1. History
This history written by the ancient Greek historian Herodotus (484-425 BC) is also called "History of Persian War", with a total of 9 volumes. Its main content is to describe the struggle and military events between the Greek world and West Asia before 478 BC.
The first four volumes mainly describe the achievements of Persian kings: the growth of Ju Lushi and his conquest of Medea (550 BC) and Babylon (539 BC), Kambisi's expedition to Egypt (525 BC), the rise of Darius I and its western expedition (5 13 BC).
It also describes the legends, customs, habits, politics and military affairs of Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Lydia, Medea and Persia. After recording these backgrounds, volumes 5-9 comprehensively describe the process of the Greek-Persian war. It can be said that the vision is broad and magnificent, but it is also everywhere, and the follow-up is random. Through my travels and sightseeing, I recorded what I saw and heard, and collected a lot of historical facts, which became precious historical materials for studying the military history of the countries around the Mediterranean at that time. The main historical materials we know about the Greek-Persian war come from this book.
But Herodotus was just an excellent expert in recording. He is credulous and often exaggerates. For example, the total number of Persian soldiers who went to Greece for the third time was 5,283,220, which was obviously an astronomical figure in terms of material conditions at that time.
He only talks about the matter, and is often satisfied with the superficial causes of the incident, rather than delving into it. As he recorded, the reason for the Persian war was that the Greeks robbed a woman from the Persians, the Persians robbed a woman from the Greeks, and the Greeks robbed another woman from the Persians. This seems to think that such an unprecedented war is only for three women, which is obviously very funny.
In a word, as a historian, he is too credulous. As a military historian, his war history is very vivid one after another, but it is difficult to distinguish between true and false, and there is no strategic concept. His achievement is that he recorded the world's political and military events for the first time and provided rich historical materials for future generations.
2. History of the Peloponnesian War
The History of the Peloponnesian War written by Thucydides (460-399 BC) is an eight-volume book. Its main content is to describe the internal confrontation in Greece in the late 5th century BC, especially the military conflict between Athens and Sparta. The author himself was the witness of this war, and once served as one of the ten generals in Athens, and led troops to compete with Sparta, so all the records are credible.
As a military historian, he is better than Herodotus. He not only described the war that lasted intermittently for 27 years in chronological order, but also connected the examples. Instead, he put forward his own views in a timely manner, which represented his military thoughts.
He is aware of the constraints of economy on the army, and thinks that if the treasury is not full, it will not be able to support a long-term war or maintain a fleet. The Trojan War lasted for a long time, not because of "lack of people, but because of lack of money and supplies", which forced the Greek Coalition forces to rob regardless of arms and could not participate in the war. Otherwise, the war will not last for ten years.
When discussing the Peloponnesian War, it was repeatedly emphasized that "money is more important than armaments, because only money can make armaments effective". He emphasized the importance of military discipline. "If the military discipline of the army is particularly good, it is the best and safest to let the whole army act like one person"; It is useless to despise the enemy and have an undisciplined army. In his view, we should not let our guard down because of the superiority of the army. "In a war, many things are unpredictable, and attacks often happen on impulse. An army that is at a disadvantage in number will often defeat the superior enemy who is overconfident and neglected to guard against it because of caution. " An army with high vigilance "can be brave and diligent in attack and cautious and reliable in defense."
In terms of strategy and tactics, he also put forward some viewpoints sporadically: "War is undoubtedly not something to be done according to a certain model; On the contrary, it often creates its own conditions. Under these conditions, one has to adapt himself to the changing situation "; In order to understand the enemy's weakness, commanders should "know how to make full use of their own forces and fight in the way that is most suitable for the actual situation instead of the obvious and well-known method" and "use this unexpected method" to "cheat the enemy" and win; The most appropriate way to hurt the enemy is to find the way that the enemy is undoubtedly most afraid of, and then attack the enemy in this way.
These discourses are similar to the tactics mentioned in China's The Art of War, such as "the soldiers are not in shape, the water is in an impermanent potential" and "avoiding the real and attacking the virtual, and winning by surprise".
When discussing the origin of the war, he did not attribute it to accidental factors, but delved into its far and near reasons, and thought that the fundamental reason of the Peloponnesian war was "the growth of Athenian power and the fear of Sparta"; When analyzing the causes of failure, he did not rashly attribute it to providence like Herodotus. He believes that the failure of Athens is due to inner-party struggle. They must deal with their enemies and allies at the same time; And strategic mistakes like the expedition to Sicily.
Comparatively speaking, he paid more attention to strategic issues than Herodotus, and was regarded as the first historian to discuss military strategy in western history. His works are also the first military works in western history, but they are not military theoretical works.
3. Xenophon's military theory
Xenophon (about 430-355 BC) was an Athenian, a famous writer and historian in ancient Greece, and a disciple of Socrates. He opposed Athenian democracy and supported the aristocratic government. He took part in the expedition of Greek mercenaries and helped Kurus fight for his brother's throne (40 BC1). After the expedition failed, he led more than 10,000 mercenaries back to Greece to withdraw their troops, which showed his general ability. Later, I mainly engaged in writing. He is brilliant and literary, and is called "the bee of Attica".
He wrote many works about history, economy, philosophy and military affairs in his life. Economic Theory and Income of Athens discuss the problems of farming and combat readiness from a military perspective. Greek history defines epaminondas' new phalanx tactics. On strategy and tactics in Socrates' words and deeds. "Planning for cavalry leaders" and "Planning for cavalry" discuss cavalry tactics and the responsibilities of cavalry commanders; Biography of Ju Lushi extensively discusses military science, including the basic theories of military organization, military training, education, supplement and tactics. But the most famous is his memoir Long March, or Expedition of Ten Thousand People, which is regarded as the first monograph on military theory in western history.
To sum up, his military thought is: advocating the interdependence of agriculture and war, the unity of agriculture and war, and paying equal attention to agriculture and war. He believes that agriculture and tactics are "two noblest and most necessary undertakings", and agriculture is the mother of other skills, which can increase property and train elite soldiers. And "if no one defends the land, it is useless to cultivate many acres of land ... even a brave army can't do without the help of workers."
Emphasize the role of military discipline, "Discipline ensures safety, and indiscipline is always the source of defeat", "An army without order is a rabble", "It is useless and easy to be captured by the enemy", "They hinder me, I hinder you, some run, some stop, chariots hit cavalry, donkeys hit chariots, bearers hit cavalry" and trample on each other. How can they March to win the battle? If all arms are "lined up and neatly behind officers", they can be invincible. The brave soldiers between the two armies won. "In a war, it is not the number or strength of soldiers that determines victory, but whose army, in the name of God, has a stronger heart", that is, morale is the basis of victory;
To be a general, we should stimulate the enterprising spirit and lofty aspirations of soldiers, "make soldiers feel obligated to go through fire and water with him" and "make contributions and make a name for themselves". In western history, he may be the first scholar to put forward the strategy of "getting food from the enemy". He thinks that "getting materials from the enemy" is very important, and "in wartime, it is often more reliable to search for food with armed forces than to collect food with agricultural tools".
His book "Long March" puts forward the practical application of many specific tactics, such as taking the mountain to take the road, feinting at the front and taking it from the flank; In the face of strong enemies, we should make good use of array methods and attack in a horizontal array. When the enemy retreated, the soldiers were divided into two ways, with the bright team luring the enemy and the dark team sneaking.
Xenophon is a military theorist, strategist and tactician. "His originality and genius of invention have a far-reaching influence on the later Greek art of war. This influence has been passed down to modern times, "wrote a modern military science researcher. "Before Alexander, Xenophon was undoubtedly the most instructive soldier. It was he who pointed out to the world what the tactics of quitting the division were and how to command a guard force.
The Long March gives us more tactical ideas than any other book. After 23 centuries, there is no better military course than the Long March.