2 SEP 2002 THE SPANISH AND DUTCH INFLUENCE ON WARFARE AT THE BATTLE OF BRIETENFELD The Spanish way of waging war with the new gunpowder weapons involved the use of pike men. The pike men were formed in with the harquebus as a means of protecting the shooters in between reloads. The Spaniards used a tactical unit of 3, 000 men called a ter cio, which was a combination of pike men and harquebus. The Dutchman, Marine of Nassau, developed a training method that enabled the shooters to maintain a barrage of fire on the battlefield. The Dutch method of training and drills was adopted by Gustavus Adolphus and employed at the Battle of Brietenfeld against the German Catholics. The Swedish commander was able to decrease his formation down to six ranks that would be able to maintain a string of fire without having to have any protection from pike men.
The Swedish commander was also able to increase the firing speed of his artillery and had within his arsenal 24, 12, and 3 pound weapons. The commander trained his men to charge at the enemy instead of waiting to be picked off in skirmishes in front of the enemies formation. Gustavus Adolphus also put a new twist on the countermarch method, which was normally used as a defensive tactic, but was now employed as an offensive tactic. The offensive method was the same as the defensive method with one major exception. Once a line moved passed the line that was stopped and then stopped ahead of that line, then the line would move forward instead of going in the reverse direction. This method maintained forward movement.
Through the use of these training methods, the Swedish army was able to keep its cool and even when the Germans turned and ran, the Swedes maintained position and finished the battle. Gustavus’s trat egy achieved victory in two hours by using his 28, 000 infantrymen, 13, 000 cavalrymen, and 51 heavy guns against general Count Tilly’s 21, 000 infantrymen, 10, 000 cavalrymen, and 28 field guns.