After hundreds of years of melee in the Spring and Autumn Period, the wars in the Warring States Period not only did not decrease, but intensified. Entering the Warring States Period, the army's weapons and equipment were improved and the scale of the war continued to expand.
The brutal wars during the Warring States Period required more soldiers, and the number of armies increased greatly. In "Warring States: Qi Ce", Tian Dan said that "the emperor's soldiers can only use thirty thousand soldiers", but Zhao She likes to "use the masses" and "must use them if they must bear one hundred thousand or two hundred thousand soldiers". During the Spring and Autumn Period, the standing armies of various countries were basically less than 100,000. During the Warring States Period, the military strength of various countries increased significantly, ranging from 100,000 to millions. The number of soldiers needed by various countries continued to increase, and casualties were serious. However, the population growth was limited, so men, women, and children were conscripted into the army. Judging from current materials, no records of women serving as soldiers in the Spring and Autumn Period have been found, but during the Warring States Period, there are clear records of women serving as soldiers. "The Book of Shang Jun: Bingshou Chapter" says: "Strong men form an army, strong women form an army, and old and weak men and women form an army." "Mozi Bei Chengmen" talks about the method of guarding, saying: " At fifty paces, there are ten husbands, twenty virgins, and ten young and old.”
Some data show that in the more than 200 years from 722 BC to 464 BC, there were 38 years without war, while in the more than 200 years from 643 BC to 222 BC, there were about 90 years without war. war. This seems incredible. It seems that the Warring States Period had more peaceful years than the Spring and Autumn Period. The actual situation is that although the wars in the Spring and Autumn Period were more frequent than those in the Warring States Period, they were far less large-scale and intense, and their duration was shorter. Even the famous battles such as the Battle of Chengpu, the Battle of Bi, and the Battle of Yanling in the Spring and Autumn Period only lasted a day or two. The Warring States Period was very different. "Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals" records that when Wei attacked Zhao, "it besieged Handan for three years but could not capture it"; "Although Qin was not better than Changping, it took three years to decide, and the soldiers and people were tired."
The emergence of the above situation has a lot to do with the fighting methods of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. War in the Spring and Autumn Period was dominated by neat chariot battles. The victory or defeat of the battle was in the hands of the nobles who drove the cavalry. These nobles followed the rules of engagement of the cavalry, valued prestige and "face" very much, and rarely fought hard, so the war was not easy. So intense. In the Warring States Period, professional generals took control of the war. When they were ordered by a country, they would fight tooth and nail for the country, seize cities and resources, and exchange military exploits for honors and titles. Chariots are very convenient for fighting on flat ground, but they are difficult to control in rugged areas. Moreover, once the chariot formation is in chaos, it is difficult to restore the original array, which cannot meet the combat needs of the Warring States Period. As a result, the role of infantry was greatly improved, and infantry field combat became the main method of combat during the Warring States Period. At the same time, the Warring States people also learned mounted archery from some horse-riding nomads, using cavalry as an important supplement to infantry. King Wuling of Zhao boldly implemented "Hufu riding and shooting" in the military and established the first main cavalry force in the Warring States Period. Since then, cavalry has become one of the main arms of the Chinese army.
In addition to infantry combat, the Warring States Period also included naval and ship warfare. The scenes of naval warfare are engraved on the inlaid copper pots unearthed in Chengdu and the bronze plates with water and land battle patterns in Shanbiao Town, Jixian County, Henan Province. The scenes reflect the use of bows and arrows at long distances, and the use of guns, spears, and spears at close range. Dagger combat scene. According to "Yue Jueshu", during the Warring States Period, there were already large warships that could carry 90 people.
The improvement of weapons and equipment is also an important reason for the different aspects of war. Iron smelting technology developed rapidly during the Warring States Period, and a large number of sharp iron weapons were produced. "Xunzi·Bing Pian" said that Chu's "iron swords are huge and as miserable as bees." Qin Zhao also said in "Historical Records: Biography of Fan Ju" that "I have heard that the iron swords of Chu are sharp." South Korea's iron weapons from Mingshan, Tangxi, Moyang, Heshou, Dengshi, Wanfeng, Longyuan, Tai'a and other places can "cut off cattle and horses by land, hit geese by water, and kill the enemy instantly." The weapon used by the assassin Zhu Hai in "Historical Records: Biography of Lord Xinling" is "Iron Vertebral". A steel sword from the late Spring and Autumn Period unearthed from the Yangjiashan Tomb in Changsha is the earliest known steel sword in ancient my country. In a late Warring States tomb in Yanxiadu, Yixian County, Hebei Province, more than 60% of the large number of weapons unearthed were iron weapons, including iron armor, swords, spears, halberds, etc., while copper weapons accounted for less than 40%. .
Although strong iron weapons were available, copper weapons were still widely used. A variety of bronze weapons such as Ge, spears, halberds, knives, swords, bows, arrows, and crossbows were unearthed from Chu tombs in Changsha. A variety of Warring States bronze weapons were also unearthed in the Bashu area.
During the Warring States Period, many new weapons appeared, the most noteworthy of which was the use of crossbows. The earliest crossbows were originally used for hunting, and they began to be used in combat in the late Spring and Autumn Period. By the middle of the Warring States Period, crossbows were widely used in all countries to fight. In the Battle of Maling, the Wei army entered Maling Road and was defeated by the Qi army's "thousands of crossbows". "Sun Bin's Art of War: Wei Wang Wen" said: "Those who usurp the strong soldiers will fight for the generals; those who use strong crossbows will be willing to fight for a long time." This shows the important position of the crossbow in the war at that time. The main components of the crossbow are the crossbow, the bow and the crossbow arm. The crossbow is equipped with a string on the top of the bow, and a crossbow machine is installed on the back of the crossbow arm. There are "Guo" around the crossbow machine, and there are "teeth" to hook the bow string, and there is a "watch" for aiming. "Mountain", with a "hanging knife" for a crossbow at the bottom. When in use, when the hanging knife is moved, the teeth will retract, and the string hooked by the teeth will pop out. With the strong pulling force of the bow string, the arrow will be launched. Using crossbows in combat can "kill people a hundred steps away" and make the enemy "not aware of where they are going". Crossbows are divided into "arm Zhang", which is fired with the arm, and "Qie Zhang", which is fired with the pedal. At that time, the Wei State had a "twelve-stone crossbow" that could pull the weight of twelve stones. The production of crossbow machines is already quite precise. "Lu Shi Chun Qiu Cha Wei" says that "the crossbow machine will not fire if it is less than a meter away." This shows that the requirements for its accuracy are very high. By the end of the Warring States Period, the "continuous crossbow" was invented, and there is a record of the "continuous crossbow chariot" in "Mozi Bei Gaolin Chapter".
In addition to crossbows, some other weapons appeared during the Warring States Period. A spiky spherical assassination weapon unearthed from the tomb of Zeng Yihou in Hubei Province has a handle as long as 3 meters. This kind of weapon was not seen before the Warring States Period. Ge is one of the main weapons in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. The part tied to the wooden handle is called "Gehu". The Gohu of the Western Zhou Dynasty was very short, with only one hole on it. In the early Spring and Autumn Period, the Ge with a slightly longer Hu and two holes was developed. In the Warring States Period, it developed into the Ge with a long Hu and three holes, making the Ge more firmly tied to the handle. The boat-fighting tool hook and the siege tool ladder were the inventions of Gongshuban and were also new weapons in this period. As offensive weapons advanced, so did defensive equipment. Leather armor is still an important means of protecting swords, and the emergence of iron armor and armor has increased the safety factor of soldiers' lives. A late Warring States period iron armor made of 89 pieces of iron armor has been unearthed in Yanxia.
In general, the wars during the Warring States Period, due to the advancement of weapons and the sharp increase in the number of troops, as well as the economic, political, population and technological development of various countries, presented a look different from that of the Spring and Autumn Period, and were a manifestation of social change. .
