With a POD after 100 BC, the Chinese invent Montgolfier-style hot air balloons some time before 1750.
What are the most likely uses for this technology in China?
What are the most likely uses for this technology in China?
AHC/WI: Chinese invent hot air balloons.
- Thread starter Intransigent Southerner
- Start date
Princes fly around in them.
maybe someone discovers their military value for intelligence gathering in plain battlegrounds?
maybe someone discovers their military value for intelligence gathering in plain battlegrounds?
Ming hot air balloons spotting enemy movements stops the Qing invasion?
Hmmm....
Hmmm....
Song hot air balloons stop the Jin and Mongols?
Europe breathes a sigh of relief.
Could hot air balloons actually stop the Mongols, assuming everything else about the situation is constant?
Saphroneth
Banned
Hot air balloons provide expanded scouting radius, in effect - might impede the ability of Mongolian forces to "blind" Chinese ones by hitting their scouts.
You still need a tactical solution to the Mongolian weapons package, though.
You still need a tactical solution to the Mongolian weapons package, though.
What about balloons' potential as a weapon to throw projectiles from above? We know the Jin used kites to distribute propaganda in the Siege of Kaifeng, but could balloons be used to throw stones or even explosives from the air? Or is that too heavy?
Stones: either too heavy, or too imprecise (if thrown from far above to rely on acceleration for impact of smaller stones).
Explosives: if the baloon flies above arrow-range, which it must, you`ll have to use some inflammatory substance which doesn`t get extinguished on its way down. Might require phosphor.
Explosives: if the baloon flies above arrow-range, which it must, you`ll have to use some inflammatory substance which doesn`t get extinguished on its way down. Might require phosphor.
How about using them for communications over vast distances? Tether them off and use a signal lamp/heliograph to signal outposts or the next balloon. Both civil and military communications could be transmitted faster than it would take a human to reach the next outpost.
One sec. If Zhuge Liang invents it (that's at the end of the Han Dynasty, which is pretty far back), we might see more creative uses for coal.
More uses of coal might lead to more innovations in coal mining.
Somewhere down the road, might that lead to industrialization earlier?
More uses of coal might lead to more innovations in coal mining.
Somewhere down the road, might that lead to industrialization earlier?