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Repeating Crossbow

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Nick1986 View Drop Down
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  Quote Nick1986 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: Repeating Crossbow
    Posted: 01-Mar-2012 at 19:22

The repeating crossbow was invented in China during the Bronze Age and used a detachable box magazine to rain a hail of poisoned arrows on enemies. They were still being issued during the 1895 Sino-Japanese against opponents with bolt-action rifles
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  Quote Nick1986 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03-Mar-2012 at 19:15
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  Quote Nick1986 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05-Mar-2012 at 19:21
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  Quote lirelou Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08-Mar-2012 at 19:42
DO you have any idea as to how many of these were 'issued' to troops. The Chinese forces depicted in many woodcuts and pictures of the Sino-Japanese War show the Chinese armed with old muskets, among other arms.
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  Quote Nick1986 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09-Mar-2012 at 19:37
It's hard to find a good reference, but i came across this on google books:
The Forgotten Revolution
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  Quote lirelou Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10-Mar-2012 at 08:48
Nick, thanks for the link. Marsden's name and 'automatic crossbow' pulled up some interesting discussions on just how effective (or ineffective) this weapons was. Given the state of the Chinese Army in 1894-95, and the rampant corruption in the Qing military system, I think it a safe bet that at least some were issued. I rather doubt that either Yuan Shi-kai's expeditionary force in Korea or any of the Bannermen forces were armed with them, so they were likely carried by militia and territorial defence forces. Below is a link to a good site on the war, obviously written by a non-native English speaker, but still very worth-while even if you have to occasionally wrestle with the syntax. Some of the woodcuts included do contain examples of traditional swords and one halberd, but by and large the Chinese are depicted as armed with muskets. The site itself has some photos of more modern arms of the period, often associated with the Chinese Navy.

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  Quote Nick1986 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10-Mar-2012 at 20:16
No crossbows here, but some interesting paintings by the victorious Japanese:
http://www.cityofart.net/bship/sino-jap.html


Edited by Nick1986 - 10-Mar-2012 at 20:26
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