Eastern Jin Dynasty: My powerful father

Chapter 306 The brave shall win

The situation was critical and Fu Huangmei did not allow him to think too much.

He knew that if he couldn't get rid of the two cavalry behind him and let them catch up, thus slowing down his speed, he would be hit by the armored cavalry further behind.

If he is not as fast as the opponent, he can only turn around and fight, defeating the opponent head-on. After defeating the pursuer, he can easily harass Deng Xia.

Although Baibao Xianbei was unstoppable, Fu Huangmei looked back at the number of people and saw that the people who were chasing him were only one or two thousand riders. He had ten thousand elites by his side, so there was nothing to be afraid of.

If Deng Xia continued to divide his troops and turned around to fight again, he would eat up all the Baibao Xianbei bit by bit.

With an idea in mind, Fu Huangmei immediately started to issue orders. Of course, when tens of thousands of cavalry were galloping, it was impossible for the general to shout with his mouth. After all, no matter how loud his voice was, it could not cover the roar of the horse's hooves.

The flags were waved, the horns were sounded again, and the elite cavalrymen of the Yu army, who were still immersed in beating their horses and running wildly, all turned their horses' heads.

Because there were so many people, some commotion was inevitable, but after going in a small circle, they finally turned around and faced the menacing pursuers.

Battles between cavalry rarely involve head-on confrontations. According to Fadzej Bruhalen, a Polish cavalryman who served for Napoleon, cavalry battles are actually very boring:
'In actual combat, when one side's cavalry launches a mass charge, the other side will choose to retreat. When the retreating side joins the reserve team, it will turn its horse's head to counterattack the enemy and repel the opponent.

Xie Ai's clever woman can't make a meal without rice. Without external intervention, his hastily formed infantry and cavalry are no match for Fu Jian.

In other words, most battles between cavalry are battles in which the side with the temporary upper hand kills the other side's stragglers while chasing.

In the Franco-Russian War of 1807, the Russian army blocked the French army in Hof. The cavalry regiments of both sides launched a wall-style charge and closed the distance before invariably stopping.

Fu Huangmei must hold back Deng Xia and prevent him from supporting the frontal battlefield.

Fu Huangmei's cavalry and Bald Lu Pan's and Helan Jutan's pursuers have all lined up in neat rows.

The second is that both sides choose to slow down after the distance is shortened and engage in close combat with the enemy, rather than colliding with each other at high speed.

The third is to choose to tighten the reins after the distance is shortened. The two sides are in a stalemate at close range until a strong general takes the lead in charging and breaks the opponent's morale.

Generally, there will be four results when two cavalry are hedging.

One is that one of the parties runs away because of timidity after reaching a certain distance.

For example, in this battle, the Yu army's elite cavalry and Baibao Xianbei followed behind.

Bald-haired Lu Pan and Helan Jutan also wanted to hang on Fu Huangmei at any cost, waiting for Deng Xia, who had been far away from them, to arrive and take down Yu's army, which was wearing armor but not equipped with men and horses. The Jingqi were defeated and rushed to the frontal battlefield.

Of course, nothing is absolute. Under special circumstances, there will still be situations where the cavalry from both sides collide at high speed.

'This is repeated until one side's cavalry group completely drives the other side off the battlefield. '

No matter how the officers on both sides shouted commands, they refused to take a step forward. It was not until a Russian squadron leader could no longer hold himself back and rushed towards a French officer on horseback, knocking him off his horse. The deadlock was broken. Morale was greatly boosted and the French army was defeated in one fell swoop.

The fourth result is that both sides pass through and charge repeatedly, but this only applies to small-scale cavalry battles. In large-scale and intensive cavalry charges, there is no possibility of both sides passing through under a wall charge. .

Bald Lu Pan and Helan Jutan knew that the walking horses were timid. If they fought under normal circumstances, their own side would be the first to slow down or even get into chaos because their mounts would be frightened and run around. A Russian officer's manual from 1821 emphasized:

'When the cavalry is in a frontal attack, whichever side's cavalry can rush towards the opponent in a better formation and faster speed will win. '

The principles are the same in ancient and modern times, both at home and abroad.

Fortunately, Bald Lu Pan and He Lan Ju Tan were well prepared. Following their orders, Liang Jun's cavalrymen all took out black cloths and blindfolded their horses.

This move has advantages and disadvantages. The walking horse is blindfolded, so naturally it cannot see the oncoming danger and will not be frightened and run around.

But there is no turning back arrow when the bow is fired, and the mount is blindfolded, so it can only speed up, not slow down. Otherwise, before engaging the enemy, the back row will hit the front row, causing the person to flip over.

And when the black cloth is pulled away at close range, the mounts will see the danger close at hand, which will increase their fear.

Now Bald Lu Pan and Helan Jutan asked their tribesmen to cover the horse's eyes with black cloth, which was tantamount to declaring that they were going to clash with Yu's army.

Of course, this also requires the cavalry to have extraordinary courage.

After all, whether they are humans or horses, their instinct as creatures will drive them to avoid oncoming dangers.

Fu Huangmei frowned when he saw this scene, but he didn't believe that the other party was really not afraid of death.

"Kill! Kill! Kill!"

The cavalry shouted loudly, not only to scare the other party, but also to encourage themselves.

In a battle between cavalry, victory always belongs to the braver side.

Normally, when the cavalry launches a charge, when they are a hundred steps away from the enemy, both sides will speed up from a quick step to a trot.

When they are more than seventy steps away from the enemy, they advance from a trot to a gallop. At this time, the knights will still hold the reins, control the horses, and maintain the formation as much as possible.

It will not be until he is about twenty steps away from the enemy that he will completely let go of the reins and let his mount sprint at full speed, leaving his hands free to freely use long and short weapons.

Now after three shouts, the two armies mobilized their mounts in unison and launched a wall charge towards each other.

At first it was just a trot, and then it turned into a trot. However, what was different from the normal situation was that when the distance between the two sides was still seventy or eighty steps, Liang Jun had completely let go of the reins, letting the horse sprint at full speed while he held the gun with both hands. , spears, spears and other long weapons rushed towards the Yu army at high speed.

The most important factor affecting the morale of the cavalry is undoubtedly the speed of impact. When people move at high speed, adrenaline hormones surge. Guibert in the late 18th century once said:

'High-speed impact allows the cavalry to ignore danger, allowing cowards and brave men to advance together. '

It is impossible to know whether Baibao Xianbei's forward-moving formation frightened the Yu army's cavalry, but the Yu army's queue was indeed in chaos.

Not all war horses have the courage to face danger directly. Although Liang Jun's walking horse is timid, it is blindfolded and cannot see the danger, but Yu Jun's war horse can see the danger clearly.

(End of this chapter)