動物與抗戰：論中國軍馬與軍鴿之整備（1931-1945）

Animals and War:the Preparedness of Chinese War-horse and War-pigeons (1931-1945)

九一八事件發生後，中日關係逐漸進入一種白熱化的緊張狀態，蔣中正此時對於軍事上的方針則是以先充實自我實力為最高原則，故此時有許多關於軍事上的改革或整頓皆在此時有所作為，本文所要談論的軍馬與軍鴿，以及獸醫事業在戰時所發揮的作用，即為一例。當時在中國主管獸醫或是應用於軍事上的動物管理單位主要有三，分別是陸軍獸醫學校、中央農業實驗所畜牧獸醫系以及軍政部馬政司，此三個單位正好分為教育、應用、行政管理三方面來執行當時中國關於獸醫事業的工作。從清末以來直到1936年馬政司成立前，中國的馬政事業基本上是處於一種較為消極的狀態，或許也與當時中國仍處於動盪不安的情況有所關係，直到馬政司成立後，才開始有了完整且長遠的規劃。另在戰時，軍馬除騎兵部隊外，對於砲兵部隊的重要性也是相當重要，並且在運輸方面軍馬是一個不可或缺的要素。軍鴿，這個在一次大戰後又重新被各國所重視的通訊方式，在中國也有所作為，當時也制定出一套完整的訓練方式，並且實際運用於戰場之上。當現代化通訊設備無法使用之時，軍鴿就可作為一種輔助的通訊方式。

Since Manchurian Incident, the Sino-Japanese relations entered into a status of white-hot tension. At the moment, Chiang Kai-shek’s military policy focused mainly on the self-enrichment, so that the military reform and consolidation were carried out. The performance of war-horses, war-pigeons and the veterinary profession during the wartime, which discussed in this article, is one of the examples. Mainly, there were three management units in charge of military veterinarian or animals at that time: Army Veterinary School, Department of Animal Husbandry belonged to Central Agricultural Laboratory, and the Division of Horse Administration under Department of Military. The three units were individually responsible for the veterinary industry in three different aspects, including education, application, and administration. From the late Qing Dynasty to the establishment of Division of Horse Administration in 1936, the administration of horse in China was essentially in a passive status. It was probably caused by the turmoil in China. It started to have a long-term plan after the Division of Horse Administration was established. Besides the use of war-horses into cavalries, they were also very important for artilleries and transportations. War-pigeons, a way of communication, were highlighted again after World War I. They also played an obvious role in that era of China. There was a new training way for war-pigeons and it successfully worked in war fields. When the modern equipments could not work, military pigeons would be utilized for an assistant communication option.