The advantages of the Central Plains dynasty in ancient China were that it had a large population, a large number of troops, a large number of cities, a large number of passes, fortresses, a large number of grains, a large number of weapons and equipment, and a strong economic strength. In terms of military, the Central Plains dynasty built military defense systems and fortifications such as cities, military towns, fortresses, and fortifications on almost all the major transportation routes of the country. The Central Plains dynasty almost used these artificial fortifications to artificially build cages and traps, divided into lines of defense, defense belts, war zones, military towns, etc.

The land of the Central Plains dynasty was like a small war zone organized and divided by artificial fortifications and natural barriers. In this way, the northern nomadic cavalry would attack and open up one by one to go south, and these obstacles on their way to the south. The countless defense systems and fortifications of the Central Plains dynasty gave the Central Plains dynasty the cavalry troops of the north to consume the power of the north to the south, and had the ability to live and buffer and delay the war time.

The Central Plains dynasty had the opportunity to have a dangerous pass at a certain place, blocking and restraining a large number of cavalry units of the nomadic people with less force, and consuming the limited war resources of the nomadic people. Moreover, once the nomadic people occupy these cities, passes, fortresses, fortresses and other defenses, they must send troops to defend, which will also cause the troops to be dispersed and weakened. The nomadic people are their weakness in urban offensive and defensive warfare.

In terms of population, materials, weapons, equipment, and economic strength, the most hope is to fight against urban offensive and defensive battles with nomadic peoples. The layers of fortresses and the abundant materials have caused nomadic cavalry to almost never enter the hinterland of the Central Plains dynasty. They are worried that once they are blocked in front of a city, fortress, and fortress, and their backs are cut off by the enemy, they may be surrounded and eliminated by the enemy's superior forces.

On the contrary, the defenders of the Central Plains dynasty can use cities, fortresses, etc. to defend the city. As long as they can delay the nomadic cavalry, they will give the Central Plains dynasty time to assemble large troops and wait for the arrival of reinforcements in the rear. As long as the reinforcements have the ability to resist the impact of the enemy cavalry forces during the field battle, they will be able to successfully enter their own cities, fortresses, fortresses and other defensive fortifications stationed and defended with the enemy to play urban defense wars, and the strategy of the nomadic people can be bankrupt.

The advantage of cavalry is that they are fast mobility and have strong impact, which can easily disrupt the enemy's formation, break down and divide and annihilate the enemy. Field chariot formations, using huge and strong vehicles as obstacles, can effectively block the cavalry's assault, maintain the integrity of their own formation, provide protection circles for officers and soldiers, and at the same time cover their own weaknesses. This is the best way to prevent the Central Plains dynasty army from being defeated by nomadic cavalry units in field battles. At the same time, the high-speed and maneuverable cavalry operations are seriously blocked, and the activities of enemy cavalry are greatly restricted, so it is naturally difficult to exert their combat effectiveness.

As long as the army of the Central Plains dynasty ensures that the army will not be defeated by the nomadic cavalry units, the advantages of the infantry units will be reflected in combat in areas with small battlefield space. As long as there are sufficient troops and bows and arrows, they can crush the nomadic cavalry units. However, the economic strength of the nomadic people is limited, with limited war resources and limited troops, and they can hardly afford attrition and long-term urban offensive and defensive wars.

In addition, on some special geographical terrain, the Central Plains dynasty army can defeat the nomadic cavalry by setting up a large army formation covering an area of ​​dozens of square kilometers, including the chariot array, and conducting a suppressive battlefield attack on the nomadic cavalry units with superior forces. The chariot array is the largest battlefield guarantee for the Central Plains dynasty army to field battles against the nomadic cavalry assault. In fact, it is precisely because it is difficult to resist the flexible attacks of infantry that the chariot array fades out of the war stage for hundreds of years after the Spring and Autumn Period.

After that, both Sui and Tang dynasties established powerful cavalry, which was enough to fight against the cavalry of the nomadic people, and the chariots became abandoned. In the Song Dynasty, when they lost their horse herding place, there were still not enough horses to establish their powerful cavalry, but they did not pay more attention to the tactics of the chariot formation to deal with the northern cavalry, which made Zhao Bing very puzzled? Although the tactics of the chariot formation had inevitable limitations, their role was also huge in resisting the northern cavalry. Even in the Ming Dynasty hundreds of years later, its use of the chariot formation also gave a major blow to the nomadic cavalry in the north.

Although the Song Dynasty also relied on chariots to block cavalry in some battles, its scope and degree of application are no longer the same as before. The Central Plains regime seemed to have forgotten this tactic, mainly relying on the army mainly for infantry and cavalry whose scale is not as large as that of the northern ethnic minority regime to resist northern aggression. Of course, the result is more defeated and less victory. But if you pick up this tactic, it is worse than using infantry cavalry whose strength is not as strong as the opponent and confront others head-on.

From a cost perspective, Zhao Bing knew that the cavalry cost a lot, and there were high requirements for horses, personnel and tactics. With the existing soldiers' qualities, it was difficult to surpass the nomadic cavalry. However, the chariots were different. They could be used for many years with one-time investment. There was almost no other cost except for necessary losses and repairs. Although the chariot array was determined by the environment, the variation was still relatively single. Generally speaking, it relied on the formation to resist the opponent's attacks. The requirements for soldiers were not high and were convenient for training...

When Zhao Bing came to this world, he was almost thinking about how to defeat the Mongols, and the most important thing was how to deal with the enemy cavalry. At first, he occupied Qiongzhou, and was separated by the sea, so he had to rely on the navy to resist the enemy outside the island. The river networks in the south and the Jianghuai area were densely populated, and the mobility of the cavalry was limited, but the boats were more convenient, and the development of cavalry was not an urgent task. This time, Chen Fenglin thought of his front and wanted to restore the chariot camp to deal with the enemy cavalry.

"Is this the Wugang car?" Zhao Bing walked to the chariot and looked at it. The chariot was about two meters long and four meters wide. It had a circumference of about five feet high. It had a double shaft in front and was equipped with double wheels. Its shape was similar to that of a modern truck car.

"Your Majesty, that's right. This is different from what is recorded in the military books. It is covered with a large shield. During wartime, a spear must be tied to the outside of the chariot to prevent the enemy cavalry from attacking. There are also shot holes on the chassis board to facilitate soldiers to shoot, and the chassis board can be used as a shield to block the enemy's arrows." Chen Fenglin replied.

"If you set up a formation, you must connect the chariots in two to form a formation!" Zhao Bing said again.

"That's right!" Chen Fenglin called several soldiers and demonstrated, "When forming a formation, you can drive the side of the chariot with a perforation hole to face out, remove the horse and adjust the direction, use the frame to level the car, and then hook the wheels and the box with iron cables."

"The gap between the chariot bodies is so big that the enemy cavalry can easily pass through it!" Zhao Bing saw that due to the shaft, the boxes of the two chariots were difficult to closely combine, leaving a lot of space. The war horse could jump past, and he frowned.

"Oh, the space between the two vehicles can be filled with a knife and a cart to block the enemy's riding through it. The outside is covered with a cloth curtain to make it one." Chen Fenglin ordered two soldiers to push a knife and place it between the two vehicles, and then covered the cloth curtain and said with a smile.

"Well, the curtain can block the stone arrows, and it can block the rockets after being wet, which is great!" Zhao Bing nodded.

"When facing the enemy, you can sprinkle iron caltrops in front of the chariot formation and arrange the horses to make it difficult for the enemy to get close. Our soldiers can take turns shooting in accordance with the carriage!" Chen Fenglin asked the soldiers to arrange the horses to show how to fight.

"What do you think?" This was the first time Zhao Mengjin saw it. Seeing the little emperor asking with interest, he smiled.

"I think it is difficult to stop the impact of the enemy cavalry with just a musket!" Zhao Bing touched his chin and said, "There can only be four people shooting at the same time. If the wheels are used, and the carriage is narrow, the soldiers turn around and withdraw, and the loading will inevitably collide with each other, which will inevitably affect the shooting speed. Although the gap between the other two vehicles has been filled with knives, it still occupies at least two combat positions, reducing the fire density."

"Your Majesty, my subordinates have also thought that we can shoot one person and others are responsible for loading the bullets, so as to avoid mutual influence. After the shooter is tired or injured, he can be replaced by others!" Chen Fenglin took over and said.

"There are still shortcomings. Judging from the examples of regaining Jiangnan against enemy cavalry this time, if there is no artillery support, it is difficult to stop the enemy cavalry's attack with just muskets, and it is difficult to achieve even by relying on simple fortifications." Zhao Mengjin shook his head and said.

"What Mr. Zhi said is good..." Chen Fenglin nodded, thought for a moment and then said, "Can we replace the blocked knife trolley with cannons to increase the firepower density!"

"It's not a bad idea!" Zhao Mengjin looked at the little emperor and said.

"Well, you can consider it. However, it is inconvenient to operate when sandwiched between two vehicles, and the cannon still needs to be dragged by horses, and it needs to be re-arranged during wartime. If the cannon is arranged like a warship, it is best to fire and fire as long as the formation is 100%!" Zhao Bing said nodded, but said thoughtfully.

"Although what Your Majesty said is good, it is still difficult to solve the gap between the two workshops!" Chen Fenglin said with a wry smile.

"Yes!" Zhao Bing also found it funny and patted his head, "It seems that we still need to find a way from this car to improve it. If it is changed to a four-wheeled single-shaft carriage, the single-shaft can be removed when forming a formation, and the gap left when the two cars are connected is not enough!"

"Your Majesty, I have thought of using a four-wheeled vehicle as a combat chariot, but it is inconvenient to turn the four-wheeled vehicle, and it is very difficult to walk and adjust!" Chen Fenglin said.

"Inconvenient steering?! How is this possible!" Zhao Bing said in surprise.

"Your Majesty is indeed the case. The four wheels are flush and the axle is fixed. It is difficult to turn the direction without force." Seeing the little emperor's disbelief, Chen Fenglin explained.

"So that's it!" Zhao Bing nodded. In fact, it is actually very simple to achieve the steering of a four-wheeler. Just add a simple steering mechanism.

At this moment, Zhao Bing also remembered that it is said that the carriages in the Roman period had already had a steering mechanism, but whether they had a relationship with the later technology was untrue. However, in the 14th and 5th centuries, four-wheeled carriages became popular in Europe. The principle was only made of the front axle and the shaft, which was connected to the chassis through a rotating pivot, which was the bogie, which made the vehicle easy to turn. However, this simple technology was introduced to China in the Qing Dynasty, and it was still a technical problem in this era.

However, the emergence of the four-wheeled carriage steering mechanism was indeed a technological breakthrough at that time, which greatly improved the practicality of the four-wheeled carriage. It can be said that the large-scale application of four-wheeled carriages became one of the factors that led to the development of modern military logistics. In the subsequent colonial history of America/Africa, the practicality of the four-wheeled carriage was fully proved.

"Have your Majesty thought of a solution?" Zhao Mengjin looked at the little emperor's appearance and knew that he had an idea and asked with a smile.

"It should not be difficult." Zhao Bing nodded, "Tomorrow, you order the craftsmen of the baggage camp to come here to carry the tools and materials for building vehicles. I will go back and think about it!"

"Yes!" Zhao Mengjin and the others looked at each other and said. It seemed that the little emperor's hunting was going to be delayed again...

Zhao Bing returned to the journey and asked someone to take the drawing tools on the ship and started working. He felt that he had designed a complex ship, but now it was just a carriage, so he felt that it was not that easy, but when he started, he felt that it was not that simple. Because this required several necessary conditions to be solved, but there were contradictions between them, so he had to find a balance point in it.

First of all, the chariot acts as a barrier role, which can support the army's mobile combat. When threatened, the chariot becomes a defensive fortress, and the height and width of the chariot are insurmountable by the cavalry. It is necessary that the Hus chariot, which serves as a barrier, is extremely heavy, otherwise it will be difficult to block the impact of the war horses. However, the other function of the chariot is that it can carry soldiers, food and weapons. If it is too heavy, it will inevitably have high requirements for the road and require more horses to drag.

In addition, the function of a chariot is to resist cavalry, so its height and width are insurmountable by war horses. In order to ensure the comfort of soldiers' riding and the convenience of combat, a tall and wide platform is bound to be needed. However, the increase in the height and width of the chariot will affect its passing. After all, the chariot is used for field battles. The environment and passing conditions are harsh, and clumsy chariots will be difficult to apply to actual combat.
Chapter completed!