Military history of the Song dynasty

===Eruptors and cannons===

===Eruptors and cannons===

The early fire lance, considered to be the ancestor of firearms, is not considered a true gun because it did not include projectiles. Later on, shrapnel such as ceramics and bits of iron were added, but these didn't occlude the barrel, and were only swept along with the discharge rather than make use of [[windage]]. These projectiles were called "co-viatives."{{sfn|Andrade|2016|p=50}} The commonplace nature of the fire lance, if not in quantity, was apparent by the mid 13th century, and in 1257 an arsenal in Jiankang Prefecture reported the manufacture of 333 "fire emitting tubes" (突火筒). In 1259 a type of "fire-emitting lance" (突火槍) made an appearance and according to the ''History of Song'': "It is made from a large bamboo tube, and inside is stuffed a pellet wad (子窠). Once the fire goes off it completely spews the rear pellet wad forth, and the sound is like a bomb that can be heard for five hundred or more paces."{{sfn|Andrade|2016|p=51}}{{sfn|Partington|1960|p=246}}<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aPQuETESw84C&pg=PA304 |title=Chinese ideas about nature and society: studies in honour of Derk Bodde |first=Derk |last=Bodde |editor=Charles Le Blanc, Susan Blader|access-date=28 November 2011 |year=1987 |publisher=Hong Kong University Press |isbn=978-962-209-188-7 |page=304 |quote=The other was the 'flame-spouting lance' (t'u huo ch'iang). A bamboo tube of large diameter was used as the barrel (t'ung), ... sending the objects, whether fragments of metal or pottery, pellets or bullets, in all directions }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/mongols00 |url-access=registration |title=The Mongols |first1=Stephen |last1=Turnbull |first2=Angus |last2=McBride|editor=Angus McBride |access-date=28 November 2011 |edition=illustrated, reprint |year=1980 |publisher=Osprey Publishing |isbn=978-0-85045-372-0 |page=[https://archive.org/details/mongols00/page/31 31] |quote=In 1259 Chinese technicians produced a 'fire-lance' (huo ch' iang): gunpowder was exploded in a bamboo tube to discharge a cluster of pellets at a distance of 250 yards. It is also interesting to note the Mongol use of suffocating fumes produced by burning reeds at the battle of Liegnitz in 1241.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nFx3OlrBMpQC&pg=PA198 E|title=The history of the Mongol conquests |first=John Joseph |last=Saunders |access-date=28 November 2011 |edition=illustrated, reprint |year=2001 |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |isbn=978-0-8122-1766-7 |page=198 |quote=In 1259 Chinese technicians produced a 'fire-lance' (huo ch'iang): gunpowder was exploded in a bamboo tube to discharge a cluster of pellets at a distance of 250 yards. We are getting close to a barrel-gun.}}</ref> The pellet wad mentioned is possibly the first true bullet in recorded history depending on how bullet is defined, as it did occlude the barrel, unlike previous co-viatives used in the fire lance.{{sfn|Andrade|2016|p=51}}

The early fire lance, considered to be the ancestor of firearms, is not considered a true gun because it did not include projectiles. Later on, shrapnel such as ceramics and bits of iron were added, but these didn't occlude the barrel, and were only swept along with the discharge rather than make use of [[windage]]. These projectiles were called "co-viatives."{{sfn|Andrade|2016|p=50}} The commonplace nature of the fire lance, if not in quantity, was apparent by the mid-13th century, and in 1257 an arsenal in Jiankang Prefecture reported the manufacture of 333 "fire emitting tubes" (突火筒). In 1259 a type of "fire-emitting lance" (突火槍) made an appearance and according to the ''History of Song'': "It is made from a large bamboo tube, and inside is stuffed a pellet wad (子窠). Once the fire goes off it completely spews the rear pellet wad forth, and the sound is like a bomb that can be heard for five hundred or more paces."{{sfn|Andrade|2016|p=51}}{{sfn|Partington|1960|p=246}}<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aPQuETESw84C&pg=PA304 |title=Chinese ideas about nature and society: studies in honour of Derk Bodde |first=Derk |last=Bodde |editor=Charles Le Blanc, Susan Blader|access-date=28 November 2011 |year=1987 |publisher=Hong Kong University Press |isbn=978-962-209-188-7 |page=304 |quote=The other was the 'flame-spouting lance' (t'u huo ch'iang). A bamboo tube of large diameter was used as the barrel (t'ung), ... sending the objects, whether fragments of metal or pottery, pellets or bullets, in all directions }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/mongols00 |url-access=registration |title=The Mongols |first1=Stephen |last1=Turnbull |first2=Angus |last2=McBride|editor=Angus McBride |access-date=28 November 2011 |edition=illustrated, reprint |year=1980 |publisher=Osprey Publishing |isbn=978-0-85045-372-0 |page=[https://archive.org/details/mongols00/page/31 31] |quote=In 1259 Chinese technicians produced a 'fire-lance' (huo ch' iang): gunpowder was exploded in a bamboo tube to discharge a cluster of pellets at a distance of 250 yards. It is also interesting to note the Mongol use of suffocating fumes produced by burning reeds at the battle of Liegnitz in 1241.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nFx3OlrBMpQC&pg=PA198 E|title=The history of the Mongol conquests |first=John Joseph |last=Saunders |access-date=28 November 2011 |edition=illustrated, reprint |year=2001 |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |isbn=978-0-8122-1766-7 |page=198 |quote=In 1259 Chinese technicians produced a 'fire-lance' (huo ch'iang): gunpowder was exploded in a bamboo tube to discharge a cluster of pellets at a distance of 250 yards. We are getting close to a barrel-gun.}}</ref> The pellet wad mentioned is possibly the first true bullet in recorded history depending on how bullet is defined, as it did occlude the barrel, unlike previous co-viatives used in the fire lance.{{sfn|Andrade|2016|p=51}}

Fire lances transformed from the "bamboo- (or wood- or paper-) barreled firearm to the metal-barreled firearm"{{sfn|Andrade|2016|p=51}} to better withstand the explosive pressure of gunpowder. From there it branched off into several different gunpowder weapons known as "eruptors" in the late 12th and early 13th centuries, with different functions such as the "filling-the-sky erupting tube" which spewed out poisonous gas and porcelain shards, the "orifice-penetrating flying sand magic mist tube" (鑽穴飛砂神霧筒) which spewed forth sand and poisonous chemicals into orifices, and the more conventional "phalanx-charging fire gourd" which shot out lead pellets.{{sfn|Andrade|2016|p=51}} The character for lance, or spear (槍), has continued to refer to both the melee weapon and the firearm into modern China, perhaps as a reminder of its original form as simply a tube of gunpowder tied to a spear.

Fire lances transformed from the "bamboo- (or wood- or paper-) barreled firearm to the metal-barreled firearm"{{sfn|Andrade|2016|p=51}} to better withstand the explosive pressure of gunpowder. From there it branched off into several different gunpowder weapons known as "eruptors" in the late 12th and early 13th centuries, with different functions such as the "filling-the-sky erupting tube" which spewed out poisonous gas and porcelain shards, the "orifice-penetrating flying sand magic mist tube" (鑽穴飛砂神霧筒) which spewed forth sand and poisonous chemicals into orifices, and the more conventional "phalanx-charging fire gourd" which shot out lead pellets.{{sfn|Andrade|2016|p=51}} The character for lance, or spear (槍), has continued to refer to both the melee weapon and the firearm into modern China, perhaps as a reminder of its original form as simply a tube of gunpowder tied to a spear.

[[File:Ming Dynasty eruptor proto-cannon.jpg|thumb|upright|An illustration of a 'flying-cloud thunderclap-eruptor,' a cannon firing thunderclap bombs, from the ''[[Huolongjing]]''.]]

[[File:Ming Dynasty eruptor proto-cannon.jpg|thumb|upright|An illustration of a 'flying-cloud thunderclap-eruptor,' a cannon firing thunderclap bombs, from the ''[[Huolongjing]]''.]]

[[File:Poison eruptor.jpg|thumb|upright|A 'poison fog divine smoke eruptor' (''du wu shen yan pao'') as depicted in the ''[[Huolongjing]]''. Small shells emitting poisonous smoke are fired.]]

[[File:Poison eruptor.jpg|thumb|upright|A 'poison fog divine smoke eruptor' (''du wu shen yan pao'') as depicted in the ''[[Huolongjing]]''. Small shells emitting poisonous smoke are fired.]]

By the mid 13th century, gunpowder weapons were available to both the [[Mongols]] and the Song. The Mongol war machine moved south and in 1237 attacked the Song city of Anfeng (modern [[Shouxian]], [[Anhui Province]]) "using gunpowder bombs [huo pao] to burn the [defensive] towers."{{sfn|Andrade|2016|p=47}} These bombs were apparently quite large. "Several hundred men hurled one bomb, and if it hit the tower it would immediately smash it to pieces."{{sfn|Andrade|2016|p=47}} The Song defenders under commander Du Gao (杜杲) rebuilt the towers and retaliated with their own bombs, which they called the "Elipao," after a famous local pear, probably in reference to the shape of the weapon.{{sfn|Andrade|2016|p=47}} Perhaps as another point of military interest, the account of this battle also mentions that the Anfeng defenders were equipped with a type of small arrow to shoot through eye slits of Mongol armor, as normal arrows were too thick to penetrate.{{sfn|Andrade|2016|p=47}}

By the mid-13th century, gunpowder weapons were available to both the [[Mongols]] and the Song. The Mongol war machine moved south and in 1237 attacked the Song city of Anfeng (modern [[Shouxian]], [[Anhui Province]]) "using gunpowder bombs [huo pao] to burn the [defensive] towers."{{sfn|Andrade|2016|p=47}} These bombs were apparently quite large. "Several hundred men hurled one bomb, and if it hit the tower it would immediately smash it to pieces."{{sfn|Andrade|2016|p=47}} The Song defenders under commander Du Gao (杜杲) rebuilt the towers and retaliated with their own bombs, which they called the "Elipao," after a famous local pear, probably in reference to the shape of the weapon.{{sfn|Andrade|2016|p=47}} Perhaps as another point of military interest, the account of this battle also mentions that the Anfeng defenders were equipped with a type of small arrow to shoot through eye slits of Mongol armor, as normal arrows were too thick to penetrate.{{sfn|Andrade|2016|p=47}}

In 1257 the Song official Li Zengbo was dispatched to inspect frontier city arsenals. Li considered an ideal city arsenal to include several hundred thousand iron bombshells, and also its own production facility to produce at least a couple thousand a month. The results of his tour of the border were severely disappointing and in one arsenal he found "no more than 85 iron bomb-shells, large and small, 95 fire-arrows, and 105 fire-lances. This is not sufficient for a mere hundred men, let alone a thousand, to use against an attack by the ... barbarians. The government supposedly wants to make preparations for the defense of its fortified cities, and to furnish them with military supplies against the enemy (yet this is all they give us). What chilling indifference!"{{sfn|Andrade|2016|p=47-48}} Fortunately for the Song, [[Möngke Khan]] died in 1259 and the war would not continue until 1269 under the leadership of [[Kublai Khan]], but when it did the Mongols came in full force.

In 1257 the Song official Li Zengbo was dispatched to inspect frontier city arsenals. Li considered an ideal city arsenal to include several hundred thousand iron bombshells, and also its own production facility to produce at least a couple thousand a month. The results of his tour of the border were severely disappointing and in one arsenal he found "no more than 85 iron bomb-shells, large and small, 95 fire-arrows, and 105 fire-lances. This is not sufficient for a mere hundred men, let alone a thousand, to use against an attack by the ... barbarians. The government supposedly wants to make preparations for the defense of its fortified cities, and to furnish them with military supplies against the enemy (yet this is all they give us). What chilling indifference!"{{sfn|Andrade|2016|p=47-48}} Fortunately for the Song, [[Möngke Khan]] died in 1259 and the war would not continue until 1269 under the leadership of [[Kublai Khan]], but when it did the Mongols came in full force.