Warriors of the distant past knew a lot about their bloody craft. Time after time, archaeologists and historians stumble upon extremely unusual, sophisticated and very effective weapons, developed since time immemorial. An exotic-looking weapon boggles the imagination - how, in the XII century, could one have come up with such a thing? Look at this deadly weapon that has become known to us only recently.
Hwacha
In the Middle Ages, while all of Europe sported armor and long swords, Koreans had already developed the world's first multiple launch rocket system. "Khvachha" translates as "fire cart": a launcher was installed on the base, where rockets with a sharp tip and a powder charge were manually attached. The range of destruction was significant for that time and reached 450 meters.
Flachette
Airplanes at the beginning of the 20th century served only for reconnaissance, which of course did not like the generals of the armies. The authors of this murderous invention are the French, who for the first time guessed to drop special weighted arrows from the sky. Flachette also fell in love with Germany: already in the First World War, the airplanes of this country dropped whole cassettes of heavy shells at the enemy infantry and cavalry clusters. By the way, flachettes are still in service with the Russian army under the name "arrow-shaped striking elements".
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Ampulomet
The ground forces of the Red Army first used the ampulomet during the Great Patriotic War. This is a kind of a kind of capsule flamethrower: an ampoule with a special incendiary mixture flew out of the muzzle along with a special projectile. The ampulomet was not particularly widespread, since fragile ampoules with charges often broke, destroying the entire crew of the gun.
Cho-co-well
Surprisingly, it was this device that formed the basis of modern machines. Cho-ko-well, a Chinese multi-shot crossbow, had a magazine for 10 bolts - all ten took off in just 15 seconds. The weapon suffered from low accuracy and range, but it took on a rate of fire.
Al-Rammah
The Syrian scientist Hassan al-Rammah developed the world's first prototype torpedo back in the 13th century. It was a metal vessel with a charge of gunpowder and saltpeter. A torpedo was aimed manually, and two powder rockets installed in the rear part delivered it to the target.