October Content Update: In Defence of the Tierran Dragoon

A LETTER IN DEFENCE OF THE TIERRAN DRAGOON

By a Confidante of the Gonfaloniere

It has become the fashion in recent years, for men of certain martial pretensions to make comment upon the conditions and the conduct of the war so recently concluded in Antar, betwixt the League which rules that country and the Unified Kingdom of Tierra. Although such efforts may have perhaps originated from some enterprise with the laudable object of improving the defenses and the potency of our own little island's soldiery, it has now quite evidently apparent to any informed observer that such an exercise become a competition in sophistry and posturing. Having exhausted all profit and advantage in demonstrating knowledge of how things were done, it has now become the mode for those engaged in such commentary to instead demonstrate themselves better than the original. Thus we are treated to the abject sight of men who have never set foot on a battlefield now gainsaying the decisions of veteran fighting officers, of those who have barely touched the swords at their sides criticisng the actions of men who have waded through blood, and even those singular figures who see fit to boast that we with our little parade army of less than a thousand are a more martial and formidable race than they who have but recently fielded an army fifty times that number - and brought to heel a Great Power of the Infinite Sea.

Nowhere has this become more prevalent than in the subject of the composition of the Tierran Army. In many ways, the Unified Kingdom's army is in appearance and equipment and organisation not so different from our own. Its history and origin are likewise similar, having been formed originally from companies of militia raised for local defence and embodied into regiments during times of war. This similarity has evidently encouraged certain individuals of their great virtuosity in military theory. Although they may themselves have little experience of soldiering and even less of open warfare, they have taken it upon themselves to step uninvited into the boots of the General Officers of the Tierran King, ordering and reordering the ranks and dispositions of his veteran, battle-tested army into configurations which they - in all of their experience with such matters - consider more efficacious in winning a war which the army in question has already managed to win quite handily without such modification.

One formation subject to particular attention has been the Tierran Royal Dragoon Regiment, a force originally raised as mounted infantry during the time of the King Alaric. Originally raised as a force of mounted infantry, this regiment was heavily employed during the war in Antar, and gained a considerable reputation as not only mounted skirmishers but light horse and light infantry. It proved most efficacious during the early phases of the war in both skirmish and battle. Most famously, it held the Tierran left flank at Blogia, played a major part in the storm of Kharangia, and once again distinguished itself in the action which broke the Antari Prince Khoroibirit's armies outside that same city. In the space of a decade, it has accrued to itself a most illustrious reputation. Yet those who believe themselves to know better would argue that such a force is superfluous to the order of battle of any competently run army - that the Tierran King which has owed so much of his success in battle to such a corps is better off without it. In the spirit of charity, one must assume these arguments have merit, at least in the eyes of their originators.

Whether they possess similar value in the eyes of those of a less elevated perspective is another matter entirely.

For example, the argument is made that a regiment of Dragoons trained in the Tierran style must be useless as cavalry, for being only trained to act and think and fight in the saddle only half the time, it lacks the skill and mentality to properly engage with an opposing element of dedicated horse, which may boast not only a training regimen entirely devoted to fighting from the saddle, but also the correct mentality for cavalry actions - an element which has been much vaunted but has been defined in so many disparate ways that one must wonder if it is a truly tangible factor at all. Regardless of such minor quibbles as the definitions of the terms involved, those who make the argument do so adamantly: that dedicated cavalry will trounce Dragoons in the saddle, as surely as the sun rises and sets.

This may come as some surprise to the officers and men of the Tierran Dragoons, who have on multiple occasions met and routed much larger forces of Antari cavalry in mounted combat.

In truth, it would seem the focus of training does not quite seem to matter quite so much as the method and the duration. Having been obliged to fight fully mounted and on foot, the Tierran Dragoons have endeavoured to simply train twice as long so that they might better fulfill their obligations in both aspects. This seems to have provided an additional advantage, in the sense that by training longer, they have had more time to grow accustomed to those aspects of soldiering which are common to both corps of infantry and cavalry: the prompt receipt and response to orders, movement in close and open order, and the confidence which comes from trust that ones' comrades are capable of their appointed tasks and that together the whole of the corps is more than capable of mastering the enemy. Against the Antari - who seem to have neglected almost all of these factors save for the traditional skills of horsemanship and individual riding - the results have been evident.

Even if the Dragoons were not maintained and fielded at such a high standard, their utility as cavalry would not be so small as some would claim. Most of a cavalry force's duties do not require proficiency in mounted combat at all. To reconnoitre before the head of an army, to make contact with the enemy's picquets and maintain ones' own, to maintain lines of communication, to charge the flanks of enemy foot, to ride them down when they break, and escort shipments of high priority - these tasks simply require that a man be armed and capable of riding a horse at a greater speed than a man afoot without falling out of the saddle. Even if these were the only qualifications possessed by a Dragoon, he would still be of use as cavalry - perhaps more of use than a great number of his detractors.

Stymied from the saddle, these most experienced and able commentators then condescend to dismount: perhaps the Dragoons might make passable cavalry, but they make poor infantry. It is the obverse of the previous argument, and one refuted in the same manner. During the war in Antar, the Dragoons have proven themselves quite capable of skirmishing on foot, and even facing enemy infantry in close order. Their training in such fighting might not have been as focused as that of dedicated foot, but it was evidently quite enough to rout Antari foot possessed of no training at all.

Undeterred, the more astute of worthy commentators take another tack, that the weapons and accoutrements of the Dragoon make him unsuitable for fighting on foot. While this might be the case were Dragoons intended to be deployed as infantry of the line, it seems the men responsible for the deployment of such a force were not quite so deficient in mind as to make that decision. Instead, the Tierran Dragoons have been traditionally deployed on foot as skirmishers, firing from cover to delay or harass an enemy from a distance - a task which their equipment makes them quite suitable for. True, the lack of bayonet and long-barrelled musket to mount it upon may seem like a deficiency, but those who make note of such a lack seem themselves to lack the comprehension that such equipment is solely of use for the purpose of repelling cavalry - a requirement which a force of Dragoons might just as easily fulfil by an expedient which has somehow evaded the attention of some commentators - namely that of mounting their horses and drawing their sabres.

Thus rousted from their outworks, the worthy and most learned commentators retreat to their final redoubt, that of economy. Having established that it requires twice as much time in training and exercise to maintain a Dragoon regiment as an equal of both its counterparts in thoroughbred cavalry and infantry, it is thus argued that it would simply be more economical to maintain two separate regiments. With the vehemence of a child or a card sharp who insists that adding three and three make for a pair of threes and not six, they maintain that there is no need for such an 'amphibian' corps, if for the same cost one might have two regiments instead of one.

Unfortunately, such an argument does possess a certain slight oversight, one which no doubt would have required the perspicacity of a Takaran sage to uncover: namely that two regiments of men draw two regiments worth of pay, rations, and accoutrements - surely a thing which any intelligent observer could be excused for neglecting, for it is as imperceptible a quibble as the wetness of the sea or the coldness of snow.

Those of more extraordinary capacities of thought - those who might perhaps be able to count to twelve without aid of their fingers - might instead come to the conclusion that a regiment of Dragoons in the Tierran model offer not only the capabilities of two regiments at the cost of the upkeep of a single such corps, but may also possess additional capabilities which two separate regiments might be unable to match. As a result, a force of Dragoons might advance to a position mounted, and then dismount to harass the enemy before he might react. A force of Dragoons might skirmish with a screen of enemy skirmishers, and then mount to ride them down when they break. A force of Dragoons might conduct patrols ahorse with at far greater remove from the main force of any opposition, then dismount and hold advantageous ground as infantry should any be found - whilst sending a mounted courier to inform their commander in chief with more expedition than any messenger might do so on foot.

Given such observations, it may perhaps be said that in attempting to prove the superfluity of the Tierran Dragoon, those certain interested parties have indeed proved its utility instead. As the gentlemen in question are no doubt men of reason, motivated solely by a desire to take the lessons of a foreign war to better the defence of our own little island, I would encourage them to put these conclusions to constructive use. Indeed, instead of arguing against the existence of a Dragoon regiment in an army of a wholly different country, perhaps they might put their efforts to better use - in raising a force of such Dragoons for our own.