Hwacha

 

Firearms were recognized by Goryeo military leaders as necessary for national defense. Constituting a particular threat was Japanese raiders, who frequently plundered coastal towns in increasing numbers from 1350 onward.^[6] Gunpowder and firearms explicitly for combating them on the sea were imported from China in 1374^[7] but the necessary expertise for production was still restricted by Chinese government policy.

Local production did not begin until Ch'oe Mu-sŏn, having acquired the methods for purifying potassium nitrate from visiting Chinese merchants, accomplished it between 1374 and 1376.^[8] A government office for developing gunpowder and firearms was established in 1377, with Ch'oe appointed its head.^[9] Several weapons were developed here, including hand-cannon and a series of rockets, in particular the juhwa.^[10]

 

 

The hwacha further developed from the juhwa and the singijeon. The first hwacha was created in Korea in 1409 during the Joseon Dynasty by several Korean scientists, including Yi To (이도, not to be mistaken for Sejong the Great, due to the similarity in their names) and Ch'oe Hae-san, son of Ch'oe Mu-sŏn).^[11][12] Stronger and more effective hwachas were made in 1451 under the decree of King Munjong, by the king himself and his younger brother Pe. Im-Yung (Yi Gu, 임영대군 이구). The Munjong Hwacha is a well-known type that could fire 100 rocket arrows or could be used as a Volley gun type weapon capable of firing 200 darts with 50 Chongtong at one time with changeable modules. At the time, 50 units were deployed in Hanseong (present-day Seoul) and another 80 on the northern border. By the end of 1451, hundreds of hwachas were deployed throughout the peninsula.^[11][13]

Another variant was the Mangam Hwacha, a boxed cart with large faces of a dokkaebi painted on all three sides. Armed with forty seungja-chongtongs with fourteen in the front and thirteen on the left and right sides, it required two soldiers to operate, one firing and the other reloading. This weapon was capable of firing 600 bullets, with each barrel holding 15 shots.^[14]

Hwachas saw action most extensively against the Japanese during their invasions of Korea. The hwachas were primarily placed in fortresses or citadels,^[5] and used defensively. They proved decisive in many battles and were most prominent in the Battle of Haengju, in which 3,400 Koreans repelled 30,000 Japanese with the help of 40 hwachas. The Japanese samurai infantry, especially in the Battle of Haengju, typically advanced in dense formations, presenting ideal targets for the hwacha.^[5]

 

The hwacha's structure was very similar to a handcart. Its top contained a mobile wooden launchpad containing 100 to 200 cylindrical holes, into which igniters like those of the sajeonchongtong were placed.^[11]

The ammunition, similar to fire arrows used by the ancient Chinese, consisted of a 1.1 m (3 ft 7 in) long arrow with the addition of a gunpowder-filled paper tube attached to the shaft just below the head. Approximately 100 projectiles were loaded and launched in one volley,^[11] and had a range of up to 2,000 m (6,600 ft).

One variant had 5 rows of 10 gun barrels in the launchpad, each of which could fire a bundle of four arrow-like projectiles.

The back side of the hwacha featured two parallel arms that allowed the operator to push and pull the machine and a vertical strip designed for in-line attacks or ground-sentry positions.^[15]

Wood pivots and iron axles usually fastened the wagon-like wheels. To reduce friction between the wheels and the axles, tar oil was used.^[16]

The Korean army included siege engineers and blacksmiths to repair the hwacha in case of damage due to poor road conditions, bad weather, or battle.^[15]

 

Unlike the cannons or mortars used in Western warfare during Middle Ages and the 16th century, which required heavy iron balls, hwachas fired arrows which were thin and light, making it an easy-to-maneuver siege weapon.^[16]

The holes in the hwacha's launching array ranged in diameter from 2.5–4 cm (0.98–1.57 in), which allowed thin Gungdo bow-style arrows to be fired and also admitted sajeonchongtong class igniters placed in the back side of the shooting board.^[16]

Singijeon-class projectiles were small arrows designed by Korean siege engineers specifically for hwachas use. Called so (소), or "small", they possessed a pouch of black powder attached in the bottom near to the fletching section.^[16] Besides the singijeon-class projectiles, hwacha could fire 100 steel-tipped rockets.^[17]

 

Once a hwacha was set up for combat, the operators would use the gunpowder stored in a boot-like bag tied on each igniter to be used for each hole on the machine. Afterward, the operators could load the hwacha with arrows or iron spikes and be ready to shoot. To do so, they stepped back, covered their ears, and pulled the rope for each igniter.^[16]

At sea, maneuvers were slightly different and more complex because the operator would need to find a proper and stable place to fire. Some hwacha operators preferred to be on the rowers' deck, where they could shoot from the windows, while others preferred to be on the main deck to shoot at the enemy ships' sails. These kind of manoeuvres were particularly seen on Korean Panokseon warships.^[16]

• Battle of Haengju
• Fire arrow
• Huo Che
• Ghost of Tsushima, a 2020 video game set in 1270s Japan in which the hwacha is used in gameplay, though its appearance is anachronistic.
• Huolongjing
• Hwacha on MythBusters
• Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–1598)
• Katyusha, a multi-barrel Soviet rocket launcher used in World War 2.
• Korean cannon
• Ribauldequin
• Singijeon
• Type 63 multiple rocket launcher and RPU-14 - modern versions of light MRL