94
3 A Brief History of Space Flight
sulfur and cured-hay, appeared before the Qin Dynasty. The classical arson firearrows, as fire-attack weapons in the ancient wars, were usually attached to arrow
poles and launched with bows. In Brief History of Wei from Annals of the Three
Kingdoms that was written by Shou Chen in the Western Jin Dynasty (265−316
A.D.), the historical facts were recorded: the armed forces led by Liang Zhuge from
the Shu State attacked Chen Cang city of the Wei State; Zhao Hao, a general of
guarding the city, used the fire-arrows to shoot toward the aerial ladders utilized by
the army of the Shu State to climb the wall; as a result, the ladders were burning and
all soldiers on them were burned to death. The fire-arrows recorded in this classical
book are the classical arson ones. The gunpowder arson fire-arrows, early appeared in
the Northern Song Dynasty (960−1127 A.D.), are the gunpowder cartridges made
from a mixture of saltpeter, sulfur and charcoal, into which auxiliary agents like
oil, dry paint and wax are also added. These fire-arrows were attached to the arrow
poles and shoot to targets with the bows, and their arson and extension efficiency
was improved more notably than the classical arson fire-arrows. According to the
record of Military Annual of History of the Song Dynasty, Jisheng Feng, an official
of the Ministry of War, presented the gunpowder arson fire-arrows to Kuangyin Zhao
(927−976 A.D.), the founding emperor of the Song Dynasty and Zhao very liked
the weapons and rewarded clothes and silk bundles as presents to Feng.
The jet fire-arrows, early appeared in the Southern Song Dynasty (1127−1279
A.D.), had been the rockets actually based on the principle of reaction force. The
process of making and launching the jet fire-arrow is solid gunpowder containing
much saltpeter is loaded into a cardboard paper tube; the upper part of the paper
tube is sealed with a thin layer of mud, the inner part is designed as a cavity and
the lower part has a small hole; a blasting fuse is inserted into the small hole; the
paper tube is attached to the gun or the arrow pole to launch; when the gunpowder is
burned through the blasting fuse, the flame or gas flow is ejected from the small hole
to produce reaction force; as a result, the fire-arrow can autonomously be launched
without any external mechanical force. The cavity of the fire-arrow’s paper tube is
similar to the combustion chamber of a modern rocket engine, the high-temperature
and high-pressure gas flow generated as igniting gunpowder is the working medium
and the small hole in the lower part of the paper tube is equivalent to the jet nozzle.
The working medium generates a high-speed expanding gas flow through the special
small hole, which can effectively transform the chemical energy into kinetic energy,
and thus the thrust is produced to make the fire-rocket take off. Obviously, both the
jet fire-arrows and the modern rockets belong to the same type of engine designed
with the principle of reaction force. The jet fire-arrows have many advantages, such
as easy manufacture, far-shooting range, good motility and strong destructivity.
After strengthening its regime, the Southern Song frequently warred with the Jin
State (1115−1234 A.D.) and the Mongolian Empire (1206−1271 A.D.), and all of
them used the fire-arrows as weapons in the wars. In November 1161, the army of
Jin State invaded the Central Plains and suffered a heavy blow from the advanced
rocket weapons “Thunderbolt Cannons” made in the Southern Song. The Thunderbolt Cannons were made from the paper tube, with which gunpowder, explosive and
lime were filled; as igniting the blasting fuse, the gunpowder would burn to produce
3 A Brief History of Space Flight
sulfur and cured-hay, appeared before the Qin Dynasty. The classical arson firearrows, as fire-attack weapons in the ancient wars, were usually attached to arrow
poles and launched with bows. In Brief History of Wei from Annals of the Three
Kingdoms that was written by Shou Chen in the Western Jin Dynasty (265−316
A.D.), the historical facts were recorded: the armed forces led by Liang Zhuge from
the Shu State attacked Chen Cang city of the Wei State; Zhao Hao, a general of
guarding the city, used the fire-arrows to shoot toward the aerial ladders utilized by
the army of the Shu State to climb the wall; as a result, the ladders were burning and
all soldiers on them were burned to death. The fire-arrows recorded in this classical
book are the classical arson ones. The gunpowder arson fire-arrows, early appeared in
the Northern Song Dynasty (960−1127 A.D.), are the gunpowder cartridges made
from a mixture of saltpeter, sulfur and charcoal, into which auxiliary agents like
oil, dry paint and wax are also added. These fire-arrows were attached to the arrow
poles and shoot to targets with the bows, and their arson and extension efficiency
was improved more notably than the classical arson fire-arrows. According to the
record of Military Annual of History of the Song Dynasty, Jisheng Feng, an official
of the Ministry of War, presented the gunpowder arson fire-arrows to Kuangyin Zhao
(927−976 A.D.), the founding emperor of the Song Dynasty and Zhao very liked
the weapons and rewarded clothes and silk bundles as presents to Feng.
The jet fire-arrows, early appeared in the Southern Song Dynasty (1127−1279
A.D.), had been the rockets actually based on the principle of reaction force. The
process of making and launching the jet fire-arrow is solid gunpowder containing
much saltpeter is loaded into a cardboard paper tube; the upper part of the paper
tube is sealed with a thin layer of mud, the inner part is designed as a cavity and
the lower part has a small hole; a blasting fuse is inserted into the small hole; the
paper tube is attached to the gun or the arrow pole to launch; when the gunpowder is
burned through the blasting fuse, the flame or gas flow is ejected from the small hole
to produce reaction force; as a result, the fire-arrow can autonomously be launched
without any external mechanical force. The cavity of the fire-arrow’s paper tube is
similar to the combustion chamber of a modern rocket engine, the high-temperature
and high-pressure gas flow generated as igniting gunpowder is the working medium
and the small hole in the lower part of the paper tube is equivalent to the jet nozzle.
The working medium generates a high-speed expanding gas flow through the special
small hole, which can effectively transform the chemical energy into kinetic energy,
and thus the thrust is produced to make the fire-rocket take off. Obviously, both the
jet fire-arrows and the modern rockets belong to the same type of engine designed
with the principle of reaction force. The jet fire-arrows have many advantages, such
as easy manufacture, far-shooting range, good motility and strong destructivity.
After strengthening its regime, the Southern Song frequently warred with the Jin
State (1115−1234 A.D.) and the Mongolian Empire (1206−1271 A.D.), and all of
them used the fire-arrows as weapons in the wars. In November 1161, the army of
Jin State invaded the Central Plains and suffered a heavy blow from the advanced
rocket weapons “Thunderbolt Cannons” made in the Southern Song. The Thunderbolt Cannons were made from the paper tube, with which gunpowder, explosive and
lime were filled; as igniting the blasting fuse, the gunpowder would burn to produce