Do I need a bayonet battle in the modern army?
A bayonet is one of the types of close combat, during which the bayonet is used as a piercing-cutting object, and the butt is used as a strike object. The basis of a bayonet battle based on the same principles as for fencing.
With full confidence we can say that the idea of creating a combined weapons appeared a long time ago. But the most popular form of it was the halberd, which combines such weapons as an ax, spear and hook. However, the greatest number of developments of the combined weapon falls on the period of development of firearms. It is the complexity and duration of the recharge required additional equipment. In many museums of the world, a large number of such weapons have been preserved - these are pistol-swords, pistol-ax, pistol-shield, rifle-cane, pistol-knife, pistol-inkstand, arquebus-halberd and many others. However, the bayonet itself appeared much later.
According to legend, the bayonet was invented in the 17th century in France, in the city of Bayonne, hence the name - bayonet. The first copies of it were lance tips with a shortened shaft, which was inserted into the barrel for further combat. In order to introduce this weapon for the entire army, it was decided to demonstrate it to Louis XIV. However, the imperfect design led the king to order bayonets to be banned as impractical weapons. Fortunately, the same demonstration was attended by a captain with the very famous surname d'Artagnan, who managed to convince Louis. So a new type of weapon appeared in service with the French army. Then its use spread to other European states. In 1689, the bayonet appeared in service with the military in Austria. Soon, one small innovation was introduced - in addition to the trimmed lance, a tube was also attached to the barrel. This is how the type of weapon appeared, which the Russians call a bayonet. For a very long period of time, this weapon was used as a means of protecting infantrymen from cavalry. But it was Suvorov who made the bayonet a means of attack, emphasizing its obvious advantages in close combat. This decision was caused by a number of objective reasons. Thus, the firearms that existed at the time were effective at a maximum distance of 70 steps. The infantry could cover such a distance in 20 seconds, that is, no shooter could have fired more than one shot. And it took more than half a minute to recharge.
Initially, in bayonet fighting there were relatively few receptions. The warriors learned to use a bayonet, both against infantry and against cavalry, to defend with it from a bayonet, a sword or a spike. When armor was used in the army, training was also conducted on particularly strong strikes. At the same time, the development of bayonet combat proceeded in parallel with the development of classical fencing. And famous fencing teachers very often took the time to learn the techniques of using the bayonet. This is evidenced by the work of N. Sokolov and A. Valvil.
At the same time, it should be noted that the technique of using the bayonet was deliberately kept extremely simple to ensure the greater effectiveness of the mass training of soldiers. Often, limited to two or three basic techniques.
In Russian troops bayonet became popular during the time of Alexander Suvorov. He approaches the training of soldiers in much more detail. In his appeals to ordinary soldiers, one can find not only the basic principles of combat psychology, but also the basics of applied technology and even instructions on the development and application of peripheral vision.
However, at the beginning of the last century, the frequency of using bayonets sharply decreased. The reason for this was the appearance of a large number of small arms, equipped with shops for ammunition. And the Russian-Japanese war proved that the bayonet battle had lost its position. The thing was that although the Russians had defeated the Japanese during close combat, the presence of firearms had a great influence on the outcome of the war.
And the First World War, which began soon after, finally proved that the bayonet battle would be a guarantee of victory. And it was possible to use it only at the very end of the battle, when it was necessary to “finish off” the demoralized enemy.
Starting from the 20-ies of the twentieth century to the present day, bayonet fighting is just one of the elements of hand-to-hand fighting, and in addition, it is also a good method of physical and psychological training of warriors.
In addition, the bayonet battle was, and probably will remain, the most realistic of all types of hand-to-hand combat. Bayonet skills are learned very quickly, and besides, on the basis of them, further training in the techniques of conducting a fight with the use of a demining shovel takes place, and throws and strikes with bare hands are polished.
In the Soviet years for some time quite favorable conditions developed for the bayonet battle. The military themselves talked about the insufficient training of soldiers for his methods and focused mainly on the charters of foreign countries.
However, no matter how much the teachers would like to reduce the amount of training in methods of bayonet fighting to the required minimum, they could not manage without expanding their individual combat skills. So, in the West appeared bayonet battle based on ... boxing. Its founder, English officer Ebrey Nobbs, who was actively engaged not only in fencing, but also in boxing, was a very extraordinary person. This style quickly gained great popularity all over the world. Later, the fencing aspect found expression in the sport, and the boxing aspect - in the army. It was on the basis of this style that hand-to-hand fighting techniques began to develop in the army using improvised means.
In the 30 of the twentieth century in the USSR, another type of bayonet fighting was invented - on skis, which was based on the Chukotka tradition, known as “Captain”. At this second stage of development of the bayonet battle was completed.
After World War II, its development practically ceased. The mechanization of the army, the presence of automatic weapons, as well as the reduction of the service life of the soldiers led to the fact that in-depth study of methods of bayonet fighting became irrelevant.
In the military structures of other states, bayonet combat remains one of the main in the process of training soldiers. However, even to compare does not make sense. In these states, the army is professional, and during the year of service it’s not that the bayonet, at least they learned to hold a weapon correctly.
Until recently, the American army could serve as an example for others. But to date, the US military has decided to stop using bayonets. The first step in the implementation of it will be the refusal of training methods of bayonet bout. And although the bayonet is part of the infantry weapons, it is used less and less. The last time this type of weapon was used in Iraq in 2004 year. And the US military command is confident that the bayonet can no longer be an effective weapon in the context of a modern war. Instead, American soldiers will be trained in hand-to-hand combat using handy tools.
It is envisaged that much attention will be paid to appropriate psychological training (which, by the way, was previously carried out in the process of training for bayonet fighting). But how it will be implemented is not yet known.
However, the Marines have already announced that, at least in the near future, they do not intend to abandon the use of bayonets. This decision is explained very simply - it is the marines most often who have to engage in close combat with the enemy. For example, it was in Afghanistan and, quite possibly, in Iraq. Often they have to deal with clearing the territory and keeping the occupied area.
Meanwhile, other states are not yet ready to abandon the use of bayonet weapons. Techniques for conducting bayonet combat are mandatory for training soldiers in the UK, France, Germany, Australia, India, China. In Russia, the direction of the bayonet battle is more or less developed, as the ORSS system, in which training takes place in a sports-game form in two versions - simplified, in which no protective equipment is used, and the battle itself is conducted on mock-ups, and complicated - instead of a bayonet ball, masks, bibs, protective gloves.
Conducting comprehensive training in bayonet combat gives you the opportunity to feel confident in a duel, both with and without weapons. The most comprehensive training course in bayonet techniques is used in the process of training special forces.
Perhaps the military command still needs to reconsider its attitude toward bayonet fighting? It may be worth it to return to the army? Remember Chechnya, where most of the battles were fought in the conditions of close combat and consider whether soldiers would need bayonets skills in the event of a new military threat?
With full confidence we can say that the idea of creating a combined weapons appeared a long time ago. But the most popular form of it was the halberd, which combines such weapons as an ax, spear and hook. However, the greatest number of developments of the combined weapon falls on the period of development of firearms. It is the complexity and duration of the recharge required additional equipment. In many museums of the world, a large number of such weapons have been preserved - these are pistol-swords, pistol-ax, pistol-shield, rifle-cane, pistol-knife, pistol-inkstand, arquebus-halberd and many others. However, the bayonet itself appeared much later.
According to legend, the bayonet was invented in the 17th century in France, in the city of Bayonne, hence the name - bayonet. The first copies of it were lance tips with a shortened shaft, which was inserted into the barrel for further combat. In order to introduce this weapon for the entire army, it was decided to demonstrate it to Louis XIV. However, the imperfect design led the king to order bayonets to be banned as impractical weapons. Fortunately, the same demonstration was attended by a captain with the very famous surname d'Artagnan, who managed to convince Louis. So a new type of weapon appeared in service with the French army. Then its use spread to other European states. In 1689, the bayonet appeared in service with the military in Austria. Soon, one small innovation was introduced - in addition to the trimmed lance, a tube was also attached to the barrel. This is how the type of weapon appeared, which the Russians call a bayonet. For a very long period of time, this weapon was used as a means of protecting infantrymen from cavalry. But it was Suvorov who made the bayonet a means of attack, emphasizing its obvious advantages in close combat. This decision was caused by a number of objective reasons. Thus, the firearms that existed at the time were effective at a maximum distance of 70 steps. The infantry could cover such a distance in 20 seconds, that is, no shooter could have fired more than one shot. And it took more than half a minute to recharge.
Initially, in bayonet fighting there were relatively few receptions. The warriors learned to use a bayonet, both against infantry and against cavalry, to defend with it from a bayonet, a sword or a spike. When armor was used in the army, training was also conducted on particularly strong strikes. At the same time, the development of bayonet combat proceeded in parallel with the development of classical fencing. And famous fencing teachers very often took the time to learn the techniques of using the bayonet. This is evidenced by the work of N. Sokolov and A. Valvil.
At the same time, it should be noted that the technique of using the bayonet was deliberately kept extremely simple to ensure the greater effectiveness of the mass training of soldiers. Often, limited to two or three basic techniques.
In Russian troops bayonet became popular during the time of Alexander Suvorov. He approaches the training of soldiers in much more detail. In his appeals to ordinary soldiers, one can find not only the basic principles of combat psychology, but also the basics of applied technology and even instructions on the development and application of peripheral vision.
However, at the beginning of the last century, the frequency of using bayonets sharply decreased. The reason for this was the appearance of a large number of small arms, equipped with shops for ammunition. And the Russian-Japanese war proved that the bayonet battle had lost its position. The thing was that although the Russians had defeated the Japanese during close combat, the presence of firearms had a great influence on the outcome of the war.
And the First World War, which began soon after, finally proved that the bayonet battle would be a guarantee of victory. And it was possible to use it only at the very end of the battle, when it was necessary to “finish off” the demoralized enemy.
Starting from the 20-ies of the twentieth century to the present day, bayonet fighting is just one of the elements of hand-to-hand fighting, and in addition, it is also a good method of physical and psychological training of warriors.
In addition, the bayonet battle was, and probably will remain, the most realistic of all types of hand-to-hand combat. Bayonet skills are learned very quickly, and besides, on the basis of them, further training in the techniques of conducting a fight with the use of a demining shovel takes place, and throws and strikes with bare hands are polished.
In the Soviet years for some time quite favorable conditions developed for the bayonet battle. The military themselves talked about the insufficient training of soldiers for his methods and focused mainly on the charters of foreign countries.
However, no matter how much the teachers would like to reduce the amount of training in methods of bayonet fighting to the required minimum, they could not manage without expanding their individual combat skills. So, in the West appeared bayonet battle based on ... boxing. Its founder, English officer Ebrey Nobbs, who was actively engaged not only in fencing, but also in boxing, was a very extraordinary person. This style quickly gained great popularity all over the world. Later, the fencing aspect found expression in the sport, and the boxing aspect - in the army. It was on the basis of this style that hand-to-hand fighting techniques began to develop in the army using improvised means.
In the 30 of the twentieth century in the USSR, another type of bayonet fighting was invented - on skis, which was based on the Chukotka tradition, known as “Captain”. At this second stage of development of the bayonet battle was completed.
After World War II, its development practically ceased. The mechanization of the army, the presence of automatic weapons, as well as the reduction of the service life of the soldiers led to the fact that in-depth study of methods of bayonet fighting became irrelevant.
In the military structures of other states, bayonet combat remains one of the main in the process of training soldiers. However, even to compare does not make sense. In these states, the army is professional, and during the year of service it’s not that the bayonet, at least they learned to hold a weapon correctly.
Until recently, the American army could serve as an example for others. But to date, the US military has decided to stop using bayonets. The first step in the implementation of it will be the refusal of training methods of bayonet bout. And although the bayonet is part of the infantry weapons, it is used less and less. The last time this type of weapon was used in Iraq in 2004 year. And the US military command is confident that the bayonet can no longer be an effective weapon in the context of a modern war. Instead, American soldiers will be trained in hand-to-hand combat using handy tools.
It is envisaged that much attention will be paid to appropriate psychological training (which, by the way, was previously carried out in the process of training for bayonet fighting). But how it will be implemented is not yet known.
However, the Marines have already announced that, at least in the near future, they do not intend to abandon the use of bayonets. This decision is explained very simply - it is the marines most often who have to engage in close combat with the enemy. For example, it was in Afghanistan and, quite possibly, in Iraq. Often they have to deal with clearing the territory and keeping the occupied area.
Meanwhile, other states are not yet ready to abandon the use of bayonet weapons. Techniques for conducting bayonet combat are mandatory for training soldiers in the UK, France, Germany, Australia, India, China. In Russia, the direction of the bayonet battle is more or less developed, as the ORSS system, in which training takes place in a sports-game form in two versions - simplified, in which no protective equipment is used, and the battle itself is conducted on mock-ups, and complicated - instead of a bayonet ball, masks, bibs, protective gloves.
Conducting comprehensive training in bayonet combat gives you the opportunity to feel confident in a duel, both with and without weapons. The most comprehensive training course in bayonet techniques is used in the process of training special forces.
Perhaps the military command still needs to reconsider its attitude toward bayonet fighting? It may be worth it to return to the army? Remember Chechnya, where most of the battles were fought in the conditions of close combat and consider whether soldiers would need bayonets skills in the event of a new military threat?
Information