In the cold weapon period, the more common weapons on the battlefield included guns, spears, halberds, bows, etc. In most combat situations, long-range attacks were the main focus in the early stage, and only when charging, would they switch to melee combat. Weapons, but is the longer the better for weapons such as guns and halberds? There is an old saying that "an inch longer means an inch stronger". Theoretically, the farther the attack distance, the smaller the threat to the enemy, but long weapons There is also a disadvantage, that is, when approached, one often has no ability to resist. This time I will tell you about the considerations in choosing the length of ancient weapons. Let’s understand them together.

280 BC, Heraclea, southern Apennine Peninsula.

Twenty thousand Roman soldiers were arranged in three neat lines, with an equal number of Italian allies surrounding them. The emerging Roman Republic was glowing like the morning sun. Soldiers come from every class of society. Everyone shares the same hatred and fights bravely. This made them invincible in the Apennines. Standing opposite them were 20,000 professional mercenaries from Epirus and Macedonia in Greece, commanded by Pyrrhus, the most brave and warrior king in Greece. They were supported by 10,000 to 15,000 light infantry, archers, cavalry and war elephants. The two formations faced each other, and the soldiers from both sides looked curiously at the other side's square formation. It was the first time for them to see such an array: the Romans were armed with javelins, daggers and shields, arranged in columns with certain intervals; while the Greeks were arranged closely together, with super-long spears as long as 6 meters like The dense forest of metal shone in the sunlight. The generals and soldiers on both sides could not have predicted at this time that their battle would be remembered in history because it was the first collision between the Macedonian phalanx and the Roman phalanx.

Since the documentary "The Resurrection Legion" told the story of the 6.7-meter-long super spear relics discovered in the Qin Terracotta Warriors and Horses, and restored the image of the super spear phalanx on this basis, super spears It aroused strong interest from the audience. Typical super-lance phalanxes such as the Macedonian Phalanx, Swiss Phalanx and Spanish Phalanx have become hot topics. One view is that the ultra-long spear phalanx, with its dense front composed of five elements of spearheads, is indestructible and is the "peak of cold weapons." For a time, the length of the barrel seemed to be the only criterion for judging the combat effectiveness of a long gun.

Is this really the case?

"Zhou Li·Kao Gong Ji·Lu Ren" says that the length of the chieftain's spear used by the infantry is "one often 0.4 feet", and the length of the spear used by the chariot soldiers The Yi spear used was "three fathoms" long. In the Zhou Dynasty, "Eight feet is called Xun, and double Xun is called Chang." Therefore, the length of the chief's spear is twenty feet, while the barbarian spear is twenty-four feet long. According to Professor Wen Renjun's opinion, the length of the Qi Chi in "Kaogong Ji" is between 19.5 cm and 20 cm. Therefore, some people have argued that the spears used by infantrymen during the Warring States Period were 4 meters long, while the spears used by chariot soldiers were 4.8 meters long. This length has greatly exceeded the length of the spears used by traditional heavy infantry in ancient Greece. It is about the same length as the 5-meter super-long spear during the Alexander the Great period, and second only to the 6-meter super-long spear during the Diadochi War.

However, archaeological discoveries have cast doubt on this statement. Forty-nine spears and dozens of other long-handled weapons were unearthed from the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng during the Warring States Period (around 433 BC) excavated in 1978, which were relatively well preserved. The longest spear has a handle of 4.36 meters, but most of the handles are 3 meters or less. Spears from the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods unearthed in other archaeological excavations are between 2 and 4 meters long, with lengths around 3 meters being the most common. However, the chief spears and barbarian spears in "Kaogong Ji" have never been confirmed in archaeological discoveries.

As for the 6.7-meter-long super-long spear found in the Qin Terracotta Warriors and Horses, there is only one remains numbered T19K0027. Archaeologists still debate its nature. Although there are many spear heads unearthed from the Terracotta Warriors and Horses, there are no complete spear shafts. Among other long gun weapons, the total length of several relatively well-preserved beryllium weapons, including the beryllium head, is approximately 3.6 to 3.8 meters. Academic circles are still divided on whether there was a phalanx using 6 to 7-meter-long super-long spears in the Qin army.

So, is there really a super long spear phalanx in Chinese history?

The answer is yes. "Arm Records" written by Wu Shu, a historian, martial artist, and poet in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, is one of the most important documents recording the development of Chinese martial arts in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. In this book, Wu Shu recorded two schools of marksmanship called "Shajiaqiang" and "Yangjiaqiang". The Shajia gun is also called the "Shajia pole" and its length ranges from "8 feet to 2 feet and 4 feet"; the length of the Yang family gun is "4 feet is the correct length, and the length is added to 6 feet". In the Ming Dynasty, the ruler was about 32 centimeters, and ten feet were zhang, so the "Shajia pole" could be up to 7.6 meters long, and the Yangjia gun could also be up to 5.1 meters. This length is very close to the spears used by the Spanish phalanx and Gustavian phalanx in Europe at the same time.

Wu Shu further discussed that in the army at that time, Yang family marksmanship and Sha family marksmanship were particularly favored by commanders. Because it is easy to learn and has powerful attack power, it is suitable for arranging troops and is especially suitable for use in dense square formations. This discussion is also confirmed by other military writings of the same period. For example, Qi Jiguang said in "New Book of Jixiao": "The method of spearing originated from the Yang family, which is called pear blossom, and is respected all over the world... The Gaisha family's pole and the horse's long spear each have their own beauty, and their lengths are different... ...Twenty years of pear blossom spear, invincible in the world.

Believe it or not!" An article in "Records of Military Training, Miscellaneous Collections, Long Spear Interpretation" also said: "It is seven to eight feet long, with a sharp blade... At first, it was used to kill Japanese in the south, and it all depends on this. ”

According to Qi Jiguang’s views on long spears and combined with the Yuanyang Formation diagram, it can be seen that Qi Jiajun’s Yuanyang Formation is actually a more dexterous small super long spear phalanx. The first row of the array is used to prevent The enemy's swordsmen in close combat include the Langzhenmen in the second row with 5-meter spears, the spearmen in the third and fourth rows with 6-meter spears, and finally the Boring Palladiummen who are responsible for counter-assault and flank protection. The sword players in the first row of the Yuanyang Formation are similar to the sword-wielding musketeers in the front row of the Spanish phalanx, while the harpoon players following the spearmen are reminiscent of the halberds in the Swiss phalanx that perform the same task. When the Yuanyang Formation is organized into a large phalanx according to the organization of teams, flags, bureaus, divisions, generals, and battalions, its combat methods are also similar to the phalanx tactics of the same era in Europe.

The Yuanyang Formation.

So, does this mean that, regardless of the East or the West, the super-long spear phalanx is the pinnacle of the cold weapon era? Wu Shu does not seem to agree with this view.

< p> "Arm Record·Volume 6" says: "The longer the waist of the gun is soft, the shorter the stronger, the usage is determined by this... The pole is long and soft. Although the yin and yang of the two wrists are interchanged, it can help smooth the arm strength and make the weak If you are stubborn, you cannot control your head with your roots. Therefore, at the end of holding and blocking, the tip of the spear is swinging, and when it is poked, it goes away diagonally. Shake it and poke it, he has already walked out. If you don't chase him with cross steps, how can you reach him with the poke?"

Wu Shu believes that if the gun is longer than one foot or two feet (about 3.8 meters), no matter how the gun is used, Any type of wood will sag and become soft due to its own weight, so whether it is a Shajia gun or a Yangjia gun, the softer gun body is not conducive to blocking, and secondly, it is difficult to control the gun head accurately. Especially the swing of the gun head cannot be controlled. The swinging gun head is of course not conducive to accurately stabbing the target, which also affects the attack effect of the long gun. In other words, the assassination effect of the super long gun is actually not as good as that of the shorter spear.

Many people believe that the super-pike phalanx is indestructible because of the five layers of spearheads concentrated on the front. However, in the battles between the super-pike phalanxes in Europe from the 16th to the 17th century, a method called "push spear" often appeared. Push ofpike) phenomenon. Such as the Battle of Pavia in 1525, the Battle of Ceresole in 1544, and the Battle of Nieuwpoort in 1600. The so-called "push of pike" occurred. When the spearmen on both sides struggled forward, they both broke through the attack of the opponent's spear phalanx. The spears of both sides were entangled, and the soldiers were crowded together like playing rugby. At this time, no one could do anything anymore. Attack the opponent with a spear. Before someone thinks of pulling out a dagger and stabbing a black knife, the battlefield will become as funny as a street fight. The recurring phenomenon of "pike pushing" also shows that the frontal lethality of the super spear phalanx is not as much. As powerful and invincible as one can imagine

"Spear pushing" is harmful to the array, but there are usually not many other options at this time

Practice what to do after "spear pushing" occurs. Maintaining formation and breaking away from the "spear pushing" state is also an important training course for the modern battlefield recovery club

In addition, Wu Shu introduced in the book that the all-wooden long handle weighs more, up to ten kilograms. Above (a pound, about 6 kilograms). Due to the extremely long force arm of the spear, its gravity moment is quite large. It is very physically demanding to use such a heavy spear to assassinate. According to historical records, Alexander the Great of Macedonia was using the long arm of his phalanx. After the spear increased from about 4 meters to about 5 meters in the time of his father Philip II, in order to reduce the load on the soldiers, the diameter of the hoplite shield had to be reduced from 1 meter to 60 centimeters, and the metal armor was cancelled. Let the soldiers use thinner leather armor and linen armor.

Wu Shu also introduced several other spear sects, including "Shijia Gun", "Emei Gun", "Majia Gun", etc. The total length of the spears used by these sects is mostly based on the empirical value of "nine feet and seven inches" (about 3.1 meters). Wu Shu believes that this is the most convenient value after considering factors such as weight, length, center of gravity, and grip size. Easy-to-use size. The handle of the long gun is made of rigid hardwood such as sinew wood and sword spine wood, and it hardly bends. Because the gun itself is hard and heavy, it can be used for skillful defense. You can flexibly control the base of the gun, use various leather gun skills, and then kill step by step. However, because it requires superb skills, it takes a long time of training before you can use it skillfully.

The 3.1-meter spear discussed by Wu Shu is highly consistent with the length of the Greek hoplite spear of Iphicrates. This length is also the most common length of long-handled weapons around the world. Perhaps the 3-meter long gun can be called a standard long gun. In the hundreds of years of glorious history of Greece and Macedonia, the length of the spear evolved dialectically amidst repeated struggles and changes. Although in the eyes of many people the Macedonian phalanx replaced the Greek phalanx and the Macedonian spear replaced the Greek spear, rigorous historians rarely make arbitrary conclusions about this. Because in fact, long after the death of Alexander the Great, the Greek phalanx still existed and produced many glorious victories. Looking back at the development of the Greek Phalanx and the Macedonian Phalanx will help us grasp the key points of the dialectical relationship between the standard spear and the super spear.

This article is excerpted from "The Art of War in the Age of Cold Weapons"