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Chapter 1194: Cavalry Gathering
"Let Flathead take the guards to the south to assist in the defense. Let me borrow your head... Try harder. Hey, it's done. Hand me the telescope."

Seeing that the eastern skyline had already turned pale, Hong Tao put down his rifle, climbed onto the roof of the car with Wang Chengen's head pressed down, and raised the telescope to aim due west.

The cavalry couldn't launch a direct attack at this distance, and it would take more than half an hour to assemble the troops. It was better not to just wait there and see its true appearance first.

"Hey, this is quite interesting! Come on, come on, I'll help you come up and take a look. You've got it copied today, and the less you see, the better."

After looking through the telescope for a few minutes, Hong Tao reached out and pulled Wang Chengen, who was waiting eagerly under the car, up. He handed the telescope to him while mumbling, with a slightly excited expression on his face.

"This... Your Majesty, where do these cavalrymen come from? Why do they have wings on their backs? Are they the same clan as Lei Zhenzi?" As the distance between the two sides gradually narrowed and the sky became brighter, Wang Chengen saw a very strange picture through the telescope.

The cavalry formation in the distance was very large, stretching from west to south, with no end in sight. Some of them were relatively normal, such as those wearing turbans and red hats, others wearing iron helmets, and others with feathers stuck high in their hats. The cavalrymen in different costumes were in different groups, clearly separated.

But the attire of one cavalry team was beyond Wang Chengen's cognition. Each of them had two things standing high on their backs, separated to the left and right, much like wings. Although he had followed the emperor for so many years and no longer believed in gods and ghosts, he could not help but feel confused when he suddenly saw this scene.

"Not to mention the ones wearing Little Red Riding Hood turbans, you can always see them from Fao Port to here. They are not very good at fighting, but they are good at running away." Hong Tao asked the guards below for a pair of binoculars and began to explain to Wang Chengen.

The first and largest number is the Sipahi cavalry. Hong Tao feels that this standing armed force of the Ottoman Empire is not worthy of its name. Compared with the Guards Corps, its combat effectiveness is a bit low and it can only play a harassing role. It rarely performs when encountering strong enemies, at least it did not see its highlight moment when facing the Ming army.

"Those wearing iron helmets are probably not from the Ottoman army. They are probably from Europe and are called Lancers. They were originally heavy cavalry wearing full body armor and holding spears. Later, as muskets became popular, armor was no longer effective for protection, and they gradually evolved into musket cavalry using carbines on horseback.

In fact, this may be the correct direction for the development of cavalry. They can charge and defend on the spot, and are more mobile than pure infantry. Several dusi in the north have similar thousand households, and most of their members are children from herdsmen's families. "

The second group to be recognized were the Lancers. Their characteristics were also very obvious. The metal helmets still had the shape of full body armor, but the weapons in their hands had changed from several-meter-long lances to several-foot-long carbines.

Some readers may ask, shouldn't the dragoons be the most famous in Europe in the 17th century? The answer is no. The dragoon is a translation error. Its name is the German word for carrying, which is similar to the word for dragon.

The original meaning was infantry on horseback, using heavier, larger, and longer flintlock muskets, which were not suitable for fighting on horseback. The dragoons' horses were also the worst among the cavalry, not even war horses, and there were mules, which were only used for traveling, and they still had to dismount and serve as infantry in combat.

"The cavalry with feathers on their hats are more famous. You must have heard of the Hussar General. They are called Hussars. They use sabers and short spears. They come from Hungary in eastern Europe and are known for their fierce attacks. Unfortunately, no matter how brave the cavalry is, they are powerless in front of bullets. Their era is over!" The third cavalry team introduced in particular is the most neat and beautiful, with dark clothes and pants with golden buttons and a signature cloak. However, Hong Tao changed the subject and was not optimistic about their future. It is often the case that the strong in one era are most likely to become the weak in the next era. This is a law of history.

"Hey, it's Lei Zhenzi's turn now. Look carefully, the wings on their backs are not real, but fake wings made of sticks and feathers. The name is obvious, they are called Winged Cavalry, cavalry with wings.

It sounds very imaginative and looks very impressive, but it is fake. If they cannot step out of the halo of history in time and always cling to the glory of their ancestors, they will soon be ruthlessly abandoned by the times. "

The last type of cavalry introduced is also very famous, the Polish Winged Hussars. Hong Tao has only seen their battle scenes in movies, and he doesn't know whether it is true or not. But judging from the results of the battle between the Polish Federation and the Ottoman Empire, their combat effectiveness is far less than their beautiful decorations, and at most they can fight the Sipahi Light Cavalry on equal terms.

If they could remove the wings on their backs and put more effort into how to effectively kill the enemy, their combat effectiveness might be increased. Soldiers and weapons that pay too much attention to appearance are not to their taste, which is what we call putting the cart before the horse in Chinese.

Killing is killing. Figuring out how to kill quickly, easily and efficiently is professionalism. Do you think that making some fancy things can scare the enemy away?
"Why are they all Europeans? I remember His Majesty once said that the Ottomans and Europeans were mortal enemies. The two sides have been fighting for hundreds of years, with countless casualties. Could it be that they have reconciled?"

When it comes to lack of knowledge and skills, among the entire Cuju team, the Haihu Division, and the Royal Academy's graduates over the past twenty years, Wang Chengen is second to none, and no one dares to be first.

He guarded the omniscient emperor all day long. Except for eating, sleeping, going to the toilet or when he was in a bad mood, he could ask questions whenever he wanted. His learning conditions were better than anyone else.

As a result, after so many years, except when I really don’t understand and need to ask during casual chat, like now, the rest of the time I refuse to ask questions or learn, which annoys others.

"They are mortal enemies, but when they encounter a stronger enemy, even the murderers of their fathers can become close friends. This is politics. Murad IV and Ferdinand III both made the right choice and made the right efforts on this issue, and they deserve the respect of their people."

But Hong Tao didn't get annoyed with Wang Chengen, because he always listened to the class seriously, at least on the surface, and didn't show any impatience. Whether he understood or not was another matter, but his correct attitude was also an advantage.

“I still don’t quite understand why the Ming Dynasty punished the Ottomans but was regarded as a mortal enemy by the Europeans?” This time Wang Chengen listened carefully, but unfortunately he didn’t quite understand.

He knew the general situation of European countries. He helped the emperor sort out memorials and attended imperial meetings all day long, so he had to understand them. The Ottoman Empire had long attacked the Holy Roman Empire, even stationed troops in the capital Vienna, and vigorously promoted Islam in Europe. No matter how you look at it, it was the mortal enemy of Europeans.

(End of this chapter)