What is history: it is the echo of the past to the future, the reflection of the future on the past. - Hugo
At the beginning of the founding of the Song Dynasty, the number and number of cavalry in the forbidden army were not many. Lü Tao said: "At the beginning of Yizu's appointment, there were 20,000 soldiers of the state", and another history recorded: "Emperor Taizu of the Song Dynasty jianlongchu ... The number of cavalry led by the front of the palace is thirty-seven, the amount of infantry is twenty-six; the number of cavalry is thirty-five and the amount of infantry is eighty-three; the head of the Imperial Army, the number of infantry is four; the number of infantry is two; and the number of cavalry led by the left and right Jiyuan is two." That is to say, in addition to the four commanders of the head division of the Gozen Tadasa Army, which is not easy to calculate, the forbidden army has a total of 195 commands, of which 74 are cavalry commands, and cavalry accounts for about 38% of the total. Although the number of forbidden troops at the beginning of the founding of the Song Dynasty was small, the proportion of cavalry was higher. At the same time, most of its cavalry is very tough because of the attack of the fifth generation.
But as the unification war progressed and the number of troops increased, so did the number of cavalry. Lü Tao said: "Emperor Taizong cut down the rebellion, mixed Chinese and foreign, and there were more than 300,000 at the beginning. In the seventh year of Jiayu (1062), the Privy Council played: "The total number of Kaibao's nationality is 378,000, while the forbidden army's horse step is 193,000; the total number of nationality is 666,000, while the forbidden army's horse step is 358,000; the total number of Tianxi's nationality is 912,000, and the forbidden army's horse step is 432,000."
During the Kaibao period of Song Taizu, there were 193,000 horse infantry; during the Song Taizong to Dao years, there were 358,000 horse infantry; and by the time of Emperor Zhenzong of Song, there were 432,000 horse infantry. If the proportion of cavalry in the forbidden army is estimated according to 28%, 'it can be concluded that during the Song Taizu Kaibao period, the number of cavalry was roughly 54,040, the number of cavalry during the Song Taizong to Dao years was roughly 100,240, and during the Song Zhenzong Tianxi period, the number of cavalry was roughly 1209,600 Of course, this estimation method is not necessarily accurate, because the time is different, and the cavalry is in the forbidden army
The proportion is certainly not set in stone, but we have no direct historical evidence, but the right and estimate. In the early Song Dynasty, the number of cavalry gradually increased with the increase in the number of forbidden troops, but compared to the descendants, the number was not much.
In the Song Renzong period, on the basis of inheriting the cavalry of the previous dynasty, the cavalry of the Song Renzong period increased and changed. Pang Ji once said: "In Fu Baoyuan, the cavalry, there are one hundred and sixty-two battalions outside the sun; infantry, seven hundred and fifty-two battalions outside the Tianwu."
In the seventh year of Jiayu (1062), the Privy Council said: "The total number of nationalities in the calendar is one hundred and twenty-five thousand, and the forbidden army is eight hundred and twenty-six thousand." "The total number of forbidden troops is 826,000, if we still estimate the proportion of cavalry in the forbidden army is 28%, it can be concluded that the number of cavalry at this time is 231,280, an increase of 110,320 over the last year of Song Zhenzong, an expansion of nearly double." In addition, the Song Dynasty army compiled "a hundred people as the capital, five as battalions", and "the horse army with four hundred, the infantry with five hundred people as a battalion" "riding with four hundred people, infantry with five hundred people as a battalion", that is to say, cavalry commanded 400 people, and then according to the Song Renzong period in the forbidden army and the forbidden army stationed in the table of cavalry and forbidden army stationed in various places, the cavalry was 543 command, plus 12 commands not counted, a total of 555 commands, it can be concluded that the number of cavalry is 222,000.
During the Song Zhezong period, "the four sides used troops to increase the number of troops" and increased the number of troops. In the seventh year of Yuan Yu (1092), the prime minister Lü Dafang said: "The forbidden army is more than 550,000 people. "The number of cavalry is estimated to be 99,000. However, by the time of emperor Huizong of Song and even the qinzong dynasty of Song, the army was disintegrating with political corruption, and the army was seriously short of quotas. In the fifth year of Chongning (1106), the Privy Council said: "The forbidden army is short of 240,000, and the near-creation of Guangyong, Chongjie, and Chongzheng is 100,000 people, and there are still 140,000." In the first year of Yan Yuan (1127), Li Gang recalled: "During the Xi and Feng dynasties, 590,000 people were forbidden to travel inside and outside. The supreme reverence and contemplation, and the wide amount is not compensated for by a few halves.
In the last years of the Northern Song Dynasty, "the edict encompassed the internal and external horses, and took less than 20,000 cavalry troops in Beijing, and granted the internal minister Liang Fangping to strangle the great river in Rongzhou, and then suffered a great defeat." It can be seen from this that the number of cavalry at the end of the Northern Song Dynasty decreased sharply. Clausewitz pointed out: "Cavalry can strengthen the mobility of the army, if there are too few cavalry, everything will certainly be slowed down." "The serious shortage of cavalry in the Song Army is bound to affect the overall military strength of the Song Dynasty, and even become one of the important reasons for the demise of the Northern Song Dynasty."