The cavalry is fast, mobile, high impact, can run long distances, and is the most powerful military force in ancient times. Throughout history, many peoples and states used cavalry to establish powerful dynasties and conquer vast areas. Over the thousands of years, countless cavalry have been established around the world, with different levels of combat effectiveness, of which the most powerful cavalry has three. Today, Xiaobian will introduce you to the three most powerful cavalry to see if they are the three strongest cavalry in everyone's mind.
1. Wei Huo cavalry
Xiao Bian believes that the Western Han cavalry led by Wei Qing and Huo Fuyi was the peak of the cavalry of the Central Plains Dynasty, and since then the Central Plains Dynasty has never established a cavalry with strong combat effectiveness like the Wei Huo cavalry. My reasons are: First, the scale is huge. When the largest scale of weihuo cavalry was 100,000, that is, when Wei Qing and Huo Went sick soldiers went deep into the desert north in two ways to fight a decisive battle, Wei Qing and Huo Went sick each led 50,000 cavalry and 140,000 horses, plus hundreds of thousands of infantry transporting grain and grass, which was very difficult to organize such a large-scale field army two thousand years ago, it was simply a miracle. Second, the combat effectiveness is strong. The Weihuo cavalry did not taste defeat in the more than ten years of fighting against the Xiongnu, and successively confronted the Xiongnu head-on, killing 150,000 or 60,000 people. Note that the cavalry that is facing the steppe peoples head-on, not only does not fall behind, but also can hit more with less.
Western Han cavalry
Third, the achievements in battle are enormous. Xiongnu is the first unified nomadic regime in the northern steppe, the strongest time has more than 400,000 cavalry, Weihuo cavalry against the peak of the Xiongnu cavalry, after more than ten years of continuous combat, the main force of the Xiongnu cavalry was basically wiped out, the Xiongnu have been in a slump, and finally had to submit to the Han Dynasty. The most admirable thing is that Wei Huo can lead the cavalry deep into the hinterland of the Xiongnu to fight the Xiongnu, and kill more than 100,000 people, achieving the great feat of sealing the wolf Juxu. Fourth, the equipment is advanced. The Weihuo cavalry was equipped with the most advanced weapons of the time, with special chariots Wugang chariots, long-distance bows and arrows, rhubarb, crossbows, armor, and iron swords, far ahead of the Xiongnu at that time. Even at that time, it was in a leading position in the world. Therefore, the Weihuo cavalry has always been in the first place in the mind of the editor.
Huo went to the sick film and television image
2. Mongol cavalry
The Mongol cavalry is the most mobile cavalry in the history of China and even the world, he can cross tens of thousands of kilometers to attack the enemy, his footprints have traveled through most of Eurasia, and he believes that the Mongol cavalry is the second strongest cavalry in human history. Reason: First, the mobility is super strong. The Mongol cavalry was dominated by light cavalry, and although the Mongolian horses were not large, they had very good endurance and could carry out long-distance raids. At the same time, the Mongols were also very able to endure hardships, and could survive through dried meat, cheese, horse blood, etc., and each Mongol cavalry was equipped with more than two warhorses, which could be used in turn. Therefore, the Mongol cavalry was very mobile, and they could cross the Eurasian continent from the Central Plains to the Danube River Valley in Europe, fighting tens of thousands of kilometers.
Mongol cavalry
Second, the organization is strictly disciplined. The Mongol cavalry was set up with ten thousand commanders, centurions, centurions, and ten commanders, commanding ten thousand, one thousand, one hundred, and ten cavalry respectively, which was equivalent to today's division, regiment, company, and platoon formation. There is strict discipline at every level, and there is a clear responsibility for each rank of officer, and if discipline is violated, the officer himself will be convicted not only, but also his family. For example, the tenth husband is responsible for teaching his subordinates to fight, and if he is not competent, then he and his wife and children will be convicted, and then a ten husband will be selected from his subordinates to serve. In this way, the Mongol cavalry changed from a loose unit of the original tribal nature to a well-organized and disciplined unit, and its combat effectiveness was very strong. Third, the equipment is very advanced. The Mongol cavalry conquered a vast territory and a large number of nationalities, and they integrated the advanced equipment of various ethnic groups to become the most advanced field troops at that time. For example, firearms, crossbows, and armor in the Central Plains; and trebuchets in the Arab region, also known as the return cannon. These advanced weapons allowed the Mongol cavalry not only to fight in the field, but also to attack the city.
Map of the Mongol Empire
Fourth, the achievements are outstanding. The Mongol cavalry conquered almost the entire Eurasian continent, defeated and destroyed the Jin, Western Xia, Western Liao, Dali, Tubo and other regimes in the east, destroyed the powerful Khwarazm in Central Asia, destroyed the Arab Abbasid dynasty, Syria, Persia and other regimes in West Asia, submitted to Russia in Europe, defeated the Polish-German coalition, once besieged Vienna, and established a Mongol Empire of 30 million square kilometers, tens of thousands of kilometers from east to west. However, the Mongol cavalry was defeated by the Mamluks and Poland successively, and then stopped expanding westward, so the editor put it in second place.
III. Mamluk cavalry
The Mamluk cavalry is the strongest cavalry in the world, and Napoleon once said that one Mamluk cavalry is equivalent to three French soldiers, which shows its strong combat effectiveness. Mamluk means slave and originated from the Arab Abbasid Ghulam Guards. In 833 AD, the eighth caliph of the Abbasid dynasty, Mutasim, ascended the throne, because his mother was a Turkic slave girl, so he was very jealous of the Persian aristocratic power in the dynasty after he ascended the throne, so he hired a group of Turks from his mother's old home as a guard, called the Ghulam Guard, which was the predecessor of Mamluk.
Mamluk cavalry
In the mid-to-late twelfth century, under saladin's leadership, the Ghulam Guards grew in resistance to the Crusaders and became one of the crusaders' most feared force. Saladin reformed the selection system for the Ghulam Guards, turning the Ghulam Guards into purely mercenaries selected from slaves, mainly from the Turks of the Caucasus, known as Mamluks. Mamluk began to become an independent military and political bloc, and Saladin also occupied Egypt, conquered Syria, and recaptured the holy city of Jerusalem under the mighty force of the Mamluk cavalry. Since then, Mamluk has become an important political force in Egypt, establishing the Mamluk dynasty in Egypt and ruling Egypt for more than three hundred years. In 1260, the Mongol Hulagu conquered Baghdad and Syria, and the army pointed directly at Egypt, and issued a letter of surrender to the Egyptian Mamluk leader Kutus, who was very arrogant. Curtus was furious and ordered the beheading of the Mongol emissaries, formally declaring war on the Mongols.
Map of the Mamluk Dynasty
The two sides broke out in Syria, Mamluk 12,000 men against the Mongols 20,000 people, and finally the Mongol cavalry was completely destroyed, the main general cowardly did not spend the battle to die, and since then the Mongol expansion has stopped in Syria. It was the first time in the world that Mongol cavalry was defeated in a field battle. Later, Mamluk was defeated by the rising Ottoman Empire and lost control of Egypt, but remained an important force in Egypt. Although Mamluk's personal combat ability is strong, due to the nature of mercenaries, lack of organizational discipline, and small scale, the total number is generally not more than 20,000 people, so Xiaobian puts it in third place.