What does Mulan use to trigger an avalanche?

Mulan uses a cannon to trigger the avalanche that buries the Hun army.

During the mountain battle, Mulan realizes that firing at Shan Yu’s soldiers directly will not stop them. She takes one of the army’s cannons, aims it at the snowy mountain slope rather than at the Hun leader, and fires. The blast destabilizes the snow, causing a massive avalanche that sweeps down toward the advancing army.

The plan succeeds, but it also puts Mulan and Captain Li Shang in danger. Mulan is separated from the other soldiers and later rescued from the snow. Shang survives as well, although the army initially believes that Mulan and the captain may have been killed.

The cannon is a key example of Mulan’s strategic thinking. She is not the strongest soldier in the unit, but she observes the landscape and turns the environment into a weapon. The scene also creates a common confusion: the cannon causes the avalanche, while the avalanche—not the cannon itself—defeats most of the Hun force in that moment.