The Introduction of European-Style Artillery and the Reform of Siege Tactics in 17th Century China—a Case Study of the Tragedy of Jiangyin (1645)

While the importance of European-style artillery, also called “red-barbarian cannon” by the people of the time, to the Ming-Qing transition (1618-1683) is generally recognized, much less is known about the actual performance of the weapon on the battlefield. Such a dearth of knowledge hinders historians from evaluating the extent of its impact on the Manchu conquest of China. Hoping to fill this gap, this article examines the actual performance of red-barbarian cannon through reconstructing the siege of Jiangyin (1645). Close examination of this episode reveals that, although the Qing army possessed abundant European-style artillery, the absence of appropriate and effective artillery siege tactics greatly constrained the effectiveness of these weapons in siege warfare. Hence, the importance of artillery in the early stage of the Ming-Qing transition (1618-1645) is likely to have been minimal. However, the siege of Jiangyin witnessed a reform of siege tactics in the Qing artillery corps. These newly devised siege tactics enabled the Qing army to capture the city with efficiency by fully utilizing the red-barbarian cannon. The reform greatly enhanced the siege ability of the Qing forces and paved the way for the Qing conquest of China.