In early December, rocket engineer Vu Dinh Thanh sent a declaration to the National Office of Intellectual Property (Ministry of Science and Technology) to register an invention named: “The crossbow shoots many arrows, the crossbow force acts on the crossbow. arrow tube, in the tube there are many small arrows”.
Thanh himself thinks that: it is possible that the operation of this crossbow is similar to the magic crossbow in the legend of An Duong Vuong.
“In the past, many people thought the detail “The Magic Crossbow can shoot hundreds of arrows at once and hit a hundred times” is fictional, but through research I found this to be completely possible. The spirit represents the intelligence and creativity of the Vietnamese people and that is a testament to the development in the production and manufacture of weapons to protect the nation and the nation,” Thanh shared.
Anh Thanh and the product of the crossbow shot many arrows.
Mr. Vu Dinh Thanh graduated from the Military Technical Academy of Czechoslovakia in the late 1980s. He used to have a patent on rocket wings from the Republic of Cezch while working at a national rocket engineering research institute. This. Currently, he is working at a leading rocket research and development corporation in the world.
Working in an advanced scientific and technical environment in many developed countries, Mr. Thanh is very interested in researching weapons that have appeared in Vietnamese history books and literature.
Thanh is testing a crossbow that shoots many arrows.
“About 3 months ago, I researched and wrote an article about the principle: King Quang Trung discovered phosphorus and used it to fight the Qing army. Incidentally, a friend in the army said that I had researched. About King Quang Trung’s way of fighting against the enemy, let’s try to find an explanation for An Duong Vuong’s magic crossbow.From that suggestion, I read up on history, returned to Vietnam to visit museums and research to learn more about King Quang Trung. explaining about the hit crossbow,” Vu Dinh Thanh shared.
Thanh said that the crossbow has a fairly simple structure, easy to disassemble. The ingredients that make it up are also not difficult to find. The bowstring was removed by him from a sports bow.
Arrow tubes and arrows are the most special parts that determine the difference and effectiveness of this invention.
After coming to see Co Loa bronze arrows are still on display at the National Museum of History. Mr. Thanh ordered workers to make bronze arrows of similar size and shape.
“The first time I saw the Co Loa bronze arrow at the museum, I was extremely curious as to why the arrow was so short. This arrow is only 8-11 cm long. It is completely different from my previous imagination. about the length of the arrow and the size of the crossbow,” Thanh shared.
Bronze arrows are only 8 – 11 cm long.
“I kept wondering why the arrows are so short. If the body was attached, how would it be attached. Then I thought of another option. That is that these arrows can be attached to something else to shoot,” Thanh added.
Mr. Thanh continued to search for documents in the studies of the legendary crossbow. Not long after, he found information that Assoc. Prof. Dr. Le Dinh Sy, former deputy director of the Institute of Military History of Vietnam, introduced at a scientific conference of famous General Cao Lo during the country’s founding many years ago. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Le Dinh Sy mentioned that Co Loa people said that they had dug at the foot of the Sa market area a copper tube about half a meter long, sealed at both ends, and bore holes like a flute along the body. Before the August Revolution, in Co Loa, there was also the custom of carrying a magic crossbow, the crossbow was made of paper, in the middle of the crossbow was a wooden spike, on the body of the awl had many holes, each hole had an arrow. This symbolic wooden stand has similarities with the copper pipe dug in Sa market. The tube with this hole is conjectured to be a tube for mounting mass-fired arrows.
From the historical documents and experience of a rocket and weapons engineer, Mr. Thanh thought of using an arrow canister .
Thanh was thinking of using an arrow holder.
“I made an arrow holder out of bamboo. I think bamboo, cork, gourd might have been the materials used by his father at that time. At one end of the bamboo tube, I made a cap that would fit the tube perfectly. and punch holes for bronze arrows”.
Bamboo arrow holder.
“The arrows of small size are arranged in a circular tube, the arrowhead is pointed towards the target to be fired. The force of the bowstring will act on the circular tube, like shooting a large arrow. When the bamboo tube flies to the position at the top of the crossbow, there will be two brake bars to “brake” the bamboo tube, and the 6 arrows will follow the inertia to fly forward. Arrows flying out of the crossbow are similar to when you ride a fast motorbike, you hit an obstacle causing the motorbike to stop and the person sitting on the bike to fly forward. That is, the arrows fly forward according to inertia, the force of the bowstring does not directly affect each arrow like a normal crossbow or bow,” explained Thanh.
“If this principle is kept, the arrow tubes can hold up to a hundred arrows.”
Small arrows are arranged in a circular tube, the arrowhead is pointed towards the target to be fired.
Thanh also directly discussed with many colleagues and friends who are weapons experts in Russia – in-depth research on world weapons.
“They are very fond of bronze arrows because the aerodynamic shape makes the arrows can go very well. The tools have calculated that the weight is put in front of the arrow so that it can rush quickly. I can’t explain why our ancestors are so smart,” Thanh shared.
According to Mr. Thanh, the principle of operating this crossbow is very close to the principle of container rockets. It is a large rocket with small rockets inside. When flying down, the big rocket separates, the small rockets continue to fly.
Mr. Thanh has preliminarily calculated the impact force of the arrow shot. Accordingly, the force of the arrow can reach very high, even can shoot through an apple, at a distance of about 500 m. This is also suitable for the legend that the magic crossbow can cause surprise, great damage.
When he was introduced to this invention by Mr. Thanh, Mr. Thanh commented : “The principle of implementing the invention is not complicated but very intelligent. I have seen many types of magic crossbows of different countries, but the type is different. crossbow using the principle of inertia is the first time I have seen it”.
Thanh hopes to donate this invention to museums to serve the exact restoration of the legendary crossbow.