The sound of horses' hooves went from far to near, very fast, very fast. The pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info at first just a vibrating sound, then it grew louder and louder, and finally converged into a surprising torrent, and from the horizon appeared nearly two thousand cavalry of the 1st Cossack Cavalry Brigade. At the forefront of the Heavy Duty 1st Cavalry Brigade were 300 heavily armed, wearing special heavy armor with a thickness of four millimeters, reinforced with special parts to reach five millimeters, holding a heavy, extra-long cavalry spear of more than four meters, and the whole person was like a galloping fortress-like centaur knights.

These centaur knights were the core of the 1st Cavalry Brigade and the most powerful, capable and loyal unit in the hands of the Crimean Khan. Composed entirely of centaurs, using special heavy plate armor provided by the Hereford family's steelworks and armorsmiths, it is arguably the most indestructible, powerful and terrifying assault force in the world to date.

Although there are only three hundred people, that is, only three companies. But anyone believes that they are strong enough to easily crush a regiment of infantry or cavalry. There are very few guys in this world who can stop these guys' assaults, and there are very few defenses that can stop their assaults.

That's it. If the only thing Colonel David was satisfied with the Cossack cavalry brigade was these centaur assault heavy cavalry. If it weren't for the complicated relationship between the centaurs and the Hereford family, the Great Frontier region, which made it difficult for human officers to command centaur troops, Colonel David would have even liked to recruit some centaurs in his own independent cavalry brigade, equipped with heavy armor that could defend against muskets to a certain extent. Then this is the most powerful assault force in the world.

"No wonder this guy is so confident. Colonel David couldn't help but look at the Crimean Khan beside him, and then thought to himself. After any commander has such a powerful power in his hands, he will involuntarily have the illusion that he is invincible in the world, right?

At least that's what Colonel David himself thought.

And behind these three hundred centaurs were six other companies of centaur cavalry. The armament of these cavalrymen did not differ much from the normal era, that is, the time of the Tartariya Khanate. It is still a sophisticated compound bow, plus oriental-style scale armor and scimitars, as well as a cavalry spear. These cavalry were chaotic and did not have a uniform standard of equipment. In other words, how these cavalry should be used is not currently in the minds of the Crimean Khan and the Hereford military.

According to the Crimean Khan's own ideas, it must be in accordance with the standard cavalry configuration, with the planning of cuirassiers, lancers, and light cavalry, to unify the cavalry units.

But the problem is that there are simply not many of them. If it is reorganized separately, then there are only two companies in one branch, which is really a bit unseemly.

What's more, in the classic modern cavalry, there is no place for such a weapon as a bow and arrow. It is generally accepted that the bow and arrow are a weapon that is not lethal enough and is of little use other than to disturb the enemy, and the light archers, although very popular with nomads and oriental peoples, have a very little place in modern armies.

With just a cuirass, a weapon that can be perfectly defended, for this era, it can be almost equated with garbage, waste.

However, for centaurs, bowing and arrows are a religion, a tradition that has been practiced for thousands of years, and it is difficult for any centaur to believe and imagine that there would not be enough archers and cavalry archers in an army. These guys are not resisting cavalry reform. They could also see the pistolists, and the rifled rifles, and the short-barreled carbines, and the centaurs saw it, and thought that it was normal and natural to be equipped with these new weapons, and the light and powerful cavalry guns.

The problem is that they don't see such a reform as a price to pay for "ditching the bow and arrow."

In other words, they expect to equip all kinds of muskets at the same time, and retain their original dominant bow and arrow items, and use the two weapons alternately, so that their tactics can be more flexible and better adapted to the battlefield.

In the eyes of William, and to any officer or soldier who understands modern warfare, these centaurs are completely wrong, and it is not an exaggeration to say that they have holes in their brains.

The use of bows and arrows, which is outdated and ineffective, will aggravate the logistical supply difficulties of the army, weaken the combat effectiveness of the army, and create an unnecessary type of troops, which will then increase the difficulty of command and increase the confusion of the army...... This is completely useless.

Unlike William's previous life, when muskets were used, the muskets of that era were so large that armor was useless.

However, in this world, because of the improvement of people's physical fitness, a light set of five-kilogram cuirass is not too much of a burden for musketeers. They are perfectly capable of carrying these weights. At the same time, these cuirasses were still quite effective in hand-to-hand combat, saving the lives of a large number of soldiers.

That's it, the musket did not obsolete the armor, but the mass of armor obsolete the bow and arrow. But if this question had been raised by William, or any of the officers of the Hereford family, I am afraid that it would not have had much effect.

After all, the Hereford family was still in a run-in period with these Cossacks. The Cossacks did not trust the Hereford family very much. In this case, any kind of overly radical reforms, as well as changes, could cause a strong rebellious psychology among the Cossacks, so much so that cooperation between the two sides was overshadowed.

In this case, the Hereford family acquiesced to their continued preservation of the bow and arrow.

And just like that, the centaurs of several companies following them began to shoot arrows with their bows in their hands, and a powerful rain of arrows came to their faces...... However, it is of little use.

If they were against the poorest-equipped Legionnaires, this would have been a good ride-and-shoot effect. But their opponents were the Dark Elves, who wore armor that was the envy of the human soldiers, and the New Army soldiers who wore regular plate armor. Very few of these people were killed by such shots.

In other words, the centaurs' shots were ineffective.

But it doesn't matter. As they galloped at high speed, the centaurs withdrew their bows and arrows, then drew their scimitars at their waists, or raised their mounted spears, spears, and spears in their hands. Facing the weak, defenseless flanks of the Dark Elves, who were similar in number, they plunged into it.

With the centaur heavy cavalry at the forefront as the core. A blitz broke several companies. Immediately afterward, more cavalry and centaurs joined the battle, and nearly two thousand Cossack cavalry roared and brandished their weapons as they fought their way through the array of dark elves.

In the process, the Crimean Khan thought for a moment, then gestured with his eyes to one of the centaur guards beside him, and whispered something in his ear.

After that, the centaur guard nodded, and then raised his horn and blew it. After a rhythmic sound of horns, several companies of Cossack cavalry suddenly turned around and slaughtered the pistol cavalry battalion, which was in an absolutely inferior position.

"......?" this move surprised Colonel David next to the Crimean Khan, who had thought the battalion was dead. And he didn't think that the centaurs would come to his aid against the most powerful and warlike cavalry of the Dark Elves.

But the result was a big surprise to him.

"We are allies. Beside him, the Crimean Khan said with a smile.

Look at this very sincere centaur khan. General David smiled reluctantly, somewhat awkwardly. He felt that after this battle, he should re-examine himself and think about how he should cooperate with these Cossacks.

His attitude had unconsciously changed silently, from an opponent of the Cossacks to a supporter - and for good reason.

Because the Cossacks brought him benefits,

"Perhaps, it is also appropriate to maintain a certain number of vassal cavalry. Colonel David thought to himself. Perhaps, a better way to deal with them is to let these centaurs and nomads better serve our army. What's more, the Hereford family had already recruited a considerable number of steppe cavalry to fight for themselves before this. This may be seen as an effective tactic and policy.

He thought so in his heart. At the same time, on the battlefield, the change in the situation is also very gratifying.

In the case of the long-planned detour, flank assault of the Cossacks, the vanguard army of the dark elves could hardly react. In the first round of the charge, the formation of a whole six companies of these guys was crushed in one fell swoop. Their flanks thus leaked under the iron hooves of the Cossack cavalry.

With the collapse of the flanks, the morale of the Dark Elves has plummeted, and despite the fierce battles between the Dark Elves and the New Army, the loyalty and durability of the Dark Elves are good. But it's just good.

In the downwind, although these guys can still hold on, they don't have the mentality and ability to turn the situation around.

To make matters worse, Colonel David, who had his hands free, finally had the opportunity to redeploy more troops, reorganize them, and put them in a more suitable position.

The few companies he had drawn were regrouped in the shortest possible time, and then they circled the flank of the Dark Elf vanguard and launched a charge......

It was this round of charge that took the life of the Dark Elf Vanguard.

Flanked from three sides, the new army and the Praetorian Guard finally could not bear it and began a small rout. And seeing that the dark elf cavalry could not win quickly because of the new Cossacks. At the same time, the Turkic and Levantine cavalry gradually collapsed under the attack of Hereford's light cavalry, and the forward commander of the dark elves finally realized that he was powerless.

“...... Fall back. ”

Despite the difficulty, in the end, the commander of the Dark Elves gave the order - the battle was unwinnable. Then you should retreat to the next best thing, hold Kyiv, as long as you hold Kyiv, you can at least stay with your own life!