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| Several weapons laid above the mine cluster, from 'Wu Bei Zhi (《武備志》)'. |
Fu Di Chong Tian Lei (伏地衝天雷, roughly translated to 'Ground-hiding, air dashing thunder') was a type of unusual land mine/booby trap, designed to take advantage of human greed and curiosity. The device was relatively simple, essentially several incendiary and poison smoke bombs buried underground along with an ember-filled basin. The bomb fuses were loosely tied to the butts of several pole weapons (baits), which were planted on top of the basin. If an enemy troop pulled out or otherwis disturb the weapon, the fuse would fall into the basin, therby triggering the bombs.
This land mine was made famous by the Deadliest Warrior television series (Season 2, episode 11), as one of the weapon that successfully bring down a curious French Musketeer. The actual weapon was actually quite different from its televised depiction, as it was designed to disable, not outright kill, its victims like many anti-personnel mines.
