'Super missile' Korea makes Japanese samurai terrifying in the 15th century

A hwacha can launch 50 large arrows at the same time, piercing many of the best protective armor in the 15th century.

At the end of the 14th century, the Korean Joseon court conducted a spying campaign to acquire technology for making secret Chinese gunpowder and missiles against Japanese pirates. This campaign helped North Korea develop, a nightmare for pirates and Japanese samurai troops in the 15th century, according to War is Boring.

Experiment to fire the hwacha system.

During this period, China was the world's leading country in gunpowder technology. However, the types of missiles made by the country during that period had too low accuracy, it was difficult to damage and often only used to scare horses in enemy cavalry. Besides, China is also not willing to share technology for North Korea, although the two countries have long-lasting friendly relations.

In 1377, a Chinese merchant agreed to transfer a series of manufacturing materials and gunpowder samples to North Korea, while the inventor Choe Mu-seon found a way to synthesize gunpowder from the soil. The resulting technology helped North Korea develop a series of weapons using explosives such as rockets, cannons and muskets. From 1380, North Korea began using these weapons to destroy pirates in naval battles.

The Korean Expeditionary Fleet completely annihilated the Japanese pirate force in 1419 with the support of the hwacha rocket, one of the world's first mass-launched jet cannon systems.

Hwacha is a product developed by two inventors Yi Do and Choi Hae-san. They assumed that a rocket was difficult to hit the target due to its low accuracy, but releasing dozens to hundreds of arrows at the same time would ensure destroying everything in sight. This rocket system uses Chinese design, but can simultaneously launch 50-100 arrows, far beyond the Chinese-developed system.

Each hwacha complex is placed on two wheels to increase mobility. The launch pad consists of dozens of tubes placed in rows, the inside contains a 1.1-meter-long arrow with a paper tube stuffed near the tip. The arrows are all connected by a slow fire, allowing them to fire the entire shot in 2-3 seconds with just one fire.

Hwacha launcher with gunpipe arrow attached.(Photo: Wikipedia).

The Hwacha is made of wood materials, making it much easier to maneuver than contemporary cast iron cannons, while the cannon only requires a maximum of 4 people. The Hwacha has an effective range of 100-150m, the test shows that heavy arrows can penetrate all types of armor and shields in this distance. The range of hwacha can be increased to 300-500m if fired from a high position and use a light arrow.

The artillery pieces were used in the city battles, but the hwacha had the task of fighting infantry to protect the stronghold of the Joseon court. North Korea deployed at least 130 hwacos around Seoul and the northern border, to prevent raids of the Jurchen tribe.

The Korean army also placed this weapon on the panokseon battleships. This boat is usually 20-30 m long, has a flat bottom to operate in shallow waters near the shore. Hwacha is small and light enough to maneuver on the deck, ensuring firepower in all directions.

Nightmare for Japanese samurai

In 1592, Japanese lord Toyotomi Hideyoshi, 158,000 troops suddenly attacked Korea, opening the Imjin War. Toyotomi's aim was to conquer China, but the Joseon court did not allow Japanese troops to borrow the way, causing the Japanese lord to invade Korea.

The Ming Dynasty associated with the Joseon army pushed Japanese troops from Pyongyang and launched an attack to regain control of Seoul. However, this attack failed, the Ming expeditionary force was defeated, the task of regaining Seoul became the responsibility of the Korean army.

By February 1593, General Kwon Yul gathered an army of 2,300 soldiers at the ancient fortress in Haengjiu, where there was only one approach and about 10km from Seoul. This force was supplemented by 700 people from the surrounding area, including monks and female warriors.

For three days, Kwon Yul built a dense defense system, with at least 40 hwacha systems. Facing them is 30,000 samurai and Japanese soldiers, under the command of generals such as Ukita Hideie, Kato Kiyomasa and Kuroda Nagasama.

Japanese troops divided into three continuous attacks on the ancient fortress from February 12, 1593. However, the systems of hwacha and Joseon archers continually rained names, while Korean soldiers threw large blocks of rock, pouring boiling oil and molten metal toward the opponent. The thick defensive layer repelled all of Japanese attacks.

Hwacha can use small arrows to increase the range.(Photo: Wikipedia).

In the afternoon of February 12, 1593, the fourth wave of attacks by the Ukita led the way to break the outer defenses of the Korean army. However, Japanese forces were still pushed back by hwacha missile rigs, while the Ukita was seriously injured. By the afternoon, the amount of arrows for hwacha began to run out, the Korean army faced the risk of being completely destroyed.

As soon as the Japanese army prepares to attack, the Korean soldiers in the city receive an additional 10,000 arrows. They were quickly loaded into all the hwacha platforms, creating a missile storm that struck the assaulting Japanese samurai. By the night of February 12, all three Japanese generals were injured by hwacha and were forced to withdraw. The Japanese had a total of 1,000 deaths after 9 attacks.

Three months later, the Korean army regained Seoul. General Kwon Yul affirmed the hwacha's terrible firepower as a decisive factor in repelling Japanese troops in this campaign.

Imjin war lasted for another 5 years, devastating much of Korean territory. The decisive battle took place in the dawn of December 16, 1598, when forces including 63 Chinese ships and 82 Korean panokseons secretly raided the fleet of 500 Japanese warships in the southern Korean peninsula.

The North Koreans make the most of the firepower advantage of hwacha and cannons. By December 16, the Japanese fleet had lost more than half of the warships and was forced to withdraw. Eight days later, all Japanese troops completed their withdrawal from the Korean peninsula.