Ming Zuo

Chapter 1179 Cavalry Reform
As a military expert, Zuo Menggeng's shortcoming is cavalry.

His knowledge of this branch is not even as good as that of the military generals of this era.

After all, in later generations, cavalry has long since withdrawn from the stage of history.It is impossible for him to see the essence behind it with thin words alone.

Now the generals of the cavalry division have used their personal battlefield experience to let him understand the negligence.

Reform has been urgently placed in front of the cavalry.

The cavalry division should change from the current single arm to a mixed corps with heavy cavalry, light cavalry, and dragoons.

There are so many details that can be picked out.

"Heavy cavalry is an important force on the frontal battlefield. How can we improve equipment?"

Wang Yan is a man of few words, but at this time he is actively offering advice.

"Your Highness, a saber is enough."

Zuo Menggeng was a little puzzled by this proposal.

"Cavalry charges head-on, the saber is probably not as good as the spear?"

Discussions and controversies about cavalry weapons abounded in later generations.

A mainstream view is that if the cavalry charges head-on, the spear has an unparalleled advantage.

Think and know.

The length of the spear is basically about three to four meters.

In this way, the heavy cavalry in a tight formation rushed towards the enemy like a city wall, and longer weapons seemed to be very advantageous.

But Wang Yan said that the saber is better.

Where is the good?
"Likes are very advantageous in the first moment of cavalry charge and collision, but no matter how fierce the cavalry charge is, it is absolutely impossible to completely penetrate the thick infantry phalanx in one go. In the follow-up battle, the melee is the key. In the melee, When a person is riding a horse, a long spear is very clumsy, far less useful than a saber."

Hearing what he said, Zuo Menggeng suddenly realized.

It's really shallow on paper, and I never know that this matter has to be done.

In the history of warfare for thousands of years, why can infantry resist cavalry?
The main reason is that the formation of infantry is not only rigorous, but also thick.

No matter how brave the cavalry charge is, there will always be times when their strength is exhausted.Once the cavalry loses the momentum of the impact, they will inevitably fall into the siege of the infantry.

In such a melee, one only needs to think about it, how can the long spear have any room to play?
It is far less lethal than cavalry wielding sabers.

Some people may have doubts.

Why not keep pushing the horse and keep the speed?
It's like banging your head against a wall.

Since you can't hit it, of course you have to stop.

Another point is that many people have overlooked that war horses are also living beings, and they also have spirituality.

When war horses encounter danger, they will also choose to dodge.

The kind of situation in the film and television drama where the horses are facing the spears like a forest and smashing into it is almost impossible on the battlefield.

When the war horse sees the danger ahead, no matter how the knight controls it, it will instinctively choose to avoid it.

Unless the horse's eyes are blindfolded.

But if you do this, unless it is absolutely flat terrain.Otherwise, how could the war horse be willing to run at full speed if it couldn't see anything?
As long as the war horse is replaced by a human and blindfolded, is anyone willing to run without any scruples?

Since people are unwilling, what is the difference between horses?
Therefore, even if heavy cavalry is used to collide with the infantry phalanx, it is still necessary to find the weakness of the infantry phalanx, and it is absolutely impossible to hit it head-on.

After crashing in, when the horsepower is exhausted and the speed cannot be increased, fighting is the key.

In this way, the advantage of the saber over the spear is too great, too great.

Besides, Wang Yan mentioned another point.

"Even in a confrontation between heavy cavalry and heavy cavalry, the saber has an advantage over the spear. The spear can only take advantage at the very beginning, but after the two sides mix together, the saber still dominates the world."

For this point, Zuo Menggeng still agrees.

He has personally charged and fought on horseback.

As the war horse galloped rapidly, the long spear, a weapon that only relied on the tip of the spear to injure the enemy, did not have much chance to dance back and forth.It's not like a saber at all, you can chop left and right.

Moreover, Xia Jun's sabers are all made of fine steel, which are extremely sharp and have a very good armor-piercing effect.

In the process of confronting the cavalry of the Qing army, even if the opponent is wearing two to three layers of cotton armor, he will still be easily broken by a saber.

After understanding everything, Zuo Menggeng suddenly became enlightened.

"Then the heavy cavalry's weapon should still be the saber."

Wang Siyi, a peerless warrior, does not simply believe in martial arts.

"That kind of revolver is very good. It can fire several bullets in one breath. It can be equipped with cavalry. It is much more useful than a saber in close combat and melee combat."

Zuo Menggeng slapped his forehead, very annoyed at his negligence.

"After I go back, I will instruct the equipment department to mass-produce and assemble them for you."

Cavalry in modern history were basically equipped with pistols for close combat.

Some people may have doubts.

Even if it is a revolver, there are only a few rounds in total.Once it's all shot, it's too late to draw the sword, wouldn't it be a big loss?

People who ask this have not considered a reality.

The revolver can only be equipped with five to six bullets, and it is very troublesome to reload after being shot.

But if you convert it into mathematics, you can understand everything.

In close combat, the accuracy of firearms is still guaranteed.

If one cavalryman killed four or five enemies with a revolver, how many enemies would all the cavalry combined kill?

Even the most elite army will inevitably collapse if the battle damage reaches a certain level.

In other words, it is very likely that in the melee, Xia Jun's cavalry hadn't drawn their knives yet, and just one round of pistol blows could cause the enemy to collapse.

After counting these, you know that it is definitely very cost-effective to equip cavalry with melee weapons.

Finally, after deliberation, the cavalry reform plan was finalized.

The existing framework of the cavalry division remains unchanged, but the four cavalry regiments will clarify their respective responsibilities.

In total, it will be divided into one regiment of heavy cavalry, two regiments of light cavalry, and one regiment of dragoons.

The heavy cavalry regiment has a total of more than [-] people, which is large enough to complete the charge on the frontal battlefield.

In contrast, light cavalry will be widely used on the battlefield, so the strength of two regiments is established.

When the heavy cavalry regiment charges, the light cavalry can cover on both wings.In normal times, light cavalry can cruise and fight independently.

A dragoon regiment also has more than [-] people.

In addition to the basic saber, it will also be equipped with cap guns, light artillery, mortars, etc. to become a pure thermal weapon unit.

The function is to move forward quickly during the battle, seize important strategic points, and help the side gain the initiative in the battle.

Of course, if it encounters loose enemy infantry, the Dragoon regiment is not unable to charge and strangle.

Taken together, the Dragoons are a hodgepodge.

Although he is not good at anything, he can do anything.

Critical moments will play a crucial role in the entire battle.

In this cavalry reform, in addition to the changes in the types of arms, the biggest point is to reduce the status of the cavalry.

Originally in the Xia army, the cavalry formed an independent division, which belonged to the strategic force and was directly under the command of the command.It has a side-by-side relationship with other major military regions and services.

But this time after the reform, the cavalry divisions will be assigned to the major military regions.

In future operations, the cavalry will closely cooperate with other arms and fight together.

Going out alone like this time and facing the enemy alone can only be regarded as accidental and does not conform to the law of the battlefield.

(End of this chapter)