Early thermal weapons are devices or substances used in warfare during the classical and medieval periods (circa 8th century BC to the mid-16th century) that use heat or arson to destroy or damage enemy personnel , fort or territory.
Burners are often used as projectiles during warfare, especially during siege and sea battles; some substances are boiled or heated to cause heat or burn damage. Other substances depend on their chemical properties to cause burns or damage. These weapons or devices can be used by individuals, manipulated by war machines, or used as military strategies.
The simplest and most common thermal projectors are boiling water and hot sand, which can be shed on top of the attacking personnel. Other anti-personnel weapons include the use of heat pitch, oil, resin, animal fat and other similar compounds. Smoke is used to confuse or expel an attacker. Substances such as lime and sulfur can be poisonous and dazzling.
Firearms and burners are used against the enemy and territorial structures, as well as personnel, sometimes on a large scale. Large tracts of land, towns and villages are often lit as part of a scorched earth strategy. Mixed burners, such as the Greek petroleum-based fire, can be launched by throwing machines or given through siphon. The oil-covered and oil-soaked materials are sometimes ignited and thrown at the enemy, or attached to spears, arrows and bolts and fired by hand or machine. Some siege techniques - such as mining and drilling - depend on fuel and fire to supplement the collapse of walls and structures.
Toward the end of the period, gunpowder was discovered, which increased the sophistication of the weapon, starting with a fire spear, which led to the final development of the cannons and other firearms. Early weapons development has continued since then, with modern war weapons such as napalm, fire throwers, and other explosives having direct roots on original original thermal weapons. Burning and other destructive strategies can still be seen in modern strategic bombing.
Video Early thermal weapons
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The destruction of enemies and enemy territory is a fundamental war strategy, serving the dual purpose of punishment and deprivation of resources. Until the 5th century BC, the Greeks had little expertise in siege warfare and depended on the strategy of destruction to pull enemies out; they destroy plants, trees and houses. Centuries later, the Byzantines recommended this strategy, even though they had developed siege technology.
Fire is the easiest way to hit and destroy territory, and can be done easily and quickly by small forces. It was a strategy that was well-exploited by the Scots during the War of Independence; they repeatedly launched attacks on northern England, burning many rural areas until the entire region changed. King Edward II of England pursued a group of invaders in 1327 by following the burning village lights.
The tactic was replicated by the British during the Hundred Years' War; fire became their main weapon as they wasted into the French countryside during a lightning raid called chevauchÃÆ' Â © es, in the form of an economic war. One estimate recorded the destruction of more than 2,000 villages and palaces during an attack in 1339.
As well as causing destruction of land, food and goods, fire can also be used to divert labor. The 13th-century Mongol army regularly sent small detachments from their main army to start grass fires and fire settlements as diversions.
Fire destruction is not only used as an offensive tactic; some countries and soldiers use the 'scorched earth' policy on their own land to seize the army that attacks all food and food. Robert I of Scotland reacted to the British invasion in 1322 by launching chevauchón condemnation and diversion to northwest England, then retreating to Culross, burning when he went to Scottish land situated on the British army lane. The English ran out of food and had to leave the campaign. Kitchener used charred earth tactics to subdue the Boer forces in South Africa when three years of warfare had resulted in a dead end.
Such acts of aggression are not limited to wars against territorial enemies, but can be part of a strategy of conquest, conquest and rebellion. Alexander the Great suppressed the rebellion in Thebes, Greece in 335 BC, after which he ordered the city to be burned and wasted. Alexander ordered (or permitted) a similar incineration at Persepolis in 330 BC. It is a policy that is repeated throughout the period. William I of England, after his conquest of England in the 11th century, asserted control over Northumbria by destructive campaigns throughout the region: "He commanded that crops and livestock, equipment and food should be burned to ashes.Over 100,000 people died, starved" , reported Orderic Vitalis, contemporary historical writer. It was a scene that was repeated in the next century, during the anarchy of the Stephen of England government. The civil war broke out between Stephen's supporters and those of the Queen Matilda, the rival prosecutor of the throne. The Gesta Stephani tells of the actions of one of Stephen's supporters, Philip of Gloucester, by describing how he "rages in all directions with fire and sword, violence and looting", reducing the region to " terrible ".
Maps Early thermal weapons
Usage techniques
At its simplest level, the fire itself is used as a weapon to cause large-scale damage, or to target enemy or machine-specific positions. It is often used against siege engines and wooden structures. Firearms can be used to burn cities and fortresses, and various thermal weapons are used against enemy personnel. Some soldiers developed a special "fire army". In 837, many Muslim armies had a group of "naffatin" (fire archers), and when the Mamluk Empire raised its fleet to attack Cyprus, they had "nafata", or firetroops.
Simple burning
Burning enemy positions and equipment is not always a complicated procedure, and many fires are made by individuals using common materials. When William's troops from Normandy surrounded Mayenne in 1063, they fired into the castle to panic the garrison, while two boys stole the castle to light a fire inside. The garrison gave up.
The besieged forces will sometimes launch a surprise attack in an attempt to fire camps or attacking equipment. When Hugh Capet surrounded Laon in 986-987, his army became drunk one night, and the Duke Charles's forces united and set fire to the camp, urging Hugh to abandon the siege.
The besieged is not the only one that can erase siege equipment; when Frederick I Barbarossa left his siege at Alessandria in 1175, he burned his camp and his own equipment.
However, like all weapons, firefighters have its own dangers. In 651 the Penda of Mercia attempted to win Bamburgh Castle by building a pile of wood on its base from boards, beams, wars and weeds. The wind changed direction and the fire blew back on the Penda man, who had to abandon the attack. This unintentional wind change is credited to Saint Aidan, who saw smoke from the Farne Islands and prayed for defenders.
Throw machine
Various throwing machines are used during the classical and medieval periods. Generally referred to as "artillery", this machine can throw, shoot or fire a missile and most can be used or adapted to throw a thermal weapon, by attacking and defending troops. Barrels, flame pots, and other unbreakable containers, Greek fires, and other combustion mixtures can be thrown; another machine fires arrows and bolts, which can be ignited, or adapted to carry combustible mixtures. From the 12th century, Muslims in Syria used clay grenades and glass for firearms, thrown by machines.
Most of the terms used for throwing machines are unclear, and can refer to different machines, all of which undergo changes and developments during that period. Among the most common are ballista, mangonel and trebuchet. The ballista is similar in arrow shape, though much larger, and uses a string-winding mechanism to fire missiles or bolts placed in the groove. Other giant crossbows are used throughout the period, and "espringal", based on a ballista, which throws a large bolt, developed in the 13th century. Torque-powered torch arrows have been used from 400 BC, and adapted for stone. A mangonel has a wooden spoon-shaped arm, to hold a rock or other projectile, which is manipulated under pressure from a crooked string. Trebuchet is an advanced development of the 12th or 13th century, which uses counter-weight to light the throwing arm, and is the main siege machine until the cannon becomes widespread.
In mining
Troops attacking castles or other strongholds sometimes attempt to undermine the foundation by digging "mines" or tunnels underneath. Typically, such mining machines or excavations are protected by a turtle (also called cat , tabun , or owl ): a closed warehouse on wheels, which protects the miners from missile attacks.
When tunnels are built, they are generally supported by wooden beams and poles. Once the mine is finished, the internal space is filled with fuel, such as brushes, firewood, resins, and other burners; once turned on, it will burn the supporting support tool, cause the mine to collapse, bring along the structure lying on top. From the 15th century, gunpowder was also used, although the aim was to burn the props.
Defenders may occasionally dig tunnels to reach enemy mines and launch attacks; often thermal weapons are used to move the collectors from tunnels.
Instead of damaging the structure, some pheasants use borers to drill holes in the outer wall in an attempt to destroy them; such methods are more effective than rams in brick walls (which tend to absorb shocks from rams). Borber is different in size and mechanism, but a typical machine is made of logs, which are iron and supported and driven by windlasses or ropes. After a series of holes have been bored along the wall, the holes are usually filled with dry wooden stems, saturated with sulfur or field and then ignited. Bellows can be used to push the flames.
Shipboard
Ships were used on several occasions during that period. In 332 BC Alexander the Great besieged Tyre, a coastal Phoenician base. To bring his siege machine within reach, Alexander ordered the construction of a mole. The Tyrians responded by attacking the first mole with a big fireship, which destroyed it. A large horse carrier loaded with cedar torches, pitches, dry brushes and other fuels; on top of this suspended sulfur pans, asphalt and "any kind of appropriate material to ignite and ignite the fire". It was drawn to the mole, and illuminated by the Phoenicians before they jumped into the sea and swam away.
Another example occurred in the Siege 886 of Paris, when the Vikings filled three warships with combustible material and pulled them upstream in a failed attempt to destroy the Frankish fortified bridge. Fire ships containing straw and powder were also used during the Battle of China Lake Poyang in 1363.
Other methods
Often ingenious methods are developed to manage weapons. The 10th-century Olga from Kiev is reported to have tied a burning damp eye, which, when released, flies back to their nest in a hostile city and makes them burn. The siege tower and the ladder can be equipped with long, narrow sloping rays at the top, gouged out by grooves, so that hot oil and water can be poured down on the defenders of the enemy during the escale.
During an attack, a fort or defense defender may launch or pour substances on the attacker's head below. This can be done over the castle, but also through specially constructed holes such as machicolations and murder pits. Indian records show that smoke and fire are used defensively inside the castle to confuse and confuse the attackers; iron grill can also be heated and used to block alleys. During night raids, defenders can drop bundles that light up on the wall so that the enemy can be seen; Chinese and Muslim sources also illustrate the light that the torch hung on the wall.
Use against the stone palace
Stone castles are vulnerable to fire, because they contain many combustible materials. In 1139, Henry de Tracy forced the submission of Torrington Castle by the simple means of throwing torches lit through the cracks of the castle.
The stone is also vulnerable to intense heat, which will make it crack and collapse. The Byzantine Sources noted the dismantling of stone structures caused by placing clay pots from burning charcoal at the base of a wall soaked with vinegar or urine, and a 6th century treatise by an engineer in the Justinian army including a lighting fire under the wall between instructions for a siege.
Stone castles sometimes offer other inflammatory targets. During the Crusades, Muslim advocates often hung straw bundles on their walls as a buffer against stones and rams; in turn, the Crusader archers will light this fire with a fire arrow.
Defense against thermal attacks
Defenses of thermal weapons and fire attacks are usually water or other fluids such as urine; The hijab is soaked and draped over a pile of vulnerable wood and siege engines, and liquid barrels and barrels are collected and stored by defenders and attackers. Hides are hung by overlapping so that any water will flow through the structure to extinguish the fire. Some thermal weapons (such as oil or oil chalk) can not be extinguished or reduced by water, in which sand or soil can be used. Wooden structures are often soaked in alum to improve their fire resistance. The Romans covered their turtles (mobile siege warehouse) with raw skin wrapped in seaweed or husk-soaked husks, for use as protection against common missiles and burners. During this period, the sack or net may be filled with husk dampened with vinegar, seaweed or wet moss and hung on the outside. The Crusader wooden siege machine is vulnerable to attack from Byzantine and Muslim firearms, so troops inside the siege tower hold water supplies and vinegar.
During the High Middle Ages, the majority of Polish castles are still made of wood, so unbroken stones are often added to the front to improve their fire defenses.
Both attackers and defenders need to be prepared for incendiary and hot-burning attacks. When the Athenians besieged Syracuse in 416 BC, they lost many siege engines. The ruler of Syracusan, Dionysius, I must record this success, for when he persecuted Motya in 398 BC he organized a special fire brigade, which managed to extinguish the fire when its siege machine was bombarded.
During the First British Civil War, burners were used to raze downtown. Defenders in London are advised to fight fire using milk, sand, soil, and urine. In Colchester, a fire caused by a hand grenade (the weapon called "fire" by the fighters) was extinguished using a saturated wet suit in milk and vinegar.
Type of weapon
Arrows bent, bolts, spears, and rockets
Lighting the torch (burning stick) is probably the earliest form of a burner. They were followed by an arson arrow, which was used during ancient and medieval periods. The simplest flame arrow has an oil-glued array or resin tied just below the arrow head and is effective against the wooden structure. Both the Assyrians and Judeans used fire arrows in the Lakhis siege in 701 BC. More sophisticated devices were developed by Romans who had iron boxes and tubes filled with burners and attached to arrows or spears. This arrow should be shot from a loose bow, because the flight quickly extinguishes the fire; spears can be launched by hand or throwing machine.
Lighted arrows require the shooter to be close enough to the desired target and most will extinguish themselves before reaching the target. In response, another form of fire arrow is developed which consists of a curved metal rod that connects the tip and the hollow end to the shaft. The resulting cage is filled with hot coal or other solid objects that can be fired from a much stronger bow or ballista without fear of extinguishing and will be used to light the thatched roof or straw from a safer distance.
Arrows are bent and arrow bolts are used throughout the period. The 15th-century author, Gutierre Diaz de Gamez, witnessed the Spanish assault on the Moorish city of Oran in 1404 and later described how "For most of the night, the ships did not stop shooting bolts and the fight dipped the tar into the city, which was near The noise and cries that come from the city are huge for the reason of the chaos that is forged. "
Anna Komnene notes that in 1091 the Battle of Levounion, the torches flashed into the spear.
The Chinese Song Dynasty created a fire arrow - a rocket attached to an arrow and mass-launched through the platform, and then created rockets like huo long chu shui, a multistage rocket used in sea battles. The primitive rockets made of bamboo and leather were used by the Mongols, under Genghis Khan, but not accurate. However, Fatamids used the 11th century "Chinese arrow", which may include saltpetre. Mamluk experimented with rocket-powered weapons described as "self-propelled and burning eggs."
A 2-meter-long crossbow bolt (2.2Ã, yd) may be designed to carry a fire cartridge found in a 13th-century castle in Vladimir, Eastern Russia. Large bolts thrown at such machines are ideal for firearms. The Mongols used a "cow-bow" machine to throw bolts that had been dipped in fire, with a range of 2500 steps.
During the British Civil War (mid-17th century in England), both Parliamentary and Kingdom forces used various incendiary tools to attack the enemy and destroy properties that might be used for military purposes, according to historian Stephen Porter at Damage in the British Civil War . A blazing arrow attack is used to burn buildings in the distance. Arrows with flammable substances are attached to the shaft, close to the tip, shot from a bow or a short-muzzled shotgun. The arrows fired from the muskets have been removed from the fur, to fit inside the muzzle, and are called the fire arrow. This device is cheap to make and easy to prepare. Though rarely used during the war, flaming arrows and arrows proved destructive. The royal family fired the fire arrows into the roofed houses on the outskirts of Chester that caused great damage. Lyme Regis is partially destroyed using flaming arrows.
Greek Flame
The Greek fire is one of the most effective heat devices, though it is very dangerous for its users. The flammable liquid, can be fired from a chiffon or catapult, and it burns out during a crash. First developed by Byzantine in the 7th century, it was later used by the Turks during the Crusades, and was probably first used in Western Europe in the 12th century. Initial experiments by Byzantine in the 6th century used a mixture of sulfur and oil, which would be frightening if not destructive. Various versions appear to have existed, and the recipes are often kept secret; experts are still debating the right composition, although some prescriptions are already known. It may have regional variations; Islamic derivatives are known as "naft" and have petroleum bases, with sulfur; Persian word for "petroleum" is ??? ( naft ).
Flammable liquids can be fired from catapults, and will burn if impacted. Siphons, often of copper, were also developed, first appearing in the 10th and 11th centuries. The chiffs could fire a furious stream, which, according to Mesopotamian sources in the tenth century, could have swallowed twelve men. Mardi bin Ali al-Tarsusi, who wrote a military manual for Saladin in the 12th century, suggested that "naft" can be placed in a blown eggshell, which can be removed from the horse. From the 12th century, oral pipes were developed for use in the mine.
Similar mixtures of oil and asphalt have been known for centuries before the discovery of the Greek fire, but this new recipe creates a fire that is very difficult to extinguish. It burns in water, and is used effectively in naval warfare, even though it is primarily an anti-personnel weapon rather than a ship burner. It remained effective at sea even after its use declined inland after the 13th century.
The Greek fire prescriptions continued to be developed over the centuries, and in the High Middle Ages were much more sophisticated than early versions. Saltpetre (also called "Chinese salt") is added to the mixture in the Islamic world, and China developed a mixture of dry saltpetre in the 12th century, which eventually became gunpowder. Both Parliamentary and Royalist forces used petroleum-based burners such as the Greek fire known as "fire" during the British Civil War.
Oils of various types can be heated to high temperatures and shed to the enemy, though, because it is very expensive, its use is limited, both in frequency and quantity. In addition, it can be dangerous and volatile. Since the smoke point of the oil is lower than its boiling point, the oil is only heated and not boiled.
Oil-pouring is used in historic battles, and Josephus describes its use in Jotapata in 67 AD, saying "the oil easily breaks the whole body from head to foot, under all their armor, and feeds on their flesh like fire itself. "
Oil is usually used to make burners. The 6th century Roman-Byzantine army created a "fire-pot", an oil-based burning weapon that could be launched by hand or by ballistae. During the siege in Montreuil-en-Bellay in 1147, a mixture of oil from nuts, marijuana and hemp, heated in an iron container, launched by mangonel, and caught fire during a collision. The Chinese made an initial grenade of hemp oil and cotton, which was ignited and discarded by mangonels.
The use of other oils can be seen in the La Rochelle sea battle during the Hundred Years' War; Castilians sprayed oil onto the deck of a British ship and lit it by firing a flaming arrow down.
Water, sand and other hot missiles
Hot oil is less common than boiling water or hot sand, which is cheap and highly effective; even "dust from the road" can be used. It will penetrate the armor and cause horrible burns. Sand, in particular, can work through a very small crack in the armor. The Phoenicians in the Ban Siege (332 BC) dropped the searing sand over the attacking Greeks, who were behind the armor and burned the flesh.
They build copper and iron shields, put sand into it, and heat it on hot fire so the sand becomes red hot. Using multiple mechanisms, they throw the sand at those who have fought bravely and make their victims the most severe victims. The sand pierces the armor into the shirt, burns the body, and it is inevitable [...] they die, go crazy with tremendous pain, in agonizing and unquenchable suffering.
Such heated missiles have also been used in mining situations; the first-century Roman writer Vitruvius described a counter-mine dug above the attacker's gallery by defenders in the Apollonia siege. Penetrating the floor between the mines, Apollonian defenders pour boiling water, hot sand and hot pitches to the heads of their enemies. Other mixes are more innovative; the defenders in Chester in 918 boiled a mixture of water and ale in a tub of copper and poured it over a Viking siege, causing their skin to peel.
When Frederick I Babarossa besieged Crema, Italy in the 12th century, the defenders threw hot iron objects down on them.
Pitch, tar and resin
Combustion blows are used on occasion; Mongols are known to burn containers of burns during siege using catapults and trebuchet. The wheels can be covered with pitch, burned, and rolled; this technique is usually used during the Crusades. The Carthaginians were besieged in Motya, 398 BC, burning siege machines of Syracusan troops who attacked under Dionysius I by dropping burned charred logs and oakum soaked in resin; However, the Syraans succeeded in extinguishing the fire.
Pitch is the base material in many burners during that period. The Boeotians developed a fire machine, which they used against the Athena wooden fort during the Battle of Delium in 424 BC. A cauldron of embers, pitch, and sulfur was hung at one end of the log and the hollowed bellows had been fixed to the other end. The same mixture was used 1700 years later by the Scots, when they dropped wooden bales, tar and sulfur with a crane to England "sow" (a large protective shield covering the battering) in 1319 Berwick-upon-Tweed siege.
The rendering and animal parts
At the siege of 1215 Rochester Castle, King John ordered that the fats of 40 pigs be used to burn mines under rubble, causing them to collapse, a cheap and effective technique in place of a more complex mix of sulfur, fat, chewing gum, pitch, and quicksilver in France the year before. Animal fats are not uncommon as acceleration; at 13th-century French sortie parties are often equipped with animal fats, straw, and hemp to be used as fuel when setting fire between enemy siege machines.
There are several uses of other interesting animal parts; during the Siege of Paris in 886 CE, the Franks dropped a bucket of hot mixes (or oils), candles and fish on the attacking Vikings; the mixture is under the armor and stuck to the skin. Konrad Kyeser Bellifortis of 1405 describes a toxic mixture of sulfur, tar and horses. Other burners include egg yolks, and pigeon and sheep dung.
Some documented animal uses are not thermal or burner. Live insects are also used, to sting the enemy. The 4th century BC writer Aeneas Tacticus suggested that human rights defenders should let bees and bees enter enemy mines, and scorpion pots are sometimes fired during early bombings in sea battles. In 189 BC, Ambracia was besieged by Romans, who dug a mine under a wall. Defenders fill clay jars with chicken feathers, which are then switched on, using bellows to blow sharp fumes into the tunnel; Unable to approach the pot because of a defensive spear, the Romans were forced to leave their jobs.
Quicklime, sulfur and smoke
The fifteenth-century engineer Taccola recommends chalk, though its use back to ancient times, and may have been a component of Greek fire. Lime quickly reacts with water, and can cause blindness and burns. While lime is used in some sea battles, it does not seem to be a standard issue on board, as the dangers of his ship are blowing back and burning the user.
Other smoked substances are not turned on. Sulfur sacks that burn effectively to clear enemy mines due to the toxic fumes produced. Any smoke can be used in small borders; the Greek military writer, Aeneas Tacticus, suggested burning wood and straw to ward off the enemy from the smoke.
Gunpowder and cannon
The invention of gunpowder may have been the result of centuries-old alochemical experiments. Saltpetre was known by the Chinese in the mid-1st century and there is strong evidence of the use of saltpetre and sulfur in various combinations of drugs. The impetus for the development of gunpowder in China increased encroachment by the tribes at its borders. The earliest known formula for gunpowder can be found in a Chinese work that probably dates from the 9th century. The Chinese wasted little time to apply it to warfare, and they produced gunpowder, including flamethrowers, rockets, bombs and mines, before creating firearms. The European description of gunpowder first appeared in Opus Maius and Opus Tertium, written by the English philosopher Roger Bacon in the middle of the 13th century, although the mixture was not very effective. The composition of gunpowder varied throughout the period, and did not meet the current salt, sulfur, and coal ratios until the 17th century.
The 904-906 years saw the use of burning projectiles called 'flying flame' ( fei-huo ). Needham (1986) argues that gunpowder was first used in warfare in China in 919 as a fuse for the ignition of other Greek fires. Initially, gunpowder was used through traditional machines and throwing mechanisms; containers and grenades thrown by mangonels and trebuchets, and blast rockets and arrows developed, along with gunpowder.
Like a firearm, a cannon is a descendant of a fire spear, a tube containing gunpowder used as a flamethrower; materials such as shrapnel are sometimes placed in the barrel so that it will fly out along with the fire. In time, the proportion of burps in propellant is increased to increase its explosive power. To better withstand the explosive force, paper and bamboo from the fire bar that was originally replaced with metal. And to take full advantage of that power, the shrapnel was replaced by projectiles whose size and shape fill the barrel closer. With this, we have three basic features of the rifle: a barrel made of metal, high nitrate munition, and a projectile that completely snaps the muzzle so that the powder charge gives its full potential in the propellant effect.
Firearms remain in use in China for the next centuries. Meanwhile, gunpowder and firearms spread elsewhere very quickly. Gunpowder appears to have been widely known in the 13th century. The Europeans, Arabs, and Koreans all got firearms in the 14th century. The Turks, Iranians, and Indians all got firearms no later than the 15th century, in any case directly or indirectly from Europe. The Japanese did not get firearms until the 16th century, and later from Portugal rather than China.
In 1326, the earliest known image in Europe of a weapon appeared in a treatise entitled "Of The Majesty, Wisdom and Prudence of Kings." On February 11 of the same year, Signoria of Florence appointed two officers to obtain the canones de mettallo and ammunition for the city's defense. References from 1331 describe an attack mounted by two German knights at Cividale del Friuli, using gunpowder of some kind. Cannon was first used by Muslims in Alicante in 1331, or Algeciras in 1343. The French raiding party that fired and burned Southampton in 1338 brought ribaudequin and 48 bolts (but only 3 pounds of gunpowder). The Crusade battle in 1346 was one of the first in Europe where the cannon was used.
However, the initial cannons were not very effective, the main benefits being psychological, frightening men and horses. The short barrage of large "bombardments" ran out to the end of the 15th century in Europe, during which period they grew larger. In the mid-15th century, mortars also emerged. Small arms also exist, including serpentine ribaudequin and cropaudin . The powder is of poor quality and is used in small quantities - to prevent barrel explosions - so the effective range of these cannons is rarely more than 200-250m.
The cannon cans are forged or thrown, and every gun is generally different in caliber and length. Early powder resembles a paste, and tends to burn slowly. Its composition varies in different geographical areas, European powder is very different from that used in the Islamic world. The projectiles used are generally stone balls to bombard and mortar. The forged iron ball is used in a smaller caliber cannon, and is coated with lead to make it smooth. From the 15th century, cast iron balls were used, which caused great damage. Because they are more dense than rocks, even small balls can be damaging. Thus, the cannon becomes smaller in caliber, and the longer barrel increases the range.
Next development
The use of burners has declined in the 14th century, perhaps because of the economic reality of the war in which it becomes increasingly important that corrupted palaces and cities are not damaged. In addition, fewer machines and wooden structures were used on the battlefield after the end of the 13th century, possibly because of the previous success of firearms to destroy them.
While the incidence of use declined, towards the end of the Middle Ages burners became more sophisticated, and the principle of holding fire with the sword remained throughout the Early Modern and Modern periods; improving technology only allows the process to be more efficient.
The principle of fire and sword
The fire itself remains part of the war. In his work on the Peninsula War (1807-1814), a British soldier noted that the French soldiers would "regularly burn to the ground every where they passed, in following them we find every city and village piles of smoking debris." During World War I, Leuven, in Belgium "was looted and burned in medieval fashion", when the German army burned many cities, destroyed libraries and other cultural buildings, and caused worldwide outrage. But the tactics are not eliminated. In World War II, fire bombs with incendiary bombs were carried out by Germany against England during the Blitz, and by the Allies against Germany and Japan. After a massive attack in Tokyo in March 1945, the fires destroyed a quarter of wood-dominated buildings. Just like the Ancient Greeks before them, it was a strategy of destruction. Fire continues to be used as a destructive act in warfare. During the 1991-1992 Gulf War, Iraq burned three-quarters of Kuwait's oil wells.
Fire remains a very successful weapon. During the naval war of Napoleonic war, "the one thing most likely to destroy a ship is fire". Sometimes fire is just a side effect of weapon technology. The initial firearms proved to be a trigger in its use and could start a fire. During the War of the Peninsula, the battlefields of Talavera and Salamanca were damaged by tremendous forest fires, first started by weapons. At the Battle of Trafalgar, 1805, the French ship Achille burned fire when a rifle from his rifle fired at tar and fat on the ship's path; the ship finally exploded.
The smoke screen continues to be used by attackers and defenders as a means of sowing confusion and hiding movement. During the sea battles of the 18-19th centuries, shots were sometimes fired early so that a defense screen was set up before the ship was assembled, to damage the enemy's destination.
Continuous development and use of weapons
The major development of weapons in the early modern and modern times occurred with firearms, which became ever more efficient. Gunpowder powder went into a standard ratio in the 17th century, and general ballistics technology improved. Initially, the iron round shot replaced the previous stone balls for the cannon then, the latter, various types of shots were created.
The carcass is a perforated projectile usually formed by an iron enclosure of a rib that joins two small rings or a cast iron ball with a hole. Carcasses are so named because the iron enclosure is thought to resemble a body rib. The carcasses are full of very combustible mixtures. Carcasses were used for the first time by France under Louis XIV in 1672.
For short-range use of personnel, smaller naval canisters and grapeshots were very popular during the 19th century; it consists of a smaller iron pellet or pellet contained in a box or bag, which is dispersed by an explosion. In 1784, Lt Henry Shrapnel created a round case-shot, which was later named after him. The case was a hollow iron ball filled with rifle balls and detonated by a gunpowder. The shot fired from the cannon can be so hot that it burns or burns the ingredients that it brushes.
Burning liquids from ancient and medieval periods were also developed, and have their modern equivalents. World War I saw the development of flamethrowers, a modern version of the Byzantine chiffon, which uses gas under pressure to spray a mixture of burned oil and gasoline, ignited by a burning taper. Similarly, the carcass projectile found a new use in the Livens Projector, a primitive mortar that could throw a large tube of flammable liquid (soon used for toxic gas).
Technology increased throughout the 20th century, and the last half saw the development and use of napalm, a partially formed burner of naphtha, which is the main ingredient of the Arabic "naft".
The fire continues to be used for light endure until an artificial lamp is developed. At the Badajoz siege in 1812, French defenders threw burning "straw carcasses" so that an attacking English might be seen. Like the old siege, Britain is filled with firearms, but it now takes the form of explosive grenades, mines and powder barrels and enemy weapons.
Special weapons of ancient and medieval times continue to flourish, and many have modern equivalents. The rocket technology, originally piloted by Mongols, Indians and Chinese, among others, was enhanced in the 19th century; One example is the Congreve rocket burner, which has a tail, fuse, and powder powder (salt, sulfur and carbon) inside a hollow shell. Grenades continue to grow, although they still retain some aspects of their medieval equivalents. The grenades carried on British Royal Navy ships in the late 18th and early 19th centuries were constructed of hollow cast iron, filled with gunpowder; The fuse is a hollow wood tube filled with combustible material. During World War I, grenades were still occasionally launched by ballistae.
The use of multiple weapons continues with little change. Korea used a fire arrow against the Japanese at the Battle of Hansan Island in 1592. In Trafalgar, in 1805, the British ship Tonnant fired sulfur-coated blobs, which burned fire AlgÃÆ'Â © siras . Fireship is used in the next period. In 1588, the British sent fireships laden with gunpowder, pitch, and tar among the Spanish fleets anchored; the Spanish fleet break the formation, preparing them for the next battle. The last battle beneath the screen was the Battle of Navarino (1827), part of the Greek War of Independence, in which firearms were used by Turks.
Chemical battles have been tried during the initial period with sulfur, lime (calcium oxide), and others, and the development continues. World War I saw many of the gases used, including the highly effective sulfur mustard (mustard gas).
See also
- Department of Petroleum Warfare
- Scorched Earth
- Death by boiling
Note
References
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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