1. Human hair is relatively sparse, sweat glands are well developed, and heat dissipation is good.
2. The respiratory system is developed, not only the nose can breathe, but the mouth can also breathe.
3. Internal organs are not squeezed when running.
4. The digestive system is developed and takes less time to eat.
Some book friends have mentioned before that black people killed antelopes and leopards, which is true. These animals have stronger short-term explosive power than humans, but due to the above reasons, their endurance is far inferior to humans.
Of course, the endurance of horses is not as good as that of humans.
If the ancient cavalry did not mix with the infantry, but acted alone, then you would need at least two horses.
One is a war horse, which must not be ridden at ordinary times. In ancient times, military generals would also attach great importance to riding a war horse to travel on the road. The endurance of horses is very poor, so the war horse must be kept strong.
The other is a pack horse, which carries various supplies, such as horse feed, rations, drinking water, weapons and equipment, and other items. The weight is actually not light. If there is no pack horse, a carriage is also needed as a substitute, such as when the United States expanded westward and colonized.
The cavalry only had horses, and all other luggage was pulled by horse-drawn carriages.
Please note: In such a situation with one person and two horses, the cavalry still cannot ride a horse, but can only walk, and the speed is not as fast as the infantry. So what should we do? Later, auxiliary soldiers appeared, and the auxiliary soldiers also brought two horses, and one rode on the road.
One horse carries the luggage. But in this way, only one horse can actually ride, and the speed is still not fast enough, because the horse cannot be ridden all the time, and the horse's endurance is very poor. You have to let it rest after riding for about 3-4 hours.
It won’t work if you ride twice in one day, and you won’t be able to walk again on the same day.
Here I will briefly summarize:
(1) A cavalryman with only one horse is unqualified. He usually leads the horse on the road. If he rides a war horse, he will be punished. Their luggage and equipment rely on the infantry to carry their luggage and equipment, and they are usually inseparable from the large army. Talk about
Not very maneuverable.
(2) The cavalry with one person and two horses has a certain degree of mobility, but the distance traveled every day is still very limited. They have to ride horses to travel, and the horses run on empty to maintain their physical strength. But they cannot be too far away from the auxiliary soldiers, and the auxiliary soldiers are
The speed is also very slow. Their horses have to be ridden, carried and saluted, so they can't go any faster.
(3) One person and three horses can really achieve relatively good mobility. One war horse can run on empty. If the military situation is urgent, it can also be ridden with the permission of the officer. One can carry luggage and weapons, and the other is a riding horse.
Such troops can march about 100 miles a day.
Here is a question: How did the Mongols and Khitans manage to march two hundred miles or even faster in one day?
Three ways:
(1) Ride to the death, fully squeeze the life potential of the horse, race to the death and lose the horse, even at the expense of a large number of horses.
The horse's non-destructive load is 15% of the horse's body weight. If it exceeds 15%, it must rest after walking for a while. If it exceeds 30%, it can only sprint for a short time. If the time is long, the horse will foam at the mouth and die.
Assuming the weight of a horse is 300 kilograms, then the undamaged load is 45 kilograms, which is almost the weight of luggage. In fact, I feel that most of the time, food, water, equipment, and luggage exceed 45 kilograms. The "death line" is 90 kilograms.
Cavalrymen generally will not exceed this weight without armor. If it exceeds the weight, the condition of the horse under the crotch is not right. Stop immediately, or change horses while marching.
(2) Prepare a large number of horses in various places in advance, and replace all the horses when they arrive at the field. The horses are replaced throughout the process without changing people. It is somewhat similar to the post station. This mode was widely used in Anxi in the Tang Dynasty. The Tang army mostly mounted infantry. After the infantry was assembled, the horsemen arrived on horseback.
Change the horses at the next location and then move again. They have repeatedly moved more than a thousand miles and more than two thousand miles. Otherwise, the Tang army would not be able to control such a large territory with its small strength in the Western Regions.
(3) Bring more horses than the average three horses per person. "Black Tartar Story" records that the Mongols had at least five or six horses. In fact, when the Mongols fought, they rarely had less than five horses per person and ten horses per person.
There have been extreme situations. Of course, if the road is not easy to walk, it will be reduced appropriately, but it will not be lower than one person and three horses. Even after the first wave of people leave, there will be people behind with a large number of unloaded horses to follow, giving them
replace.
During the march, you need to change horses to ride. If you want to maintain high speed, you must have more backup horses in addition to war horses, pack horses, and riding horses. They can be pack horses or riding horses. Of course, they can also be war horses. However,
Riding a war horse is too luxurious.
(2) How to march with one person and multiple horses
It's actually very simple, in batches.
Suppose there are five horses per person and the horses run on empty. This is an iron law and cannot be changed.
One riding horse rides, and another riding horse can be switched during the march.
Spread the luggage among the two pack horses so that they can keep up with the pace without losing the load.
In this way, the five horses are in different states, and may be faster or slower.
Those who walk fast, and it’s time to rest, feed the horses feed, salt, and water on the roadside, waiting for the people behind to catch up. When the people behind catch up, they switch to horses that are rested and in relatively good condition, and continue on the road.
Bad horses stop to rest.
A large group of cavalry marches for a long distance. In fact, the team is very long, and everyone in the team is in a different state. Some are rushing, some are resting, and some are feeding the horses. In fact, it is a way of advancing in waves.
The more horses there are, the faster the speed, and of course the greater the consumption.
(3) Personal opinion.
The cavalry, which consists of one person and one horse, is actually a "beggar version" of cavalry. It is not mobile and cannot even move far away from the main infantry force.
The cavalry consists of one person and two horses. Personally, I think it is the "youth version" of the cavalry. In fact, it is not very fast.
Personally, I think a cavalry with one person and three horses is the standard configuration. The horses run on empty, ride horses for transportation, and pack horses carry luggage. However, due to the weight of the horses, the rest time is longer, and the speed is much faster than that of one person and two horses, but it is still not up to the standard.
To the speed of the Mongols and Khitans, who marched in a roundabout way of one to two thousand miles or two to three thousand miles.
The Mongols often march with five or six horses in a hurry. What do you think it is? Are they carrying empty food? One is to maintain a high-speed forward trend without slowing down, and the other is that during long-distance marches, even if they take good care of the horses and pay attention to rest, they will not
There will be losses and must be replenished.
Someone in the book review section mentioned Brother Yelvxiu’s six-day maneuver of 1,400 miles. In fact, it was close to 1,500 miles, an average of 250 miles a day. One person and three horses cannot reach this speed unless he is mentally prepared for the death of a large number of horses. In fact, the Khitan
There is no shortage of horses, so there is no need to do this. One person can take five or six horses to solve the problem.
