Cavalry is highly mobile, and compared with infantry, both heavy cavalry and light cavalry have a huge advantage. Historically, whether it was China or Rome, facing the cavalry of the nomadic peoples in the north, it took a lot of energy to defend. In the process of the Mongol conquest of Eurasia, the role of the cavalry was very large, which can be said to be the basis for its establishment of a large empire.
In the Mongol army, the cavalry was numerous. We know that tall, mighty stallions, with heavy weight and strong impact, are very popular with soldiers. But when the Mongolian Iron Horse conquered the world, the team often brought a group of mares, for reasons that were very unexpected.
Breed first! Mongolian war horses have good genes, good quality, and familiarity with soldiers, so they become a unique choice for Mongolian soldiers. During the course of the battle, the loss rate of war horses is very high, so it is necessary to bring a batch of mares on the way to breed war horses! Generally speaking, the duration of the war is very long, enough for the foal to grow into a good warhorse that can be used! In this way, strategic resources can be effectively replenished, which is very convenient and efficient.
Secondly, take the milk! The Mongols fought in countries such as Jin, Western Xia, Western Liao, Huarazm, and Europe, all at relatively high latitudes and with cold climates. Coupled with long-distance marches and military battles, the consumption and demand for nutrition are relatively large! Bring a batch of mares to take horse milk at any time, which is used to fill hunger, quench thirst and replenish energy, and at the critical moment, it will also kill horses and eat meat, which is very useful!
The Third Temptation! Shouldn't it be a small group of cavalry harassing and enticing the enemy? How to use a mare to lure the enemy? This "enemy" refers to the warhorse opposite! In fact, there are many examples of harassing the opposite cavalry with mares in history, and in the Tang Dynasty Anshi Rebellion, the rebel warhorses are tall and the impact is very strong! The famous general Li Guangbi arranged a group of mares to run by the river where the enemy war horses drank water, and the war horses on the opposite side were confused, and they were blinded by the "beauty" and followed the mare silly. The Mongol cavalry also used this method to disturb the minds of the enemy's warhorses on the battlefield and gain an advantage for themselves.
Finally a donkey! In ancient times, marching and fighting wars needed to consume a lot of grain and grass, and even the Mongolian cavalry of mobile strength needed a lot of materials, such as equipment, armor, food, etc. The sitting war horse can certainly not be used for carrying goods, so it will use mares or inferior stallions to carry goods, and it will be more than enough. These mares were logistics, which strongly supported the Mongol army to fight everywhere.
In feudal society, cars, etc. were not invented, and the position of warhorses in war was crucial, and the Song Dynasty lost the horse breeding land of the Hexi Corridor and could only allocate a large number of soldiers to resist the Northern Liaojin cavalry. Therefore, the role of war horses, whether stallions or mares, was maximized to serve the war.