On the ancient cold weapon battlefield, the two warring sides lined up in a neat array, impacting, squeezing and colliding with each other. The soldiers in the front of the army line generally bear the attack first, and the casualty rate is often much higher than that of the rear row, especially when the cavalry attacks the army line, the high-speed collision is even more tragic, and it is likely that the first few rows of soldiers on both sides will all be killed.
According to incomplete statistics, in the period from the Xia Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty, there are about 4,000 battles recorded in the history books and with heads and tails, accounting for one-third of the total number of wars in the world, and there are also many super-large-scale ancient wars such as the Battle of Changping between Qin and Zhao, in which the number of soldiers who have been killed or wounded is even more numerous.
So not to mention the people in the first row, in people's perception, the gun hits the head bird, so the people in the front row are more likely to die. However, this is actually a wrong perception, the real ancient war, the general war in the first row of soldiers, but the survival rate is the highest.
In terms of danger, the first row is indeed a little more dangerous, after all, the first wave of charge is also the time when human physical strength is the strongest, and these will be blocked by the soldiers in the first row. Generally speaking, the soldiers in the first row are the following three types. The first: veterans, as veterans who have experienced fighting, will not collapse like new recruits. Veterans have better psychological endurance than new recruits, and their fighting skills are purely experienced, so veterans are generally placed in the first row. The second kind: dead soldiers, in many cases will choose some criminals who commit capital crimes, in fact, this also counts as a chance for them. The third kind: warriors, driven by interests, there are still many people who are willing to give their lives to fight, as long as you have enough battle achievements as long as there are enough interests, there are many people who will stand in the first row in order to get ahead.
Of course, the first platoon is the key to the morale of the army, and if you don't want to be overwhelmed by a wave, you naturally have to treat them more favorably. In fact, according to my research, it is not, because in ancient warfare for both sides to cause the greatest casualties is the bow and arrow, if the equipment on the body is not good enough, it is easy to die, on the contrary, the soldiers standing in the first row because they have to contact the enemy first, so they wear the best armor, and even have shields to resist the bow and arrow, in order to ensure the survival rate of the first row of soldiers, the first row can ensure that the army formation is not chaotic, and the probability of victory will be greatly increased. Therefore, the probability of survival is still not small, the difference between the equipment and the soldiers in the back row is not a little bit, the back may not have armor, and the survival rate of the natural front row is higher.
Finally, from the perspective of the number of large-scale battles, in fact, the front row is safer, first of all, after they charge, they basically go all the way forward, and there is no situation of carrying the enemy on their backs. After all, once the war situation is chaotic, as long as the front row carries the first wave of charge, it is relatively safe after that, but the people in the back row are relatively difficult, basically melee, and it is normal to die inexplicably.
Ancient marching and fighting wars were not as easy as it seemed, and there were many doorways in them, otherwise why were those generals who used soldiers like gods be offered by the emperor like a treasure. Of course, if the world is at peace, these generals with military power can become a major problem for the emperor.