@Anon-e-moose #27092
Ooh, this is a fun one! Invented in China, genuinely on accident, around 1000 AD, the Chinese soon learned to develop fireworks for celebrations, as well as highly effective weapons of distraction in combat. They also even developed the early cannons themselves, which were used to some effect against the invading Mongols in the 13th century.
Unfortunately for the then existing Chinese kingdoms, they weren’t effective enough, and they were still thoroughly conquered, and the Mongols themselves having seen how devastating these weapons can be, recruited the cannon crews into their army, and brought them around with them, along with encouraging more development of the technology and tactics.
Within decades, still just barely within the lifetime of Genghis Khan himself, improved cannons had been part of the armed forces that not only took Moscow in a midwinter campaign, but also had moved across the Ural Mountains into modern day Hungary, and took the twin cities of Buda and Pest. (Yes, they were two separate cities at the time.) This, bringing gunpowder and early firearms to the Europeans, who basically crapped their pants, saved only by report of the death of Genghis Khan, and the need for his heir to return to Karakorum to assure that his older brother, who had specifically been passed over as heir, did not manage to take the reins of power before his return, sparking a dangerous civil war among the Mongols.
With the death of Genghis Khan, and Ogedai’s need to consolidate power, they were unable to make their return to Europe with Tsubodai, one of the best generals in history, as he himself had grown fairly old at that point. If not for these events, the spread of firearms throughout Europe would have gone even faster, and under the direction of Mongols, along with the Chinese, Korean, Indian, Persian, and Arab recruits taken into their army over the last several decades, along with their ethnic neighbors, as most of Asia had already been conquered under Khan’s banner at the time.
The one thing I can say is purely a sad loss for history is that we didn’t get to see how Mongol horse archers with their very powerful composite bows would stack up against the budding British Empire and their yew longbows. Definitely would be interesting to see.