UNIT: Tang Elite Tiger Crown Cavalry 虎冠骑
For the full article about Tiger Crowns and elite Tiger Cavalry, check it out here.
These wings usually gathered the bravest and the highest quality of fighting troops and were tasked with 1. dangerous long distance scouting missions, 2. performing as shock cavalry troops maximized to turn the tide of battle at a decisive moment. For this purpose, they were saddled with the best horses, they were armed with a variety of weapons which allowed them to effectively respond to most situations as well as exploiting each vigorously. Aside from the standard cavalry lance and pikes, nearly all were also armed with the bows, sabers, halberds, and by the late Tang and the Five Dynasty and Ten Kingdom Period (907-979CE) even grenades and bomb slings.
Chanfron and barding (horse armor) of a 4th-7th century Chinese cataphract,
note the ostentatious plume Jisheng 寄生, lit. "parasite" on the horse's hip.
In terms of fashion: by 979, most correlating troops have eschewed the gaudy tiger helmets, however the idea of vanguard shock cavalries designated as "tigers" would remain long after the disappearance of the tiger crown.
Sancai tiger crown warrior, Henan region. Tang dynasty
The 虎翼, or "Tiger Wing," or "Tiger Wedges" usually denoting an elite cohort of shock troops that became a fixture of nearly every dynasty that succeeded the Zhou all the way until the abolition of the imperial system in 1912. Even during the Korean War, there were still divisions denoted as "Tiger Wings" (although by then mostly referring to motorized divisions) deployed in the conflict.
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Comments
Posted on 2017 Jan on Tang Military. I want to get the source of
"... such that by the end of the dynasty in 907, there were grenades, gas grenades, shrapnel bomb tribuchets, land mines, fire lances, ..."
"a Tang general who helped to destroy the Gokturk Empire- a typical campaign army (cavalry + infantry) would be made up of a force of around 10% crossbowmen, 10% archers, 20% cavalry and the remainder as melee infantry. Each infantry soldier was expected to carry a saber, lance, a bow and armor.
Old Book of Tang, vol. 67
Many of the strategies mentioned here that Tang forces employed against Xiao Xi and Fu Gongshi were of disputed of origin -- as the biographies of Li Xiaogong in the Old Book of Tang and the New Book of Tang credited them to Li Xiaogong, while the biographies of Li Jing in those same works credited them to Li Jing. Compare Old Book of Tang, vol. 60 (biographies of Emperor Gaozu's collateral relatives)
(biographies of Li Jing and Li Shiji) and New Book of Tang, vol. 93
The Zizhi Tongjian generally credited these strategies to Li Jing. See Zizhi Tongjian, vols. 189, 190.
Well, the fire lance and the grenade (both gas as well as combustible ones were depicted in the late 9th century cave paintings in Dunhuang) used by the demons that flanked a Matriya Buddha. Shrapnel bombs appeared around this time as well, not conclusively before the fall of the Tang, but definitely began to appear in the 70+ years of civil war of the Five Kingdoms and Ten Dynasties after the fall of the Tang. Quite a simple construction really, simply place many ceramic pieces and fit them covered in oil paper- in the even of the detonation the iron cask and the shrapnel will tear through armors apart.
Hand powered trebuchets were already invented by the Chinese way back in the Three Kingdoms period, some would suggest even earlier in the eastern Han period. To fit their loads with bombs was a logical step that was quickly incorporated. Again- many Chinese polities of the Five Kingdoms and Ten Dynasties period used them. And they had something even more devastating in their armamen. For instance, in a battle on January 23, 971, massive arrow fire (rockets) from Song dynasty crossbowmen decimated the war elephant corps of the Southern Han army. This defeat not only marked the eventual submission of the Southern Han to the Song dynasty, but also the last instance where a war elephant corps was employed as a regular division within a Chinese army.
^ Schafer, Edward H. "War Elephants in Ancient and Medieval China," Oriens (Volume 10, Number 2, 1957): 289–291.
The Tiger Wings or tiger designated troops usually designated the most ferocious units a general has. A mark of elite quality.
And this article is more an imagining of the role these well dressed warriors played, because of some of them were depicted mounted. While yes, some sculptures of well armored soldiers are depicted wearing this type of headdress I should not have suggested that those self same troops are dressed in this manner. The source I got at the time were from some Chinese frequent armor bloggers who imagined the role of these warriors. Some Vietnamese websites at the time also suggest their elite cavalry are similar dressed (with a tiger shaped cap) formed their vanguards too, but their assumptions (like my assumptions) are based on the elite quality of these armor from Ly and Tran dynasty armor worn by the guardian temple sculptures etc rather than extremely descriptive records.
https://www.quora.com/What-were-the-differences-between-Vietnamese-and-Chinese-armor-throughout-different-dynasties
https://qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-b4a8c19996dbef3be0864dd85542f26e-lq
Like I said I should really go in and rewrite it.