The origin of cavalry?
After the history of China 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 "riding thousands of horses", and the army gradually changed from stepping to riding equally. 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 it. However, Zhao's traditional vehicles and infantry are very unfavorable against the flexible and fast cavalry of northern ethnic minorities. 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 clothing of Han nationality with wide robes and big sleeves into the tight clothing of northern minorities, 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 attacked Loufan, "a little far away", and Li Mu rode with more than 10,000 chariots, crushing the Xiongnu body count of 65,438+10,000. 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 fighters, which played a key role in annihilating more than 400,000 Zhao troops in the battle of Changping. During the Chu-Han War, in order to fight against Xiang Yu's cavalry, Liu Bang also used Li Bi and Jia Luo, commanders of Qin State, as captains to train cavalry. Han Xin also attacked the enemy camp with two thousand Qingqi in the battle of Zhao, which immediately reversed the battlefield situation. In the movie "King Chu", in the battlefield scene where Xiang Yu and Liu Bang fought the world, Wan's cavalry still occupied a vast space. Glorious company's old game "Liu Xiangji" also reflects the face of war in this historical period. ?
The cavalry of the Warring States Qin dynasty was equipped with complete saddles, but there was no stirrup, which was very unfavorable for immediate combat. So at that time, the main weapon of cavalry was bow and arrow, and the fighting was mainly riding and shooting. A small number of bronze swords and halberds were used (swords are easy to break when chopping, mainly halberds), and then special vests (armor for protecting war horses) appeared. It can be seen from the unearthed terracotta warriors and horses that Qin Jun had adopted them at that time. During this period, the use of cavalry was also discussed in the art of war. "Sun Bin's Art of War" once said that "the risk is greater than riding". ? ?
The era of cavalry development?
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. Xiongnu is a nomadic people in the north, and all people are good at riding and shooting. At the beginning of the Han Dynasty, the Huns were called "masters of string control", with 300,000 people, threatening the northern part of the Han Dynasty all the time. Xiongnu is a typical Asian light cavalry. As nomadic people, 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. Chao Cuo of the Han Dynasty once said in On Military Affairs that the Huns had three advantages that the Han army could not match: First, they went up and down the mountain to Osaka, and they were the masters of China; Second, the dangerous road is tired, and shooting at a gallop. China's riding is blessed, too. Three, the wind and rain stopped, hunger and thirst are not sleepy, and the people of China are blessed. 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. ?
In order to change the unfavorable passive situation of fighting against Xiongnu, the Han Dynasty vigorously developed cavalry. By the time of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, 654.38+ 10,000 cavalry had been able to take the initiative to attack the Xiongnu, and the battle with the Xiongnu lasted for decades. China's famous soldiers Wei Qing and Huo Qubing led tens of thousands of cavalry for many times, and used the methods of outflanking and going deep behind enemy lines to break the Huns. In 65438 BC+065438 BC+09 BC, Emperor Wu and Wei Qing and Huo Qubing attacked with 50,000 cavalry, mobilizing hundreds of thousands of infantry and 65438+100,000 horses. Huo Qubing's troops went deep into the Huns for more than 2,000 miles, broke the enemy's seal on Xushan (now Mongolia) and returned it. This is an eternal story. ?
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 Wenjing period of Han Dynasty, the "Horse Service Order" was promulgated to encourage people to raise horses without service, and special horse administration institutions were set up in the central and local governments. The central government appointed a servant to manage it, and Ma Cheng was in charge at the local level. These officials are responsible for raising military horses. There were more than 400,000 stable horses from the early Han Dynasty to the Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty. 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. Light cavalry basically does not carry weapons, and the weapons are mainly bows and arrows, equipped with short war horses, and heavy cavalry has armor. Weapons are melee weapons such as halberd, spear and ring knife, and Gaoma is equipped to charge. 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 thick ridge and sharp blade, it is 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 also developed, and the Han army used a large number of long-distance raids and circuitous operations in the battle with Xiongnu. ?
When the cavalry technology and the number of horses reached the level of Xiongnu in Han Dynasty, the end of Xiongnu came. When the Han army was generally equipped with armor and steel knives, the Huns did not produce iron, and their arrows were all made of ox and horse bones or fish bones. The disparity in national strength led the Huns to withdraw from Asia (it was not until the Southern and Northern Dynasties that the Huns completely disappeared in Asia). ?
The age of cavalry growth?
This is an era of war, and wars are very frequent. There is no need to talk about the history of the Three Kingdoms. Especially in the Sixteen Kingdoms and the Southern and Northern Dynasties, a large number of northern nomads entered the Central Plains (that is, the five random flowers circulated among the people), and the use of cavalry reached a higher peak. The warring parties (mainly the north) used cavalry on a large scale, and cavalry became 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 Jun, there were 240,000 cavalry out of 800,000, 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 the stirrup, and the earliest stirrup in China and the world appeared in the Western Jin Dynasty. The 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 (with the help of strength), which is beneficial to cavalry's long-distance March and can give full play to cavalry's advantages of good mobility and strong impact. In the west, the invention of stirrup led to the emergence of heavy cavalry and knights in the Middle Ages. During this period, the cavalry was mainly heavy cavalry. At that time, the heavy cavalry were all wearing heavy armor, which was very powerful and had a great impact on the infantry. At that time, the cavalry's long-range weapon was still a bow and arrow (no matter what age, this was always the main weapon of the eastern cavalry); A large number of cavalry spears with better penetration are used as long weapons, while halberds are gradually eliminated and become a ceremonial decoration. Knife has also become a standard weapon for cavalry. Compared with the ring-head Dao of the previous generation, the blade body in this period was widened, and the blade body was changed from oblique side to sharp and oblique back, which was more suitable for actual combat. ?
The mighty age of cavalry?
During the Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties, cavalry had established its position in the army. In this era, riding a horse is as important as walking. Although the size of cavalry in various countries is not as good as that in the Northern and Southern Dynasties, cavalry is still an important force. ?
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 5000 shepherds are supervised by supervisors, 3000 are supervised by supervisors, and the following are supervised by supervisors. ?
The cavalry in the Tang Dynasty was the most powerful. In the heyday of the Tang Dynasty, the Tang cavalry could completely fight against the Turkish cavalry, and the winning rate was extremely high. This is inseparable from the chivalrous atmosphere prevailing in the Tang Dynasty. Generally speaking, the cavalry equipment and tactics of the Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties did not develop greatly, unlike the heavy armored cavalry in the Northern and Southern Dynasties. Although there are still armored cavalry in the army, light cavalry is the main force, which mainly gives play to the advantages of cavalry as a mobile force, and frontal attack and defense is lazier than infantry. ?
During the Song and Jin Dynasties after the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms War, a large number of nomadic people in the north emerged, posing 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, the Song Dynasty. Song Dynasty was a dynasty with extremely poor martial arts in Chinese history. Because the rising ethnic minorities in the late Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties occupied the horse-producing areas in the northwest (Hetao Plain, etc.). Therefore, in the Song Dynasty, no matter buying horses, changing horses (using materials) or starting animal husbandry at the border, they could not meet the needs of cavalry, so there was no 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. The Song Dynasty paid attention to formation, basically arranging cavalry around a large-scale infantry array to cooperate or cover the flank. For example, Song Taizong's "Wan Pingrong Full Array" is to combine the main infantry and chariots and arrange them in a dense formation in the middle. The cavalry are arranged in four directions: front, back, left and right, as guards and covers, and undertake the task of defending enemy cavalry. Song's tactics were similar to those of early European cavalry: the infantry phalanx was the main force, and the cavalry consolidated the two wings. In fact, in this formation, cavalry has become the auxiliary force of infantry, and the core of defeating the enemy is infantry array. In the final analysis, this is also a helpless move without horses. ?
The ethnic minority regimes established successively in the north have relatively strong force, and cavalry is the main force in the army. The Liao and Jin armies attached great importance to the mobile combat of cavalry, and the regular troops in the general army were equipped after several battles. Liao army is a regular army with three horses), and its machine power is very strong. For example, in the Battle of Youzhou in Liao and Song Dynasties, the Liao army defeated Cao Bin and Pan Mei in succession with the local flat terrain and the driving force of cavalry. Nomads from also good at cavalry, good at field. History says that "this is the strongest thing in the world since the early Jin Dynasty". The famous "Kidnapping Horse" of Jin State has great advantages against the Song Army on the plain, because it takes the army as the frontal soldier and the "Kidnapping Horse" as the two wings to assault. In this era of cavalry, the northern minorities were mainly cavalry, and the main combat weapons were bows and arrows, sabres, maces and other special weapons (Jin people seemed to like this kind of weapon very much, and there were folk songs in the Song Dynasty: it had martial arts, and I had Marshal Yue; It has a "kidnapping horse" and I have a hemp knife; It has a scepter and I have a crown. )。 At that time, the cavalry began to go into battle lightly, wearing a small amount of armor to gain more strength, but there were still heavily armored troops in various countries, such as the cavalry "Xia Pingtie Kate" of Xixia (whose infantry was called "Ayumi Yokoyama Postscript"), which was famous for its strong fighting capacity. ?
The Mongols, who rose by the Wannan River, developed cavalry techniques and tactics to the peak stage of the cold weapon era. In this era, Mongolian cavalry has become a symbol of terror in people's eyes: the advantages of cavalry's long-distance attack and detour 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 "mount their horses to prepare for war, dismount and gather for herding", bring their own weapons and equipment to go out in wartime, and are ordinary herders in peacetime. In order to ensure the combat effectiveness of the army, Mongolians often exercise their troops through large-scale hunting. For children, there is special riding and shooting training since childhood. Coupled with the command of excellent tacticians such as Genghis Khan, Muqali, Subutai and Tuo Lei, the Mongols became the most powerful army in the world at that time, conquered an unprecedented vast land, destroyed Song, Jin and Xixia in the east, attacked Hua La Zi Mo (Afghanistan) in the west, conquered Russian grasslands, and if the Great Khan of Mongolia had not died at this moment, I'm afraid the whole of Europe would have surrendered to Mongolia's iron hoof ...?
The Mongolian army was basically cavalry in the early stage, and the field troops in the later stage were cavalry. Mongolian cavalry has superior mechanical strength. 1 Soldiers often have more than six war horses, which can often advance nearly 100 kilometers a day in rotation. In the battle of conquering Poland, the strategic detour carried out by the Mongols was a fantastic mobility for Europeans. 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 in a short period of time. 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 protective gear, Mongolians mainly use leather armor, which is light and strong. Although it is not as good as real armor, it has won greater mobility. In addition, it is worth mentioning that Mongolian horses are smaller in size, but they are not as fast and high as Arabian horses and Aryan horses, with strong adaptability, roughage resistance, easy weight gain and long life. They are very suitable for long-distance marching and fighting without logistical support. These horses can find food everywhere. They can March 50 to 100 kilometers a day on grassland terrain, and they can serve all year round. Moreover, it is important that the mare of Mongolian horses can produce 300 to 400 kilograms of milk during the feeding period, which has become an important food source (another food source is plunder) 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 endurance to bad weather and low material requirements, and they have incomparable fighting power to ordinary farming people. ?
From the Sui and Tang Dynasties to the Mongolian era, China's cavalry reached its peak. In particular, the Mongols not only innovated cavalry tactics, but even Mongolian horses replaced the horses born and bred by the inland Han people. However, since the Song Dynasty, firearms were formally introduced into the ranks of weapons, which opened the prelude to the decline of cavalry. ?
The decline of cavalry?
After the Ming and Qing Dynasties, firearms flourished. With the emergence of specialized firearms and artillery, the status of cavalry gradually declined, and the cavalry, once the main strategic force after the Ming Dynasty, also gradually declined. ?
In the Ming Dynasty, cavalry mainly cooperated with other arms and were equipped with firearms. Qi Jiguang, a famous soldier, founded the Che Ying, which is a way of coordinated operation of stepping, riding and riding. This strategy was further studied by Che Ying's co-author Sun Chengzong. During this period, the tactics of firearms (artillery and muskets) bombardment (fire preparation), cavalry impact and infantry follow-up were also developed. A similar strategy did not appear in Europe until Napoleon's time. ?
In the Qing dynasty, the Qing dynasty thought it was a country with a bow and a horse. Jurchen was still a cavalry in the traditional sense when the People's Republic was founded, and there was no development. In addition, we didn't pay attention to firearms, so our country finally fell into a situation of arbitrary bullying by the powers. 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, cavalry basically lost its position in the army and gradually withdrew from the military stage. It was not until the emergence of armored mechanized troops that cavalry became history and was only used in some ceremonial occasions. ?
Throughout the development history of China cavalry, it has been ahead of the world since its birth. The development and decline of cavalry tactics and their weapons and equipment are all confirming the development of ancient science in China. The defeat of the Yuan Dynasty by the Ming Dynasty, which was dominated by infantry, just showed the great achievements in the research and application of firearms in China. By the Ming Dynasty, its armed forces not only surpassed Japan, but even surpassed European countries at that time. Kingsguard's magic camp (musketeers' troops) is several times as large as cavalry, and even Li Zicheng's army, known as "hooligans", is equipped with a large number of artillery and muskets. ?
Unfortunately, the rule and oppression of the feudal dynasty, the slow development of advanced science and technology, and the stubbornness and complacency of the "cavalry tradition" in the late Qing Dynasty eventually made China a semi-colonial country. Today, this great regret still leaves us with a great deficiency compared with the west in modern science and technology.
Troops and units in the army that ride horses to perform tasks. You can fight on horseback and on foot. Usually responsible for frontal assault, roundabout encirclement, pursuit, attack and other tasks. Its action is light and agile, and it is less affected by topography and meteorology. Historically, cavalry was once the main combat arm of the army. From the Warring States Period in China to the Qing Dynasty and the whole Middle Ages in Western Europe, cavalry quickly developed into the main arms of land warfare, and often became an important force to quickly destroy the enemy and reverse the war situation in combat. The role of cavalry can often be seen in novels, TV and movies about ancient and modern wars. The scenery in Ma Benteng is really exciting. Abroad, during the 1930s war of 17, 40% to 50% of the troops of the participating countries were cavalry. During the First World War, Germany, France and Russia all had cavalry army groups. During World War II, the Soviet Army had 17 cavalry units and more than 80 cavalry divisions. The heyday of cavalry in the history of China was the Yuan Dynasty, and cavalry units were mainly equipped with bows and arrows, sabres, javelins and tomahawks. During the Republic of China, there were more than 20 divisions of cavalry at most. From the establishment of the first cavalry unit of China People's Liberation Army in April 1928 to the later period of the Liberation War, the whole army has developed to 12 cavalry divisions. At present, only a few cavalry units remain in the border guards.
With the development of technology and equipment, especially the motorization and mechanization of the army, cavalry gradually lost its original position as an arms. At present, the armies of many countries only keep a small number of cavalry, which are mainly used for patrol, vigilance and transportation. Some countries also call armies riding camels and elephants cavalry.