During the Napoleon era, there were still two major categories of cavalry in European countries: heavy cavalry and light cavalry. The difference between the two is mainly reflected in the quality of war horses and the equipment of knights (including uniforms, weapons, armor, etc.).

After the 19th century, heavy cavalry only refers to breastplate cavalry, and there are also a small number of dragoons (in the British). The knights are equipped with "Minerva"-style helmets (this helmet is copper, consisting of two parts: helmet shell and helmet crown. The helmet shell extends back to protect the back of the head, while the helmet crown made of copper plates is tilted forward), and the back of the front chest is composed of two decks (the main material is iron, the buckle and rivet are brass, connected by belts, and the surface is polished), and arc-shaped sabers (sabers) are usually used as combat weapons. The mounts of the cavalry are valuable (40 pounds, about 8,000 to 10,000 francs), and can carry 900 pounds of strong and powerful war horses.

As for the heavy cavalry that was popular in the Middle Ages, due to the rapid rise of artillery and muskets, they gradually withdrew from the historical war stage more than a hundred years ago. Because at close range, the bullet kinetic energy created by the use of black powder flintlock rifles was no less than that of AK47. The heavy armor seemed useless and became a major burden of mobility inconvenience, and even a fatal defect (the bullet hit the breastplate, and the large amount of metal fragments produced were sucked in the abdomen).

As for the threats of grape bullets, shotguns, grenades, etc. fired by artillery to heavy cavalry with inconvenient mobility, it is even more fatal.

Since its inception, the cavalry units of the Desai Division were unable to afford expensive and were actually useless breast plaque cavalry, so they devoted all their energy to the short, flexible, but highly mobile light cavalry. Unlike the more chaotic light cavalry organization of the French army, the cavalry brigade of the Desai Division did not have any divisions: Hussars, hunting cavalry, and dragon cavalry, all belonged to the light cavalry hunting cavalry.

The reason is very simple. The clothing of the hunting cavalry is simple and cheap. A complete set of outfits (not including war horses) is only about 800 to 1,000 francs, which is conducive to expansion and replenishment. The coat of the regular clothes is a dark blue single-breasted (nine copper buttons) equipped with a leather armed cross belt. A high-tube military cap with a brim on the head (French and Irish cavalry) or a square military cap (Polish cavalry).

In terms of weapons use, most French and Irish cavalry prefer traditional sabers (sabers) with slightly curved curves, and are equipped with carbines (carbines), as well as a small number of pepper shakers. As for cavalrymen from Poland, they prefer to hold spears (with narrow triangles or dovetail flags under the tip of the spear), and some lancers' spears are even more than 3 meters long. The usual sabers and carbines are only auxiliary weapons. Based on this, the name "lancer" is still retained in the cavalry brigade.

Perhaps due to the unruly and unconventional nature of the knights in their private lives, some French cavalry officers, including their commander General Desnuet, prefer hussar ejaculation with gorgeous uniforms, dazzling styles of uniforms, patterns, headdresses, and laces. The most obvious sign is the cloak-like short coat hanging from the left shoulder.

At first, Andrew Desay, who was a soldier officer in the Guards, was quite dissatisfied with the fancy hussar costumes that emerged from the cavalry brigade, but he saw that the officers paid for their own money to buy equipment, and in the battle, the officers in bright uniforms were always the bravest to rush to the battlefield, so he stopped asking. However, in the first battle at the Monsantu Mountain Pass, these magnificent costumes and bravely advanced Hussar officers became excellent targets for the joint military guns and cannons.

In terms of using cavalry, Desai, who was born in the infantry, was influenced by a St. Cyr Military Academy instructor and believed in Friedrich II's combat requirements for the Prussian cavalry: "Every cavalry officer should always remember that two things must be done to crush the enemy in front of him: first, charge towards the enemy with the maximum speed and strength; second, be sure to detour the enemy from the flank!" Among them, Desai particularly emphasized the second point. Even if he was limited by the battlefield conditions and could not detour from the flank, he must clearly know the real situation of the battlefield and the strength of the enemy, and should not blindly launch a suicide-like frontal charge towards the closely-deployed enemy positions.

Desnuet seemed to have forgotten the instructions of the division commander Dunden, perhaps in a hurry to make up for his mistakes. After arriving in Monsantu village and briefly listening to the enemy situation report of Lieutenant Jacques, he ordered the convening of three hunting cavalry squadrons and a lancer squadron, and led the team himself to prepare to launch an attack on the first line of defense at the Monsantu mountain pass.

Lieutenant Jacques, who finished the briefing, warned the cavalry commander on the side, and he said, "General! Please forgive me for your presumption. The intelligence department has not yet obtained the defense conditions of the coalition forces at the front of the position. We need time..."

"Sorry, Lieutenant, I lack time now!" Desnuet immediately rejected the intelligence officer's correct claim. He must capture the Monsantu Mountain Pass within an hour before the division commander arrives, at least to take down the enemy's first line of defense.

Ten minutes later, 3 kilometers away from the Monsantu Mountain Pass, when Desnuet leaped gently and jumped on the horse, more than 500 French cavalrymen with high military caps and square military caps had already arranged a dense Eighth Route Column, as if they were undergoing inspection, with their horse's hooves stepping on their horse's hooves and following closely behind the commander and the military flag.

When the figures of the French cavalry slowly appeared in the sight of the coalition forces, the defenders were ready. On the first line of defense of the coalition forces, Captain Perot Biyelo, who was in charge of infantry command, became extremely excited. He shouted at the soldiers beside him: "Heroic and fearless Portuguese soldiers, we will send all the Frenchmen to hell!" The soldiers on both sides cheered and echoed.

Not long after, the French cavalry turned slowly to rush to trot, and then all turned to the front of the position, completely exposed to the coalition artillery, six heavy artillery fired one after another, bursting out roars and roars in the valley.

A 16-pound solid bullet pulled out a shallow mark on the hard soil and rolled slowly towards General Desnuet's mount. The commander leaped a cleverly, and the war horse jumped lightly over the threat of the ground with its limbs.

One kilometer away, most of the heavy solid bombs of the coalition artillery fell on the open space and did not cause much damage. However, there were still 4 shells that fell accurately into the cavalry column that was pulling the distance between the queue. The rolling solid bombs, with its huge inertia and its powerful kinetic energy, instantly overturned 6 or 7 French cavalry and their men and horses to the ground, wailing.

As soon as the battle begins, the commander who is rushing to the forefront will no longer care about behind him and will not look back frequently. He stares forward tightly, constantly observing the approximate distance between himself and the enemy position, and decides the best time to sprint in the final.

1 km! 800 m! 500 m!

"Accelerate, charge!" While roaring loudly, Desnuet also made a gesture. Beside the cavalry general, the commander immediately blew the war horn in his hand. The rapid sound of the war horn was conveying the commander's charge order.

At this time, the distance between the cavalry had gradually widened, and the eight columns began to disperse, and their pace also changed from jogging to galloping forward. The two columns on the left and right edges each attacked the artillery positions on the steep hills. The four cavalry teams in the middle continued to follow General Desnuet, pointing directly to the infantry chest wall and the artillery barracks behind them. The cavalry shouted, drew out their swords, or held up their spears, and rushed forward with vigorous steps towards the artillery positions and infantry chest walls 500 meters away.

When less than 400 meters away from the enemy, nearly 20 artillery deployed on two hills began to fire terrifying grape bullets. Hundreds of iron projectiles formed a large area of ​​fan-shaped scattering before the French cavalry. Almost in an instant, more than 60 cavalrymen in the front were ruthlessly hit by the grape bullets, and their limbs were broken and fell down in a pool of blood. The sad neighing of the horses and the pain of the soldiers before the temporary wails mixed together on the battlefield, and the blood slowly gathered together to form rivers of blood.

"There are two hundred meters left, I want to cut the throats of all the Portuguese!" Desnuet roared in his heart. The casualties of nearly 80 people in front and behind made the cavalry brigade commander feel very distressed. The reduction in all combat before seemed to have not exceeded the number today.

Second Lieutenant McKinley was very lucky. When a large piece of grape bullets came from his eyes, the war horse, who had predicted the dangerous situation, took the initiative to throw the knight away from the ground. It used its huge body to bear all the fatal injuries for its master. McKinley crawled out from under the horse's belly. He didn't care about the rain of bullets coming in, kneeling on the mud on the ground with his knees, looking at his mount with distress and caressing. The war horse was already dying, and it licked its master's face with its last strength, as if it was making a final farewell to him.

As the breath of life of the war horse gradually faded, McKinley suddenly heard someone shouting for help in Portuguese. He was shocked and picked up his fallen saber from the ground, stood up, and looked in the direction of the sound with a vigilant look. A young black slave was tied to the trunk of a beech tree, probably calling him.

"Who are you?" McKinley asked the prisoner in Portugal. The lieutenant was an exiled Irish. He had lived with his parents on the Portugal-Spain border for many years and was familiar with the above two languages.

"I, I am Mario, please save me!" The black slave moaned in a low voice.

Without much hesitation, McKinley took two steps forward and cut off the rope that bound the black slave with a saber.

"You go quickly, go east and exit the pass!" The kind lieutenant took out a few silver coins from his pocket and stuffed them into the black slave's hand. He was ready to turn around and return to the battlefield to continue fighting. Even if he had lost his mount, he could still play the role of infantry.

"Please don't leave!" Mario pulled the arm of his savior tightly. He tried his best to swallow his saliva to moisten his thirsty throat, and then said intermittently: "On... over there, the Portuguese... have set up... traps, you will die!"

...
Chapter completed!