China has heavy cavalry. Since the Han dynasty, there have been heavy cavalry in every dynasty, but the proportion in the army is different. Of course, if the heavy cavalry is defined as the armor of all horses in the history books, the quantity is limited, but as far as the armor of cavalry itself is concerned, it seems that there are quite a few that exceed 10 kg, which can already be called heavy cavalry, but the overall protective equipment (except bright armor) has not been developed in the armor.

During the Qin Dynasty, the proportion of cavalry was very small (1: 100), and they often took on the tasks of surprise attack, detour, lack of food, pursuit and so on. At the same time, in order to strengthen the mobility of the main force, the chariots were improved and reduced in weight, and the chariots and riders were grouped together to achieve "light vehicles and sharp riding" cooperation. The cavalry unit belongs to the chariot unit. As the main force of the whole army, it protects the flank of the chariot unit.

During the peasant uprising and the dispute between Chu and Han at the end of Qin Dynasty, the tactical consciousness of Xiang Yu, the overlord of the western Chu Dynasty, and the use of cavalry made people pay more attention to the position of cavalry in the war. Xiang Yu's cavalry played a greater role in the war and almost wiped out Liu Bang's army several times. For this reason, Liu Bang specially set up an elite cavalry unit-Langzhong cavalry, and specially set up a general to command the cavalry. However, chariots still occupy a certain position. Although its role is decreasing, it was listed as one of the main arms at that time.

In the early Han Dynasty, cavalry had formed their own phalanx and had independent fighting capacity, but there was little difference between them in dress and infantry. Most of them still set foot in Ma Xie (no riding boots), no saddles (only thick cushions) and stirrups. Only some cavalry have armor (8%).

With the intensification of ethnic conflicts, several major battles took place between Han and Hungary (128 ~ BC 1 19), and nearly 200,000 cavalry were mobilized each time. At that time, the chariots were only used to ensure the safety of the camp or logistics transportation, while the cavalry had become the main force of the army and was equipped with corresponding cavalry equipment. The production of high saddle can better exert the power of cavalry weapons. In addition, infantry is different from slave soldiers in slave society and also has excellent equipment. At the same time, due to the load and weight of infantry, it is necessary to form corresponding infantry combat units to perform different tasks, and the equipped weapons also require diversification.

Because the army includes different arms, and the same arm also has different combat units, commanders should allocate the forces of different arms according to the length of the enemy and the change of terrain, pay attention to the coordinated use of different weapons, combine the length with the length, support each other, and give full play to the maximum power of weapons. In the Han dynasty, people paid great attention to the use of formation. At that time, "eight-array map" was popular. In the notes of Selected Works, they are: square array, circular array, Zhen Niu (and one corresponding to the illiteracy of cattle), rushing array, wheel array, floating array and flying array. (BC 12 1) What happened to the four thousand cavalry in Li Guang and the forty thousand cavalry in Xiongnu made the round array resist with crossbows for two days until reinforcements arrived.

In the battle of Li Ling's riding, the formation listed is "holding a halberd shield in front and a crossbow in the back", which is also a defensive formation. The offensive formation is often centered on infantry and flanked by cavalry, which is easy to outflank.

The production of weapons in the Han Dynasty was directly controlled by the state. In the Han Dynasty, in order to ensure that the army had sufficient weapons supply, on the one hand, full-time officials were set up to be in charge of weapons manufacturing, and the "work test order" issued by Taifu was responsible for weapons production. On the other hand, a large-scale "arsenal" was established. All kinds of weapons supervised by the test order are sent to the armory for storage and distributed to relevant units from here. (Each warehouse in the armory is 100 ~ 200m long, with a wall thickness of 4 ~ 8m, and weapons are stored in different categories. ) Since Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the iron smelting industry was run by the government, and more than 40 iron officials were set up all over the country, which not only promoted the use of iron, but also promoted the development of iron smelting technology. The Western Han Dynasty reached the level of "hundred refining".

The weapons commonly used in the Han dynasty, that is, a large number of weapons formally equipped with troops, are mainly crossbows and bows used for long-range shooting, halberds, spears, knives and swords used for fighting, as well as armor and shields. There is also a hook (next to metal). Bow and arrow are indispensable weapons for cavalry, and the Han army is generally equipped with compound bows. In addition, in the long-range weapons of the Han Dynasty, crossbows seem to be more widely used than bows, which are divided into hand crossbows (broken) and pedal crossbows (pedaled), and cavalry can only use hand crossbows. The strong crossbow is regarded as the most excellent equipment of the Han army, and the halberd, the most important combat long-handled weapon in the Han Dynasty, is also inseparable from it. And as important as halberd is spear, which has a wide range of uses and is already a steel product. The short-handled weapon is a sword, and some unearthed steel swords can reach 124CM. Knife began to rise in Han dynasty, but it didn't appear in Warring States period. Iron sword was still the main weapon with short handle in the early Han dynasty, but after the appearance of Dao, the sword was gradually squeezed out and became a widely used weapon. Armor and shield were still the main armor in the early Han Dynasty. The shield is made of wood, leather and iron. The common style is that the bottom edge is flush and the upper end consists of two arcs. The shape of the middle ridge is about one third (50~60CM) of the soldier's height. Later, two hooks were installed on the iron shield, which became a new weapon-hooks, which can be attacked and defended. The armor of the Han Dynasty is mainly "Xuanjia", that is, real armor, which is a gradual improvement and extrusion of traditional leather armor side by side, and is made of armor pieces inlaid. The nail plates used at that time can be divided into three categories. The first one is a large strip nail piece (one unearthed is 23.4CM high and 4.4CM wide), also known as Jiazha, whose height gradually becomes shorter with the passage of time; The second nail plate is much smaller than the first one, and its shape is closer to a square (height 4.6~5CM, width 2.7~3.4CM, weight 10 g). Generally, the lower edge is straight, and the two corners of the upper edge are curved. The third type is the smallest, the comparison side, less than 4CM high and less than 2.5CM wide. Another appearance of this nail board is to make it into the shape of Sophora japonica leaves or willow leaves. Two kinds of armor can be woven with the above three kinds of armor plates, namely, armor plates made of large strip armor plates and scale armor plates made of small and medium armor plates. In addition, there is a difference between having epaulettes and having epaulettes. Most cavalry use the one without epaulettes. Leather armor has become a supporting role of real armor, but it is still an important auxiliary armor. When heavy cavalry appeared on the battlefield, it was an era with private soldiers as the core of the army, starting from the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty and going through the Wei, Jin and Sixteen Countries to the Southern and Northern Dynasties. At that time, the clan gate system was combined with clan military organizations, and powerful clans had a large number of private armed forces. Those songs are not only attached to farmers, but also to the private armed forces of powerful clans. This special personal attachment began to develop viciously at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, and intensified after the Wei and Jin Dynasties, which also affected the composition of the feudal army at that time. At that time, the generals who led the troops all came from wealthy clans, and also had their own private military songs, often with a lot of armor and weapons. These well-equipped private songs form the core of the army they command. In this way, it naturally caused a series of changes in the composition, command and weapons and equipment of the army. The early private music was not necessarily cavalry, let alone heavy cavalry. The appearance of private entertainment with armored harness is related to nomadic people from the north and northwest during the May 4th Movement. Before entering the Central Plains, these ethnic groups were nomadic economies, with excellent horses and cavalry units, and often retained the form of clan military organizations. After entering the Central Plains, it joined forces with powerful clans, and the natural gate valve was also combined with the clan military organization system, which naturally led to changes in the core of the army, and finally appeared the heavy cavalry of armored men and horses-armored riding equipment.

According to the Six Classics of the Tang Dynasty, there are thirteen kinds, such as Ming Guang, Eta Ursae Majoris, Fine Scale, Mountain Pattern, Bird Hammer, White Cloth, Soap Roll, Cloth Back, Infantry, Leather Armor, Mujia, Lock Armor and vest. Among them, Mingguang, Eta Ursae Majoris, Suozi, Shanwen, Bird Hammer and Thin Scale are armor, and the latter three are named after the style of armor pieces. Leather armor, wooden armor, white cloth, soap roll and cloth back are all named after the manufacturing materials. It can be seen that Suozi and Shanwen are two kinds of armor in parallel.

All kinds of weapons and equipment needed by heavy cavalry can be divided into four categories: first, full harness, second, vest-type equipment, third, cavalry armor, and fourth, combat weapons. In the harness at that time, the saddle was very exquisite when it was made in the Eastern Han Dynasty, and the stirrup was made in the Western Jin Dynasty (but it seems that the stirrup was only used to push the horse in the Western Jin Dynasty, but it was not used when riding), so it was quite easy to control the horse. As for harness, it can usually be divided into "face curtain" to protect the horse's head, "chicken neck" to protect the horse's chest, "vest" to protect the horse's body, "thigh" to protect the horse's hip and "parasitism" to stand on the horse's hip (as if to protect the cavalry's back). Cavalry armor is a kind of "two armor" developed from the strapless armor of the Western Han Dynasty (the underarms are not connected, so-called "one for the chest and one for the back", and the shoulders are connected by buckles). In the Northern and Southern Dynasties, shoulder pads were often added, and at the same time, there was another kind of more expensive armor, namely "bright armor" (this armor is characterized by two sides of the chest and back). Finally, the weapon used by cavalry in Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties was bow and crossbow, and the fighting was halberd, pin (with spear next to it) and broadsword. Cavalry used crossbows, but more bows and arrows were used. When fighting with weapons, halberd was gradually replaced by needles, and later it was a knife. Although armor was the core of the army at that time, it was still far less than the general infantry in quantity.

In the Ming Dynasty, most firearms used by cavalry were short guns with three eyes and large caliber or spears with five eyes. I thought its tactics were similar to those of the European dragoons, that is, riding a horse and shooting statically, because the firebomb gun could not be placed on a bumpy horse. Of course, it is not excluded that cavalry can fire on running horses after long-term training, but in that case, the training cost is very high.

Development history of cavalry in China

Cavalry, as its name implies, is an army fighting on horseback. In fact, its strength lies in its powerful mechanical power and impact ability. China is one of the earliest countries with cavalry in the world. Before the Spring and Autumn Period, China's combat was dominated by chariots, and infantry only played an auxiliary role. The number of personnel carriers has become a symbol of military strength, and there are basically no cavalry. In the spring and autumn period, infantry began to rise, and the army paid equal attention to both cars and steps. A small number of cavalry are mixed in the chariot infantry of the armies of various countries, which is only a negligible auxiliary force. During the Warring States period, with the expansion of the scale of the war, the diversification of tactics and the need of the war with the nomadic people in the north, cavalry, as an independent arm, officially entered the war stage. So our cavalry talk should start from the Warring States period.

1. Warring States: (including Qin Dynasty)

When history entered the Warring States period, the war has changed from the rigid frontal war of chariot tactics in the early years to a more flexible way of fighting. The cavalry appeared as an independent unit. At that time, Qin, Zhao and other big countries established cavalry units, all of which were called "thousands of chariots ride, ten thousand horses ride". The combat of the army gradually changed from riding to riding. The biggest change was made by Zhao first. Zhao is located in the north, adjacent to Loufan, Xiongnu and other ethnic minorities, and deeply disturbed by them. However, the traditional chariot infantry is very unfavorable to the flexible and fast Hu people cavalry. In order to change this situation, Qiang Bing, a rich country, and King Wuling of Zhao carried out the reform of "Khufu riding and shooting" at home. He declared that "now I will shoot Khufu on horseback to teach the people", reducing the number of chariots in the army and increasing the number of cavalry; It is required to change the traditional wide robe and big sleeve clothing of Han nationality into the tight clothing of Hu people, which is convenient for riding and shooting. Since then, the status of cavalry in the Central Plains countries has gradually improved and become a major force in the army. Because of this powerful cavalry, Zhao became a powerful country that could compete with Qin at the end of the Warring States Period.

During the Warring States period, a large number of cavalry were used in combat. Chair Zhao cavalry attack, built "slightly thousands of miles away". Li Mu used more than 10,000 riders to cooperate with chariots, and broke the Huns and wiped out more than 100,000 enemies. Qin is also famous for its excellent cavalry. In the battle of Changping, the generals of Qin cut off the Zhao army with 5,000 fine horses, which played a key role in the adowa of more than 400,000 Zhao troops in Changping. During the Chu-Han War, Xiang Yu smashed 560,000 of Liu Bang's allied forces with princes with 30,000 knights in the Pengcheng War, and nearly 300,000 people were killed. This fiasco made Liu Bang realize the fighting capacity of cavalry. In order to fight against Xiang Yu's cavalry, he used Li Bi and Jia Luo, commanders of Qin State, as captains to train cavalry. Later, in the battle against Zhao (that is, the battle behind the water array), Han Xin also used two thousand Qingqi to sneak up on the enemy camp.

The cavalry in the Warring States and the Qin Dynasty were equipped with complete saddles, but there were no stirrups, which was very unfavorable for fighting on horseback. So at that time, the main weapon of cavalry was bow and arrow, and the fighting was mainly riding and shooting, with a small number of bronze swords and halberds. (The sword is easy to break when splitting, mainly the halberd) At this time, a special vest appeared. It can be seen from the unearthed terracotta warriors and horses that Qin Jun used a mixed formation of vehicles, steps and riding at that time. The pommel horse figurines mainly hold bows, wear small hats, tight waist sleeves and short armor boots, and their costumes are convenient for riding and shooting. During this period, the use of cavalry was also discussed in the art of war. Sun Bin's Art of War once said that "risks are greater than riding".

2. Han dynasty:

Entering the Han Dynasty ushered in the golden age of cavalry development in China. Because of the need to fight against the Huns and other nomadic peoples, cavalry has grown rapidly, and military operations have changed from paying equal attention to riding to cavalry replacing chariots, and cavalry has become a decisive force. *?

When it comes to the development of cavalry in Han Dynasty, it should be said that tarquin, the Huns are nomadic people in the north, and all the people are good at riding and shooting. At the beginning of the Han Dynasty, there were 300,000 Huns, so-called "string controllers", which threatened the northern part of the Han Dynasty all the time. Xiongnu is a typical Asian light cavalry. As nomads, they grew up on horseback and were good at riding and shooting. They have excellent equestrian skills and excellent shooting skills, and they are also very flexible only wearing light leather armor. Han's vacillation once said in "On Military Affairs" that the Xiongnu has three advantages that the Han army can't match: first, going up and down the mountain to Osaka, and there is a constant flow of people coming in and out, and China has chariots and horses; Second, the dangerous road is tired: and galloping and shooting, China rides also; Three, the storm struck, sneer at thirst, China people and also. This also points out the greater advantages of cavalry over chariots. Chariots can only exert their power on the plains, and cavalry can also fight on narrow terrain, which is more flexible than chariots. Q(Em

In the Han dynasty, in order to change the unfavorable and passive situation of fighting against Xiongnu, the Han dynasty vigorously developed cavalry, and by the time of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, hundreds of thousands of cavalry had been able to attack Xiongnu actively. The battle with Xiongnu lasted for decades. Wei Qing and Huo Qubing, famous Chinese soldiers, led tens of thousands of cavalry for many times, and used tactics such as outflanking and going deep behind enemy lines to break the Xiongnu. In 65438 BC+065438 BC+09 BC, Emperor Wu attacked with Wei Qing and Huo Qubing, each with 50,000 horses, hundreds of thousands of soldiers and more than 100,000 war horses. Huo Qubing's troops went deep into the Huns for more than 2,000 miles and broke the enemy's seal on Xushan (now Mongolia), which is a much-told story (heroic achievements are really fascinating! )

An important achievement of this era is the establishment of the official horse system. In order to fight against Huns and develop cavalry, Han Jian established a horse feeding system. During the period of Han Wenjing, the "Horse Service Order" was promulgated to encourage people to keep horses by exempting them from service. Set up special horse management institutions at the central and local levels. The central government appointed a servant (that is, Bi) to manage it, and Ma Cheng was in charge at the local level. These officials are responsible for raising military horses. From the early Han Dynasty to Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty, there were more than 400,000 stable horses. This system ensured the consumption of a large number of horses in the Han Dynasty against the Huns.

In the Han dynasty, cavalry developed and became the main service of the army, replacing the status of chariots. The arms of the Han Dynasty were light cavalry and heavy cavalry. The light cavalry basically does not carry weapons, and the weapons are mainly bows and arrows. It is equipped with short war horses and heavy cavalry with armor. Weapons are melee weapons such as halberds, spears and ring knives, and high horses are equipped in front. With the improvement of smelting technology in Han dynasty, a long iron knife with ring handle appeared, which was more suitable for immediate combat. With its thick back and sharp blade, it has become an important weapon for cavalry. Generally speaking, the main weapons of cavalry in Han dynasty are: spear, knife, halberd, bow, crossbow (arm crossbow) and so on. During this period, the tactics of cavalry as a mobile force have also been developed, and the Han army used a large number of long-distance raids and circuitous outflanking operations in the battle with Xiongnu.

3. The Three Kingdoms Jin Southern and Northern Dynasties:

This is an era of war, and wars are very frequent. Especially in the period of the Sixteen Countries and the Northern and Southern Dynasties, a large number of northern nomads entered the Central Plains, and the use of cavalry reached a higher peak. All warring parties (mainly the north) use cavalry on a large scale, and cavalry has become the most important arms on the battlefield. China's cavalry also developed into the era of heavy cavalry.

Generally speaking, the military strength of the north is stronger than that of the south, and most countries in the north are ethnic minority regimes. The original troops were cavalry, and the number of infantry gradually increased after development, but the main force of the army was still cavalry, and a considerable number of cavalry were used to participate in the war. For example, Fu Jian of the former Qin Dynasty used 270,000 cavalry to go south; When Wu Tai invaded the Song Dynasty in the Northern Wei Dynasty, he crossed the Huaihe River with 600,000 cavalry and reached the Yangtze River. In the battle of Liang, Wei and Wei, Wei Jun had 240,000 cavalry, so it can be said that the scale of cavalry fighting in this period far exceeded that of the previous generation.

An important development in this period was the invention of stirrup. The earliest stirrup in China was unearthed in the Western Jin Dynasty. It can be said that stirrup appeared in Jin Dynasty at the latest. Some people say that the stirrup was invented by Europeans first. ) stirrup can be said to be an epoch-making invention, which greatly promoted human civilization. Militarily, the emergence of stirrups makes it easier for cavalry to carry out close combat and is conducive to cavalry's long March. (reduce fatigue) can more effectively play the advantages of cavalry with good mobility and strong impact. The invention of the stirrup in the West led to the emergence of heavy cavalry and knights in the Middle Ages. (A big useless guy) The cavalry in this period was mainly heavy cavalry, and the heavy cavalry at that time were all dressed in armor-armor riding clothes. Good protection, great impact on infantry. At that time, the protection of heavy cavalry was very strong Besides bows and arrows, cavalry weapons have always been the main weapons of eastern cavalry. ) A large number of cavalry spears with better penetration were used as long weapons, that is, "cloud" (also known as "spear+Xiao"), and halberds were gradually eliminated and became ceremonial decorations. Knife has also become a standard weapon for cavalry. Compared with the ring-head Dao of the previous generation, the Dao of this period has a wider blade and a sharp front and a sharp back, which is more suitable for actual combat.

4. Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties:

During this period, cavalry has established its position in the army. In this era, riding is as important as stepping. Although the scale of cavalry in various countries is not as good as that in the Northern and Southern Dynasties, cavalry is still an important force and has attracted great attention.

The Tang Dynasty was founded with martial arts, and Li Shimin himself was good at using cavalry. His famous six horses are called Zhaoling Six Horses. Therefore, the Tang Dynasty (especially the early Tang Dynasty) also attached great importance to the construction of cavalry. Tang established and perfected his own horse administration from the beginning of the founding of the army, which was used in the military. Tang set up more herdsmen in the frontier, which belonged to servant management. More than 5,000 shepherds are supervised by the superior supervisor, 3,000 by the intermediate supervisor, and less than 3,000 by the subordinate supervisor, and each shepherd is assessed once a year. During the forty years from Tang Zhenguan to Linde, more than 700,000 official motors were raised, and eight workshops and 48 supervisors were set up, covering an area of more than 1,000 hectares.

During this period, cavalry equipment and tactics did not develop much, but they did not attach importance to heavy cavalry as in the Southern and Northern Dynasties. Although there are still armored cavalry in the army, they are mainly light cavalry. Mainly playing cavalry, as the advantage of mobile troops, frontal attack and defense is lazier than infantry.

5. Song, Liaoxi, Xia and Jin Dynasties.

During this period, a large number of nomadic people in the north emerged, which became a threat to the Han Dynasty. The elite of these ethnic minority armies are mainly cavalry, and the development of cavalry has once again turned to a climax.

First of all, the Song Dynasty was a dynasty with extremely low martial arts in the history of our country. Because the northwest horse-producing areas of ethnic minorities that rose in the late Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties basically fell, the Song Dynasty could never meet the needs of buying horses, changing horses, or starting animal husbandry at the border, so there was never a strong cavalry. In the Southern Song Dynasty, it was even worse. Even a fifth of the cavalry in front of the temple (that is, the emperor's imperial army) had no horses available. What a pity! ) In the Song Dynasty, people liked to pose, so most of the cavalry lined up. Basically, the cavalry is arranged around the large-scale infantry array to cooperate with or cover the flank. For example, Song Taizong's "Ping Rong Wan Quan Array" is a combination of the main infantry and the chariot, and it is arranged in a dense formation in the middle, which is arranged in the front, back, left and right as a warning and cover after anti-riding. Defend enemy cavalry. Personally, I think this is similar to the cavalry used in Europe in the early years, that is, the infantry phalanx is the main force and the cavalry is used to consolidate the two wings. In fact, in this formation, the cavalry became the auxiliary force of the infantry, and the core infantry array was used to defeat the enemy. h|E

The ethnic minority regimes established successively in the north have strong strength. Cavalry is the main force in the army. Liao and Jin armies attached great importance to the mobile operations of cavalry. Generally speaking, regular soldiers in the army are equipped with several war horses. (Liao army has three horses in a regular army. ) This machine is very powerful. For example, in the Battle of Youzhou in Liao and Song Dynasties, the Liao army defeated Cao Bin and Pan Mei one after another by relying on the local flat terrain and the driving force of cavalry. Nomads from the armed forces are also good at fighting in the field. History says that "this is the strongest thing in the world since the Jin Dynasty". The famous Guaima in the state of Jin, with the army as the main soldier and Guaima as the two wings for assault, has great advantages in fighting Song Jun on the plain.

In this era, the cavalry were mainly from northern minorities, and their main weapons were special weapons such as bows and arrows, sabres and maces. (Jin people seem to like this kind of weapon very much. At that time, there was a folk song: I have Marshal Yue with golden martial arts; It has a kidnapper horse, and I have a hemp knife; It has a scepter and I have a crown. At this time, the cavalry began to go into battle lightly, wearing a small amount of armor and gaining more strength. However, there are still heavily armored troops in various countries, such as the cavalry of Xixia "Xia Ping Tieqi" (whose infantry is called "Ayumi Yokoyama Postscript"), which is famous for its strong fighting capacity.

6. The Mongolian era:

In this era, Mongolian cavalry became a symbol of terror in the eyes of the enemy, and Mongols pushed cavalry tactics to the peak of the cold weapon era. The advantages of cavalry's long-range attack and circuitous outflanking have been brought to the extreme.

Mongolians practice the system of 100 households and 1,000 households, all the people are soldiers, and officers are hereditary. They "mounted their horses to prepare for war and dismounted for herding." They go out with their own weapons and equipment in wartime and are ordinary herders in peacetime. In order to ensure the combat effectiveness of the army, Mongolians often exercise the army through large-scale hunting, and have specially trained children to ride horses and shoot arrows since childhood. In addition, there are excellent tacticians such as Genghis Khan, Muqali, Su Butai and Tuo Lei. The Mongols became the most powerful army in the world at that time and conquered an unprecedented vast territory. In the east, Song, Jin and Xixia were completely annihilated, and in the west, the flower thorn submodule was defeated, conquering the Russian grassland and defeating the western Coalition forces until it reached the Danube. If it weren't for Khan of Mongolia, he would have died! I don't know where to call yet! )

The Mongolian army was basically cavalry in the early stage, and the field troops in the later stage were cavalry. Mongolian cavalry has super mechanical strength. A soldier often has more than six war horses, which can be used in rotation, and often can advance nearly 100 kilometers a day. The main weapon of Mongolian cavalry is bow and arrow. Mongolians who have been riding and shooting for many years can pull a strong bow. The Mongolian bow is made of wood and bone, which has strong penetration and long range. Mongolians who can shoot accurately in high-speed maneuvers (even shooting back when retreating) can do great harm to the enemy before a short-term war. Because Mongolians often bring their own weapons, in addition to arrows and sabres, soldiers will also bring their favorite weapons such as spears, hammers and lassos (used to trap horses and people on the battlefield). ) and so on. In terms of armor, Mongolians mainly use leather armor, which is light and strong. Although it is not as good as armored armor, it has won more strength for it. Mongolian horses are also worth mentioning. Although Mongolian horses are smaller than Arabian horses and Aryan horses are faster and taller, Mongolian horses are adaptable, resistant to roughage, easy to gain weight and long in life. They are very suitable for long-distance marching and fighting without logistical support. These horses can find food everywhere, and they can March 50 to 100 kilometers a day on grassland terrain, so they can be used all year round. Moreover, it is important that the mare of Mongolian horses can produce three or four hundred kilograms of milk during the feeding period, which has become an important food source for Mongolian troops who have been fighting outside for a long time and have no logistical support. Mongolians are nomadic people, and their nation grew up in a bitter and cold place. They have strong tolerance for bad weather and low material requirements, and their fighting capacity is not the same as that of ordinary farming people. It is not enough to ask them to go to a hot and humid place. For example, in the rain forests of Southeast Asia. )

7. Ming and Qing Dynasties and beyond:

After the Ming and Qing Dynasties, firearms flourished. With the emergence of specialized firearms units and artillery, the status of cavalry gradually declined. Since the Ming dynasty, few cavalry have been the main strategic force, so I won't say much.

In the Ming Dynasty, cavalry mainly cooperated with other arms and were equipped with firearms. (riding the iron? ) Qi Jiguang, a famous soldier, set up a car camp, which is a way of stepping and riding. This strategy was further studied in Sun Chengzong's Che Ying Kou 'a in the Ming Dynasty. Also developed the first bombardment with firearms (fire preparation? ) followed by cavalry attack infantry follow-up tactics. Like the tactics of Napoleon's time? )

In the Qing dynasty, the Qing dynasty thought it was a country with a bow and a horse. When the People's Republic of China was founded, both Jurchen and Mongolian cavalry were traditional cavalry, and there was no development. Coupled with the lack of attention to firearms, China ended up being bullied by foreign powers at will. At that time, it was the age of firearms, and the status of cavalry was even lower. Until the appearance of positional warfare composed of machine guns and trenches, it basically lost its position in the military and gradually withdrew from the military stage. Only with the emergence of its successor-armored mechanized troops, cavalry became a kind of history and was only used in some ceremonial occasions.

Xiang Yu's role in the development history of China cavalry

Xiang Yu, the leader of the Chu-Han Rebel Army in the late Qin Dynasty, was the first person in history who proposed to use the high-speed impact of cavalry to play blitzkrieg. In the era without stirrups, Xiang Yu thought of the assault tactics, the mainstream of cavalry tactics in later generations, which was quite advanced in military history. The cavalry was used to assault and disturb the enemy's position, and the infantry followed the footsteps of the cavalry to annihilate the lonely army that was suddenly scattered. This idea of riding and riding together was unprecedented at that time. It was precisely because Xiang Yu used cavalry on a large scale in the war with Liu Bang that Liu Bang suffered many tragic blows. Liu Bang realized the strength of cavalry and made up his mind to form cavalry units. Although Guan Ying, the head coach of the First Cavalry Team, used Li Bi and Luo Jialai, the commanders of Qin State, to train cavalry, he still imitated Xiang Yu's cavalry tactics in tactics. This also indirectly laid the foundation for the later Han Empire to have a strong cavalry force.