Bow/crossbow and arquebuses deployment

by The_Smoking_Owl

Hey looked alot online but cant really find some real info. Im wondering how early armies deployed these weapons in armies in a time which they overlapped. Read about the streltsy of russia and how they used firearms but russia still used archers apparently. how would they deploy such troops in a army? Also the ottomans had the janissary which was allowed to use firemarms, but still had archers. Would they deploy them together? early renaissance also had crossbows when they had the early arquebus. which target did they have? When did you deploy your archers and when your firearms? Cant really find some historic answers.

SgtBANZAI

Read about the streltsy of russia and how they used firearms but russia still used archers apparently. how would they deploy such troops in a army?

Firearms were meaningful part of Russian armies since at least second half of 15th century, but up until 17th century main brunt of the warfare was also put upon shoulders of feudal levy called pomestnaia konniza, who primarily consisted out of low-rank noblemen. Konniza was usually deployed as light cavalry, primarily armed with melee weaponry (swords, sabres, axes) and bows. They often acted as skirmishers, luring enemy into the ambush under cannon and musket fire of the infantry or encircling opposing forces and catching them off-guard if possible. The way they armed themselves and operated was the result of military evolution under constant steppe pressure: after the fall of united Horde to the south and east of Russian lands, Tatars turned to plundering raids and deep strikes into Russian territories, preferring to avoid pitched battles and making the most out of their agility. Thus, Russian warriors had to adapt to the new kind of warfare, with great emphasis on horse archery, since it was the most common way of ranged attacks from horseback at the time.

It was, however, quickly discovered, that light cavalry alone can't decide outcome of all engagements, since it was near useless in sieges (unless they were lucky and managed to catch the city unprepared) and against heavily entranched infantry supported by artillery. Infantry with firearms, called pischalniki, was rarely used in the open, and they were primarily delegated the role of city defenders and assistance during town assaults. There was a need for more or less uniformed type of infantry able to support mounted warriors. This is why Ivan IV formed Streltsy corps in the middle of 16th century, who, coupled with cossacks, became the staple of Russian ranged combat infantry up until 1630s.

Streltsy at the time didn't use pikes and complex formations, preferring to dig in on the field of battle with the help of gulyay-gorod - mobile fortification which looked like a caravan of shields mounted on wheels, with windows to allow defenders to shoot. Under protection of gulyay-gorod Streltsy could maintain pressure on attacking enemy forces, repelling Tatar attempts at breaking through. In case of overwhelming enemy presence konniza was usually hiding inside and would emerge once opposing forces lost cohesion, finishing the rout. In essence, Russian army of Reneissance consisted of two distinct parts - slow-moving infantry forts and hosts of light cavalry, who were usually fighting advancing enemy forces head-on and could always retreat into the safety of guyay-gorod. If the enemy pursued, Streltsy and cossacks would open fire, repell the attackers and make them lose cohesion, so that konniza can reform and counter-attack, breaking enemy formation.

In later parts of 16th and early 17th centuries konniza also started to rely on firearms instead of traditional bow weaponry, and in time evolve into Russian reiters.