Sword and shield throwing spear Vs spear halberd strong bow and hard crossbow When the Roman legions

The success or failure of a war depends on the strategy of the commander-in-chief; The outcome of the battle depends on the rigor or failure of the military formation.

If you can't win the battle, no matter how good your strategy is, everything is equal to zero. Therefore, the importance of the military formation to the army is unparalleled!

In the war of the cold weapon era, all battles between regular armies must pay attention to fighting in formation.

Whenever people talk about ancient military formations, the famous Western Macedonian spear formation, the ancient Roman military formation, and so on will first come to mind.

And the feeling of the ancient Chinese military formation, I always feel that it is worse than that of the West.

Some people even think:

The so-called military array in ancient China was just a group of peasant temporary workers with **, and there was no comparison with the professional soldiers of Macedonia and the ancient Roman legions.

There are many people who have such a view. But this view is obviously wrong!

So why do some people think so?

It is because of the penmanship of the historical record: the East pays attention to the general outline, and the West pays attention to details.

In ancient Chinese wars, the historians of the past dynasties never bothered to record the details of those battles in detail.

Chinese historians only record the successes and failures of great battles, and the specific methods of fighting are rarely found in history books.

Westerners, on the other hand, may record history in greater detail than the East.

The most important thing is that Westerners pay attention to details, which is reflected in the shooting and production of Western movies, which can show the configuration of ancient military formations, formation changes, combat methods, etc.

In this regard, the author also thinks that Western movies are indeed strong!

And our filmmakers are at a good level, filming emotional dramas, palace fighting dramas, and filming military formations and battle details, but we really can't shoot this effect.

There are no details of ancient battles in Chinese history books, and that is because Chinese historians do not pay attention to details.

However, in addition to historians, there are also soldiers in China, and the details have never been ignored in the works on the art of war.

Of course, there are many kinds of military books, and you have to look for the details of the military formation from the "Art of War", which focuses on strategy, which is the wrong book.

For example, the three books "Liutao", "Tang Taizong, Li Weigong Asks the Right", and "Actual Record of Military Training" basically summarize the characteristics of China's army establishment, composition, equipment, and battle development of the Central Plains Dynasty from the pre-Qin, Han, Sui and Tang dynasties to the Song and Ming dynasties.

The standing army of the Roman Empire was the Roman legions.

Then, correspondingly, the standing army of the Han Empire, that is, the **Praetorian Guard Northern Army.

The ** Janissary Army of the Han Dynasty was divided into the Southern Army and the Northern Army, the Southern Army was responsible for the garrison of Kyoto, and the Northern Army was responsible for the battle.

What if so?

On the one hand, the Roman legions were dedicated to conquest;

One side is "where the sun and the moon shine, and where the rivers go, they are all Han soil!" "Those who commit strong men are strong men who are far away.

If the two males meet, they will not talk about each other. It must be the intersection of swords and soldiers, the collision of iron and blood, and we have to fight to see who is the real boss!

Since "playing is history", you might as well come to a virtual contest between the Roman legions and the Han army.

One: Roman legions.

1) Team of 100.

When cold weapons, the army is the smallest organizational unit. Take a squad of 10 people, and then make a team of 100 people in a squad of 10. This is estimated to be the same in both the East and the West.

According to the data, the 100-man team of the Roman legions was often less than 100 people, and most of them were 60 80 people.

Well, for each Roman team of 100 people, there are actually only 6 8 teams of 10 people.

2) Detachment. two Roman hundred-man detachments of 60 80 men formed a basic tactical unit - the detachment;

Thus, the strength of each Roman detachment was generally 120,160 men.

Corresponding to the Roman detachment, it was the Han army with 200 people as a song, and set up a song marquis.

Three Roman detachments, forming a brigade.

The Roman legion brigade also had a cavalry force of 30 men. In addition, he often has a hundred-man squad that has been additionally strengthened.

Thus, a brigade of Roman legions should have about 500,600 men.

And the counterpart to the Roman brigade was the battalion-level establishment of the Han army.

Ten brigades formed a Roman main legion. The strength of each legion generally consisted of 5,000 to 6,000 men.

At the same time, each Roman legion had a subordinate legion.

5) Affiliated Legions.

Refers to legions that recruit soldiers from territories other than Rome. It is similar to the Roman main legion, but it is different depending on the region of recruitment, such as the cavalry and the number of troops.

The main Roman legion generally had 300 cavalry. It is divided into various brigades, and each brigade has 30 horses.

The number of cavalry may be 600 cavalry, but the rigor of the infantry formation, the degree of equipment, training, etc., should not be as good as the main Roman legion.

6) The composition of the Roman expeditionary army.

Roman consul, directly under the four legions of the Standing Army of the Roman Empire.

2 Roman main legions + 2 Roman secondary legions.

In this way, the total strength of the Roman ** standing army at the disposal of the expedition was about 20,00040,000 people.

In this way, the ** Northern Army of the Han Empire, which can go out at any time, is only about 30,000 or 40,000.

The Roman legions and the Han army both advocated the elite military system. In the era of cold weapons, there were 20,000 to 30,000 well-equipped and well-trained combat troops in both the east and the west, and tens of thousands of people and auxiliaries were temporarily recruited, which was actually enough to launch a war of thousands of miles to destroy the country and capture the king.

Three Kingdoms, Sima Yi conquered Liaodong, a single march mileage of 4,000 miles, a year of back and forth, and 40,000 troops were infancied.

Similarly, the Han Empire was able to organize hundreds of thousands of troops at any time.

Two: The Northern Army of the Han Empire.

1) Han Army Hundreds.

The most basic military system in ancient China was the Shiwu system.

With 5 people as a team, the bravest of the 5 people is the captain.

and with two soldiers as one, by the two captains of the brave as the long;

Five tithes are a team, led by the bravest of the five tithes.

Two teams of 50 people, combined into a team of 100 people, the Han army is called Yitun.

Led by the two teams, the one with strong martial arts and ability is the tun chief, and the second is the vice.

The Han army took 100 people as a tun and set up a tun chief; Unlike the Roman hundreds, which usually only formed 60 or 80 people, the Han army was full of 100 people every day.

The Han inherited the Qin military merit knighthood system, and the centurion and above could also have additional servants to follow, so the Han army often had more than 100 people in a team of 100 people.

2) Qu Junhou of the Han Army.

Two tuns (100 people) form a song, with a strength of more than 200 people, and set up a qu military marquis.

Compared with the troops, it was stronger than the Roman detachment.

3) Han military battalion-level establishment.

Each Han military camp was composed of 3 5 different troops.

In addition to the fixed number of soldiers, each battalion also has the private soldiers of the battalion commander, as well as miscellaneous auxiliary soldiers, and so on. The strength of each battalion of the Han army was between 700 and 1,000 people.

battalion, an independent formation of the Han army.

For example, the 100,000 army of the Han army, he used the battalion as the unit of calculation. Based on the calculation of 1,000 men per battalion, the 100,000-strong army is made up of 100 battalions.

Three Kingdoms, Xu Huang rescued Fancheng, Cao Cao added reinforcements to Xu Huang, and a total of 12 battalions were sent to support Xu Huang. See "Romance of the Three Kingdoms. The Biography of Xu Huang.

The battalion commander of the Northern Army of the Praetorian Guard was a lieutenant. The level is 2,000 stones, which belongs to the state thorn history level, which is equivalent to the provincial level in later generations.

and the Han army, which was scattered in local prefectures and counties or stationed in the border areas, was the battalion of other divisions; In the event of a major war, the state and county are ordered to recruit soldiers, and they can be temporarily conscripted to form the Sima battalion of the auxiliary army.

The Sima of the other departments and the Sima of the Zuojun are much lower in rank than the lieutenants of the Northern Military Academy. It is a rank ratio of 600 stones, and it belongs to the regional county level.

During the Yellow Turban Rebellion of the Three Kingdoms, Cheng Sun Jian of Xiapi County was transferred to the position of Sima of the Zuojun Army, recruited Huaisi strong men and righteous servants, and obtained more than 1,000 elite soldiers to participate in the suppression of the Yellow Turban Rebellion. For this matter, see "Three Kingdoms". Wu Shu. Sun Poyu's Rebellion Biography".

Eastern Han Dynasty Northern Army Fifth Captain Battalion Strength Table:

(1) Lieutenant of the Tun Cavalry, 128 subordinate officers, 700 non-commissioned officers. Total strength: 828 people.

2) The captain of the Yue cavalry, with 129 subordinate officers and 700 soldiers. Total strength: 829 people.

3) Infantry captain, 73 subordinate officers, 700 non-commissioned officers. Total strength: 773 people.

4) Captain of Shooting, 129 subordinate officers, 700 non-commissioned officers. Total strength: 829 people.

5) Captain Changshui, 157 subordinate officers, 1,367 non-commissioned officers. The Changshui battalion is the most powerful battalion. Total strength: 1,524 people.

The Han army did not have the title of "legion", but it had a "army" level establishment.

Taking the Three Kingdoms at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty as an example, Xiahoudun guarded Huainan with the authority of "Governor of Huainan 26th Army". From this, it can be seen that Cao Cao's army in Huainan has 26 army-level establishments.

In the battle of Fancheng, the Seventh Army of the Forbidden Governor came to the aid of Fancheng, the Seventh Army was destroyed, and Guan Yu captured more than 30,000 cavalry of Cao's army. It can be seen that the total strength of these seven armies should be 30,000 to 40,000 horses. Thus, if you count thirty-five thousand, then the strength of each army is five thousand.

According to historical records, the Han army was stationed independently in battalions in peacetime. In wartime, it was combined into one army with three to five battalions.

The Han army went out to fight, probably with the first lieutenant battalion of the Northern Army as the main force, and the captain as the main general, or it may be another general, supervising and leading four other Sima battalions, a total of five battalions, 5,000 infantry and cavalry, forming a first army.

During the Great War, higher-level generals, such as General Zuo Yu Ban during the Three Kingdoms, and General Xu Huang of Dangkou, led a battalion of troops from the headquarters, and supervised four Sima battalions to form the Central Army, and then controlled several other armies, combined into the Third Army, the Sixth Army, the Seventh Army, and so on, forming an army with a scale of 20,000, 30,000, or even 100,000, responsible for operations in a strategic direction.

Through the comparison of the establishment of the Roman legion and the Han army, the strength of a Roman legion is roughly the same as that of the Han army.

However, the grassroots strength of the Han army, such as the strength of the hundred-man team, the Qu and the battalion level, was more substantial and strong than the Roman detachment and brigade. The overall strength of the army is stronger than that of the Roman legions.

The strength of the troops is basically equal, so the quality of the soldiers on both sides is also an important factor in determining combat effectiveness.

One: Comparison of the composition of the soldiers.

1) The soldiers of the main Roman legions**, mainly Roman citizens.

What was a Roman citizen?

It is not known whether this refers to the inhabitants of the Roman cities or to all the urban and rural residents of the Roman Empire itself. However, presumably it is mainly city dwellers.

2) The soldiers of the Han army only came from Liangjiazi.

Liangjiazi refers to the children of officials and eunuchs and farmers and herdsmen with land. The industrialists and merchants who lived in the city and the children of the market generally could not join the Han army.

In China in the era of military merit and knighthood, the martial style is strong. In order to continue the court, the family will urge the children of the family to learn and practice martial arts since childhood, so the children of the official eunuchs do not represent the gentlemen, but everyone is skilled in martial arts, like a newborn tiger.

Such as Chen Tang, Ban Chao, Dong Zhuo, Cao Cao, Zhuge Liang, Zhou Yu and other cattle people, all of whom are the second generation of officials.

Since the Shang Dynasty reformed the law, Chinese soldiers have always firmly believed that the peasants who can endure ten years of farming life are the best quality soldiers, and their will and tenacity tempered by hard work are far better than those who are idle in the market despite their martial arts.

The Han Empire used the Liangjiazi of various prefectures and counties as a reserve source of soldiers, and detailed agricultural and pastoral areas; The characteristics of different regions such as plains, mountains, and rivers subdivide the source of reserve troops into chariots, cavalry, timber officers, building ships, and other types of troops.

Every year before the spring ploughing and after the autumn harvest, the county lieutenant organizes a training drill for the reserve soldiers, and teaches the combat methods such as lining up and combining, bowing and crossbow shooting, and stabbing with knives and spears, and exercises twice a year.

Under the stimulus of the military merit knighthood system, the desire for meritorious glory of the Han soldiers was the greatest motivation for them to practice martial arts diligently.

Therefore, in terms of the source of soldiers, the soldiers of the Han army and the training they received, the quality of the soldiers is undoubtedly better than that of Rome.

The strong sense of honor of the soldiers, which was born from the country's admiration for martial arts, made the Han army the most warlike army of the era.

One: Comparison of armor, crossbows, and throwing guns.

1) Roman armor.

Western plate armor was famous for its excellent protection, but in Roman times, they didn't have it.

The armor is actually made in the same way in the East and the West, and the armor of the Roman legion has two types: scale armor and chain mail.

Chain mail is made of iron rings sewn together on a leather base, which is said to be the best armor in Rome and weighs about 18 catties. And from the weight of these 18 catties, it can be seen that the protective power must be far inferior to the heavy armor of the Han army, which weighs dozens of catties.

Curiously, the scale armor is said to have been the poorly protected armor of the Roman legions.

We don't know what it was like to be a soldier in ancient Rome, a heavily armored samurai.

However, from many pictures depicting Roman warriors in the West, it is shown that the Roman armored soldiers, their armor did not protect them tightly, and even the arms and thighs and other parts were still bare.

As a result, in terms of armor protection, Rome was far behind the Han army.

2) Roman crossbows, throwing spears.

There is no information that the Roman legions were armed with strong crossbows, and the Roman legions did not pay attention to the use of bows and arrows.

The ranged killing** of the Roman legions is to throw guns. Although this object is powerful, it is small to carry, and the distance of swinging arms is limited, and the Roman soldiers each carried 2 throwing guns, one light and one heavy. Compared with the Han army, each person carries 30 bows and crossbows and arrows, which is stronger and which is weak, it is clear at a glance.

Unlike China, which has regarded bow and crossbow archery as the first martial art since ancient times, the use of bows and arrows and archers was not valued in Rome.

(3) The Han army's hard crossbows, strong bows, and strong armor.

Chinese martial arts, the first heavy archery, especially the hard crossbow, the mountain village man holds a hard crossbow, as long as he shoots, he can kill the heavy armor of the general in a hundred battles.

The Chinese soldiers paid special attention to the heavy armor protection of the army, which was called the ambition of the armor and the soldiers in ancient times.

People wear strong armor and heavy armor, swords and spears are invulnerable, and arrows are difficult to hurt, so they are naturally more courageous, dare to touch the white blade, and break the formation.

Therefore, if the people have a large number of armored crossbows, then the government will lose its deterrent effect.

Therefore, unlike the limited armor of the Roman legions, which had to be provided by the soldiers.

In all dynasties of China, officials and civilians were strictly forbidden to privately possess armored crossbows, which were special military weapons for the imperial court and government, which were manufactured under the supervision of the government, and were uniformly stored and distributed to the army.

The armor of the Han army can protect the whole body, and the armor equipment rate is also higher than that of the Roman legions.

The Han army has heavy archery skills, so the full-time hard crossbow of the Han army should be equipped with 60 percent. As for the bow and arrow, in addition to the crossbowman, the generals and soldiers of the army had a bow and two strings and 30 arrows.

The Roman legions despised archers.

And in the Han Army, if anyone doesn't know archery, then he will never be embarrassed to dare to say that he knows martial arts!

How much importance did China attach to shooting in the era of cold weapons?

Since the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the army's strong crossbowmen have accounted for more than sixty percent of the entire army.

Liutao Tiger Tao. Military No. 1" Taigong said: 10,000 soldiers, 6,000 strong crossbows, 2,000 halberds, and 2,000 spears.

It can be seen from this that in the comparison of armor and crossbows, the Han army's strong armor and strong bows and crossbows crushed the light armor and spears of the Roman legions in battle, which is no suspense.

Two: Roman sword and shield and Han army's spear halberd.

Roman sword and shield. The main force of the Roman legions was the sword and shield soldiers, who weighed about 2 catties on the left and had a double-edged sword with a length of 50 75 cm. On the right, it holds a rectangular wooden shield or an oval round shield with iron edges.

The spearmen held a three- or four-meter spear and formed a military formation with the sword and shield soldiers to fight in unison.

The Roman legion's sword and shield soldiers held their shields high in a dense formation and formed a tortoiseshell formation to push forward, which was deeply impressed.

Then, some people thought that this was a unique method of warfare for the Roman legions. And I thought that the ancient Chinese military array was far inferior to the Roman legion phalanx. This is a very wrong perception.

How many shields did the Han army have?

Or refer to the ** team establishment recorded in "Liutao", an army of 10,000 people, in addition to 6,000 strong crossbowmen, there are also 2,000 halberds. Two thousand spearmen.

The halberd is a long halberd and a large shield.

The spear is a spear and a small shield.

It can also be inferred that the number of shields of the Han army will only be more than that of the Warring States period. And the Han army is also very good at fighting with spears and halberds and shields.

One inch long, one inch strong" This is the iron law of white-knuckle warfare.

Don't think that a dagger and a shield can defeat a spear. With a short gram length, it's easier said than done!

When the two sides are lined up to fight each other, the spear and halberd can definitely kill the sword and shield soldiers in an instant.

In the event of a melee, the spear halberd cannot be used, and of course the short sword shield prevails.

But don't forget, the Han sergeant wears a ring-headed sword at his waist. Once they fell into a melee, the Han army abandoned the spear and fought with a short halberd and a ring-headed sword, and held a shield, and would not lose to the Roman sword and shield.

And when the Han army armor soldiers were in a trap and assault, there was also a weapon called "Yue Halberd".

This picture is hand-drawn by the author.

The halberd resembles the European axe gun. This is a long-handled weapon that combines an axe and a short spear, which can be used to slash shields with an axe and stab enemy soldiers with a spear.

Three: Comparison of the individual martial arts of Roman soldiers and Han soldiers.

The martial arts of the Cold Soldier era are the skills of using cold weapons. It's nothing more than shooting and stabbing.

In terms of bow and crossbow shooting technology, the Han army crushed Rome.

And the stabbing of the blade has its own merits.

Whether it is a sword, shield or spear, fighting and killing, the technique used is nothing more than a kill and a dozen (splitting and sweeping).

Don't fantasize that whoever has magical and subtle martial arts, who really fights, who practices more diligently, is fast, and has great strength, will win.

With its strong armor and large protective area, the Han army was superior to Rome in white-knuckle warfare.

After comparing so much, it can be seen that the Roman soldiers and the Han army have their own strengths in martial arts, but in terms of the number and quality of equipment, such as establishment, number of troops, soldiers, armor, long-range shooting, melee combat, etc., the Han army is far stronger than the Roman legions!

1: The Roman legions lined up in the field, and the soldiers were usually divided into three layers: young soldiers, middle-aged soldiers, and adult soldiers.

1) The first horizontal column composed of young soldiers.

2) The second horizontal column composed of young soldiers.

3) The third horizontal column composed of adult soldiers.

The adult soldiers of the Roman legion are equipped with the same equipment as the young soldiers, but the quality of swords, spears, swords, armor and other is better, and they are over 30 years old, with rich military experience and combat experience, and are the core backbone of the legion.

The young soldiers, who lacked combat experience and had poor armor, formed the first column of the legion.

*Equipped with two javelins, a broad-bladed dagger and an ovoid shield.

From this point of view, the Roman legions were accustomed to pushing young soldiers who did not have much combat experience in the front row of the military formation, and no matter how you look at it, it looks like cannon fodder.

It can be proved from this that the front row is cannon fodder, which is really a Westerner tradition!

Two: Contrary to the cannon fodder soldiers in the front row of the Roman legions, the ancient Chinese soldiers would never do such an extremely inhumane thing!

The young sword and shield soldiers in the front row of the Roman legions were all inexperienced.

However, all those in the Han army who can hold swords and shields are all tired soldiers who are accustomed to fighting, which is probably caused by the difference in concepts between the East and the West, which has been the case since ancient times.

The Han army lined up in the field, the front row of soldiers were all selected from the elite to select the front, led by a brave general, everyone wore double heavy armor, held short spears and iron halberds, sharp axes and shields were mixed, just waiting for the drums to beat, they took the lead in launching a surprise attack on the enemy formation, in order to break through a hole in the enemy formation, and then, the rear team of men and horses will pour in from this breakthrough, straight into the depth of the enemy formation, until the enemy formation is disrupted, so that the head and tail can not care for each other, the communication is not smooth, the command fails, and then the whole army collapses.

This is the battle method of the Han army in every battle, which has the method of selecting the front and "entering the battle first".

This method of warfare is also in line with the principle of "winning the first battle and winning with one blow" in the thinking of Chinese soldiers.

famous generals of the Three Kingdoms era, Shu Han Guan Yu and Huang Zhong; Cao Wei, Zhang Liao, Le Jin, Yu Ban, Dian Wei, etc., as well as famous generals such as Eastern Wu Ganning, are all famous generals who have served as captains in battle, are good at breaking through first, and conquering the flag.

This kind of play may have a miraculous effect against the countries around Rome that have no military culture and military heritage.

However, if it encounters the Han army with elite heavy armor samurai who first ascended to the battlefield, the strong troops of the brigade then attacked.

I am afraid that once the front row of the Roman legion allows the Han army's first camp to break through, what awaits the Roman veterans is about to be a more violent wave impact of the Han army's armor, collapse and collapse, and it is just around the corner.

However, even if the Han army could defeat the Roman legions in the field with a dignified formation, they would generally not choose this hard-hitting style of fighting.

Because: at the cost of my minimum, one blow will maximize the enemy's payment, but the enemy will be terrified and collapsed. ”

Since the art of war prevailed, the generals of the Han army fought according to this principle.

From Sun Bin to encircle Wei to save Zhao, Maling Road set up an ambush to shoot Pang Juan. The Chinese generals have long regarded the duel as a last resort as soon as the war begins.

In the Chinese art of war, lure the enemy into depth, or set up an ambush to annihilate the enemy, or camp according to the danger, cut off the enemy's passage, and then divide the troops to make a detour of 100 miles, hitting his flank: or light cavalry maneuvering for hundreds of miles, copying the enemy's rear road, cutting off his grain route, so that the enemy's heart is floating, and the enemy will collapse without a fight, and then the enemy will be completely annihilated with a heavy blow.

The rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms in the Western Han Dynasty, the battle of Cao Cao's Guandu at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, and Lu Xun's burning of the company camp are all like this.

This is a Chinese-style battle!

And until the fifties of the last century, Western armies were at a loss for such a way of fighting, and when they coped, they were in a hurry.

So 2,000 years ago, when the Roman legions, which were known for their dense phalanx decisive battles, met the Han army, the outcome of the battle was also conceivable.

In the early Roman legions, the entire legion consisted of only 300 cavalry, and it was scattered among the various Roman brigades, with an average of only 30 cavalry per brigade.

The Roman legions also strengthened the cavalry in the later period, but in the large-scale centralized use of cavalry, the Han army was able to use the cavalry group to defeat the Xiongnu, who were good at cavalry, which was far from being comparable to Rome.

The Han army was able to recruit hundreds of thousands of young archers and skilled knights in the four prefectures of You, Hebei, Liang, and the vast Western Regions and the annexed Southern Xiongnu, Wuhuan, Xianbei and other nomadic areas with agriculture and animal husbandry, so as to form a cavalry group.

Since the end of the Warring States Period, the cavalry group has become the main force on the Chinese battlefield, so in terms of infantry and cavalry coordination, cavalry assault tactics such as infantry formations, light cavalry attacks to harass the enemy's flanks, and heavy cavalry to cross the formation, as well as the concentrated use of cavalry; The Han army had already accumulated hundreds of years of combat experience, formed a military ideological system, and had used it so well that it was enough to throw the Roman legions out of several eras.

We must not think that because our film cannot capture the solemn momentum of the ancient Chinese military formation, which is "as fast as the wind, as slow as a forest, as immobile as a mountain, and as a fire for invasion", we must not think that the ancient Chinese military formation is just a group of peasant temporary workers carrying swords and spears to stand in a queue.

The Han army drove the Xiongnu, and the Tang expelled the Turks.

And the Xiongnu and Turks, who were defeated by the ancient Chinese military array, moved westward, and ran rampant in Europe and Asia, and were invincible for thousands of miles, which already explains everything.