These cavalry tactics of the other side are also very flexible, and a large number of crossbow cavalry surrounded them from all sides, just like wolves on the steppe.

Their riders and horses are unprotected, and the biggest advantage of this is that they are fast, and the horses have no extra burdens and are able to reach maximum speed.

Ma Chao's subordinates are all standard cavalry with complete armor, and they also carry equipment such as halberds, grenades, and hand axes, which are far less flexible than the other party, and their speed is much inferior.

These archers on the other side have no protection, but it doesn't mean that they are cannon fodder, many provinces of the Kushan Empire are rich in horses, so their archers have good horses.

In particular, their archers' tactics were completely single-handed, very scattered and disorganized, and the grenades of the Central Army were useless.

Grenades can't be wasted, and more rely on repeaters to deal with the enemy.

These archers of the enemy seem to be well-trained, and their archery skills are generally good, and many of the casualties of the central army are arrows in the throat or in the face, hitting the vital point.

The other mounted cavalry of the Kushan Empire advanced towards the Shilkhan Plain in a neat formation, and they had already heard the explosions and shouts of killing, and knew that there must be their own army surrounded by the Han army.

The Kushan Empire was still in its heyday, and military discipline was still very strict.

In particular, these standing armies of the Kushan Empire, they are all regular troops of the Kushan Empire, from several provinces dominated by the Yueshi people who started from the Kushan Empire, and their combat effectiveness, equipment and soldier quality are all first-class in the Kushan Empire.

Although the archers were unprotected, with only a bow and arrows and a saber, this was only their characteristic, and it did not mean that they were also inferior in combat.

On the contrary, they are characterized by their lightness and agility, relying on speed and archery to win, and taking the nomadic horseman's riding and archery skills to the extreme.

This is also a different way of thinking about army building, and it has been proven to be very effective over the years.

The opponents encountered by the 3rd Cavalry Division came from the Rawalpindi Province of the Kushan Empire and belonged to the 1st and 2nd Cavalry Divisions under the Rawalpindi Regiment of the Kushan Empire.

Among them, the first cavalry division is those equipped with ironclad cavalry, and the second division is the archers, of course, there are bows and crossbows, and it is said that their crossbows are still transmitted from the east, and after improvement, they have more Kushan characteristics.

They were the main force of the war against the Han Dynasty recruited by the Prince of Bo Tiao, and they left late, not reaching Kunduz until today.

It was their spies who reported that a large number of Han infantry had appeared in the Shilkhan Plain, and that they had not been able to rest properly before they had been sent out to check what was going on.

Unexpectedly, before he reached the ground, he encountered the cavalry of the Han army, as one of the main forces of the Kushan Empire, he was naturally not afraid of battle.

The commanders of the two divisions briefly met and decided to attack in the way they were good at.

Their armored ironclad cavalry did not fight in a dense formation, but also a wolf pack attack tactic similar to that of the archers, scattering and attacking from all sides.

The cavalry of the Han army fought against them, except for shooting with bows and crossbows, that is, hand-to-hand combat, and grenades were useless.

The crossbows of the Central Army are very ineffective against the iron armor equipped with ironclad cavalry, their iron armor is very well made, and the plate armor on the war horse is also very good in protection, and the crossbow arrows are difficult to cause damage.

In hand-to-hand combat, the protection of the armor is also dominated by the mounted cavalry, and the halberd of the Han army is difficult to cut or pierce the plate armor of the Kushan cavalry.

And the iron armor of the Central Army could not stop their bows and spears.

After all, the cavalry of the 3rd Division was light armor, not the thick armor of heavy cavalry.

When resisting the hunting bow, the effect is good, and when it comes to the compound bow and hard crossbow of the Kushan cavalry, it is also vulnerable, so the cavalry of the third division can only retreat while fighting.

Moreover, the two cavalry divisions of the Kushan Empire add up to 30,000 people, and they also have a great advantage in numbers.

Those cunning cavalry archers, who use their agility and mobility to the extreme, only wander within the range of their crossbows, and will never fight you hard.

Sima Yi looked at the Kushan cavalry that was getting closer and closer and the Bactrian infantry who were still resisting stubbornly, and did not want the precious cavalry to be sacrificed in vain.

He ordered the 3rd Cavalry Division to withdraw from the battle from both flanks of the 9th Division, and the 6th and 9th Divisions began to retreat, alternating cover.

When Osidmos saw the Han army retreating, he knew that it must be his own reinforcements that had the upper hand, and he would not be stupid enough to continue to attack the Han infantry that had already begun to retreat.

He gathered his surviving men and searched for the wounded in the pile of dead.

Curious as to which army had saved him, he looked into the distance, and soon two divisions rushed towards him, and Osidmos recognized at a glance the Imperial cavalry of the Rawalpindi legion.

sighed in my heart, it seems that the main force of the empire is still very elite and able to repel the Han cavalry.

The two divisions rushed over, and when they saw that it was the Bactrian infantry, they were also quite impressed, and these descendants of the Greeks were still very competent as infantrymen.

Besieged by so many Han troops, you can still keep the formation from collapsing, look at the corpses all over the place, reduce the number of troops by half, okay, these Greeks can.

The two cavalry divisions did not stop, but continued to rush towards the ninth division, which was behind the last hall of the Han army.

Osidemos was anxious when he saw it, and hurriedly urged his horse to find the commanders of the two divisions, he wanted to remind them that the Han army still had mortars!

It's a pity that it was late, and at the same time that Osidmos found the commanders of the two divisions, the mortars were already starting to wield.

This time, it didn't put it at 80 zhang, but when it was 200 zhang, it started firing.

Although the formation of the archers was very scattered, the mounted cavalry was quite dense when they were preparing to storm the infantry line.

Even the crossbow can't hurt them, but it doesn't mean that the cannonballs can't do it, especially the flash of the cannonballs and the huge explosion sound make these war horses who have never seen the power of firearms unbearable.

Although many of the horses were not injured, they were frightened, lost control, and went on a rampage, making a mess of the formation.

The fragments of the cannonballs are much sharper than the crossbow arrows, the speed is much faster, and the angles are even more bizarre.

Now that you've rescued the robe and haven't suffered in the first encounter, take it when you see it!

The commander of the cavalry division, at the suggestion of Osidmos, sounded the horn to collect the troops, and the main cavalry of the Kushan Empire withdrew one after another, no longer pursuing, and watched the Han army calmly retreat carrying the corpses and wounded of their brothers.

In the first battle between the Han army and the main cavalry of the Kushan Empire, the two sides were evenly divided, and even the Kushan people had a slight upper hand by virtue of their numerical advantage.

The casualties on both sides were about the same, about a thousand casualties each.

However, later mortars inflicted hundreds of casualties on their mounted cavalry.

(End of chapter)