I just read in a book on Genghis Khan that he learned siege warfare from the Chinese and when he attacked Eastern Europe, maybe even Poland?, they didn’t know what hit them with not just boulders but exploding barrels of hot oil. When he hit Samarkand, the nearby city of Bukhara surrendered just after hearing about the siege.

Thought it was interesting to share that motors have a lot longer history than one might think! I can’t imagine how scary they were in 1944 but in 1200s it must have been insane.