Mongols use gunpowder bombs at Kaifeng

1233

Defending Jin soldiers reportedly used thunder-crash bombs and fire lances against Mongol besiegers, early deployments of gunpowder weapons. The technology would spread with Mongol armies to the western ends of their empire and transform warfare within two centuries. Chinese accounts describe iron-cased bombs launched from catapults that shattered upon impact, filling the air with metal shards and thick smoke.