All life activities originate from water, and water in human body accounts for about 65% of body weight. Once the human body is short of water, the consequences are very serious: water shortage 1%-2%, people feel thirsty; Lack of water 5%, dry mouth, wrinkled skin, unconsciousness, and even hallucinations; Water shortage 15% is often more than hunger. People can live for a long time without food. If there is no water, they can live for a week at most.
Therefore, it is very important to ensure the normal water supply of troops and horses during the March.
The most important source of marching water
1, river
In the process of marching in ancient times, the grain and grass consumed needed strong logistics support and a lot of manpower and material resources. In order to ensure sufficient military supplies, it is not allowed to set up a special team to transport water.
Since we can't transport water, we have to find water. The demand for water in marching is often met by using natural water sources.
Among all natural water sources, rivers are the most important marching water sources.
For example, in the Song Dynasty, when Li besieged Lingzhou City (now southwest of Lingwu, Ningxia) in the second year of Daodao (996), ministers had a heated discussion on whether to rescue Lingzhou City.
Zhang Yue thought that if the imperial court sent troops from Celebration, Yan Dan and Fu Lin? Although there was a shortage of Jingquan all the way to the celebration, the Qingyuan army had enough food and grass, and Yan Dan and Fu Lin were also enough, but there was no shortage of food after the capture of Fanbu. .
The abundant water in the river is the main reason why Zhang Yue chose it as the first choice of marching water source. Because of this, the river has become the water source that the enemy and I often compete for. When Jack lu arrived at Qigou (now west of Zhuozhou, Hebei Province) with Commander-in-Chief Cao Bin during the Northern Expedition? The Khitan River was occupied and Julian Waghann was short of water. Bing asked him to contain the Khitan with a thousand crossbows, and then he moved to the river. And ensure the normal water use in Song Jun.
Although relying on natural water was the first choice for ancient marching water, not all places had water. After all, the hydrological conditions in a region are not static. Relying on natural rivers and providing water only by experience, what if there is no water for thousands of miles? Waiting may be wiped out.
Therefore, in addition to finding rivers, we have to prepare several other methods to solve the water problem.
2. Dig a well to find water
The common way to solve the problem of marching water is to dig wells to find water. When the weather is dry, deep wells are usually dug to solve the drinking water problem in military camps.
In the second year of Daodao (996), when Wang Chao led the army to cross the Wuding River, he found that the river was exhausted, which led to? Sergeant is sick and thirsty? ,? It is urgent to dig wells with thousands of shovels. , solved the problem of water shortage in the army.
Not all military camps are suitable for drilling wells. Some military camps may not be able to drill wells for water because of their poor geographical location and low groundwater level. It is even worse to March in the desert.
So we have to carry water at this time.
Step 3 transport water
Although it is said that an army will not be specially formed to transport water, the army will still transport water.
Qian Chengyou accompanied Song Taizong during the Northern Expedition? Take a camel as a burden and store water to raise fish. . It shows that camels should be used to carry drinking water in ancient March.
So what should be used to hold water? Ensure no leakage and easy evaporation. At this time, I have to mention the water bag. In ancient times, things filled with water were called water sacs.
Water bag: ancient city defense fire fighting equipment. ? Fill the cells of pigs and cows with water. If you earn a salary, it will catch fire as soon as the wind blows, and you can throw it into the fire with a bag. The ancient military method can also be used as an oil bag. ? The oil bag mentioned here, since it is used for fire fighting, should be filled with nonflammable oil.
Water sac is also a container used to hold water in ancient travel, mostly made of pigs, cattle, sheepskin or bladder.
Step 4 quench your thirst with something
Usually, soldiers will carry some drinking water with them. With the continuous exploration, the ancients found some thirst-quenching food to replace drinking water in the March.
Everyone will put half a liter of sesame oil, such as an altar, take 30 tablets and stop. Black cheese can also be processed, and each person can take three liters of gourd seeds or bamboo tube skins. It is expected that water shortage will prevail in the future, and everyone in Ma Jun will give cheese to Ma for fear of water shortage. In modern times, border soldiers traveled far and wide, including elk cakes, wrinkled rice and miscellaneous cakes. For example, dry food on the road and in the war is delicious.
By the middle of the Song Dynasty, people found that sesame oil, elk cake, wrinkled rice, miscellaneous cakes and other foods all had the effect of quenching thirst.
What do we hear most? Looking at plums to quench your thirst? This allusion.
Southern Song Dynasty? Liu Yiqing's Shi Shuo Xin Yu? Fake ":? Wei Wu lost his way in the battle, and the army was thirsty, so he said, "There is a great Meilin, forgiving the son, and sweet and sour can quench the thirst.". ? When the foot soldiers smell it, they can get the source with their mouths full of water. ?
Cao Cao couldn't find water when he marched, and the soldiers were very thirsty, so he ordered: "There is a piece of Meilin in front, bearing a lot of fruit. Sweet and sour plums can quench your thirst. " Hearing this, the soldiers' saliva flowed out. Cao Cao used this method to urge the troops to rush to the front line as soon as possible and find water.
Therefore, it is also very important to find portable materials to quench thirst instead of water for ancient marching.
How to ensure the marching water system
In order to ensure the problem of marching water, the army must make full preparations, find the water source quickly, and at the same time ensure the safety of the water source, so as to make the whole army's water system run healthily and prepare for the war.
1, ensuring water searching efficiency.
In order to ensure the normal drinking water supply during marching, it has become an important military task to find and protect water sources. Wherever the army goes, there are fountains and grazing grasslands, and people are sent to supervise them so as not to make a mess and make it unreasonable. . Once the spring water is found during the March, it will be protected immediately.
If you are in a desert with a harsh geographical environment, if you don't see water springs, you can look for water sources according to the habits of local animals. Where the army is short of water, it is believed that there are wild horses and horses in the sand moraine, and there should be water wherever it goes; Where wild birds and beasts gather, or where waterfowl gather, there should be water; Where there are reeds, where there is ant soil, there is Fuquan. It is said that camels can know water. If it walks enough to run sand, should there be a spring under it? .
It shows that when marching in desert terrain, we should be able to find water by observing the footprints of animals.
In addition, there is a rumor that wormwood is looking for water: wormwood is tenacious and grows where there is sunshine, so it is everywhere. So when the army came to the wasteland, the soldiers would look for wormwood separately (or simply take dried wormwood with them when marching), and then pile it up and light it.
After burning, wormwood has a feature that it is downward and has the function of automatically finding water. After burning wormwood, the generated wormwood will follow the ground until it finds a way out. It will evaporate when it meets the water source and rise with the water. At this time, the army will look for water mist coming out of the ground in Fiona Fang 5. If there is, it means that there is groundwater in this place. Dig down from the smoking place and water will soon come out.
2. Ensure water safety.
In addition to the importance of finding the water source quickly, it is also extremely important to identify the water quality and ensure that it is non-toxic and safe. We often see that the enemy will use poison to fight in costume dramas, and not everyone can drink water, so it is particularly important to identify the water quality.
Because the water source is very important during the March, it may become a means for the enemy to attack, especially when the army reaches the enemy's territory. How to prevent viruses
"Wu Jing General Program": There are five ways to prevent virus: one is to say that you are in a new enemy country, don't drink it, your Jing Quan may be poisoned first; Second, the spring flows out of the enemy's territory, fearing that it will sneak into the poison; Third, stagnant water does not flow; Fourth, the summer tide rises and falls, coming out of the creek, the color is black, the foam is boiling, or red and salty, or turbid; Fifth, the old evil grass, poisonous trees, evil insects and snakes in the soil, if there are sand crossbows and rafts, must be inspected to prevent worry.
This shows that in the middle of the Northern Song Dynasty, people have accumulated a lot of anti-virus measures for drinking water, ensuring the health and safety of marching drinking water.
In fact, ancient military scientists have long noticed the choice and protection of water sources during the March. Because the existence of water source and the beauty and evil of water quality have a great relationship with the health of soldiers.
Where was Sun Wu's Art of War in the Spring and Autumn Period? March 7th? Chinese says:? Where the army is high in evil, Guiyang is low in yin, healthy and practical, and the army is disease-free, does it mean victory? .
It means that all garrisons should choose dry highlands, not wet depressions, and should give priority to the sunny side, avoid the wet side, and be close to places with fertile aquatic plants and convenient supply, so that the sergeant will not get sick and victory will be guaranteed.
Because surface water is more polluted than groundwater, and it is not easy to prevent enemy poisoning, the ancient army dug more wells for soldiers to drink for safety.
"Zhou Li? In Xiaguan, there is Mr. Hu, whose duties are: holding a pot to be a good army, holding a pot to be a military residence, and holding a pot to be food. ?
This is Fu's official in charge of rations, accommodation and drinking water, and also the earliest recorded logistics official in Chinese history.
abstract
Obviously, it is very important to solve the problem of water use in ancient marching. Many times, the outcome of a war is likely to appear in who has better solved the problem of marching water.
Therefore, with the development and replacement of dynasties, the problem of ancient marching water gradually improved, forming a theoretical system of marching drinking water security, which made great contributions to the war logistics.