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Infantry Units
Musketeers
| Approximately at the same time the whole Europe was armed with similar muskets. For instance, a Swedish musket of years 1692-1704 weighed
4.7-5.0 kg (10-11 lb) of 22 mm (7/8") caliber. Its range of fire was about 225 m (740 ft). With introducing a flintlock and a paper cartridge,
musket rate of fire was improved significantly up to 2-3 shots per minute. For the whole XVII century musketeers have remained very weak in hand-to-hand
combat and could not fight back a cavalry attack without pikemen's support. However, at the end of the XVII century a bayonet was introduced and turned
a musket into a sort of pike, but not as good as a real one though. All these innovations favored greatly to the musketeers' military power, so that
they became a sort of all-purpose infantry, while pikemen gradually vanished from armies. New musketeer square formations could withstand a cavalry
charge. The formation depth was reduced from six ranks to three. The first one fired in kneeling position, the second fired upright, and the third rank
shot between the standing soldiers. A great importance was attached to a perfectly synchronized salvo sounding like a single shot. They believed that
simultaneous bullet hits increased the demoralizing effect of the shot. Whole battalions or platoons were shooting like one soldier. Soldiers were
trained for strict combat procedures; a private had nothing to decide by himself, he had only to obey the orders. The infantry marched in step with
their officers at the left and the right. They shot in salvo on command. With this tactics, a soldier's personality did meant nothing, so one could
presume recruiting even unstable and ill-assorted elements. The value of a soldier has decreased in comparison to the previous period. A good rate of
fire was often achieved with snap shooting up to 4 shots per minute. In the XVIII century musketeers have already changed into rather cheap and numerous
soldiers capable of completing virtually any tactical missions. |
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