War from the 16th century to the invention of gunpowderThe invention of powerful artillery cannons would change man's role in war battles. At first artillery guns were very limited by their own design. The cannons were very heavy and had to be transported by water, which meant that only cities and fortresses close to the body of water could be attacked with artillery also called cannon. There were also some fortresses that were impervious to early cannon attacks based on sturdy structures or natural defenses. The French were able to penetrate circular-shaped castles and large walls during the late 1400s using concentrated fire from several small cannons instead of a few large ones. A new design of smaller walls built with irregular, star-shaped lines has been implemented to strengthen the area called the Crownworks or Hornworks. Other changes to the new designs included lower and thicker walls, angled projecting artillery towers, gun ranges for fields of fire, wide and deep ditches, and pillboxes. Of course with the new design of castles came new ways of attacking. Some effective ways to attack these castles, but also rare ways to attack, were surprise, assault, or treachery. The most common way to attack castles was long-term engagements which consisted of surrounding the castle or getting close enough that the castle's cannons could be placed on the position. Long-term methods consisted of starving the population, forcing surrender, or by mining and close-range bombing. The use of firepower also began to end the use of headlong charges and hand-to-hand combat during the Renaissance. years. The differences between firearms and bows were obscene early in the evolution of the rifle. An archer could accurately hit a target at a distance of 200 meters and fire ten arrows per minute, while the arquebus, or rifleman, had accuracy only at 100 meters and took several minutes to reload. Although the new cutting-edge weapons did not have the accuracy or range of the bow, the Italians immediately implemented them into their arsenals. The biggest advantage of the early rifles was that the weapon could be mastered in a few months, but could take up to ten years to master the bow. Muskets eventually took over the battlefield, replacing the... middle of the paper... amount of Chinese personnel serving in the armed forces. Japan made rapid use of the new weapons, but the focus was not on rapid reloading. The Japanese trained more on accuracy and developed volleying to maintain a succession of well-aimed shots. The castles of Japan were also modified to resist any type of horizontal attack. The walls were built facing the hills and supported strongly by the earth. Once stability was restored, the Japanese Empire began a phase of demilitarization by outlawing firearms, tearing down the fortifications of defeated enemies, and banning books on military matters. In both Far Eastern empires, sieges were carried out by mass assaults, mines, or blockades rather than by bombardment. WORKS CITED Parker, Geoffrey. The Military Revolution: Military Innovation and the Rise of the West 1500-1800. (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1996). Ch 1-4 Preston, Richard A., Alex Roland, and Sydney F. Wise. Men In Arms: A History of War and Its Interrelationships with Western Society. (Belmont, California:Wadsworth/Thomson Learning, 2001). Ch 8