There was a kind of crossbow in the Song Dynasty
In the cold weapon era, in order to enhance the lethality of the army, both the enemy and ourselves would create various novel weapons.
Among these weapons, the crossbow is the most typical and most popular "killing weapon". The earliest records of ancient people using crossbows can be traced back to the Spring and Autumn Period. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, many armies were commonly equipped with crossbows made of copper.
During the Northern Song Dynasty and the Southern Song Dynasty, craftsmen in the Song Dynasty made very large bed crossbows based on the crossbows of the previous generation. In 1081 AD, there was civil strife in Xixia. Song Shenzong ordered the eunuch Li Xian to attack Xixia. In this battle, the Northern Song Dynasty's strong bows and crossbows showed a huge advantage in the early stage, and the Xixia people were defeated.
In 1131, the Southern Song Dynasty confronted the Jin Kingdom in the Baoji area of ??Shaanxi Province. The famous general Wu Jie used dozens of crossbows to meet the enemy. Suddenly, the sky was filled with arrows, and the Jin people who were killed were running away with their heads covered. The enemy's leader, Jin Wushu, was injured by an arrow and almost died on the spot.
It can be seen that the bed crossbow, a large-scale killing weapon, exerted great power during the Song Dynasty. But strangely, after the fall of the Southern Song Dynasty, the bed crossbow with long range and high lethality disappeared and no one used it. Why? Generally speaking, crossbows and bows are weapons with long range, but the range and power of crossbows are much stronger than those of bows.
However, the pulling force of the crossbow is too strong, resulting in the weapon being unable to fire rapidly and continuously. The winding speed is slow, and the firing frequency of the crossbow is much lower than that of the bow.
During the Warring States Period, the Central Plains regime used the crossbow as a prototype and produced the "Liannu Chariot", which is often referred to as the bed crossbow by later generations. This weapon is a major invention in the cold weapon period, which has improved the lethality of the army. During the Song Shenzong period, the Song Dynasty successively invented several different types of crossbows. This includes the heavy-duty bed crossbow, whose scientific name is "three-bow bed crossbow".
Three-bow Douzi crossbow (shoots Douzi arrows), double-bow bed crossbow (shoots iron-feather large chisel-head arrows), Dahe cicada crossbow (shoots iron-feather large chisel-head arrows), Xiaohe cicada crossbow (shoots iron feather large chisel-head arrows) Shooting large chisel-headed arrows), Douzi crossbow (shooting small chisel-headed arrows), hand-shooting crossbow (shooting stepping-point arrows), three-bow crossbow (shooting three sword arrows with one spear), and sub-three-bow crossbow (shooting stepping-stepping arrows).
The reason why the Song Dynasty invented a weapon like the bed crossbow was because at the beginning of the founding of the Northern Song Dynasty, the Sixteenth Prefecture of Youyun was controlled by the northern tribes, so that the two Song Dynasties lost large areas of horse breeding land.
In addition, Song Taizong Zhao Guangyi rashly launched the "Yongxi Northern Expedition", which resulted in the loss of a large number of elite troops. At this point, the Song Dynasty was forced to shift to strategic defense. As a long-range killing weapon, the bed crossbow has extremely strong defensive capabilities. In siege and defense battles, the bed crossbow can fire a large number of bows and arrows, effectively attacking the cavalry power of the northern nomadic tribes.
For example, in 1004, the Liao Dynasty invaded the south in a large scale. Under Kou Zhun's persuasion, Song Zhenzong personally rushed to Chanzhou to supervise the battle. Dozens of "three-bow bed crossbows" were placed on the city walls. In this battle, General Xiao Talin of the Liao Dynasty was killed by six arrows, which severely damaged the morale of the Khitan army.
Zhenzong of the Song Dynasty used retreat to advance and signed the "Chanyuan Alliance" with the Khitan in exchange for a hundred years of stability in the Song Dynasty's border areas. In this key battle, it was because the "three-bow bed crossbow" of the Northern Song Dynasty exerted great power. Only then did the Liao Kingdom dare not act rashly and signed a treaty with the Northern Song Dynasty.
What exactly is this "three-bow bed crossbow"? Why is it so powerful? The bed crossbow is huge in size, has a long range and is very lethal. Thanks to the skillful hands of the craftsmen of the Northern Song Dynasty, the "three-bow bed crossbow" they made looks like a large wooden bed with a huge crossbow mounted on it.
As can be seen from the name, the "three bows" in the "three-bow bed crossbow" are connected together through three sets of bow arms, supplemented by ropes and pulleys, and serve as the main source of power. The main bow arm and bow string in the middle can shoot arrows. The other two sets of bow arms use the hinge axis to pull back, which can speed up the rebound speed of the bow string and increase the frequency of continuous shooting.
The structural principle of the Song Dynasty's "three-bow bed crossbow" is very similar to the compound bow used by the Mongols. In addition, the maximum range of the three-bow crossbow is about 1,500 meters. It can shoot through enemy cavalry wearing heavy armor. Its power is quite terrifying.
In the early years of the Northern Song Dynasty, during Pan Mei's victory over the Southern Han Dynasty, the Song Dynasty's bed crossbow was able to shoot through the "War Elephant Army" of the Southern Han Dynasty. It is conceivable that even elephants are afraid of such weapons, let alone cavalry wearing heavy armor. But what is incredible is that the armies of the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties were not equipped with the powerful "three-bow bed crossbow" on a large scale. If the Mongolians and Jurchens did not understand the culture of the Central Plains, it would be understandable to leave such lethal weapons unused.
Then the Ming Dynasty established by Zhu Yuanzhang was an orthodox Han government. Why was the "three-bow bed crossbow" not used much in the Ming Dynasty?
In fact, the "three-bow bed crossbow" began to decline after the Song Dynasty, and the reasons behind it are not complicated. The Yuan Dynasty's army relied on cavalry as its main combat force. The Mongols relied on their lightning-fast marching speed and "scissors and strong bows" to conquer the Eurasian continent.
The bow used by the Mongols is called a "compound recurve bow". This bow has a long range and a fast firing speed. A well-trained Mongolian cavalry can shoot ten arrows in a row on horseback with a particularly high hit rate. In addition, the Mongols are good at mobile warfare and are of moderate size, so the recurve bow with a fast firing rate has become the most important weapon of the Mongols.
The "Three-Gong Crossbow" is time-consuming to load. Although it has a long range, its shooting accuracy is low, which is not suitable for the basic policy of the Yuan Dynasty's military operations. Besides, the Ming Dynasty established by Zhu Yuanzhang relied on infantry power. According to historical records such as "Records of the Ming Dynasty" and "Huidian of the Ming Dynasty", the weapons of soldiers in the early Ming Dynasty basically consisted of spears, bows, and firearms.
"Da Ming Huidian": "Twenty cards, forty spears, thirty bows, and ten blunderbuss." Zhu Di, the founder of the Ming Dynasty, even established the "Shenji Camp", and armies equipped with firearms began to appear.
It can be seen that the era and environment of the Ming Dynasty coincided with the unprecedented development of firearms, and the world began to shift from the cold weapon era to the hot weapon era. In the fifteenth century, China's indigenous firearms manufacturing technology was greatly improved. The rulers of the Ming Dynasty didn't use fire blunderbuss that were lightweight, highly accurate, and had fast firing rates. Why did they use the clumsy "three-bow bed crossbow"?
Therefore, due to the popularity of firearms in the Ming and Qing dynasties, large crossbows rarely appeared in the regular army. Especially in the late Ming Dynasty, the Central Plains regime introduced a large number of European artillery. The power and range of the artillery are far beyond the comparison of the "three-bow bed crossbow".
In general, during the Song Dynasty, the "three-bow bed crossbow" with long range and high lethality was widely used mainly because it could effectively fight against the northern nomads.
The Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties did not need to huddle up and defend like the Song Dynasty. What's more, by the middle and late Ming Dynasty, powerful and easy-to-operate artillery and blunderbuss appeared in China.
The rapid development and popularity of firearms has gradually replaced the position of the "three-bow bed crossbow". In addition, the "three-bow bed crossbow" equipment was clumsy and not as lethal as firearms, so it gradually took its place.