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| A man firing three Fei Cui Zha Pao, from 'Wu Bei Zhi (《武備志》)'. |
Fei Cui Zha Pao (飛摧炸砲, lit. 'Flying destroyer explosive cannon') was an iron bombard, possibly a repurposed
Wan Kou Chong (碗口銃, lit. 'Bowl-muzzle gun'), that was used to shoot cast iron shells. The shells were filled with small
caltrops, which served as fragmentation during detonation but would stick on the ground to deter enemy advance afterwards. The bombard was typically loaded with multiple shells, allowing even one volley to cover a wide area.
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| Leonardo da Vinci's bombard, from 'Codice Atlantico'. |
An unrelated side note, I personally find that Fei Cui Zha Pao bears a little similarities to the bombards designed by Leonardo da Vinci. Coincidence?
this cannon and crouching tiger cannon are similar things?
ReplyDeleteNo, they are different.
DeleteHow effective is this weapon? Or not so effective at all?
ReplyDeleteI would say it was as effective as any other pre-modern explosive shell bombard/mortar/hand mortar......that is to say, not very much, but still good enough to be fielded with some regularity.
DeleteThe shells had the nasty habit of either exploding while still inside the barrel, or NOT exploding after they landed.