What are the effects of this?

I'm thinking of this specific situation: Suppose I'm playing the Saxons, and I make a shieldwall with a bunch of frontline troops like Keels and Levy Spearmen. Behind this wall I've got my general on his warlord cav. The enemy comes forward and makes contact with my shieldwall, but I notice one of my units is beginning to waver.

Does it make sense for me to charge my general's cav THROUGH that unit to engage with the enemy soldiers? Does a charge like this disrupt the formation of my spears and make matters worse for me? Does anyone do this?

I always try to send my cav to outflank them and charge from the rear of the enemy, but oftentimes it's too late -- my shieldwall has collapsed anyway and my general gets trapped in a melee with the enemy who can now just focus on him. It would be faster I guess to just charge him right through my own guys, but I wanted to see how other people do it. Alternatively, it doesn't need to be a general, but any second-line infantry: for example I could have my shieldwall all lined up to anticipate the enemy charge and have a line of Axemen directly behind it to rush in THROUGH my spears and engage the enemy that way. Again, my usual tactic is to have the heavy-hitters on the wings so they can flank; but my shieldwall sometimes doesn't hold long enough.

I'm just wondering if charging through my own men is a good way to shore up weak spots, or if it makes matters worse....

How do you all do it?

CountMRVHS