Total battlefield filled with one of the most brutal imagination, but in reality, how many people will die fighting it? Casualty rate is closely related to what factors?
Dead mountain sea of blood, no survivors, people often imagine the battlefield, especially for television alone, poetry ordinary people understand war. Chinese people especially, have impressed people the people's war, no survivors of the horrors often appear in textbooks.
Many well-known wars because of extraordinary casualties were recorded, and more fighting casualty rate is not high. From the Battle of the Chinese army in recent years can be seen.
War is the cause of death, but death comes frequency is affected by many factors, Tang said: "Zuiwo battlefield Jun Mo laugh, ancient expedition a few people back," while less than 400 Gulf War Allies death people. Ancient battlefield are no survivors yet? Modern war casualties are rare? What factors influence the death of patronage?
First of all, I start from the cold war weapons.
War 17 centuries ago
Cold War era weapons seem very cruel, the proportion of casualties is greater. But this impression is not reliable, first of all, very few accurate statistics on the casualties.
The most common number of war is exaggerated. "Warring States" in the hundreds of tanks Wan Cheng, Endeavor million cut tens of thousands of the enemy, and often more than one country's young population. The famous Battle of Changping, Qin Bai Qi Zhao abusing 400,000, almost impossible from a technical point of view.
Western record of the same problems. 216 BC, Hannibal to attack Rome, launched the Battle of Cannae, Roman historical records 80000 "annihilated" but archaeological proof of this statement is not reliable - a lot to be "wiped out" the soldiers actually escape , some 14 years later followed Scipio, too gal who complete the group's revenge in the battle of Zama.
Even battlefield casualties, nor is largely caused by war. Classical period, fighting in square units, then limited the enemy side, the depth of the soldiers without even the chance of war. Vanquished formation soon collapse, about 20% of deaths caused by the stampede.
In addition, the military often avoid combat. 1677 a general recalls: We like the fox cautious fight, you may want to come to a fight in twenty times after the siege. "Many forces within the visible range of vision confrontation, not to attack each other, once the weather turns cold, the two sides will have a decent excuse to return to camp and broke camp of Louis XV of France Marshal Sachs even said:." At close range in the crossfire of death, I saw even less than a total of four people. "
Interestingly, the army has long tradition of compromise, they sometimes artificially eliminate asymmetry factor, to a fair fight.
After the Second Punic War in 216 BC, the Romans Han pull Nepal elephants terrified, had agreed upon Buddha and the base too, after the war, not to use the elephant. In 1139, the Pope had personally encyclical, prohibit the use of crossbows (crossbow) fighting between Christian nation, because such inhumane weapons of excessive casualties, but the war with the infidels is not included the ban.
Really caused a lot of casualties, often due to tactical weapons behind in development. Once the tune tactics and weapons systems, the casualties will be drastically reduced.
17-18 century after the large-scale use of firearms, States have developed a tactical match, the battlefield is relatively mild. 1692, with tragic known Christi Kirk campaign, coinciding with the end of the era of matchlock, tactical reaching maturity, although the two sides to send troops to 150,000, but only 8,000 people were killed. Only a few years later, flintlock appeared in a series of battles that nearly half of the casualties only become common.
Weapons, make war more moderate?
After the 17th century, with the progress of weapons technology with each passing day. Paradoxically, despite a substantial increase in weapons of mass destruction, but sometimes greatly reduces the battlefield mortality.
Is a typical gas warfare, it is widely used in World War I, so that future generations caught discoloration. In fact, it is only 2% of mortality. However, the gas war deterrent effect is obvious, if replaced by guns, only to battlefield turned into flesh and blood mill can be compared. So military historian Fuller called "the most effective and humane weapons."
American Civil War, the 1000 annual average of 21.3 people dead soldiers, to the First World War, soldiers killed per 1,000 people dropped to 12, World War II was nine, during the October 1973 war, division-level forces fighting daily average casualty rate of about 2%.
After the 1990s, the rate of decline is more obvious casualties. Gulf War coalition to win less than 400 casualties, greatly shocked the people's military concept. Thereafter the West waged several wars, all multi-fit, precision strike, fast completion of fighting, casualties ratio is very low.
Behind this phenomenon is an important change in the concept of war. Cold War era, often on behalf of a battle in a war, killing the enemy is an important criterion for the amount of victory. And pay more attention to modern warfare to control the situation, the fight against objects finer distinction, with the help of technology, the strategic objectives very quickly.
Specifically battlefield, army synthesis degree of improvement, but also significantly reduced casualties. The Civil War, 80% of the army infantry, with the weapon system becomes complicated, smaller and smaller proportion of ordinary infantry. Even with a large traditional Chinese army infantry, infantry company of the 21st century is not the number to 2000.
Synthetic tactical unit can withstand very low casualty rate. Patton in World War II the United States led the Third Army in the European experience shows that the division level combat units, 20% of the casualties loses offensive capability, only elsewhere padded arms, retreat or surrender.
At the same time, personnel-intensive declining, so that the number of casualties dropped. Famous military history expert Dupuy has done statistics, although large-scale lethal military formations up to 2000 times the original, but in reality soldiers dispersed rate increased 4,000 times, far beyond the scope of weapons progress.
First World War, the emergence of machine guns and barbed wire, which greatly increased the infantry casualties. Thereafter, the synthesis unit operations and dispersing become an irreversible trend, very few people who can fight human-intensive industrial power.
But people still try, although not intended. Ray Huang memoirs, described the military during the war, "attack the ants swarming attached, back then the bird Ben beast loose", can easily be hit. The Korean War battlefield, numerous seat Shangganling infantry flesh obtained tragic victory at the expense of the overall attrition rate of 51.5%.
In some cases, the progress of weapons still increased mortality, it is guerrilla warfare, civilians Wuzhuangchongtu. The goal is to fight against the vital forces, the means to do anything, penetrate into every corner, played a technical brutal bloody side. Such consequences are mostly swallowed by the fighting civilians, daunting.
Medical gift
Although you can not change the number of medical casualties, but it can greatly reduce the ratio of casualties.
Early battlefield, quirky folk therapies proving ground. Few professional medic, and are usually priests, alchemist confused, often only rescue the soul, but the body has been ahead of the wounded. And cold weapons in war, wounded soldiers lying on the ground soon become trampled upon the object of those killed in this period far more than the wounded, and rescue agencies Military better than nothing.
Gunshot wounds appear MEDICAL quite a long time did not adapt to this change. They wound complications attributed gunpowder poisoning. Treatment principles are also poles apart, in 1517 the German publication "Jane Field, MD book" advocate before the suture with hot sesame oil pouring large wound. French medic refused to yield, proponents for the expansion of the wound, allowing free flow of pus.
Doctors try to give some of the wounded bleeding blood transfusion. In 1818 a man named Bulundeer doctor did a try, the wounded died within hours. Franco-Prussian War, the number of casualties to the Prussian wounded transfusion of blood at the beginning of any knowledge of the 19th century, the natural result is tragedy.
During World War II, due to the establishment of a series of treatment principles, even as pre-modern country like China, the wounded rejoin the average rate can reach 50%. The beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the Soviet 76%, the Germans can reach more than 80%.
For centuries, the wounded limb injuries, amputations medical field are preferred. During this period, similar to the work of doctors and carpenters. Mingjiaolalei a French medic, in Boluo Ting Battle of sweat a day to do 200 cases of surgery to amputate the arm and leg piled hill in tents.
In the absence of anesthetic era, this is a brutal torture, many wounded would rather die than endure pain. Louis XIV once said, "The soldiers feared surgeons scalpel, worse than enemy fire."
Skilled "craftsman" is a valuable military asset, 1820s, Frenchman James Syme can be stripped tendons, bones within a minute and a half, one leg unloaded, greatly reducing the time suffering the wounded, so he became stunt France's chief field doctor.
However, only the first step for treatment of amputation, gangrene and other infections are still fatal. In the absence of awareness of the importance of disinfection, treatment basically resigned. Franco-Prussian War 13,200 amputees, nearly 10,000 infections eventually death.
More terrible than the casualties fighting the disease. Prior to 1870, the armed forces who died of the disease is much higher than those killed, the wars of Napoleon carried this proportion has remained at 8: 1. American Civil War, often from a group before launching into battle to have attrition half. The end of the First World War, the nascent Soviet regime of workers and peasants, resulting in hundreds of thousands of soldiers died of typhoid, foreign Wuzhuangganshe coincides with the time, the great leader Lenin anxiously commented: "If socialism can not beat this disease, it will turn to overcome social ism. "
Medical progress and ultimately improve the casualties, especially universal birth antibiotics, and battlefield stepped care system. World War II began, the proportion of casualties has stabilized at 3: 1 to 4: 1, in the subsequent decades have not changed. The most developed of the United States, the proportion of casualties on the battlefield in Vietnam reached 7: 1, to the war on terror, this figure rises to 10: 1.
War is certainly terrible, but thankfully, no matter what time, most people back.
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