北宋軍隊在面對北部、西部的外敵時，經常受制於對手強大的騎兵，於是尋找剋制騎兵的方法，成為統治階層構思軍事策略時重要的課題。在此需求之下，前代文獻所載使用戰車的前例或理念，引發宋代讀書人高度的興趣；持續有人倡議大量製造和使用戰車，以求在平原曠野對抗騎兵。但是，在現實的作戰中，戰車消失已久。若要實行車戰，車輛的形制與作戰的方式皆需設計規畫，將校、士兵也要重新整訓，以熟悉戰車的操作。相關事項十分複雜，導致車戰理念的可行性備受質疑。由此可知，宋代君臣討論戰車的使用，是企圖落實書本所載的理念，但兵學知識與現實作戰之間的落差，卻造成車戰執行上的困難。北宋末年在面對女真人強大的騎兵時，宋軍將領製造戰車對抗，皆無成效，但南宋官員仍持續倡議使用戰車。這反映宋軍長期受制於敵方騎兵，文獻所載以戰車對抗騎兵的歷史事例，始終成為部分官員嘗試仿效的典範。

When fighting with their Khitan rivals, the Song infantry often suffered from quick and overwhelming attacks by cavalry, so the Song ruling elites were eager to find a solution to protect their soldiers. The historical records of some famous pre-Song generals who employed chariots as defensive facilities attracted the attention of Song emperors and officials. Some advocated constructing fortifications in the battlefield by connecting thousands of chariots, but this idea was hard to execute because their soldiers had not operated chariots in battle for hundreds of years. If the Song troops were to use chariots, both the type of chariots and the method of operation would have to be designed. From the Northern Song to Southern Song, many officials submitted proposals for producing chariots to the court, and their efforts represented the attempt to implement the concepts learned from books into the battlefield. However, their proposals usually lacked feasibility because chariot movement was too slow to compete with cavalry. When in battle against cavalry, Song soldiers lacked the time to build a defensive line by connecting their chariots, so the use of chariots never generated positive results. The fact that Song officials continually advocated defending against cavalry by using chariots only reflects their lack of tactical ability to defeat the rival cavalry.

戰車;騎兵;兵學;宋代;歷史知識

chariot; cavalry; military studies; Song Dynasty; historical knowledge