



Rocketry in China went back to at least the Song Dynasty. Even so it took some time for the technology to come into it's own. The Collapse of the Song Dynasty (1337-40) saw some refinements in rocketry as siege weapons, as did several uprisings over the course of the Xin Dynasty (including the reconquest of Australia in 1402 to 1429), campaigns against Northern Barbarians and Korea and it's ultimate fall. Once they received black powder weapons the Caliphates and the various European states made use of rockets as well and developed them along their own lines. These two paths of development came to a head in India during Zhao Dynasty's take over of India t in from 1640 through 1735. While the Indian Indian Rajs were divided and fractious they were quite advanced and in particular had expertise in metalworking which the Chinese soon adopted and applied in a variety of fields, most notably rocketry. The Coalition of Six (an ad-hoc alliance of Six powerful Indian States united against the increasingly powerful chinese presense on the sub continent) replied in kind making their own further improved models as well as making a few breakthroughs involving cannons as mobile field pieces. For all of that the larger and generally better organized armies of the Middle Kingdom eventually prevailed. All the while various Japanese traders, mercenaries, observers and spies had been taking note of developments, procuring examples and taking notes of the proceedings.







In North America raids into Shogunate Territory by the Norse Kingdom had become a constant headache. A series of forts were established to secure strategic passes along the southern frontier while settlers continued to push into OTL Montana, Alberta, Wyoming, Utah and Collarado despite a large number of settlements being sacked by Norsemen and Natives. For all of this the Shogunate was hesistant to actively respond beyond sending a few forces to burn a few fringe norse settlements which aided raiders in retaliation. But in 1742 it's opertunity came with the outbreak of the Great Caribbean War. Seven Norse Kingdoms in North America and OTL Venezuela , the French Crusader State, the Empire of Tezemco and even Scotland was involved with several major naval engagements and attacks on the Yucatan Peninsula. With their flanks secured the Shogunate mustered up it's armies and in 1744 invaded Svenmark with a force 200,000 strong with it's tactics updated. The logistical system had been reorginized, which reduced the invasion force's dependence on foraging. Half of it's soldiers were armed with guns of some sort or another with flintlocks superseding matchlocks. Among the other half was a large pool of artillerymen. The Shogunate had brought along a few cannons during it's first invasion to deal with heavy fortifications, but this invasion force had over 400 artillery pieces. Most notable among these pieces 150 rocket launchers such as this ones.





A variety of rockets were used during the invasion, but the most common was the 1 Maru (roughly 30kg) variety being the most common. These were made of cast iron with a ceramic nozzle and had a range of up to a kilometer. The launcher itself was made of wood and terracotta for the tubes. The rockets had seem some use in border skirmishes with the Tezemco, conflicts in the Andes and reprisal raids against Norse settlements. As such the military leadership of the Shogunate was convinced of their effectiveness and made heavy use of them in the second invasion. One of the main advantages of rockets was that they could be fired without such launchers and so rocketeers were distributed throughout many Ashigaru and samurai companies. The advantage of launchers was that large salvos of rockets (in the case of this launcher 30) could be fired off rapidly. A single fuze was lit, the crew would run away and a few seconds latter a dozen rockets would burst forth. Accuracy was poor, but this was made up for by the effect on impact. They had more than enough mass and speed to do a lot of damage to people while they would often bounce and tumble while (at closer range) their plumes would scorch, blind and burn. They carried black powder warheads, but these were quite unreliable and it was considered lucky if a quarter of them went off in a volley. Even so the effect could be devestating against massed forces.



