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Fire Arrow
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The Fire Arrow is a projectile weapon that uses black powder. The earliest reference to its use comes in the Collection of the Most Important Military Techniques written in 1044.
Design
The Fire Arrow was the first rocket in mechanism and design.
Discussion
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Encyclopedia
The Fire Arrow is a projectile weapon that uses black powder. The earliest reference to its use comes in the Collection of the Most Important Military Techniques written in 1044.
Design
The Fire Arrow was the first rocket in mechanism and design. It was made in a variety of forms and launched in diverse manners, but the first design consisted of a pouch of black powder with a stick attached; the arrows were launched from a stand of bamboo sticks. Like the fins on a modern rocket, the long stick on a fire arrow increases stability and accuracy.
Fire arrows were usually launched in salvoes from launch platforms such as arrays of cylinders or boxes which could hold as many as 1,000 fire arrows each.
Fire arrows were tipped with flammable materials like pitch, bitumen or resin.
In 994 A.D. the Chinese city of Tzu T'ung was attacked by an army of 100,000 men. The commander of the defensive forces, named Chang Yung, ordered a response to the attack using artillery fire made up of catapulted stones and fire arrows launched by bows.
Recorded uses
It was first reported to be used by the Southern Wu in 904 during the siege of Yuzhang and by the Song and Jin dynasties in:
- March 1, 1126, the Thunderbolt Thrower, used by the Song general Li Gang during the siege of Kaifeng, and again in 1161 by General Yu Yunwen at Caishi, near present day Ma'anshan, Anhui, during a Jin maritime incursion.
- 1221, the Thundercrash Bombs, used by the Jin invaders during the attack of Qizhou, which were exploding grenades filled with black powder rather than incendiary bombs filled with molten material, and lastly in 1232 when the Jin repelled the Mongolians in the battle of Kaifeng. They also used in this battle the Flying Firelances, which were bamboo tubes stuffed with black powder; the tube was ignited and used as a flamethrower.
Gunpowder and knowledge of rocketry were later introduced to Korea, and evolved into the singijeon. Ironically, the Mongols, against whom the Chinese had primarily used the weapon, also made use of the fire arrow during their campaigns in Japan. As a result of the Mongolian campaigns the fire arrow later spread into the Middle East.
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