The Sengoku Period encompassed the 15th and 16th century. The 17th century introduced the still ongoing San Goku Period ( the discovery of planet Vegeta spawned the period )
that cannons at perfect height to ruin someone’s shins, sea shanty related:
“My son John was tall and slim and he’d a leg for ev’ry limb.
But now he’s got no legs at all for he ran a race with a cannon ball
(vocalizations) Timmy roo dun da, fadda riddle da
Whack fo’ the riddle Timmy roo dun da” -smokey bastardOne thing I see makes no sense, to me. There is a stop in front of the front wheels, which would prevent the cannon from rolling forward. However the cannon when fired would tend to roll backwards. Doubtless a mistake of the artist, and not how the cannon would have been used. Tho’ perhaps I’m mistaken, as there appears to be one soldier holding a rope attached via a pulley to the front of the cannon mount. Would it have been rolled back for loading, perhaps?
May be to have a set point to roll the cannon back up to after the recoil.
Japanese use of gunpowder was more deliberate than the West. The cannon or musket wasn’t loaded with so much gunpowder that the recoil would knock back the weapon - shots were intended to hit supposed weak spots in the fortification or armor.
Look at their firearm, the tanegashima, for an example. Look at their shoulders - there is no rifle stock to help transfer the shot into their shoulder.
It was a lighter load that was akin to samurai archery, a weak draw with intentional precision required. Quoted from the article:
Guns of the o-zutsu caliber (20 momme (≈ 75 g (2.6 oz)) and more) were practically portable hand cannons and were used as siege weapons employed to knock down the hinges of gates as well as powerful anti-personnel and anti-cavalry weapons.
So that wooden block in front of the wheel was probably meant to roll the cannon up to it without consideration of backwards movement because there isn’t likely to be much.
Muy Suave! Gracias
