Firing rates has always been a key element in warfare. The Battle of Cressy in 1346 during the Hundred Years War between England and France is a prime example with the English longbow men able to produce a fire rate five times faster, and with a longer range, than the French. This victory, along with the victories at Poitiers and Agincourt made England a major military power. Black powder, introduced in the 13th century, also became a major factor in weapons development with the advent of the rifle. The cap and ball system and rifling was a major factor in the Union Army's devastation of Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg. During World War II the U.S. Garand rifle, the famous M1, was called 'the most deadly rifle in the world' by General George Patton. Rifle technology kept changing. In the 1960's the M-16 and M4 carbine became the weapons of choice for the U.S. while the Russian AK-47 became the most widely used assault rifle in the world. The current automatic rifles used by military forces around the world would be dismaying the soldiers of the past. However, the value of rapid fire has been known for a long time as Fredrick the Great noted in 1768 'Battles are won by superiority of fire".