In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, the Zhangba Snake Spear is the weapon used by Zhang Fei, but is the length of the Zhangba Snake Spear one zhang eight feet, or one zhang eight inches? If it is eight feet long, the length of the spear is probably more than 4 meters, which is too long for a weapon used to kill the enemy on the battlefield, and it is not easy to play at all. In fact, the Zhangba Snake Spear is not more than four meters, and the length is about two meters, which should be just right with Zhang Fei's height. However, the weapon used by Zhang Fei in history is not necessarily the Zhangba Snake Spear, it may be another weapon.
In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Zhang Fei and his son Zhang Bao's weapon is called the "Zhangba Snake Spear", how long is this spear? Some people say it is eight inches, and some people say it is eight feet. If it is eight inches, there is nothing to say, after all, Zhang Fei is also an eight-foot man, and this spear is not long at all; But what if it's eight feet tall? Isn't it twice as long as he is tall, such a long spear, people have a hard time holding it, how did Zhang Fei use it to kill the enemy? First of all, according to liu Xi's "Interpretation of the Name" written by Liu Xi at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty: "The spear is eight feet long, and it is held immediately, and it is killed when it is said." And the "Popular Text" written by the contemporary Fu Qian: "The spear is long and the spear is eight times appropriate." ”
It can be seen that during the Han and Wei dynasties, it was customary to call a spear of eight feet "矟" or "槊". It seems that Zhang Fei's use is really this kind of "hammer" that is up to eight feet long, which is equivalent to today's four meters and 25 meters (a foot in the Han Dynasty is 23.6 centimeters long), which is almost as high as two floors. Therefore, the real situation of Zhang Fei when fighting is not the same as described in the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", he should first charge on horseback, and then use the long hammer to aim and assassinate the opponent at the moment of approaching the enemy, while dodging the opponent's weapons, after a rendezvous, the distance between the two sides will be widened. If there are no casualties on both sides, then turn the horse's head and charge again, and then fight a "combination", which is what we often call "round". If Zhang Fei and Ma Chao can really fight for three hundred rounds as said in "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", I can only say that their physical strength and horsepower are really good!
In any case, Zhang Fei's martial arts proficiency is beyond doubt, in Chinese history, the martial generals who can make the Zhangba Snake Spear or the Horse Hammer charge into battle are all top masters, because the speed of the horse is too fast, the horse mallet is long enough, and its impact is enough to penetrate any armor (Dong Zhuo wears armor in the imperial dress, Li Su can't pierce it with a halberd, Lü Bu pierces it with a spear), but this also has a disadvantage, if the horse mallet completely pierces the opponent's body, it is difficult to pull out, so that it is easy to fall off the horse's back while killing the enemy. Or lose your weapons, which can be dangerous if there are many enemies. Therefore, every master who uses a horse mallet must have superb horse control skills, flexible strength, perfect eyesight, control and sense of rhythm.
In addition to Zhang Fei, the most skilled master in Chinese history who used the horse mallet was Wei Chigong in the Sui and Tang dynasties, who often rode into battle alone, repeatedly avoided the assassination of enemy horses, and even took the other's long hammer to kill the enemy when the two horses met. Li Shimin's younger brother Li Yuanji was also good at making horses, so he proposed to compete with Wei Chigong, but he couldn't stab the other side once, and Li Shimin saw that it was rising, so he asked Wei Chigong whether this was a difficulty to seize the hammer or a refuge from the hammer, Wei Chigong said that it was difficult to seize the hammer, and Li Shimin said that you should demonstrate it. Li Yuanji was conceited and brave, and did not believe that such a thing would happen, but as a result, Wei Chigong took away his hammer three times in a row, and Li Yuanji, while being impressed, also led this matter as a lifelong shame. Hold a grudge every day and seek revenge. Unfortunately, after the change of Xuanwu Gate, Li Yuanji was still not Wei Chigong's opponent, and was eventually shot by this nemesis.