What roles did compound archers play in ancient military?

The Song Dynasty's military system was full of problems, and it rarely won foreign wars. Faced with the fierce and brave armies of the surrounding minority regimes, the Song Dynasty's imperial army was either defeated or exhausted. Military operations often caused economic difficulties, which was most typical when the Song court fought against the Tangut regime of Western Xia. Therefore, the composite archers, one of the rural soldiers, stepped onto the historical stage at this time. With their dual advantages in finance, economy and military, the composite archers soon became an important national defense force to defend the northwest border of the Zhao Song Dynasty.

The system of composite archers for land recruitment in the Song Dynasty originated from the dual pressure of military and financial economy caused by the war. The Song-Xia War was the driving force behind the composite archers. It not only prompted the birth of composite archers, but also has been influencing the changes in its system and functions. Moreover, the composite archers also made great contributions to the war. The role they played in the war can be summarized into four aspects: guarding the border, cultivating and preparing for war, fighting against the enemy, and military engineering. Through the above four aspects of investigation, it can be found that the composite archers directly or indirectly promoted the strategic advantage that the Song Dynasty gradually formed over the Xia Dynasty, both in terms of economy and military.

It is precisely because the composite archers have these two advantages that the Northern Song Dynasty and subsequent dynasties have rebuilt or imitated their system and developed local military forces as an effective means to consolidate national defense or resist foreign aggression. In the social context where the regular army of the dynasty was unable to cope with the situation, was defeated step by step, and was unable to defend the border, the composite archers seemed to remind the world with their tenacious vitality to have a new understanding of the Song Dynasty and re-examine the original views.

Finally, as a kind of rural soldiers, although the composite archers were brave and good at fighting and could be regular soldiers, their status was always at the bottom of the Song Dynasty military system, which was clearly reflected in their requests, rewards, and transfer speed. The root cause of this situation should be the anti-corruption concept that the ruling class of the Song Dynasty had long adhered to. Precisely because of their low status, the military role played by the composite archers in the war was still limited, and it was only a part of the huge militia of the Northern Song Dynasty.