Tibetan soldier cave

Tibetan soldier cave

Cangbing cave, an ancient military facility, is similar to a bunker. It can ambush strange soldiers and attack each other unexpectedly. It is mostly built in ancient city walls or passes.

Cangbing cave in Jingzhou Ancient City

In the four parts of the city wall, there are four, and there are three in different shapes. The cave is divided into upper and lower layers. There are six arrow holes on the upper layer and five on the lower layer. Each arrow hole is built with arc top shelter, and the arrow holes are inclined to open and close. There are channels in the cave, with arrow holes on three sides. The front perforation is aimed at the moat, which is convenient for shooting the enemy of Pancheng. There are city stacks on the cave, which are integrated with the city wall to ensure the safety of the Tibetan soldier cave. The cangbing cave on the wall of the south city is located to the west of nanjimen. There are two doors in the lower part of the cave, which is convenient for sending elite soldiers to protect the city and attack the enemy at any time. In case of foreign enemies attacking the city, the hidden arrows inside the perforation will be fired at the same time, which will catch people off guard. A Tibetan soldier cave to the east of dabeimen and the one to the south of Dongmen are well preserved.

Nanjing Zhonghua Gate cangbing cave

Nanjing Zhonghuamen zangbing cave is a famous one in China. Zhonghua Gate is 118.5 meters wide from east to west and 128 meters long from north to south, covering an area of 15168 square meters. There are three urn cities, which are connected by four coupons. The first gate is 21.45 meters high. There are 13 Zang Bing caves above and below the urn, and 14 Zang Bing caves under the left and right horse roads, which can store military supplies and ambush soldiers in wartime. It is estimated that it can accommodate 3000 people.

Cangbing cave in Shuidonggou, Ningxia

In the deep and unpredictable Grand Canyon between the water cave and hongshanbao, there is the Tibetan soldier cave of Ming Dynasty preserved more than 500 years ago. Relying on the magnificent Great Wall, precipitous cliff and mysterious ancient castle, it is even more magical. Shuidonggou Tibetan soldiers cave bifurcation, like a labyrinth. There are more than 20 earth chambers, including small granaries and water chambers, in the nearly kilometer tunnel cleared

Well, kitchen stove, armory, powder magazine and trap, concealed weapon channel and Fort pointing to the Grand Canyon and other military defense facilities. There are small niches and broken pottery on the walls of the earthen chamber, which seems to belong to the oil lamp. On the ground, we can also find fragments of Ming Dynasty weapons, coins and porcelain.

According to the archaeological experts in Ningxia, zangbingdong is a part of the military defense system of the ancient Great Wall in Ming Dynasty, and is the most complete three-dimensional military defense site of the ancient Great Wall discovered in China. The "zangbing cave" cleaned up by the local cultural relics department is more than 3000 meters long, accounting for one seventh of the total length of the road. Relevant archaeological research is still in progress.

The black holes on the cliff of hongshanbao Grand Canyon are the famous "zangbing cave". The so-called zangbing cave is a tunnel where the garrison of hongshanbao turns from the ground to the ground, conceals the army, protects itself, stands ready to attack, or sets up ambush in the open area. This is the only ancient three-dimensional military defense system with the most complete preservation in China. In China's defense system of the Great Wall, the Great Wall, the castle and the underground cave are closely linked, but not in the whole country. This is the only place. The cave is the earliest tunnel warfare site and prototype in China. If we can say that the tunnel warfare between the Eighth Route Army and the guerrillas during the Anti Japanese war can make the enemy scared, we can imagine that the frontier garrison of the Ming Dynasty more than 500 years ago blocked the invaders out of the Great Wall with the same wisdom and courage. In the past, due to the lack of development, there was no condition to enter the cave for sightseeing. People only know that the road of "cangbing cave" is tortuous, like a labyrinth. In addition, the cave roof collapses, many places are covered by soil, there are traps in the cave, and there may be snakes and scorpions in the cave, so people dare not go far into the cave. No one can tell exactly what is inside the cave. In this way, the "cangbing cave" has become a very mysterious place for people to fear.

The cave is winding in the overhanging wall. It is connected from top to bottom and from left to right. There are many forks in the cave. It turns right on the left side and never ends for a long time. It's really like a labyrinth. It's hard for those who are not familiar with the situation in the cave to go out. In addition to the cave Road, there are earth houses on the left and right, which can accommodate people. It is about for the leader to live in. There are also grain storage rooms, water wells and cooking rooms in the cave. As long as enough food is stored, the soil stored in the cave will not come out of the cave for a certain period of time, so it can still survive. Because the cave is more than 10 meters above the bottom of the ditch, it is not afraid of flooding. For many years, even if there were mountain torrents, the cave had never been flooded. We are really amazed at the wisdom of the ancients.

Since 2006, Ningxia Institute of cultural relics and archaeology has carried out the protective cleaning and dredging of zangbing cave. The length of the cave is 1200 meters and the cleaning area is about 4000 square meters. According to the investigation, the total length of the zangbing cave on the north and south sides of the Grand Canyon is about 3 km, which needs to be further cleaned up. As for the cleared part, we have taken protective measures to reinforce the cave wall and the collapsed cave roof.

As far as it's been published,

The structure of the cave can be divided into ten parts

One is the tunnel. This is the main body of the cave. It can be used for military transportation, passage, attack or entering the cave in wartime. It can be used as a resting place for soldiers in peacetime.

The second is the conference hall. It is mainly used to gather people to hold meetings to discuss military aircraft, research, arrange military operations, carry out operational deployment, etc.

The third is observation port. We call it the observation port. In fact, it has a multi-functional function. It can be used not only as the observation port to observe the movement outside the cave, but also as the ventilation and light transmission equipment inside the cave. At the same time, it can attack from here when necessary. Judging from the facilities at the entrance of the cave, after the sergeant enters the cave, it can be guarded by more than one soldier. Even if the city barrier is surrounded, it is difficult for the enemy to enter the cave.

Fourth, the living room. Within a certain distance, there is a living room, which is about for the commanding officer to live in, and it can also be used in the headquarters.

Five is the storeroom. It is mainly used to store grain and other food. No matter what the situation, if the army withdraws into the cave, as long as there is enough grain, it can be used for a certain period of time.

Six is the kitchen. It can be used to prepare cooked food. Ingeniously, there is a chimney outside the kitchen, which can not only cook food and burn fire, but also overflow smoke to the outside of the cave through the chimney. It will never stay in the cave and smoke its own people.

Seven is the armory. It is mainly used to store arrows and ammunition for wartime use.

Eight is the fort. The key parts of the cave are equipped with battery. If necessary, it can attack the enemy and turn passive defense into active defense.

Nine is the well. This can be said to be the lifeline of the garrison in the cave. If there is no water, it is not easy to survive. Can we still stick to it and attack it?

Ten is a trap. It's about one foot deep, and there are many antlers in the trap. Because only one person can pass through the cave, once there are enemies entering the cave, they can only follow up in one line. Moreover, they are not familiar with the terrain inside the cave, so they are easy to fall into the antlers of the trap, either dead or injured. The garrison in the cave guards the opposite side of the trap, and it is difficult for the enemy to pass through. Seeing this, we can't help but marvel at the wisdom of the ancients. Only here can we provide us with the three-dimensional physical combat facilities of mutual cooperation between the ground and underground in ancient times. It's really an eye opener!

In addition, when we enter the cave, we will find that there are many small niches on the wall of the cave. These are the places where the ancients placed cave lamps to light up the cave. In the process of cleaning up, we found some broken pottery in the small niche from time to time, which should belong to the oil lamp. On the ground, we also found a lot of fragments of Ming Dynasty, which should be the fragments of daily necessities of the garrison in the cave of Ming Dynasty. What's more, we can see the ancient weapons such as knives, spears, halberds, swords, arrow bags and other weapons, as well as the military artifacts such as helmets and shields in the armory and Hall of the Tibetan soldier cave. It's about the first time for many young friends to see these treasures. As for the samples of food and vegetables displayed in the niches, they are all the food left by the Ming Garrison when they were cleaning up the Tibetan soldiers' cave. They have a history of nearly 500 years, which is a rare cultural relic.

As we know, Tatar and Wala lived in Hetao in Ming Dynasty, and the line of Lingzhou Great Wall was the northernmost defensive line of Ming Dynasty in Ningxia and other places, while the terrain of hongshanbao was flat, which made it easy for the enemy to ride in a large area. This area became the first place for Tatar and other nobles to lead their troops southward. We also know that the main purpose of Tartars and other nobles to ride southward was to plunder people and property. They quickly retreated when they got hold of them. Therefore, it's up to them to decide when to attack and when to retreat. But after the middle of Ming Dynasty, building the Great Wall was only a passive defense all day long. Tatar and Wala nobles broke down the wall from Lingzhou to Yanzhou several times, plundered Lingzhou Ningxia (now Yinchuan) and so on, and returned to the north after plundering. However, after several times of demolishing the wall and going south, they didn't attack from Hongshan fort. About Hongshan fort has three-dimensional fortifications including the Tibetan soldier cave, which played a great role.

First, once hongshanbao is surrounded, the garrison will enter the cave of Tibetan soldiers, so that the military struggle will turn underground and the living forces will be preserved, which makes it difficult for the enemy to capture. The garrison entered the cave to hold on and wait for reinforcements, which was obviously not good for the enemy cavalry who attacked by flash attack and quickly captured and retreated.

Second, when the enemy rides into the attack, the gap opened will certainly serve as his own retreat. Once the garrison of hongshanbao entered the cave of Tibetan soldiers, they could still attack with surprise soldiers when the enemy's cavalry retreated. Once captured successfully, the enemy's cavalry will carry a large number of people, livestock, cattle and sheep. It is not as light as it was when they came to attack. It is not easy for the garrison in the cave to stop and withdraw to the north

Chinese PinYin : Cang Bing Dong