UNIT: Yue Fei's Elite Cavalry Vanguard- the Beiwei Cavalry: 背嵬军

January 16, 2025

UNIT: Yue Fei's Elite Cavalry Vanguard- the Beiwei Cavalry: 背嵬军

"He was good at defeating the majority with a small number of troops. When he wanted to make a move, he would call all the commanders to discuss it. He would fight only after the plan was made. Therefore, he always won and never lost. He would not move when he met the enemy unexpectedly. Therefore, the enemy would say: 'It is easier to shake the mountain, than shake Yue Fei's army.' " -History of Song: Yue Fei

Critical Shortage: compared to the height of the great Tang dynasty. Tang were able to field as much as 700,000 warhorses for its war efforts, Song some 200,000 during the height of Northern Song. Compared to its later Southern Song incarnation, this bumbling Northern Song still had FAR larger amount of cavalry at its disposal- including cataphracts. By the time Yue Fei and the next generation of Southern Song generals would wage their wars northwards, they had little cavalry at their disposal and often resorted to raiding horses from the northern Jin- backed puppet states or buy them from Tibet.

The Beiwei cavalry were the crack vanguard of Yue Fei's 岳家军 "Yue Family Army." They were selected from proven warriors and were able to contend with the best of Jin's cavalry. This chapter will solely focus on the Beiwei cavalry, it's formation, and a very brief account of Yue Fei and his northern expedition. A more detailed chapter focused on Yue Fei count be found here. He would make his name, win a blistering series of victory and die before reaching 40.

CONTEXT: HOMEFRONT

Inseparable from the strife of this age. He was among a generation of heroes who rose during devastating calamity, and~ for a brief tantalizing spell, was his nation's fighting salvation. A steadfast commander with a keen mind for organization and discipline. Yue Fei's biography had became a Confucian parable- equal parts scholar and warrior, lent with much romance by his grandson Yue Ke in his《鄂国金佗稡编》 "Record of the Jin in Hubei" and steel manned by later Yuan dynasty editors in 《南宋书·岳飞传》"Book of Southern Song·Biography of Yue Fei".

Ecce Homo: It must be impressed how fundamentally plebian Yue Fei appeared. Despite many later portrayals which often rendered him in handsome romanticized lights, the real Yue Fei was plain in every respect. Broad faced, with pudgy round features, narrow eyes, and squat in stature, Yue Fei had the look of a typical provincial. Netizens had compared him to the comedian Yue Yunpeng who incidentally bore his exact 岳 family name. However precisely BECAUSE of his plainness, this ascension was not some lordly destiny or lineage, but one of arduous and consummate hard work. He got there because his deeds put him there.

Music: A World Betrayed

For the origins of Yue Fei and his early victories leading to this point there is already a chapter fully devoted to it. After Yue Fei had decisively defeated several major rebels armies: such as those of Cao Cheng and Zhang Yong (combination of prowess and generous mercy) the immediacy surrounding the new Song court was pacified in 1133. In that year Yue Fei was only just reached 30 years old and his army had doubled in size from 12,000 to some 24,000 soldiers, consisting both veterans who followed from the Henan and Hebei old imperial heartlands to many of the pardoned former rebel recruits.

Marsh choked expanse along the Dongting Lake- the Dongting Lake was the mid point traffic nexus along the Yangze. Whoever controls the lake truly control the largest main avenue that connects all of the south.

In 1134, the puppet state of Qi joined in conspiracy to simultaneously invade Song with the pirate rebel Yang Yao who controlled the riverine and wetlands around the vast Dongting Lake in Hunan and Hubei- Yang Yao at the time possessed a vast fleet of hundreds of swift amphibious paddleboats and 30 colossal towerships that can carry thousands of crew and sailors and can fire mangonels from its top decks. Though Yang Yao's mobile fleet was formidable, Yue chose to attack Qi instead, cobbling together a large maul with remnants of several Song armies that were crushed in a northern expedition the previous year. Yue Fei's campaigns (which consisted of no less than 4 northern marches-, with the last heading straight to the Central Plains) would not be covered here. We shall skip to when the major fortress- city of Xiangyang was taken and the creation of the Beiwei Army.

The Puppet Qi state in Purple. Jin had turned the former Northern Song heartland~ most of the Central Plains into what would become Qi. The state was led by a traitorous former Song minister. While the Song relied on volunteer recruits, the puppet rulers of Qi enforced forced conscription and levied heavy taxes upon the populace. It's sole purpose was to act as a human shield buffer state and send waves after waves of invasions southbound against the Song.

Music: Riding Alone to Save the Prince

Xiangyang would become a major logistic and operational headquarter for Yue Fei in his bid to reclaim the north. Many had fled from the are with the loss of the Song north especially the surrounding farmlands. However, impressed with its existing infrastructure, Yue then brought in many farmers from the south to resettle it- eventually turning the city into a major colony and operations hub. The city was well defended, with impressive stone walls and (ideal) a vast moat ringing it the size of a lake in each direction. Whoever would try to attack it would have to cross the arduous Y fork of the Han, the city is also surrounded on 2 sides by impassable mountains for large armies thus relegating enemy invasion from 1 predictable direction. Best of all, when Yue Fei raided the city and the surrounding Qi camps, Yue's army found thousands of prized war horses that were meant for use by the Qi.

BEIWEI CAVALRY- BEIWEI ARMY

Yue Fei did not waste the extremely precious resource of the raided war horses and converted them into the best of his fighting cavalry. Because of the extreme scarcity of good warhorses which cannot be replenished with ease, the rank of the Beiwei were selected from his best and most trustworthy soldiers- those who had proven their worth in countless previous battles.

By 1136, many of the oldest soldiers who followed Yue Fei would have fought for 10 years in battle since the fall of Kaifeng. Yue Fei would rigorously drill them to test their limits and their cohesion with the long aim of one day overmatching the best of the best the Jin cavalrymen had to offer. They too were cataphracts, and armed with an assortment of weapons both ranged and for melee.

The word Beiwei 背嵬's origin are contested: as the root word is not Han Chinese. The prevailing interpretation is that Beiwei is a loan word borrowed from the Tanguts, and the world originally meant "Winebearer"- context: being responsible for a ruling sovereign's wine was a badge of extreme trust: as the wine would then be drunk by the ruler himself. Over eras the Tanguts have used the word to also designate renowned bodyguard units (Emperor's lifeguard units) and were the most elite among the Xixia ranks. Song would eventually borrow this for their units as well.

Yue Fei army was divided at least into 12 jun (army):- the best of which was the Beiwei Army

1. Beiwei army (背嵬军); 2. 前军 (Vanguard army); 3. 右军 (Right army); 4. 中军 (Center army); 5. 佐军 (Left army); 6. 后军 (Rear army); 7. 游奕军 (Scouting army), 8. Tabai army (踏白军) (Spotting enemy ambush Army), 9. 选锋军 (Chosen vanguard army); 10. 胜捷军 (Victorious Army); 11. 破敌军 (Shattering foe army); 12. 水军 (Navy).

(锏 "jiǎn"- Sword Breakers) was a long quad-edged (alternatively segment ridged) sword shaped club specifically designed to break weapons with sharp edges or deal deadly bludgeon damage. The traditional Chinese weapon has a rectangular cross section with sharp corners, making it ideal to focus on damaging other weapons with brutal impact. They could be made long with a sharpened tip and at times warriors wielded them in pairs. They were quite heavy and only the strongest warriors wielded them with dexterity.

Bold and Unshakable. Yue Fei's young son Yue Yun was a ferocious frontline commander. He often fought at the front of the arrays whether in deadly cavalry charges or during scaling operations in sieges. In traditional folk lore Yue Yun- who was much beloved was often depicted wielding 2 heavy spherical maces. However it should actually be these Jian maces. He played a pivotal role in many of his father's battles, including the numerous northern marches and the climactic dual with the cream of the Jin army in the Central Plains.

DISCIPLINED NEW HEAVY INFANTRY BLOCKS

Aside from his elite cavalry: Yue Fei's infantry blocks were well drilled and able to operate with great independence even on the flatlands of the Central Plains against the Jin cavalry. During the Southern Song its soldiery received greater amount of armor and various type of military units were all assigned anti cavalry weapons such as the Zhanmadao or Horse Choppers.

Because this generation of hawkish Southern Song generals nearly all proved their loyalty to Gaozong in one occasion or another, Gaozong afforded them great degree of autonomy and did not often peg them with the usual Cha Jinsi 差监司- court supervisors who often kept strict and reductive civilian oversight as was done in the previous centuries.

Several other factors contributed to the increase in Song quality in this era: deprived of their former court monitors, the Song generals were given far greater operational freedom: and because many of their soldiery had to be trained from the ground up- there was fervent Esprit de Corps for each army.

Additionally, most of the Southern Song generals were rigorous drill masters. Yue Fei and Han Shizhong were both strict in establishing reward and punishments and preferred to lean on their best meritorious units. Rewards were logical and punishments were clearly stipulated. In order to rally much of the general populace Yue Fei strictly forbade looting on the pain of death and would frequently pardon rival armies: choosing to instead enrolling talented officers and general soldiery into his patriotic cause. This dedication to quality- supplemented by trusted subordinate officers (whereupon all major decisions were discussed and clarified)- in an army that largely internalized their doctrine ensured that from the officer level to the individual soldiers, each was worth the count and trusted in their role.

Heavy Southern Song dynasty infantryman in Bu Renjia armor with poleaxe. He carries a large 1 handed chopping blade as a side arm and is also armed with bow and a quiver of arrows. Because of the crippling disparity of war horses, the Southern Song army transformed its army into a strongly anti- cavalry focused one. Quality- rather than quantity was heavily emphasized and each soldier was valued more than they were from the previous era. Even many of Southern Song's crossbowmen were heavily armored and screened with armored archers.

Immovable as the Mountain: Heavy Song crossbowmen: deprived of critical northern pastures and lacking enough cavalry to ever equally contend against their cavalry- dominated foes: the Song compensated and found new solutions that stabilized their own playing fields. Song discovered massed armor piercing crossbowmen were the best remedy for waves of heavy cavalry. The weapon was extremely optimal in democratizing killing power. Song crossbowmen were drilled to hold their position as if they were line infantry.

A "D" shaped stirrup hoop were added to the top of these bows and when fired from behind a wall of pavise in concentrated volleys. Not only were Song crossbowmen well protected by pavises and augmented with nearby archer units that complemented their slow rate of fire, Song crossbowmen were also well armored. Crossbows made of mulberry and brass crossbow in 1068 could pierce a tree at 140 paces. The powerful Divine Arm crossbow was reputedly able to shoot as far as 240 paces and effective at killing around 150 paces.

DUEL IN THE OLD IMPERIAL HEARTLANDS

Jin Dynasty Tiefutu or "Iron Pagodas" 铁浮图. Alternately they were translated as "Iron Buddhas," encased almost completely in armor save their eyes and hands these cataphracts were a powerful fist of the Jin conquerors. Deployed in the thousands, their charges were devastating and more fanciful versions recorded that in order to maximize a charge each 3 fully armored horsemen would tie ropes or leather strings between the riders to mow down any enemy infantry who stood between them- this formation was called the Guizi Ma 拐子马 (though this version- was doubted by later historians and is almost certainly not true.)

Of their tactics: 赵彦卫 Zhao Yanwei, a Song chronicler wrote: "The horsemen would make use of a deep wedged array, after plunging into the ranks of their foes would promptly retreat in a burst of speed, all the while arranging itself to stalk or encircle the enemy formation in a circular array for a while, while keeping an eye for another opportunity for a charge, and if situation demanded, they would dismount and fight as heavy infantry."

With the army well drilled and the sharpest units trained up to his standard. Yue Fei launched his most decisive northern march in 1140 with the full might of the Yue Family Army. There: right in what was once the Northern Song imperial heartland, the Song army would find the Jin army- including heavy cataphracts and engage in multiple battles. The detail of which we will cover extensively in an upcoming chapter. Suffice to say, their battle deeds were well remembered- and well worth great history. After all, these familiar lands were literally Yue Fei- and many of his soldier's old homes. The thunderous duel awaits.