"Since many martial arts are fake, what was the battle between ancient generals like?

There was once a joke that during the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, Japan's Toyotomi Hideyoshi invaded Korea and encountered Li Rusong's Liaodong cavalry of the Ming Dynasty. At that time, there was a general in the Japanese army who read the Romance of the Three Kingdoms and became famous. He was crazy and admired the generals who fought duel in the Three Kingdoms very much. He jumped out and shouted: "Who will fight with me on one horse?" The Ming army thought he was crazy and beat him to a pulp with a musket. "One-horse fight" is also called one-on-one, which means fighting alone.

It seems that the Romance of the Three Kingdoms did a lot of harm to people. When reading ancient romance novels, the most impressive thing is the "fighting between generals". As the two armies battle, the soldiers line up in formation. The generals of both sides rode white or red horses, armed with spears or swords, and wore silver helmets or gold armor. They rode out on horseback and rushed to the most dangerous front line. They shouted loudly: "You rats, who dares to come out to fight with us?" Confrontation? "

At this time, the opponent's camp did not need to shoot him with random arrows or attack him in groups. It was the same thing. A general rushed out and rushed to the most dangerous front line. He shouted loudly: "Who are you? Tell me your name quickly, I will kill the unknown person with my gun!" Then, it was a one-on-one duel between the two people.

The result of the duel: if there is no one, three or five, or dozens of combinations, one of the generals will be picked off his horse. The soldiers did not make any counterattack and immediately surrendered, and the war ended.

It gives people the feeling that as long as the main general wins, the entire army will win; as long as the main general loses, the entire army will lose. The outcome of the entire war actually depended entirely on the martial arts of the two generals. The soldiers are just for decoration and have no actual value. If this is the case, then why are there so many soldiers? Do the soldiers just stand aside and watch the fun? Don't the soldiers swarm forward and capture the enemy general who is single-handed?

So, some people said that on a real battlefield, single combat between generals does not exist at all, because it does not conform to the basic laws of war at all. The reason why there are situations where military generals fight against each other in romance novels is completely the novelist's wishful thinking. Its purpose is just to make the writing exciting and attractive and attract readers.

Actually, this is not always the case. In battles throughout history, there were still instances of single combat between generals, but it was just not as dramatic as in the novel, and the number of occurrences was much less. Also, the one-on-one duels recorded in official history are often not considered "wars" in the true sense. They are just "duels" at most.

Furthermore, fighting in the Spring and Autumn Period was very polite. First, the attacking party sent an envoy to explain why they wanted to attack you. Then the person being beaten will also ask why they hit me. If the other party asks about it, the war will not start. A typical example is when the State of Qi went to attack the State of Chu, and the envoy from the State of Chu responded well, the war could not be fought.

Decided to fight, both parties agreed on a time, picked a good place, everyone finished breakfast, and then started the fight. The war usually lasts only one morning. If it is a big war, it will not last more than one day. Those with white hair and those who are young cannot be killed. If the enemy retreats, they can only pursue them a certain distance, which is 50 steps. If they exceed 50 steps, they cannot pursue them. There was a battle between Jin and Chu. The Jin army was defeated and one of its chariots was broken down and could not move. The soldiers of the Chu army told the soldiers of the Jin army what to do. Sure enough, the car ran away according to what the Chu army soldiers said. While running away, they said, "We don't have the experience of running away like you."

In fact, before the Song Dynasty, it was very common for military generals to fight against each other. Many soldiers in the Tang Dynasty and before were captured by young men. Armed herdsmen could also ride and shoot. The armed peasants recruited temporarily did nothing but clean the battlefield. It’s not good either. Many times it’s good to keep this group of people standing still on the battlefield. So many times the most efficient way is to duel the generals of both sides. Once the opponent’s general is killed, a cover kill will determine the outcome. It’s settled.

Single duels, that is, battles between individual generals, did exist in ancient times. For example, in the Three Kingdoms era, Lu Bu singled out Guo Si, and Sun Ce singled out Taishi Ci. These are all well-founded in history. In other dynasties, the more famous one is Wang Yanzhang, the iron spear general of the Five Dynasties, who was addicted to single combat.

There are cases where a general is captured and the entire army is defeated. For example, in the Battle of Hulao Pass in the Tang Dynasty, Dou Jiande's light cavalry went out and was wounded and captured. The army of 150,000 people suddenly collapsed. He had been operating in Hebei for many years, doing light corvee and receiving little tax, so he was captured. Those who thought they could compete with Li Yuan and Wang Shichong ended up being destroyed in one battle.

Single combat was not the main form of warfare in ancient my country. In ancient Japan, there was also a tradition that every battle must be fought one on one. First, a general with superior force would be sent out in front of the formation, and then charge into the formation to challenge the opponent's vanguard in a duel. Most samurai were proud to stand in front of the lord's horse.

Yao Xueyin once criticized the concept of single combat and wrote two poems: "In front of the battle, the Xiechi generals fought hard, and under the banner, they watched the grass and trees soldiers." The Three Kingdoms period was mainly an era of infantry and cavalry combat. , it is the soldiers and junior officers who charge into the battle, and the general is in a protective position. But sometimes, in order to defeat the enemy, the general would risk his own life to motivate the soldiers. For example, the three generations of the Sun family had this tradition, but it rarely resulted in a situation where the two leaders were fighting each other. Speaking of duel, even setting up a battle formation was a last resort. Guan Yu versus Yan Liang was a sudden attack, not a fight in front of the formation. Lu Bu and Guo Bang had an agreement in advance, so it was considered a special case.

When it comes to dueling, we have to talk about the hidden arrows in the duel. The Three Kingdoms were very disdainful of this. In fact, in ancient China, it was not a big deal if such things were done. Generals also did it, such as Yang Jiye. At the entrance of the Chenjia Valley, he was shot with a cold arrow by General Yelu Guobao of the Liao State and captured (Hou Yang died on a hunger strike, not by hitting the Li Ling monument). However, in the European Middle Ages, this was illegal. They banned the use of crossbows in battle. The purpose was Maintain the "dignity" of the noble knights, but the barbarians do not understand and do not want to abide by the rules of the nobles. After all, dueling is to boost morale, and it is also for warriors to show off their abilities. Usually everyone will abide by the rules of dueling. If they don't abide by the rules, even if they win, they will be looked down upon by the world.

So, in a real war, has there ever been a situation where the outcome of the entire war was determined by a single battle between generals? There is still an answer, and that is in the ancient Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period.

During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, "car battles" were once popular. Car battles are the original prototype of single combat between generals.

People know that in large-scale army operations, the general is not allowed to go to the front line to kill the enemy in person. Therefore, it can be seen that the scale of any war that requires the general to go to the front line to kill the enemy is generally not too large. However, some tribes do not have many members and are always at a disadvantage in wars. Therefore, in order to win in group fights, the "chariot" was invented.

The chariot is pulled by four horses and usually carries three people. The chief general holds a Chang Ge on the left, the deputy general holds a Chang Ge (or other auxiliary weapons) on the right, and in the middle is the driver responsible for driving. The three men and four horses must be wrapped in leather, covered with armor, all protective gear is in place, and fully armed, so as not to be easily injured when rushing into the enemy's position (sometimes even the horse's head is even equipped with a sword).

How long is Chang Ge? It is usually three times as long as the human body, and it is probably at least 5 meters away! It is difficult for the enemy to get close at all. The thing in front of Ge's head looks like both a spear and a sickle. It can stab, cut, and hook. When fighting, no matter how many people the opponent gathers, he is not afraid! The chariot driver skillfully drives his horse to rush into the area with the largest and densest crowd of the opponent.

Immediately afterwards, two strong generals on the chariot, one on the left and one on the right, simultaneously waved their long swords, stabbing and sweeping wildly, as if they were messing with thatch piles. Like mowing grass. All enemies are treated as trivial matters and will be knocked to the ground in an instant.

The general charged at the forefront, shouting "Follow me!" Immediately, many soldiers closely following the chariot, holding swords, guns, swords and halberds, quickly caught up and rushed forward. Those injured enemy soldiers who were knocked to the ground were executed one by one on the spot!

If a tank only carries a thousand soldiers to kill, then it can kill five, six thousand or even tens of thousands. Not to mention an enemy. Such a powerful power depends entirely on the chariot and the two fighting generals.

The soldiers following the chariot can only play a cooperative role.

They followed the chariot nervously, neither daring to rush forward nor to fall behind. If the chariot won, they would kill the enemy and perform meritorious service. If the chariot failed, they would disperse. Therefore, in the ancient era of chariot warfare, the main force in combat was generals, not soldiers.

When both sides have chariots, they will compete with each other to see who has better driving skills and whose generals are more skilled in martial arts! And the soldiers on both sides will consciously hide behind the chariots of both sides. Don't dare to take the lead easily. In this way, the two armies will fight decisively, with the soldiers behind and the general in front. The generals on both sides were shouting: "Follow me!" The generals on both sides also rushed to the forefront of the battlefield.

The chariot is specifically looking for enemy chariots to attack. Generals, looking for enemy generals to kill. As a result, the entire war became a battle between chariots and chariots, and a battle between generals and generals. If one side's chariot overturns or the general dies. Then, when victory or defeat is clear and the situation of the battle is determined, the soldiers will naturally flee, surrender or die. The general is looking for a duel with the general. If the main general wins, the entire army will be victorious; if the main general fails, the entire army will be defeated. This is probably the prototype of a duel between generals!

Later, as time went by, when the scale of the war became larger and larger, and when the weapons became more and more advanced, it was very unreasonable to tie the victory or defeat of the entire war to one person. Dangerous and stupid.

Throughout the thousands of years of ancient war history, combat methods have been constantly eliminated and updated, and the generals have gradually moved back from the original dangerous position at the forefront to the safe position at the back. . That male call of "Follow me!" eventually evolved into a cold command "Fuck me!"