Tens of kilometers away from the 3rd Cavalry Division, and more than 80 kilometers away from the 1st Cavalry Corps headquarters in the south, Wulihan looked at the cavalry army in front, back, left and right, almost all over the mountains and plains, with relief on his face.
It took him about half a year of hard work to avoid the eyes and ears of the Tang Dynasty's reconnaissance cavalry, and gradually gathered the army here.
At this time, Dai Yaxin in the north did not know that he wanted to use the 3rd Cavalry Division as bait to severely damage the Tatar's main cavalry.
But Ulihan, who led 40,000 cavalry, was more ambitious.
His target was not just a 3rd Cavalry Division, but the entire 1st Cavalry Corps.
For this reason, he has been preparing for half a year. Except for the cavalry that cannot move in some directions, he has mobilized almost all the main cavalry that can be mobilized from the Central Asian direction.
A month ago, his cavalry had been assembled!
Therefore, in the past month, he has made many false accusations and even sent troops to attack the railway construction site, and took the initiative to send two thousand forwards. This was all intentional!
The purpose was to attract the First Cavalry Army southward and then enter the ambush circle he had prepared!
This is an ambush circle composed of 40,000 elite cavalry!
As long as the First Cavalry Army of the Southern Tang Barbarians comes in, don't expect to be able to get out.
Wulihan has this confidence, not only in himself, but also in the army under his command.
Although only 20,000 of the 40,000 fine cavalry are their own Tatar cavalry, and the remaining 20,000 are cavalry recruited from various ethnic groups, the cavalry recruited from various ethnic groups are still nomadic people, and many are and
They, the Tatars, come from the same tribe.
At the same time, he, Wulihan, had already led this cavalry to fight against the barbarians of the Southern Tang Dynasty in Central Asia and the Western Regions for many years. Every cavalry member had experienced the test of war and was definitely not a new recruit.
More importantly, this time his cavalry army was equipped with a batch of new weapons: Suifa pistols and Suifa lances.
Needless to say, everyone is playing with the lance.
As for the Suifa pistol, the first large-scale appearance of this thing in this world was as cavalry equipment.
The first to use the Suifa pistol was the Tang cavalry, and its tactical positioning was to act as a mid- and short-range strike force for the Tang cavalry.
The specific tactical application is very simple. The first one is basically the same as the traditional cavalry bow. The cavalry is equipped with multiple pistols and rushes up in multiple waves. The range is relatively small within a range of about twenty or thirty meters from the enemy.
Turn, and while turning, use the pistol to attack the enemy.
After fighting, withdraw the reload, and then charge again!
In essence, this method of combat is no different from traditional mounted shooting.
However, this method of combat was not welcomed by the Tang Army, and was even rejected.
Because this method of combat seems to be able to kill a large number of enemy troops before contacting them, but in fact this is not the case. In terms of the range, accuracy and even firepower sustainability of the pistol, it is not even as good as riding a bow.
Therefore, when the Tang cavalry used pistol cavalry to fight the Tatars, they actually suffered a lot of losses.
The mounted archery of the Tatars is much better than the pistol cavalry of the Tang Dynasty!
As for the mounted archery of the Tatars, it was not because the Tang Dynasty completely abandoned the pistol cavalry. The most direct reason was that the Tatars later imitated the Tang cavalry and charged by riding on the wall!
When they saw the Tang cavalry using Suifa pistols or cavalry muskets, they would usually directly launch a high-speed charge and kill them with sabers waving. The result was unquestionable. When the Tang cavalry used Suifa pistols in combat, they basically did not ask for it.
It's been cheap.
This situation is also a typical example of a few firearms in war being inferior to cold weapons.
As a result, although the cavalry of the Tang Dynasty were later equipped with Suifa pistols, they were basically only used as auxiliary weapons.
Most cavalry units will not use Suifa pistols in actual combat.
Some senior cavalry generals even strictly prohibited their cavalry from using pistols in charge operations.
There was no mess in the cavalry charge anymore. Just charge forward with the saber brandished and charge on the wall as usual.
Although the Tatar cavalry also learned this trick, the Tang Dynasty still had an advantage in comparison, because the Tatar cavalry were all traditional cavalry, and each one was not easy to train, while the Tang cavalry, to put it bluntly, was actually
It is a consumable item. Although it is more expensive than infantry, it is still only a consumable item.
Using industrial consumables to destroy the opponent's traditional first-class cavalry is a business that cannot be done too well, but every rational general has an account in his mind.
However, in order to regain the tactical advantage, the Tang cavalry later began to play heavy armored cavalry and lancer cavalry.
Among the heavy armored cavalry, the full-plate armored cavalry equipped with spears had poor maneuverability, too high requirements for war horses, or simply was not cost-effective, so they had long been eliminated by the Tang Dynasty Army. Currently, there are only Guards.
The 1st Lancers are such a monster.
But what has to be said is that although the 1st Lancers of the Guards were jokingly called expensive toys by the Army, the effect of charging was naturally impressive.
The army, on the other hand, has abandoned the full-plate armored lancers, but it still has heavy cuirassiers. Most of these cuirassiers are equipped with sabers, but there are also a very small number of elite troops equipped with lances.
This kind of cavalry is still very powerful when charging on the wall, but its use on the battlefield is quite limited, and in fact there are not many.
Then there are heavy cuirassiers with sabers as their main combat weapons. For example, the Sixth Cuirassiers Regiment is a typical example of this type of cavalry.
Generally speaking, most of the field cavalry in the Tang Dynasty were light cavalry, equipped with specialized lightweight breastplates, and used sabers as their main combat weapons. Some troops would also transform into dragoons, using cavalry rifles as their main combat weapons.
There are also a small number of heavy cuirassiers who use sabers or specialized hollow cavalry lances.
In the Army of the Tang Dynasty, the cavalry had given up firing pistols and directly used the tactics of riding on the wall and sticking to the face. However, in Europe, this kind of cavalry has become popular in the past year or two.
After the European region, including the Tatars, began to equip a large number of flintlock muskets, the cavalry also gradually equipped them with pistols, and then resumed the path of pistol cavalry that had been abandoned by the Tang Army cavalry many years ago.
The Tatars are no exception. They are also equipped with a large number of Suifa pistols, and their Suifa pistols actually have a clearer tactical positioning, that is, they fully expect the riding bows in the Tatar cavalry troops!
The traditional cavalry and archery combat method generally involves the cavalry rushing up in multiple waves, bending their bows and shooting arrows from a distance of about tens of meters, and then turning and retreating.
The combat method is almost exactly the same as that of the Pistol Cavalry. Apart from the difference in weapons, the tactics between the two are similar.
For the Tatar cavalry, cavalry shooting is naturally a natural ability, and they are still unwilling to give up completely.
At the same time, they also have another way of fighting, that is, during the charge, they first use the pistol to harvest a wave, and then continue to wave the saber to kill them.
This method of combat seemed to Ulihan to be quite perfect.
But he selectively forgot why the cavalry of the Tang Dynasty Army didn't play like this!
That's because it works like this. On the one hand, when the cavalry charges at high speed, it takes time to use up the pistol and change the saber. But when the two sides charge, it is impossible to give the cavalry so much time.
On the other hand, a very important aspect of wall charging is the indomitable momentum. What is important is to rush forward with all your strength and directly touch your face, without any hesitation or other actions in the middle.
The charge tactics of the Tang cavalry were very strict, including how far to mount the horse, what actions to take after mounting, when to draw the sword, and even after drawing the sword, there were strict regulations. The saber must be held by the handle in one hand, and then the back of the sword is placed on the shoulder.
The purpose is to maintain the physical fitness of the arms, especially the wrists.
Then after the horses start to move forward, what is the pace and how many meters they start to trot, what is the posture of the cavalry after trotting, where should the saber be placed, and what is the distance between the horses.
In the final high-speed charging stage, there are very strict regulations on how many meters to sprint, how fast, the posture of the cavalry, the position of the saber, etc.
The wall-riding tactic never means just waving your saber and rushing forward to chop. Instead, it has a series of prerequisites.
However, in the wall-mounting tactic, after adding the step of firing a pistol, the situation will become more complicated.
When the cavalry is charging on the wall for the last one or two meters, if you let him shoot first and then charge with his sword, it will kill people.
The cavalry of the Tang Dynasty Army did not do this because the cavalry of the Tang Dynasty Army were self-aware. They were all cavalry trained by farmers. Their skills were just that, and it was difficult for them to complete such difficult tactics.
Now, the Tatars feel that they can complete it themselves, and they have achieved good results after practicing many times.
Wulihan believes that as long as it is 30% effective in actual combat, then this tactic will be successful.
New equipment and tactics, as well as more troops, made Ullihan full of confidence.
At the same time, Dai Yaxin, the First Cavalry Corps of the Tang Army in the north, did not know that there were 40,000 cavalry waiting for him in the south.
They estimated that the main force of Tatars in the south should be about 10,000 horses.
With this number of enemy cavalry, the First Cavalry Corps can completely handle it on its own.
The First Cavalry Corps has three cavalry divisions, two independent cavalry regiments, as well as a cavalry and artillery regiment directly under the corps and a baggage regiment, with a total strength of more than 20,000 people.
Such a large cavalry army is enough to deal with the expected 10,000 enemy cavalry.
Even if the situation is wrong and you can't take advantage, you won't suffer a loss.
Anyway, this is a plain terrain, there is nothing to be ashamed of if you just run away if you can't beat them.
Over the years, the Tang cavalry and the Tatar cavalry have fought back and forth, and the Tang cavalry has not escaped once or twice, but what was the result?
The Tang Dynasty still regained the Western Regions, still pushed into Central Asia, and finally approached the Caspian Sea.
This forced Ulihan, the Tatar general who presided over the overall situation on the eastern front, to find a way to concentrate his forces and force the Tang Dynasty to suspend its offensive in Central Asia by encircling, annihilating or severely damaging the First Cavalry Army of the Southern Tang Barbarians.
Otherwise, according to the current pace of the Tang Army in Central Asia, I am afraid that it will completely reach the Caspian Sea this year, and next year the Ukrainian plains may not be guaranteed to face huge threats.
Wulihan knew that it was actually difficult for his side to completely resist the Tang Army's westward advance. All he could do was to slow down the progress of the Tang Army.