How many people were there in a battalion during the Han army period? How many people can you reach at the peak?

The management of foot soldiers in the Western Han Dynasty was very formal, and the establishment and equipment also had a relatively perfect system. So how many people were there in a battalion in the army during the Han Dynasty?

The overall military organization in Han Dynasty

The Han army of Hanwang and Liu Bang, a place under Gaixia, was formed by selecting a large number of talented young people among the people to be knights and material officials. Since then, the number of Han army personnel has been further expanded, the management has been gradually standardized, and its own establishment has begun.

According to the six types of Han officials, the army of the Han Dynasty generally has the following units: military, division, pawn, brigade, division and army. In the Han dynasty, there were five people in a class, ten people in a class, one hundred people in a single soldier, five hundred people in a brigade, and two thousand five hundred people in a division. As for the number of troops, it is even more, with 12500.

In addition to this military establishment from Wu to the army, there is also a major organizational form of military establishment in Han Dynasty, which is the agency system in the Book of the Later Han Dynasty. There are five generals, songs under men, and villages under songs. Generally speaking, in the Han Dynasty, there were 50 people in a team, 0/00 people in a village, 200 people in a Song Dynasty and 0/000 people in a Ministry.

According to the records of Sunjiazhai bamboo slips and Juyan bamboo slips, the methods of compiling the army in different areas in the Han Dynasty were not necessarily the same, and some local military units also set up officers, teams, schools and other units. Generally speaking, 50 people are a team, 100 people are an official, 200 people are a song, 400 people are a movie, 2,000 people are a school and 4,000 people are an army.

Take bamboo slips of Sunjiazhai as an example. The military organizational system in Sunjiazhai area of Han Dynasty includes the following levels: Wuzhi Army, Team, Official, School, Ministry and Qu. The front team, the rear team, the left team, the squadron and the right team each have 10, the front and rear teams each have 50 people, the front and rear tracks each have 100, and the front and rear teams each have 200 people. There are more front schools, back schools, left schools, right schools and lieutenant colonel, which can form two groups of 2000 people.

How many people were there in a battalion in the Han Dynasty?

According to the bamboo slips of Sunjiazhai, it can be found that in some areas of the Han Dynasty, regiments, armies and other combat units have been established, and regiments and armies in different areas have their own relatively fixed number of personnel. In addition, we can also find that the bamboo slips of Sun Jiazhai have more concepts of official, team, department and music, as well as more "schools" and other units. Where did this school come from?

In fact, the Sunjiazhai area did not create a "school" unit at first. According to the records of the military system in past dynasties, as early as the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the Western Han army had camps and schools. In the western Han dynasty, "school" can already be used as an army unit. Taking Biography of Chen Tang as an example, the army was divided into six factions, three of which crossed the green ridge from the south road to Dawan, and the other three factions were led by Du Hu himself. The schools here are obviously military units. According to the data in the bamboo slips of Sunjiazhai, there are 2,000 students in five schools, such as Qianjiao, with an average of 400 students in each school. Therefore, the number of soldiers in a school in the Han Dynasty usually fluctuates around 400.

Since the "school" of the Western Han Dynasty can be regarded as a military unit, and it is generally staffed, then the "battalion" should also be a unit of the Western Han Dynasty. It is strange, however, that although there was a school camp in Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the only one with the word "camp" was not a camp, but a military institution.

In Historical Records, Hanshu and other historical books about the Western Han Dynasty, although the word "camp" often appears, it is not used in units, but only refers to barracks, institutions, soldiers and camps. For example, the word "direct operation" in the history book "Zhou Bojia after the River" means to reach the camp, and the word "camp" in "Biography of Chen Tang" in Hanshu means "camp". The word "battalion" here cannot be translated into battalion composition, but should be translated into battalion soldiers.

Then, when did the "camp" in the Han Dynasty serve as an organizational unit? The answer is the transition period from the Western Han Dynasty to the Eastern Han Dynasty. According to the records of the later Han Dynasty, in order to fight against the generals of Geng Shi, Fan Chong and others managed the soldiers more carefully. They organized 10 thousand soldiers into a battalion, a total of 30 battalions. Camp here means camp.

After the establishment of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Liu Xiu, Guangwu Emperor, chose to build a camp to promote the development of military power in order to improve his combat effectiveness. According to the military system of past dynasties, during the period of Emperor Guangwu of Liu Xiu, the Eastern Han Dynasty set up a camp in Liyang. The term "building a battalion" here refers to organizing troops stationed in certain areas into battalions.

In the process of research, we can find hostile forces at the same time as the Eastern Han Dynasty. According to the records of the Later Han Dynasty, in order to destroy the Eastern Han Dynasty as soon as possible, Gongsun Shu divided hundreds of thousands of soldiers into more than 20 battalions, which means battalion. A similar example also appeared in Geng Yan's biography. In order to ensure the stable development of Wang Du and other places, generals such as Geng Yan and Wang Chang fought mountain thieves in Wang Du and other places. Under the fierce attack of the Eastern Han army, more than ten mountain thieves in Wang Du and other places were broken. Later, Geng Yan crossed the river from Chaoyang Bridge, intending to further crusade against Zhang Bu. In order to defeat Geng Yan, Zhang Bu specially lined up dozens of soldiers around Midtown to wait for Geng Yan. However, the outcome of the war is not determined by the number of people. Under the attack of Geng Yan and other Han generals, Zhang Bu's troops still failed. After defeating Zhang Bu, Geng Yan marched again, and successively put down more than 40 enemy troops, which made Jinan area stable. Through translation and interpretation, we can find that the word "English" appears many times in Geng Yan's biography, including three times with the meaning of editor.

Since the meaning of camp organization was around the Eastern Han Dynasty, how many people would there be in a camp? To answer this question, we should continue to analyze the biographies of the later Han Dynasty. According to "Biography of the Later Han Dynasty", Fan Chong and others set up a camp of ten thousand people when they were fighting against Emperor Geng Xu. Therefore, the number of battalions under the jurisdiction of Fan Chong and others can reach 1 10,000. After the establishment of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Gongsun Shu once divided hundreds of thousands of people into more than 20 camps. If100000 people can be divided into 20 battalions, then the number of people in each battalion should be 5000. From the data of 10000 and 5000 people, it can be found that the number of people in a battalion may not be fixed during the period from the demise of the new country to the establishment of the Eastern Han Dynasty. In order to win the war, the commander can adjust the number of battalions according to his own ideas. A battalion can have thousands or tens of thousands of people.

Different from the biographies in the History of the Later Han Dynasty, Guan Baizhi recorded the camp arrangement in the Eastern Han Dynasty as follows: According to Guan Baizhi in the History of the Later Han Dynasty, there were "five generals' barracks" in the Eastern Han Dynasty, that is, five generals or less. According to the statistics of Sunjiazhai bamboo slips, there are 200 people in the front and 200 people in the back, so there are 400 people in each department. Leading five departments with 400 people, with a total of 2000 people. Therefore, if there are 400 people in each of the five ministries, there should be about 2000 people in the battalion below the general.

At the peak of the Han army, how many people could a battalion reach?

In order to rule the world, Emperor Guangwu of Han Dynasty once camped in Liyang. During this period, there were many soldiers in Liyang Camp, often with thousands of leaders and riders. From this data, we can find that during the reign of Emperor Guangwu of Han Dynasty, the number of soldiers in Liyang No.1 Battalion alone often exceeded 1000. During the Jianwu period, Shen Fu and other witches made an insurrection in Wucheng. They robbed officials, called themselves generals, and fought against the Eastern Han Dynasty. In order to destroy Shen Fu and his associates, Emperor Guangwu ordered the northern army to go out with Li Yangying to quell the chaos, with thousands of people. If there are 5,000 North Army soldiers and 5,000 Liyang Battalion soldiers participating in counter-insurgency, the soldiers of the North Army and Liyang Battalion participating in counter-insurgency can be divided into 2,500 each under the condition of equal distribution of troops.

After Emperor Zhuang ascended the throne, in order to punish the Western Qiang soldiers who plundered Longyou, Ma Wu, Dou Gu and others were ordered to kill Qiang people with Wuhuan soldiers, Liyang camp soldiers, recruiters in Sanfu area and Hu Qiangbing in Liangzhou counties, totaling 40,000 people. If 40,000 people are divided into four teams, such as Liyangying, then the number of people in each team is 10,000. That is to say, with 40,000 people divided into four teams, the Liyang camp led by Ma Wu and others will be assigned to 10,000 camps.

When Qiang and Fan attacked Longxi in the Tang Dynasty, the Eastern Han court sent the Fifth Battalion of the Northern Army, Liyangying, Yingyong Battalion, Sanfu Jishe and Hu Qiang, a border guard, to resist, with a total number of 30,000 people. It is known that the troops sent by the Eastern Han Dynasty consist of five parts: Beiyang Army's Fifth Battalion, Liyang Battalion, Yongying Battalion, Third Auxiliary Shooting and Border Guard, with a total of 30,000 troops. According to the average division method, the average number of soldiers in each part is 6000. In other words, the number of soldiers in Li Yangying and Ying Yongying participating in this military operation should be greater than or equal to 6,000, or less than or equal to 6,000.

After Emperor Han 'an succeeded to the throne, in order to expand the army, he began to recruit soldiers with property and food. After successful recruitment, Han Andi will appoint them as campers of Huben, Yulin and Tiqi. Since then, the camp guards in the Eastern Han Dynasty have chosen to go downhill. Due to the destruction of the border guard system, the choice of camp guards is also declining. In order to try to repair the loopholes in the military system of the Han Dynasty, Emperor Han Andi began to intentionally set up or reset some new camps and docks. In Dunhuang, Andi re-established the Dunhuang Camp with 300 soldiers. Emperor Han 'an set up Yuyang Camp while resetting Dunhuang Camp. According to Zhang Huai's letter to King Huai, Emperor Han An arranged 1000 soldiers in Yuyang.

During the reign of Andi, Xianbei people once invaded the valley. In order to repel Xianbei people, Emperor Han An sent 20,000 soldiers from border counties, Li Yangying soldiers and archers. Assuming that the soldiers in the border county, Liyang camp and Jisheshi Buqi are all equal in weight, then Liyang camp is about 6,000 to 7,000 people in Xianbei. In order to make the military action against Xianbei smoother, General Deng Zun arranged 3,000 archers in Duliao camp. Under this special arrangement, the Duliao battalion increased by 3000 soldiers.

After Andy's death, after a long struggle, the throne finally fell into the hands of his son Shun Di. Because the Wuhuan people surrounded General Geng Ye in Lan Chi Cheng, Emperor Shun of Han sent two thousand archers and one thousand soldiers from Liao camp to cooperate with the county soldiers and barracks near Lan Chi Cheng to conquer Wuhuan. In this military operation to repel Wuhuan, the number of people in a Liao battalion was 1000.

During the reign of Emperor Huan of the Han Dynasty, strongmen from the East and fairies invaded Guanzhong area and plundered Yunyang area. Under the brutal attack of five or six thousand troops, Huya Camp and Yongying Camp were completely annihilated, and more than a thousand soldiers died tragically under the sword of the Hu people. According to this record in the Book of the Later Han Dynasty, we can find that before this battle, if the soldiers were the same, at least 500 people could be assigned to Huya Camp and Yingyong Camp.

Based on the analysis of the combat records of soldiers in the Book of the Later Han Dynasty, it can be found that when Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty resumed Dunhuang soldiers, the number of soldiers arranged in each battalion was relatively small, only 300. Compared with this, during the reign of Emperor Huan, the tiger's teeth and soldiers against Dongqiang and other Hu people were slightly larger. In the case of equal numbers of two battalions, each battalion has at least 500 people.

More often, the number of soldiers in the Han Xiandi camp is not small. Usually, a battalion has as few as 1000 people and as many as six or seven thousand people. During the period of Emperor Zhuang of Han Dynasty, the Eastern Han Dynasty was at the peak of development in all aspects. Only when fighting against the western powers, a Liyang battalion can be assigned to 10,000 battalions, which is in a state of equal distribution, and the number has reached its peak compared with other periods. Through the analysis and arrangement of the above historical materials, we can find that in the heyday of the Eastern Han Dynasty, each battalion could have at least 10000 soldiers.

To sum up, although there were camps and schools in the Western Han Dynasty, camps rarely appeared as military institutions in the history books of the Western Han Dynasty. It was not until the transition period from the Western Han Dynasty to the Eastern Han Dynasty that Ying gradually became an editor. During the Eastern Han Dynasty, the strength of each battalion of other hostile forces could reach thousands or tens of thousands, while the strength of each battalion of the Han army usually fluctuated around 2,000.

It is worth noting that although there were camps and docks in the Eastern Han Dynasty, the arrangements for the camps and soldiers of the Han army were not fixed. Under the arrangement of different monarchs, facing different enemies and being in different places, the arrangements for camping soldiers are also different. In the Zhuang period, the arrangement of the Han army reached its peak. Under the condition of equal arrangement of troops, only the first battalion of Liyang could accommodate 10 thousand soldiers.

But the peak of the Eastern Han Dynasty was too short. With the gradual decline of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the monarch's arrangement for the number of campers was gradually decreasing. In the face of the conference semifinals that may appear at any time, Emperor Huan only arranged about 500 campers for important camps. With the gradual weakening of the arrangement of regular battalions, many people who have mastered military power have become increasingly arrogant, and the separatist forces are ready to move. A bloody battle will also befall the Eastern Han Dynasty, and the Han Dynasty will gradually perish.

Picture/from the network, deleted.