What was the tech level in 18th century China?

amphibulous

Banned
Does gunpowder mean automatic victory? I was under the impression that a crossbow would have better range and accuracy then an early rifle, though I'm unsure exactly what Chinese firearms were like at this point.

Crossbows have appalling low ROF - at least if they have decent range. Early guns were worse, but quickly had much superior armour penetration. If you were a Chinese general fighting Western knights in heavy plate then you'd probably prefer firearms - at least if they were was good as Western OTL ones of that date. (Which probably wouldn't be the case!)
 
Last edited:

amphibulous

Banned
Alright then.

So how would Chinese cavalry likely compare to European heavy cavalry?

Of your timeline? No one can say - the effectiveness of both varied considerably by time period and, for the West, nationality. And cavalry's effectiveness was heavily determined by the infantry it was facing - Alexander & Co. would probably have died a bloody and stupid death in their first battle facing Romans or an English medieval army.

Also: what are the Chinese doing in the ME??? It doesn't have any geopolitical importance for them, and there are no resources there worth the fight - unless they've developed the internal combustion engine.
 
Of your timeline? No one can say - the effectiveness of both varied considerably by time period and, for the West, nationality. And cavalry's effectiveness was heavily determined by the infantry it was facing - Alexander & Co. would probably have died a bloody and stupid death in their first battle facing Romans or an English medieval army.

Also: what are the Chinese doing in the ME??? It doesn't have any geopolitical importance for them, and there are no resources there worth the fight - unless they've developed the internal combustion engine.

They're not in the Med. They're exploring the Indian ocean and making some good deals with Middle Eastern states in terms of trade. The Silk Road has lost some of its importance since Europe is essentially cut off due to all the hostile Muslim powers between Europe and China, so Chinese naval power is seen as very important.

I'm just asking about a potential conflict rather than all out war in Arabia.
 
Top