What artillery was equipped by the army during the Qing Dynasty

What artillery was equipped by the army during the Qing Dynasty

With the decline and fall of the Ming Dynasty, the wave of firearms development in the late Ming Dynasty was replaced by the emerging dynasty. In the struggle for national domination with the Ming Dynasty, the Qing regime maintained the development of cold weapons, but at the same time, with the lessons learned from the two defeats of the Ninyuan, the Qing regime was determined to learn the manufacture of firearms in the use of technology, and a large number of red-coated cannons were manufactured, which changed the disadvantage of the Qing army in terms of firearms. Qing army's inferiority in firearms.

The artillery of the early Qing Dynasty was generally differentiated by weight between light and heavy, with those above 200 kilograms as heavy artillery and those below as light artillery. In addition, there is a short-barreled cannon, they are the continuation of the red-coated cannons, some of them are the modification or reproduction of the traditional artillery, both of which are influenced by the Ming Dynasty artillery, with little innovation.

One, heavy artillery

The heavy artillery of the early Qing Dynasty, there are Tianyou help General Cannon, General Shenwei Cannon, General Shenwei Invincible Cannon, as well as the Kangxi years casting of the Hun Copper Cannon, the Taiwan Hun Copper Cannon, General Wucheng Yonggu Cannon, the General Shengong Cannon, as well as later casting of the wood inlaid with copper cannons, the law of the attack on cannons, nine sections of the 10th into the cannon, and so on. Among them, Wucheng Yonggu Cannon can form a series of its own, in the construction of a distinctive features.

Wucheng Yonggu Cannon was made in the 28th year of Kangxi (1689), named by the Kangxi Emperor himself, **** there are 61 doors. Cannon body weight ranging from 3600 to 7000 pounds, about eleven feet long, caliber of about 4.5 inches, the weight of shells 10 to 12 pounds, loaded gunpowder 5 to 10 pounds, with an iron axle gun carriage to carry, is the most powerful artillery. In the "qin ding daqing canon - martial arts" in the graphics of this cannon, the body of the cannon with the Manchu and Chinese characters carved into "wucheng yonggu general" and other words. The Museum of Chinese History has a collection of this gun in kind, and the documented graphics are similar.

Nine sections of ten into the gun is the thirteenth year of the Qianlong (1748) when the pacification of Jinchuan made, the body of the gun is divided into nine sections, the length of each festival thickness is the same, marching moment disassembled sub-transportation. When in use, the sections are successively connected to form the cannon body. Cannon weighs about 790 pounds, about 6.5 feet long, carried on a four-wheeled vehicle, the front and rear of the cannon body has a targeting device, is the construction of a more special large copper cannon.

Jiaqing to the Daoguang period, in order to strengthen coastal defense, Guangdong, Fujian, Zhejiang provinces have made a part of the coastal guns, there are still physical survival. Xiamen Zheng Chenggong Memorial Museum collection of Jiaqing eleven years (1806) of the iron general gun, its weight of 1500 pounds, the gun body length of 2.35 meters, caliber 280 mm, belongs to the guarding gun series.

Two, light artillery

Light artillery has dragon cannon, son of the gun, General Shenwei cannon, Qi cannon, Shenji cannon, De Sheng cannon, General Weiyuan cannon, Yanwei cannon, etc., most of which are used in field battles. Qi Cannon made in the twenty-fourth year of the Kangxi period, shaped like the Franki Cannon, the body of the gun is 5.56 feet long, weighing 30 pounds, attached to the sub-cannon 4, lead bullets weighing 2.5 taels, mounted on a tripod, from the end of the loaded shells to fire, can be used to adjust the shooting range.

Shenji cannon cast in iron, almost straight, 2.6 feet long, no aiming device, carrying a flat four-wheeled cart, is a simple copy of the Ming Dynasty Shenji cannon; victory cannon cast in bronze, 6.3 feet long, weighing 365 pounds, the front is thin and the back is thick, the cannon body driving frame on the two-wheeled gun carriage.

There are two kinds of general Weiyuan cannon. One is the Kangxi fifty-seventh year (1718) made Weiyuan general gun, 3.1 feet long, weighing 170 pounds, firing 19 two heavy copper bullets. This type of artillery in the Shanhaiguan city on the weapons showroom there are 2, the gun body is about 1 meter long, caliber 40 mm and 50 mm. The exterior of the body of the gun is engraved with Manchu and Chinese characters: "the fifty-seventh year of the Kangxi period of the Qing dynasty, Jingshan within the Imperial Weiyuan general guns, the general manager of the Jingshan bird gun supervisors Zhao Chang, construction officer Zhang Jiaozuo, the Pen-Tsubo type Sierge, Ministry of Industry, Minister Minister of real phase, Pen-Tsubo type Kange craftsmen service Li Wende." In addition to the light artillery described above, the rest of the various types of artillery form construction is basically the same.

Three, short tube guns

Short tube guns mainly have two kinds of artillery and Weiyuan generals, but the two form of structure and firing method is basically the same, mainly used in the curved shot to kill the enemy behind the city walls and tall buildings, mostly used in siege. Because the difference between the two is not very big, so take the Weiyuan General as an example as an illustration.

The Weiyuan General cannon was 2.5 feet long and weighed 750 pounds. Kangxi twenty-ninth year (1690) made a General Weiyuan gun, carrying four wheeled vehicles, by the then manufacturing office of the gun made in Jingshan. In addition, the Yongzheng five years (1727), also cast a small Weiyuan general iron cannon, 1.77 feet long, weighing 45 pounds, firing 28 two heavy lead bullets.

General Weiyuan cannon range by the amount of charge and the height of the gun. They are 1 catty, 2 catty, and 3 catty, and their ranges are 200 paces, 300 paces, and 500 paces respectively. This gun is used for curved shooting, is a sharp weapon for attacking high cities and mountain fortresses. Qianlong forty years (1775) in July, Dingxi General A Gui in the pacification of Dajinchuan Tusi rebellion, many times using the Weiyuan General gun, bombardment of rebels occupied bunkers, official fortresses, is an important firearms of the Qing army to win.

The Qing Dynasty, although there are many types of artillery, but most of them are still modeled after the Ming Dynasty, basically no innovation in manufacturing and technical performance. And the same period of the Western armies have been equipped with a large number of advanced artillery, the original firearms development and China's synchronization of the European countries, in the Qing Dynasty has been far ahead of the first Opium War period, but also reached the point of seconds.