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The means of transporting guns also changed. The bombard, cores and gunpowder were transported on several special wagons. They also carried wooden beams to lay the gun in position, shields to cover the barrel and servants during loading. Smaller guns also had separate means of transportation and firing stands. All this economy was heavy and clumsy. A great relief was the appearance of gun carriages - usually wooden two-wheeled machines with massive beds, between which guns were placed on special supports - pillows. The rear ends of the frames during firing rested on the ground and absorbed the recoil when fired. They were transported on special two-wheeled wagons - limbers.

The trunk itself has also been improved. Efficiency of firing was possible only if the “body” of the gun was securely fixed in the carriage, but at the same time it was necessary to change the angle of its elevation. Pins appeared - cylindrical tides on the sides of the trunk, which fit into nests - semicircular cutouts on the beds. The recoil when fired could not now throw the barrel off the carriage, at the same time, a special device made it possible to raise and lower its breech (rear) part, and at the same time, the front - muzzle lowered or rose accordingly. The rear section of the barrel (plate) initially rested on the gun carriage tree, directly transferring the recoil to it. Now this was no longer necessary - the return went through the trunnions. They began to make tides on the plates in the form of a ball on the neck, so that it would be more convenient to raise and lower the barrel. The balls were most often cast in the form of grape brushes - hence their name: "vingrads". Above the trunnions in the upper part of the trunk there were special brackets - also to facilitate its lowering and lifting. Staples were given different shapes, but most often they resembled marine animals with arched backs, and gradually the name “dolphins” was established behind them.

This type of artillery gun retained for a long time. Over time, its proportions changed, the barrel and carriage became lighter, unnecessary decorations disappeared and, most importantly, the casting quality improved. The mobility of artillery increased, and its role in battle became somewhat different.

In the 17th and 18th centuries the guns were placed in a line in front of the front of the troops or evenly placed between battle formations. They were used most often only to prepare an attack or to help troops repulse an enemy attack. Lines of soldiers stood before the muzzles of the enemy's cannons, spewing deadly projectiles, and waited for the signal to move. The cores were knocked out of the lines by one or the other soldier, and then the command followed: “Close ranks!” Such a cannonade could go on for a very long time.

On July 2, 1644, during the civil war in England, at Marston Moor, the army of King Charles I and the army of Parliament met (see the article "England in the Modern Age"). The troops stood all day. Artillery duel continued from morning to evening. According to a contemporary, it seemed that all the air turned into a fiery element. Only at 7 pm the parliamentary squadrons under the command of Oliver Cromwell launched an attack that was unexpected for the enemy and later became so famous, which neither the royalist cavalry of Prince Rupert nor the infantry of the supporters of the king could withstand.

In the middle of the XVIII century. the role of artillery in combat has changed. The famous artillery theorist and practitioner, the Frenchman Griboval, first in Austria, and then in his homeland, proposed a completely new system. The Griboval system is not only lightweight gun barrels and more comfortable carriages. This is not only streamlining calibers and strict adherence to the same casting rules at different cannon factories. This is, first of all, the recognition of an independent role in the battle for artillery. This new role of artillery was clearly manifested at the turn of the 18th-19th centuries. Huge masses of infantry now took part in the battles. Deep columns attacked the enemy's battle formations. Maneuverable guns during the battle were reduced to batteries, and these batteries delivered massive fire strikes on the most vulnerable places of the enemy's defense. The combat situation changed - and the batteries broke off and moved to new positions, reinforced with new guns, or, conversely, disbanded.

The advancing columns of the enemy met with dense fire, capable of stopping and throwing back entire divisions. Cannonballs were fired over long distances. Bombs and grenades (of the same design as bombs, but of a smaller diameter) were used to destroy field earthen fortifications and defeat manpower. If the enemy was nearby and was preparing to "saddle" the battery, buckshot was fired at point-blank range - shells consisting of lead or cast-iron bullets tied with tarred string or placed in tin cylinders.

The guns were loaded quickly. If earlier it was necessary to first measure the required portion of gunpowder, pour it into the channel, hammer in a wooden cork and only then put in a charge, now the projectile was sewn together with a pre-measured amount of gunpowder into "caps" - canvas bags.

By the beginning of the XIX century. artillery became powerful and mobile, reached perfection. Further, a change in the very principles of the design of guns was required.

Early examples of handguns can only be seen in a few museums. These are small (approximately 10-50 cm long and 20-40 mm in caliber) barrels made of iron or bronze with an ignition hole at the top in the breech. Heavy wooden decks, to which these trunks were attached with hoops, or round rods, on which they were mounted with the help of recesses on their back sections, almost did not survive. Ancient miniatures depict how this weapon was fired. The shooter clamped a loaded weapon under his arm, put it on his shoulder or rested on his chest and aimed at the target. The charge was ignited when a wick or a red-hot rod was brought to the ignition hole. This operation was often performed not by the shooter himself, but by his assistant. Such shooting was, of course, both ineffective and inconvenient, if not unsafe. Improvements that master gunsmiths of the 15th century. introduced into the design of handguns, may seem too simple and elementary today, and this weapon itself is called primitive in historical literature. But between a bombardella and a modern machine gun, the distance is still much less than between the same bombardella and a bow with arrows. Maybe our descendants will call the primitive and the automaton. Modern weapons designers are moving along the path beaten by the gunsmiths of the XIV-XV centuries.

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среда, 27 мая 2020 г.

News update 27/05/2020 (11281)

Cars drawings 27/05/2020

среда, 27 мая 2020 г.

News update 27/05/2020 (11281)

Cars drawings 27/05/2020

среда, 27 мая 2020 г.