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回复 #31 固山 的帖子
1595年英格兰“终止长弓法令”与Smyth-Barwyck辩论
前面说过,到了16世纪20年代意大利战争结束时,欧洲大陆主要国家都已经使用火绳枪作为主要射击武器。而在英格兰,长弓退出舞台的步伐要慢的多。在 1569年的Rising in the North中,约克郡Sus***伯爵召集的2000军队中仅有60名火枪手。而到了1588年为对抗西班牙无敌舰队的入侵而召集的军队中,许多郡诸如 Cambridgeshire, Huntingdonshire以及伦敦的士兵都完全由长枪手和火枪手编成。只有两个郡(Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire)的军队当中,长弓手数目超过了火枪手。
1595年,英国议会通过了“终止长弓法令”,要求“在未来征召的军队当中,长弓不再被认为是一件合格的武器。这个标准适用于任何地区的任何人。所有射击部队都必须装备火绳枪或者滑膛枪”。这不仅仅是长弓的末日,也基本上意味着欧洲冷兵器时代的结束和热兵器时代的开始。
作为威震欧洲三百年的英格兰民族骄傲,支持长弓反对改革的保守派自然不少。在文艺复兴的大背景下,保守派和改革派双方在公开场合和出版物中进行了大量争鸣和辩论。改革派要想淘汰长弓,不但要以理服人,而且要用浅显的道理让并不那么懂军事的国会明白自己的观点方能取胜。而上面的“终止长弓法令”,就是这场大辩论的最终结果。而其中最精彩的一个桥段,莫如长弓派代表人物Sir John Smyth与其对手Humphrey Barwyck之间的经典之战。这是至今为止笔者看到的过的最精彩的辩论之一,特别是看到Humphrey Barwyck的逐条反驳的时候不禁拍案叫绝。其中我们可以看到16世纪末的军事家们,对于火枪和弓弩两者之间优劣的代表性观点。为表达文中的精彩之处,作者决定原文贴出。之后笔者会对提供参考翻译,并对其中观点作一定的讨论。
以下内容来源于Sir Charles Oman, A History of the Art of War in Sixteen Century。
首先是Sir John Smyth的长弓六大优势:
(1).The trained archer takes a better aim than the arquebusier --- who can only shoot accurately at very close range---point-blank---while a good bowman can hit accurately at 150 or 200 yards---distance at which the arquebusier can only fire wildly at anything over 100 yards
训练有素的弓箭手拥有比火绳枪手更高的射击精度---火绳枪手只能在非常近的距离上精确射击---即所谓point-blank射击---而一名出色的弓箭手可以在150到200码距离上精确命中目标---在100码以上距离火绳枪手只能击中天知道什么东西。
(2).The bow is a simple weapon—firearms very complicated things, which can get out of order in many ways; the piece clogs and fouls easily, is liable to breakage, and can only be repaired by a skilled gunsmith. Wet weather spoils the powder, windy weather blows out the match, or sends its sparks flying among the powder of horns or bandoliers.
弓箭是非常简单的武器---火器则非常复杂,很容易发生各式各样的故障。零件容易堵塞或者沾染赃物,容易泄漏,并且只能被专业的工匠修理。潮湿的天气可以让火药失效,大风可以吹灭火绳,或者把火绳上的火花吹到装满火药的药筒或者弹带上。
(3).In the excitement of battle all but the oldest and steadiest troops are liable to mishandle their weapons. One man, in his haste forgets the wadding between powder and ball, anther the wadding to keep the ball down. Smyth has seen bullets trickle out of the mouth of a caliver, for want of wadding, when the soldier was holding it with the muzzle depressed. “This is why when musketeers of a raw sort shoot point-blank at whole battalions, sometimes only few are seen to fall”
在激烈的战斗中,除了最有经验和最坚定的士兵,多数人都很容易操作失误。忙乱中士兵可能会忘了在火药和弹丸间装填充物。Smyth曾经见到因为没有填充物许多士兵枪口朝下的时候,弹丸从枪口滚落出来。“这就是为什么当一群菜鸟火绳枪手在近距离射击对方整个方阵的时候,你往往只看到几个倒下的”。
(4).Arquebusiers can only stand two deep, archers are effective even six deep, when the rear ranks shoot with a high trajectory.
火绳枪手最多只能在战斗中排列成两排,而弓箭手可以排成六排纵深,因为后面的各排可以实施超越射击。
(5).The arquebus is a very heavy weapon compared with the bow, and tires out soldiers on the march; their aims grow unsteady after half an hour’s rapid firing.
火绳枪比弓重的多,很容易造成士兵行军疲劳。此外也很容易让他们在半个小时速射后失去准头。
(6).Most of all important is the old and effective argument on rapidity of discharge. A bowman can let off six aimed shots in a minute, an arquebusier only one in two or three minutes, when he has gone through all his manual exercise carefully.
最重要也是最老生常谈却最有效的一条是关于射速。一名弓箭手可以每分钟瞄准射击六次,而一名火绳枪手只能每两三分钟射击一次,这还是在他严格按照程序操作的情况下。
接下来,是Humphrey Barwyck的逐条反驳:
(1).Archers are no longer accurate shooters at long ranges---their art is much decayed.
弓箭手能在原距离精确射击的日子已经过去了---他们的技术下降很快。
(2).If bad weather is pernicious to firearms, it is no less so to bows. Rain makes bowstrings slacks, and after a march in the wet arrow—feathers flake off.
如果说坏天气对火绳枪不利,对于弓也好不到哪里去。下雨可以让弓弦松弛,在雨天行军以后,箭羽往往会脱落。
(3).Archers can be as nervous in battle as arquebusiers. Barwyck has seen them, when excited, fail to draw the arrow to the head, and shoot wildly without aim, in order to let off as many shafts per minute as possible.
弓箭手在战斗中一样会紧张。Barwyck曾经见过紧张的射手并没有把箭拉过头,并且不经瞄准的乱射,只求射出的箭越多越好。
(4).When archers stand more than two deep, the rear ranks are taking no real aim, but only shooting at hazard into the air.
当弓箭手排列两列以上纵深的时候,后排只能不经瞄准的胡乱往空中乱射。
(5).The bowman is dependent for real efficiency on his bodily strength much more than the arquebusier. “If he have not his three meals a day, as is his custom at home, nor lies warm at nights, he presently waxes benumbed and feeble, and cannot draw so as to shoot long shots”.
与火绳枪手相比,弓箭手依赖的是自身体能。“如果他每天不能像在家里那样吃饱饭,晚上不能暖和的睡觉,他会变得很弱,自然不能射出像样的箭来”
(6).The improvement of firearms, and the practice of constant drill, is making old soldiers capable of discharging many more shots in a fixed time than was possible a few years back. They can now shoot off forty times in an hour, and the rate will continue.
火器的发展,加上持久的训练,让如今老兵的射速比几年前快多了。他们现在每小时可以射击40次,这个好势头会继续下去的。 |
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