The fire lance was perhaps the first employment of naphtha among singular infantrymen on a large scale. Prior to this naphtha was an agent used primarily for incendiary bombs and siege warfare.

The fire lance is essentially a primitive hand-cannon attached to a long spear which ejected a projectile and a jet of fire for several feet. Originally designed to shoot small poisoned darts or other projectile points from a bamboo tube, they were one-shot weapons issued to give spearmen an edge in hand-to-hand combat against other spearmen. However, as technology improved the cannon became its own effective weapon, and the lance disappeared: the gun was born.