The Song Dynasty was a controversial dynasty in ancient Chinese history, ending the war and unifying the Central Plains. However, in order to avoid the overthrow of the dynasty caused by the division of the feudal towns in the late Tang Dynasty, the entire Song Dynasty adopted a strategy of emphasizing literature over military force. There is no emphasis on the military. Nature also attaches great importance to weapons.
The Song Dynasty has always had continuous external troubles, and the Liao, Khitan, Jin and other countries have always been eyeing the tiger. In Song
The handicraft industry developed during the Dynasty and produced many advanced weapons at that time, but the heavy literature and light weapons of the Song Dynasty led to the poor use of these weapons.
In the war with the Liao state, they were defeated and retreated, which eventually led to the destruction of the country
。 The Yuan Dynasty, founded by the Mongols, used the advanced weapons invented by the Song Dynasty to conquer Eurasia.
First, the Song-Liao controversy
In the first year of Jingde, Yelü Longxu and empress dowager Xiao led an army south and besieged the Song Dynasty in three ways.
The Song army was gradually defeated by the three-sided attack. In just a few months, the Liao army won a complete victory, which greatly boosted morale.
Emperor Zhenzong of Song personally marched and went to war with the Liao state head-on.
After Emperor Zhenzong of Song's personal conquest, the soldiers of the Song Dynasty seemed to be encouraged. In the next battle with the Liao army,
However, the Liao army failed to maintain the initial victory momentum, attacking the city day and night, but failing to capture it, while suffering heavy casualties, and sent emissaries to explore the possibility of reconciliation while continuing to attack the city.
Later, when the troops tried to attack the city in three ways, the commander of the Liao army, Xiao Tao, was light on the enemy and only led a small army to meet the battle
The Song army used a crossbow to hit Xiao Tao Rin in the head and killed him. The commander of the Liao army was killed, and at this time the Liao army was distracted, and the Liao state had no choice but to negotiate peace with the Song Dynasty.
The result of Jingde's peace talks in the first year was a big surprise. The covenant stipulates that the Song Dynasty will give Liao coins every year, of which 200,000 silk and 100,000 taels of silver, and both sides will guard the existing boundaries, which is historical
The Alliance of the Abyss
。 surname
The agreement that the Dynasty, as the victorious power, would give the defeated countries years is simply incomprehensible, perhaps related to the military policies of the Song Dynasty.
Second, the key to victory in the Battle of Song and Liao
In addition to Song Zhenzong personally going out to boost morale, the key to victory of the Song Dynasty was advanced weapons
。
In the long war with the Liao State, he focused on the creation of projectile weapons.
Invented the projectile weapon bed crossbow, the improved partial frame crossbow, the stone thrower, the bucket crossbow, the wave arrow and other projectile weapons, which greatly improved the combat effectiveness.
The bed crossbow was the weapon used to shoot the Liao army lord in the Battle of Song and Liao.
Press one or more bows on the bed frame, push the roller behind, and fire the bow with an effective range of about 1000 meters. In the war with the Liao army, the commander of the Liao army can be shot, and it is also due to the effective range of the bed crossbow that there is no need to shoot at close range.
Although the effective range of the partial crossbow is only about 200 meters, it is relative to the bulkiness of the bed crossbow and the number of launchers.
The partial crossbow only needs to be fired by one person, and the flexibility is also greater. So it is used more frequently in war.
The effect of the crossbow is that he can fire multiple arrows at the same time greatly improves the hit rate.
The role of the stepping arrow is that it can be firmly embedded into the wall, and can be used to climb the wall when attacking the city.
The stone thrower can throw 90 pounds of stone bullets, in addition to live ammunition, it is used to throw offensive weapons such as gunpowder and fireballs to increase the speed of siege.
Although the weapons of the Song Dynasty were very advanced at that time, they did not make the Song Dynasty a military power at that time. Nearly a hundred years after the Song Dynasty and the Liao State "lived in peace",
The Song Hui sect sent emissaries from Penglai to negotiate an alliance with Jin. After the joint destruction of the Liao, the Song Dynasty exchanged the annual offerings of 200,000 taels of silver and 300,000 silk for the sixteen prefectures of Yanyun, which had been occupied by the Liao state.
However, after the Song Dynasty eliminated the Liao State that had plagued it for hundreds of years, it also lost the "shield" of the Liao State, directly bordering the Jin State, and the two sides were constantly in conflict over border issues, and at the end of the Song Dynasty, under internal and external troubles, the Jin soldiers marched south, and the Northern Song Dynasty perished in shame.
Third, a sharp weapon for opening up the territory and expanding the territory
The Yuan Dynasty was the largest dynasty in Chinese history, stretching from the Sea of Japan in the east to the Mediterranean Sea in the west, across Siberia in the north, to the Persian Gulf in the south, and across the Eurasian continent
。 There are also seven vassal states. It was the largest country in the world at that time. In addition, after the fall of the Song Dynasty, it also went overseas through the southeast coastal area. and achieve maritime supremacy.
The Yuan Dynasty's achievement of hegemony was also inseparable from the development of weapons.
The weapons of the Yuan Dynasty are an important turning point in the history of ancient weapons in China, which ended the era of cold weapons.
It entered an era in which cold weapons and firearms coexisted. For example, the application of fire hammers.
When Mongolia was a nomadic people, the main weapon of low productivity was animal bones or wooden tools. But the Mongols bought iron from neighboring countries to strengthen their military power and made weapons.
In the process of foreign conquest, they killed and collected each other's weapons and equipment, and skilled weapon craftsmen, and made weapons for Mongolia. Supported the expansion of Mongolia.
During the Jin Dynasty, the management of weapons was further strengthened, not only from Eurasian countries to invite craftsmen, but also to capture weapons craftsmen from Jiangnan through conflicts with the Song Dynasty. Create advanced weapons for the ensuing war.
The Yuan Dynasty's emphasis on military and weapons continued to improve existing weapons.
Cold weapons are mainly divided into three types: the ring knife body is slightly curved, the knife is sharp and thin, the sword is sharper than the sword of the Song Dynasty, and the axe is different from the waist to facilitate the use of the sword.
These short weapons are convenient to carry weapons that can be used for close combat and self-defense.
Projectile weapons are offensive weapons. There are mainly bows and arrows, crossbows, stone throwers, etc. Yuan attaches great importance to bows and arrows, and bows are divided into many types such as mark bows, sheep's horn bows and other bows that adapt to different combat scenarios.
In the battle against the Song Dynasty, he learned the crossbow of the Song Dynasty, and made a light-weight crossbow such as the crossbow of the God Arm Folding Crossbow to facilitate combat.
A large combat weapon trebuchet is also used in the projectile weapon, and on the basis of the original Song Dynasty stone thrower, the method of throwing stones by human pulling rope is improved and changed.
Instead, the gravitational acceleration of natural descent is used to throw stones, which has a longer range and saves the soldier's physical strength.
Firearms were used as an important military weapon in the military of the Yuan Dynasty. These include rockets, muskets, fireballs, iron cannons, and firearms such as fire helmets. Firearms are mainly used in combination with crossbows and trebuchets. Firearms are more lethal than cold weapons.
This also allowed the Yuan Dynasty to dominate in the process of outward expansion and overseas expeditions to achieve the Hegemony of the Yuan Dynasty in conquering the world
Defensive weapons In order to better reduce casualties in war with the use of short weapons, the Yuan Dynasty used armor and shields with bamboo,
Made of wood or leather products, it is also made of different shapes, in order to adapt to different combat scenarios. The Yuan Dynasty created folding shields to facilitate combat.
4. Summary
As a period of economic and technological development in China's history, the Song Dynasty also developed weapons in the military field, but the policies of the Song Dynasty did not make the Song Dynasty a great power.
While attaching importance to the military, the Yuan Dynasty continued to learn advanced military science and technology, constantly improved military weapons, and eventually achieved hegemony.
It became the largest dynasty in Chinese history.