Bayonet? Can modern warfare still be used?

Bayonet? Can modern warfare still be used?

In the movie "Fighting in the South and Fighting in the North", facing the friendly artillery who rushed to the battlefield on the gunboat, the PLA infantry proudly said: "Don't forget, guns can't be bayoneted, and it depends on our infantry to solve the battle!" From this point of view, bayonet is an important equipment for infantry melee.

However, as a pure cold weapon, how did the bayonet cross the long river of history and enter the 2 1 century?

The original origin of bayonet is actually due to the disadvantages of primitive firearms. When the flintlock gun entered the historical stage, its reliability and performance were "unreliable". In addition to its limited power and frequent launch failures, loading it is also extremely time-consuming and laborious. It is not uncommon for a load to take a minute or two or more. In the event of an accident, such as shooting failure or running out of ammunition, musketeers may have to face enemy cavalry or infantry. In the next close combat, the musketeer's gun that can't be fired can never be compared with a wooden stick. In order not to let them die by the enemy's sword, they must be equipped with combat weapons for a long time. This is the original cause of bayonet.

In modern English, the Bayonet is called Bayonet, which actually comes from French Bayonnette-it is said that the bayonet was originally born in Bayonne, France, and was equipped with the French army in 1647. A statement that most people are willing to agree with is that in the military conflict that broke out in the French countryside in the mid-Kloc-0/7th century, soldiers in the southern town of Bayonne eagerly stuffed the handle of their long hunting knife into the muzzle and used it as a temporary spear after running out of ammunition, which may be the original origin of bayonets.

There is also a saying that the bayonet was not invented as military equipment, but was originally only for hunting needs. This statement also has its rationality. Early muskets had poor shooting accuracy, but long loading time. It is very dangerous to kill fierce big beasts with this musket.

Once missed, hunters have little chance to reload, so bayonets may be their last resort. The Spaniards are very supportive of this statement, because since the17th century, Spanish hunting firearms have been equipped with self-defense weapons with sharp blades. Many people think that this kind of equipment was later borrowed by the French and eventually became the standard equipment of the French army.

Looking back, the evolution of bayonet. The earliest bayonet was called bayonet, which was shaped as a double-edged spear tip with a conical metal handle. When in use, soldiers will directly insert the tapered metal handle of the bayonet into the muzzle of the musket and then plug it tightly. This bayonet obviously solves the problem of musketeers' hand-to-hand combat, but this primitive bayonet also has many defects: first, the bayonet directly inserted into the muzzle means that they can't shoot in the battle, and when soldiers scramble to install the bayonet, they can't get any protection-they can't shoot or use the bayonet.

1689 there is an extremely unlucky example-when the English army confronted the Scottish army in Kilai, while a British army was installing bayonets after firing ammunition, the brave Scottish Highlander troops launched a sudden attack, and the British soldiers were helpless and flustered, and almost all the troops were wiped out.

Except that the bayonet can't be fired after it is installed, it is easy to loosen due to collision with the enemy during stabbing, and the bayonet originally inserted is likely to suddenly fall off from the muzzle, which is absolutely fatal in the fierce white war. There is also an embarrassing situation, that is, because the plug is too tight, the plug bayonet may not be pulled out after the fight, and the musket cannot be used as a result, and it has become a waste. The British Becker rifle is equipped with a dagger bayonet, which is 60 cm long.

In order to solve many disadvantages of plug bayonet, people invented sleeve bayonet. The structure of sleeve bayonet has changed greatly, and its main structure is composed of a sharp knife body with one end bent and an installation sleeve. When in use, soldiers need to cover the mounting sleeve on the outside of the barrel and clamp it. At this time, the bayonet is located below the barrel, and the rifle with bayonet can still be loaded and fired, which greatly ensures the personal safety of soldiers. Although British soldiers have been wearing bayonets similar to daggers since 1775, they can't be used alone in actual combat because the mounting sleeve is inconvenient to hold and can't be used as a dagger alone. The cross section of many sleeve bayonets is designed to be triangular-similar to a triangular scraper to reduce the weight and ensure the strength of the cutter body. There is a terrible legend that the bayonet with triangular cross section is designed to cause wounds that are difficult to sew and easy to infect on the enemy. In fact, this is not the original intention of this bayonet design-the designer just wants to strike a balance between weight and strength. The Soviet Union is keen on this kind of spike bayonet, and adopted the spike bayonet with foldable cross section on the 1944 Mosinnagan rifle.

A traditional misunderstanding is that many people regard the bayonet as a weapon for infantry to attack bravely, but it was originally only used as a defensive weapon. The infantry in the phalanx are fully capable of defending against the sudden attack of enemy cavalry with bayonets-the total length of their rifles and bayonets makes it easy for them to contact the cavalry on horseback. At that time, the length of musket was about 1.5 m, and the length of bayonet was about 30-40 cm, so the total length of musket with bayonet could reach 1.8- 1.9 m, which was equivalent to a spear.

In history, some countries have tried to equip riflemen with short swords to prevent them from being short-edged. /kloc-At the beginning of the 9th century, some British rifle regiments distributed short swords to soldiers to replace the bayonet function. With the further development of rifle technology, breech-loaded rifles and magazine-fed rifles were invented one after another. With such rifles, soldiers have enough firepower and speed to repel enemy cavalry. That is, from then on, bayonets really began to change from defensive weapons to individual attack and defense weapons. After all, it takes time to install a split bayonet, and it is quite stressful to install a bayonet in a white-hot battle. In order to solve the problem of bayonet installation, some rifles simply adopt permanent bayonet in design. This bayonet is always installed under the barrel of a rifle. It can be folded backward when not in use and folded forward and locked when in use, which greatly facilitates the conversion process and is deeply loved by many soldiers.

Early bayonets were not designed to be multifunctional, and basically had no other uses except being mounted on rifles for stabbing. Soldiers always hope that bayonets can do more. If designers don't consider this, soldiers will explore their own uses. The front end of the sleeve bayonet on the Soviet Mosin-Nagan1891/30 rifle is sharp and flat, so soldiers simply use it as a flat screwdriver, and some soldiers can even use it to completely disassemble a rifle. After the sleeve bayonet appears, the dagger/dagger bayonet appears. This bayonet has the same appearance as a dagger/dagger, and the handle has an installation groove, which can be installed on the installation mechanism below or on the side of the barrel.

Modern bayonets generally adopt two-point installation methods. The bayonet is sleeved on the barrel through the round hole on the handle guard plate, and the rear end of the handle is locked on the rear bamboo shoots in the barrel, which is very convenient and quick.

If disassembly is needed, just press the unlock button with a spring. Modern bayonets are not only easy to install, but also realize many functions, such as cutting wire, cutting branches and opening cans. The bayonet is shorter in length and equipped with a cylindrical handle. Knives are flat, dagger-shaped, with double or single edges, and some single-edged bayonets have serrated backs. Many modern bayonets have a longitudinal groove, which people used to call a blood groove, thinking that its purpose is to make people lose blood quickly after being stabbed. In fact, this is another misunderstanding. The design purpose of this groove is mainly to strengthen the bending stiffness of the bayonet, so that it is not easy to bend and deform when stabbing.

Formally, there are two school bayonet blade designs. One is a flat dagger-shaped double-edged knife, and the other is a spike-shaped spear knife.

/kloc-since the middle of the 0/9th century, the flat blade has been widely used, and the spear blade has gradually faded out of the historical stage. In terms of length, the theory that an inch is longer than an inch is quite popular. Many countries try to design longer bayonets to stab the enemy before he can reach them.

During the period of 1800- 1840, the length of the dagger bayonet used by the British infantry Becker rifle reached 60 cm, but the bayonet was too long and too heavy, which made the rifle top-heavy and basically impossible to aim and shoot accurately. This trend continued until the First World War, when the bayonet length of Lamber rifle equipped by the French army was also 59 cm long.

18- 19 th century, there is always a chapter on the use of bayonets in infantry tactical training courses in various countries. In the battle with the French army commanded by Napoleon, the Russian army often used bayonets for hand-to-hand combat. At that time, Russian general suvorov famously said, "Bullets are stupid, bayonets are smart". This is not an exaggeration. At that time, the flintlock gun was not only not accurate enough, but also had a short range, but it was only about 100 meter. However, within a few meters of the bayonet melee distance, it really achieved "no empty bullets." In many military literature works, the bayonet is touted as a symbolic weapon for soldiers to bravely kill the enemy, but in fact, few soldiers really want to fight their opponents with the bayonet. Britain and France used to be proud of bayonets, but in 180 1, when the British and French armies confronted each other in Egypt, the two sides did not use bayonets after running out of ammunition, but threw stones at each other. As a result, an English staff sergeant was stoned to death by the French. In the Inkman Battle of the Crimean War, facing the Russian army, the British army once again chose to throw stones at the Russian army instead of bayonets. Of course, the effect was very limited. In the famous book Military History, it is even said that the Russian army and the Japanese army, which have always given people the impression of being keen on stabbing, chose stones instead of bayonets in hand-to-hand combat in the wars of the 20th century.

The change of war form in the 20th century obviously weakened the position of bayonet. In fact, as early as 186 1- 1865 during the American Civil War, the number of casualties caused by bayonets was less than 1% of the total casualties.

In modern warfare, although soldiers occasionally get bayonets, because of the large number of automatic pistols and assault rifles, even in melee, they don't have to rely on bayonets. The length of modern assault rifles is generally short, even if the bayonet is installed, the total length of rifle-bayonet is short, so it is difficult to be used as a suitable bayonet weapon. Because of this, it is questioned whether the bayonet should be retained as a weapon.

But at present, most countries still keep bayonets in the accessories of automatic weapons. As recently as 2009, a lieutenant in the British army in Afghanistan saved his life with a bayonet: he met a Taliban while patrolling, and when he hit him with a rifle, his magazine ran out of ammunition. Just then, another Taliban oblique thrust rushed out, and the lieutenant immediately mounted a bayonet and went up to stab the enemy.

Afterwards, the British army also awarded him a medal. In the Korean War, the US military fought with Chinese people's Volunteer Army with bayonets, but the US military was passive, while the volunteers who were good at fighting were more active. But behind this brave spirit, we can't forget the heavy fact that the volunteers lacked melee automatic weapons and infantry support weapons at that time. With the rapid changes of modern warfare, in 20 10, the U.S army announced that it would not continue bayonet fighting training, which may be a signal that the history of bayonet as a combat weapon is coming to an end.