Chapter 753 (1/2)

Elephants have long been trained as war elephants by human beings, and become another kind of combat machine besides war horses. Whether it is used to charge or attack cities, the role of war elephants is extremely significant.

War elephants are more often used in wars in Europe, and the famous Macedonian legions, Roman legions and so on, have suffered the losses of war elephants.

When the Persian Dynasty was still at its peak, it easily defeated the Macedonian army with 15 elephants in the middle of the army.

Hannibal, one of the four greatest military generals in European history, used to have an army composed of war elephants in his army, but later it was cracked by the Romans. However, at that time, he did not really find a way to defeat the army of war elephants.

You can imagine what kind of visual impact and huge psychological pressure will be caused to the enemies on the battlefield when the Colossus weighing up to 45 tons, plus the war elephants wearing armor, charging at the speed of 30 kilometers per hour!

The destructive power of its charge is even more powerful. The legs as thick as wooden pillars can trample on soldiers at will. The long ivory is no less than any sharp spear in the impact process.

In addition, the war elephant itself is very high and can overlook the height of the enemy, as well as the weapons such as spears and bows in the hands of soldiers on the back of war elephants.

Moreover, with its huge weight and its thick skinned and fleshy self-defense ability, the battle array composed of war elephants is a nightmare for both cavalry and infantry. No one is willing to easily fight against it.

What makes war invincible and invincible is that the ability to fight, to be able to fight, to be invincible, to be invincible is to be able to defend.

Especially for horses who are not familiar with the smell of war elephants, even if the elephants roar together, it will be a disaster for the horses who are not familiar with the war elephants. Even if they do not need to be attacked by others, the horses will be scared and run away without command, which is very difficult to pose a threat to the war elephants.

However, the reason why war horse has always been able to become a cold weapon age, the existence of the endless cruel battlefield is that it does not have fatal shortcomings, nor does it have perfect advantages. Its perfect balance is that it has become the combat animal that mankind is more willing to choose on the battlefield.

Naturally, the war horse can be superior to the war elephants in the cold weapon era, and can become an evergreen tree in the military field. It can be seen from the side that war elephants have a shortcoming that human beings can't overcome. Once this shortcoming is used by the enemy, the war elephants will become insufficient to fear.

Fear of fire is the fatal weakness of war elephants. No matter how human beings train, the fear factors hidden in their nature will be fully exposed when war elephants are facing a raging fire. Once a large-scale fire is formed on the battlefield, the war elephants can not only hurt the enemy, but also trample and destroy their own defense forces when they are crazy.

Without the enemy's hands, the war elephants after being attacked by fire will be in chaos and flee in all directions. The enemy's camp is left with chaos and fleeing after hearing the wind. At this time, they can only be slaughtered and waiting for defeat.

Standing on the high platform, Li Hong and Li Zhe, accompanied by lawlessness, looked down. The military array composed of dozens of war elephants on the school field was confronting the cavalry troops.

In the absence of fire, in addition to the pro guard led by weituqi, who had just joined the army, and with more outstanding mobility and strong ability to control horses, they could barely swim and fight with war elephants. Other cavalry were already in chaos.

In the face of the roar of war elephants, the horses often pluck up their courage and, at the urging of their masters, run forward for more than ten steps, and then show fear and stop without listening to the command.

Even when the elephant is facing it, and before it moves forward, the horse will automatically turn around and run back, selling its owner's back on its back, and directly sell it to the enemy without money.

Each elephant in the school field is equipped with a strong elephant on its back. There is a soldier holding a horse's name and a bow and crossbow. In front of and behind the soldier, there are two soldiers driving an elephant holding bows and crossbows. The three men form a single fighting unit that is courageous and invincible.

The three men on the back of the war elephant can either shoot or fight the enemy with their horses when they urge the elephant to move forward. By complementing each other, they can kill the enemy unilaterally without any suspense.

On the other hand, beside the legs of four war elephants as thick as columns, a soldier with a knife and shield stood to guard the lower wall of the elephant, so as not to be attacked by the enemy in the chaotic battlefield.

A war elephant with seven soldiers formed a combat group with great lethality. It can be imagined what kind of damage will be caused to the enemy when such groups reach dozens or hundreds.

No matter in the Tang Dynasty, the former Sui Dynasty or the Han Dynasty, because of the constraints of the Central Plains and the environment, plus the hostile relationship, the group forces that threatened the central plains were both in the West and the north, so they rarely fought with war elephants in history.

Now Li Hong has his eyes on the southwest. The war elephant, which is still relatively unfamiliar to the Tang Dynasty, has become a ”difficult problem” for the horses to conquer.Lawless and unruly people have led the butcher camp of the central army and conducted many simulated battles with war elephants. However, none of them can break through the enemy's array like other cavalry, and it is difficult to gain the initiative to control it strategically.

Li Hong looked at the smoke and dust of the school yard, and the sound of fighting, roaring and hissing mixed together. But even if he was in charge of the battle, his killing effect on the war elephant group was very small.