13. A Swedish Military Model from the 1600s That is Followed to This Day
Although Maurice of Nassau had reformed the Dutch army, dense Spanish-style tercio formations remained the norm throughout the rest of Europe. Gustavus Adolphus adopted Maurice’s smaller infantry battalions, and reduced their density to only five or six lines. That allowed most of the soldiers to participate in combat. By contrast, because they were so densely packed together, only about half of a tercio’s soldiers could directly engage in their opponents, unless and until those in front of them were killed or wounded. The Swedish king also introduced artillery to the lower levels of command. Before Adolphus, artillery was centralized and controlled by the army commander. Adolphus equipped his regiments with light field pieces that could keep up with attacking infantry. That gave lower-level commanders greater firepower in both defense and offense.
Between the reduction of formations’ density and the equipment of regiments with artillery, a Swedish brigade of about 1300 men could pour out more firepower than a tercio of 3000 men. Adolphus also trained his infantry to fire in volleys. He was innovative with cavalry as well and reintroduced shock tactics when he trained his horsemen to charge enemy lines. As artillery softened up the opposition, Swedish infantry would advance, halt a short distance from the enemy, fire a deadly volley from close range, then charge the reeling foes before they recovered. When the enemy broke or was about to break, the cavalry would be unleashed to finish him off. That combined arms model, in which artillery, infantry, and cavalry acted in conjunction, became the standard emulated by western armies for centuries. The broad outline is still followed to this day.
