BATTLE RIFLE BOOK 7
WAR SURPLUS
Just as I’ve covered a
small amount on pistols for the sake of discussion which pertains to rifles,
even though this book is NOT about pistols, so too must I cover the subject of
war bolt actions even though this book is about semi-auto’s, for the simple
fact that without understanding the predecessors of today’s arms you can’t
adequately decide which firearm is best.
If someone had ONLY researched the bayonets of WWI, their understanding
would be that some crazy Cracker general officers somehow had the notion that
charging the enemy with sharp pointy things ( in effect, a spear ) would
frighten the enemy into surrendering.
*
Notwithstanding the fact
that the Maxim machinegun made bayonets obsolete, and the White on White spear
fighting was amusingly reminiscent of colonial conquests against Other Colors.
What you first had to understand is WHY bayonets were invented in the first
place. It wasn’t because spears were a
good idea in the age of gunpowder. It
was because of horses. Horses as in
cavalry. Infantry sucks against horses. PRIOR to gunpowder. It was the transitional period between muscle
powered weapons and chemically propelled weapons, where it was beyond expensive
to arm everyone with firearms, where there was still a reason to have
cavalry.
*
Gunpowder formations were
rare and scarce or mostly artillery ( the primitive metal working of the day
called for bulky and heavy ball shooters.
The light and portable was still being worked on ). Horse still worked good against infantry
since they had yet to face mass gunpowder fire.
Because there were not enough infantry gunpowder weapons, the formations
best suited to thwart cavalry was the pikes.
Think a long ass spear, held in formation like a giant porcupine. Yet these didn’t work financially all that
great because an unorganized mob of peasants couldn’t just hold up pikes and be
effective.
*
Pikemen had to be
organized professionals and that costs money.
Most armies would rather get free mobs rather than pay for expensive
professionals ( which is why the Italian and like crossbowmen didn’t stand much
of a chance long term ). Peasants lives
were cheaper than mercenaries who had to be accommodated by keeping them alive
if possible. So as soon as armies had
enough infantry transitioned over to gunpowder, the pike was almost obsolete. The bayonet cemented its death. Now horses could be stopped by volley fire
and/or a bayonet wall.
*
And yet, looking for
another two-fer, because after all cannon and gunpowder are really friggin
expensive in a pre-carbon fuel economy, it was noted that the same tactics
stopping horse also worked rather well stopping other infantry. They could be stopped by either volley fire
or by a bayonet wall. The only
difference was that against each other, the wall could move. Against horse, the wall stayed put. In many ways, everything the infantry did was
a counter to horse rather than against other infantry, and weapons and tactics
reflected that.
*
The large ball calibers
were certainly necessary with a low velocity black powder, yet mostly used
because it stopped a horse. The bayonet
was primarily used to stop cavalry, but the British put it to very good effect
against other infantry formations. They
were so good at it that it took a lot less infantry to build their global
empire than would have otherwise been the case.
Just like with pike, a British infantry bayonet charge was the job of
professionals, not amateurs. But the
cost was lower than compared to merely paying mercenaries and the primary cost
was training. And like with the Germans
of last century, that institutionalized infrastructure militarily ended up
being not so much a factor of money but of organization. Not duplicated by many simply because they
hadn’t built that infrastructure.
*
The British bayonet
tactics still worked as long as they did because muzzleloaders allowed a
bayonet charge to succeed. Even with
rows of alternating shooters to achieve a near continuous volley fire, it wasn’t
practical for several different reasons to make the columns too many rows deep
( logistics and expense, not to mention training and the retention of so many
bodies ), and with the proper training but more importantly the proper
discipline and motivation, you could still disrupt the enemy line with a
bayonet charge. Now, this certainly did
NOT all by itself win the Limey’s an empire.
But the success of the empire certainly highlighted the tactic and won
it favor in military circles.
*
All in all, military
leaders are a bit retarded. The ones
that aren’t stand out. They looked at a
successful empire which was primarily won by the new form of private centralized
banking ( financing won, not the military ) and instead thought the tactics won
them the empire. Like all empires, the
formation depended on a confluence of factors, not just one, but it is human
nature to look for singular cause and effect.
Being military, the generals saw the military tactic and wished it into
primary cause. Their little pea brains
couldn’t work out things beyond that.
*
As a result, WWI started
with tactics that were thought to be the best ones, ones that had worked in the
past. Nobody thought that perhaps with
smokeless powder a bayonet charge wasn’t feasible anymore ( to be fair, the
German’s weren’t as big of idiots as the others ). As I said, spears didn’t work for the native
who were JUST defeated by Maxin gun and the breech loading rifle, and yet White
soldiers ran at each others machineguns with modern spears. Dumb asses.
Just like today, when the US Navy thinks it can rule the world with
aircraft carriers than can be scuttled with missiles.
*
World War one finally made
the bayonet obsolete as all but a last ditch personal defensive weapon, but
just as all the leaders had forgotten why the bayonet worked or didn’t work, no
one was paying attention to that large ass caliber everyone was firing to stop
cavalry. This chapter will continue.
( .Y. )
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*
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*
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*
note: no, Spanky, no one knows exactly what happened on 9/11. It is easy to surmise the official story is crap. Kerosene burns through steel as well as a single magical bullet defies physics in Dallas. All conjecture NOT the official story is just that. But logical guesses are not only fun, they underline the need to be skeptical of everything you hear, on all subjects. This video really held my interest click here .
*
note: free books. Oz YA PA https://amzn.to/2oa85Vb . Gotta have zombies https://amzn.to/2P0djOQ . PA anthology https://amzn.to/2BKM898 . Pandemic https://amzn.to/2wnW8PE . YA pandemic https://amzn.to/2MHjryb .
*
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