【John Smith】 1. The trained archer takes a better aim than the arquebusier --- who can only shoot accurately at very close range---point-blank---while a good bowman can hit accurately at 150 or 200 yards---distance at which the arquebusier can only fire wildly at anything over 100 yards. 2. The bow is a simple weapon—firearms very complicated things, which can get out of order in many ways; the piece clogs and fouls easily, is liable to breakage, and can only be repaired by a skilled gunsmith. Wet weather spoils the powder, windy weather blows out the match, or sends its sparks flying among the powder of horns or bandoliers. 3. In the excitement of battle all but the oldest and steadiest troops are liable to mishandle their weapons. One man, in his haste forgets the wadding between powder and ball, anther the wadding to keep the ball down. Smyth has seen bullets trickle out of the mouth of a caliver, for want of wadding, when the soldier was holding it with the muzzle depressed. “This is why when musketeers of a raw sort shoot point-blank at whole battalions, sometimes only few are seen to fall.” 4. Arquebusiers can only stand two deep, archers are effective even six deep, when the rear ranks shoot with a high trajectory. 5. The arquebus is a very heavy weapon compared with the bow, and tires out soldiers on the march; their aims grow unsteady after half an hour’s rapid firing. 6. Most of all important is the old and effective argument on rapidity of discharge. A bowman can let off six aimed shots in a minute, an arquebusier only one in two or three minutes, when he has gone through all his manual exercise carefully. 弓箭派代表人约翰·史密斯的观点: 1、经过训练的弓箭手射程很远,可在150到200码的距离命中敌人,而火枪超过100码就只能看几率 2、枪支保养和维修繁琐 3、枪手可能会因为紧张而导致重新装填失败 4、火枪无法进行细密的列队 5、火枪很重(与英国长弓相比),容易阻碍行军速度 6、弓箭可以一分钟进行6次瞄准射击,火枪一分钟只能射击3次
【Humphrey Barwyck】 1. Archers are no longer accurate shooters at long ranges---their art is much decayed. 2. If bad weather is pernicious to firearms, it is no less so to bows. Rain makes bowstrings slacks, and after a march in the wet arrow—feathers flake off. 3. Archers can be as nervous in battle as arquebusiers. Barwyck has seen them, when excited, fail to draw the arro to the head, and shoot wildly without aim, in order to let off as many shafts per minute as possible. 4. When archers stand more than two deep, the rear ranks are taking no real aim, but only shooting at hazard into the air. 5. The bowman is dependent for real efficiency on his bodily strength much more than the arquebusier. “If he have not his three meals a day, as is his custom at home, nor lies warm at nights, he presently waxes benumbed and feeble, and cannot draw so as to shoot long shots”. 6. The improvement of firearms, and the practice of constant drill, is making old soldiers capable of discharging many more shots in a fixed time than was possible a few years back. They can now shoot off forty times in an hour, and the rate will continue 火枪派代表人汉弗莱·巴克威的观点: 1、现在的英国弓箭手技术明显不如从前,其远程命中能力也大幅度下降 2、雨天一样能对弓箭的保养造成不同程度的损失,行军时遇上潮湿天气,弓箭末端的羽尾也会脱落 3、战斗中弓箭手也会和火枪手一样感到紧张,我(巴威克本人)就曾经见到过不少因为紧张而没有拉满弦、只为了进行快速射箭、没有瞄准就乱射的弓箭手 4、实际上,站列数排时,后排的弓箭手并不能瞄准敌人,只能对空发射 5、弓箭手对三餐的需求远大于他们在战场上发挥出来的效果,为了让一个弓箭手可以有力射箭,军队必须给他们配备丰富的三餐,甚至睡觉的地点也要远超于其他兵种的要求,夜里不能着凉 6、火枪的训练和制造技术在不断改良,一个熟练的火枪手可以快速装填从而发射。另外对于初次接触火枪没多久的人,也能够达到一小时40发的水平,并且经过训练后还能逐步增长