As a result, the expert smiths back then had to pound the hot metal during forging, so as to maintain the high quality of the blades. This was because early-medieval blacksmiths didn’t have the advantage of heating the ore to very high temperatures (of 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit) that would make the procedure of removal easier – due to the unavailability of the required furnaces. Now, from the perspective of medieval sword-making, the very first predicament of the conventional process entailed the removal of impurities (known as slag) from the ore. This unique subject matter was made popular by NOVA/National Geographic’s 2012 documentary ‘ Secrets of the Viking Sword‘, and according to the film, over 170 such hi-tech Ulfberht swords have been salvaged by archaeologists. In fact, the carbon percentages analyzed from the swords were found to be whopping three times higher than comparable swords from the epoch (9th century to 11th century AD), which in turn endowed the blades with outstanding strength. Crafted with advanced technology that basically became the standard in the 18th century (800 years after the Viking Age), these weapons were made of ‘crucible steel’ with greater carbon content. One of the most baffling cases of military history is the evidence of the Ulfberht swords of the Viking elites. These oars were also counter-balanced with the lead that made them easier to handle for the oarsmen. To complement this gigantic size, the warship was supposedly ‘driven’ by a set of four steering-oars that were 14 m (45 ft) long, and accompanied by 40 tiers of oars. 5) Giant Warships (probably engineered by 3rd century BC) –Īccording to a description penned by Athenaeus, Ptolemy (Ptolemaios) IV Philopator, who ruled the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt from 221 to 204 BC, had constructed a state-of-the-art warship (known as Tessarakonteres) that was 130 m (420 ft) long, 18 m (57 ft) wide, and 22 m (72 ft) high, thus accounting for a gargantuan volume of around 52,000 cubic meters. He did it by distributing a total of seventy mirrors (each having 15 sq ft area) among seventy (or sixty) men, and the concentrated beam reflected from these individual pieces was able to set a rowboat aflame, thus possibly lending credence to Archimedes’ Death Ray weapon. Ioannis Sakkas was actually able to set a moving ship on fire from a distance of 160 feet (49 m). But even this predicament was solved, when a Greek scientist named Dr. However, in their case, the ship was stationery – which would have been impractical in a real-time scenario with the undulating waves and the ongoing naval maneuvering. On the other hand, MIT conducted their tests in 2005 (by using mirrors in the parabolic arrangement and a replica of a Roman ship), and they were actually able to set the ship on fire. Now when it comes to credibility, Discovery’s Mythbusters already took two digs at the technology, and sort of disproved its potential.

3) Polybolos (probably invented in 3rd century BC) – There are also literary sources that narrate how just 1,000 Chinese crossbowmen unleashed over 500,000 arrows in a single day at the advancing Hsiung Nu (Hun) cavalry, during a particular encounter in the 1st century BC- thus hinting at a similar type of weapon being used. In that regard, the earliest evidence of the weapon had been found to date from 4th century BC though its effective design was probably perfected by Zhuge Liang (181–234 AD) during the Three Kingdoms Period in China. This had led to the hypothesis that Chu-Ko-Nu was probably used by specialized teams with loose formations (so as to reduce friendly fire) upon massed ranks of enemies – like from the top of a city wall. This however curtailed its effective range at around 75 yards, given the limited potential energy being produced by the internal mechanism. This drawback was more than made up for with the sheer firing rate of the mechanism – that could usually discharge successive arrows within an interval of 2 seconds.

Total war three kingdoms crossbow