Guderian2nd
Your (Future)Emperor
I've often heard it mentioned that during the 16th~17th century, the Spanish Armies trained their soldiers handling firearms to focus on individual aimed shots at single targets and other accuracy-oriented training, similar to those of Japan. It is often mentioned in the context of firepower vs shock; ie. the Spanish even went as far to put sights on many of their firearms and could inflict casualties from distances over 200 yards away, where as the other armies like the Swedes or the Dutch instead focused more delivering shock in massed volleys rather than accuracy, and that the victory of the latter over the former proved the superiority of shock over continuous accurate firepower on the battlefield.
However, it is my understanding that more recent scholarship has cast doubt on the whole matter of the Swedes or the Dutch overcoming the Spanish tercios through superior linear tactics; rather, it has come to light that the Spanish were already well-utilizing many of the supposed elements of linear tactics that would be attributed to the Military Revolution before the Swedes or the Dutch, things such as massed volley fire, individual small units below the size of 500, flexible linear deployment, etc. They were not the most powerful and effective army in Europe by having outdated tactics, even well in to the mid-17th century.
If so, that casts doubt on the idea that the Spanish trained to focus on individual sharpshooting than delivering volleys even as late as the 30 years war. Does anyone know of any good academic literature that casts light on the subject, where the supposed focus on individual marksmanship is elaborated upon?
However, it is my understanding that more recent scholarship has cast doubt on the whole matter of the Swedes or the Dutch overcoming the Spanish tercios through superior linear tactics; rather, it has come to light that the Spanish were already well-utilizing many of the supposed elements of linear tactics that would be attributed to the Military Revolution before the Swedes or the Dutch, things such as massed volley fire, individual small units below the size of 500, flexible linear deployment, etc. They were not the most powerful and effective army in Europe by having outdated tactics, even well in to the mid-17th century.
If so, that casts doubt on the idea that the Spanish trained to focus on individual sharpshooting than delivering volleys even as late as the 30 years war. Does anyone know of any good academic literature that casts light on the subject, where the supposed focus on individual marksmanship is elaborated upon?