Development history
In the 10th century AD, the emergence of firearms in the early Song Dynasty marked the beginning of the era of using hot weapons in human war history. With the progress of technology, the variety of firearms has also been increasing, but cold weapons have not completely withdrawn from the stage of war. They were used together with hot weapons for a long historical period, which is called the era of combined use of firearms and cold weapons (from the 10th century to the middle of the 19th century). Due to different social development processes, the end of this phase varies from place to place in the world. China went through the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties Opium War The period lasts for 9 centuries. China was the first country to invent bamboo muskets, rifles, blunderbuss, thunderbolt guns, sky shattering thunder and other firearms, which were widely used in the Song Jin, Mongolian Jin and Song Mongolian wars. In the campaigns of the Mongol army to conquer the Jin Dynasty, Song Dynasty and Europe, the Mongol army combined the rapid mobility of cavalry and advanced firearms, adopted the method of circuitous encirclement, and suddenly met the enemy. First, they fired long-range firearms, and then they used cavalry to charge with white blades to solve the battle. In the Ming Dynasty, metal tubular firearms were widely used. In 1413, the Ming army used the Shenji Camp equipped with guns and artillery in the battle of Mobei, and achieved significant results. Due to the constraints of China's long-term feudal rule, firearms are difficult to be widely used and rapidly improved. Hot weapons, both in quality and quantity, have not become the main weapons in the battlefield. Cold weapons are still the main players in the battlefield. The battle mode of cold weapons, which focuses on array warfare, has not fundamentally changed. In Europe, it lasted more than three centuries from the 14th century when Chinese firearms were copied from the west to the 17th century when cold weapons were withdrawn from the war stage. In the middle of the 17th century, with industrial revolution With the rise of, thermal weapons have developed rapidly in Europe, and the shooting accuracy and range have been greatly improved. European armies are generally equipped with flint guns with bayonets, etc. Cold weapons have basically disappeared from the battlefield, and the main battle weapons have been replaced by guns, guns and other weapons with gunpowder release as the main mechanism, thus entering the era of thermal weapons war. At the end of the 18th century, Napoleon I of France pioneered the war method of combining scattered troops and columns, with heavy artillery and concentrated bombardment as the main means of attack, and artillery gradually became the main weapon in the war. After the middle of the 19th century, the emergence of new technologies such as rifles and conical bullets significantly improved the range and speed of fire of thermal weapons, and greatly increased their lethality. Some countries' navies have begun to replace sailboats with steamships, replace front loaded smooth bore guns with rear loaded rifled guns with destructive power, and replace fixed side guns with rotatable turret guns. The protection of warships has been strengthened, and marine thermal weapon operations have been greatly developed. The First Opium War At that time, Britain had 560 large and small ships. Each large warship could be equipped with 70-120 guns, each of which could launch 32 pounds of shells. It is with their powerful thermal weapons that colonialist countries roam the world. At that time, although there were some relatively initial guns and artillery in the Chinese Qing army, it was still in the stage of front loading, smooth bore, and firing with firerope. The main body of military weapons and equipment was still cold weapons such as broadswords, spears, bows and arrows. It was only after the middle of the 19th century that we began to introduce, develop and equip modern guns, guns and other thermal weapons, entering the era of thermal weapons war. At this time, Western weapons and equipment had begun to develop in the direction of mechanization, and entered the era of mechanized war at the beginning of the 20th century. The main characteristics of thermal weapon war are: ① the breakthrough of energy form and quality has been achieved. The emergence of gunpowder and its application in the war broke the situation of winning the war mainly by human strength. By converting the chemical energy of gunpowder into the instantaneous thermal energy, the lethality of weapons has made a qualitative leap. In the development process of thermal weapons, their lethality has increased several times and dozens of times. After the 19th century, smokeless gunpowder Dynamite The invention of gunpowder has made the energy of gunpowder reach a higher level; The generation of steam engine powered vehicles has realized the transition from human and animal power to mechanical power, greatly improving the mobility of the troops. ② A diversified structure of services and arms has emerged. In line with the development of thermal weapons, spearmen and charioteers gradually disappeared from the battlefield, and new arms such as artillery and engineering began to appear. With the development of windsurfing warships, especially steam warships, and warships equipped with artillery, the modern navy with thermal weapons as its main combat weapon has also grown rapidly. ③ The organic division has become a new military organizational system. As thermal weapons gradually occupy a dominant position in the war, the scale of the war is further expanded. To meet the requirements of the development of war, division, as a new military organization system, began to appear in Europe in the 18th century. The earliest division was composed of infantry, cavalry, artillery and other arms. In addition, there were supporting units such as engineers and medical personnel. Coordinated by an appropriate staff and subordinate to a single commander. stay Napoleonic Wars The maximum number of a division is more than 10000, which can be used as an independent combat unit; It is not only a complete combat system, but also can join forces with other divisions to attack a strategic point according to the plan formulated by the superior headquarters. ④ Linear and skirmish operations have emerged one after another. The large depth and dense formation used in the cold weapon era is not conducive to the full play of the thermal weapons' firepower, nor to the protection of firepower. The linear battle formation adapted to the thermal weapons has gradually formed, and the combat distance has also changed from the close range of the cold weapon era fight sb. with a bayonet Gradually transition to long-range fire. Since the middle of the 19th century, the development of science and technology has improved the performance of thermal weapons. The rifle replaces the shotgun, the rifled gun replaces the shotgun, and the rear charge replaces the front charge. The range, accuracy and firing speed of the gun have been greatly improved, and the striking power has been significantly enhanced. In the face of dense bullet rain, the linear formation is difficult to confront, and the linear combat mode is gradually replaced by the scattered combat mode. ⑤ Battle command is complex. With the development of thermal weapons, the number and types of arms of the armed forces have also increased significantly, and some countries have established large armies and navies. The scale of war has expanded, casualties and consumption have increased, battle command has increased the organization and use of firepower, coordination of arms and other contents, and battle organization, logistics support, battlefield management are also more complex than cold weapon war. Many countries have set up headquarters for troops above regimental level. Commanders mainly use the headquarters to command the troops. Organizing infantry, cavalry and artillery cooperation is an important part of command. At the beginning of the 20th century, high explosive munitions came out, infantry weapons developed towards automation, and armored vehicles, tanks, aircraft and other mechanized equipment with iron plate armor protection appeared and were used in combat. Human war has entered the era of mechanized war from the era of thermal weapon war.
Publisher: China Military Encyclopedia Editorial Office [1]
