Secondly, the beginning of their military careers coincided with the arrival of Portuguese cannon and matchlocks in large quantities. Portuguese weaponry proved superior in accuracy, safety, ballistic weight, and rapidity of fire to Asian-made firearms. The duo arrived at the coast on the cusp of this transformation, and quickly turned it to their advantage, incorporating Portuguese firearms as well as Portuguese and Indian Ocean (mostly Muslim) mercenaries into their forces. Indigenous infantry and elephant units also began using guns, with 20–33% of the troops so equipped on some late 16th century campaigns. According to Lieberman, "had Toungoo attacked Pegu a generation later, it is conceivable that Portuguese guns could have given Pegu the victory, thus altering the course of history." But it was Toungoo that seized Hanthawaddy's advantages and leveraged them into an empire.