The Rise of the European Emperor

The socket bayonet probably appeared at the end of the 17th century, and was invented and promoted by the French. Although there have been classical bayonets with broken spears inserted into the barrel for stabbing, the practicality of that bayonet is very poor. Once the spearhead is stuck in the enemy's body, it is difficult to withdraw it. Because, when it was pulled back, the broken spear and the barrel were separated.

Once this happens, the musketeer will lose the ability to fight back and kill the enemy. Therefore, although the prototype of the bayonet with a broken spear inserted into the barrel appeared in the 16th century, it is very poor in practicability.

It wasn't until 1703 that French Marshal Vauban promoted the socket bayonet with clips in the French army that the bayonet really had mature combat capabilities.

In the Battle of the Beilbach River that broke out that year, the entire French army charged with bayonets and defeated the Prussian army that had just been promoted to the kingdom at that time.

In the past, Marin had always used the bayonet as a secret technique and had been refusing to release it. But then Marin figured it out. The bayonet is certainly a good technique, but in this era, the bayonet technique is not that important.

Because, in this era, the spearmen have not yet withdrawn from the stage of history, and they are still the main force of the armies of various countries. With spearmen, the role of the bayonet is actually very small.

The reason why the bayonet shined in the late 17th and 18th centuries was mainly because the pikeman had already withdrawn from the stage of history at that time. Without the suppression of the spear, the musketeer equipped with a bayonet is naturally much more fierce than the opponent's musketeer without a bayonet.

Therefore, it is wrong to regard the bayonet as a magic weapon in many novels. Of course, this refers to Europe where spearmen are popular.

And if you travel to the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the bayonet is really useful. Because, in the army of Ming and Qing Dynasties, there were fewer long weapons, but a lot of swords and muskets.

In the face of swords and muskets, musketeers with bayonets do have an advantage. why? A musket with a bayonet is naturally longer than a sword. The so-called "one inch is longer and one inch is stronger", plus stabbing is more lethal than chopping, the natural power is infinite. As for the matchlock gunners facing the Ming and Qing Dynasties, they have an even more advantage. After all, an arquebus that is too late to reload is just a fire stick.

In the battle of Zhenjiang fought by the British army in the Crow War, the bannermen guarding Zhenjiang mainly used waist knives. This thing is very common in braid dramas, and it is also light and beautiful. However, this thing is more than enough to suppress the common people, and using it on the battlefield is courting death.

Even if you have practiced sword skills, you still have to drink hatred when facing opponents with bayonets like forests. After all, the battlefield is not one-on-one. You can use a waist knife to push aside a stab, but you can't resist other stabs coming from the side.

Of course, there were also spearmen in the Qing army. But the spears used by the Qing army are not as long as the European spears, and the spearmen in the Qing army are out-and-out cannon fodder soldiers, purely making up numbers and waving flags.

Therefore, the spearmen of the Qing army obviously had the advantage in weapons, but because the people who used them were not good, they could not beat the bayonets of the British soldiers.

And those elite banner soldiers with martial arts, because they like to use tall and tall waist knives, their martial arts are wasted. As Napoleon said - "Two Mamluk cavalry can definitely defeat three French cavalry, a hundred French cavalry and a hundred Mamluk cavalry are evenly matched, but three hundred French cavalry can probably defeat three hundred Mamluk cavalry, And 1,000 French cavalry can always defeat 1,500 Mamluk cavalry". Weapons were restrained, even if Hai Ling's Qi Yong was a rare elite in that era, he could not resist the British bayonet formation.

Of course, it doesn't mean that Hailing's Qiyong all use waist knives, they also use matchlock guns. But it is even worse to use matchlock guns, because the Qing army's matchlock guns did not have bayonets, and they could only be beaten when encountering British bayonet charges. But those Qiyong who have melee ability use waist knives (no way, Qing army officers and elites like to use waist knives, and waist knives are also a symbol of status in the Qing army).

The Ming army was similar, because the steel smelting was very developed in the Ming Dynasty, and the supply of steel was extremely sufficient. Therefore, the supply of Ming army swords is also very sufficient. For example, the Xiuchun Knife of Jinyiwei and the Yanling Knife of the Ming Army are already very popular and famous.

Therefore, the bayonet can indeed make a difference in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. This is caused by the characteristics of the times, but if you take a bayonet to the early Tang Dynasty and try it? The Mo Dao Formation can definitely kill the Bayonet Formation in seconds... Without him, they are longer than you...

...

In other words, there is nothing particularly powerful about the socket bayonet that was brought out in this era. After all, when it comes to fighting, the bayonet formation cannot fight the spear formation.

But the bayonet does not mean that it is useless, at least, with the bayonet, the musketeer has the ability to fight back. Unlike before, when there was no time to load ammunition, a musketeer without a bayonet was a fish to be slaughtered.

After installing the socket bayonet, the musketeer can become a unit that can act alone, and no longer necessarily needs the protection of the spearman.

As for the issue of not being able to fight the spearman, as long as you are not brain-dead, you will not let the musketeer fight with the opponent's spearman...

The correct way to open it should be—seeing that the opponent is a spearman, shoot the opponent from a long distance. Seeing that the opponent is a musketeer, he charged with a bayonet...

In short, there is no one trick that is eaten all over the world on the battlefield, and adapting measures to local conditions is the kingly way.

...

But anyway, the socket bayonet that Marin took out still amazed everyone...

The bayonet on the sleeve bayonet is very simple, as long as there is a protruding clip near the muzzle, and the bottom of the sleeve bayonet has a corresponding gap. When the bayonet is attached, the gap at the bottom of the bayonet is inserted along the clip, and then twisted, the clip just catches the corner of the gap, and the bayonet is firmly stuck on the muzzle. In this way, the bayonet cannot be dropped and can be used for fighting with confidence.

It is different from the bayonet bayonets of later generations, because in this era, an iron strip was inserted under the barrel for ammunition loading. Therefore, in order not to affect the extraction and insertion of the iron rod, after the bayonet is fixed, it is not suspended under the muzzle, but on the side of the muzzle. In this way, it will not affect the musketeer to draw out the iron rod to load ammunition.

Moreover, this bayonet is really a spear stab. In order to prevent soldiers from being cut by bayonets when loading ammunition at the muzzle. Therefore, the socket bayonets of the early years often had no blades. At least, there is no edge near the muzzle. In this way, it is possible to prevent soldiers from accidentally cutting their hands when loading ammunition.

Only the front end of the bayonet, farther from the muzzle, is sharpened. The musketeer fights with the bayonet, and also relies on the front edge and the point of the knife to fight with the person, injure or even kill the enemy...

As a traverser, Marin naturally knew how to kill the enemy more efficiently. Therefore, there are deep blood grooves on the bayonets of Beihai. Once the enemy is stabbed by the bayonet, blood will spurt from the blood tank. Then, the enemy who was hit by the knife quickly bleeds into a river, and soon loses blood to death... In fact, the three-edged bayonet of later generations is almost the same principle. But the triangular bayonet caused trouble, so Marin simplified it a bit, and only opened two deep blood grooves on both sides of the ordinary bayonet...