Shafted

Peter watched as the cumbersome blocks of pikemen paraded around the muster fields, grappling with the oversized charges and clumsily forming their phalanxes. He stamped his booted feet on the hard ground, trying to keep the warmth in his limbs. The pikemen seemed to him to be an utter waste of men and materiel. What was their purpose? They had no offensive value against enemy infantry, and cavalry? Ha! The only time a pike might be of use against a mounted soldier would be if said soldier was stupid enough to charge a nearly immobile block of giant spears.

Two days later, as part of his military reforms the Tsar announces the following:

All Regiments of pike across the Russian Empire are to be disbanded immediately. The men of those regiments shall be retained for re-training and re-organisation into new regiments.