Chapter 78: Peter Distinguishes Horses (Today’s two chapters are all popular science)
Although soldiers are divided into cavalry and infantry, cavalry also pays attention to speed. Heavy cavalry does not need to be so particular, as long as it maintains the momentum of pushing horizontally, but light cavalry pays special attention to speed.
Peter thought about the spare horses.
When many people think of horses, they think of grasslands, but not Peter.
It is a misunderstanding that horses are only abundant in grasslands.
Russia originally had a lot of horses. At the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, the countries with the largest horse stocks in the world were Russia, the United States, Argentina and Western Europe, not Mongolia at all.
Russia's horse stock in 1913 was 21.3 million horses, and by 1917 it had reached 34.5 million horses. The United States had 21.3 million horses in 1914, France had 3.22 million horses in 1914, and Germany had 4.55 million horses.
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The horse stocks of Italy and the Austro-Hungarian Empire held back their comrades during World War I. The horse stocks of the Austro-Hungarian Empire exceeded 3.8 million, and the Italian horse stock also exceeded the million mark in 1913.
In 1966, Mongolia had only 2.433 million horses.
Horses in these countries are basically produced on European territory. Except for Italy, which does not exceed Mongolia, the number of horses in other countries exceeds Mongolia.
Even Belgium’s horse reserves are not low. Its area is just over 30,000 square kilometers, but its horse reserves have reached 478,000.
Moreover, the performance of Mongolian horses is also very poor.
The Mongolians riding Mongolian horses did not show the majesty of their ancestors in the 20th century. Starting from 1904, Baiyin Dalai, Taoke Taohu and others made big news in the Northeast, relying on the "changing horses and riding" technique passed down by their ancestors.
The fleeing tactics once made the Qing army very temperamental.
Zhang Zuolin came online in 1908. He led the cavalry of the fifth battalion and more than 2,100 people of the fourth battalion and began to encircle and suppress Baiyin Dalai and others in Mobei. The Han cavalry, who had a peasant and bandit background, defeated the Mongols in many encounters.
The cavalry killed Baiyin Dalai.
The cavalry of the Northeast Army is as famous as the cavalry of the Northeast Army, and even better than the cavalry of the Northwest Army. The cavalry of the Northwest Army even almost captured the principal.
How does the quality of the Northwest Army's cavalry look in the eyes of European armies?
According to the evaluation of the Soviet military adviser, most of the Beiyang Army's cavalry could not complete the subject of jumping over a one-meter-wide trench on horseback. There were four cavalrymen in Feng Yuxiang's army who jumped the trench. Three fell off their horses, and one fell off and was sent directly to the hospital.
Achievement.
However, these Republic of China cavalry were still able to achieve good results when encountering Mongolians riding Mongolian horses. The cavalry of the Jinsui Army also defeated the Mongolian cavalry many times before the Anti-Japanese War.
These Republic of China cavalry used a large number of exotic horse breeds.
Mongolians and Mongolian horses were vulnerable to cavalry battles in the 20th century, and they would be defeated miserably when encountering European draft horse artillery. Starting from the 19th century, Tsarist Russian troops used draft horses to pull light artillery on a large scale. In
In Central Asia and other places, grassland peoples riding grassland horses have been defeated many times.
After the emergence of excellent horse breeds in modern Europe, the myth of Mongolian horses has long been shattered.
When the Mongols rampaged across the Eurasian continent, the Mongolian horse became a myth. This is because the unique horse-slinging technology of the Mongolian cavalry was the key.
Mongolian horses need to be trained gradually for a month under their training. On the 30th day, Mongolian horses or other war horses are used for charge combat, which is a great test of the commander's ability.
The training cost was too high, so the Mongolian horse was excluded from the candidate list by Peter.
Does the thousand-mile horse that "travels a thousand miles in a day and eight hundred miles at night" exist?
Chollima often appears in storytelling, and is often an important supporting role in legends. As the top mount, it is the standard equipment of the strongest warriors. However, storytelling is all bluffing, and such horses do not exist on the real battlefield.
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In the 21st century, the fastest horses are thoroughbreds and quarter horses. Although they are fast, they do not have much advantage in long-distance marches, so they were eliminated by Peter.
The Arabian horse can travel both long and short distances, but it rarely appears on the battlefield.
When the Arab Empire crossed the sea in its expedition to the Iberian Peninsula, they used Barb horses and did not consider Arabian horses at all.
The Mamluk warriors controlled Egypt and Syria. To fight against the Mongols, they also needed to import Marwari horses and Katiavar horses from India. This was because the Arabian horses did not have a strong load-bearing capacity.
The average weight of an Arabian horse in the 21st century is 418 kilograms. The maximum load-carrying capacity of a horse is 20% of its body weight. Generally, it can only carry a strong man of more than 80 kilograms during a whiteboard march. Whiteboard means without any equipment, not even a saddle.
bring.
If the horse's load-bearing force is forcibly increased to more than 20%, the horse will have labored breathing, tachycardia, and rapid muscle fatigue. When the horse's load-bearing load exceeds 30%, the horse's speed will be reduced by more than 30%.
The Arabian horse is small and difficult to fight on the battlefield. Even after the Europeans captured it, they immediately drove it to the breeding ground and let it work day and night to contribute its energy.
Therefore, the Arabian horse was also excluded by Peter.
What about forest horses, desert horses, and captive horses?
These types of horses surpass prairie horses in many indicators.
Horses survived the Ice Age. In a difficult environment, the ancestors of horses did not choose the environment. They lived in the forest where there was food to eat, and lived in the mountains if they could survive. There are even so-called tundra horses in the Siberian tundra, forming the
There are four primitive horse branches: Przewalski's horse, European horse, forest horse and tundra horse.
But when it comes to wild horses, all kinds of horses with excellent performance are the products of settled civilized countries, and many famous horses grew up in horse pens.
The fastest purebred racehorses in the 21st century are horses that are a mixture of Arabian horses and European cold-blooded horses. Compared with steppe horses such as Mongolian horses, they have at least a one-third speed advantage.
The Budyonny horse with the best endurance is also a captive horse bred in the Soviet Union.
The famous Sweat-blooded Horse comes from the horse pens of Dayuan Kingdom. In order to improve the quality of life of famous horses such as Sweat-blooded Horse, the Central Asian people also use special mutton fat and egg snacks.
The advantage of keeping horses in captivity is that it is convenient to add food and nutrition.
In the Middle Ages, in order to replenish energy for war horses, knight lords and nobles even gave wine to their war horses. There were also famous horses in the Tang Dynasty who drank wine. War horses in the Northern Song Dynasty also had to add extra sugar and oil. Even Mongolian horses needed to be supplemented with salt and grain.
According to animal husbandry statistics, resting horses need 25 grams of salt per day, horses under moderate labor intensity need 55 to 65 grams of salt per day, and horses with high intensity labor such as long-distance marches need hundreds of grams of salt per day. Nutrition of horses in captivity
Better, the performance will be stronger.
The Hexi horses of the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties were the best heavy cavalry horses.
European cold-blooded horses, heavy-duty horses, these horses are slow but have strong carrying capacity.
The famous Jutland horse in Northern Europe is a descendant of the forest horse produced in the 12th century. This horse is currently 1.5 to 1.6 meters tall and is a tireless and capable draft horse.
Brabant horses, also known as Belgian heavy-duty draft horses, are very powerful. They have set a record of dragging 7.7 tons of cargo 2.18 meters with two horses in parallel. In comparison, Mongolian horses are even less powerful.
The limit of the Mongolian horse three-horse trolley is 500 kilograms.
The Ardennes Forest area on the border of France and Belgium also produces a 1.5 meter Ardennes horse, which is also a very powerful forest horse.
Peter silently included Jutland horses, Brabant horses, and Ardennes horses as prey in his mind.