Editing Arquebus (section)

====China====
The arquebus was introduced to the [[Ming dynasty]] in the early 16th century and was used in small numbers to fight off pirates by 1548. There is, however, no exact date for its introduction and sources conflict on the time and manner in which it was introduced. Versions of the arquebus' introduction to China include the capture of firearms by the Ming during a battle in 1523,<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Xiaodong|first=Yin|title=Western Cannons in China in the 16th–17th Centuries|date=2008|journal=Icon|volume=14|pages=41–61|jstor=23787161}}</ref> the capture of the pirate Wang Zhi, who had arquebuses, in 1558, which contradicts the usage of arquebuses by the Ming army ten years earlier, and the capture of arquebuses from Europeans by the Xu brother pirates, which later came into possession of a man named Bald Li, from whom the Ming officials captured the arquebuses. About 10,000 muskets were ordered by the Central Military Weaponry Bureau in 1558 and the firearms were used to fight off pirates.{{sfn|Andrade|2016|p=171}}

[[Qi Jiguang]] developed military formations for the effective use of arquebus equipped troops with different mixtures of troops deployed in 12-man teams. The number of arquebuses assigned to each team could vary depending on the context but theoretically in certain cases all members of the team could have been deployed as gunners. These formations also made use of countermarch volley fire techniques. Firearm platoons deployed one team in front of them at the blast of a bamboo flute. They started firing after their leader fired and fired once at the blast of a trumpet, and then spread out according to their drilling pattern. Each layer could also fire once at the blowing of a horn and were supported by close-quarters troops who could advance should the need arise. To avoid self-inflicted injuries and ensure a consistent rate of fire in the heat of battle, Qi emphasized drilling in the procedure required to reload the weapon. Qi Jiguang gave a eulogy on the effectiveness of the gun in 1560:

{{blockquote|It is unlike any other of the many types of fire weapons. In strength it can pierce armor. In accuracy it can strike the center of targets, even to the point of hitting the eye of a coin [i.e., shooting right through a coin], and not just for exceptional shooters.&nbsp;... The arquebus [鳥銃] is such a powerful weapon and is so accurate that even bow and arrow cannot match it, and&nbsp;... nothing is so strong as to be able to defend against it.{{sfn|Andrade|2016|p=172}}|''Jixiao Xinshu''}}