10 scary weapons and tactics in ancient war

War psychology, chemical weapons or death horns, are the scary weapons and tactics used in ancient war.

Scary weapons and tactics in ancient war

The death whistle of the Aztecs

A few decades ago, archaeologists found burial items that looked very peculiar in a temple of the Aztecs in Mexico. Given that they are just toys or decorations, they list and store them in the warehouse. However, a few years later, they discovered that they were the death whistle that made a shrill sound like a scream. Ancient Aztecs used them in sacrifices or fights to threaten enemies.

In battles, the scary sound of hundreds of death-row whistle horns has a huge psychological impact, causing enemies to disorient and discourage. It is like "the sound of people screaming in pain, the sound of wind whistling or the screaming of thousands of zombies".

Cavalry with iron

In the 7th-8th century BC, tanks were gradually replaced by cavalry units in the Near East. Some lightly equipped units that are tasked with harassing enemies or pursuing the enemy are on their way. Some are heavily equipped, have the task of ambushing to break the enemy formation.

The most heavily armed cavalry unit in ancient times was the cataphract cavalry. The word "cataphract" comes from the Greek word, meaning "all-enveloping" or "all-encompassing" . However, the cataphract is not a Greek product. It was used to refer to the army of the Seleucid Empire around the 4th century BC, after they opened many military campaigns against its eastern neighbors.

Usually cataphract cavalry is mobilized when mass attacks on enemy lines are needed. Thanks to the heavy armor, the cataphract cavalry can inflict a powerful blow. Talking about the power of the cataphract cavalry, historian Tacitus writes that "when they attacked the enemy from horseback, there was almost no battle line that could stop them."

The power of the cataphract cavalry could also have a psychological impact on the enemy, historian Cassius Dio said. Describing Crassus's defeat at the Battle of Carrhae, Dio wrote that "many people died from terror in the first attack of the rider." The fame of the cataphract cavalry became even more magnificent when Heliodorus and Plutarch declared that they were so powerful that one could kill two people.

Toxic

People have long used poison as weapons. In ancient times, people soaked poison on hunting weapons to quickly kill enemies or prey. Once you understand the strengths of the poison, people create many tools and specialized weapons with them. Researchers believe that more sophisticated and mysterious killing tools are probably only for high-ranking members of the tribe, making it easy for outsiders to believe that their deaths are due to a force. some mystic caused.

These sudden deaths are often so mysterious and confusing that in some cultures, these poisons are assigned to evil spirits, demons and creatures from the afterlife.

The poisoned weapon that first appeared in ancient Greek mythology revolves around the poisoning of Hercules's arrow with the venom of the monster Hydra. Homer's epic also mentions the use of poisoned weapons in the Trojan War.

The ancient people used various ways to destroy the enemy with poison. For example, Hindus poison poisoning of enemies' food, Chinese people burn poisonous plants to create what is called "fog chasing souls", or Greeks drop pearly flowers containing toxins. down important water bridges to poison water. Even Leonardo de Vinci mentions the story of a large ship filled with a mixture of sulfur, arsenic and rust to attack enemy ships. When inhaling vapor from this mixture rises, sailors will suffocate immediately.

Tank

The chariot is the preeminent weapon in the period of the New Kingdom of Ancient Egypt (16-11 century BC). In fact, it is considered a super weapon of the ancient world. The history of the chariot began before it appeared in ancient Egypt over a millennium.

In 1927-1928, while excavating the area of ​​modern Ur Cemetery in Iraq, British archaeologist Leonard Woolley found an artifact known as the Royal Ur Flag (dating to heaven). third century BC. One side of this artifact depicts the Mesopotamian war machine shaped like a four-wheel rickshaw pulled by four donkeys. The artist also explained how to operate this weapon with drawings depicting its different motion states. These donkeys were first to go, then trotting and finally galloping. In order for viewers to understand that this is a combat weapon, the painter also added a picture of one or two enemies being crushed away.

The ancient Egyptians used major tanks to protect infantry. Since the terrain of Egypt and Canaan is not suitable to deploy heavy tanks, the Egyptians used tanks as mobile platforms instead of using them to attack the enemy directly. The warriors on the tanks are equipped with bows, arrows and short spears. Not only did they use the chariots to shoot arrows like rain on enemy troops, the Egyptians also used this war machine to chase away the enemy that was fleeing.

Greek fire

"Greek Fire" or "Sea Fire", was the first weapon to appear in the Byzantine Empire in the 7th century. According to historian Theophanes, it was invented in the 6th century by the Greek architect Kallinikos, served as a resident of Heliopolis before moving to Baalbeck. This is still controversial. Other historians believe it was invented in Constantinople by a group of Alexandria-based chemists.

This weapon is a liquid. People poured it into jars and used a catapult to throw at the enemy ship or spray. It ignites itself. It is worth noting that the fire still burns in the water and pouring water into the fire only makes it spread even more. Therefore, it is difficult to control fire. Only a small negligence could cause great damage and casualties to Byzantine ships.

This weapon made an important contribution to winning the city of Constantinople before the Arab army and many other invaders afterwards.

Biological weapons

History notes the terrible impacts that diseases, pollution and toxins can cause to people. From prehistoric times, people have learned many experiences and knowledge from these expensive lessons and applied them thoroughly to creating biological weapons and constantly using them. in the fight against the enemy.

In ancient times, people did not fully understand the spread of the disease, but they believed that human corpses or rotting animals were a source of disease. From 400 BC, the known Scythian archers dipped their names in scavengers and bloody stools. British archers often put arrowheads on the ground right in front of them. In doing so, not only can they draw arrows and shoot quickly, but the arrowheads will be dirty and easily cause infection for the name hit. From 300 BC, Greek, Roman and Persian fighters polluted wells with faeces and animal carcasses.

In the 14th century, Black Death, a pandemic was thought to be a plague outbreak that spread throughout Europe, the Near East and North Africa, causing the greatest medical disaster in human history and robbing it. lives of 75-200 million people. It is painful to know that this pandemic is partly caused by humans during the war. The corpses were thrown through the besieged city wall to intimidate, creating an unbearable stench (the smell itself also contained germs) and infecting the enemy.

Scythia fly tactics

The Scythian is famous for its bu fly tactics, which were carried out before any other tactics such as hitting diversion or defending.

When implementing this strategy, many units will surround and attack the target at the same time. However, the units will move with the same target to consume each part of the enemy force and break the enemy formation right from the inside. The slow movement along with the continuous sniping from afar made the enemy terrified and depressed. The Roman army must have experienced this when they could only move and fight within the enemy's enclosure just a meter away. Scythians took advantage of this distance at the battle of Carrhae in 53 BC.

"They (Roman soldiers) clumped in a tight space, entangled and shot down by their names," wrote Greek historian Plutarch.

The dense name fence made the enemy gradually disoriented, so helping the archers on their horses could concentrate completely destroy the enemy. It can be said that the opening strategy of this battle meant shooting arrows like rain at enemy troops, holding on to the target to dissipate the life force, allowing the archers on horseback to shoot and then shoot accurately. target.

Chemical weapons

The first archaeological evidence of the use of chemical weapons was found in the Dura-Europos region, on the banks of the Euphrates River, Syria. Dura-Europos is a Roman city that fell into the hands of Sassanans around the middle of the 3rd century.
Although there is no record of the last siege, French and American archaeologists have found clues about what happened. Many excavations of the city of Dura-Europos were conducted in the 1920s and 1930s. Archaeologists found a mine of Persians and another Roman mine. In addition, they found the bodies of at least 19 Roman soldiers and a Sassania soldier piled up in the tunnel.

In 2009, after studying the collected evidence, people understood what happened during the siege. The Sassania used poison gas to destroy Roman guards. They throw sulfur and asphalt into the fire, forming a gas that causes suffocation. When Roman guards came in, the gas would become sulfuric acid. Just a few minutes later, the Romans in the tunnel all died. This happened when the Romans broke into the mines of the Sassania people just below their mines. The only Sassania soldier killed could be the victim of the weapon he used and also died of poison gas. After the tunnel was cleared, the Sassanans stacked the corpses into a pile at the mouth of the Roman tunnel like a protective wall and entered the tunnel.

War psychology

The Battle of Pelusium was an important historical battle that took place in the 6th century BC. In this battle, the Persians defeated the Egyptians and became the new owners of this land. The battle is one of the first examples of the use of psychological warfare. Knowing that the Egyptians worshiped cats and considered them symbols of the goddess Bastet, the Persian king Cambyses II ordered his soldiers to paint cat-shaped gods on shields. It is said that during the match, the Persian army always followed a large flock of cats. The Egyptians did not dare to harm this sacred animal and were forced to offer it to the Persians.

Archimedes heat beam weapon

It is said that the mathematician, engineer, inventor and Greek astronomer Archimedes (287-212 BC) invented the type of heat ray weapon, also known as "dead ray" to drain destroy warships attacking Syracuse, the famous city in Sicily history. According to Lucian in the second century and many centuries later, this weapon focused light reflected from the copper shields hitting the enemy ships causing them to burn.
Although historians are still arguing about this weapon, experiments have proven its existence is possible. In 1973, Greek scientist Ioannis Sakkas erected 70 covered mirrors that showed a model of plywood made of plywood 50 meters away. When the light reflected from the mirrors converged on the ship, it caught fire.

In 2005, a group of students from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology successfully simulated this ancient weapon. They used square mirrors to burn a boat in the port of San Francisco.