>>17850347
Only the heaviest warbows can get through padded cloth and they're not much use against shields or armor, it is the defining feature of every encounter between bows and gunpowder. More so than the years of training needed or the fatigue of using a bow.
For centuries Russians were trapped under the Tatar yoke whose horse archers were unassailable on the open steppe, able to pepper armies for hours under a relentless barrage before finally charging demoralized and wounded troops. Infantry bows and crossbows were perhaps superior to the composite bows of the Tatars, infantry could take cover behind wagons or terrain features, however the strength of cavalry is its ability to concentrate force in one area. The Tatars would use their initiative in searching out weak points and attacking like a carousel with a constant stream of riders unleashing their arrows at close range. Their riders might take a few arrows, but they would fire more in that area. They would surround the enemy and everywhere constantly harass and probe for weaknesses.
However these dense formations are undone if a single musket ball can collapse a horse or the enemy had even a light cannon or some other explosive device ready. The terrifying horde, rumbling and shaking the ground, is drowned out by the very loud crack of muskets interspersed with the whinnying horses scattered across the field, blocking and scaring subsequent horses pressed to attack. The Cossacks took advantage of this, their troops consisted of war wagons with infantry and very light cavalry that, with fresh horses, could chase down the smaller Mongolian breeds. In this way they would advance to objectives like river crossings and trade posts.
