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Preface
In ancient times, war often determined the life and death of a country, and the effective transmission of military information played a pivotal role in the victory of war.
In order to cope with the ever-changing strategic environment, various countries and nations have developed their own unique ways of communication and intelligence gathering.
Beacon
The beacon tower is one of the earliest military early warning systems, originating from the Shang and Zhou dynasties, and was originally established to prevent the invasion of northern nomads.
The story of King You's "Beacon Fire Opera Princes" who led to his own killing by the dog Rong is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, demonstrating the importance of the Beacon Fire as the fastest military early warning signal system in ancient times.
These towering structures, scattered over the frontier forts, form a vast network of alerts, and whenever a foreign enemy strikes, the defenders of the beacon tower will light the beacon fire and burn wolf dung to create thick smoke, so as to send an emergency signal to the adjacent beacon.
In Chinese history, the transmission speed of the Beacon system was very amazing, reaching tens of kilometers per hour, far exceeding other ways of transmitting information at that time.
By lighting different numbers or colors of fire, or releasing different forms of smoke, the army can transmit a variety of information, including enemy information, directives, alarms, etc.
Thick smoke is used for signal transmission during the day and open flames at night, and these different numbers of signals are used to indicate different military emergencies, such as the size of the enemy, the direction of attack, etc., so as to warn the enemy attack in advance.
The limitation of the beacon is that it can only transmit warning signals but cannot transmit specific contents, and needs to be supplemented by subsequent detailed reconnaissance and communication means.
During the Three Kingdoms period, in order to prevent a sneak attack by Eastern Wu, Guan Yu sent soldiers to garrison the beacon tower, preparing to light the beacon fire to sound the alarm when the enemy situation was discovered.
However, Soochow used ingenious tactics to disguise themselves as merchants in a white-clothed operation to cross the river and raid the guards of the beacon tower, but these soldiers did not have time to react, and they were disarmed by the Soochow soldiers, and the beacon fire failed to ignite.
In the Tang Dynasty, in order to deal with the enemy's surprise attack, a similar beacon signal early warning system was also adopted, when the day was dark and the fog was filled, the beacon smoke was difficult to be seen, at this time, a fast messenger would be sent to inform the front-line soldiers, and when the fog dissipated, the beacon smoke would be lit according to the pre-agreed signal method to transmit the scale of the invaders.
But later, the Xiongnu were well versed in the law of beacon fire signals in the Han Dynasty, and after long-term observation, they used this understanding to release fake beacon fires from time to time to interfere with normal signal transmission.
This tactic kept the soldiers in a state of false alarm, making it difficult for accurate and detailed war information to be transmitted through the beacon, so the post transmission system was used to transmit important information.
Military Express Station
Post station transmission is an ancient way of information transmission, it is like the ancient "express service", the post station set up on the route is like a transit station for information, and special personnel are responsible for transmitting information from one place to another.
These inns usually provide lodging and transportation services, such as changing horses, providing vehicles, lodging and eating for travelers.
The efficient operation of the system depends on the thousands of post men who are responsible for delivering letters and messages in all weather and terrain conditions, and the stagecoach becomes the main driving force for the transmission of letters, so that the information can be quickly transmitted to the designated place across thousands of mountains and rivers.
The distance between the stations is about 20 to 30 miles, so the distance can be set to ensure the efficiency and timeliness of information transmission, and each station has a special management personnel who are responsible for receiving and delivering important information.
In fact, there was a similar post in the Qin Dynasty, in the "Sleeping Tiger Land Qin Tomb Bamboo Slips" recorded in the Qin period of the post set up, describing the details of the post station layout, according to the record, the post station is set up ten miles apart, and every thirty miles is set up a relay station, so that the post personnel and horses come and go to rest, supply and hand over information.
"As soon as the concubine rode the red dust, no one knew that it was a lychee. "In order to deliver fresh lychees to Yang Guifei, the post guard may have exhausted many horses and post guards, but in the end, it was just in exchange for a smile.
The news of An Lushan's rebellion was conveyed to the imperial court within six days, and Yue Fei received twelve gold medals in one day, both demonstrating the ability of the ancient post transmission system to quickly transmit information.
After entering the Ming Dynasty, the military express delivery system began to rise, such as the feather skull, which was a way to tie letters to the end of an arrow and transmit emergency military information through cavalry.
This method of transmission was fast but also risky, requiring a high degree of vigilance and responsibility on the part of the messenger, and the post stations were also widely established during this period, not only for the task of delivering letters, but also for providing accommodation and horse transfer services for passing officials.
The ancient military information transmission system has its unique characteristics, the power of the Fu Xi order makes the issuance of military orders, more rigorous and authoritative, the silver medal system of the Tang Dynasty, as well as the Song Dynasty's urgent foot delivery, the Yuan Dynasty's express delivery shop and round symbols, the Ming Dynasty's gold and silver plates, and the Qing Dynasty's military aircraft issued official documents and so on all reflect this.
These systems and measures have ensured the rapid transmission of military information and strengthened the central government's ability to control the localities.
In particular, the speed of military intelligence transmission in the Qing Dynasty reached the highest peak in history, when the Qing Dynasty stipulated that emergency documents should be transmitted at a speed of 600 miles per day, and in some particularly urgent cases, it could even be increased to 800 miles per day, the so-called "red flag to report victory".
Emperor Qianlong's poem "Seven thousand miles away, to more than ten dynasties and now eight dynasties", reflects the Qing Dynasty government's attention and achievements in the transmission of military intelligence.
This shows that under the historical conditions at that time, the Qing Dynasty had established a fairly developed intelligence transmission system, which enabled it to transmit information in a timely and accurate manner even in a place 7,000 miles away, and to convey information to more than ten imperial courts in the past and get a response.
Flying Pigeon Biography
"Flying pigeon biography" as an ancient way of transmitting information, showing the unique advantages of carrier pigeons in transmitting information, flying pigeons have super flight ability and memory ability, can fly high, fly far, relatively safer than the post herald.
Unless you meet a marksman like Li Guang, the information of the flying pigeon is basically safe and confidential, the flying pigeon flies fast, and the efficiency of transmitting information is far greater than that of a horse.
The earliest can be traced back to the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, at that time, wars and diplomatic activities often occurred between vassal states, so it was necessary to be able to transmit news in a timely manner, and have a certain degree of secrecy of communication.
By tying a small piece of paper or bamboo slip on the pigeon's feet, writing the information to be transmitted, and then releasing these flying pigeons, letting them fly back to the original place, you can send the information to the destination, the flying pigeon is not affected by factors such as terrain and weather, and can quickly transmit the message, ensuring the timeliness and confidentiality of the information.
However, there are some limitations in the transmission of flying pigeons, the carrier pigeon can usually only be transmitted between fixed people and fixed locations, which limits it can only be unilaterally transmitted, the ancients used the physiological habit of the carrier pigeon "homing", trained to be able to return to a specific place.
In film and television works, there is often such a plot: A writes a letter and ties it to the pigeon's feet, and asks the carrier pigeon to deliver it to the recipient B, and B writes back a letter after reading it, and then ties it to the pigeon's feet and sends it back to A.
Pigeons can only be trained to a fixed "homing" location, and cannot freely choose their destination, so in reality pigeon transmission can usually only be one-way.
epilogue
In addition, there are many other methods, such as fish to pass rulers, kites, and urgent foot delivery, and so on, and the ancient military intelligence transmission system plays a vital role in maintaining national security, improving combat efficiency, and achieving unity and stability.
The evolution and development of these systems reflects the wisdom and creativity of the ancients in their long-term historical practice, and is still instructive for the development of communication and information technology today.