THE GRENADE OF TAY SON DYNASTY

In the 18th century, the Tay Son army used a special weapon and the results were very successful. In 1782 in a battle with Nguyen Anh's army, a devastating naval battle took place at Can Gio. The Tay Son navy under the direction of Nguyen Hue used it, contributing to the complete defeat of Nguyen Anh's navy (including a number of French and Portuguese ships), the French warship commanded by Manuel was destroyed, Manuel also died in battle. In 1789, when going to the North to fight the Qing army in the battle of Ngoc Hoi, the Tay Son army under the direction of Emperor Quang Trung also used it to defeat the Qing army.

Battle of Tho Xuong, one of the minor battles in the Tay Son-Qing war in 1788

So what is that special weapon?

The Fireball is a handheld weapon that appeared around the 17th century, some documents describe it as a product of Dao Duy Tu's design and likely based on Western weapons of that time. The Fireball is usually a hollow metal ball. Each one is a small grapefruit size, inside is filled with fragments, incendiary, explosives, in addition, metal pieces, to increase damage.

One of the Fireballs displays in museum

When attacking, the soldier will ignite the wick and throw it at the enemy. the Fireball is a simple weapon, easy to make and use, but has a great deal of damage. Like grenades, Fireballs can be used flexibly depending on the purpose of defense or attack on enemy forts or warships. That is the reason why it is called "the grenade of the Tay Son Dynasty".

According to the records of that time as well as through research, this is the instruction of using a Fireball:

1. Using a small bamboo tube or paper roll, stuffed with explosives and wicks.

2. Insert the explosive tube into the orb, stuffing it with metal fragments that deal damage.

3. Use tar to seal the gaps, only leave the wick out.

4. Finally, ignite the wick and throw it at the target to attack. You can add a piece of string to it so you will be able to throw it further.

The instruction of using a Fireball

Emperor Quang Trung combined weapons with war elephants to form a strong force, to break the enemy's formation quickly. The Qing Dynasty historians wrote as follows: "On each elephant's back, there were three or four soldiers wearing red scarves, sitting and throwing fireballs everywhere, burning people”. This tactic helped the Tay Son army to win the Qing Dynasty in the war at the end of the 18th century.

Fireball is one of the weapons showing the creativity of the Vietnamese people in fighting against the invasions of the Chinese dynasties.