軍武

文明帝國3的中國特殊兵種:重騎兵 相較於同年代的世紀帝國2的連弩兵實在颯爽多了

底下是簡介

The age of mounted combat has generally been viewed from a European perspective, since it was there that infantry was overthrown and that the greatest and most far-reaching changes in cavalry tactics occurred. But it was by no means an exclusively European phenomenon; indeed, the mounted warrior's tactical supremacy was less complete in western Europe than in the vast Asiatic steppes that bordered China. Evidence from the region suggests that horses were first mounted about 4000 BC, but their role in warfare was trivial until the Han dynasty. The fame of the large Parthian warhorses reached the Chinese imperial court and led the emperor Han Wu Ti to send an expedition westward as far as Fergana to bring back specimens of the new breed in 101 BC. These were mated with the sturdy Mongolian horses, and for the next several centuries the Chinese emperors employed both horse archers and armored horsemen to guard the borders against barbarian incursions and the vital Silk Road caravans from raiders.

China leads the world in terms of horse population, having nearly 11 million horses within its borders. Once the discovery of the stirrup made its way to China, heavy cavalry soon followed. As the Chinese found out first-hand when the Mongols invaded in the 12th century, it is better to have heavy calvary than to be attacked by them.

Ironically, the invading Mongols would eventually turn these against Chinese rulers themselves.