I looked through the previous chapters and suddenly saw a lot of people talking about the elite soldiers who founded the country. I felt inspired and wrote until four in the morning...
Generally speaking, the combat effectiveness of an army is determined by the following factors:
(1) Basic combat skills, or martial arts.
The martial arts here are not the kind of jumping around and making exquisite moves. These are not assessed in the military.
Take the spear as an example. If you perform fancy tricks and dance in a dizzying manner, you will not be appreciated by the big guys in the army. What they value is you.
Can you stab faster, more accurately, and more powerfully than your opponent and kill your opponent first?
Don't underestimate this skill. It cannot be developed in a short time. It requires a combination of vision, mental quality, footwork, power generation skills, experience and other aspects.
Bow and arrow, this kind of weapon allows more "tricks". For example, during the assessment, continuous firing of the bow will give you extra points.
When riding on horseback, shooting from the prone position, shooting from behind, and shooting from the left and right sides all have extra points, because they do have practical value.
I won’t go into details about other weapons.
Whether a soldier has martial arts skills is very important on the battlefield. It is definitely not just about being able to line up, obey orders, and be disciplined.
The first few rows of the infantry square are generally armored, and there are only a few empty spaces on the body. They fight in formation, stabbing each other with spears. One side stabs steadily and fast, while the other side is not so powerful. After the first wave of stabbing each other, the result is obvious.
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(2) Equipment.
Needless to say, everyone knows this.
In the Tang Dynasty, the armor wearing rate was very high. During the Tianbao period, 80% of people wore leather armor and iron armor, of which about 50% were iron armor.
There was a decline after the mid-Tang Dynasty, but due to the Songun system, the ownership rate of leather armor and iron armor was still around 60%.
Each soldier has a bow, a spear, a horizontal sword, and a small shield.
In fact, in terms of equipment, all dynasties have what they should have, and there is not much difference in essence.
(3) Organizational degree.
This is similar to equipment. In the feudal era, the military system was much the same.
Under normal circumstances, there will be no obvious difference in organization.
Under abnormal circumstances, such as chaotic management and Wen Tian's violent behavior, there is no way to compare this. We can only analyze the cases one by one to find out what the fuck he did to reduce the level of organization so much that it is impossible to generalize.
But at the institutional level, there is no essential difference.
The rapid improvement of organization is only in modern times.
Modern industrialized production has not only improved production efficiency, but also "domesticated" the entire society. The whole society has become accustomed to the strict chain of industrial production, and has withstood the baptism of division of labor, collaboration, and mutual cooperation. It is not only the improvement of the organization of soldiers.
Farmers, primary school students, store clerks, factory workers, etc., all walks of life and all strata have become more organized.
I won’t talk much about this.
(4) Morale.
The Art of War has a clear meaning at the beginning: fighting requires courage.
This is the fourth and most important point, and it is the most important factor in determining combat effectiveness.
After experiencing the demonstrations given to us by many time-travelers at the starting point, and the summaries of countless forum bosses, we have realized that: sufficient food and adequate pay, scientific training, clear rewards and punishments, and logistical pensions can maintain the morale of the troops at a high level.
That's right. If you do these things, you will be a qualified army.
Please note that I used the word "qualified". To put it simply, such an army can go to war. Whether it can win or not is hard to say.
Since this book is set in the Tang Dynasty, I will use the Tang Dynasty as an example.
After the Anshi Rebellion, a special social phenomenon occurred in China, namely the rise of warrior groups.
This group also has a special phenomenon, that is, the lower levels have empathy for each other and often join forces to make noises and fight against superior officials.
From 750 to 907, when Zhu Wen established the Later Liang Dynasty, more than 200 mutinies took place.
The first mutiny occurred in the ninth year of Tianbao (750). "Shuofang Jiedu envoy Zhang Qiqiu failed to provide food appropriately. The sergeants were angry and beat his judge."
This kicked off the mutiny.
There is no doubt that this was a gentle mutiny, and it was just a beating of the magistrate who was distributing food. But it is very interesting that the soldiers paid attention to their own interests.
Some people have classified military chaos into several categories.
The first is to resist orders. For example, in the third year of the Dali calendar (768), the Anxi army was ordered to leave Pining, abandon the cultivated land and built houses in Pizhou, and move to Jingyuan. The soldiers were angry and revolted.
For another example, in 902, Qian Liu ordered all the soldiers to perform hard labor and dig ditches, but the soldiers resisted the labor and rebelled.
In the first year of Baoying (762), Guan Chongsi, the governor of Hedong Province, was "forgiving for political affairs" and was not very strict with money and food, and gradually distributed it to the big soldiers under various names.
When the imperial court found out, it sent Deng Jingshan as the governor of Hedong to check the accounts. But the money has been distributed, how can you check it?
"There is a good general who deserves to die, but the generals ask him to do it, but they don't allow it; his brother asks him to die on his brother's behalf, but he doesn't allow it; he asks him to redeem his death with a horse, but he does."
The generals said angrily: "Have we ever been less than a horse?" Then they started a rebellion and killed Deng Jingshan, the military envoy.
These three examples show that soldiers in the late Tang Dynasty paid great attention to their own interests and were united.
There are other types later, such as resistance to riots. There are military governors who are "harsh in their political conduct" and often humiliate or even kill soldiers. They are basically finished. Some people run away and are chased and killed by angry soldiers.
In addition, there are those who seek power and wealth. In the late Tang Dynasty, these two categories were about half and half with the previous two categories. By the Five Dynasties, the ratio increased sharply, which shows that soldiers in the middle and late Tang Dynasty had focused on their own interests and resisted unreasonable labor.
, began to shift more towards seeking money, which is also a reflection of the rapid deterioration of the morale of the soldiers of the Five Dynasties.
What I want to say after writing so much is that the Middle Tang Dynasty, the Late Tang Dynasty, and the Five Dynasties are three stages. They should not be treated equally. The mental states of soldiers are also different.
In the Tang Dynasty, soldiers actually had a very rebellious spirit. During the Tianbao period, they dared to beat up judges. They refused unreasonable labor and the like. The generals were bloodthirsty and bullied the lower-level soldiers, and most of them ended badly.
Their mental state and morale are very good. They should train and fight when they should. If they don't do hard work, they don't do hard work. No one can force me. If you have enough money and food, I will work hard for you.
This is a relatively healthy state, not very good, but I think it is better than kneading the soldiers until they are like dough and not daring to resist at all.
They are human beings, not machines. Soldiers who are as doughy as dough do not dare to resist when faced with random humiliation, exploitation and even killing by superior officers, and when civilian officials deduct logistics, and are in a difficult situation. Do you expect such soldiers to resist foreign enemies?
Not realistic.
One more thing, someone mentioned the system before. In fact, if you look at the system of the Ming Dynasty, do you allow civilian officials to treat military personnel so harshly? It is precisely the system that does not allow this.
But civil servants dare! For a seventh-grade county magistrate, what level of military general do you need to be in front of him so that you don't feel inferior? Guerrilla? General? Deputy general? Chief soldier?
Everyone plays with this system and treats soldiers harshly. This is actually a reflection of the low status of military personnel, as well as the social atmosphere and values.
In the Song Dynasty, there was a saying that "a good man is called a good man outside Donghua Gate", and in the Ming Dynasty, guest soldiers were driven here and there like walking dogs without providing food. These things are actually the epitome of social atmosphere. That is, everyone despises soldiers.
Their status is low, so there is a system but no one enforces it. In such a situation, how can the soldiers maintain a relatively high morale? Do they still have combat effectiveness?
It is not acceptable to treat the army as a soup kitchen.
It's also not okay to treat the army like a gang of beggars.
…
Let’s talk about the so-called “Founding Elite Soldiers”, mainly referring to Zhao Kuangyin, the fake founding elite soldier in the early Northern Song Dynasty.
After Zhu Wen defeated Er Zhu in Shandong (897), he vigorously reorganized the army, eliminated the weak and retained the strong, and reduced the army to less than 200,000 people. At that time, there were 160,000-180,000 infantry and 18,000 cavalry.
In the first year of Kaiping in the Later Liang Dynasty (907), Zhu Wen further reorganized the army and placed the left and right dragons and tigers, the left and right Yulin, the left and right Shenwu, the left and right Longxiang, the left and right Tianxing, and the left and right Guangsheng six armies. At this time, they had been reduced to less than 150,000 people.
In October 923, Li Cunxu made a surprise attack on Liang, but Hedong was weak and had few troops. The main force of the Liang imperial army went to attack the Hedong mainland. On the north bank of the Yellow River, they were unable to rush back in time. Later, they all surrendered without losing their strength. Li Cunxu sent a small amount of troops to Hedong.
The soldiers were organized into the Forbidden Army, which was divided into two parts: the Forbidden Army (the same six armies) and the Guards and Guards Army (Yinqiangxiaojie, Tielin, Congmazhi, Jinqiang). There was no significant change in the strength of the troops. The officials and generals of the Later Liang Dynasty were mostly
The ministry remains in office, which is a peaceful transition.
The later Jin, Later Han, and Later Zhou dynasties were basically the same, and the main body of the Bianliang Forbidden Army did not change much.
Of course, each generation of emperors also tried to reorganize the Forbidden Army, such as absorbing elite soldiers from feudal towns into the Forbidden Army, expelling or even killing unqualified generals, but basically they could only make a temporary improvement and could not shake the foundation.
In 960, Zhao Kuangyin rebelled and took away the "bird position" of orphans and widows. How long did this Bianliang Forbidden Army exist?
It’s been sixty years! Are these the elite soldiers of the founding of the People’s Republic of China?
In fact, we have an excellent reference object: Shence Army.
The Shence Army was originally a Helong border army with only a thousand men. After the Anshi Rebellion, the Shence Army envoy Wei Boyu led his army to aid the capital. Later, he met the eunuch Yu Chaoen.
In the second year of Qianyuan (761), the Shence Army stationed in Shaanzhou, fought against Shi Siming, and won many times, showing high combat effectiveness. The supervising army was Yu Chaoen. Strictly speaking, the Shence Army at this time was Shaanzhou
The vassal soldiers are not the central imperial army.
In the first year of Guangde (763), Tubo invaded the capital and Daizong fled to Shaanxi Province. Yu Chaoen led the Shence Army to greet them. At this time, the size of the Shence Army was ten thousand.
Troops and horses from various towns also arrived in Shaanzhou one after another. The imperial court still had prestige. The military governors sent by each town were veterans who had experienced the counter-rebellion war. Daizong handed them all to Yu Chaoen and ordered him to take them to Chang'an.
Each army is "named Shence" and has about 50,000 people. This is the first expansion in the history of the Shence Army.
In the second year of Yongtai (766), the Shence Army became the Forbidden Army and began its second expansion, planning to annex:
(1) The troops of Xing Junya, the Pinglu military envoy; (2) The troops of Shang Kegu, the surrendered general of Anshi; (3) The troops of Hao Tingyu, the first hero of the rebellion, Li Guangbi; (4) Yang, the commander of Pinglu Jiedushi
Huiyuan tribe; (5) Li Guangbi's old general Hou Zhongzhuang tribe; (6) elite soldiers from the towns in the northwest of Beijing from Anxi and Shuofang.
At this time, the Shence Army had more than 100,000 people and was officially formed. Most of the soldiers were field elites with rich war experience and were relatively capable of fighting.
After the formation of the Shence Army, it was roughly divided into the imperial army stationed in Beijing and the troops stationed outside. It often participated in the wars against Tubo and Nanzhao, and also fought against the Uighurs and Dangxiang. There were more battles in the east to quell the rebellious feudal towns.
For example, during the reign of Emperor Dezong, the Tubo invaded Jiannan and the Shence Army went to battle.
Wei Botian Yue rebelled, and the Shence Army went to battle...
At this time, the combat effectiveness of the Shence Army was very good. At least it was not stretched, so it was considered capable of fighting. At this time, the Shence Army had been established for 17 or 18 years. The first batch of veterans who had experienced the Anshi Rebellion gradually withdrew and began to recruit Chang'an soldiers.
Additional staff.
As for the Bianliang Forbidden Army, starting from 897, eighteen years later, probably in 915, the first generation of old people in the Bianliang Forbidden Army had also withered away, and began to recruit a large number of Bian people who lived in a relatively affluent era to join the army. Zhou Dewei believed that they were "in vain"
On the surface, they are not as fierce and capable as the older generation of Bian soldiers. The older generation of Jin soldiers beat their Jin soldiers until they cried for their fathers and cried for their mothers, and almost perished.
Another incident occurred during Dezong's reign, that is, the Jingshi Rebellion. The saint fled to Fengtian. The Shence Army who had suppressed the rebellion in Hebei quickly returned to help, quelled the rebellion and regained the capital.
Dezong saw the powerful combat effectiveness of the Shence Army who went out to suppress the rebellion, and also knew the incompetence of the Forbidden Army in Beijing (commanded by the civil servant Bai Zhizhen), so he vigorously reorganized the Forbidden Army. This would be during the Zhenyuan period, twenty years after the establishment of the Shence Army.
More than a year.
Still using the old trick, they annexed the more capable Li Chaocai tribe in Shuofang Town, the Luo Yuanguang tribe in Zhenguo Army, the Fulin tribe in Hedong Town, and more than 4,000 children of the Anxi Hu generals, and slowly expanded the number to 150,000.
The Shence Army has absorbed fresh blood and has been revitalized. After vigorous rectification, its combat effectiveness has been restored.
When this time was converted to the Bianliang Forbidden Army, it happened that Li Cunxu destroyed Liang and brought some Hedong soldiers to join the Forbidden Army, which restored the decline of the Bianliang Forbidden Army a lot. You see, the timing is almost perfect.
The revitalization of the Shence Army gave Xianzong the confidence to use force against the vassal towns, creating the so-called Yuanhe Zhongxing. At this time, the Bianliang Forbidden Army (Later Tang Dynasty) could also shine repeatedly in foreign wars, defeating the Khitan twice.
But this is only a temporary boost.
The Shence Army continued to recruit people from Chang'an City to join the army, and the Bianliang Forbidden Army continued to recruit wealthy Bianliang children to join the army. In addition, it took a long time to form the army, and the relationship between the army and the army was complicated. All kinds of nonsense things happened one after another, such as collecting money to recruit people.
Joining the army, etc. are all routine operations.
By the time Mu Zong arrived, the Shence Army had been established for almost forty years. Apart from the fact that the Shence Army stationed abroad still had some combat effectiveness, the one in Chang'an was really not very good.
Forty years after the Bianliang Forbidden Army was in the Later Jin Dynasty, it was no longer very effective and was destroyed by the Khitan. Later, the militia rose up and the warlords finally defeated the Khitans and drove them away. It was still the martial virtue of the people of the Central Plains. However, the combat effectiveness of the Forbidden Army has declined.
It is obvious to all.
Later, Yizong and Xizong lost their strong control over the feudal towns. They were very slow to absorb elite soldiers from the feudal towns into the Shence Army, and their combat effectiveness became worse and worse. This once powerful imperial army was completely finished.
The Bianliang Forbidden Army also ushered in Guo Rong's reorganization, but it only slightly reversed the decline. After all, they are still the same people. If you kill a small part, can you kill them all? The relationship between the army and the army is intricate, and people have been married to each other for generations.
, couldn't move at all, and was so depressed.
It can be said that because there were more wars in the Five Dynasties, the combat effectiveness of the Bianliang Forbidden Army declined a little more slowly, and occasionally rebounded, but the overall situation was still in a downward trend, so it was passed to Zhao Kuangyin.
Could these be the elite soldiers of the founding of the People's Republic of China? The elite soldiers of the founding of the People's Republic of China who have existed for more than sixty years, have internal marriages for several generations, have intricate relationships, and are a bunch of experienced soldiers?
No kidding!
Cao Bin led the Imperial Army of the Northern Song Dynasty and was harassed by the Khitan cavalry, and could not hold out for a day.
When the Later Tang Dynasty attacked the Khitan, they were always at a disadvantage in terms of military strength. At one time, 70,000 people rescued Youzhou. The Khitan had "500,000 cavalry". This was bragging, but there were still more than 100,000 cavalry.
What did Fu Cunshen do in the face of the Khitan cavalry attack? First, he had fewer infantry than others, and secondly, he was in a hurry, felling trees, making antlers, and each man had one person. When he encountered Khitan cavalry, he piled up to form a barrier, and fought while moving. The Khitan
It suffered heavy casualties and eventually collapsed.
To be honest, Cao Bin couldn't do this kind of infantry that was tenacious and dared to fight to the death.
From the Middle Tang Dynasty to the early Five Dynasties, infantrymen who had experienced many wars were generally capable of fighting because of their higher social status and high morale.
The Battle of Xiangji Temple during the Anshi Rebellion is so famous.
The cavalry from both sides fought first, but the "King's Division" could not defeat the "thief cavalry" and was driven back. Seeing that the front line was about to be in chaos, Li Siye took off his armor, exposed his upper body, and boosted morale. He led two thousand infantrymen, holding Mo Dao and a long sword.
Ke axe, marched through the wall, struck more with less, and killed the rebel cavalry.
In the late Tang Dynasty, Ge Congzhou also used this trick. It was an open and honest field battle, not an ambush or anything. He led 2,000 men and chopped down Li Keyong's 3,000 heavy cavalry.
Therefore, don't say that cavalry can definitely defeat infantry one on one. This is really not certain.
In the middle and late Tang Dynasty, when the number of infantry was smaller than that of cavalry, Zhaoyi Liu Zhen's men taught the imperial cavalry a lesson. With heavy swords, long-handled axes, hooks and sickles, the cavalry rushed into the formation and the formation was not chaotic.
, but instead pulled the cavalry off their horses and hacked them to death one by one.
Also, in the battle of Xiangji Temple, the government army and the rebels fought in formation for four full hours, that is, eight hours.
Brothers, even if each formation can take turns to rest, fighting for a whole day is really awesome, and infantry who are not tough can't do it.
At the time of You, 4,000 fine Uighur cavalry took advantage of the rebels' physical strength and energy to be exhausted, and when the official infantry's position and morale were shaken, they launched the final blow and finally defeated the rebels.
Why didn't these Uighurs move around and harass them in the first place? It's useless. They can only deal with rookie infantry.
The Battle of Zhaojue Temple.
Shi Chaoyi marched forward in formation with a hundred thousand men. Yu Chaoen ordered the five hundred men to dismount and shoot them with powerful crossbows. "Many thieves died, but the formation was strong and unbreakable."
You can imagine for yourself the scenario of lining up to be shot. One side is "collecting arrows for injection", and the front rows of infantry suffer large casualties, but the rear rows quickly fill up, and the formation is still moving forward.
If it hadn't been for the incomparable tough guy Ma Lin, the outcome of this battle would have been hard to predict.
Can Zhao Kuangyin's troops compare with the Bianliang Forbidden Army sixty years ago? Can they compare with the Anshi rebels?
Let me write this much for now. I will talk about the development of ancient Chinese cavalry when I have time. The equipment and tactics of cavalry are actually different in all dynasties.
