Author: BERK Source: DMN
Camels are amazing animals.
The dromedary, the most adapted to desert environments, was domesticated around 4000 BC, and was used not only for camel walking, but also for meat, dairy products, and wool clothing. The more iconic Bactrian camel is much later.
In 1904, German camel cavalry stationed in German West Africa clashed with the Herero and Nama tribes
Camels have long eyelashes in upper and lower rows, and their nostrils can close themselves tightly, so they can be lower than dust. The wide foot pads allow you to walk on soft sand. The heavy fur protects against the blazing sun and cold nights in the desert.
But the camel has the most bullish body structure and is the most adapted to the desert. The efficient kidneys and digestive system do not waste every drop of water drunk, but unlike many people think, the hump stores fat instead of water, but its stomach can store 110 liters of water at a time.
Although we all know that the trademark of Camel cigarettes is a camel in front of a pyramid, ancient Egypt never had this thing. It wasn't until 525 BC that the Persians hit here. There is also a theory that came with Alexander's army in 332 BC. But in any case, it was not until after the Arab conquest in 642 AD that camels became common in Egypt.
The nomadic culture of the Semitic people is centered on camels, raising camels to give birth to camels, camel caravans, riding camels to fight others, and carrying camels. The Midianites and Amalekites increased their battles against the Hebrews under the leadership of Gideon, the hero of Israel, who in the Old Testament book of Judges wrote that they had "countless camels as much as the sand of the sea."
An Assyrian mural from before 645 BC in the British Museum shows how these warriors fought: an Assyrian archer chasing two nomads on camels.
In camel racing, camels can sprint up to 64 kilometers per hour and maintain a speed of 25 kilometers per hour in an hour, as long as there is no car, riding a camel to escape is undoubtedly the right choice.
The Ottoman Camel Regiment in Beersheba during the First Suez Offensive of World War I, circa 1915
The 5th century BC Greek Ctesias of Cnidus recorded a strange war story about camels. The legendary Assyrian queen Simeramis (reigned 824-811 BC) tried to conquer ancient India. He knew that India had a unique weapon, the war elephant. He ordered hundreds of fake elephants to be secretly made out of cowhide, and inside the elephants were manned with the trunk movement of the frame, and a camel pulled the fake elephant to move.
When the ordinary cavalry of India saw the fake elephant, they boldly rushed to the fake elephant of the Greeks, but the Indian horses did not smell the smell of camels and fled in fright. But soon the Indian war elephants rushed over and easily tore the cowhide war elephants apart.
In 546 BC, Cyrus the Great of Persia fought against the Lydian king Chloiza in the plain of Timbula (southwestern Turkey) near Sardis, and the Lydians with their elite Javelin cavalry far outnumbered the Persians.
But Cyrus the Great, knowing that Lydia's horses had never seen camels, sent 300 Arabs to the front as cavalry on camels that had been used for transport. As he expected, Lydia's horses were panicked by camels, and Lydia's soldiers had to dismount and control the horses, and the Persian archers took the opportunity to shoot fiercely and won the battle.
Perhaps it is these legends that have the saying that camel cavalry restrained ordinary cavalry.
The United States was once the only camel cavalry unit, located in San Pedro, California.
The first time the Romans encountered camels was in Magnesia in 190 BC, in battle against Antioch III of Syria, who arranged Arab archers riding camels around his sickle chariot. Although the Romans won the battle, they also learned the value of camels in battle, forming single-hump camel troops to patrol the desert border.
When the Roman Emperor Claudius attacked England in 43 AD, he brought elephants to scare the English, and camels to scare the English's horses.
Camels used to ride at high speeds were praised in war, but camels used for transport, although slow on foot, provided the logistics to ensure victory.
In 53 BC, the Roman general Marcus Licinius Crassus led an attack on the Parthian Empire, which ruled almost the entire Near East.
In this war, in the Karl Sea, on the edge of the Syrian and Turkish deserts, 9,000-strong Parthian mounted archers annihilated the 35,000-strong veteran legion of Karazu in one fell swoop, mainly because the transport capacity of hundreds of camels provided enough arrows for the Parthians. Know that a camel can carry up to 180 kg.
Genghis Khan's army on a Mongolian horse for high-speed maneuvering combat was famous, but they also used double-humped camels to transport supplies, rather than having no supplies as legend has it, and signaling devices such as gongs and drums used to direct battles were also mounted on camels.
200 years later, Timur, who was known for his cruelty, invented a new method of camel warfare, the fire camel. During the battle against Sultan Mahmudihan, in order to deal with 120 heavily armored war elephants. On December 17, 1398, Timur ordered that the camel's backs be filled with oil-stained bushes and straw, and the frightened camels should be set on fire and driven to the Indian positions.
The wise elephant saw the burning camel rushing towards him, scattered and fled, the Indian army was naturally defeated, and Delhi was ransacked.
UN peacekeepers on camels patrol the Ethiopian-Eritrean border.
In 1855, U.S. Secretary of the Army Jefferson Davis established an experimental camel unit, mainly because the desert terrain of the southwestern United States was not suitable for horses and mules, but it was good for camels.
The Navy sent ships to buy 21 camels from Turkey's Izmir camel market and brought back 5 camel handlers, led by Hajj, a Jordanian Bedouin. Ali, when he arrived in the United States, his name was changed to Hi Jolly, and he was also considered a skilled immigrant.
During the expedition to the southwestern desert, camels proved their strength, but the disadvantage was that they could not live peacefully with horses and mules. But soon the Civil War broke out, no one cared about the camel troops, and the camels were released into the desert of the United States, and until 1940, the descendants of these camels were still seen.
In World War I, Britain also established a camel cavalry unit in Egypt in 1916, with a total of 4150 riders and 4800 camels from Britain, Australia, India and New Zealand, and it was these units in Lawrence in Arabia, the British army that fought with the guerrillas.
To this day, many Middle Eastern Arab countries retain camel cavalry as honor guards and parades, such as:
The camel cavalry of the Jordanian police dates back to the Bedouin camel cavalry that fought alongside Lawrence of Arabia during World War I. But now the unit was formed in 1931 by another legendary British soldier, John Bargot Grubb.
The unit now has only 40 men, wearing traditional khaki robes, crossed bullet belts, silver daggers and red checkered turbans, patrolling the desert border, but their main mission is not to catch smugglers, but to rescue travelers trapped in the desert.
Oman's Royal Camel Cavalry, a ceremonial unit with a mission to "promote cultural heritage, develop camel racing and improve professionalism in training skills", has a breeding base of 400 camels in Muscat.
The Saudi National Guard is not part of the regular army, but is simply a force to defend the royal family, and there is also a ceremonial squadron equipped with camels. In addition, there are 24 tribal militia battalions, which ride camels on festivals and usually drive Toyota pickups.
Morocco's Royal Army nominally has three battalions of camel cavalry, but only two squadrons that can actually ride camels are used for performances at celebrations.
The Border Security Force of the Indian National Police also has a camel cavalry that patrols the desert border and performs at the ceremony.
Of course, Pakistan also has camel soldiers.
The UAE also has a camel unit.
In the war on terror, U.S. Special Forces had to rely on animals for transportation in Afghanistan, so a military manual, "Special Forces Pack Beasts Manual" (FM 3-05-213, June 2004), wrote about camels: camels seem to look stupid and ugly, and have a bad reputation for spitting and kicking people, but this view is incorrect, trained camels are very competent and safe. At the same time, the manual recommends that the US special forces rely as much as possible on local camel handlers.
Camel cavalry of the future Star Wars era
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