Talking about poison

The ancients didn't think of such a good idea that ancient wars could poison bows and arrows.

Poison is a common means of killing people in novels or romance novels, especially poison arrows, which may miss the key parts for the first time, but as long as poison attacks, the protagonist will inevitably face death, which is a means despised by just people. Although despicable, but the effect is very good, so why is such a good means not common in large-scale wars in ancient times?

First of all, we should understand that arrows made of metal will cause wounds when they enter the human body. As soon as it cuts into the artery, it will immediately go to see God. Unfortunately, if it pierces the heart, liver, spleen, lungs and kidneys, it may also lead to internal bleeding and die soon. If you are lucky and don't die for a while, then I'm sorry, a large number of bacteria on the arrow will cause the wound to deteriorate rapidly, fester and infect, and eventually die.

Then someone will say, I just need to pull it out in time. It is true that taking out the arrow is the only way to live, but if the arrow is in the trunk, it is very dangerous to take it out, because taking out the arrow will cause secondary trauma to the wound, make the wound bigger and more complicated, and aggravate external bleeding in a short time, which is simply a matter of life and death. Therefore, in the ancient army, pulling an arrow was the responsibility of veterans with particularly rich psychological quality and experience, because once your hand shook, blood could fly several feet high and a life would be lost.

Well, now that you've taken the arrow out, do you think it's over? As we said before, pulling an arrow will cause secondary trauma to the wound. Although the ancients did not understand the concept of sterility, they could still be disinfected, but their disinfection was different from our current concept. In fact, it is simply to give medicine to the golden sore, burn a piece of red-hot iron or something casually, and it will be over without bleeding. Then simply wrap it up and you're resigned. If the injured person is strong, immune and nutritious, almost nothing will happen, otherwise he will die.

After reading the above, you will know how high the death rate is once an arrow hits the trunk, and it is of little significance not to be poisoned. But you said I had to use poison. Ok, let's analyze it again.

Forget about chronic poison. Not as powerful as an arrow. Let's start with a deadly poison that can take effect immediately. In ancient times, there were only two kinds. One is mineral poison, such as Wushi powder in Wei and Jin Dynasties. The other is venom, such as snake venom. First of all, the transportation and collection of mine poison is very troublesome, and it must be ground into powder to fight. In other words, before you shoot an arrow, you have to take out a handful of powder and sprinkle it on the arrow. What should I do if the wind blows on my face? Some people also said, why don't I boil a big pot of poisonous powder in the water and throw the arrow in? Having said that, some poisons may still volatilize and float to the whole army, and you have to run back and forth after shooting an arrow. Are you tired?

Let's talk about snake venom. For example, a 2000-strong archer unit is equipped with 20000 arrows with snake venom. How many poisonous snakes do you need to kill, how many people do you need, and how many working hours do you need to extract them?

Of course, the ancients didn't mean to keep the arrows clean at all times. There are still some small ways to make it fatal. For example, English longbowmen like to line up arrows and stick them in the ground, which is easier to take, dirtier and more deadly. Mongolians usually use burnt horse manure and cow dung to store arrows, which are usually used, such as being stained with blood or rusting. The ancient arrow is definitely not disposable goods. They cherish arrows very much. These arrows will only be received when they are free, and will come in handy in wartime.

Friends who have seen costume TV dramas should know this bridge: when an assassin tries to assassinate someone, he will paint poison on bows and arrows or hidden weapons. In this way, people can be poisoned even if they don't die. So, why is this seemingly simple and rude method not used on a large scale in the battlefield?

Ancient concealed weapons hurt people

First, the production cost is high.

In the era of cold weapons, poison is an important strategic material. The extraction and refining of venom is complicated, difficult to preserve, and very expensive, which is not suitable for mass production and use. Generally used to assassinate key figures or kill at a distance, such as Guan Yu being injured by a poisonous arrow.

Guan Yu scraped the bone to heal the wounds.

In ancient times, toxic poisons were mainly mineral poisons and snake venom. If mineral poisons are used, they must be ground into powder first. If there is a headwind, isn't it that our own people suffer from seedlings? If snake venom is used, the amount of venom extracted is far from enough for large-scale use on the battlefield.

Poisonous smoke used on the battlefield (video)

Second, the iron arrow itself is susceptible to infection.

There is usually slight rust on the iron arrow, which is easy to cause complications such as inflammation, wound infection, necrosis and even tetanus, ranging from disability to death. There was no tetanus shot at that time.

Rusty arrow

In fact, some small methods to increase the lethality of arrows were widely used by the ancients. For example, English longbowmen like to line up arrows and stick them in the ground, which is not only convenient for taking them, but also makes them dirtier and more deadly. Mongolians usually put arrows with horse manure and cow dung. When eating, horse manure and cow dung make a fire. After eating and drinking enough, they picked out arrows from the ashes. The rust on the heated arrow will be removed, but the ash with feces will make the arrow more deadly after it enters the human body.

Archers in Ancient Battlefield (Video)

Zhengzhou Outdoor Archery Hall is a professional chain comprehensive archery hall, which regularly holds competitions and outdoor activities. Archers are welcome to learn from each other.

Therefore, the ancient archers did not use poison after weighing the conclusions. Hope to adopt