Legend has it that the Jiuli tribe was good at wrought iron and had the advanced production technology of metal weapons of the same era, but was defeated by the Yellow Emperor and his people with stone weapons.
The remains unearthed in the tombs of ancient ancestors often feature giants more than two meters tall. Let us imagine the scene of strong and fierce warriors hunting beasts of prey to the sound of drums. These historical records and archaeological discoveries convey to us some historical information of ancient times.
People all know that in the pre-Qin period, the land of China was a national martial artist, and the martial arts were far stronger than the Tang and Han Dynasties. However, the ancient Xia Dynasty and Shang Dynasty, because the historical materials are not as rich as the descendants, the details of history, such as the military system at that time and the size of the army at the time of normal combat, are not known to ordinary people. Today we explore the details of this ancient military history.
First, the military system of the pre-Qin Dynasty
The first thing that needs to be explained is that the Xia Dynasty and the Shang Dynasty implemented a system of all-people military service.
When talking about the ancient militia system, the historian Lu Simian said the following passage: "The unification of the world not only does not require all soldiers, that is, some people become soldiers, but also feel that it is excessive." Occasionally, soldiers are used, and for the sake of compassion for the people,often sinners and subjugated foreign races are used. ”
As he said, the military system of all soldiers was gradually abolished after the Qin and Han unified the whole country. Until later Emperor Guangwu of Han. In the sixth year of Jianwu, he was dismissed as a lieutenant in the capital of the county. For seven years, he dismissed the light car knights, timber officers, and building ships. It was only when the all-out-of-the-box system officially withdrew from nationwide history.
This change has far-reaching effects, and in historiography, future generations often misread the history of war.
For example, in the dynasties after the Han Dynasty that did not implement the national military system, the number of military personnel was often only about 1% of the country's population. In contrast, for example, the Shu Han regime, which was isolated in the Three Kingdoms period, implemented the system of all the people being soldiers, and with a population of 900,000 in the country, the military strength of the Wuhou Northern Expedition reached 100,000 people. In the nomadic countries surrounding China, the number of military personnel in the army sometimes reaches half of the total population.
In this way, under the military system of all the people being soldiers, only a small number of elite troops are dispatched to fight and the soldiers of the whole country are poured out, and there will be a huge gap in the number of people. When some people read historical materials, because of this gap, they think that the historical records are inaccurate. For example, the King of Shang used 700,000 troops to block the King of Wu, and many people questioned it, but this was not the case.
So when we talk about ancient military history, it is very necessary to pay attention to the point of the national military system. In such dynasties, the people participated in production in peacetime, and once they were mobilized militarily, they could become soldiers at any time, following the core troops composed of nobles and nobles (the army was mainly composed of vehicles and infantry, and the militia often fought as infantry. ), with high mobilization potential. Although it often goes out on a small scale, this volume can never be said to be the limit of its mobilization ability.
Second, the military scale of Xia Shang
Having clarified the problem of the difference in mobilization ability brought about by the difference in military systems, we can now look at the military of the Xia Dynasty and the Shang Dynasty from two aspects, namely, the highest record of mobilized troops and the number of troops in conventional operations.
The first is conventional combat, that is, the standing strength of the militia when the militia is not mobilized on a large scale. Due to the large number of historical materials preserved in the Shang Dynasty, it is calculated by the highest military unit division during the Shang Dynasty. According to the scale of the first division, Scholars such as Guo Moruo and Jiang Hong believe that the first division is 10,000 people; lu Simian, Chen Enlin, and other scholars believe that there are 3,000 people; and some scholars believe that there is no fixed number, but based on the combat objectives. I think the last statement is more plausible, but usually the first division should be about three thousand people, and the Tianzi Conquest is based on the six divisions, which is the size of more than 10,000 people in the sixth division. Ordinary warfare is fought with a small number of highly armed elite troops.
Therefore, the "Biography of the Ram" records: "Two thousand five hundred people are called masters, and the sixth division of the Son of Heaven." ”
The White Tiger Tongyi and the Three Armies says: "Although there are ten thousand people, they are humble and humble, and they think they are insufficient, so they add two thousand people." ”
This is the size of the troops in conventional operations.
The highest scale of troops recorded by Xia Shang appeared in the wars of the Zhou Dynasty Shang, and the "History of Zhou Benji" said: At the Battle of Muye, 700,000 people were sent to resist the King of Wu. For this number, some people in modern times think that it is too large, far beyond the usual scale of war at that time.
On this point, we must first look at the mobilizable manpower in the late Shang Dynasty.
Lü Simian counted the size of the population at that time and said: "The Sima Law takes the final ten as the same, the same square hundred miles, the same ten as the seal, the seal ten as the qi, and the qi fang thousand miles. ... Counting their numbers, they are seven thousand five hundred, one is seventy-five thousand, and one is seventy-five thousand. The Sun Tzu Yongjian says: "There are 700,000 families that are in turmoil inside and outside, and who are not allowed to do things on the road." It's all about that. ”
Under a military system in which all the people are soldiers, such a population size, when faced with survival, it is entirely possible to mobilize hundreds of thousands of troops. So this figure cannot be exaggerated.
Therefore, we can estimate that during the Shang Dynasty, the conventional combat strength was usually about 10,000 people. The highest record for mobilizing troops had reached the size of hundreds of thousands of people by the end of the Shang Dynasty. The size of the Xia Dynasty's army is not recorded in detail in the history books, and it should be relatively smaller than the number of Shang Dynasty troops.
3. The Army of The King's Landing
Although the military mobilization ability under the all-people military system exceeds the imagination of modern people, bloated troops may not be efficient in combat effectiveness. Therefore, when we examine the wars of Xia Shang, we will find that in some of the most important wars, the victorious side of the enemy is often not very large.
For example, the Shang Tang Fa Xia Jie, "Lü Shi Chunqiu" recorded that the Shang army had 70 chariots and 6,000 soldiers who would die. (The number of xia troops as the army of the kingdom of heavenly sons is not recorded, if the military strength of the King of Wu and the Shang Dynasty is calculated, the strength of the Xia army is 90,000 to 100,000.) The two armies met in the field of Naruto, when the thunderstorm was great, and the Shang army fought bravely and defeated the Xia army.
For example, the King of Wu cut down the silk, and the "Records of History" recorded that there were 3,000 tigers in the army of King Wu of Zhou, 300 chariots, and 45,000 soldiers. In the Battle of Makino, this army defeated the 700,000 troops of the King of Shang.
From the above two ancient historical records, we can know the scale of the army needed to come to the world during the Xia and Shang dynasties.
In other cases, such as wars against the internal vassal states and foreign wars, the number of troops used was correspondingly much smaller because the opponents were relatively weak. Such historical materials are recorded in the excavated oracle bones, such as the larger war recorded in the Bu Ci, the Battle of Qiangfang in the Wuding Period, and the number of soldiers who went out on expeditions was 13,000. But the most common is the number of troops on the scale of 3,000 people.
Summarizing the above, it can be concluded that during the Xia Dynasty, an army of thousands to 10,000 people had a chance to win the war of dynastic succession. By the end of the Shang Dynasty, at least 40,000 or 50,000 troops were needed for the parties participating in the war of this scale, but the number of troops sent in the general conquest was maintained between thousands and tens of thousands of people.
Text/Da Fei
Resources:
1. Overview of the Military System of the Western Zhou Dynasty of Xia, Shang, and Huang Pumin
2. "General History of China, Chapter 9 Military System", Lu Simian
3. "History Volume II, Xia Benji"
4. "History Volume III, Yin Benji"