In ancient wars, was it necessary to tap when commanding the army to retreat?

When two armies are fighting, when one side is in defeat and wants to retreat, the commanding general will say to the people around him: "Retreat troops with gold". The so-called gold in Mingjin retreats the troops refers to the gong. Don't think that gold is gold, gold means metal. The gong itself is a metal, so gold is used here instead of the gong. Therefore, when Ming Jin retreated, he used the method of beating gongs to tell his soldiers to retreat immediately and stop fighting.

In fact, the gong is also a musical instrument, not only in ancient times, but also in modern times. Some folk bands still use gongs as musical instruments. When the gong is struck, the sound is clear and long. The reason why gongs are used on the battlefield is because when the gongs are struck, the sound is crisp and carried very far. Soldiers fighting in the distance can also hear the sound of the gongs.

Time is everything on the battlefield. If you use other substitutes, it will not have as good an effect as the gong. If the soldiers in the distance do not hear the order to retreat and are still fighting hard, they will be in trouble with the main force. If they lose touch, their lives are at risk.

"The Biography of the Kingdoms of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty" also mentioned the term "Ming Jin Retires the Army". The ancients talked about the five elements, the east belongs to wood and the west belongs to gold. , those who fought will return to the army to rest.

Some books say that when the army retreats, they have to knock a metal object called a zheng, which is golden in color and looks like a bell. Perhaps during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, this kind of metal artifact was used to knock, but with the evolution of the times, it was gradually replaced by gongs.

It is said in "Xunzi: Han Soldiers" that when you hear the sound of drums, you advance and when you hear the sound of gold, you retreat. When the drum is beating, the warriors should rush forward, and when the gold is sounded, the warriors should retreat. Whenever two armies confront each other, drums must be beaten to boost the morale of the soldiers.

If we see that the enemy's combat power is very strong, or if the commander has new combat arrangements and orders the soldiers to retreat, they will withdraw their troops. Soldiers also know this truth and will retreat when they hear the sound of gold in the army.