this post was submitted on 28 Oct 2024
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Illustrations of history
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This magazine is for sharing artwork of historical events, places, personages, etc. Scale models and the like also welcome!
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One thing I see makes no sense, to me. There is a stop in front of the front wheels, which would prevent the cannon from rolling forward. However the cannon when fired would tend to roll backwards. Doubtless a mistake of the artist, and not how the cannon would have been used. Tho' perhaps I'm mistaken, as there appears to be one soldier holding a rope attached via a pulley to the front of the cannon mount. Would it have been rolled back for loading, perhaps?
Japanese use of gunpowder was more deliberate than the West. The cannon or musket wasn't loaded with so much gunpowder that the recoil would knock back the weapon - shots were intended to hit supposed weak spots in the fortification or armor.
Look at their firearm, the tanegashima, for an example. Look at their shoulders - there is no rifle stock to help transfer the shot into their shoulder.
It was a lighter load that was akin to samurai archery, a weak draw with intentional precision required. Quoted from the article:
So that wooden block in front of the wheel was probably meant to roll the cannon up to it without consideration of backwards movement because there isn't likely to be much.
Muy Suave! Gracias