The reason this type of weapon was equipped in large quantities by the military in its early days was that, at the time, China's steel alloy smelting technology was insufficient; the alloys were hard but lacked toughness.
Therefore, early bayonets could kill a large sow with a single stab, but if used to chop wood, they were likely to break.
This also led to the habit that a master wielding such a bayonet would usually kill with any cut that drew blood.
The three guys on the ground here were lucky. They were only slashed and didn't suffer a penetrating wound; otherwise, they could have just waited to die or faced amputation.
The reason for their screams, Dean guessed, is that the weapon in the limping master's hand is probably an authentic Poison Spike.
