The Jurchens were actually a variant of the Mongols.
When Nurhachi received the Korean envoy, he publicly announced that he was a descendant of the Mongols. The Jurchens' Yehe and Ulla tribes had even changed their names. After the establishment of the Jin Empire, they accepted a large number of naturalized Mongols. Otherwise, why would the Mongols be so close to the Jurchens? After all, they were a family.
On the battlefield, the Jurchens were especially proud of their cavalry. In history, the Manchurian Qing had always boasted that they started with cavalry and archery, and there was a reason for that. At this moment, in front of the Shanhai Pass, the vanguard, Engedri, was rather unconvinced by the advancing Han cavalry. The cavalry of the Jin Empire should naturally be invincible.
Compared to the infantry trained by the Dutch, the cavalry of the Jurchens was still the same. After all, the Dutch were known as the 'sea coachmen', and were not proficient in cavalry.
Although they had suffered a great loss when fighting against Zhou Qingfeng's personal cavalry, the Jurchens did not feel that they were inferior. They felt that the personal cavalry only had good equipment and nothing else. As long as they had sturdier armor and sharper sabers, the Jurchens who grew up on horseback would definitely not lose to the Han who had only been riding horses for a few days.
That's what Nurhaci thought, and that's what he did.
With a large number of Han slaves and many Taixi craftsmen, Hwang Tae-gil also spent a lot of money to equip his cavalry with armor and sabers. Even the armor was made to imitate the personal cavalry. Although there was a difference in quality, the appearance was definitely better. For example, the vanguard General Engedri was wearing a gold-plated armor.
Looking at the glittering golden light on the battlefield, it was really flashy!
Engedri was Nurhachi's son-in-law, and the cavalry under him were all elites. Although they had galloped for more than 200 li and consumed a lot of horsepower, they would not easily back down. But against Han Shi's troops, they would not easily back down.
"Change horses." Engedri ordered. His subordinates all had two horses each, and some of the Niu Lu generals and above even had three horses each. As long as they took turns, the horses would not be completely helpless. After changing horses, he ordered again, "Gao Hongzhong, transfer your infantry to the center and form a formation to push forward."
In any case, Gao Hongzhong still had a few thousand men. It was naturally best for him to be the center of the army. Enkedri called another man over. "Mangus, take a thousand cavalrymen to the right flank. You just need to hold the line and stop the Han from attacking. I'll circle around the enemy's flank from the left and attack you together. "
A barbarian with a big head stood out from the group. He was wearing a randomly cut sheepskin, and his voice sounded like a bull's. This man was the Beilei of the Horqin tribe of Mongolia, he was not young. A few years ago, he had personally married his young daughter off to Hwang Tae-gil, so they could be considered as Nurhachi's in-laws. However, his influence was too small, and he could only manage a thousand men under Engdrie at the moment.
Mangus responded, and the Jurchen cavalry split into two, flanking Gao Hongzhong's army. Since most humans were right-handed, it was most convenient for cavalry to attack from the left. Enkedri's idea was to use Mangus as the anvil and himself as the hammer. The two of them would work together to defeat the Han cavalry.
Currently, Gao Hongzhong's remaining three to four thousand soldiers and Enkedri's three thousand elites were almost twice the number of Han Shi's. With such an advantage in numbers, they could naturally fight with more abandon. This was also the reason why Enkedri dared to stay and fight after such a long journey. If they had the numbers advantage, they would naturally have to encircle the enemy.
The Kennu vanguard formation was very fast, but Han Shi's cavalry had been leisurely galloping over. When the two sides were far away, Enkedri did not feel anything unusual. But when the distance was close, the scouts that he sent out all ran back in panic, shouting, "Master, Master, the horses that the Han are riding are so strange!"
What could be strange about horses?
Weren't all horses the same in the world?
The national defense cavalry did not split into two groups like the Kennu cavalry. Han Shi's troops were small to begin with, so he would not continue to split them. He gathered all his cavalry together, forming a thick formation, and approached the Kennu from his left flank. Facing him was Mangus's thousand-man army. The right flank was completely empty, seeming to have a huge gap.
Because there were thousands of Gao Hongzhong's men in between, Enkedri did not feel much from afar. But Mangus, who was facing the national defense cavalry, was immediately shocked. Why were the horses on the other side so tall?
The Jurchen always felt that the Han cavalry's only good armor was that it was difficult to cut through it with one slash. One had to cut the limbs, head, or even the horse to defeat the enemy. So as long as they were equipped with the same armor, both sides would naturally return to the perspective of fighting skills. The Jurchen. The Mongolians had been fishing and nomadic since childhood, so they definitely had an advantage in fighting skills.
But no one had ever told the Jurchen that the Han could even strengthen their warhorses.
An adult weighing 50 kilograms would naturally be thin, while an adult weighing 100 kilograms would naturally be tall and strong. What Mangus saw now was a row of tall horses appearing in front of him. The sound of the horses' hooves stomping on the ground was much louder than his own. The Jurchen cavalrymen looked as if they had seen a ghost. They had never thought that there could be a horse that was even taller than a human in this world.
Not only had the barbarians not seen it, even the traitors like Gao Hongzhong had never seen it before. The remnants of the Tianyou army had already lined up to face the enemy. But as soon as they were in formation, rows upon rows of powerful cavalrymen appeared on the other side. Although the other side had not started charging, just looking at them from afar, their momentum alone was frightening.
The remnants of the Tianyou army did not have high morale to begin with. After seeing their master in Jianzhou, their morale was slightly boosted. But now that they saw Han Shi's cavalry brigade, their morale disappeared without a trace again. What should they do? It seemed like they were going to be abused again.
Mangus was a Mongolian. He felt that he had nothing to fear on the battlefield. He never thought that there was a cavalry stronger than him in the world. But when faced with the sudden appearance of this elite cavalry, he could not help but ask the traitors in the central army loudly, "When did the Han make horses like this? Why didn't you say so earlier? "
This was like a gangster going out to collect protection fees, only to run into a car full of armed police. Mangus was filled with resentment. The disadvantageous factors that he originally thought were not worth mentioning were quickly revealed. For example, they only had a thousand men and were weak in numbers. For example, they did not have enough horses for a long-distance raid. For example, he had a group of idiots with him.
But Gao Hongzhong and the others were also stunned. Only now did they realize that their opponent not only had powerful infantry, but also had such a powerful cavalry hidden in their midst.
Engdrie was on the left flank and could not see clearly from two miles away. But his scouts had described the situation very clearly. There were about two thousand Han cavalrymen, and all of them were riding tall and strong horses. The horses were so strong that they could even wear horse armor.
Horse armor?
This was crazy. Not only were they riding tall and strong horses, but they were also wearing horse armor!
If it was against the spears, the armor would not be of much use and would instead be a burden. But against cavalry with sabers, good armor was a great advantage.
Previously, the Mongolian horses were too weak, weighing only about two hundred kilograms. It was already tiring enough to carry several dozen kilograms of cavalry. It would be too inhumane to carry horse armor. But the Arabian horses could easily grow to half a ton. In addition to carrying the cavalry, they could also run with some horse armor. Although their speed would be reduced, it was still worth it to obtain a large increase in defense.
The horse armor of the national army was only half a piece. It only protected the horse's head, neck, chest, and sides. Coupled with high-quality carbon steel, only a thin layer of it was needed to increase the weight by thirty to forty kilograms, and the light cavalry would become heavy cavalry, allowing them to charge fearlessly.
The horses wearing the horse armor were specially selected from the strong Arabian horses. They were also only equipped in the first row to forcefully charge and disrupt the enemy's formation. Behind them were the light cavalry in ordinary armor. With such a combination of light and light, they could display the greatest power.
But when the shining horse armor appeared, it gave the Jurchen cavalry, including Engdrie, a great shock. No matter how good their combat skills were, it was useless if they couldn't cut through the armor. But this move couldn't be used on the Mongolian horses. If the Mongolian horses wore horse armor, they could forget about running and be prepared to collapse.
"Quick, quick!" Engdrie knew that he couldn't continue watching the show. He immediately ordered his men to move from the left wing and began to use their advantage in numbers to attack the enemy's flank. After all, no matter how strong the Arabian horses were, their flank and rear were still weak. As long as they could run up and engage the enemy quickly, they would always have the advantage in numbers.
But as soon as the Jurchen left wing moved, Han Shi's men, who were already 400 to 500 meters away, also began to speed up. More than two thousand Arabian horses divided into several formations and charged in unison. Mangos was also helpless. Whether he turned or retreated, he would be courting death. He had to face the enemy head-on and find a way to survive.
With this acceleration, the advantage of the Arabian horses became even more obvious.
The Mongolian horses had good endurance and were good at long-distance running. But when it came to short distance sprinting, they couldn't even compare to the strong Arabian horses. Even Han Shi couldn't show off in front of the formation while riding on his demon pig. Although his demon pig was strong, it couldn't outrun these warhorses who were good at accelerating.
The Arabian horses reached their maximum speed in a short time, and the cavalrymen could feel the strong wind blowing on their faces. They had to lower their bodies to avoid being blown off their horses by the strong wind. At the same time, they had to clamp the large-caliber shotguns under their armpits to keep their balance.
The distance of 500 meters seemed very far, but when the two groups of cavalrymen collided, they would meet in less than 10 seconds. Looking at the tall horses of the Han people getting bigger and bigger in their eyes, all the Jurchen cavalrymen, including Mangus, let out a heart-wrenching roar. This was a fight with their lives on the line, an outburst, a desperate attempt before death.
In addition to pushing his strength to the limit, Mangos shouted with all his strength, leading his 1,000 men to shout as well. He had no other choice. The cavalry on the other side didn't move, but when they moved, they were like a collapsing mountain. The densely packed cavalry formed a wall, and their formation was as united as an iron wall. The light of the military formation shone on the wilderness like a dark cloud.
When the distance between the two sides was reduced to a dozen meters, the collision would be completed in an instant. Mangos kicked his horse with one hand, and his body leaned forward. With one hand on the horse and the other on the blade, he gritted his teeth and was about to chop down a Han cavalryman.
No matter what, he had to chop down one of them. Even if he died, even if he was smashed to death, even if he was smashed into pieces, he had to chop down one of them. He couldn't let these Han people be too complacent. At the very least, he had to let them know that he was the descendant of the Mongolians who had once dominated the world.
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