Fencing style
Fechtart (fencing method) is the type of fighting peculiar to an army , a class of troops or a people, both in relation to the structure of the army itself as well as to the arrangement of the individual fighters to one another and ultimately in the use of the weapon itself. The type of fencing determines the military operations and is considered part of the tactic .
The type of fencing developed when the battles no longer consisted of loosely connected individual fights . Later it became more and more part of the military science debate and study. The type of fencing is first expressed in the drill regulations and then, if necessary, in combat.
General
The modern types of fencing are characterized by the usually great distance between the weapon and the target on which it is acting.
Every weapon has its own type of fencing, which changes with the perfection of the weapon, and moreover the state of culture and the character of a people determine its type of fencing. The type of fencing forms an essential part of the tactic , which also includes the movement of troops on the battlefield. The terms type of fencing and tactics coincide the more the combat movements recede. The troop movements on the battlefield are primarily due to the action of the long-range weapons ; the further they reach, the earlier the actual battle begins as a firefight, and the further the distances have to be covered in order to reach the enemy with the bayonet . The greater the accuracy and range of fire of the firearms, the more one will try to protect oneself against their effects, both by using cover and by loosening up the fighting lines and setting them up at more or less wide intervals one behind the other, in a scattered manner of fencing. Nothing is more dangerous than getting into the range of the artillery in a closed order . The deeper the limbs one behind the other and the closer the squads stand next to each other, the more devastating will be the effect of impacting grenades . The scattered type of fencing, in turn, compels the artillery to make more extensive use of shrapnel .
history
Even if the peoples of antiquity fought with long-range weapons, bows , slingshots and javelins , their mode of action with the usual shot of the combatants through shield and armor could not cause a scattered type of fencing in the modern sense, although the battle was opened by scattered fencers. The actual fight of the arms was a close combat with spear and sword in closed order. The basic form of the Greek order of battle was the phalanx ; the individual armies stood side by side in a line, the riders and the lightly armed, carrying bows, javelins, slingshots, on their wings; the latter opened the battle in a scattered manner, comparable to our rifle lines ; they were followed by the heavily armed hoplite phalanx , whose thrust was tremendous given the unity of the large arms. The cavalry, difficult to use in the Greek mountainous country, remained of secondary importance for the fight until it led Alexander the great to brilliant development. Although the Greek armies were tactically superior to the clumsy Persian armies in their well-ordered structure, they lacked the necessary mobility for better exploitation of favorable moments of battle, in which direction Epameinondas in the battle of Leuktra 371 BC. BC took the first decisive step with its crooked order of battle . He divided his army into an offensive and a defensive wing, formed the former from the best troops in a deep phalanx, but the latter from small, shallow columns, which he held back as a second meeting, as it were as a reserve, while those proceeded to attack. The thrust tactics, which thus developed to a high level, reached their peak under Alexander, who made excellent use of numerous cavalry, but fell into disrepair under his successors. The Greeks were subject to the Romans, the phalanx to the Legion . The representation of the legion, the basis of the Roman order of battle of the 2nd and 1st centuries BC. BC, was a meeting position.
In front of the front, the Velites , light infantry armed with bows or javelins , fought in a scattered manner of fencing. Behind them stood in three meetings in a checkerboard shape, 30–50 paces apart, first the Hastats , armed with two javelins, sword and dagger and lightly armored, behind them the Principes with the pilum (javelin) and in the third meeting the Triarians , the veterans , equipped with the 4 m long pike ( hasta ), both heavily armored. The Hastati and Principe were our companies comparable in manipuli split to 100, the Triarier to 60 men, 3 manipuli formed a cohort , 10 cohorts legion. The Velites were not included in the actual strength of the Legion; after the beginning of the battle they withdrew to the wings of the position, the Hastats advanced, threw their pilum from a close range and took up their swords, then the Principes followed them. The Triarians, who rested during the fight, only intervened in an emergency to bring about the decision. The cavalry, divided into 10 towers of 30 men each, stood on the wings of the legion and was only later valued more by the Romans and used in larger numbers than the auxiliary peoples provided. With the decline of the Roman Empire, so did his art of war ; The formation came closer and closer to the deep pile of the phalanx, then went over to one such in two shallow meetings, which, however, did not gain the hoped-for increase in combat strength from the numerous catapults and ballistae , comparable to our current field artillery , to the army to be able to resist the Teutons . The Teutons fought in deep armies, organized according to tribal societies.
Later on, the feudal system developed into knighthood, always ready to fight, its armored riders with lance , sword and mace fought in deep squadrons. Their approach with the lance was followed by the individual fight. Up until the 13th century the infantry, which also appeared in the cross armies, consisting of the servants of the knights or mercenaries , lacked a regulated type of fencing. Under the compulsion of the technically perfect long-range weapons, bows and crossbows , as well as bare weapons, the armor grew stronger and stronger, the rider more and more clumsy and clumsy for combat.
The flourishing cities of the Hanseatic League , but above all the Swiss Confederation , created a new infantry out of the bourgeoisie in the 14th and 15th centuries, which, with halberd and pike, forced the knight off his horse and, after the handguns and artillery in increasing numbers appeared on the battlefields, also eliminated the tank. The large, 3–4,000 strong squad of the Swiss became smaller up to 1,000 men among the mercenaries . In front of them the lost servants opened the battle with arquebuses and muskets and withdrew before the attack of the horsemen under the protection of the spears of the bright heap. This made the hedgehog, against cavalry, comparable to the later square, whereby the spikes, pointing diagonally outwards, were pried into the earth with the shoe. The increasing effect of the firearms forced a flatter setup and the spirit of the offensive to more agile formation. Moritz of Orange divided his infantry into battalions of 500 men (Fig. 2). Gustav Adolf went even further; the brigade , consisting of 3 battalions of 4 ensigns, became his actual combat unit. It stood in two meetings and six members (Fig. 3), the cavalry in small squadrons on the wings. The artillery that had appeared in the field battle since the middle of the 15th century had become more maneuverable and was assigned to the infantry in small calibers as regimental items by Gustav Adolf.
Guns and small arms became more and more numerous, and by the beginning of the 18th century the pike was ousted from the larger armies. Frederick II set up the infantry in three sections. When the opponents had approached in long, straight lines (hence linear tactics), shoulder to shoulder up to 200 paces, one showered oneself with volleys that were delivered in trains (peloton, sd) or in groups (hedge fire). Whoever fired the fastest had the most chance of success. The Prussian infantry reached five salvos per minute. During the pauses in fire one approached and tried to force the enemy to back down by fire; if this did not succeed, the bayonet attack followed. 300 paces behind the first was the second meeting in line. Karree was formed against cavalry attacks. Through Frederick II the cavalry received a level of tactical training that is barely reached today. Armed with a saber , pistol and carbine , she was supposed to work against cavalry by the strength of her run-up and the use of her bare weapon, but also to support the infantry in rolling up enemy lines; she was also practiced in foot combat. In order to fight together with her, Frederick the Great created the mounted artillery in 1759, armed with 6-pound cannons, while the infantry wielded 3-pound battalion artillery. The foot artillery, which carried 6-, 12- and 24-pounders, opened the battle, united in batteries . Flat terrain was preferred because it favored the movement of long, closed lines.
At the end of the 18th century the epoch of the scattered type of fencing began. It came from North America, where at the beginning of the war of liberation the peasants naturally began fighting in this form against the British troops. This example was successfully imitated by the French in their revolutionary wars and forced their opponents to do the same type of fencing. The infantry, armed with drawn rifles (rifles), opened the battle as voltigeurs in a broken line using the cover provided by the terrain. The closed departments stood in columns behind her as support. They no longer avoided the cut terrain, but sought it out for cover, as well as the forests and villages. This receded the importance of the cavalry for combat, but at the same time it was used for the reconnaissance and security service, which only came into full effect in the course of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870/71.
The scattered type of fencing came to ever further development and training as a result of the introduction of breech-loading rifles and the artillery, which was so extraordinarily perfected in technical terms, which did not lag behind the cavalry in terms of speed and maneuverability, and in combination with its ammunition, which was improved in the same way, it won one tremendous effect and combat strength, that since 1870 it has been the third main weapon on an equal footing with the infantry and cavalry. It opens the battle against enemy artillery and the developing infantry at long distances. As soon as it comes into the enemy fire area, on the level 600–700 m from the enemy, it assumes the dispersed order. The rifle line (Fig. 4) is followed by small support troops at about 150 paces, a front meeting 100 paces behind them and the main meeting (first meeting) about 150 paces behind, the rest of the battalions, in line or double column; A second meeting and the reserve follow each 150–300 steps backwards. This. Distances will often increase, depending on the terrain, if consideration for cover under lively enemy fire requires this. On the other hand, they will often diminish in defensive positions. With leaps and bounds at a running pace, lying down and firing, the previous meeting is led into the rifle line as soon as it has come to the enemy at about 200-300 paces; after a short rapid fire it then breaks out at the enemy at a storm pace; if he waits for the impact, a scuffle ensues. The winner pursues the turnout through fire. In defense, the front line is firing in trenches or behind natural cover; Support troops are not far behind them; the rearwardly positioned companies do not take action until the enemy has made the last attempt.
The cavalry finds its main task, as mentioned, in the reconnaissance and security service and has been enabled by armed with the carbine and training in foot combat to protect itself against hostile ventures on bridges, narrow roads, forests, etc. and to break a path. The cavalry's form of combat is line. The cavalry divisions consist of 6 regiments in Germany and France and 4 regiments in Russia and Austria, 2 of which each form a brigade. Each division has 3 batteries on board. In battle, the cavalry's form of attack is attack.
The field artillery appears in large masses (mass tactics), begins its fire at 2000–2500 m with grenades and advances in stages to a second position at around 1200 m in order to shake the enemy. She played a major part in the pursuit because she was able to send her fire to the retreating enemy at 4000-5000 m without changing her position.
literature
- Max Jähns: History of the Warfare from Primeval Times to the Renaissance . Grunow, Berlin 1880, DNB 580985253 .
- Albert von Boguslawski : The fencing style of all time . Luckhardt, Berlin 1880, DNB 572461135 .
- Jakob Meckel: General doctrine of troop leadership in war . Mittler, Berlin 1890.
