Cavalry is the unit and arms that ride horses to perform tasks in the army. 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. 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 developed to 12 cavalry division, and only a few cavalry units remained in the border guards.
The cavalry is an organized and fast force. They can attack their opponents quickly, or they can retreat quickly and leave the battlefield when the situation is unfavorable (unless they are also engaged in a fast and highly mobile force).
Cavalry is a group of soldiers who have been trained for a long time and can fight on horseback. Because of its high speed, cavalry usually undertakes reconnaissance tasks, or when the enemy has just formed an army and assembled, it carries out guerrilla work to beat and run and disturb the enemy. Although in the late ancient Egyptian civilization, many soldiers rode horses and attacked their opponents with various weapons, today, most of the cavalry on horseback in our memory are new cavalry that appeared in the late18th century. In the Napoleonic era, cavalry was transformed into an excellent elite force, which was integrated with traditional infantry and deployed as the main force on the battlefield. In the American Civil War, even in the middle and late19th century, cavalry was more widely used in the battlefield. However, it was not until the appearance of the early continuous rifle that the single-shot musket was replaced, and the combat troops on horseback gradually appeared to have no room for parry when facing infantry.
The South African War from 1899 to 1902 was a farewell show of cavalry troops as the main force of the war. 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.
The U.S. military also refers to the troops and units that carry out reconnaissance missions by combat reconnaissance vehicles or helicopters as armored cavalry or air cavalry. With the wide application of modern science and technology and weapons and equipment in the battlefield, cavalry gradually lost its original status as an arms. Some countries only keep a small number of cavalry, mainly used for patrol, reconnaissance, vigilance and other tasks.
Related content
Historical Records Biography of Fan Guan: "There are many riders in Chu, and Hanwang chooses the army as the rider. They all forced Li Bi and Luo Jia, the heavy springs of Qin knights, to learn cavalry. Now they are captains and can be riders. "
Zhang Wentao in the Qing Dynasty wrote a poem entitled "Shooting at the Corner of an inkstone and Hunting for a Map": "If you are bound, you still want to be a cavalry, but you are crazy not to be a scholar."
Yang Shuo Tieqi: "A company of Eighth Route Army cavalry moving near Zuoyun braved the heavy snow and went south."
The gradual disappearance of cavalry
As the oldest arms in the world, cavalry began to gradually disappear on the stage of arms after the US Army and other countries abolished the cavalry system in 1960. After several major disarmament, only a few cavalry companies remained in China. Cavalry became a specimen of various arms, and cavalry units began to become a symbol of mystery and legend.
The cavalry of China People's Liberation Army reached100000 knights at the peak in history. 1985, our army replaced mule and horse riding with motorization and mechanization, and the cavalry disappeared as a unit, leaving only two cavalry battalions and several cavalry companies symbolically. 1928 In April, the first cavalry unit of our army, the cavalry unit of the Northwest Workers and Peasants Revolutionary Army, was formally established. By the time of the War of Liberation, the cavalry units of our army reached 12 cavalry divisions at most.