German Elegy: Marius's Roman Military Reform and the Death of the Germanic Nation

Text/Mu Zi Junkan History (mainly high-quality original articles, welcome to pay attention to forwarding) As I mentioned earlier, after the Battle of Araucio, the Roman Empire faced a huge crisis and was in danger of national subjugation at any time. For the survival of Rome, a fundamental institutional revolution is imminent. When the country was in crisis, national heroes appeared. First, the building will tilt-Marius's Roman military reform Gaius Marius was born in a village in the outer suburbs of Rome. His father is a descendant of a bankrupt knight, who makes a living as a tenant farmer for the landlord. The poor early life created Marius' complex character of diligence, frankness, meanness and cruelty. Marius joined the army as an adult, served under Sipia Junior, and finally made his mark in the Juguda War. Years of practical experience made him know that the military system formed in the Punic War in Rome had many disadvantages and had long been interested in reform. Roman military reformer: Mario Araucio returned to Rome as the winner of the Juguda War one month after his fiasco, held a grand victory ceremony, and was elected consul with absolute advantage in 104 BC, because all his competitors were dead. As the only surviving old general in Rome, Marius can finally carry out his military reform with confidence and boldness. Marius I's Military Reform: Replacing Conscription System with Conscription System The primary purpose of Marius's military reform is to try to recruit enough soldiers for Rome. By the end of BC 104, Rome had fought against Simbury, Teutonic and Ambon four times, plus three conflicts with Celtic directly caused by the Germans' southward migration. In nine years, seven wars and seven defeats, three consuls were killed, and 26 legions were almost left. Together with the allied forces, the total number of casualties will reach more than 200,000, which is more than the losses caused by the three Punic wars combined. In order to ensure that the Roman infantry had enough troops, Marius, as soon as he took office, joined the Senate to issue such a ban: all men who can afford weapons, regardless of race and class composition, are not allowed to leave Italy from now on, or they will be executed. He also recruited a large number of rogue proletarians and poor middle peasants from slums, and even released some slaves, using the money from the state treasury to purchase equipment for them, hoping to train these scum at the bottom of society into elite teachers who can compete with Teutonic warriors. From then on, it completely changed the temporary conscription system in Rome and the Republic of China, which took into account farming and war for hundreds of years. In order to develop stronger martial arts, once a soldier joins the army, he must serve continuously for at least 16 years. In the meantime, they are not allowed to bring their families and slaves, and everything must be handed over to the organization, and the organization is of course the commander Marius himself. Military Reform of Roman Cavalry Marius II: Reforming the Legion Establishment After recruiting enough soldiers, what Marius will do next is to reform the traditional Roman military establishment. * * * The Roman Legion in the early Republic of China was a very complicated multi-arms joint combat system. It consists of 60-80 men and 100 companies equipped with different weapons. As its basic combat unit, it includes a certain number of light infantry and heavy infantry, supplemented by a number of cavalry. The combination of long and short is convenient for independent operations. Such an army has the advantages of flexibility and changeable formation, but its organizational structure is too loose in the face of the German army with strong impact. To this end, Marius expanded the size of the Roman legion from 4200 to 5000 to 6000, divided into 1 cavalry Bailian and 10 brigade. Except for a few cavalry and engineers, the whole army is composed of heavy infantry wearing metal armor. In actual combat, the legion is more of a large group with Bailian as the basic unit. It is not difficult to see that this formation is basically tailored to resist the strong charge of the Germans. The Military Reform of the Roman phalanx Marius III: The unified weapons and equipment workers must sharpen their tools first if they want to do well. Marius popularized the powerful long-range weapon operated by professional engineers-crossbow gun with a range of more than 400 meters, and unified and strengthened the equipment of heavy infantry, thus making the Celtic chain mail better popularized. In addition, javelin, a traditional weapon of the Roman army, has now become a fragile children's toy in front of the Germanic double-edged tomahawk. In order to increase the lethality, Marius made the Roman javelin longer, thicker, heavier and stronger, and the total weight increased to 2 ~ 4 kg. Such a weighted javelin can not only be thrown, but also be suitable for hand-to-hand combat, becoming a short spear with a length of 1.6 ~ 2. 1 m. The shield of the ancient Roman crossbow gun has also been widened, lengthened and thickened, which can show the "tortoise shell array" used by the Roman imperial army in later generations and offset the advantage of strong impact of enemy weapons. According to Marius' new military thought, each Roman heavy infantry needs to carry two heavy javelins, a Spanish dagger, a dagger and a heavy shield, so as to change weapons according to different situations on the battlefield. In order to give consideration to both weapons and speed, Marius requires recruits to carry full sets of equipment, March for five hours at a speed of 5 kilometers per hour every morning, and then practice in the afternoon to exercise their physical fitness. Marius turned a blind eye to the fall of the soldiers who were constantly overdrawn. Under Marius' iron and blood training, the combat effectiveness of the Roman army finally rose to an unprecedented height. Spanish dagger II. The tragedy of Teutonic people-the demise of Teutonic people and Ambon people. In fact, if Simbri, Teuton and Anwen can enter Rome in time and decisively after the Battle of Araucio, this blueprint for military reform carefully designed by Marius will never be realized. It's a pity that they have no such idea at all. When the Roman legion was almost wiped out and the Italian door was wide open, the Simbri, Teutonic and Ambon people did not go south! It turned out that due to overpopulation and insufficient logistics supply, after the Battle of Araucio, the Germans decided to divide their troops into two ways and collect food and grass in Gaul. According to the plan, the Simbri people marched westward into the Garonne River basin and then southward to Spain. Teutonic and Ambon people went north to the Seine River basin and then headed for the Rhine River. Rome is really blessed! The Germans moved the soldiers of Simbury, Teutonic and Ambon in two ways. When Marius actively promoted the domestic military reform, the Simbri people were blocked by the local aborigines in the Spanish mountainous areas, and the progress was not smooth. Finally, they returned to Gaul in BC 103. Teutonic and Ambon people swept all the Celtic tribes in northern Gaul. In the spring of 102 BC, Marius got reliable military information: Simbri, Teutonic and Ambon joined forces in the upper reaches of the Seine and were moving to the southeast. They formed an alliance with the Helvetians living in present-day Switzerland, and planned to enter Italy through the territory of the latter. Marius judged that the enemy had two routes to choose from: either follow the original road of the Battle of Araucio and go down the Rhone River; Or cross the Alps along Hannibal's invasion of Italy. So he made two preparations: he led ten legions to defend the Rhone Valley, which was a little closer to the enemy, and handed over the important task of defending northern Italy at the southern foot of the Alps to another consul, Catullus, and the young aristocratic general who followed him for many years. Later history proved that such a strategic arrangement almost made a big mistake. In the upper reaches of the Rhone River, due to too many people and insufficient supplies, the Germans split again: the Simbri people chose Hannibal's road to cross the Alps, while the Teutons and Ambon people went directly south to the Mediterranean Sea and collided head-on with the main force of Marius. Battle of Araucio: Sixteen legions of Rome were completely destroyed, and Marius avoided direct confrontation. The battle of new tactics lasted for three days, and there was no winner. On the fourth day, Teutonic and Ambon people stopped pestering these Romans and planned to bypass them. Roman soldiers demanded a decisive battle, but Marius refused. A few days of defensive warfare has made his men familiar with the enemy's fighting methods, and the other side has obviously begun to despise themselves. But under the same conditions, it is still difficult for the Roman army to become the opponent of Teutonic warriors. Another fiasco will undoubtedly mean the demise of Rome and the country, and he can't afford the risk. Of course, this does not mean that he will condone the invasion of Italy. When the enemy went away, Marius quietly withdrew his troops from the fortress and pursued them closely. He wants to implement a brand-new tactic that is unprecedented in military history and has been tried and tested by armies all over the world in modern times: first, catch up with and surpass the enemy in parallel, and then go around to attack the enemy head-on when the enemy is unstable. This tactic requires extremely high physical fitness of soldiers, but it can always surprise the enemy, forcing him to fight with himself without a good array, thus achieving good results. Marius adopted a brand-new tactic, the Battle of Serto River. It was very dangerous to annihilate Ambon's pursuit of retreating enemy troops, because experienced generals would let the weak soldiers retreat first and lead the main force behind. After years of physical training, Roman infantry now runs very fast. A few days later, they caught up with the Germans stretching for dozens of miles from the flank. On the top of the mountain, they found the other striker Anwen taking a bath in the valley ... The southern Gaul in early autumn was dry and sultry, which made the Anwen people accustomed to the cold climate very uncomfortable. Suffering from the long journey, they completely forgot the dangers that might lurk around them, threw their clothes and weapons on the river bank and jumped into the cool river to play. Marius had already arranged the ambush point, and the nightmare of Ambon people came. This river is called "Pius River" because a Roman landlord named Pius used to run a grape plantation here. Opportunity knocks but once. Marius forgot all the beautiful natural and human landscapes in front of him, and said briefly and coldly to his men who ran to their throats and smoked, "Don't you want to drink water? I sold it to you at the foot of the mountain. Buy with blood! " When the bright moon rose, all the surviving Roman soldiers sat silently on the beaches on both sides of the Shelter River, looking at countless looming residual limbs in the river and recalling what happened a few hours ago. It was a chaotic battle, a bloody afternoon. Marius' novel tactics were a great success, and the enemy fought to the death without military preparation and extremely unfavorable terrain. Even women and teenagers bravely raised their tomahawks to fight the Romans. Unfortunately, all these efforts were in vain in the face of the elaborate strategic deployment of the Romans. As a nation, Ambon people actually don't exist now. There is only slaughter waiting for Ambon, but at this moment, the Romans have no intention to celebrate their victory, and they dare not sleep peacefully, because in the distant valley in the northwest, the Teutonic sad songs are echoing. That sound doesn't sound like human crying at all, but like thousands of wounded wolves growling. Although there is no simultaneous translation, everyone can understand the meaning of this song: revenge! Revenge! Revenge! The frightened Roman soldiers turned their heads to Marius, only to see a face as pale as theirs. Strangely, one day passed and two days passed, but the Teutonic revenge army, which frightened the Romans, did not appear. Marius settled down and decided to use Ambon's body as bait to design a trap for Teutonic people. He sent his lieutenant Mark Luce to ambush in the forest on the right bank with 3,000 chosen men, while he led the main force to advance to the left bank of the shelter river, farther and farther away from the old battlefield. Teutonic ambushed Roman soldiers. Sure enough, the Teutonic people appeared in the sheltered valley the next morning. Just as they buried the bodies of Ambon people with tears in their eyes, Marius suddenly led the cavalry back quickly, set up their positions on the already arranged hills and challenged each other. Sure enough, the Teutonic people, driven by almost crazy anger, immediately jumped on the Roman army without listing any positions. However, their heavy weapons could not play a role in the attack, and the group charge of Roman cavalry was unstoppable because of condescending reasons. After heavy losses, Teutonic people were pushed back to the plain, where they reorganized their formations and regained the upper hand in hand-to-hand combat. Marius's army's repeated attacks couldn't shake the fortified line as strong as the city wall, until Marius and his 3,000 chosen men suddenly appeared from behind the Teutonic people, and the balance of victory fell to the Roman side. The two sides fought fiercely until late at night, and the Teutonic army formation was completely shattered, but the tenacious resistance lasted for a whole day. When Teutonic main business fell, hundreds of women committed suicide by raising swords in it: being trampled by Roman soldiers was more terrible than death for them. Marius can now safely test his brilliant achievements. On the battlefield at his feet, there were100000 bodies of more than ten thousand Teutonic people, and more than 20000 people were captured. German soldiers besieged Roman cavalry 3. Sunshine, sandstorm and high temperature-the last Germanic nation died. Just as he was calculating his total income in the battle in the camp, a cavalry suddenly flew to the account and informed him that he had been elected consul for the fifth time in history. In addition, the Senate decided to hold a grand victory ceremony for Marius, but he wisely refused: Simbri people, who are more dangerous than Teutonic and Ambon people, are still active in an unknown area of Central Europe. These barbarians may suddenly attack Italy at any time, and it is not too late to hold a victory ceremony until they are destroyed. Marius won't have to wait long. The Simbri people are really here! It's overwhelming! Just two months after the Battle of Serto River, the Simbri people suddenly appeared in the snow in the Alps and launched a thunderous attack on the Roman army stationed in northern Italy. Catullus and Sura were beaten with no strength to fight back, so they had to lead thousands of beaten soldiers to flee the Po River a few days later, and all the land north of the Po River was lost. At this time, Marius was still far away in Gaul, and the Italian local forces were extremely empty, which was a good opportunity for the Simbri people to capture Rome in one fell swoop. The comfortable life has made the Simbri people lose their fighting spirit. Unfortunately, the pleasant climate in the Po River Plain made them linger. Wine replaced milk, hot springs replaced ice and snow, cashmere and flax replaced hides, and the sweet life consumed the fighting power of these barbarians bit by bit. They completely forgot the possible dangers and decided to spend the New Year there, while waiting for Teutonic and Ambon people to meet them. Six months later, instead of waiting for their Teutonic and Ambon brothers, the Simbri people waited for their sworn enemy, Marius. On July 30th, 65438 BC +0065438 BC+0, a battle of fate broke out between Rome and China in the western suburb of Milan. The Zimbabweans occupy the western part of the battlefield, with a total of about 200 thousand men, women and children; Rome was arranged in the east of the battlefield, posing as a crane wing array-Catullus and Sura led 20,300 people, and Marius himself commanded 35,000 people to split into two wings. Modern people's understanding of this war mostly comes from Sura's memories afterwards. According to his analysis, the main purpose of Marius's insistence on commanding the two wings is to snatch more military achievements from him. There is no hate without reason in the world. When Catullus and Sula were raided by Simbri people at the end of last year, they didn't get help from Marius, so they have been bitter. Even before the war, when they made a vow to worship God, they quarreled with Marius because of procedural problems, which shows the deep feud. The Roman legion array was successful, only one battle was needed. In the early morning, Bo Joecks led 15000 heavy cavalry into the battlefield, followed by tens of thousands of infantry, all with chains around their waists, forming hundreds of rows of serial long arrays. This is the secret of Simbly's continuous progress on the battlefield and winning every battle. The morning sun shines on the armor of the Simbri people, and the reflected light is brighter than the moon. But they couldn't see the enemy, because one of the main purposes of Marius' deployment in the east was to cover up the existence of our army with the rising sun in the east and influence the enemy's vision in the battle. Besides, even if he is still early, there will be a strong east wind that day. This prediction came true shortly after the start of the battle: the heavy cavalry of Simbri soon lost their way in the sand and crashed back into their own infantry phalanx, and thousands of infantry were pulled down by chains locked on themselves or trampled to death by war horses. However, even though the Roman cavalry had gained a clear advantage over the Simbury cavalry, the victory was still far away: the Simbury women were beating wild cowhide drums behind them, and their men quickly recovered their formation and advanced like waves again. If Marius had not reformed the formation of the Roman army before, the China army commanded by Catullus and Sura would surely collapse. After all, the Simbri people could not defeat the Roman conspiracy. It was not the Roman army that defeated the Simbri people, but the Italian heat. These northerners, who are used to the cold climate, have been fighting for more than ten hours at high temperature, and finally their physical strength is exhausted in front of their opponents because of too much water loss. After noon, the two-wing troops commanded by Marius stepped on knee-deep blood and gradually pressed against the enemy's heart. The dagger in the hands of the Romans struck neatly on the long shield, making a sound like hitting the gate of hell. At dusk, Bo Joecks, King of Simboli, fell to the ground after being hit by dozens of wounds. Twice as many Romans died at his hands as at Hannibal's. Unfortunately, many military history books don't have his name. Three days later, the battle was finally decided. Roman troops killed about 1.2 million Zimbabweans and captured 60,000 people. Roman historian Li Wei wrote with a trembling quill pen: "Crows in Italy have certainly never had such a rich feast of human flesh since the birth of the world ..." On August 2, the last 300 women in white in Simbri were trapped on a hill, and they asked Marius to preserve their virginity, but the respected consul replied that it would violate the Roman law of war. Before long, he saw the most tragic scene in this war: those women stabbed their parents to death in the mountains, strangled their children, and then all committed suicide. Roman soldiers walked past the ox cart in fear, the baby's body was under the wheel, the old man's body was lying in the carriage, and the mother's body was hanging on the roof. The white skirt hangs beside them, looking like a martyred angel and Christ on the cross. (Tragic history is nothing more than this, this is the end of a nation. ) The three Germanic peoples that once shocked Europe-Simbury, Teutonic and Ambon-have all perished, and the first large-scale southward migration of the Germans also failed. More than a month after Marius returned to Rome triumphantly with countless trophies, Marius returned to Rome triumphantly with countless trophies. The whole city knelt at his feet and hailed him as "the third founder of Rome and the father of the motherland" comparable to romulus and Camillus. In this way, Rome survived the most difficult stage in history, and now it is the real king of the Mediterranean! What the Romans didn't know, however, was that in the north, farther away than the hometown of Simbury, Teutonic and Ambon, one Germanic nation after another with stronger fighting capacity had begun to stir. References: edward gibbon's History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Luo Sanyo's History of the Great Migration of European Nationalities, Zhang Lianjun's On Marius' Military Reform, and A German Elegy: Marius' Roman Military Reform and the Death of the Germanic Nation are more exciting. Please pay attention to the History of Army Reclamation in Mu Zi. If there are any shortcomings, please criticize and correct them. Please leave a message and reply seriously! Thank you. The pictures in this article are all from the Internet, and the copyright belongs to the original author.