Common equipment: long sword

In many literary works, all "swords" can be mixed with the word "long sword" for rhetorical convenience; The real long sword appeared in the early Middle Ages. It is a kind of light, thin and moderate length weapon, which can be easily used by both hands. Cutting and stabbing are the main attack methods. The blade of a long sword is 71-81 cm long and the handle is 21-25 cm long, but the destructive power of this sword is too small, so it is mainly used by ordinary soldiers. It is also for this reason that the handle of a long sword is generally not decorated or only has a long oval counterweight ball.

king of one-handed weapons: knight sword

knight sword is developed from a long sword and absorbs many characteristics of Viking sword. In the 11th century, these special weapons for knights on horseback appeared: pike and kite shield. However, the use of shields and manipulation of horses made the knight's long sword lose its use value with both hands, and the narrow and thin long sword was not destructive enough to the chain armor, so the knight's special sword appeared. The blade of the knight sword is an acute isosceles triangle with a length of 71 to 81 cm. The grip can only be held by one hand, and it has a large counterweight ball, which can give full play to the power of spikes in horse fighting, and it is also the best choice when facing the enemy who is standing on the ground or has fallen to the ground. In the movie Lord of the Rings, the knight sword is the weapon used by the knights of the horse kingdom of Lohan. However, if we have to fight by foot, this kind of sword chopping is really bad ... So in the 12th century, broadsword and sword chopping were born.

Scottish sword: Claymore

This sword is a pure infantry sword. People who have seen the movie Brave Heart should have a deep impression on it: at least 1.5 meters in length, a blunt head, a broad but thin blade, and a flat blade above the grip. Everything exists for "chopping". In the battle of the Scots against the English, in the face of England's neat spear infantry lineup, the sword-cutting that is good at "cutting more than one" in melee has played its power. But as military equipment, it is too extreme; Therefore, except for some mercenaries, sword-cutting gradually lost its value.

Blade in the Stone: Broad sword

Broad sword is a weapon with typical English flavor. Parallel blade, long oval head, generous blade body and hilt enough for both hands are very featureless weapons, but they can play a role in immediate, step-by-step, peacetime self-defense or water combat, and have been the mainstream personal weapons from the 11th to 15th centuries. Legend has it that King Arthur's steel-cutting Rapier Excaliber is also a broad sword; But in the fifteenth century, the gradually developed metallurgical technology gradually gave its position to Dajian.

Great "bastard": Bastard Sword

In the 15th century, advanced metallurgical technology from China and Japan was introduced to Europe through the spread of Arabs. Therefore, the problem of "you can't kill two birds with one stone", which has been bothering soldiers and mercenaries for a long time, was solved by the appearance of the big sword. The word "Bastard" appears in the name of Dajian, because it has both the "stab" of a knight's sword, the "chop" of a sword and the "smoothness" of a broad sword. In fact, this kind of sword is the most perfect; Whether the shield is used or not, it can play its role.

There is no uniform standard for a handy sword. Generally speaking, the blade length is half of the user's height, and the handle length is one-third of the blade length, which is the best ratio (have you found it? In fact, Japanese ben Dao is also in line with this ratio for Japanese ben people with an average height of about 1.55 cm in ancient times); Parn's magic sword and Ashrum's broken soul sword in The Battle of Rhodes are both big swords (but the broken soul in the novel is a two-handed sword), and so is Aragon's sword in The Lord of the Rings.

the extreme of piercing: armor-piercing sword (Estoc)

Just as the sword-chopping has developed to the extreme to exert its lethality against light infantry equipped with chain armour, in the 14th and 15th centuries, with the popularity of big swords, the development of metallurgical technology has also made the heavy sheet metal armor stronger and lighter and more flexible. More and more knights and mercenaries are beginning to favor this practical and simple equipment (this armor is much simpler than the chain armor woven by tens of thousands of iron rings or even metal wires). And some wealthy knights also put sheet metal armor on the light lock armor to improve their defense. Even a sharp sword can't penetrate this armor, and the short spear of the infantry doesn't have such penetration, so another extreme appeared.

Armor-piercing sword and sword-chopping sword are weapons of the same level. To be exact, it is actually an enlarged awl. Regardless of the need for beheading, a sword with a length of 91 to 111 cm often has a triangular, quadrangular, rhombic or even circular cross-section, and behind the hilt that can be used by both hands, there is often a counterweight ball like a short butt, which can increase the power of stabbing with shoulders.

Although the armor-piercing sword is like a demon for soldiers wearing armor, it is really a disadvantage in hand-to-hand combat. However, for the master who is really good at using it, the sharp tip of the armor-piercing sword when waving at high speed is extremely terrible. At this time, they will also use the prepared left-handed dagger to make a final blow to the enemy time.

Hidden killer: main-corche

This kind of dagger named "left hand" in French can be said to be designed for fencers. Friends who are around 21 years old and have seen the black-and-white movie "Revenge of the Prince" should remember that both sides took two swords in the final duel, right? In fact, the left-handed dagger is to make up for the fencing that pays attention to lightness and sacrifices defense, and the most extreme example is the shield sword. There are also snake-shaped and various weird designs with locks ... In short, they are auxiliary weapons. But it also has the lethality when necessary.

Sleek and strong: Tiny Sword

In reality, the slender sword is a favorite weapon of German aristocrats, but in the world of fantasy novels, it has become a favorite thing of elves and women. For example, DEEDLIT ... Of course, in ancient times, there were many female mercenaries who guarded important wives.

Although it is known as "slim body", it is very different from the later special Raiper (epee or foil in fencing). In fact, this should be a big sword redesigned for women or thin people. Although the body of the sword is very narrow (as wide as the hilt), its slightly thicker blade ridge makes it destructive when it is held in both hands.

Because it has a lot of room for decoration, many nobles who are confident in physical strength like it. Judging from the fact that Bordeaux in Dumas' three musketeers is good at chopping, he probably used the same weapon.

Rapier

Rapier first appeared in France in the 5th century. Due to the gradual increase of urban population and the repair of roads, people's communication and daily life are safer and more convenient than before. Therefore, it is not necessary for ordinary people to travel in armor and sabre, but sabre has become a symbol of masculinity in martial western culture. Therefore, no matter the nobles or the people, as long as they can afford it, they will definitely wear swords. Even the sword has become a symbol of difference between city people and country people. At the same time, the duel also changed from wearing a helmet and armor to fighting with a thin sword. Even in costume design, the sword is often taken into account as a part of the whole body costume. From a certain point of view, the rapier is perhaps the most widely known western weapon in China.

German cut and thrust sword:

This one-handed sword, which was popular among Germans from 1375 to 1451, is a typical transitional type between knight sword and big sword. This weapon was first designed for lightly armored infantry and gradually accepted by the knight class. It has a beautiful and slender straight blade and a uniform shallow arc front. While ensuring the power of puncture, it also ensures the strength when chopping. Generally speaking, it is 41 3/8 inches long, 34 inches long, 1 7/8 inches wide and 3/16 inches thick. Both cutting and stabbing can ensure sufficient destructive power and strength. And this weapon is quite light, only 3 pounds and 4 ounces. From this point, we can see that it is a weapon designed on the basis of step warfare. It is not destructive to heavy armor, but it is convenient to use. Compared with the big sword, which is often more than 4 feet and weighs more than 9 pounds, it is indeed a big gap, but it is the earliest design that combines "chop" and "stab", which has a great influence on the development of weapons in later generations.

DES FLAMBER GE:

The original name of DES FLAMBER GE in German means "flaming blade". As its name suggests, this weapon has always been a symbol of the authority of German courts and courts from 15 to 17 centuries. Soldiers in vestments hold two-handed flaming swords (zweihande

flaming ge), just as China's officials hold fire and water sticks, and Roman guards carry "fascism" on their shoulders, which symbolizes the harsh and ruthless side of the law. The Swiss mercenaries who are unarmed and rush into each other's crossbows with flaming swords are just like the frightening swordsmen in Scotland, which is the most fearful nightmare for unarmed or lightly armored soldiers. However, compared with fire and water sticks or fascism, which can not be used as weapons in charge, it may be a symbol of the concise pragmatism of the Germanic nation from this point of view. At that time, the first infantry in European battlefields were often light infantry such as spearmen and musketeers, or even Swiss and German mountaineers who charged with such a huge and horrible weapon without armor protection at all. Mercenaries who walked like mountains and plains could quickly tear open the first line of defense, directly exposing heavy infantry and heavy cavalry who had no time to charge before their own firepower and the sharp edge of cavalry charge. And the curved blade that is very similar to the Malaysian Kurisi sword is a cruel and effective weapon for the defenseless body. It can be cut deeper than a straight-edged sword, and it doesn't need a strong wave perpendicular to the tangent plane like a machete. A straight wipe can cause a deep wound. This is the same starting point as the serrated blade that is often used on the German double-handed sword.

German two-handed sword:

German two-handed sword is very different from the general two-handed sword, which is generally called "GREAT SWORD". Generally, the proportion of two-handed swords is the same as that of long swords or big swords. On the other hand, the blade of the German two-handed sword, which is 4.5 feet, is less than 3.5 feet. The most interesting thing is that the most common grip method of this huge slender weapon, which is more than 6 feet 2 inches long, is to hold the blade protected by wood in one hand and the upper part of the hilt in the other hand, so as to give full play to the striking ability of the short blade and the slender and tough hilt in narrow places, and also to exert the power of slashing with both hands in the field. However, what is different from the giant sword that is usually used against soldiers with heavy armor is that the target of this weapon is light infantry; It can be said that this is the most common weapon in the German peasant uprising, so it often adopts flame-shaped blade or sawtooth-shaped design. It is not so much a sword as a weapon closer to China's ju and Japan's ben's wild Tai Dao.

Scottish Basket Hilt Claymore/Broad Sword:

After the Renaissance, the Scots absorbed the decoration of the thin sword popular in mainland China on the basis of their national weapons, and slightly miniaturized the broadsword and broadsword, and then wrapped the whole armguard with a whole wire basket hilt and lined it inside. Not to mention the practicality, at least those Scottish men wear gorgeous tight coats, berets with feathers, red tartan skirts and stockings, and these ornate swords become a beautiful landscape on them, which makes them look jubilant and energetic. Scots have always been arrogant and aggressive. In those days, duels were commonplace. Because there is no need to fight against armor, cage swords are almost all single-handed swords, and one-handed cage sword and one-handed small round shield are the registered trademarks of Scottish men in duels in those days. Of course, due to the design of chopping swords, these swords are still dominated by slashing in duels. As a national weapon and ornament, the cage sword can be seen in various Scottish folk celebrations until today. And the props of the traditional sword dance in Scotland are precisely this gorgeous weapon that symbolizes the prosperity of this highland nation. Just as cutting a sword is like a cross leading to freedom, the cage sword also has the meaning of a basket symbolizing harvest. Weapons in times of peace and weapons in times of war may also be obvious at a glance.

War Rapier (CID sword):

Looking at the whole European continent, perhaps no nation likes splendor, extravagance and pride more than the Spanish. It seems that the character of the whole Spanish nation is painted with strong red and black. It is this Spain that can be said that most of the luxuriant and exaggerated things in European aristocratic society are fueled by the Spanish. Including the famous stiff collar, rapier, shorts, fencing jacket, lace and so on. The popularity of all this is inseparable from the romantic knights in Spain. That's it. Spanish nobles have always scoffed at broad swords, giant swords and big swords, which are simple and capable in modeling and far more functional than decorative ones, calling them "barbarian weapons". Spanish gentlemen and gentlemen are all proud of wearing short and gorgeous thin swords, and even wear them when they are on the battlefield. However, when knights from other countries threw down their broken spears, pulled out their big swords and began to throw themselves into the melee of meat grinder, creating a muddy vortex of death and blood centered on themselves, our gorgeous Spanish grandfathers were dumbfounded. A slender sword, let alone killing people, can't even commit suicide without taking off your armor. It's probably such a guy to be proud of his life and suffer ... Finally, the Spanish knights who couldn't stand this passive beating situation compromised in the middle of the 6th century. But this does not mean that they are willing to enter the court with big swords beating their boots like German knights. The Spanish knight, who refused to give up gorgeous decoration anyway, designed a heavy sword mounted on the handle of a thin sword with one hand after repeated hesitation. This weapon with a forward center of gravity has excellent destructive power on horseback, but it is very difficult to get used to using it. But at least Spanish knights, old and young, don't have to run away with their horses' necks in their arms after the spears are pierced. However, such a weapon has made a large group of nobles, especially those who have no connection with the hard work on the battlefield, laugh at it. So the Spaniard, who loves to tell a story about the romantic figure of the 11 th century, the first-class romantic hero, Roderigo Diaz of Bival and Sir Sid, claimed that this new weapon was modeled after two magic soldiers in Sid's hands, and called the unguarded one Tizona, an infantry.