If we cut off the relevant information about the countries of the East, then the first reports of artillery in Europe date back to the end of the 12th century.
A characteristic feature of medieval cannons, bombards, mortars was their bulkiness, so they were used almost exclusively for the siege and defense of fortresses. The appearance of field artillery is usually associated with the Italian Wars of the French king Charles VIII.
Ancient bombards and mortars consisted of one element - a barrel, which was installed on a wooden or sometimes stone deck or on a special ledge in the fortress wall. It was possible to move such trunks on carts or sleds, which in any case required the presence of draft power in the form of bulls or horses and a significant number of soldiers. Sometimes such additional costs were still incurred, although the result was not always guaranteed. For example, the Teutonic Order fought a "fiery battle" at Grunwald (1410), but the battle, as you know, the crusaders still lost.
For the Italian crown
A key event in the history of artillery can be considered the appearance of a wheeled carriage, which was invented at the end of the 15th century in Venice. Now, much less effort was required to move the guns, although the development of appropriate technologies for the production of guns took years and not in all countries went at the same speed - somewhere slower, somewhere faster. Leadership in this area belonged to the fragmented Italian states and France.
But the Italian principalities, duchies, republics usually did not have a permanent army: they turned to the services of mercenary condottieri. Accordingly, military budgets were also formed based on immediate needs. Meanwhile, the creation of a truly modern artillery required systematic and planned actions.
King Charles VIII, who ascended to the French throne in 1483, was a temperamental man, which is why he often got into difficult situations. But he took a great interest in artillery and achieved really impressive results.
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First of all, Charles VIII took up the systematization of the available fleet of guns, which, depending on the caliber, were distributed between five artillery wagons based in different parts of the kingdom. If we talk about the manufacture of new guns, then preference was given to installations with a carriage. As projectiles, not heavy stone cores were increasingly used, but iron cores - smaller in size, but having a much greater armor-piercing power.
The reorganization and acceleration of the development of artillery were associated with the upcoming campaign to conquer Italy, which, due to the civil strife that was tearing the country apart, seemed an easy and rich prey.
Indeed, in August 1494, the French army passed through the territory of the allied Duchy of Milan without resistance. At the end of October, Florence fell, and on December 20, Charles VIII triumphantly entered the Eternal City, feeling himself the heir of Caesar and Octavian.
Fire, battery …
However, the political background became more and more negative for him. Patriotic feelings began to awaken in Italians, especially since the French behaved exactly like invaders, making reprisals against prisoners and civilians.
The capture of the capital of the most powerful of the Italian kingdoms, Naples, by the French on April 22, 1495, once again demonstrated the seriousness of the situation.
Previously, neutral Venice and Milan offered other states to unite in the League, which was named Venetian in honor of the main coke-worker. Help was promised by the Spaniards, as well as by the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I.
The Venetian fleet cut off sea communications, and the garrisons in the occupied cities found themselves in a dense siege. An unexpected misfortune was syphilis, which was brought to Naples from the recently discovered America by the participants of the first expedition of Christopher Columbus. Infected by local ladies, the soldiers of Charles VIII spread this disease throughout Italy, which was not quite rightly called "French".
In May, the king no longer thought about conquests, but about how to get away with the least losses. He decided to return not along the coastal strip, but through the central part of the peninsula, but for this he had to cross the Apennines.
At one time, the king was even going to abandon the heavy guns, but the Swiss mercenaries showed unexpected zeal. Knowing that Charles VIII was angry with them for the drunken massacre in the town of Pontremoli, they themselves harnessed the guns mounted on heavy bulky carriages and dragged them over the passes 973 and 1039 meters high. Even the knights' mongrel got involved in the transportation. Each had to carry one heavy cannonball, a bag of small cannonballs and a keg of gunpowder. And the efforts expended were fully justified.
On June 4, the French army reached the town of Fornovo, where it clashed with the troops of the Venetian League under the command of the aristocrat Condottiere Francesco II Gonzaga. The 30-thousandth Italian army was three times superior to the forces of the French, which consisted of 970 knights-gendarmes, 20 knights of the royal guard, the cavalry detachment of the Condottiere Giacomo Trivulzio, 3 thousand Swiss mercenaries, 200 Scots and 2.5 thousand French infantrymen. About 1.5 thousand artillerymen served 28 guns.
The League's army took up a position on the right bank of the Taro River, dividing into seven large detachments. Charles VIII lined up the troops in three corps and struck up negotiations, which ended in vain.
Apparently, the king was ready for this in advance, since immediately after the return of the envoys, he ordered to open artillery fire and start an offensive. But the French army deployed so slowly that Gonzago managed to rebuild his troops.
At the moment when Charles VIII began the crossing, a signal shot rang out, and part of the League's cavalry inflicted a flank attack on the center of the enemy. The king sent reinforcements, the attack was repulsed, but in the course of the battle the French center was separated from the rearguard. In addition, the stratiots scattered by the royal guard (light cavalrymen from the Balkan possessions of Venice - mostly Serbs, Greeks and Vlachs) rushed not to their own rear, but began plundering the enemy's carts. Among the trophies they received was a handwritten book made for the king with intimate portraits of his favorites.
Battle in the rain
However, there was no time to admire the pictures. The pouring rain that began hampered the actions of the cavalry on the swampy river banks, and until everything sank in the mud, Gonzaga launched a cavalry attack with the main forces. This blow was reinforced by the fire of the Italian artillery that had moved closer to the coast.
However, due to the flooding of the river, the attack had to be not concentrated, but divided into three columns. The detachment on the right flank of the Ligists consisted mainly of German mercenary infantry attacking the area where the French artillery operated. The gunners met the enemy with deadly fire, which, however, gradually weakened due to the downpour. Because of the soaked gunpowder and wicks, one or the other weapon fell silent. The situation was completely desperate, but the artillery was rescued by the appearance of Swiss mercenaries, who, in a fierce battle, practically cut out the ranks of the Germans that had thinned out under the cannonballs.
Charles VIII did not see this battle, since he was hacked in a neighboring area. Together with the foot valet Antoine de Ambu, he fought off the enemy horsemen for several minutes until the knights-gendarmes arrived.
Meanwhile, the extermination of the Germans actually led to the defeat of the Ligists on the right flank. Already firmly entrenched on the left bank, they fled and died in their hundreds under the blows of the enraged French.
However, when the victors approached the ford, they immediately fell under the fire of enemy cannons and turned off the pursuit. By noon, the battle gradually subsided. The next day, negotiations resumed and ended with the signing of an armistice, according to which Charles VIII left Italy, abandoning all earlier conquests.
The victory in the war undoubtedly remained with the League, but the Battle of Fornovo was formally won by the French, who were able to repel the onslaught of the enemy army three times outnumbered. Another thing is that they also failed to pave their way with a sword. But, again, given the position in which the French monarch found himself, things could have ended much worse for him.
Charles VIII saved the fighting spirit of his troops and artillery.
On the banks of the Taro River, the future "God of War" first demonstrated that he could not only defend fortresses and break down walls, but also decide the outcome of field battles.
Vladislav FIRSOV
