Tiefutu is the Song people's name for the elite cavalry of the Jin Dynasty, but in fact, Tiefutu is nothing special, it is just a well-trained heavy cavalry unit.
(Jinguo Tiefutu)
Just imagine, the Jin Kingdom originated in the barbaric land, iron smelting technology must be very backward, the Jin people after conquering the Liao Kingdom and the Central Plains region to obtain a large number of craftsmen, and then improve the equipment performance.
In general, the equipment of the Jinguo Iron Floating Tu is no different from that of the Song Army, and the elite troops of the Song Army are also heavily armored, and the level of protection is also very high.
(Northern Song Dynasty foot man armor, no different from Tiefu Tu)
However, the Song army lacked horses, the elite of the Song army was heavy infantry, and the iron floating tu of the Jin army was heavy cavalry, and the cavalry had a huge advantage in fighting infantry.
But the infantry is not invincible to the cavalry, as long as the command is proper, the infantry can also restrain the cavalry.
In the last years of the Northern Song Dynasty, the army was long sparse, military discipline was corrupt, and in the face of the impact of the Jin soldiers, the Song army was often vulnerable. In the Battle of Hebei, the Northern Song Dynasty's hundreds of thousands of troops were hammered by 30,000 Jin troops all the way, and even the Yellow River was not defended.
Therefore, if you want to resist the Jin army, the Southern Song Dynasty needs to rebuild a combat effective army.
Therefore, after Emperor Gaozong of Song went south, he resolutely delegated power, allowing Han Shizhong, Yue Fei and others to control the local troops and establish a private army belonging to the generals to enhance the combat effectiveness of the Song army.
Yue Fei, who was the highest in the local government, had sat on Jinghu North Road and Jingnan Southwest Road as an envoy and ambassador to Yingtian, holding the military, political, and financial power of one side, and formed a Yue family army that only obeyed his orders.
After the privatization of the army, there is an important advantage, that is, the rapid increase in combat effectiveness. For example, the reason why the Jin Army was tired at the beginning of its rise is that its essence stems from the private ownership of the Jin Army.
In the early days of its birth, the Jin Army was a private armed force that belonged to the Yan A bone, with well-trained soldiers and forbidden by military discipline, which was the key to the combat effectiveness of the margin army.
In contrast, the Yue family army is also such a unit, the army's internal military law is strict, saying that eating will eat, saying that the charge is charging, so the Yue family army is invincible, and the future Ming Dynasty Qi family army is also the same.
However, the private army also has a drawback, which makes the Lord suspicious.
Since the private army only obeys its own commander, if the commander is not loyal enough, then the emperor is in danger.
In history, there are countless examples of fierce generals leading troops to launch coups, and Zhao Kuangyin, the founding emperor of the Northern Song Dynasty, became emperor by relying on the support of his own soldiers and horses, and now that Yue Fei's army is in hand, Song Gaozong must be jealous of him.
It is a pity that Prince Yue, as a loyal vassal of a generation, was loyal to the imperial court and Zhao Zhao, but in the end he ended up with a wrongful death, and the whole world could not stop mourning.
(In the new edition of history textbooks, Yue Fei is once again defined as a national hero.)