<P> At this point the formula contained too little saltpeter ( about 50 % ) to be explosive , but the mixture was highly flammable , and contemporary weapons reflected this in their deployment as mainly shock and incendiary weapons . One of the first , if not the first of these weapons was the fire arrow . The first possible reference to the use of fire arrows was by the Southern Wu in 904 during the siege of Yuzhang , when an officer under Yang Xingmi by the name of Zheng Fan ( 鄭 璠 ) ordered his troops to `` shoot off a machine to let fire and burn the Longsha Gate , '' after which he and his troops dashed over the fire into the city and captured it , and he was promoted to Prime Minister Inspectorate for his efforts and the burns his body endured . A later account of this event corroborated with the report and explained that `` by let fire ( 飛火 ) is meant things like firebombs and fire arrows . '' Arrows carrying gunpowder was possibly the most applicable form of gunpowder weaponry at the time , as early gunpowder may have only produced an effective flame when exposed to oxygen , thus the rush of air around the arrow in flight would have provided a suitable catalyst for the reaction . </P>
<P> At this point the formula contained too little saltpeter ( about 50 % ) to be explosive , but the mixture was highly flammable , and contemporary weapons reflected this in their deployment as mainly shock and incendiary weapons . One of the first , if not the first of these weapons was the fire arrow . The first possible reference to the use of fire arrows was by the Southern Wu in 904 during the siege of Yuzhang , when an officer under Yang Xingmi by the name of Zheng Fan ( 鄭 璠 ) ordered his troops to `` shoot off a machine to let fire and burn the Longsha Gate , '' after which he and his troops dashed over the fire into the city and captured it , and he was promoted to Prime Minister Inspectorate for his efforts and the burns his body endured . A later account of this event corroborated with the report and explained that `` by let fire ( 飛火 ) is meant things like firebombs and fire arrows . '' Arrows carrying gunpowder was possibly the most applicable form of gunpowder weaponry at the time , as early gunpowder may have only produced an effective flame when exposed to oxygen , thus the rush of air around the arrow in flight would have provided a suitable catalyst for the reaction . </P>
when did the chinese first use gunpowder as a weapon
when did the chinese first use gunpowder as a weapon
904
904