Can someone tell me about European knights?

Figure on webpage:/n3/33.htm

But it seems that there is no introduction to China.

Ancient Cavalry Charts of the World

Author - Knights' Guild

Persian Sassanian Cavalry, 3rd Century BC

British Quasi-Lance Cavalry

For a long time the British heavy cavalry developed slowly, so much so that in the 16th Century the British were surprised to find that they had no heavy cavalry capable of fighting the continental nations, and urgently purchased more than 2,000 sets of Japanese cavalry from Milan (I think). Milan (I think) to arm their cavalry with more than 2,000 sets of Germanic infantry armor, which they called quasi-lance cavalry. This kind of cavalry can only barely be considered heavy cavalry, and should actually be considered medium-sized cavalry

Gothic cavalry, in typical Viking style.

Galorean Heavy Cavalry

Galorean Heavy Cavalry, with all the equipment you can find yourself, the representative of European heavy cavalry in the 8th century.

Byzantine Heavy Cavalry

The Byzantine Heavy Cavalry flourished during the time of Justinian I, and under the command of Belisarius and Narses, they were victorious. The riders of the heavy cavalry, clad in armor, used spears and bows and arrows. Such a mutation was introduced with the obvious intention of giving each highly trained soldier both the "shooting power" and the "shock power" of maneuver. Western military historians refer to this type of cavalry as "double-effect cavalry", i.e., cavalry that could kill the enemy at a distance and could also launch raids at close range. After the Byzantine cavalry, only the heavy musketry of the 17th century (and later the breastplate cavalry) had this capability. The best demonstration of this cavalry superiority is, I think, the Battle of Casilinum in 553. The opponents at this meeting were Franks, basically infantry armed with helmets, large linden shields, long swords, javelins and tomahawks, both of which could be used for throwing (that's the axe-throwers from Emperor 2). The Frankish infantry had a method of warfare that involved when a javelin was stuck in an enemy's shield, charging up and stepping on this hilt to yank the enemy's shield off, then finishing the enemy off. These Franks were seasoned warriors rich in aggression. On the Byzantine side, there were infantry, dismounted heavy cavalry, heavy cavalry and light cavalry (mainly Hun mounted archers), commanded by Narses. During the engagement, the cavalry was ambushed on the flanks, with clusters of infantry on the front, of which the rear rows were dismounted heavy cavalry. The Franks first broke through the first few rows of Byzantine infantry, but as the dismounted heavy cavalry joined the battle, the Frankish attack was halted. Personally, I think this may have been a tactical maneuver on Narses' part: to keep the Franks glued to the front, so as to buy time for the Byzantine heavy cavalry to encircle them from both flanks. When the Franks realized that they were surrounded by the Byzantine heavy cavalry, the veteran infantrymen immediately set up a dense defensive formation and prepared to resist the Byzantine heavy cavalry's charge. But the Byzantine heavy cavalry did not launch an onslaught, but shot wildly with their bows and arrows. Originally, if the Franks evacuated their formation, they could have been less killed by the bows and arrows, but they were afraid that once their ranks were dispersed, the Byzantine heavy cavalry would raise their lances and charge. As a result of such hesitation, the Franks suffered great losses and finally retreated in defeat.

Before the 11th century, the Byzantine heavy cavalry had been the most powerful army in the Near East, and their defenses were probably the strongest of any medieval cavalry. Though few in number, they were highly trained and had other types of troops to complement them. Moreover, Byzantium emphasized mounted archery, and in addition to heavy cavalry who knew the art of mounted archery, there were a number of light mounted archers, such as the early Hun cavalry.

The following picture shows the Byzantine heavy cavalry in the 11th century.

Arabian light cavalry

Norman knights

The main advance in the equipment of Norman knights in the early Middle Ages was the replacement of the small round shield with a very large mandarin shield.

Norman cavalry, 11th century AD

Avar cavalry, 7th century

Typical full-body armor of the 16th century

Seljuk Turkic Light Cavalry

Seljuk Turkic Light Cavalry, active in Central Asia and a thorn in the side of Byzantium.

Crusader Knights

Another Crusader Knight. You can see that the armor of medieval European knights, is based on fish scale armor and locks, the picture of this kind of spiked helmet with a nose guard was popularized in Europe during the Viking expansion in those years. Another popular helmet is the bucket helmet.

French knights

The armor of the 14th century already had the prototype of full-body armor: helmets with movable visors, breastplates, arm guards, leg guards, and other protective gear had already appeared, but the parts were still connected by locking armor, which was a weak link.

The following picture is the flower of France at that time, with wearing a helmet with conical face armor (it has a funny name of pig head face armor).

Mamluk

Russian Cavalry

Below is the Rus cavalry of the 13th century. Kievan Rus was adjacent to Byzantium and was influenced by it in every way. In terms of cavalry equipment, pointed helmets, large shields, and fishscale armor, traces of Byzantine cavalry can be seen. Tactically, the Rus cavalry learned not only from Byzantium, but also from their Central Asian rivals. During Kievan Rus' period of strength, its army became a bulwark against the infiltration of Central Asian nomadic forces into Byzantium and Europe. In fact, I think the Rus cavalry had experience in dealing with nomadic cavalry, having fought against the valiant Turkic tribes (such as the Pechenegs, Porovacs, etc.) In the 13th century, the country almost collapsed as a result of years of civil wars, and then encountered the Mongols, who were in the ascendant at the time and as a result, the Mongols captured a large part of the country. During this period, however, the Rus cavalry still repelled the Teutonic Knights at Lake Chud; and in the north, the Swedes at Novgorod.

Infantry Squire

Squire dressed as an infantryman, but you can tell he was still a cavalryman by the spurs on his boots.

There are two kinds of squires, one is the senior squire, who follows the knight all year round, and is meant to fight together on the battlefield, this kind of squire is able to upgrade to a knight, and of course there are quite a lot of them who serve as a squire all their life because of the cost, and the other one is the junior one, which is mostly inexperienced young men, who take up the equivalent of the job of an orderly.

Burgundian mounted archers

Burgundian mounted archers in the 15th and 16th centuries were once trump cards in the hands of Charles the Bold

Italian mercenaries

Italian mercenaries in the mid-15th century wore Milanese full body armor. Milan was one of the European centers of armor manufacturing at the time, and through the mercenaries, Milanese-style full body armor was introduced across Europe. The cavalryman pictured here has a simpler form of helmet, and the Milanese style also had helmets with movable face-covering armor.

Mongolian cavalry

Mongolian Khanate and Yuan dynasty military dress was famous for its sophistication. Before the unification of the Mongol plateau by Genghis Khan, the felt tent tribes used sharkskin armor, plume armor, and later copper and iron armor lined with cowhide.

In the Petersburg Palace in the collection of Mongolian knights surviving armor, the inner layer of all cowhide for the outer layer is full of hanging iron armor, armor connected as fish scales, arrows can not penetrate. In the Yuan dynasty Juyongguan Yingtai depicted in the relief carvings on the Luo ring armor, fish scale armor and willow leaf armor. The Black Tartar Affairs Strategy: "Its military weapons, there are willow leaf armor, there are Luo circle armor (leather six weight), there are naughty goat's horn bow, there are ringing arrows, and there are camel bone arrows."

About the Mongolian cavalry's excellent armament and equipment, in the relevant historical documents as well as the relevant Yuan dynasty unearthed artifacts are clearly recorded. According to Plano. According to Plano Gabini, the Mongol cavalry was equipped with two to three bows, three huge pouches full of arrows, an axe, and a rope for dragging the weapon. The leader carried a curved sword with a sharp tip but only one edge, which was carried in a fine sheath. The horses they rode had body armor, as did the horses of some of the soldiers.

The body armor of the horse consists of five parts, on each side of the horse there is a piece of armor, which covers the horse up to the head; another piece of armor is placed on the rump of the horse, and is tied up with the pieces of armor on each side, and a hole is left in this piece of armor, so that the horse's tail may protrude out of the hole; and another piece of armor is placed on the chest of the horse. On the horse's forehead they put a piece of iron plate and tie it to the armor pieces on the sides.

The breastplate of the Mongol cavalry is made up of four parts, one from the thighs to the neck, according to the shape of the human body; the other from the neck to the waist, connected with the front piece of armor, with an iron plate fastened to the shoulder on each side. They also had a piece of armor on each arm, covering it from the shoulder to the wrist, and over each leg another piece. All of these pieces of armor were connected together with grommets.

The upper part of the helmet was made of iron or steel, but the part that protected the throat of the neck was made of leather.

According to Plano Gabini, the armor of the Mongol cavalry, the method of making it was extremely elaborate, take the willow leaf armor for example, they first made a number of iron pieces a finger wide and a palm long, and drilled 8 small holes in each of them. They place 3 strong and narrow leather straps as a base, and then placing these pieces one by one on top of another piece of iron, so that they overlap, they bind these pieces to the 3 leather straps by passing a thin leather cord through the small holes mentioned above. At the upper end they tied another leather cord, so that these pieces of iron were very securely joined together. In this way they make a belt of iron pieces out of these iron pieces, and then they join these iron pieces together to make the parts of the iron armor. They joined these parts together to make iron armor for the protection of persons and horses. They polished the pieces of iron so brightly that they were able to reflect human figures on them.

According to the "history of ancient Chinese dress" records, the yuan dynasty, there is a kind of plume root armor, with hoof tendons, plume root and the glue connected to the armor, the shot can not be worn. There are also elephant hoof palm armor. Mongolian cavalry mostly with helmets. There is another kind of armor for hat shape and no cover eyebrows, but in the nose for a great nose protector, its shape is quite strange.

Mongolian army can dominate in Europe, Asia and the two continents, all rely on its excellent cavalry.

The gunnery competition armor

16th century gunnery competition armor. 16th century is the peak of the development of the full body armor, the full body armor good defensive ability to show its potential to fight against firearms, for the 17th century the development of three-quarter of the armor laid a very good foundation.

Napoleonic cavalry

Spanish light cavalry

Spanish light cavalry in the 16th century carried round shields in the Moorish style. Reconnaissance duties were generally performed by light cavalry, but in Spain this work was also often done by heavily mounted cavalry in full armor.

German mercenaries - the Blackshirts

Then came the German mercenaries of the 16th and 17th centuries - the Blackshirts.

In the 16th century, Nuremberg saw the first flintlock musket, the revolver, which I think should have been a historic moment for the cavalry, and from then on the cavalry's methods of combat began to change significantly. With the creation of the flintlock musket, cavalry finally had a firearm that could be fired from the back of a galloping horse. At the beginning of the birth of the revolver, not as the standard equipment of the army (this is normal, the development of things always have to have a process, right), just some noble knights used as a weapon for self-defense, the first large number of cavalry mounted revolver, may be these black-shirted knights. As mercenaries, their equipment is very mixed, there is almost no problem with the equipment system; and because of the war as a business, so they quickly recognize the value of the revolver, so the revolver can quickly spread in their midst.

Black Shirt Knight's armor has no uniform standard, individuals according to customary equipment. There were those who wore a simple locking armor as shown in the picture and those who wore a full body armor, but almost all of them were equipped with a number of revolvers, as few as four or five, as many as seven or eight, just like an arsenal of gunpowder.

Hungarian light cavalry

The 16th-century Hungarian light cavalryman's weapon of choice was the war hammer, which allowed him to compete with the heavy cavalry in close combat. His shield was in the form of a teardrop, a form popular in Eastern Europe, the Balkans and Turkey.

16th Century Stradiotti Light Cavalry

The Stradiotti were organized into small units ranging from 100-300 men, spread out in towns and cities, lurking on routes where the Turks might invade. They acted quickly and decisively and succeeded in preventing a repeat of the Western Roman doom in Venice. Subsequently, the Italian financial city-states such as Milan, Genoa, Pisa, and Hierna organized such light cavalry units, united under the name of Stradiots, to which were added Croats and Hungarians in addition to Greeks and Albanians.

These mercenaries shone in the Italian wars that followed.

At Fornovo in 1495, 2,000 Stradiots raided from the rear and wiped out the French logistical and rear-guard; at Agandello in 1509, the largest strand of the light cavalry included as many as 3,000 Stradiots; and at Pavia in 1525. 500 Stradiots won the normal battle by breaking through on the French left flank. Of course, the loyalty of mercenaries always depended on money, and city-states that couldn't afford to pay their wages had to compensate in another way; in 1480, 1,500 Turkish-born mercenaries in Naples mutinied and left after pillaging the city.

Their equipment was a mixed bag, as they came from different countries; only the Croats stuck to a local type of broad-bladed sword called the sciavona, while the other mercenaries used whatever they had, with armor that was a mixture of Eastern and Western features. Spears were standard equipment, in addition some used synthetic bows from the East, others used guns and crossbows from Venice; some used straight swords in the Spanish style, others used sabers in the Syrian style. Italy at the time was a melting pot of nationalities.

Chinese Cavalry

In fact, China had heavy cavalry, and all dynasties from the Han Dynasty onward had heavy cavalry, just in different proportions in their armies. Of course, if you define heavy cavalry as both horses and men armored according to the history books, it was a limited number, but just looking at the armor of the cavalry itself, it seems that there was not a lot of it over 10 kilograms, which can already be called heavy cavalry, just that there was no development of integral protective equipment in armor (except for the Mingguang armor).

Qin Dynasty, the proportion of cavalry is very small (1:100) often serve as a surprise attack, detour, food, pursuit and other tasks, and at the same time in order to strengthen the mobility of the main force, but also improved the chariot, reduce its weight will be the car riding together, so that the "light car ride" with the battle. The cavalry units were subordinate to the chariot units, which were the main force of the army, and protected the flanks of the chariot units.

The cavalry played a greater role in the war during the peasant revolts of the late Qin Dynasty and the wars of the Chu and Han Dynasties, and it was common to set up commanders at all levels of the army who specialized in leading the cavalry. Liu Bang then dedicated an elite cavalry unit, the Langzhong Cavalry. But chariots still had a place, and although their role was diminishing, they were still listed at the top of the list.

The cavalry in the early Han Dynasty had already formed their own square formation, with independent combat power, but there was little difference between the cavalry and the infantry in terms of dress, most of them were still on hemp shoes (no boots), and there were no saddles (only thick cushions) and stirrups, and only a part of the cavalry was clad in armor (accounting for 8% of the total).

With the intensification of the national conflict, (128BC~119BC) several major battles took place between Han and Xiong, each of which mobilized nearly 200,000 cavalry. At that time, chariots were already only used for camp security or logistic transportation, while cavalry had become the main force of the troops and were equipped with corresponding cavalry equipment, and the production of high saddles could better utilize the power of cavalry weapons. In addition, the infantry has been different from the slave society when the soldiers, also have excellent equipment, at the same time, due to the load weight of the infantry, in order to carry out different tasks need to form the corresponding infantry combat units, equipped with weapons also require diversification.

Because the army includes different types of soldiers, the same type of soldiers also equipped with different combat units, commanders should be in the battle according to the enemy's strengths and weaknesses and changes in the terrain to the deployment of different types of troops to pay attention to different weapons with the use of the combination of short and long, support each other to play the weapon's maximum power. During the Han Dynasty, considerable attention was paid to the use of formations, and the "Eight Formations" were popular at that time, which are described in the notes of Wenxuan (Selected Writings) as: Square Formation, Round Formation, Peony Formation (there is also a Peony equivalent that cannot be pronounced), Charge Formation, Wheel Formation, Floating Discouragement Formation, and Goose Row Formation. (121BC) When Li Guang's 4,000 cavalrymen encountered the 40,000 cavalrymen of the Xiong Nu, he made the round formation resist with bows and crossbows for two days and supported them until help arrived.

Li Ling's battle against the cavalry on foot was a defensive formation with "halberds and shields in the front line and bows and crossbows in the rear line". And offensive formation, is often infantry center, cavalry flanks, easy to encircle.

The production of weapons in the Han Dynasty was directly controlled by the state. In order to ensure that the army has a sufficient supply of weapons, on the one hand, set up the management of the weapons manufacturing industry full-time officials, under the Taisu "Kaogong Ling", specifically responsible for the production of weapons. On the other hand, the establishment of a large-scale "military storehouse". A variety of weapons, which were manufactured under the supervision of the Minister of Industry, were sent to the Wukong to be stored and distributed to the relevant units from here. (Wukou each library 100 ~ 200 meters long, wall thickness of 4 ~ 8 meters, weapons classification storage) Wudi began, iron smelting industry to the government, the establishment of more than four dozen iron officials throughout the country, not only to promote the use of iron, but also to promote the development of iron smelting technology, the Western Han Dynasty reached the level of "a hundred refinement just".

The usual weapons used in the Han Dynasty, that is, a large number of officially equipped with the weapons of the troops, long-distance shooting is mainly a crossbow and bow, fighting halberds, spears, swords, swords, armor and shields. There is also a kind of called hook hustle (for the metal beside). Bow and arrow, cavalry indispensable weapons, the Han army is commonly equipped with composite bow. In addition, the use of crossbows seems to have been more widespread than that of bows in the long range weapons of the Han Dynasty, and there were hand crossbows (擘张) and foot crossbows (蹶张), and cavalrymen could only use hand crossbows. With the crossbow is regarded as the Han army's most sophisticated equipment and halberd, the Han dynasty's main fighting long-handled weapons, riding and foot are inseparable from it. Equally important to the halberd were the spears, which were used in large numbers and were already made of steel. Short-handled weapons are knife and sword, unearthed steel sword in some can be as long as 124cm, knife is the beginning of the han dynasty, the warring states period has not yet appeared, the beginning of the han dynasty iron sword is still the main short-handled weapons, but the knife appeared, the sword is gradually crowded out, become a widely used weapons. In the early Han Dynasty, armor and shields were still the main forms of defense. Shields are made of wood, leather and iron, the common style for the bottom edge of the flush, the upper end of the two arcs of the gourd shape, the shape of the ridge bulge, about one-third of the height of the soldier (50 ~ 60CM), and later in the iron shield and then installed on the upper and lower two hooks, it became a new type of weapon - hooks and hustle, can be attacked and can be defended. Han Dynasty armor is mainly "Xuanjia", that is, iron armor, it gradually perfected and crowded out the traditional leather armor, by the armor pieces inlaid, and the armor used at that time can be divided into three categories. The first type is a large long piece of armor (a unearthed 23.4CM high, 4.4CM wide), also known as 甲札, whose height gradually became shorter over time; the second type of armor is much smaller than the first type, and its shape is closer to a square (4.6~5CM high, 2.7~3.4CM wide, weighing 10 grams), the lower edge of the lower edge is generally more straight, and the two corners of the upper edge are rounded; the third type, which is the smallest in size, closer to a square, less than 4CM high, and the upper edge of the upper edge is rounded; and the third type, which is the smallest, and is closer to a square, is less than 4CM high, and is more than 4CM high. The third type, the smallest size, closer to the square, less than 4CM high, less than 2.5CM wide, this kind of armor another appearance is made into acacia leaf or willow leaf shape. With the above three kinds of armor pieces can be woven into two types of armor, that is, by the large long strip of armor za za za and with small and medium-sized armor pieces woven into the fish scale armor, in addition to the za za armor in the no-shoulder and shawl points, most of the cavalry use the no-shawl. Leather armor became the supporting role of iron armor, but still as an important auxiliary defense.

Heavily armored cavalry appeared on the battlefield at a time when the clan private army was the core of the army, starting from the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, through the Wei, Jin, and Sixteen Kingdoms to the period of the Northern and Southern Dynasties. At that time, the clan-gate system and clan military organization were combined, and the powerful clans had a large number of private arms. Those ministries were both dependent on the peasants and the private arms of the powerful clans. This special personal dependence relationship, from the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty began to malignant development, to the Wei and Jin increasingly intensified, but also affected the composition of the feudal army at that time, the generals who led the army were from the powerful clans also have their own private armament, but also tend to have a large number of armor and weapons, these well-equipped private armament, formed the core of the army under their command. This naturally led to a series of changes in the composition, command, and equipment of the army. Early private ministries were not necessarily cavalry, let alone heavy cavalry, and the appearance of private ministries in the form of armored cavalry was related to those nomads from the northern and northwestern regions during the Five-Hu Rebellion. These peoples, before entering the Central Plains are nomadic economy, have excellent horses, the army and are all cavalry, while often still retaining the form of clan military organization. After entering the Central Plains, they united with the powerful clans, and naturally the clan system and the clan military organization system were combined, which naturally led to changes in the core of the army, and finally the emergence of heavy cavalry armored with horses and men - the armored cavalry.

According to "Tang six canon" records, there are bright light, light to be, fine scale, Shanwen, bird hammer, white cloth, soap Juan, cloth back, infantry, leather armor, wooden armor, lock son, horse armor and other thirteen kinds. Among them, Mingguang, light to be, lock son, Shanwen, bird hammer, fine scale armor is iron armor, the latter three are named after the style of armor pieces. Leather armor, wooden armor, white cloth, soap juan, cloth back, on the other hand, is named after the manufacturing material. It can be seen that locks and shanwen are two kinds of armor side by side.

The various weaponry required by the heavy cavalry can be divided into four categories: one is a complete harness, the second is the horse armor-supporting equipment, the third is the cavalry armor, and the fourth is the combat arms. At that time, the saddle in the Eastern Han Dynasty was quite exquisite, and the Western Jin Dynasty had stirrups (but the stirrups in the Western Jin Dynasty seemed to be used only for stepping on the horse, and were not used when riding the horse), so that the control of the horse was quite easy. The harness is usually divided into the "face curtain" to protect the horse's head, the "chicken neck" to protect the horse's neck, the "chest" to protect the horse's chest, and the "horse body armor" to protect the horse's torso. "Horse body armor", to protect the horse's buttocks "hitching back" and vertical in the horse's buttocks "parasitic" (seems to be for the protection of cavalry back with). Cavalry armor is the kind of Western Han Dynasty shoulderless Za armor developed over the "two when the armor" (armpits are not connected, the so-called "one when the chest" "one when the back", in the shoulder with a buckle connection), to the North and South Dynasty And often add shoulder protection "shoulder", and two when the armor at the same time there is another kind of more expensive armor, that is, "Mingguang armor" (this armor is characterized by the chest and back of the two sides of the large metal round protection). Finally is the weapon, Wei Jin and North and South Dynasties period cavalry use of weapons, long-distance shooting or bow and crossbow, fighting is the halberd, pin (side is a spear) and sword, cavalry used to break the crossbow, but more is the use of bows and arrows, and fighting weapons, halberd is gradually replaced by the pin, and then later on is the sword and pin and focus on the chopping. Although the armored cavalry is the core of the army at that time, but from the number is still far less than the general infantry

Ming Dynasty cavalry with firearms, mostly three-eyed or five-eyed cannons, I thought that its fighting method is similar to the European dragoons, that is, riding a horse maneuvering, static shooting, because the fire door gun can't be in the bumps of the horse back to the point of release. Of course, it can't be ruled out that after a long period of training, the cavalry could fire on the back of a running horse, but then the training would be expensive.

Cavalry of Zhao

Restoration of King Wuling of Zhao in the Warring States period in hu clothing. The so-called hu clothing is actually the clothing of ethnic minorities in the northwest region, which is quite different from the broad-clothed and broad-banded Han clothing in the central plains, usually short clothes, long pants and leather boots, with thin and narrow body for easy movement. King Wuling of Zhao was the first to adopt this kind of clothing, and he was one of the earliest reformers in the history of Chinese dress. The short, knee-length garment was a major feature of the Hu costume, which was initially used in the military, but later spread to the civilian population and became a common attire.

Wallachian Cavalry

They were mostly light cavalrymen, dressed like Russians or Hungarians, with round beards, tall leather hats adorned with feathers, and a few had lockjaw armor and small round shields. Equipment and horsemanship were basically learned from their Turkish opponents, and besides training their warhorses to stroll, trot, and canter, the Romanians invented a unique horsemanship: whereas a normal horse always advances on all four hooves alternately, their mounts could take both legs on one side at the same time, just like a camel. This malformed habit can still be seen in the livestock of Romanian mountain people, whose use is unknown. From the end of the 16th century, the Wallachian cavalry became mercenaries. Part served in the Turkish army, part owed allegiance to Turkey's enemies - Poland, Hungary and Russia. They used the bull's head as a symbol and were organized in squadrons (sotnia, which means hundred in Russian), and at one time there were up to 20 such squadrons in the Polish army. Like the Turks, they refused to use firearms for a long time and were armed with spears, sabers, and synthetic bows.

Moscow Boyar Cavalry

Beginning in the second half of the fifteenth century, the composition of the Russian army gradually changed from armed serfs to hereditary nobles (Boyars).

The cavalry units of this nobility probably numbered around 25,000 at the end of the sixteenth century, but of course only the standing army was meant. This force could always be expanded to 40,000 to 50,000 men should the need arise. The equipment they used had a strong oriental character: chain mail on the outside, spiked helmets in the Byzantine style, and arm guards on the forearms. The armor of the nobles was often inlaid with gold and silver and decorated with furs and precious stones; the squires had none of these defenses and wore clothes with blistering nails, barely able to withstand bows and arrows. They used lances, javelins, scimitars, studded hammers, and gradually began to equip themselves with pistols by the end of the sixteenth century, but the most basic weapon was still the synthetic bow.

The Russians rode their horses in a position similar to that of today's betting races, with high stirrups and knees tucked in. This position was good for archery but not good for resisting the impact of a lance. Moreover, the Russian horse was relatively small, so the Russian cavalry tried to avoid frontal assaults, using tactics that were more like surprise attacks or winning by many, surrounding the enemy and shooting from all sides without having to engage them head-on. Compared to European cavalry units, Russian cavalry was loosely organized. Hundreds were squadrons and thousands were regiments. A number of regiments formed cavalry divisions (polk), and the army as a whole had six divisions, divided into a front guard (perodovoi polk), a left flank (levoi polk), a right flank (pravoi polk), a main force (bolsoi polk), a reserve (smorozevoi polk), and scouts (ermaulni polk). Each division used spear flags of different colors, but the pattern was mostly the cross of St. George.

18th-century Iranian cavalry

1807 French bombardiers

Polish Winged Cavalry (or Wind Cavalry)

In the 13th century, the Poles faced two main enemies: the Teutonic Knights in the northwest and the Mongols in the east. Faced with the open terrain and mobile Mongol cavalry on the eastern front, the Polish army was overwhelmed, and in 1241 even Krakow, the capital at the time, was sacked by the Mongols. From the 14th century onwards Poland's main enemies were the Teutonic knights to the west, and the Thirteen Years' War in the 15th century was the beginning of Poland's rise to power. Through this war, Poland not only expelled the Teutonic forces, but also trained an army.The composition of the Polish army in the 15th century: typical of several combat units

1, knights. They were equipped with full body armor, and their horses were also armored. Comparable to the equipment of knights in Western European countries at that time. Brother should be clear about the full body armor at that time.

2, gun cavalry. Equipped with half body armor (although not verified, my analysis is that only the upper half of the body protection armor), the war horse is not armored, to assist the knight attack.

3, crossbowmen, equipped with chest armor.

4. Swordsmen, equipped with helmets and shields.

Also included were units of firearms, such as cannons, for fighting offensive battles.

Around 1526, the Poles created a standing army specifically designed to deal with the Tartar Mongol raiders, which by 1563 had grown to more than 4,000 men, the vast majority of whom were cavalry. By 1576, knights made up only 7% of the cavalry force. In addition to the heavy cavalry, which consisted of Hussars and Knights, the cavalry units also included medium and light cavalry (Cossacks), who were armed with muskets and composite bows.

During the period of Sigismund III (1589-1631), in order to maintain the needs of national defense, there were several other types of armies in addition to the standing army attached to the king:

Private armies of the great nobility, which were still not numerous at that time; another type of army was the Cossacks, who in the south numbered more than 40,000 in ranks, and were an important addition to the standing army of Poland, as the issue of giving the Cossacks a Polish The question of registering Cossacks also often caused conflicts. Only registered Cossack soldiers were accepted by the army for pay, which caused resentment among the unregistered, and the registrants were unhappy with many of the constraints, so that despite the Cossacks' long service in Poland, rebellions were frequent.

In the early 17th century, the Polish army consisted mainly of cavalrymen with their commanders. The tactical style of the Polish army appeared to be brash, focusing on eliminating the enemy's vital forces in a field environment rather than tackling the enemy in an offensive battle (obviously, because cavalry made up the majority of the army for this purpose).

Back to 19th Century French Breastplate Cavalry Officers

Imperial Breastplate Cavalry 1630

Central Europe at the time, the vast territory between Holland and Poland, was scattered with a multitude of semi-independent confederacies under the rule of the Austrian Habsburgs, always at the mercy of the monarchs of Vienna, historically known as the Holy Roman Empire. The soldiers of the first line, in order to distinguish themselves from the local troops, wore a bright red ribbon around their waists or shoulders, and stuck a piece of acorn in their helmets or hats. They proudly called themselves Imperialists, the Imperial Army.

The Imperial breastplate cavalry also abandoned their bulky spears and replaced them with two pistols. Armor at this time was stripped of its superfluous ornamentation, focusing on chest, back, and head protection, and due to advances in smithing technology, the overall weight was increased. The heaviest surviving armor collection in Austria, 42 kilograms. The surface of these armors are no longer trimmed, and not as impermeable as in the past, because the biggest threat is no longer close to the sword, but increasingly accurate musketry.

Swedish cavalry 1632

The Thirty Years' War began in 1618, marked by the Throwing Out of the Window Incident (when the Emperor's admiral was thrown out of a window by a Czech Protestant). 1630 saw the great Gustavas Adolphus lead a 15,000-strong Swedish force in a battle in the Po. 15,000 Swedish troops landed in Pomerania and swept unopposed across German territory for two years. when he was killed in battle at Lützen in 1632, his troops avenged themselves furiously and won the Battle of the Meeting, which by that time had 150,000 men fighting under the Swedish flag!

There were four typical types of cavalry in Europe*** at that time, the heaviest being the breastplate cavalry in three-quarter armor, which Gustav thought was too expensive compared to its performance; the light cavalry, which was already outclassed against firearms; the musketry cavalry, which mainly provided fire cover for the breastplate cavalry, and which could not stand alone in smaller numbers, and which was more expensive; and, on the contrary, the dragoon cavalry, which Gustav thought that this kind of mounted infantry had more potential.

Swedish cavalry units then consisted of two types of cavalry: the dragoons replaced the musketry cavalry, providing extended cover fire, and the light cavalry became the mainstay of the raids, armed with swords and pistols. A few Swedish nobles wore breastplates, of course, but not enough to cause the whole unit to look the part.

In this way, the Swedish cavalry were the so-called medium cavalry, who wore simple breastplates and a jug helmet. They were armed with two pistols and used straight swords that were longer than those of other countries. They charge with the rule of swords, the first column of cavalry is only allowed to use firearms, and the last column of cavalry serves as a reserve. Each cavalry battalion consisted of eight companies of 125 men each. In practice, each battalion always varied from four to eight companies.

The best soldiers in the Swedish cavalry unit came from Finland and were known as Hakkapelis, a term derived from their call to arms during battle (big smile), which meant "Chop 'em into ribs!"

Cromwell's Iron Horse (Parliamentary Army) 1645

In the English Civil War, the northwestern provinces broadly embraced the king, while the southeastern provinces, with their strong commercial and manufacturing industries, sided with the Parliament. in the winter of 1644, Cromwell, who had already been appointed commander-in-chief of the cavalry, began to reorganize his forces. The mounted musketeers, or lancers on horseback, were almost entirely laid off. They were dressed not much differently from the Royalist cavalry, with breastplates over leather coats and jug helmets. Long swords with a single open blade were used, sometimes with traditional battle axes. Armed with pistols, the occasional officer carries a long horse pistol.

The greatest strength of the Iron Horse was their discipline, a nickname (Ironside) given to Cromwell by Prince Rupert, which later became the title of his troops. Not so much in reference to the iron armor the soldiers wore, but in reference to their firm