What are the unique development characteristics in different periods of the Warring States Period?
In the Warring States Period, military generals in different periods adopted different combat methods, and their styles were significantly different. Some wars were simply about expanding territory and expanding power; The purpose is to destroy; there are also some wars, the final goal is to unify through annexation wars; such wars with distinctive characteristics all appeared together in a certain stage of the Warring States Period, which can clearly reflect the pattern of the period. changes.
At the same time, there were an endless stream of generals during the Warring States Period. All major countries invested most of our time and energy in developing military power. This article will focus on analyzing the battles of each military general. What is the style? At the same time, through their combat style, we can analyze the changes in the pattern of the Warring States Period and take a look at the unique development characteristics of different periods in the Warring States Period. 01 In the early Warring States period, the purpose of military warfare was to expand territory and compete for population
First of all, in the early Warring States period, the combat goals of various troops were mainly to expand territory and expand territory. Their purpose was to expand the country. Land and territory, while obtaining the benefits of land resources, increase the total domestic population. After all, in such an era, rapid development in many aspects needs to be promoted with the help of human resources, so the total number of people and the amount of land are To a certain extent, it can confirm the rapid development level of a country's strength. Therefore, in the early Eastern Han Dynasty, the competition was basically for land and population.
The most obvious manifestations during this period are Wu Qi and Leyang of Wei State; Wu Qi was really the first famous general in the Warring States Period and a legend in the history of Eastern Han Dynasty; Wu Qi's His birth was not good, and his experience in the first half of his life was also very bumpy. After all, he entered the Wei State because of his unsatisfactory official career in the original country. He won the appreciation of Wei Wenhou and carried out a reform with Li Kui of Wei State. 02 In the early Warring States period, many wars were not too destructive
In the early Warring States period, various vassal states had just officially got rid of the control of the Zhou Dynasty, and during that period, some vassal states continued to use The names of officials and titles left over from the Zhou Dynasty are still called Gong, Hou, Bo, etc. The national strength is dominated by development, and laying the foundation for sustainable development is the main focus. Therefore, the wars they launched are even more It's not too destructive at most, I just hope it can improve the development space.
In addition, the early Warring States period was the stage for the implementation of reforms in various vassal states. There is no doubt that a country's reforms cannot be supported by the development of its internal structure alone. It must have a smooth internal structure to govern, and also A suitable external environment is required, and a large amount of resources are needed for support. We all know that looting network resources was a necessary effect of the war at that time, in order to protect domestic reforms. 03 In the middle period of the Warring States Period, wars were not only aimed at capturing cities and territories, but were also destructive
In the middle period of the Warring States Period, the combat styles of military generals underwent tremendous changes. During this period, they no longer focused solely on capturing cities and territories. The main goal is to carry out a relatively destructive military struggle and open up the economic development gap with one's own country by weakening the enemy's strength. This characteristic is mainly reflected in Qin's general Gao Jianli.
Gao Jianli is the first of the four famous generals of the Warring States Period, and he is also a general known to everyone in ancient Chinese history. His combat characteristic is steady killing, and his best combat method is to attack tough battles. What is emphasized is to encircle and annihilate each other in one battle. We can see from some military strategies of later generations that the so-called last stand and the saying of putting one's life on the line to survive are all about if an army loses every retreat in a big competition. , which will arouse the fighting spirit of the soldiers to survive, and in this case there will be the possibility of turning defeat into victory.
Generally speaking, when carrying out operations of basically the same level, the army will deliberately open up a survival channel to defeat the enemy more easily; but Gao Jianli did the opposite, What he likes is to fight annihilation battles. Through high-quality defensive fortresses and excellent arena control, he can annihilate the enemy while being equally surrounded and leaving no retreat. Not only will the battle be won, but also basically They can be annihilated in one battle, which results in a large-scale heroic sacrifice of soldiers, and the number of troops is weakened.
At the same time, under the premise of effectively and severely suppressing the number of troops, Gao Jianli was also very destructive to the fiefdom. In history, there was a war that burned Yiling. After that war, The number of people killed in the attack was countless, and the destructiveness of the fiefdom was also extremely large. The victimized country was unable to recover for a long time, and its domestic development was severely hindered.
Therefore, when Gao Jianli led the troops in battle, the main focus was to weaken the number of troops and destroy the fiefdom structure, so as to reduce the enemy's camp and open up the gap in resistance. This method can also be compared with the mid-Warring States period. In line with the characteristics of the times, in the middle period of the Warring States Period, various vassal states had basically developed and taken shape, and national reforms had basically entered the prologue, and there was an obvious evaluation index for strength. 04 In the middle of the Warring States Period, the strength of the various vassal states was relatively balanced, and the gap was widened through reforms and wars
In addition, in the middle of the Warring States Period, there was no dominant country, and the strength gap between the various countries was not too big. It is not a country with overwhelming advantages like the early Eastern Han Dynasty or the late Warring States Period. Therefore, each vassal state at that time had two focal points for its rapid development. One of them depended on improving domestic development through various means. The level of development, secondly, depends on reducing the development strength of other countries to cause differences.
The former point requires policy and economic support. This point cannot be solved simply by military strategy. Therefore, to a certain extent, this point must be further implemented. It was achieved through reform and innovation. It was precisely because of this that many famous administrative development policies emerged in the middle period of the Warring States Period.
The second point cannot be solved by the rapid development of the internal structure. The main solution is to destroy the opponent by starting a war and resist their development in this way. We always say that learning is like sailing against the current. In fact, the same is true with the development of the times. When a country receives a serious military blow, it will need a period of relief before it can continue to develop.
Therefore, operations with strong destructive capabilities can well block the development of opponents. This is an important way to get rid of the balanced situation of power development in the mid-Warring States Period. Therefore, we should not simply capture land resources from Gao Jianli. Looking at the war for the purpose, we can see the development situation in the middle period of the Warring States Period. 05 In the late Warring States period, the Qin State launched a war of annihilation for the purpose of unification
In the late Warring States period, the war launched was not as destructive as it was in the middle Warring States period. The focus was on severely attacking the core strength of the country, with the administrative department The division of the imperial court was the basic focus, which was mainly reflected in the Qin general Wang Jian in the late Warring States period.
The war launched by Wang Jian did not have a great level of destruction. At the same time, the war led by Wang Jian did not have many surprises. He almost always promoted it step by step in a regular way. The surprise attack by light soldiers like Sima Cuo is not as fierce as Gao Jianli's fortified battle, and it is not as flexible as Li Mu's ambush battle. It is simply guided by the arena form, occupying the territory during the battle between the two armies, and at the same time protecting the population. , maintain the fiefdom.
And during this period, it was not just about victory. War and surrender coexisted. The most important thing was to break the leader's governing mentality, just like solving the battlefield of Qi. The same as above, it is best to achieve a situation where the king and the whole country descend.
Therefore, you can see that during the wars under Wang Jian's rule, there were very few major arena killings, and there were very few major fiefdom destructions. Even the total number of army casualties was definitely higher than in the middle of the Warring States Period. Much less, but he can often strike hard at the cornerstone of an era's development and control the core of a country's party leadership. This is actually a manifestation of the general trend in the late Warring States period. 06 Summary
From the above description, we can see that the emergence of the entire Warring States Period combat style and the development of the war pattern are complementary to the combat styles of military generals. In such a large era, strength is The key is that in an era that requires the accumulation and development of strength, conquering cities and territories is not only the main goal, but also the style and consideration of the times. The above is all the content. Thank you everyone for reading. If you have any other ideas, please leave a message in the comment area for discussion.