| In XVI century the knighthood started transforming into cavalry. A knight is a well-prepared individual fighter. In the Middle Ages it
was them who played the key role in the battle. "The Antiquity gave birth to centaur and the Middle Ages made him the Lord of Europe" - the
knights of that time were characterized. But up to XVII century the cavalry was no longer of knighthood. Now it comprised mercenaries, who formed
tactical units. Cavalrymen lost part of their armour, they got lighter and what is most important, cheaper. Owing to this their numbers grew. At the
beginning of XVII century the cavalrymen got interested in firearms (they did not thrust with a pike or strike with a sword, but fired point-blank with
a gun), and the riding skills got worse. But this tactics did not justify itself. Under Gustav Adolph (1590 - 1632, from 1611 to 1632 - the Swedish
King) the cold steel attack was revived. Cold steel riders could easily smash pistoleers and this tactics gained a foothold and was successfully used up
to rifled modern-type guns appearance (late 19 century).
So by XVII century the classical regular cavalry was formed. Basically it was divided into heavy and light one. The difference between them was in
the qualities of horses and combat tactics. Heavy cavalry had big and strong horses, they weren't so fast during the attack, but inflicted mightier
strokes.
Light cavalry horses were faster and more maneuverable. Heavy cavalry charged in tight formations, horseman had cuirasses, protecting them from
splinters and bullets fired from more than 50 steps. The unit able to preserve its tactical array during the attack had great advantage. After the
hand-to-hand fight, quick array restoring was essential while the enemy could send fresh cavalry unit into attack and annihilate the new victors. |
