Di Lei Lian Pao (地雷連砲, lit. 'Ground thunder rapid cannon')
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Drawing of three soldiers firing three Di Lei Lian Pao, from 'Wu Bei Zhi (《武備志》)'. |
Di Lei Lian Pao was a small volley gun that consisted of 10 small cannons brazed to a solid iron stock in a fan shape. Originated from Shaanxi (陝西) region of Northwest China, Di Lei Lian Pao was a very lightweight weapon weighing only twenty catties (11.8 kg or 26 lbs) which allowed the weapon to be easily deployed and transported without a wheeled gun carriage—an important feature allowing the weapon to be used more effectively against fast-paced Mongol horsemen. Despite being a volley gun that fired its shots in a spread, Di Lei Lian Pao was still fitted with an iron sight.
To prevent the huge recoil generated by all ten barrels firing simultaneously from throwing off such a light weapon, potentially even hurting its user, the iron stock of Di Lei Lian Pao had an integrated ring that allowed the weapon to be staked to the ground during use.
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Drawing of one soldier firing multiple Di Lei Lian Pao, from 'Wu Bei Zhi (《武備志》)'. |
Di Lei Lian Pao was originally a tripwire gun that uses Gang Lun Fa Huo (鋼輪發火) as its triggering mechanism (hence 'Di Lei [地雷]' in its name), although this was later changed to having a gunner to manually fire the volley gun, as this was found to be much more convenient and responsive.
Di Lei Lian Pao utilised a two-stage fuse, which consisted of a very short section of normal fuse (i.e. Chinese paper fuse), known as Zou Xian (走線, lit. 'Walking thread'), connecting to a much longer section of flat quickmatch fuse, known as Bian Xian (扁線, lit. 'Flat thread') that extended all the way to the touch hole of the volley gun. The use of long fuse to ignite Di Lei Lian Pao allowed the gunner to stand at a safe distance from the weapon, as well as for a single gunner to operate multiple guns by himself.
Xun Lei Pao (迅雷砲, lit. 'Quick thunder cannon')
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Drawing of a Xun Lei Pao, from 'Li Qi Jie (《利器解》)'. |
Xun Lei Pao should not to be confused with Xun Lei Chong (迅雷銃), a weapon with similar name.
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