knight
With the fall of Rome the complex Roman way of war collapsed,
to be replaced by simpler systems, such as the phalanx,
and one new system, which was the mounted knight. The introduction
of the stirrup (coming to Europe from China and India around
the 10th century A.D) made it possible for a man on horseback
to strike an opponent with remarkable force without danger
of being unseated. Furthermore, horse breeding had developed
increasingly larger and more powerful mounts who could carry
sufficient weight of armor to make both horse and man virtually
invulnerable. A devastating blow could be delivered by a
spear, or lance, which could be "couched" or semi-attached
to the knight. Charging at full speed, the spear point would
strike an opponent with the combined momentum and weight
of horse, man, and armor approaching at full gallop. After
the initial blow with the lance the knight could continue
to plow into an enemy formation, delivering blows from above
with heavy weapons (sword, mace, flail, or morning star)
assisted by the force of gravity and downward momentum.
A formation of such knights, striking together, was an extraordinarily
frightening and almost overwhelming force, combining high
degrees of posturing, force, and mobility, which could only
be stopped by a hedge of spears and the horse's complete
and consistent unwillingness to impale itself.
Thus, the answer to the knight was a phalanx, but the horse's
mobility made it possible to maneuver around a phalanx,
or any enemy formation, in order to attack from a vulnerable
direction and to pursue the enemy after they have been broken.
This created the need for spear- or bayonet-equipped ground
troops to form a "square" that faced outward in all directions
while keeping other units inside the protection of the square.
This was an effective defensive maneuver as long as the
infantry kept their nerve (if only a few men broke and ran,
the knights could move into that gap and break the entire
formation), but until the introduction of the long bow and
(later) gunpowder the forces inside the the square were
completely neutralized and could often be held at bay by
a small force of knights.
The long bow (and, later, gunpowder weapons) spelled the
doom of the mounted knight and, ultimately, of all individual
armor until the 20th century. Cavalry would continue to
exist on the battlefield for centuries, but their economic
cost and their increasing vulnerability to small arms fire
meant that by the late 19th century the utility of cavalry
had reverted to that of the Greek and Roman era: useful
for reconnaissance, to move riflemen rapidly to a key location
where they would dismount and fight, and for mobility in
the pursuit. During the 20th century, mechanization (trucks,
tanks, etc.) would almost completely supersede the horse's
mobility contribution to the battlefield.
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