Ming Dynasty firearm
There were two main types of firearms in the Ming Dynasty. The first type was hand-held muskets and muskets. Their shape and caliber were large. Generally, the barrel was filled with lead bullets and iron bullets. Their range was only dozens of steps to 200 steps. [1]
The second type was the artillery that was installed on the frame and fired with a large caliber and shape. Most of the barrels were filled with stone, lead, iron, and other materials, commonly known as solid bullets. A few were filled with explosive balls. The range was generally hundreds of steps to two or three miles. It was mainly used to defend and attack cities, but also used in field battles, water battles, and sea battles.
Chinese name
Ming Dynasty firearm
Dynasty
Ming Dynasty
the first category
Muskets and muskets
the second category
artillery
main use
Defending the Stronghold and Attacking the City
profile
The weapons of the Ming Dynasty had a great development. The main cold weapons were long-handled sabers, spears, short-handled long sabers, waist sabers, and various miscellaneous weapons such as paladins, horse forks, wolf spears, and so on. In addition to inheriting traditional weapons, the Ming Dynasty's firearms developed to its heyday. There were many types of tube-shaped firearms, and their forms were complicated. At that time, the manufacture of flamethrowers (ancient gunpowder rockets) was quite sophisticated and varied. According to historical records such as the Fire Dragon Divine Weapon Formation and the Military Records, the types of rockets used here were single-shot rockets, multi-shot gunpowder arrows, multi-barrel parallel rockets, winged rockets, multi-stage rockets, and so on. There were dozens of types of rockets. Due to the vigorous development of firearms, the Ming Dynasty army was generally equipped with firearms, and the main weapon of war turned to the use of firearms. When King Zhu Di of Yan and Emperor Jianwen fought for the throne, they used rockets to fight. During the Yongle period (1403-1424), the Ming Dynasty also specially established the Shenji Battalion. This independent artillery system was second to none in China and even in the world at that time.
Godly General Cannon
Ming Dynasty Northern Army Soldier (left) and Southern Army Soldier (right)
Ming Dynasty Northern Army Soldier (left) and Southern Army Soldier (right)
There were two main categories of firearms in the Ming Dynasty:
The first type was hand-held muskets and blunderbuss. Their shape and caliber were small, and they were usually filled with lead bullets and iron bullets. Their range was only dozens to 200 steps (the Chinese History Museum and the Chinese People's Revolutionary Military Museum had such unearthed objects on display).
The second type was the artillery that was installed on the frame and fired with a large caliber and shape. Most of the barrels were filled with stone, lead, iron, and other materials, commonly known as solid bullets. A few were filled with explosive balls. The range was generally hundreds of steps to two or three miles. It was mainly used to defend and attack cities, but also used in field battles, water battles, and sea battles.
The manufacturing of ships in the Ming Dynasty was already quite advanced, and ships were equipped with these firearms.(During the Ming Dynasty, Zheng Chenggong led the navy ships to recover Taiwan and used these weapons to attack the Dutch colonists.)
The explosive firearms of the Ming Dynasty were quite developed. There were two categories:
The first type was mines. There were many types, including stone mines, ceramic mines, pig iron mines, and so on.
The other type was water mines, which included underwater mines, underwater dragon king cannons, and mixed river dragons. According to a large number of historical facts, China was the first country in the world to invent and use two types of lightning.
kinds
Three-Eyed and Four-Eyed Muskets
The three-eyed musket and four-eyed musket were the important gunpowder weapons of the Ming army. The reason was that they could be released continuously to form a concentrated firepower, which was beneficial in suppressing the fast moving cavalry.
Late Ming Dynasty soldier (holding a three-eyed musket, wearing cloth armor)
Lianzichong
The Lianzi handgun was a kind of handgun created during the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty. [3]The body of the gun was made of iron, and a wooden handle was installed at the back. A number of gunpowder wrapped in paper tubes were loaded from the middle of the gun chamber to the back. The gaps between the gunpowder barrels were connected by wires, and a round hole was opened in the body of the gun, into which an iron pipe filled with lead bullets was inserted vertically.
The first bullet came into contact with the gunpowder in the barrel. When firing, the gunpowder in the first section of the gunpowder barrel was ignited and the first bullet was shot out. After firing, the second bullet automatically fell into the barrel. The gunpowder in the second barrel happened to be ignited by the gunpowder in the first barrel. The bullets were shot out one after another, from a few to a dozen, increasing the rate of fire. It was the earliest handgun used in our country.
Ten-string Pearl Musket
[4]10-barrel muskets, each barrel containing 10 bullets, a total of 100 bullets. The 10 barrels are parallel around the axis, and the hoop is combined into 10-barrel muskets. It can be used to shoot densely concentrated cavalry.
Lian Zi Chong: A single-soldier's handgun, cast in copper and iron, with a wooden handle at the end. There is gunpowder at the back of the barrel, which is stored in small paper tubes. They share a lead, and each section of gunpowder can shoot a bullet. An iron cylinder was inserted vertically in the middle of the barrel, and the bullets were filled in turn. The first bullet was in the barrel, and after shooting, the second bullet would automatically fall, and the second gunpowder would shoot. This repeated repeated repeatedly, and multiple shots could be fired.
cluster rocket
The Ming Dynasty's " Military Records " had a more detailed introduction of the swarm. At that time, there were many specifications, from the three-shot Shenji Arrow to the 100-shot Hundred Tigers Rush, all of which belonged to this category. With a range of 300 meters, the repeating rockets made up for the weakness of the unstable trajectory of ordinary rockets. The Ming army had already used this weapon on a large scale.
swarm of bees
Divine Fire Flying Crow
The military technicians of the Ming Dynasty also created two kinds of winged rockets, the "Divine Fire Flying Crow" and the spherical double-winged "Flying Thief Zhentian Thunder". These two rockets were filled with gunpowder in the crow-shaped and spherical bodies respectively. There was a gunpowder thread in the gunpowder that was connected to the gunpowder in the gunpowder barrel of the take-off rocket. When launching, the gunpowder line of the rocket would be ignited first, causing the rocket to fly to the enemy. The gunpowder in the crow body and the sphere would be detonated, killing and burning the enemy's troops. It was a sharp weapon to break the siege.
ten thousand Men's enemy
Large explosive incendiary weapon, weighing 40 kilograms, with a mud outer shell, weighing 40 kilograms. It was produced at the end of the Ming Dynasty and used to defend the city. For safe transportation, it was generally equipped with a wooden frame box. It could be considered an early incendiary bomb. When Li Zicheng attacked Kaifeng, he once broke into the Cao Gate's Xinzi Building through the tunnel. The defenders used the method of throwing ten thousand enemies to eliminate the troops that broke in.
ten thousand Men's enemy
Fire Dragon Out of the Water
The Ming Dynasty's " Military Records " recorded a multi-stage rocket. The first stage of the rocket was tied to a paper tube, and the second stage of the rocket was in the mouth of the dragon. After shooting out, it increased the range to hit the enemy ship. It was used for water attacks, and the range could reach 1.5 kilometers.
Fire Dragon Out of the Water
Fran Machine Cannon
During the Zhengde period of the Ming Dynasty, they improved the large-scale after-loading artillery made in Europe and used the cannonball shell! In 1537, there were 3800 pieces of equipment, including crosshairs and cameras. The effective range was 500 meters, and the range was 1 kilometer when fired at an angle of 45 degrees. Large cannons were 250 cm, medium cannons were 156 cm, and small cannons were 93 cm. The shells were loaded from the back, and the firing interval was short. When firing shrapnel, each shell carried 500 bullets, which could block the front of the 60-meter-wide cannon. Its power was amazing. This was because reloading the breech required a high level of casting skills. In the Qing Dynasty, it was replaced by the more advanced Hongyi Cannons.
Folangji
Invincible General Cannon
handguns
The early light firearms of the Ming Dynasty were well-made and exquisitely designed. Compared to the firearms of the Yuan Dynasty, the gunpowder required was greatly reduced. As a standard weapon in the Ming Dynasty, it had been produced for more than 90,000 years and was widely used in the defense of Beijing in 1449. It was 43.5 centimeters long and had a caliber of 3 centimeters. Two people fired in a group. One person was responsible for framing and aiming, and the other was responsible for igniting the fire. The range was 180 meters.
handguns
Hongyi cannon
It was called the General Cannon, also known as the " Red Cannon ". It had a cannon ear and a scope that could adjust the range. The cannon body had a long lifespan. The large ones weighed 1.6 tons and could reach a range of 1.9 kilometers.
Ten-Eyed Musket
The Ming Dynasty's experimental repeating gun had a 10-section copper barrel with a diameter of 10 centimeters. Each section had one shot and could be fired ten times. Because of its short range and unsafe, it was replaced by the later kidnapper gun.
Ten-Eyed Musket
Guaizichong
It was a 37.5-centimeter long continuous musket with a handle. It was loaded in a way similar to the Franc machine. It could fire three shots in a row and had a range of 150 meters. It was called the " Wansheng Franc machine " in the Ming Dynasty and was used more often in the war against the Japanese.
Thunderbolt Musket
The single-soldier multi-barrel firearm was invented by Zhao Shizhen in the Ming Dynasty. He made reference to similar firearms in Turkey. The largest one could reach 18 barrels. It was fired with a matchlock or flint. After the cover was added, it was shaped like a pipa. It was 187 centimeters long and weighed 2.5 kilograms. It was easy to carry and use. The Ming army often lined up and knelt to shoot. Their firepower did not stop. After firing, it can be used as a cold weapon.
Thunderbolt Musket
Five Thunder Divine Armament
It was invented by Qi Jiguang in the northern front line defense Mongolian army. There were three eyes, five eyes, seven eyes, and various specifications. Generally, it was used by two people in a group to shoot, one person to support, turn the barrel, and one person to aim. 180 meters.
Tiger cannons
The most commonly used firearm in Qi Jiguang's army. This kind of light artillery had a thin barrel and a short range. It was suitable for mountain battles and was flexible. Due to the front loading, it could be fired at a high angle and could be used to equip a large number of lower-level troops. It had the same use as today's mortars.
Tiger cannons
Lumi Gun
Weapon structure
"It weighs about seven or eight catties, or six catties, and is about six or seven feet long. The dragon head rail and machine are all in the bed. When you pinch it, it will fall down, and the fire will burn again. There is a steel knife at the end of the bed. If the enemy approaches, it can be used as a machete. When he put it down, he held the hand in front of him, tucked the end of the bed behind him, and only pinched the trigger. He did not pull the weight, but his hands did not move. The fire door was a little far from the place where he aimed at his eyes. When he first released the smoke, he would not be shocked by it. This is the reason why they are better than Japanese muskets. The medicine costs four, and the lead bullets cost three."
In the Annals of Military Guards, it is said,"Muskets: Only Lu Mi Gun is the most distant and most poisonous." [5]
The structure of the entire Lumi Musket was composed of a musket tube, a musket bed, a curved stock, a dragon head and trigger, a fire door, a machine rail, a front mouth, a back door, and aiming devices called the Zhaomen and Zhaoxing.
The barrel of the gun was cylindrical, made of refined steel sheets. It was made up of two barrels, one big and one small. It was "four feet five or six inches long and weighed about four or five catties. The longer it was, the better it would be. Behind it was a door, and in front was a star. The fire door was on the side, and two or three iron buttons were placed down to facilitate the nailing down so that it would not vibrate when placed." For the blunderbuss, the rear end of the blunderbuss should be made of a steel piece, which should be placed upward to form a blade." Since the barrel of the gun is long, it is convenient to take it out if it has a fire door, lead, cloth, and paper. If you turn left, you can enter, and if you turn right, you can exit." The trigger and the rail were made of copper and steel respectively. They were as thick as copper coins and were hidden in the machine. The head of the machine and the machine rail were both installed on the gun handle, and a small steel sheet more than 1 inch long was placed close to the trigger to increase the elasticity, so that the gun could be pinched and fall, and after shooting, it would automatically bounce back, which had good mechanical resilience.
The Rumi musket also consisted of a gunpowder can to hold the gunpowder, a powder can to hold the powder, a slow-burning matchstick to ignite the fire, and a cane. The fire rope was made of four strands of cotton thread. The gunpowder was made of copper. The upper tube was just filled with the medicine of a gun. The lower part of the neck was made of copper. When it was used, the mouth of the gun was blocked with a finger. When the door was opened, it was tilted upside down. When the tube was full of medicine, the neck was closed and put into the gun." The medicine distributing jar is shaped like a steamed cake. The mouth is as big as a chopstick head. The top is stuffed with wood. When used, it should be taken out by the mouth. It should be about three inches long. It can be seen when it is worn."" The cane is inserted under the musket bed to make medicine for the child."
In short, the Lumi Musket copied by Zhao Shizhen had a long range and great power. Its shape was superior to that of the Japanese musket, and its structure was also much better than that of the Japanese musket. Its body was lengthened, and the ignition device was also improved. The faucet mechanism was installed in the gun bed, and the faucet of the buckle gauge fell on the fire door. After the gunpowder was ignited, it raised itself. There was a steel knife at the end of the musket, which could be turned upside down and used as a sabre in melee combat. 1598 (26th year of Wanli) Zhao Shizhen. He asked Duo Sima, the emissary of Lumi Kingdom, about the structure and manufacturing method of the musket of Lumi Kingdom. After improvement, it was made into Lumi Musket, Western Musket and Electric Musket.
Among more than ten kinds of muskets, such as Thunderbolt Musket, Three-long Musket, Rotating Wing Tiger Musket, and Shock Duplication Musket, Lumi Musket was undoubtedly one of the most prominent firearms at that time. (Personally, I don't think it's practical to use it as a Zhanmadao, and there's no steel blade in the Rumi musket.) There were similar designs in Europe, but they were not widely used!）
cockles
In fact, it wasn't used to kill birds, but to indicate that even if one was as agile as a bird, it would be difficult to escape. It was a replica of the Japanese flintlock that the Ming army had seized during the battle with the Japanese pirates. 40% of Qi Jiguang's infantry were equipped with this kind of gun. It was called a musket not because it was used to shoot birds or because even birds could not escape, but because the action of the musket with a matchlock in its mouth to ignite the gunpowder in the ignition pool was like a bird pecking at food. It had a range of 150 meters and could not be used on rainy days.
cockles
raised his gun
The earliest picture of it was recorded in the Ming Dynasty's " Heavenly Craftsmanship ". It had a triangular frame and a rotating device. It was three meters long, weighed twelve kilograms, and had an effective range of 200 meters. It was nicknamed the " Nine-headed Bird " and was so powerful that even the chariots at that time could not resist it.
raised his gun
history books
The above is only a part of the firearms of the Ming Dynasty and cannot be listed here.
In fact, the Chinese army equipped with firearms had appeared very early and was very sound. As early as the Yuan Dynasty, the army was already equipped with metal handguns that fired iron bullets with a caliber of more than 20 millimeters. This gave birth to the earliest artillery in the country, and the establishment of the "Gunner Army" and "Gunner Wanhu Mansion" appeared. Later, due to the vigorous development of firearms, the Ming army was generally equipped with firearms. The main weapon of war turned to the use of firearms.
Most people knew that Xu Guangqi and Dou Ricci had translated the book "Principles of Geometries", but few people knew that he had also written a series of works on military affairs, such as "Military Strategy" and "Fire Attack". He advocated the use of Western artillery and the selection of elite soldiers. His disciple Sun Yuanhua, in addition to assisting Xu in the revision of "Ju Gu Yi"(namely, the principle of geometry), also wrote military books such as "Jing Wu Quan Bian" and "Xi Fa Shen Ji", as well as mathematics books such as "Western Learning Miscellany","Geometry-Usage","Geometry-Body Theory","Taixi Suyao".”Among them, Xi Fa Shen Ji directly guided the Ming army's use of cannons.
Sun Yuanhua was an amazing person. His knowledge of Western learning was not inferior to Xu Guangqi. Moreover, his army had a Portugal artillery team. This group of gunners had 13 people in the early stage and later increased to more than 40 people. They established a model artillery team as a demonstration unit of the Ming army's Sun Yuanhua artillery. These Portuguese mercenaries were paid dozens of times more than the surrounding Ming soldiers. They were indeed very professional and taught the Ming soldiers all kinds of skills very seriously. They did a good job. Compared to the Taiping rebellion, when Li Hongzhang borrowed foreign troops to help the Taiping army, this cooperation was more proactive,"scientific", and open.
At the beginning of the 10th century, China had already used gunpowder for military purposes. According to the History of the Song Dynasty, in 970 AD, the Ministry of War ordered Shi Feng Jisheng and others to enter the rocket method. In 975 AD, the Song army used rockets and artillery to fight against the Southern Tang. By the time of Emperor Renzong, Zeng Gongliang and others summarized more than ten kinds of firearms at that time, including rockets, cannons, gunpowder whips, fireballs, caltrop fireballs, iron mouths, fire harrier, bamboo fire harrier, thunderbolt fireballs, smoke balls, poison smoke balls, etc., which directly reflected that firearms had been widely used in China at the beginning of the 10th-11th century. Before the middle of the 13th century, metal tube-shaped shooting weapons began to appear, called muskets. Its invention brought the development of machines to a brand new stage. At the beginning of the 14th century, the Yuan Dynasty further developed metal tube-shaped firearms based on the muskets and fire barrels invented by the Song Dynasty. In the middle of the 14th century, during the Red Turban Army's uprising to overthrow the Yuan Dynasty, metal tube-shaped firearms were widely used, and pellets were used. The appearance of metal tube-shaped firearms was a major change in the history of firearms. From then on, firearms gradually replaced cold weapons and were equipped in large quantities in the army.
In the Ming Dynasty, the economy was very prosperous. Agriculture, craftsmanship, and commerce were extremely developed. Overseas trade was very active. New productivity and production relations were in their infancy. There was a new and obvious turning point in the progress of science and technology. All these new and advanced factors provided the material and technological foundation for the development of weapons and gunpowder in the Ming Dynasty. In addition, in the Ming Dynasty, the north had been harassed by nomads for a long time, and the southeast coast was often harassed by Japanese pirates. Therefore, in order to strengthen the border defense and resist the invasion of foreign tribes, the Ming Dynasty attached great importance to the national military equipment, especially gunpowder and firearms. Firearms were regarded as the "long skill" to resist the enemy. Under such a historical background, the Ming Dynasty army attached great importance to firearms. Due to the large number of firearms used in various wars, the military's firearms equipment reached the peak of the cold weapon era.
There were many scholars who paid attention to the firearms system of the Ming Dynasty, but there were not many in-depth researchers. Especially the lack of evaluation of the actual use of firearms in the army of the Ming Dynasty. They believed that although the Ming Dynasty army could be equipped with firearms, they had not yet formed the main equipment.
Ming Dynasty Single Soldier Weapon
As early as the end of the Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, firearms had already been used. However, there were no fixed rules for the firearms in the army at this time, and the specific proportion of firearms in the army could not be known from the historical records. After the Ming Dynasty unified the country, in view of the powerful destructive power of firearms in war and the powerful combat effectiveness of firearms troops, the Ming Dynasty began to establish professional firearms troops and stipulated the proportion of firearms in the army. For example, in the 13th year of Hongwu, Emperor Taizu of the Ming Dynasty officially ordered: " An army of 100 households, 10 blunderbuss, 20 sabers, 30 bows and arrows, and 40 spears. In the twenty-sixth year of Hongwu, it was stipulated that each sea ship of the navy should be equipped with four bowl-mouth muskets, sixteen handgun barrels, twenty muskets, twenty rockets and twenty Shenji arrows, etc. The ratio of firearms and cold weapons used by the Ming army during the Hongwu period was one to nine, which clearly reflected the commonness of firearms in the Ming Dynasty, and it had been customized to a certain extent. In the second year of Chenghua, the Ming general Guo Deng suggested to the court that the infantry should use ten musketeers, ten archers, five swordsmen, ten strong crossbowmen, eight divine cannons and #3 gunpowder, and seven miscellaneous weapons. According to this rule, the number of soldiers who used firearms in the Ming army had already accounted for about one-third of the total number of soldiers.
In addition, from the perspective of the most frequent border troops in the Ming Dynasty, the popularity of firearms was also incomparable to the previous generation. According to the records of the Ming Yingzong Record, in the sixth year of Zhengtong, Cao Yi, the commander of the Liaodong army, asked the court: "The original copper blunderbuss in the capital warehouse have been given to the military. I'm afraid it will be destroyed in the cold winter. Now, the iron blunderbuss stored in the various warehouses have been made for more than 75,000 years. Please order them to be repaired and given to the army for training. In case of emergency, copper blunderbuss will still be used.”In the ninth year of Zhengtong, Emperor Yingzong of the Ming Dynasty believed that the original number of bronze blunderbuss equipped on each side was too small, and he was afraid of delaying the border preparation, so he decided that "in addition to the original number, the quantity should be increased by 535 in Liaodong, 830 in Yan 'an Suide and other places, 20 in Yongning, 300 in Xuanfu, 100 in Ningxia and 500 in Gansu". In the eleventh year of Zhengtong, it was stipulated that: "To Yanbian firearms, Datong and Gansu handguns were 500, and Wankou bronze cannons were 400; Xuanfu 500 muskets, 200 cannons; Miyun 300 muskets, 100 cannons; 100 Liaodong cannons, 400 stone cannons. These fragments of information recorded in the Ming Dynasty's Record indeed fully proved that the Ming Dynasty's army was heavily equipped with firearms. However, it was impossible to verify the exact number of firearms each army had.
Army
The Ming army not only equipped the army with firearms, but also established a professional firearms unit.
Ming Dynasty Single Soldier Firearm
The Shenji Battalion, a professional firearms unit established in the early years of Yongle, was known as the three battalions of the capital army together with the five battalions and three thousand battalions. It was responsible for the mission of " protecting the capital internally and preparing for war externally." It was a strategic mobile unit directly commanded by the imperial court.
According to the records of the 134th volume of the Ming Hui Dian, the establishment of the Shenji Battalion was mainly as follows: The Shenji Battalion had two admiral internal ministers, two military ministers, and two trumpeting officers. It had jurisdiction over the Central Army, Left Ye, Right Ye, Left Sentry, and Right Sentry.
The central army set up a sitting camp minister, a military minister, under the jurisdiction of four divisions, each division set up a gun supervisor minister, a department officer, a card officer.
The establishment of the left, right, left and right sentries was the same. Each of them had one internal minister, one military minister, and three divisions under their jurisdiction. Each division had one internal minister, one officer and two officers.
Later, there was an additional "5,000 Lower Camp" with one internal minister, one military minister, four divisions under its jurisdiction, and each division had two officers. The Divine Arms Battalion was a strategic mobile troop directly commanded by the imperial court. They were mainly in charge of the practice of divine handguns, divine cannons, and other firearms. They were equipped with cannons, bowl-mouth cannons, general cannons, handguns, divine spears, fast guns, and divine rockets.
combat methods
About the Divine Arms Battalion's fighting style
We can roughly understand the fighting principles of the Ming army after they are equipped with firearms from the fighting methods of the Divine Arms Battalion. After the creation of the Divine Arms Battalion, they often accompanied the Emperor on his personal expeditions together with the five battalions and three thousand battalions. The principle of formation in battle was: " Shenji blunderbuss in front, cavalry in the back. The vanguard should be sparse, and the rear team should be dense. If the front is sparse, it will reach. If the formation is dense, it will be solid." After the battle began," First, use blunderbuss to destroy the enemy's front, then use cavalry to charge at the enemy's strong defense." This combat principle was based on Zhu Di's experience after leading the army to defeat Arutai in the 8th year of Yongle. At that time, Zhu Di ordered the army to use Shenji firearms as the vanguard." The sound of the gun was heard for dozens of miles. Every arrow pierced through two people. When it hit the horse, they were all killed immediately. Hundreds of people under the king were killed." In the 21st year of Yongle after this battle, Zhu Di officially proposed this principle during his fourth personal expedition to Mobei. This was a high-level summary of how the Divine Arms Battalion worked together with the cavalry and infantry. The general gist was that after the battle began, the three forces had to cooperate with each other to play an overall role in killing the enemy. The machine gun artillery was placed in front of the entire formation, and the shooters had to maintain a certain distance between each other so that they could load ammunition and take turns to shoot to destroy the enemy's vanguard. When the enemy formation was in chaos, the dense cavalry behind would charge at the enemy with an overwhelming momentum and chase after the fleeing enemy.。Zhu Di's discussion summarized the new tactic of the Ming army's Divine Arms Battalion and infantry cavalry fighting together. This tactic mainly used the difference in the killing distance between guns and cold weapons to kill and consume the enemy at multiple levels to achieve the goal of annihilating the entire enemy. Thus, the participation of the Divine Arms Battalion had caused a huge change in the tactics of the ancient infantry and cavalry. It had a distinct characteristic of the times.
With the development of society and economy and the advancement of science and technology, as well as the occurrence of a series of wars in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, the use of firearms became more common. It was also accepted by the generals who led troops at that time. On this basis, the use of firearms in the army was more reasonable. At that time, the Ming army not only equipped the infantry and navy with firearms, but also equipped the cavalry with firearms and cannons. They also developed the long-abandoned chariots of the previous generation. It allowed the use of firearms in the army to reach a new height.
The biggest difference between Ming Dynasty chariots and the chariots of the past was the use of firearms. Qi Jiguang said: "Chariots rely on firearms." If firearms are useless, how can a carriage be driven? Yu Dayou pointed out: "The car must be used to defeat the thief with firearms, and the firearm must be used to resist the horse. The use of the two weapons is actually necessary." Under the guidance of this ideology, their chariots were equipped with more and more advanced firearms.
Formation of Chariot Troops in the Late Ming Dynasty
Chariot Battalion: Chariot Battalion was divided into six levels according to Battalion, Department, Division, Bureau, Union and Chariot.
Each battalion has two divisions, each division has four divisions, each division has two units, each unit has two vehicles.
Each vehicle carried 2 Fulang cannons and 20 soldiers. Each game has one hundred generals and 80 artillery soldiers; Each division has one commander, and 324 officers and soldiers below the general commander Bai; Each department has one thousand soldiers and 1300 officers and soldiers below the division level. Each battalion had 1 general, 1 middle army, and 2602 officers and soldiers below the department. In total, the entire battalion had 2604 officers and soldiers, equipped with 128 cannon vehicles and 256 Fraang cannons.
In addition to the cannon carts, each battalion had two drum carts and 20 soldiers. 4 rocket launchers, 40 soldiers; 3 cars, 30 soldiers; There were 8 General's Carriages and 160 soldiers. There were a total of 17 vehicles and 250 soldiers. When the entire battalion was fully equipped, there were a total of 3109 people, of which 512 were musketeers and 768 were Franks. Firearms users accounted for about 41% of the entire battalion.
mount a firearm It was a great development in the use of firearms in the middle of the Ming Dynasty. Zhao Shizhen wrote in the Book of Relics: "Once the chariot is sharp, the Krupp people cannot rely on their bravery, the Krupp horses cannot be used to gallop, the bows and arrows cannot be used to attack, the swords and armor cannot be used to attack, and the long skills of the Krupp people are all hidden by us. I will use the skills of the Heavenly Dynasty to control it."
Judging from the characteristics of the chariot battalion's equipment, it was the product of the mobility and defense of the cannon carriage combined with the firepower of the Folang machine. It developed the characteristics of the fierce firepower of the early Ming Dynasty Divine Arms Battalion and solved the weakness of the weak defense when dealing with the enemy cavalry. He was a new type of soldier that Qi Jiguang had created based on the flat and open terrain of the north. He was aiming at the needs of the infantry to deal with the Mongolian cavaliers.
Che Ying's Tactics
In the many battles between the Ming army and the Mongolian cavalrymen, the Ming army had developed an effective strategy based on the sturdy characteristics of the chariots and the advantages of the high lethality and long range of firearms. We will use Qi Jiguang's tactics as an example to explain the specific combat style of the Ming Dynasty's chariot camp.
Qi Jiguang's tactics were: the enemy cavalry attacked, the chariots lined up in a square camp, and the muskets, rockets, and Folang machines were fired in turns. If the enemy didn't retreat, the firearms on the Rocket Carriage General's carriage would fire at the same time. These many powerful firearms could be fired in turns all day long. Under such circumstances, the enemy horses were in a panic, and there were few who did not retreat. If the enemy approached, the infantry units attached to the vehicle would form a mandarin duck formation, with the rattan card hand in front, the second paladin hand, the spear hand, and the second musketeer fighting the enemy. Then, they returned to the car in an orderly manner. If the enemy retreated, they would send out cavalry to pursue.
Carriage soldiers, which mainly used firearms, were the type of soldiers that could effectively resist cavalry attacks. However, it was no longer the concept of "chariots can win over cavalry" that relied on the use of chariots and soldiers to win. It relied on firearms. In the thirty-ninth year of Jiajing, Yu Dayou and Governor Li Jinwen built chariots and car camps together in Datong."Soldiers and Krupp met Anyin Castle. With 100 trained chariots and 3,000 infantry and cavalry, they attacked tens of thousands of Krupp and chased hundreds of miles." The advantage of a chariot battalion equipped with cannons over cavalry was fully revealed here!
The main tactic was to use the chariot camp as a barrier and fully utilize the power of firearms to defend, rather than taking the initiative to attack the enemy. When the enemy approached, the infantry would fight with the enemy under the cover of firearms. When the enemy retreated, the cavalry would chase after them. The general characteristic of the chariot camp was to make the army invincible.
In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, apart from the Divine Arms Battalion, the rest of the armies were also equipped with firearms, and the proportion was very high.
Infantry Battalion Establishment and Firearm Equipment
Infantry battalions were divided into five levels: department, department, bureau, flag, and team. Each flag had three teams, and each team had 12 infantrymen. Each flag has a total of 1 flag and 36 soldiers. There were 111 officers and soldiers in each bureau. Each division had a total of 1 officer and 448 officers and soldiers. Each department had a total of 1 officer and 898 officers and soldiers. Each battalion had one general officer, one in the middle, and one in the firearms department. There were a total of 2697 soldiers and 2700 soldiers in the entire battalion.
Weapons and Equipment
There were 1080 muskets and their accessories, 6480 rockets, and other cold weapons such as sabers and spears. In terms of equipment, firearms made up 50% of the infantry battalion's total equipment. The individual equipment was: 1 musket, 1 head, 1 tin turtle, 1 lead bag, 1 sleeve, 1 medicine tube, 200 lead, 4 pounds of gunpowder, 3 matchsticks.
Infantry tactics
The increase in the number of people using firearms in the infantry caused a qualitative change in the tactics of the infantry. It made the firepower battle the first stage of the battle, and even the main process. After the Ming Dynasty army was equipped with firearms, the way of fighting began to change. First, they used muskets to attack the enemy, and then they used close combat. After firing the firearms, the first thing to do was to change the battle formation--cold weapons in front, firearms behind. At this time, firearms could also deal a certain amount of damage to the enemy, but it could not determine the outcome of the battle. The deciding factor was still the cold weapons. As the number of combatants using firearms increased, even reaching 50%, firearms became the main weapon to kill the enemy. When the enemy advanced a hundred steps, he would first shoot with a bird gun, then shoot with a fast gun, and fire arrows in a layered manner to attack the enemy. Under such circumstances. The enemy cavalry might be frightened and retreat.
The use of firearms had changed the old concept of " riding over walking ". Infantry could also use cannons to defeat cavalry. In the 42nd year of Jiaqing, Qi Jiguang was the first to use firearms to repel the assault of the Japanese cavalry. Therefore, the use of firearms reduced the combat power of the cavalry
Cavalry was the main force in the Ming Dynasty. In any war of the Ming Dynasty, cavalry played a very important role. In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, the cavalry began to be equipped with firearms, which greatly made up for the shortcomings of the cavalry's fast mobility and lack of firepower. It had a pioneering role in the history of cavalry development.
Cavalry Battalion Establishment and Firearm Equipment
The cavalry battalion was divided into five levels: department, department, bureau, flag, and team. Each flag had three teams, and each team had 12 infantrymen. The cavalry unit and the infantry unit had the same number of soldiers, totaling 2700 soldiers.
specific equipment
432 muskets, 432 fast guns, 432 Tiger cannons, 60.
In the battle, they formed a square formation, with barricades in front to block the enemy cavalry's charge, followed by artillery bombardment, infantry using artillery to cover the charge, and finally cavalry pursuit. After the cavalry unit was equipped with the light crouching tiger cannon, the cavalry's ability to quickly attack and attack was greatly enhanced. Qi Jiguang's cavalry battalion that used mules and horses to carry the Tiger Cannon was the earliest cavalry cannon in the history of the Chinese cavalry.
Due to the substantial increase in the proportion of firearms in the army, the amount of gunpowder and ammunition carried in battle still increased greatly. Therefore, in the Ming Dynasty, the "Qi Army" also had a specialized arm of the "baggage soldiers". Although before this, there had always been soldiers guarding the supplies. However, it was the first time Qi Jiguang's army had officially listed them as a military branch.
Organization and Equipment of the Logistics Camp
The baggage camp was divided into five levels: general officer-thousand general-general-hundred general-car general. Each battalion will have two thousand generals, two thousand presidents, four hundred presidents, five hundred presidents, one car, two gates, and 20 soldiers. The battalion had 80 cannon carriages, 160 Folang machines, and 640 muskets.
According to "Military Training Records Collection", the purpose of creating the baggage battalion was to quickly transport food and support the troops to pursue and annihilate the enemy from a long distance. In order to ensure the safety of grain transportation, the entire battalion was equipped with powerful firearms. Judging from the equipment of the supply camp, he could ensure the safety of the grain transport and also allow the supply camp to quickly enter the battle after arriving at the battlefield. Compared to the chariot battalion, the firepower of the supply battalion was equivalent to 2/3 of the chariot battalion.
In the era of cold weapons, although arrows could be used to kill the enemy on the deck in water battles, to completely defeat the enemy, they mainly relied on plowing and sinking the enemy ship and engaging the ship. In the Ming Dynasty, firearms were fully developed. Although the Ming Dynasty navy did not completely abandon the two tactics of sinking enemy ships and engaging in boarding battles, it was more important to equip firearms. Firearms could be used to sink enemy warships from a long distance.
The organization and firearms of the Water Army Camp
Battalion, sentry, and ship. Among them, there were 4 large Fu ships, 2 Zhongxing Hai Cang ships, and 4 small Cang Shan ships. There were a total of 40 soldiers, a total of 440 people. Including the logistics personnel, there were a total of 510 people, 225 people per sentry post. There were a total of 14,154 people equipped with Franks and muskets, and 10,110 people equipped with other firearms. Those equipped with firearms accounted for 50% of the total soldiers. The total number of weapons equipped on the warship was as follows:
Fortune Boat: 1 tribute, 6 Dafolang machines, 3 bowl mouth muskets, 60 sprayers, 10 bird beak muskets, 100 smoke cans, 500 crossbows, 10 medicine slaves, 400 catties of coarse gunpowder, 100 catties of musket gunpowder, 1 bottle of medicine, 300 catties of large and small lead bullets, 300 rockets, etc.
Big Fortune Boat
Haicang Ship: 4 Grand Franc Machines, 3 Wankou Muskets, 6 Bird's Beak Muskets, 50 Spray Tubes, 80 Smoke Canisters, 10 Cannons, 50 Fire Bricks, 200 Rockets, 200 catties of coarse gunpowder, 60 catties of musket gunpowder, 1 bottle of Nu medicine, 200 catties of large and small lead bullets, 200 catties of rockets, etc.
Haicang Ship
Cangshan Ship: 2 Grand Franc Machines, 3 Wankou Muskets, 4 Birdbeak Muskets, 40 Spray Tubes, 60 Smoke Canisters, 50 Fire Bricks, 100 Rockets, 150 Jin of coarse gunpowder, 40 Jin of musket gunpowder, 1 bottle of nuke, 160 Jin of lead bullets, 100 Jin of rockets, etc.
Cangshan Ship
Judging from the equipment of the firearms, the firearms equipped had the characteristics of a combination of large, medium, and small sizes, and had both long and short range.
Changes in Water Battle
In long-distance battles, firearms were the main weapon. The combination of firearms and cold weapons to kill the enemy on multiple levels was the main feature of water warfare in this period. In the seventh year of Yongle, Guan Ying, the commander of Jiaozhi, passed through Zhang Fu and sent troops to Xianzi Pass. However, the enemy was heavily guarded and set up camps on the opposite bank. There were more than 100 ships in the river. Zhang Fu took advantage of the northwest wind to launch an attack on the enemy. He "advanced with warships, fast firearms, and arrows like rain", killing thousands of enemies, drowning countless people, capturing more than 200 people alive and obtaining more than 200 ships. In the 17th year of Yongle, more than 30 Japanese pirates invaded the coastal area of Liaodong, anchored at Maxiong Island, and went ashore straight to Wanghai Pot. Liu Rong, the general of the Ming Dynasty, set up an ambush against the mountain and sent generals to cut off the retreat of the Japanese pirates. When the Japanese pirates entered the ambush circle, Liu Xiong ordered the ambush soldiers to raise their cannons and bombard them fiercely. The battle lasted from Chen Shi to You Shi, killing more than a thousand enemies and capturing more than 130 people alive.
The Ming Dynasty was the golden age of firearms in China. The Ming army continued to develop the performance of firearms in the war with the Later Jin Dynasty and the Qing army. The comparison of firearms in the war between the two sides directly determined the comparison of military power. The firearms skills that the Qing army learned from the battle with the Ming army had a major impact on the subsequent unification of the country. In the early stages of the war between the Ming Dynasty and the Later Jin Dynasty, the Ming army could still use the advantage of firearms to win in the battle of defending the city, such as the great victory in Ningyuan. In the sixth year of the apocalypse, Nurhachi led 130,000 troops west across the Liaohe River, intending to capture Ningyuan with lightning speed. However, Yuan Chonghuan, who was guarding the city, had already finished his preparations. He had placed 12 cannons, including 11 Hongyi cannons, on the city wall. Early the next morning, the Houjin army began to attack the southwest corner of the city under the cover of the license plate cars and backup. The Ming army used the western cannons on the city wall to fire fiercely. Forcing the Jin army to attack the south gate,"the city's muskets and cannons fired together. Every time they used Western cannons, the chariots were as rotten as wood."”When they approached the city wall, they were attacked by the crossfire from the southeast and southwest corners of the city, causing heavy casualties. The two sides fought fiercely for three days. Under the bombardment of artillery, the Later Jin army suffered more than 17,000 casualties and their siege weapons were all destroyed. Nurhachi saw the heavy casualties and could not take it down for a long time, so he retreated to Shen Yang. Historians called it the Great Victory of Ningyuan.
The Later Jin Dynasty was developed by the Jurchen tribe at the end of the 16th century. They gradually conquered and annexed the nearby clans and tribes."At first, they did not prepare firearms". They mainly used riding and archery."Swords, spears, bows and arrows" were important weapons for marching ". As he had suffered many losses due to artillery in the confrontation with the Ming army, he knew the importance of firearms. Therefore, they equipped the army with a large number of firearms seized from the Ming army and used a large number of firearms in battle. In particular, the fall of the former Ming generals Kong Youde and Geng Zhongming's troops after the surrender of Jin, Daling River and Yu Zizhangtai caused huge losses to the western artillery purchased and copied by the Ming Dynasty since the Tianqi year. They lost the advantage of firearms and seriously weakened the defense ability of the Ming army. Since Chongzhen years, the Later Jin Dynasty attacked the city without using artillery. In the subsequent series of wars, whether it was unifying the country or suppressing the rebellion of San Fan, the Qing army used firearms on a large scale.
Although the Ming army was equipped with a large number of firearms and developed a set of effective tactics, due to the limited production conditions at that time, the technology was not very developed, and the Ming army still had many problems.
The quantity and quality of firearms equipped by the Ming Dynasty army had not yet developed to the point where they could completely break out of the era of cold weapons. After all, there were still many flaws in the use of firearms. Just as Liu Tao, a Ming man, said when discussing the gains and losses of firearms in actual combat," The advantage of firearms is that they are as fast as thunder and lightning. However, there must be a fire line, a fire rope, a fire bag, a hammer chip, and a cannon. Only then can they succeed. Perhaps the weather is cloudy and rainy, the wind is blowing against the wind, there is only the burden of labor, are placed in a useless place, then there is no duller than duller. Five hundred paces away, of course, can hurt people, but if the enemy enters within a hundred paces, it will be too late to start a fire, and when the enemy's troops are running amok, it will be inconvenient to open the gate.”Therefore, when the firearms troops were on the battlefield, without the cooperation and protection of the infantry and cavalry, it was not enough to guarantee their victory.
and tactical thoughts
The military's tactical thinking was seriously rigid, hindering the development of the army. Although the Ming Dynasty army was equipped with the best weapons and equipment at that time, in the last years of the Ming Dynasty, there were many defeats and few victories in the external and internal wars. What was the reason? Of course, the corruption of the guard system, the collapse of the national finances, and other macro problems, but the military's tactical thinking was also seriously rigid. At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Di proposed the principle of "Shenji Muskets in front, cavalry behind", which became an eternal golden rule of the Ming army. Due to the outdated firearms technology at that time, there was a delay in reloading after firing. The Mongolian and Later Jin armies often used this time to use light cavalry assault tactics, and the Ming army was often defeated.
The low quality of the general hindered the power of the firearm. As the power of firearms increased, the combat teams dispersed, and the battlefield expanded. The way the battle was commanded changed accordingly. Cold weapon battles required the commander to personally lead his troops to charge at the enemy. The victory or defeat of a battle was often directly determined by this kind of battle. However, ever since firearms were widely used in battle, their lethality was hundreds of times greater than before. Moreover, the increasing number of different firearms had different functions and uses. How to organize and use these powers to win became an important responsibility of the commander. Therefore, the commander no longer had to personally kill the enemy. Instead, he had to calmly judge the situation, constantly adapt to the changes in the situation, make the right decision, organize his own strength in time, and invest in the favorable direction to win. In other words, whoever could effectively organize the use of firearms would win. However, other than Qi Jiguang, Yu Dayou, Sun Chengzong, Yuan Chonghuan, and a few other generals, most of the Ming Dynasty generals did not realize this.
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