introduction
In the backward era of cold weapons, heavy cavalry was one of the most powerful troops, often able to dominate the victory of the battle. The heavy cavalry formed by the Jurchens, Tie Futu, played a great role in the process of expanding the territory of the Jin Dynasty.
Such a powerful team was invincible and invincible before encountering Yue Fei's Yue Family Army.
After several confrontations, Yue Jiajun became an existence that made Tie Futu fearful, how did they do it?
Photo: Yue Jiajun stills
1. Tie Futu and Yue Jiajun
The reason why Tiefutu has extremely strong combat effectiveness and is invincible in fighting in the sand is because cavalry has several important characteristics.
First, the cavalry is extremely mobile and flexible in scheduling, which can not only crush the enemy's formation at a relatively fast speed on the frontal battlefield, but also disrupt the enemy's formation with tactics such as two-loaf and roundabouts.
If defeated, the cavalry can quickly retreat to reduce damage; If you win, you can immediately pursue and win more battles.
Cavalry that came and went without a trace could also harass the enemy's logistics units, cut off food routes, and sneak up on the walled camp, which was difficult to prevent.
"Husbands and riders, can clutch and combine, can scatter energy collection, a hundred miles, thousands of miles, in and out without idleness, so the name of the acrostic soldier."
But mobility is only one of the advantages of the Jurchen Iron Float over infantry, and their most important feature is that they can cause huge casualties with impact power.
The war horses used by the cavalry are basically fat and strong, burly, weighing about 300~450 kg, and weighing up to nearly half a ton after wearing protective armor.
Figure/Iron float diagram
When such a group of extremely fast and heavy legions galloped in, even the strongest infantry would be hit and trampled to the point of defeat. The cavalry on horseback can also exert strong combat ability and is difficult to be restrained.
The heavy cavalry Tiefutu often appears in combination with the kidnapping horse, "kidnapping horse" is the title of the cavalry on both sides of the Jin army, usually using the tactic of outflanking assault, extremely mobile, more agile and flexible than the Tiefutu.
Like a tank, the Iron Float is used most of the time for frontal attacks, like floating black iron walls, crushing and crushing enemy troops.
When the Tiefutu cavalry fights, they also have to bear the weight of metal armor, so the knights must have a physique beyond ordinary people. Under the combination of powerful knights, war horses, and armor, the combat effectiveness of the Jurchen cavalry was extremely terrifying.
Between 1127~1129, Jin Wushu led Tie Futu south three times, marched into the Central Plains, and defeated the Song army.
Under the pursuit of the iron horse of the Jin Dynasty, the Song Dynasty fled south, and there was no regular army at all to wrestle with the Jurchens. The task of resisting aggression basically rested on the generals who greatly expanded their private armies.
Photo: Southern Song general Zong Ze
And Yue Fei threw himself under the anti-gold general Zong Ze, relying on battle merits to rise from a small soldier to a general step by step.
However, after Zongze's death, there was no good enough successor, and then the army collapsed, and more than half of the soldiers left one after another.
When the army was disbanded, Yue Fei quickly led his subordinates to move to Yixing and form an army alone. Since then, the prestige of the world-famous Yue Jiajun was born.
At this time, the old army of Yue Jiajun was only more than 2,000 people, and from the first year of Shaoxing (1131), Yue Fei led his troops to gallop across Xiang'e, pacify the bandits, and then integrate them into the army.
In addition, Yue Fei also collected soldiers who were scattered and fled by the Jin army in various places, and within a few years, Yue Jiajun had grown to a size of more than 100,000 people, becoming the head of the armies of the Southern Song Dynasty.
Originally, the imperial court was unable to deal with these thieves who flouted the law and order, and could only recruit and recruit them, so that there was a "thief who has no shortcut to the road, and the admiral's conspiracy is just a trick; want to get an official, kill and set fire to be recruited."
Yue Jiajun's vigorous reorganization really alleviated the problem of rogues, in addition, under Yue Fei's training, this group of rabble gradually became a strict army that "froze to death without demolishing houses, starved to death and did not plunder", laying the foundation for resisting the invasion of the Jin State.
Photo: Yue Jiajun stills
If military discipline is strict and orders are prohibited, the combat effectiveness of the army will be guaranteed, and it will be able to fight with the powerful Jin Guo Iron Horse. What means did Yue Fei use to allow Yue Jiajun to achieve such an effect?
Yue Fei was born as a commoner, and since he was a child, he was accustomed to soldiers bullying the people, burning and killing and plundering, so he hated these phenomena very much. At the beginning of the founding of the army, he formulated military discipline with clear rewards and punishments, and strict and solemn military discipline.
Yue Fei believes:
"Those who use soldiers do not have it, and the five things of benevolence, faith, wisdom, courage, and strictness must not be dispensed with." Those who have meritorious service are rewarded, those who have no merit are severely punished, and those who have strict orders are also rewarded. ”
Under his strict methods of military management, Yue Jiajun became an "outlier" among all Song troops at that time, because they never harassed civilians. When the people in various places learned of this, they even dragged their families with them and moved to take refuge near the Yue Jiajun's station.
And other Song generals, especially Zhang Jun, were indulging their soldiers to bully the people, even proudly. These bandit-like armies brought more suffering to the civilians who were plundered by the Jin Kingdom. In contrast, Yue Jiajun is more noble.
Photo: Yue Fei
After the Yue family army grew, it became one of the main forces resisting the Jin army. In the face of a powerful opponent Tie Futu, the best way is naturally to also form a cavalry unit to resist. Yue Jiajun has been looking for opportunities, but it is not an easy task.
Because the Song Dynasty regime cut off horse trading activities with the northwest region after moving south, and the quality of horses raised by the people was uneven, it was completely unable to supply a good cavalry team.
Therefore, in the face of the impact of the Jin Army Tiefutu, the Song Dynasty was basically beaten.
In the sixth year of Shaoxing (1136), when Yue Fei twice led his army to attack the puppet regime supported by the Jin state, he captured more than 15,000 of their war horses, plus the thousands of war horses he had acquired, Yue Jiajun successfully pulled up an elite army with more than 20,000 cavalry.
Due to the continuous expansion of the number of troops, Yue Fei divided the army into twelve teams, of which more than 20,000 cavalry were divided into three armies: the Backlash Army, the Youyi Army, and the Stepping White Army, the Youyi Army was used for patrol escorts, the Stephen Army was used for reconnaissance and espionage, and the Backlash Army was composed of warriors selected and duelled many times as commandos and death squads.
2. Weapons to restrain cavalry
In order to fight against the biggest enemy, Tie Futu, Yue Fei not only formed cavalry, but also carefully studied the weaknesses of Tie Futu and conducted targeted training for Yue Jiajun.
Figure/Iron float diagram
Yue Fei's first thought was that since the Tiefutu Knight's armor was thick and difficult to hurt, it was better to deal with a war horse with more weaknesses, and by breaking its legs, he could instantly reduce most of Tiefutu's combat power.
But how can you get into the Iron Float camp and flexibly and neatly seriously injure the horse's leg?
In order to protect soldiers from being trampled by horses' hooves, they must first be equipped with shields and hide below to wait for an opportunity, which restricts soldiers from carrying weapons such as spears, and ordinary large knives are too short, and the long handle of the maja knife is just right.
Proficiency in the use of long-handled knives became an important training content for the Southern Song Dynasty army.
According to the regulations, the knife dancer must dance the 1.2-foot long training knife fifty-two times in a row, and the knife head cannot touch the ground to be considered qualified, while the most demanding Yue Jiajun requires more in order to cultivate the most powerful Tiefutu nemesis.
Photo: A surviving long-handled knife
When the Tiefutu cavalry attacked, Yue Jiajun's tactic of using long knives to cut horses' legs was really successful.
In addition to the Mazha knife, the Song army also learned from the cold weapon culture of the Sui and Tang Dynasties, and used the improved long-handled axe to fight the cavalry on the battlefield, which can not only slam the knights of Tiefutu, but also slash the war horse, which is more effective than the Mazha knife.
"Yizhong fought with 10,000 soldiers each holding a long axe, and the enemy was defeated", "Holding a long axe, striking the chest of the person and cutting the horse's foot down", the cavalry of the Jin army was severely damaged by such weapons, and it was no longer invincible.
With melee weapons such as knives and axes, Yue Jiajun is also equipped with fine bows and crossbows, which are used to kill and injure the cavalry of the Jin Army at a long distance.
Sword-wielding soldiers can also gather to defend crossbowmen with poor melee capabilities, allowing them to output at full strength and restrain the cavalry.
The biggest advantage of cavalry is to move quickly and crush the opponent's formation, and the long-range crossbow can severely restrain this.
The ordinary bow has a shooting power of about one stone, and the range is ninety to one hundred and twenty steps, which is not enough to shoot through the thick armor of the iron float. And the crossbow attacks less frequently than the bow, but the lethality and range have doubled.
Photo: Restoration of the divine arm bow
The powerful crossbow, known as the "Divine Arm Bow", has a range of more than 240 steps, about 370 meters, which can pose a great threat to the iron floating map.
On the battlefield, the Yue family used ordinary bows and arrows to suppress a wide range, and used the divine arm bow to harvest strongly, and with the long knife and big axe that cut the horse's legs, Tie Futu was really difficult to parry.
Jin Wushu once said: "In the past I went to the south, I saw the military weapons of the Song Dynasty, and the great one was only a divine arm bow, and the second one was a heavy axe, and now it is forged." ”
Third, the decisive battle of the strongest army
In the tenth year of Shaoxing (1140), when the Jin army went south to attack in a big way, the Yue family army divided into three routes and actively attacked.
The First Army responded as the main force on the frontal battlefield;
The Second Army went deep behind enemy lines to fight guerrilla attacks and disrupt enemy logistics;
The Third Army took over the Yangtze River defense in Jiangxi and Anhui, and stabilized the rear with water troops.
In the first battle, the Yue army gradually advanced from south to north, and the main force broke through in the center and the two wings were deployed, annihilating the Jin army in Kaifeng, and crossing the Yellow River to recover the lost territory in Hebei. In just half a month, the Yue family's army was like a broken bamboo, and it successfully cleared the perimeter of Kaifeng.
Not long after, the Jin army poured out again, and Tie Futu and Yue Jiajun fought the final decisive battle in Henan's Chengcheng and Yingchang.
Photo: Yue Jiajun
On July 8, rows of Jin troops gradually emerged on the plain outside the city, and along with the smoke and dust in the sky, the Jin Cavalry took the lead in rushing towards the city tower.
In the face of the Tiefutu and the horse cavalry that the Jurchens were most proud of, Yue Jiajun directly sent cavalry teams such as Bei Wei and You Yi, assisted by infantry, and launched a head-on duel with the Jin army, killing from noon to dusk.
The method of defeating the enemy, which had been trained day and night, was used by Yue Jiajun. Under the perfect cooperation of long knives, heavy axes, and crossbows, the Jurchen cavalry was killed and turned on their backs, and corpses were strewn across the field.
The Tie Futu and the Kidding Horse troops were in chaos and fled in all directions, while the Yue family army fought steadily, relying on the perfect combination of weapons and tactics to harvest wave after wave, and the Jin Guo Iron Horse was greatly hit, and even Jin Wushu was almost captured.
A few days later, the Jin army attacked Yingchang with 30,000 cavalry and 100,000 infantry. Yue Fei personally led the cavalry of the 1,000 Yue family army to charge, and 20,000 infantry cooperated in the attack on both sides of the cavalry.
Photo: Kim Wushu
After a battle, both the Song and Jin armies were exhausted and suffered heavy casualties. At this time, the gate of Yingchang City suddenly opened, and the 10,000 white troops and the Xuanfeng army, which were the reserve of the Yue family army, surged in, and the Jin army was instantly defeated and returned with a great defeat.
Yue Jiajun set a precedent of taking the initiative to attack on the plain battlefield and defeat the iron cavalry of the Jin army, "It is easy to shake the mountain, but it is difficult to shake the Yue family army", the Jurchens had to sigh so.
Photo: Portrait of Yue Fei
In the two decisive battles with the Yue family army, the main force of the Jin army had already suffered a devastating blow, and Wu Shu could only collect the remnants of the army and retreat, and the Southern Song Dynasty was able to survive under the brave battle of the Yue family army.
Yue Fei and Yue Jiajun broke the myth of Tie Futu's invincibility, and the Jin Army Iron Horse did not dare to easily trample on the land and people of the Song Dynasty. All the generals of the Jin Dynasty were also beaten to the ground by Yue Fei, calling him "Grandpa Yue", and they were extremely afraid.
epilogue
Swords, axes, arrows and crossbows, Yue Jiajun used a variety of weapons to limit the combat effectiveness of the Tiefutu heavy cavalry to the greatest extent. However, although weapons and martial arts are extremely important, they are not the key to their victory.
Yue Jiajun can fulfill the prohibition of orders and actions, and work together to make every soldier a high-quality combat force with self-discipline, firm faith, courage and fearlessness.
Uniting again, twisting into a rope, and going to the soup to defend the country, such excellent soldiers and their general Yue Fei are the most important points to achieve victory.
Such a team, placed throughout ancient history, is extremely outstanding. Only such an excellent team can compete with powerful foreign enemies, and may even continue to recover lost territory and restore the glow of the Great Song of the past.
Yue Fei led the Yue family army to fight on the battlefield, shocking the golden country, saving the general of the building, and saving the people from fire and water, he deserved to be admired by everyone and live his life vigorously.
However, such a meritorious general was soon forced to an extremely tragic end.
His achievements in resisting the enemy were vigorously erased by Qin Hui and his henchmen, and his hard work Yue Family Army fell apart in the Great Purge, and the history of his existence can only be known by the memories of veteran soldiers, how absurd it is.
Photo: Yue Wang Temple
Fortunately, the name of Yue Jiajun did not fulfill the wishes of Zhao Zhi Qin Hui and was annihilated in the long river of history. The story of Yue Jiajun and Yue Fei has been passed down through the ages and is highly famous.
And the one who mutilated Zhongliang is still kneeling in front of Yue Fei's tomb, reviled by thousands of people, and will never atone for his sins.
Bibliography:
"The Complete Biography of Say Yue"
History of Song
"Military Training Miscellaneous"