In Chinese martial arts novels, we can often see the expression of "three hundred rounds of the great war", see this sentence, different people, different scenes will appear in their minds, then what do you think?
If you think of two chivalrous guests in the silent night, looking for a deep mountain, fighting under the moon, sword and light sword shadow, victory and defeat are inseparable, then you may be a martial arts novel lover; if you think of a hero who is strong and stubborn, charging into battle, and fighting for the defense of the country, then you may be a military enthusiast; if you think of a well-equipped character, in the virtual world, hundreds of battles, no one is invincible, then you may be an online game master.
Regardless of the character, the term "three hundred rounds of the great war" seems to have a constant relationship with war, duels, and fighting, and whenever people see this word, they can always feel the steaming and murderous spirit coming from their faces.
Ancient people fought wars, counting "rounds". However, in the eyes of modern people, the term "three hundred rounds of war" is too exaggerated, what war can fight three hundred rounds? How long will three hundred rounds take? Is there really anyone who can fight the enemy for three hundred rounds in a duel? Questions such as these arise one after another, and people who do not understand the military development of ancient China can easily be asked these questions.
It seems that in order to understand the meaning of "three hundred rounds of the great war", it is necessary to go back to the historical situation to find the answer.
1. What is a round?
The word "round" originates from an ancient Chinese mode of warfare, car warfare.
During the Warring States period, the Seven Heroes always had millions of troops, not only the scale was grand, but also the casualties in the war were extremely heavy, and if they were not careful, one side could be brutally killed after being taken prisoner. So people's impression of ancient Chinese warfare has not been very good.
However, before that, from the Shang Dynasty to the Spring and Autumn Period, the ancients fought wars that were actually very elegant. Large-scale battles such as those launched during the Warring States period, the situation of the revival of the army and heavy casualties, was after King Wuling of Zhao completed military reforms and cavalry operations were introduced to the Central Plains.
During the Spring and Autumn Period, the two sides fought in the form of vehicle warfare. The so-called "vehicle warfare" refers to the use of chariots as the basic unit for combat, so in the ancient books of the pre-Qin Dynasty, when the ancients measured the military strength of a country, they often used "how many chariots to own" as the basic reference standard.
Usually, a chariot is equipped with four warhorses, the middle two warhorses are called "suits", and the left and right two are "left/right of the chariot". There are usually three soldiers on each chariot, and the soldier in the middle is responsible for driving the chariot, usually by ordinary "nationals". One person stands on each side, and the one on the left holds a spear and a shield, responsible for close attack and defense, generally only the strong samurai can hold this position; the person on the right has a bow and arrow, responsible for attacking the enemy, and the person in this position is generally the best in the army who is proficient in bows and arrows.
Before the war begins, both sides will send a man to beat the drum. After hearing the drums, each side sent out chariots to meet the battle.
At first, the two chariots approached each other, and the man on the right first attacked each other with bows and arrows, and when the distance between the chariots of the two sides became closer, it was a battle of men with spears. This process is called "union". When the spearmen of the two sides were finished, a joint battle was over. Then, the chariots of both sides will return to the base camp, which is "back".
In this way, a "joint battle" of a chariot and the final return of the chariot are "one turn". At the end of each turn, the warring parties will send out new chariots to fight.
And so on, until one of them can no longer "fight together", or when the other side finds that after a round is over, the other side does not send a new chariot, the war is basically divided.
In the second case, the opposing side is likely to take advantage of the chase and try to kill the other side, but often because the form of car warfare is "turn" combat, it is very difficult for either side to catch the opponent's general in this case.
This is also why in the spring and autumn wars, there were very few cases in which generals were taken prisoner and finally killed.
Second, is it possible to achieve the "three hundred rounds of the great war"?
It may be that the expression "three hundred rounds of the great war" appears too often in Chinese martial arts novels, so when people see this sentence, they will unconsciously bring themselves into the scene of the martial arts duel.
You know, according to common sense, if it is a duel between two masters, it is impossible to fight three hundred rounds at a time, not to mention whether it is a martial arts master, physical strength is a problem. No matter how strong a person is, he can't fight three hundred rounds with his opponent in one go!
However, if we consider this sentence from the perspective of the car battle itself, the "three hundred rounds of the big war" is something that can be done completely. From the pre-Qin literature that records the vehicle warfare in the Spring and Autumn Period, we can find that although the scale of the war in this period is not very large, a princely state that is enough to start a war has not a few chariots, and the number of chariots that can be used in a war will not be less than four or five hundred.
Therefore, according to the algorithm that a chariot fights with the enemy is a turn, assuming that each chariot only needs to fight once to end the war, then the two sides must not have less than three hundred rounds. This does not include the repeated appearance of each chariot.
From this point of view, the so-called "three hundred rounds of the great war" is not a fictional discourse of the ancients, nor is it an exaggerated rhetoric in literary works, in the war of the Spring and Autumn Period, the "three hundred rounds of the great war" between the two sides is completely something that can be done.
However, after the generalization of cavalry warfare, vehicle warfare was gradually eliminated by the battlefield. At this time, the confrontation between the two sides of the war is more of a bloody, barbaric, and endless confrontation. Therefore, after the Han Dynasty, whether the war can be won depends more on the combat ability of a single cavalry, and the meaning of "round" has changed at this time. It refers more to the number of confrontations between the two sides of the duel, with one side losing and the other side winning as a round.
After a round, the losing side will certainly want to save the situation, so it will attack again, another round of duels; the two sides will continue to duel at the same time and in the same place, until one side can no longer attack, and the duel is considered to have a result.
In this case, it is almost impossible to achieve the "three hundred rounds of the great war". In ancient Chinese novels, there have also been characters who can "fight three hundred rounds", but they are only individual warriors.
In the novel "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", Xu Chu and Ma Chao dueled in pairs, the two fought from dawn to dark, during which the two sides also tacitly had a short "intermission", Xu Chu and Ma Chao both changed their new war horses and removed their armor, which only played more than two hundred rounds. It is conceivable how difficult it is to achieve "three hundred rounds of the great war".
Third, the new application of "Three Hundred Rounds of The Great War"
Many people have many doubts about the veracity of the phrase "three hundred rounds of the Great War", and the discussion above basically solves this problem. Although many people still retain their attitudes on this, it is undeniable that today, the application of the phrase "three hundred rounds of the Great War" goes far beyond what it meant when it was first conceived.
In many cases, people like to use this sentence to express their emotions and momentum. For example, when arguing with the other party, a party suddenly says "I want to fight with you for three hundred rounds", and the listener can feel the burning anger of the speaker; moreover, in the virtual game world, a party says "I want to fight with you for three hundred rounds", which sounds like a very confident declaration of war.
Of course, we also have to admit that according to the current level of enthusiasm for the game, the "three hundred rounds of war" between the two sides does not seem to be difficult.
In summary, we can know that what people call "three hundred rounds of the great war" is derived from the war mode of car warfare, and the return of two vehicles after the two vehicles are counted as one round. In the Spring and Autumn Period, "three hundred rounds of the great war" was completely possible, but after the Han Dynasty, cavalry warfare replaced vehicle warfare, and "three hundred rounds of the great war" seemed unrealistic. Even in fictional literature, there are few characters who can achieve "three hundred rounds of the great war". It can be seen that the "three hundred rounds of the great war" only existed in a specific historical period.
Text/Genki Girl QMQ
Resources:
1. "What is the Three Hundred Rounds of the Great War", Li Li
2. "Three Hundred Rounds of The Great War", Zhang Qingsheng
3. "One of the Ancient Chinese Car Cultures - Car Warfare", yu out