Handheld Huo Jian Launchers 3rd August 2005 From the humble fire
arrow of the late Tang/Song era, and having abandoned the
mechanically fired fire arrows of yesteryear, Chinese military
Engineers made the transition in rocket development to the
gunpowder propelled arrow. These true rockets were naturally
strung together to be fired simultaneously. Then the idea to
group rockets together to create a denser projectile field of
fire was just a simple step away. First appearing in the early
Ming dynasty were simple handheld rocket launchers. These were
simple clusters of gunpowder-strapped arrows packed into a
launcher for simultaneous ignition. Zhu Di (fourth prince of the
first Ming Emperor Taizu) during the Jingnan war of A.D.
1401-1403, led an army against the reigning Emperor Jianwen and
was attacked by rocket launcher batteries. This was the earliest
recorded use of handheld rocket launchers in battle. The
handheld rocket launcher was a close-range support weapon,
suitable for use in a defensive role or as