During the Northern Song Dynasty, a long-range sniper called the three-bed bow and crossbow made the enemy fearful. At the same time, in ancient times, the iron-blooded Ming also had a unique weapon - the mysterious gunpowder hot weapon "swarm", which made the enemy collapse. This ** is the Ming Dynasty Shenji Battalion standard standard equipment, according to the "Wu Bei Zhi" record, its power can not be underestimated: "The bus burns, all the arrows are fired together, and several rockets are installed in the dragon's belly." If it is like a thunderous blow, don't dare to be its front. A "swarm" of 20 to 32 "rockets" is loaded into a barrel-like container, and the concentrated launch is achieved by igniting the leads.
Its structure is similar to modern multi-stage rocket artillery, and even has certain principles in common with the Soviet Katyusha rocket launcher. The inside of the rocket consists of an arrow and a spray canister, which is tied to the front of the arrow. The quality of the powder cartridge attached to the front of the arrow shaft is directly related to the performance of the rocket. During the manufacturing process, the ratio of gunpowder in the spray cartridge needs to be precisely controlled to ensure that the same quality of gunpowder can burn more gases and thus produce more thrust. At the same time, the thickness of the spray barrel and the size of the nozzle hole are also crucial to ensure the uniform combustion and continuous thrust of the gunpowder.
From a modern point of view, the thrust-to-weight ratio of the rocket inside the "swarm" was about 35, which was quite amazing performance for that time. Although the "swarm of bees" showed great power, it was not strong because of its poor accuracy. In various test data, the built-in rocket of the "swarm" has extremely low hitting efficiency, and it is difficult to complete an accurate hit even if it is a stationary target. In the face of high-speed moving cavalry, its actual accuracy is even more difficult to guarantee. The solution to this problem is to increase the number of built-in rockets in a "swarm" and to fire intensively in the event of an engagement, forming a dense cluster attack.
Ancient"A swarm"Although the accuracy of firearms is not high, their intensive shooting can compensate for this shortcoming, ensuring better combat results. According to the records of the "Actual Record of Military Training", the range of this firearm can reach 300 steps after being ignited and fired, and it can knock down people and horses. After field tests by archaeological experts, this range is roughly above 400 meters, and its horizontal range and lethality performance are quite good. When the rocket is fired, the damage dealt can penetrate the torso of the main body of the "humanoid target", forming a penetrating wound that is enough to injure all the people on the battlefield. This crushing damage far exceeded the lethality of spears and arrows in the cold weapon era at that time.
Although in the Battle of Baigou River, the "swarm of bees" once caused Zhu Di's cavalry to fall into a bitter battle, it did not change the entire battle situation. Zhu Di finally won the Battle of Jingyan with his strong cavalry. However, the legend of "a swarm of bees" still leaves a deep mark on history. More than five centuries later, the modern multiple launch rocket system was born. Its principle and design are very similar, continuing the legend of "a swarm of bees". To this day, the multiple launch rocket system is still a powerful active equipment, demonstrating the important position of "swarm" in the history of firearms development.
It can be said that without the ancient "swarm" of firearms, the military strategic pattern in the history of human civilization would have undergone tremendous changes. Looking back at the years of the Iron Horse Ice Age, we can't help but sigh at the advanced military wisdom of the ancients.