Chapter 3639
Cavalry under Politics
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If it's just for gaining a long-range advantage, then it's not worth Kusroy going to all the trouble to choose this location.
While there aren't many battlefields capable of accommodating hundreds of thousands of soldiers, there are quite a few of these things within the Ganges River basin's influence area.
The reason for choosing this location to confront the Han Empire's army was not only due to the advantage of being able to wait in comfort, but also because of another very obvious advantage.
Thinking of this, Kusroy gently poked the ground with his spear, and the spear sank into the soil.
This is another reason why Kusroy chose this location to fight.
The soil here is firm enough to walk on, but not solid; rather, it has a certain degree of softness. This softness makes it much easier to carry out civil engineering work, especially the construction of traps.
These things were all made to target the cavalry forces of the Han Empire.
The advantages of the Han Empire's cavalry on the battlefield have been fully demonstrated in past battles, especially in flat terrain, where cavalry units have been able to determine the outcome of battles.
Knowing the strength of the Han Empire's cavalry, the Kushans naturally wouldn't stand idly by. Based on their own national circumstances, they made corresponding arrangements and deployments.
The best arrangement would be to deploy the same cavalry units to directly engage the Han army in a head-on confrontation.
When both sides have cavalry units and the initiative to choose their own path on the battlefield, whoever is stronger has the right to prevail.
Unfortunately, the entire southern Brahman region could not muster many strong cavalry units.
It's not that there aren't suitable candidates, but rather that there simply aren't suitable warhorses.
Given the wealth of the Ganges River basin, supporting hundreds of thousands of warhorses would be a piece of cake.
However, due to mutual dislike between the North and South and the restrictions imposed on each other's fighting, the number of warhorses in the South was scarce, and even fewer could form legions.
The few cavalry legions were formed by using warhorses obtained through various means, under the watchful eyes of the north.
However, due to the difficulty in replenishing its ranks, this part of the legion is mainly composed of veterans.
This resulted in the fact that Kusroy's army at this time had no organized cavalry units at all.
"If only we had a fully-organized cavalry regiment!" Kusroy's eyes flashed with envy as he looked at the cavalry force that the Han Empire had placed in the central army.
The presence or absence of cavalry on the battlefield makes all the difference. A large army with cavalry, even if small in number, can make excellent use of the cavalry's mobility to provide strong support to the entire army.
Whether it's disrupting the enemy's command nodes, providing rapid and efficient battlefield support, or quickly extending operations after exploiting weaknesses in the battlefield, all of these can greatly enrich existing tactics.
Unfortunately, Kusroy, lacking such cavalry units, largely relied on terrain advantages to wage a protracted war.
At most, when fighting a protracted battle, one can assess the morale and will of both sides, and provide varying degrees of command and intervention to guide them toward the outcome that Kusroy desires.
“In our south, it’s almost impossible for a fully-fledged cavalry corps to exist. Even the few cavalry corps under Commander Rahul now have powerful backers, either direct descendants of other Brahmins or support from His Majesty the Emperor…” Gars, who was very familiar with his own system, explained with a touch of helplessness.
The entire Brahmanical system lacked such a well-organized, highly mobile force. This was not merely a matter of warhorses; it involved a series of political maneuvers, including calculations and checks and balances between the north and south.
"If we don't have warhorses to form a complete cavalry corps, how about war elephants?" Kusroy, continuing to command the army, considered the future and, thinking of the vast elephant population of the Ganges River basin, said thoughtfully, "If we use elephants as mounts, their mobility isn't much slower than cavalry, and in terms of their charging power and ability to break through enemy lines, they are far superior to cavalry corps..."
In a cavalry charge, the combined mass and speed of the cavalry constitute its terrifying impact.
However, no matter how strong the quality of the warhorse, it is not even in the same league as the quality of the elephant.
Therefore, even though war elephants are slower, when they are charging at full speed, the impact they exert is even more terrifying than that of heavy cavalry.
“Using elephants as mounts? That’s a really good idea. We certainly don’t lack that many elephants, nor do we lack the food to feed them.” Faced with this idea, Gars directly stated the conditions that his side could meet, and then mentioned the situation that gave Kusroy a headache.
“Currently, within the entire Kushan Empire, the only legion that truly uses elephants as mounts and engages in combat is the Peacock Legion. Can you guess why?” Gars, who understood the situation, looked at Kusroy and sighed softly, signaling Kusroy to retract his thoughts.
Just like the warhorse issue, it involves the struggle between the North and the South, and the political issues between the two sides.
The issue of elephants being used as mounts involves the Brahmins, and this issue, which involves the Brahmins, is not an easy problem to solve.
Upon witnessing this scene, Kusroy quickly grasped the reason after a moment's thought.
Within the Brahmanical system, elephants are not ordinary creatures, but rather the mount of the great god Brahma. Those who can ride elephants are either Brahmins who control Brahma's mouth or Kshatriyas who demonstrate divine gifts; people from other classes are generally excluded.
If a legion of elephant cavalry were to be formed, wouldn't those who ride the elephants have to be Kshatriyas?
How many Kshatriyas would agree to become part of an elephant cavalry legion, a casualty of war?
The Kshatriya legion under Rahul's command has undergone numerous refinements before it can be considered a legion that obeys orders and arrangements.
With such a precedent set before us, if several more such legions were formed, let alone Khusroy, even Rahul might not be able to withstand the counterattack from the Kshatriya class. (End of Chapter)