[ WP ] In an alternate universe , gunpowder was never invented . What does warfare look like ?

Preface: The power of the gun is that it can be used by anyone with nil experience whereas a skilled bowmen or a skilled swordsman can beat a very high number of unskilled users. 
 
 The advent of gunpowder-based weapons did not sweep the world, leading to most of the old world monarchies to remain in power. This highly stifled invention. Which in turn led to a lower population rate. The Americas was not desolated by explorers bringing germs and guns. Without the power of guns, the small number of conquisitors were not able to upheave large settlements such as the Aztecs. Germs played a smaller portion as the explorers and to-be conquerors did not make it very far in-land, mitigating the affects of disease spread. Chemical warfare is nearly non-existent, as they do not distinguish friend from foe. And knowledge about chemical warfare is highly sanctioned and restricted. 
 
 The Spanish Monarchy went bankrupt after funding colonization. The people of Spain has since then become a sovereign nation under the flag of the Castille, an attempt to unite the people under a common flag. 
 
 Literacy rates for grade-level reading is roughly at 60 %. Most people do not need to know how to read as most of the population are in labor-intensive work instead of white-collar jobs. 
 
 Steam-engine boats and steam-tanks are relatively new. The mining of coal has just recently begun less than half a century ago. 
 
 -- -- -- -- 
 
 December 2014, 
 
 Another telegram from the colonies overseas. New Amsterdam has made a treaty with the Five Nations. The treaty demands for the evacuation of all civilians back to their respected lands. It looks like the ferocity of the Indians has trumped our will to civilize. Good riddance. All those tax-dollars being poured to fund an impossible mission. I am glad to have that over with, especially when there is another front that needs more attention to. 
 
 The Ottoman are being rowdy again and are setting up encampments along the Danube. The German Reich is asking the soereign nations of Europe to unite in order to repel against the foreign invaders. The French Foreign Legionaires have already been committed to fighting the southern front along with the Kingdom of Castille. Most of the fighting is over at the Strait of Gilbraltar, but raiding parties are all along the shorelines. 
 
 The Italians, with the assistance of pirate groups, are wrestling against the Ottoman for control of the Mediterranean Sea. The Ottoman naval fleet is vast and wield stronger firepower. It is just a matter of time before they take full control of the Mediterranean Sea, which would be an unfavorable scene for both the Italians and pirate groups. No room for corruption among the Ottoman. Their piety gives them strength. 
 
 If the Ottoman want to stake claim to any more territory, they must strike now before the navy and armies of the Commonwealth are restocked and ready to be re-deployed. They must strike soon. And because of so, I must return to training my brigade. 
 
 I meander toward the training grounds. Walking down the long hall, the faint sound of armored marching men begins to emerge. These are the foot soldiers. They are pushed to the front of the line, to be baptized in blood in the clashing of steel. They wear armor of full steel. They carry a heavy shield and a saber, and alongside they have a dagger and a throwing axe. These men must first learn to lay down their lives before they are trained to fight. 
 
 As I turn the corridor, I begin to hear the sound of blunt sabers meeting. These training blades are not sharp, but will still be likely to cut you if you are not attentive. Swordsmanship plays a key role. Each of these men in the battleground are currently training with one shield, one saber. These people can reign from anyone, from a new recruit to an old-time veteran. Different people have their different weapon choices. The most proven for those are the sword and saber combination. I watch the combatants as they spar each other. The more training they do now, the less likely they will fall victim on the battlefields. They must train and learn to thirst for defeat now so they can survive the battlefield when that time comes. 
 
 I comment on the combatants and correct their mistakes before moving onward. I walk away from the main training grounds and go toward the archery range nearby. These archers train not only for precision, but for speed and endurance. They must be able to consitently fire six shots per minute for ten minutes in order to be effective. These bowmen are the back-of-the-line. They are used mostly to deter cavalary from engaging early on so the footsoldiers have time to writtle down the numbers. Cavalry have very light armor in comparison to the footsoldiers, but what they trade off in armor they gain in mobility. They are veteran fighters. Horses are few and can be very effective. But horse armor is difficult and expensive, thus armored horses are very unlikely. And if you hit a horse, the rider usually will fall off. I watch as they are given instructions. I approve and continue onward. 
 
 Next is the special training grounds. This is a regiment that is separate than the rest. They are the best of the best. I watch a few of them duel first. The combatants right now are both utilizing a double attack pattern, both utilizing a dagger in their offhands rather than shields. However, one is using a saber whereas the other a foil. The power of a foil is from lunging. It is good at parying and deflecting, being very mobile. However, it can not kill without a successful lunge, which is difficult to obtain. But a skilled combatant can force an unskilled combatant's hand. These two are going at it with full force, it is looking as if it is a standstill. The foil user is waiting for the saber to make a mistake, so he can capitalize and win. All it takes is a single lunge to end a fight. The saber user is being cautious and defensive, for he knows that it is true. Each one of his strike has to be done at the correct moment or he leaves himself open. A strike from a saber, a heavier weapon, takes more time to recover than a foil. And not only that, but a foil has slightly longer reach, so if the saber user goes in without making a critical strike, he is at a great disadvantage. The foil-user knows that he simply needs to be patient. Both of these combatants wear very little armor. They protect the back of line archers, making sure they do not get flanked. They have to be mobile to protect them otherwise the cavalary would lay waste. None of them are green. They have already been forged through bloodshed. 
 
 There are more intensive combats where it's one versus three or four. You would need high mobility and skill to outwit them, a real-time chess game. One is going on in the courtyard adjacent. The four are highly skilled, but the one is deflecting everything. He is ambidextrous and wields two foils for this. He knows that if he ever gets surrounded at less than a foil range, he will have lost. But he knows that if any one of the four missteps and gets into half a foil range, he could strike at them with a lunge. He has to pay attention to his surroundings. They all do. The four try to pincer him but the lone fighter pushes forward. The other three have to follow suit and remain in the same distance. The lone swordsman does not see an opportunity here, and quickly sidesteps to attack the one formerly to his right. 
 
 He restructures himself, backfoot perpendicular to the forward foot. His footwork is extraordinary. The people behind him try to close in on him but he reacts and pushes forward. The four give a look and they in unison and attack. The next instance happens quickly, as the lone man deflects all four of their strikes in simple sequential matter, and then drops the foil in his left hand to grab a dagger from. He strikes at the one he deflected last. He has taken down one of the four. Three remain and now he is only holding a foil and a dagger. The fourth man sighs and walks off the field. He knew if he was on the battlefield right now, he would have died. He knows he must train to be better. To be stronger. 
 
 I congratulate the man now walking towards me. He seems to cheer up when I remember his name. I console the man to make sure that he knows he needs to become better, and to not only accept this defeat and to make it embolden him instead of destroy him. He understands. I walk off as he watches the remainder of the fight, mentally taking notes on what to do and how to react. 
 
 This is the army today. This is how most train day in and day out, every day until there is no more war. But there is always war. I dare not write about the battlefield experience, for those memories are forever stained in my mind as the wounds are forever scarred in my body. I do not like to regale others in those tales. A life, no matter whose it is, is as important as any others. And I do not like counting the number of foes I have slain, or the number of allies that have fallen. But all of them haunt me in my every moment, both awake and in my sleep.
