Since the Accounting: A Chronicle of the Roman Khanate

Chapter 249 Peaceful Art of War Mode

Although Guo Kang has been thinking about these years, trying to sum up the theory of military development, but after a long time, he gradually gave up.Because he felt that forced induction seemed meaningless.

In reality, the military system does not have too many "advanced" and "backward", but more "suitable" and "unsuitable".There are too many factors affecting the outcome of the battle, and it is meaningless to forcibly draw an "advanced" scale, and even draw ironic conclusions.

For example, the same military officer selection system was at the same time as the contracting system, and the rules of the Qing Dynasty were much more "advanced".The main source of officers in the Qing army was promotion among ranks and military examinations.Among them, background in the army and promotion of military exploits are considered the "right way" for military positions.Ordinary soldiers can really be generals if they have a good record.And this is almost unimaginable in most of contemporary Europe.

Although there are noble children, they are far less numerous than these two.Compared with the British army, which bought officials per capita and almost all of them were old nobles, the Qing army should be more "advanced" no matter how you look at it.

Moreover, even if the Qing army is corrupt and there may be problems with the promotion system, it is also corruption under the bureaucratic system.The British don't need to think about the concept of corruption at all-it is legal to buy officials with money, and the entire army is also outsourced, so the concepts of corruption and bribery lose their meaning.

Therefore, if it is divided in this way, then the organization of the Qing army is obviously more advanced.It stands to reason that the soldiers of the Qing Dynasty should be motivated by the advanced system to fight actively and drive the Yingyi into the sea in one fell swoop.But the actual result, everyone knows...

Moreover, the Qing army was not only so vulnerable when facing foreigners.This is an old problem.

During the reign of Qianlong, Wang Lun, the leader of Qingshui Sect in Shandong, led an uprising.Near Linqing County, the Qing army and the rebel army encountered each other.The Qing army included 250 Dezhou Eight Banners and 250 Green Battalion soldiers, while the rebel army consisted of six to seven hundred people, mainly local farmers.

At the beginning of the battle, the Qing army tried to spread its two wings to outflank, while the rebel army divided into three teams and launched a charge, cutting the Qing army in two in one fell swoop. The Qing army then collapsed and the battle ended.

Afterwards, the Qing court conducted an investigation and found that among the 250 banner men, 46 were killed in battle, more than 80 people fled back after the war, and the remaining 120 people disappeared, probably fleeing while taking advantage of the chaos; After the war, seven or eight people fled back, and the other 250 people also disappeared.According to the confessions of the prisoners of the rebel army who were arrested after the incident, they believed that more than ten people died on their own side, and five or sixty officers and soldiers were killed.The data on both sides can be matched.

And this was at the level of the Qianlong period, when the Qing Dynasty was still at its peak.

By the 19th century, even if the Zulus came to fight the Qing Dynasty, if they had the mobility of the British fleet, it would not be a problem to win a few games.Of course, you have to leave quickly after the fight.After all, these people have special looks, and they may be mistaken for wild monsters by the villagers and exterminated...

There are a lot of archival records in the Qing Dynasty, and the preserved data is very rich, and it happened to be a special era, which led to many "magical" phenomena, which can be called a stereotype breaker.It is not difficult to see from here how rich the factors affecting the war will be.

Therefore, it is not a reliable method to set a concept of "modernity" or "modernity", then simply find a few definitions, and label those that meet the definition as "advanced".Forcibly adding these "advanced features" is not necessarily reliable, and may even cause negative effects.

This example is easier to find.

For example, in the eyes of the Seris military strategists, restraining soldiers, keeping the barracks environment strict, and prohibiting prostitutes from entering and leaving are one of the signs of strict discipline, which can be regarded as "advanced".

However, when the French army abolished the prostitutes accompanying the army, there were many voices of concern and opposition.Because for the French army, this is not strict discipline, but it will only let the soldiers go outside the barracks to have fun.It not only increases the risk of disease, but also undermines discipline, and even has conflicts with locals because of harassing resident women.From this point of view, it is obviously not worth the candle.

Therefore, which one is more advanced depends on the specific situation.

"The situation of armies of different civilizations is very different." Guo Kang finally said: "I always feel that the characteristics of civilization determine the political system, and the political system determines the military system. And above the existing military system, it is those Components such as military training and formations. And these parts should also be subject to more basic characteristics and systems, including local conditions and technical levels, in order to achieve better results."

"Civilization and politics, those are too complicated, let's start with the most obvious." He gave an example: "Since you have read the book of war, you should know that Epaminondas, Iphicrates , Philip II and Alexander, do you understand the development and changes of the early army?"

Joanna hesitated, and had to admit: "I only know about Alexander and his son. Oh, I also know about Hannibal and Caesar..."

"That's great. Your understanding of military theory has surpassed that of most European soldiers." Guo Kang scratched his head and encouraged, "Then we can continue."

"The armies in the classical era were all arranged horizontally. Compared with the depth, their fronts were much wider. The Greeks were especially typical in this regard, and Macedonia and Rome also made improvements on this basis. Even the Persians were Similar formations." Guo Kang briefly introduced, and compared: "But in Seris, the military formations at the same time are often vertical. Do you know why there is such a difference?"

Joanna shook her head and said frankly: "I don't know much about Serris' situation."

"To put it simply, it's weapons and tactical thinking that affect formations and training methods." Guo Kang didn't let her continue guessing, and said directly: "The army over there also used large horizontal formations to fight in ancient times. For example, in the Shang Dynasty, there were no chariots at the beginning, and this formation was the most common, similar to other civilizations.”

"When is the Shang Dynasty?" Joanna asked.

"It roughly corresponds to the early days of the New Kingdom of Egypt, that is, the era of the 18th, 19th, and 20th dynasties." Guo Kang told her.

"Oh..." Joanna showed a clear expression.

"The businessman himself calls this combat method 'pace'." Guo Kang continued: "Compared to vehicle combat, this is the more mainstream combat method."

"What does this word mean?" Joanna's understanding of Chinese seems to have not reached this level.

"Stepping means walking, cutting means killing people. Of course, this meaning is not used anymore." Guo Kang explained: "It was not until the late Shang Dynasty that chariots gradually increased. Before, it was mainly foot fighting. "

"The army organization at that time also adapted to this structure. Their army was a very simple decimal system, until a thousand-man brigade was called a 'row'. Then three thousand-man teams formed a 'brigade'."

"The ancient character for 'line' probably means a road or ranks. 'Brigade' means that there are two people under the flag, which means the troops assembled according to the military flag. Looking at the meaning, you can probably know the situation at that time. Because basically The infantry was stacked to form formations, so there were no more complicated formations at that time."

"It's amazing that these meanings can be found in single characters. No wonder Damiano likes these things." Joanna said with emotion: "However, why do these commonly used Chinese characters mean hacking and war? I thought 'travel' in Chinese meant going out for fun."

"No, that's just partial generalization and only part of the meaning." Guo Kang immediately denied: "People in the Central Plains have not liked war since ancient times, and they do not admire hegemony and expansion."

"Like the people of the Shang Dynasty, they often took 'steps', 'traveled' around, and communicated eagerly with the locals. Sometimes they invited them back to their hometowns to meet their elders. Obviously, they are very friendly and peaceful. people."

"Hey? Is that so?" Joanna asked stupidly, "Then why do you say that the Serisians have the most combat experience?"

"It's all internal fighting." Guo Kang waved his hand and replied, "Internal fighting can't be considered as an expansion war! Internal fighting... Can things about the Seris people be considered war?"

"Seris is not a feudal country like Europe, but a universal empire similar to Rome. It has many regions and many ethnic groups. Although there will be conflicts, they are all temporary. After the conflicts are resolved, everyone will soon will unite again."

"Don't look at the fierce fighting between the Ming Dynasty and those Yuan Dynasty veterans. They actually share the same identity and compete for the same legitimacy, so they fight endlessly every day. Moreover, this universal concept is compatible with each other. In the future, if Everyone has developed, and sooner or later our Rome and them will be integrated."

"That's it..." Joanna thought for a while, and then said: "But last time I met businessmen from Siam, they complained that the Seres people fought every day, and all of them went to their side. The Yuan Dynasty regime came to them every day to forcefully confiscate their strategic materials. I think they don’t seem to want to unite with the Seres people.”

"Who is so bold, dare not unite with us?" Guo Kang muttered suspiciously.

Joanna didn't know how to answer for a moment.

"Hey, I accidentally pulled it away." Guo Kang said quickly: "In short, just keep this conclusion in mind. The Romans all recorded it, saying, 'The people of Seres lived peacefully, without weapons, and never War. Quiet and silent temperament, not disturbing neighbors.' That's not my bragging."

"Really?" Joanna was a little skeptical: "They didn't deliberately brag about each other to deceive other simple and ignorant people?"

"Rome is so far away from Seris, and there was no contact at that time. Is it worthwhile to cooperate to deceive the barbarians?" Guo Kang pointed out: "You people don't even understand ancient allusions, how can you know more than Roman scholars?"

This time, Joanna was completely speechless.

"Of course, these have nothing to do with the battle itself." Guo Kang said: "Actually, because of his love for peace, Seris's weapon development is relatively partial. Weapons such as swords and chariots are said to be foreign products. "

"But after learning to use the chariot, they quickly formed their own combat methods, and finally changed the entire military system."

"The size of the Seris chariot is much larger than its counterparts in the Middle East, and its positioning is very clear. "Six Secret Teachings" says that there are eight ways to use a chariot to win, and each of the combat methods is 'trapped', that is, Charge directly into the enemy formation."

"The impact of the chariot on the plain is amazing. You know the Gaugamela fight?" he asked Joanna.

"I know that." She nodded.

"Darius only invested [-] chariots in Gaugamela, and the quality of the Persian chariot soldiers was extremely bad. When Xenophon went to Persia to fight, he said that these people had almost no training, so that half Many people can't stand on the vehicle themselves, and they will fall directly when the car is running. They are also easily frightened, and many people will choose to jump out of the car and flee, causing the chariot to lose control." Guo Kang said: "Darius' battle So it is with the chariots. The Macedonians beat the shields with their spears to frighten the Persians, and the charioteers ran away in terror."

"But even so, the surviving chariots made an impact. On the Macedonian left flank, the remaining part of the 50 chariots successfully opened the gap. Diodorus records that the oncoming Macedonian soldiers were immediately torn apart by the chariots , others began to flee. The Persian cavalry on the right took this opportunity to break through the formation and came to the rear of the formation."

"This example is very obvious. The training of the Macedonian infantry is not excellent, but most of the soldiers who participated in the battle are veterans who have gone through several battles. The depth of the heavy infantry has 16 rows, and there is a reserve team of the same thickness in the rear for support. .Their spears can also be used to resist the opponent's attack."

"In all kinds of confrontations before and after, this formation was almost impossible to break from the front. Even the Romans were helpless when they faced the weakened heavy infantry. But in front of the chariot, it still seemed too fragile. "

"Moreover, there are only fifty vehicles in this round of attack, and there is still a lack of cooperation from other arms." Guo Kang shook his head: "Obviously, this is not able to display its true capabilities."

"In the battle of Seris, the scale of the chariots was much larger. Around 600 B.C., two medium-sized countries Zheng and Song fought in Daji, and the Song State captured 460 chariots at a time. .About 400 BC, the big country Qi fought with the Three Jins. After the defeat, the number of chariots captured at one time reached [-]. By the time of Alexander, the main vassal states of the Central Plains often put thousands of chariots into a battle. "

"If they were replaced, the Macedonian left wing would have to face about a thousand chariots instead of fifty. The first round of shock waves was not a few Persian singles who were not abandoned and ran sideways. Chariots, but at least [-] to [-] Central Plains chariots, and the impact of thousands of soldiers running behind the chariots. Think about it, in this case, can heavy infantry still play the role of maintaining the front line? "

"In this case... it should be impossible to block it." Joanna thought for a while, and said, "But how did the Seres himself block it?"

"Using this kind of pure infantry and thin horizontal team, don't worry, the Serisians themselves can't stop it." Guo Kang spread his hands: "Their way to deal with it is to use chariots to resist chariots, and then pull the army closer and closer. The thicker it is, the thicker it is. In the era when chariots became popular, the military formation is no longer a horizontal line, but a chessboard formation with huge depth and staggered arrangement of infantry and chariots."

"Because over there, any military formation must first face a question: Can you stop the charge of a thousand chariots? If you can't stop it, then no matter how fancy you are, it's meaningless. Because no matter how advanced the theory is, If you can't stand a round of force, you can only be directly rejected by one vote."

"You see, at least here, the entire combat style of Serris and the Mediterranean world has begun to differentiate." He finally concluded: "But can we use this to say, who is more advanced and more worthy of emulation? I I don't think so."

"If we want to learn other people's tactics, we must first clarify the environment and background. Otherwise, this kind of blind comparison is meaningless. I think you have to clarify this first."

(End of this chapter)