readx;?? After the Romans entered the imperial system, that is, after the establishment of the Roman Empire, their military development can be said to be quite rapid. Pen %Fun %Pavilion www.biquge.info→ Eight → Eight → Read → Books,.↓.o≥

But in some respects, the Roman Empire entered a new era with a weakened effort to open up to the outside world.

And this factor is quite multifactorial, one of which is that the ability of the Roman emperor to govern at that time became a very crucial factor.

And the appearance seems to have a fairly close relationship with the Roman emperor at that time, because the first complete reader is likely to be the Roman emperor at that time. Because this point is not taboo to be raised by the author in the preface of each volume, especially in the preface of the third volume, which directly names this point:

According to ancient texts, before the Macedonians, the world overlords were the Athenians and the Spartans. Admittedly, the Athenians were not only skilled in martial arts, but also excelled in various other arts, while the Spartans were limited to war-readiness. However, historians believe that it was they who first drew certain conclusions from the experience they had accumulated from the war, and compiled them into a book. At that time, the general view was that martial arts were nothing more than heroic and fearless, and to some extent added to opportunities, while they advocated the importance of combat experience and the study of training and tactics. They promoted the instructors of the art of war, called tacticians, and asked them to teach young people the various methods of combat practice and the use of weapons. These are some very remarkable and strange people! They want to explore mainly the methods of warfare of crucial significance, and there is no other method of warfare.

It was on the basis of their norms that the Romans not only applied these laws of war in practice, but also wrote and justified their own theories.

Your Majesty the Invincible Emperor, you command me, a little man, to recount as concisely as possible the contents of the numerous books scattered among the many authors. It is tiresome to peruse the vast volumes, and it is fearful that you will not be able to understand the complete concept.

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The third volume is mainly about military training, and the author can see from the previous content that he is quite respectful of the idea that soldiers are not expensive:

It is needless to say what the Rasidmen had gained by using tactics in battle, but it is enough to take the example of Ksantippus: he went to the Carthaginians alone and offered them assistance, not in strength and courage, but in wisdom and the art of war. He completely crushed the enemy army, captured Artilius Regulus alive, and caused the Roman army to be defeated, ending the entire war with a brilliant victory. He followed the manoeuvres of the high counsellor and not only defeated many of the Roman consuls, but also annihilated many of their legions, although Hannibal was not as strong as them in terms of strength and the number of men in his army.

Therefore, whoever wants to control the world must be prepared for war, and whoever wants to win must train his army hard, relying on skill and wisdom, and not hoping for luck. No one dares to challenge or insult an opponent who knows that he is stronger than him in battle.

First, in the first volume of this book, I have made many observations on the recruitment of new recruits and their training. Volume II deals with the composition and internal management of the Legion. In this third volume, the sound of battle horns will be heard. In this volume, I will deal with all the skills of combat and the decisive factors for victory. If the internal rules of the regiment are clear and the non-commissioned officers are well-trained, then what I have said here will be more acceptable and more beneficial.

An army is a collection of legions, auxiliaries, and cavalry, and it is built to carry out war. The question of the appropriate size of the army is for professional experts. Kings such as Xerxes, Darius, and Mithridati armed countless people. In fact, the defeat of the overly large army was not so much due to the heroism of the enemy as to its own bloat. You know, the more people you have, the more chances of serendipity. For example, movement is slower due to the large number of people in the transfer, because the distance between the troops is too large, and it is often vulnerable to enemy attacks even by small groups, when crossing difficult terrain or wading across rivers, it is often difficult to move slowly due to the slow transfer of baggage, and it is also difficult to prepare fodder for the numerous pack animals and mounts.

It is not easy to prepare enough food and grass for any one campaign, and it must be carried out first, otherwise it will inevitably hold back the huge army. Although you have spent a lot of effort to prepare enough food reserves, eventually due to the large number of people and the daily consumption is too large, it will soon be exhausted. Too many people often lead to water shortages. Once the army returned to the rear, it was inevitable that many people would die when retreating, and those who managed to survive were already frightened and had no courage to fight.

The ancients preferred not a large army, but well-trained elite soldiers, and this is the reason. This is the panacea that they have learned from their practical experience to avoid all of these difficulties. In some not-so-large wars, they thought that a single legion plus a few auxiliary units would suffice, that is, 10,000 infantry and 2,000 cavalry. Such a contingent can usually be led by the Chief Executive as a lower-ranking general. If a large number of enemy forces are foreseen, a representative of the ruling authority is often sent to deal with the enemy with 20,000 infantry and 4,000 cavalry as a senior assistant. If there is an uprising in many clans, and the momentum is very arrogant, it must be suppressed. Two generals were to be sent to lead two troops, and they were often given the following order: "Let the two consuls work together to keep each of them from doing his best, so that the country may not be harmed." ”

In short, the Romans had fought against different enemies in different countries throughout their long history, but at all times there were always enough troops, because they did not think that the army had to be very large, but it had to be sufficient, and even so, they always adhered to the principle that the number of Allied auxiliaries in the barracks should never exceed the number of Roman citizens.

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What follows is the author's view of the system and logistics of an army:

Secondly, I would now like to turn to the medical situation of the troops, which is an issue that deserves special attention. This includes: camp location, drinking water, season, medical services, type of training, etc.

The so-called location means that the camp should not be chosen in an area where plague is endemic, near a swamp filled with miasma, or in a place where the sun is exposed, there are no trees, and there is no vegetation.

In the summer, sergeants are required to stay in tents. They should set out earlier to avoid sickness from sun exposure and fatigue from the journey, and they should march out before dawn and arrive at the appointed place before the heat dissipates. In the harsh winter, it is better not to carry out night marches on snow and in cold cliffs. The soldiers should be given sufficient firewood and their clothing to keep them warm, and the sergeants who are afraid of the cold are not strong men and are not fit for war.

The military should not drink the sewage from the harmful mud pits, and drinking dirty water is tantamount to taking poison, and it is not possible to drink water to quench thirst: this can lead to infectious diseases. In the event of such a situation, their immediate officers, tribunes, and even commanders were to personally show them consistent care for them, so that the sick robes could be restored as quickly as possible by a good diet and under the care and treatment of an excellent doctor. The burden of combat missions is already quite heavy, and it would be unfortunate to let disease torment them again.

Officers with combat experience know that physical exercise is more effective than medical treatment for the health of a sergeant. Therefore, they hoped that the infantry would insist on exercising under the roof when encountering rain and snow, and in other cases, they would go out into the field to exercise, and they would practice every day and persevere. In the same way, they ordered the cavalry, together with their horses, not only to train regularly on flat ground, but also on steep, ravine, and impassable passes, so that they would not be helpless in the face of previously unexperienced obstacles, even in difficult moments of battle.

From this it can be concluded how vigorously the army should insist on military training. If they had become accustomed to such work in barracks life, they would have won victory in the battle with the enemy. If a large number of sergeants stay in the same place for too long in the autumn or summer, there is a risk of muddy water and pollution of the air they breathe, which can lead to dangerous diseases. In order to avoid such a phenomenon, the site had to be relocated frequently.

III. In this section I would like to describe the preparation of military rations, fodder and cereals.

Some people believe that the lack of food is more deadly to the army than the defeat in the battle, that is, the so-called hunger is more terrible than the sword. If something else is found to be insufficient, it can be replenished on the spot or replaced by something else, but there is no way to eliminate the damage when there is a serious shortage of food and there is no adequate preparation in advance. In battle, there is no more powerful weapon in your hands than to keep yourself well fed and fed, and to leave your enemies starved. Therefore, before the start of the war, it is necessary to make a thorough study of the quantity of reserves and the needs of consumption, so that fodder, grain, and other grains can be transported in a timely manner, since these supplies are usually provided by the provinces, and then stored in a safer place suitable for transshipment, and the quantity of the storage is greater than the planned consumption.

If the guaranteed quantity is insufficient, then a request for funding should be made, and everything should be prepared in advance. To be clear, it is impossible to control property safely and securely without armed protection. It is not uncommon for you to be required to pay double the cost, and there are also times when the siege lasts much longer than you think, because the enemy will not stop the siege of the opponent they want to defeat with hunger, even if they are already starving.

In the event of an invasion, all the livestock, all the food crops, and even the water and wine, must be moved to suitable fortifications guarded by armed men, or stored in extremely safe cities. These are the good things that the enemy may plunder for their own enjoyment. This is to be done by means of royal decrees, to convince the owners of the necessity of doing so; At the same time, escort teams will be sent to help them with the transfer.

The inhabitants of the province should be firmly required to hide their families and all their belongings in the four gates before the enemy invades. It was necessary to fortify the walls and prepare all kinds of projectile weapons, because waiting for the enemy to come and doing these things would cause the people to fall into confusion out of fear, and the aid that could have been obtained from other cities would not be available due to the disruption of transportation.

As long as our barns are reliably defended, well spent, well spent, and well resourced, and especially if precautions are taken from the outset, the army will generally not be threatened by a lack of food. But if you don't think about saving until you have nothing to collect, it's too late.

In ancient times, in the arduous battles, the food of the soldiers was distributed less according to the rank and more evenly distributed according to the head. However, once the difficult time has passed, all the deductions will be reimbursed to them by the state.

Every effort should be made to ensure that there is no shortage of firewood and fodder in the winter and no shortage of water in the summer. There should be no shortage of food, vinegar, wine, and especially salt.

Cities and fortresses were best guarded by soldiers who were not well suited to formation, and who could defend them with a variety of weapons, with arrowheads, clubs, crossbows, slings, and stones thrown from ballistas.

Let all the simple and good people of the provinces be deceived by the cunning and sinister promises of the enemy. They often cause trouble by believing their promises to negotiate and make peace.

In this case, the enemy would starve if they were gathered in one place, and would be vulnerable to frequent attacks and defeat if they were scattered into small groups.

The notion that the besieging armies had to cut off the resistance of a fortified town before and after the reign of Vegetius can be confirmed in a monograph that survived the reign of Justinian. The military engineer felt that his masterpiece was on par with the highest level of building a fortified city, providing a place where command could be carried out safely, water was provided sufficiently, and of course food was stored in large quantities and the guards were ambushed.

Fourth, sometimes the troops assembled in different regions can cause trouble. They were actually reluctant to fight, but they feigned resentment and asked why they weren't allowed to fight. Most of this situation is provoked by those who have been pampered in the station for a long time. These men were not accustomed to a strict way of life, despised the hard work they had to put in in battle, and feared war, because they had long since abandoned their military training and were now reckless.

Generally speaking, there are many good remedies for this type of disease. While these units are still scattered or remain in their original barracks, the tribunes or their deputies, as well as their immediate officers, are subjected to the strictest training of all kinds, requiring them to develop fortitude and self-restraint, and above all to obey orders. They should constantly conduct military training in the field. These people are not entitled to leave and must be constantly on the lookout for responses to orders and signals given to them.

They must be insisted on practicing archery, spear throwing, throwing stones with a slinging belt or with their bare hands, and practicing various movements in full gear, learning to chop and chop with short sticks instead of swords. These exercises should take up most of their day until they sweat profusely. In the same way, they should be forced to run and jump, and to learn how to cross ditches. If there is a sea or river around the station, the whole crew should be allowed to swim in the water in the summer. In addition, they were forced to cut down trees, make passages in the bushes and on steep cliffs, cut down trees, dig ditches, occupy a place, prepare shields, and try not to let their companions drive them away from their positions.

When these soldiers, whether they are members of the corps, auxiliary units, or cavalry units, have mastered these skills after such training in their respective stations, and once they have gathered together from various detachments to fight in the future, they will naturally be eager to join the battle as soon as possible because of a competitive mentality of trying to compete with each other, rather than living a quiet life without war. A person who is confident in his own kung fu and strength will not consider causing trouble.

On the other hand, military commanders must be cautious. With the assistance of the tribune, their deputies, and the rank and file commanders, he should know who are the unstable and the troublesome in the regiments, in the auxiliaries, or in the cavalry barracks, and he must discern this on the basis of facts, and not on the jealous slander of the informers. The military governor should have the foresight to leave the barracks and send them to do what they seem to be happy to do, such as strengthening and guarding forts and cities. The military governor should do so with the utmost tact, so that the men he sends out feel in their hearts that they have been specially selected and therefore honoured.

For the majority, there is a concerted determination to disrupt order, and that is never, but they are sometimes provoked by a few. And these few people hope that if everyone takes responsibility for their sins, they will escape the punishment they deserve for their vices and crimes. If it is necessary to recommend a strong approach, the most correct measure is to punish a few culprits according to the custom of their ancestors, so as to set an example for them.

Some generals are good at keeping their ranks in order by doing hard work and strengthening their training, while others blindly use punishment and deterrence to force sergeants to obey, and the former deserve more praise.

5. In an engagement, the warriors need to listen carefully to many orders and signals, because it is an occasion of the struggle between life and death, success and defeat, and the slightest negligence cannot be forgiven. Of all the winning factors, there is nothing more important than the correct execution of the signals received. Since it is impossible to command a large army by verbal orders alone in a melee battle, and the situation itself often requires new orders or new tasks to be performed, the peoples of various countries have since ancient times created many methods in practice by means of signals to make what the commander-in-chief thinks necessary to always be known to the whole army and then carried out.

There are three types of signals: verbal, audible, and silent. The first two of these are audible, and the latter are through vision.

Oral signals are given by the mouth of a person, and can be expressed as a password during vigilance and engagement, such as "victory", "glory of weapons", "bravery", "God with me", "triumph of the emperor", etc., which are determined by the main person in charge of the unit within a certain period of time. It should be noted, however, that these passwords must be changed daily, in order to avoid the danger of being discovered by the enemy over time, and facilitating the movement of their spies around the confines of our station with impunity.

The sound signal is given by a horn, bugle or horn. The trumpet itself is a musical instrument, the trumpet is also a brass instrument, curved like a metal ring, and the horns played by the trumpeters are mostly made of bison horns, usually with silver trim. If you can blow, it won't be too hard, and the sound is quite pleasant. From the sound of these instruments, the troops can tell exactly whether they are staying in place, advancing or retreating.

Silent signals can be eagle flags, dragon flags, various small flags and hand flags, horse tails, feathers, and so on. Wherever the commander pointed the banner, his subordinates held high their banners and marched in that direction. There were also other silent signals, such as the general's command on the battlefield to make some kind of mark on his horse, on his clothes, or even on his weapon, to distinguish between enemy soldiers and his own people, and he could also use hand gestures, whips, or special movements of his clothes to send signals, according to barbarian customs.

The sergeant had to learn all this in the field, in battle, and in the barracks training, so that he could distinguish the different signals and understand their meanings. Of course, in peacetime, training should be carried out without interruption and all the skills of using these signals in pitched battles and melee battles.

It is also a common silent signal that the dust is raised as the troops march, such as a cloud of dust that indicates that the enemy is close at hand, and when the troops are divided, if there is no other way to send a message, they can use fire at night and smoke during the day to signal their allies. There are also people who erect poles on fortifications or turrets in cities, and use them to put them up and down to indicate what they are doing, so as to serve as a communication signal.