[...]... either the east or the west The barren, waterless deserts that stretched on either side of the Nile Valley had a way of discouraging invaders The Pharaoh called up all the men of Lower Egypt to meet the invaders They appeared with their copper axes, copper-headed spears, stone maces, and simple self-bows 33 50 Weapons That Changed Warfare Egyptian weaponry was nowhere near as advanced as that of the. .. gunpowder weapons before The second surprise caused far more damage The English archers rained arrows on the Genoese, who thought they were beyond arrow range The English outnumbered the Genoese, and they could shoot five times as fast Terrified by the cannons and the hail of arrows, the Genoese fled The French knights then charged, riding through the retreating mercenaries The French aimed for the dismounted... followed them retained this cut-and-thrust style Swords were important weapons for the nobles of Mycenaean Greece, but to the Greeks of classical times they were merely last-ditch weapons They would be used if the spear was broken and neither the point nor pointed butt of the spear was available The Romans, however, made the sword a key part of their weaponry The legionary threw his pila (spears) at the. .. warfare, whether they were foot warriors such as the Franks and Alemanni or cavalry suxch as the Goths Among all of these peoples, from the Celts of Spain to the Teutonic tribes of Scandinavia, the sword was the most important weapon The lance was good for a horseman’s first contact with the foe, but, after that, the sword was supreme The sword was also highly esteemed by the Asian horse archers The Huns... one of the two great powers of the eastern Mediterranean But the explosion, it seemed, had instantly rendered the republic helpless 21 50 Weapons That Changed Warfare That blast was a disaster for Venice, but for the other great power of the eastern Mediterranean, it sounded like the knock of opportunity Turkey, under its aptly nicknamed Sultan, Selim the Sot, began gobbling up outposts of the Venetian... galleys off the Indian port of Diu (See Chapter 13, The Sailing Man of War.) After Lepanto, the galley would never again play an important part in naval warfare, but it had had a long and honorable career 23 50 Weapons That Changed Warfare As did the spear and the bow, the origins of the galley are lost in the mists of prehistory The first boats were probably dugout canoes, propelled by paddles They were... 29 50 Weapons That Changed Warfare armor was replaced by heavy “jack boots,” thick leather boots that covered the thighs, and by the 17th century much of the upper body armor was replaced by a “buff coat,” a coat of heavy buffalo leather that was worn under a steel corselet Sometimes it was worn instead of the corselet All of the preceding refers to armor that was worn like clothing But for most of the. . .50 Weapons That Changed Warfare T he first warriors probably used whatever weapons they could find on the ground Sticks, stones, and bones have all been used to smash, pierce, or otherwise do in an enemy Most likely it wasn’t long before people began improving what they found One of the earliest, and certainly the deadliest of these first purpose-made weapons, was the spear The improved... up from the rear By the end of the day, one third of the French army was dead The English losses came to about 100 The Battle of Crecy introduced the English longbow to the continent of Europe and made England, for the first time, a major military power The Longbow There has probably been more nonsense written about the English longbow than any other weapon, with the possible exception of the Kentucky... to chop the spear off, so the pilum, especially if it was the heavy one, tended to drag down the enemy’s shield The Roman then ran up to his enemy, stepped on the trailing spear shaft to pull the shield down entirely, then finished off the enemy with his sword The spear developed into a wide variety of weapons called pole arms There were winged spears, with two projections on the blade to keep the spear . 50 WEAPONS THAT CHANGED WARFARE By William Weir Author of 50 Battles That Changed the World N EW PAGE BOOKS A division of The Career Press, Inc. Franklin Lakes, NJ 50 WEAPONS THAT CHANGED WARFARE Copyright. warfare eventually become obsolete. The weapons that replace them may further change warfare, or they may not. The muzzle-loading rifle was quickly replaced by the breech-loading rifle, and the breech-loading. revolutionized naval warfare. Their records of making major changes in warfare was the reason these 50 weapons were chosen. For instance, the revolver is one of the weapons listed but the semiautomatic