Editing Crossbow (section)

=== Elsewhere and later ===

[[Oyumi]] were ancient Japanese [[artillery pieces]] that first appeared in the seventh century (during the [[Asuka period]]).<ref name="Japanese Castles AD 250–1540">[https://books.google.com/books?id=U02pzwXNxBIC&dq=o-yumi&pg=PA49 ''Japanese Castles AD 250–1540'']{{Dead link|date=February 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, Stephen Turnbull, Peter Dennis, Illustrated by Peter Dennis, Osprey Publishing, 2008 {{ISBN|978-1846032530}} p. 49</ref> According to Japanese records, the Oyumi was different from the handheld crossbow also in use during the same time period. A quote from a seventh-century source seems to suggest that the Oyumi may have able to fire multiple arrows at once: "the Oyumi were lined up and fired at random, the arrows fell like rain".<ref name="Japanese Castles AD 250–1540"/> A ninth-century Japanese artisan named Shimaki no Fubito claimed to have improved on a version of the weapon used by the Chinese; his version could rotate and fire projectiles in multiple directions.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wExlaM1ov0sC&q=Shimaki+no+Fubito&pg=PA120|title=Samurai: The Code of the Warrior|isbn=978-1402763120|last1=Louis|first1=Thomas|last2=Ito|first2=Tommy|date= 2008|publisher=Sterling Publishing Company }}</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=iNc89Xvh-D0C&dq=oyumi&pg=PA42 ''Hired Swords: The Rise of Private Warrior Power in Early Japan''], By [[Karl Friday]], Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1992 p. 42</ref> The last recorded use of the Oyumi was in 1189.<ref name="Japanese Castles AD 250–1540"/>

In [[West Africa|West]] and [[Central Africa]],<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20090318160239/http://www.photographersdirect.com/buyers/stockphoto.asp?imageid=348455 Baaka pygmy with crossbow]}}. Photographersdirect.com. Retrieved on 24 June 2011.</ref> crossbows served as a scouting weapon and for hunting, with African slaves bringing this technology to natives in America.<ref name="cvplxd">[http://www.diaspora.uiuc.edu/A-AAnewsletter/newsletter16.html Notes On West African Crossbow Technology] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221126000651/http://www.diaspora.illinois.edu/A-AAnewsletter/newsletter16.html |date=26 November 2022 }}. Diaspora.uiuc.edu. Retrieved on 24 June 2011.</ref> In the [[Southern United States]], the crossbow was used for hunting and warfare when firearms or gunpowder were unavailable because of economic hardships or isolation.<ref name="cvplxd" /> In the north of Northern America, light hunting crossbows were traditionally used by the [[Inuit]].<ref>{{cite news|last1=Hunting Network|title=The Crossbow: Four thousand years of traditional archery|url=http://www.bowhunting.com/publisher/crossbow-information/2009/10/2/future-of-crossbow-hunting|access-date=1 March 2015|publisher=bowhunting.com|date=10 February 2009|archive-date=2 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402223419/http://www.bowhunting.com/publisher/crossbow-information/2009/10/2/future-of-crossbow-hunting|url-status=dead}}</ref>{{tertiary source inline|date=October 2015}} These are technologically similar to the African-derived crossbows, but have a different route of influence.

Spanish [[conquistador]]s continued to use crossbows in the Americas long after they were replaced in European battlefields by firearms. Only in the 1570s, did firearms become completely dominant among the Spanish in the Americas.<ref name=Espino2012>{{cite journal |last1=Espino López |first1=Antonio |date=2012 |title=El uso táctico de las armas de fuego en las guerras civiles peruanas (1538–1547) |journal=Historica|language=es |volume=XXXVI |issue=2 |pages=7–48 |doi=10.18800/historica.201202.001 |s2cid=258861207 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

The [[French Army|French]] and the [[British Army|British]] used a crossbow-like [[Sauterelle]] (French for [[grasshopper]]) in [[World War I]]. It was lighter and more portable than the [[Leach Trench Catapult]], but less powerful. It weighed {{convert|24|kg|lb|abbr=on}} and could throw an [[F1 grenade (France)|F1 grenade]] or [[Mills bomb]] {{convert|110|-|140|m|yd|abbr=on}}.<ref name="RE">{{cite journal|title=The Royal Engineers|journal=The Royal Engineers Journal|publisher=The Institution of Royal Engineers|year=1925|volume=39|page=79}}</ref> The Sauterelle replaced the Leach Catapult in British service and was in turn replaced in 1916 by the [[2-inch Medium Mortar|2-inch Medium Trench Mortar]] and [[Stokes mortar]].<ref name="Britannica1922">{{cite book|title=The Encyclopædia Britannica: 12th Edition 1922, Volume 1|page=470|author=Hugh Chisholm|publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica Company Limited|year=1922}}<!-- Please note no wikilink is available to the article [Bombthrowers] in EB1922 --></ref> Early in the war, actual crossbows were pressed into service in small numbers by both French and German troops to launch grenades.<ref name=Credland55>{{cite journal | last=Credland | first=Arthur G | title=The Crossbow and the Bow in Modern Warfare | journal=Arms & Armour | volume=7 | issue=1 | date=2010 | issn=1741-6124 | doi=10.1179/174161210X12652009773492 | pages=55–58}}</ref>

A range of crossbows were developed by the [[Allies of World War II|Allied powers]] during the [[Second World War]] for [[assassination]]s and [[covert operation]]s, but none appear to have ever been used in the field.<ref name=Credland58 /><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.spymuseum.org/exhibition-experiences/secrets-revealed/ | title=Secrets Revealed: Highlights from the Grant Verstandig Collection | website=International Spy Museum }}</ref> A small number of crossbows were built and used by Australian forces in the [[New Guinea campaign]].<ref name=Credland58>{{cite journal | last=Credland | first=Arthur G | title=The Crossbow and the Bow in Modern Warfare | journal=Arms & Armour | volume=7 | issue=1 | date=2010 | issn=1741-6124 | doi=10.1179/174161210X12652009773492 | pages=58–76}}</ref>