《帝国：全面战争》陆军兵种介绍（24-pounder Howitzer Foot Artillery 24磅步兵榴弹炮）

24-pounder Howitzer Foot Artillery

24-pounder Howitzer Foot Artillery
Howitzers send shells plunging into enemy formations and over defences, making cover irrelevant. Howitzers fall somewhere between guns and mortars, the other main artillery types. They have a limited mobility, like guns. Like mortars, they do not fire straight at the target, but send shots high into the air to plunge down on a target (and over anything in the way). By angling the barrel and changing the propellant charge used, howitzers have an impressive flexibility in shell trajectories. Experienced crews can lob explosive shells and incendiary rounds with great accuracy into a “beaten zone”, making life utterly miserable and very short for anyone within it. In close action, they can fire canister rounds directly into enemy formations, like giant sawn-off shotguns. The term foot artillery applies because the gunners walk into battle alongside the draft animals. Like all artillery, the weight rating of these howitzers refers to the size of shot fired; a 24-pounder is worthy of respect! Historically, howitzers – like many artillery pieces – were far from standardised weapons in the 18th Century. Shells and spare parts from in one foundry did not always fit another foundry’s pieces, even if the calibre was nominally identical. It took a good deal of effort and argument to get foundries to standardise barrels and ancillary equipment, even in one country.

24磅步兵榴弹炮
榴弹炮擅长轰击敌军阵地和工事，并掩护其他部队。作为火炮家族的重要成员，榴弹炮是加农炮和臼炮之间的过渡版本：榴弹炮的机动性与加农炮相仿，并不灵活；它们的炮弹并不沿着低伸的弹道直接打中目标，而是像臼炮一样，划过一个弯曲的弹道，越过障碍物砸在目标上。通过更换射角和装药号，榴弹炮体现出令人惊异的弹道灵活性。经验丰富的炮手可以将开花弹和燃烧弹精确地打进“火力打击区”，迅速击毙其中的有生力量。在近距离战斗中，榴弹炮能用霰弹直接把敌军队列打得粉碎，如同一把大号的短管霰弹枪一般。

这种炮被称为步兵榴弹炮是因为炮手们和拉炮的马一起步行前往战场。如同所有的火炮一样，这种榴弹炮的型号用它发射出的炮弹重量来标记：24磅炮的火力绝对值得畏惧和依赖！
在历史上，和许多其它枪炮一样，24磅步兵榴弹炮并非18世纪军队的制式武器。某个兵工厂铸造的炮弹和零件可能并不适合其它兵工厂生产的火炮，哪怕它们口径相当。即使在同一个国家中，火炮和零件的标准化工作也耗费了大量的工作和口舌。