Tongbai Mountain Road has been renovated several times in recent decades. After the new Chushan County was established, Xu Huai in order to improve the smoothness of the internal roads, Tongbai Mountain Road underwent a more thorough renovation.
In addition to road widening, a large amount of sand was used to harden the road surface, and drainage ditches were repaired to reduce the alluvial impact of rainwater on the roadbed. For streams such as the Baijian River that cut Tongbai Mountain Road horizontally, wooden bridges were erected for narrow ones, and boat bridges were erected for wide ones.
pontoon bridge to replace traditional river crossing.
However, for large-scale cavalry to pass quickly, Tongbai Mountain Road is still a test.
After being renovated, the mountain road will still rise and fall with the mountain terrain, and is far from being as flat as imagined; the crossing bridge is narrow, has limited load-bearing capacity, and will be shaken by the impact of water flow, and there are strict restrictions on the passage of cavalry troops; both post roads have strict restrictions on the passage of cavalry troops.
The terrain on the side is more rugged, restricting the cavalry to only a road less than three feet wide, and unable to take advantage of the two wings.
On such a narrow road, if two cavalry rode parallel to each other, a thousand cavalry would form a queue of at least ten miles long.
If three or four cavalry ride in parallel, the cavalry ranks will be more compact. However, if three or four cavalry ride in parallel on a narrow post road for a long time, it is much easier than imagined to ensure that the interference between each other can be reduced to a minimum and that there will be no hindrance to the forward and backward march.
medium difficulty.
For individual generals, the more crowded the marching queue, the greater the consumption of physical strength; marching on mountain roads is far more tiring and arduous than galloping in plain areas.
Although the personal cavalry around Liu Xian were all selected from the army and were extremely powerful and agile hands and feet, they usually only practiced riding and archery in the open school grounds under Liu Xian's personal supervision.
It seems superb, but it is superficial.
As for the cavalry guards around Liu Xian, except for a few military generals selected from the Western Army, most of the generals had never experienced combat.
However, the cavalry formation was well-drilled, and more than a thousand men and horses were divided into ten teams and galloped in parallel, passing through the Pingchuan area on the north bank of the Huaihe River, and rushed from Huaichuan to Zhouqiao in day and night. The speed can be said to be extremely fast.
Although Liu Xian himself found it hard, seeing the mighty and even spectacular momentum of his cavalry made him yearn for the formation of a larger cavalry unit.
Setting off from Zhouqiao in the afternoon, Xu Huai respected the status of Liu Xian and Zhao Yi and asked them to go ahead surrounded by their own cavalry.
Liu Xian, Xu Huai, and Zhao Yi originally planned to march to Xiangyang in a little more than two days and two nights.
In addition to wanting to rush to Xiangyang as soon as possible to persuade them to advance, they also wanted to use the forced march to test the elite combat power around them.
According to this plan, they had to rush to Huaiyuan City at night to rest for a while, then set off for Biyang early tomorrow morning, and then rush to Fancheng non-stop in a day and night.
When the time comes, they will leave their guards and horses in the military camp on the north bank, then cross the Han River and enter Xiangyang City to meet King Jing.
It is less than fifty miles from Zhouqiao to Huaiyuan City. According to this plan, it will definitely not be harsh to complete this distance before dark. Xu Huai also specially left some time for Liu Xian's soldiers to adapt to the Tongbai Mountain Road.
When Liu Xian's personal riders set off from Zhouqiao, they still felt that the mountain road was quite spacious, so they chose to ride four horses in parallel. The team stretched five miles in front and back, but after only ten miles, the team uncontrollably relaxed.
It stretches fourteen or five miles back and forth.
In the end, it took more than an hour longer than planned to arrive at Huaiyuan City in the first half day.
Liu Xian's soldiers rushed from Huaichuan to Zhouqiao and walked a short distance of two hundred miles. When they arrived at Zhouqiao, they still felt that they had a lot of physical strength. They regarded themselves as elite cavalry and thought that there would be no problem in forcing a march to Xiangyang.
In the hinterland where there is no interference from the enemy, traveling 600 miles in three days and three nights is the standard for elite cavalry.
They didn't want to rush from Huaichuan to Zhouqiao without any problem, but the fifty miles of not-so-rugged mountain road made them suffer.
Liu Xian also realized that if he asked his cavalry to march forward in a loose manner, it would only block the narrow mountain road, and it would probably take them a day or two to reach Biyang.
Early the next morning, Liu Xian asked his bodyguard cavalry to be the last to set off. He took a dozen of his trusted aides and Zhao Yi to follow Xu Huai's bodyguard cavalry.
The Chushan Guards Cavalry Battalion has one person and two horses. In addition to armor and spears, the generals are also equipped with crossbows, waist knives, sickles, shields, and two to three bundles of feather arrows, quivers, etc.; behind the high saddle bridge are also bundled
Felt blankets, awnings, large bags of horse supplies, two large water bags and seven-day rations; every ten soldiers also carried an additional tent, two heavy shields and corresponding fire starters, iron pots and other items.
Even if they are marching within the country and have their own castles to garrison along the way, the Chushan Guards Cavalry Battalion is still fully equipped according to field standards.
Two pawns and four horses form a row, and the queue is about seven miles apart and marches quickly through the mountain road.
Liu Xian didn't feel much at first. After all, the Chushan Guards Cavalry Battalion set out from Zhouqiao and only walked the fifty-mile mountain road on the first day, so his physical strength was not very exhausted.
When he arrived in Biyang before nightfall, Liu Xian saw that the Chushan Guards Cavalry Battalion was not slack at all, so he became a little silent; his Guards Cavalry had just arrived at Yushan Station today, and was completely separated by the Chushan Guards Cavalry.
Nearly half the journey.
Seeing that the Chushan elites were like hard and silent stones, working as a team, they took great pains to take good care of the horses and camels, and then took out the dry food and sat down on the ground to eat quietly. Liu Xian asked Xu Huai: "Chushan
Can the soldiers endure some hardships? We will not rest tonight and arrive at Fancheng early tomorrow morning?"
"Liu Shijun, if the Duke of the country can work hard for food, accommodation and food, we won't have a big problem!" Xu Huai said calmly.
"After a short rest, we will travel overnight," Liu Xian said. "It is better to get to Xiangyang as soon as possible to persuade the palace to make up its mind!"
Duke Zhao Yi of Wuwei glanced at the soldiers who were eating dry food in the deep dusk with some surprise. He had walked almost 140 to 50 miles on the mountain road for a whole day, and he felt that his bones were about to be broken apart.
Of course, apart from Zhao Yi's fondness for dancing with sticks and guns since he was a child, and his strong body, their mounts are all chosen one from a thousand miles, and the riding comfort is far beyond that of ordinary camels.
In the queue, enough space was given to him, Liu Xian and others in the front and back, so that they did not need to be highly nervous at all times while riding the horses, and they were much more relaxed in all aspects.
Under this situation, he felt that he was reaching his limit. It was hard to imagine that the personal guards around Xu Huai were all made of iron, and could they continue to march at night?
Duke Wuwei and Zhao Yi all wanted to persuade Liu Xian not to break the Chushan cavalry's body apart just because they tested the limits of the Chushan cavalry.
Seeing that Liu Xian had no intention of changing his words, Zhao Yi no longer cared about being reserved and quickly called his entourage to help knead his thighs. He also had someone put another layer of soft cushions on the saddle and both sides. He suspected that he would arrive in Xiangyang early tomorrow morning.
Can he still walk with his legs spread apart...
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Everyone stopped outside Biyang City and ate some dry food. Nanyang Magistrate Ning Ci quickly rushed out of the city to meet them. Liu Xian and Zhao Yi also told them the truth. They were going to Xiangyang and still wanted to meet King Jing to persuade them to come in.
Ning Ci had just arrived in Biyang to take up his post, and many things were still in a mess. He also knew that his status was inferior to that of Liu Xian, Zhao Yi, and Xu Huai, so there was no need to rush to Xiangyang himself.
Ning Ci just drafted a form of persuasion to move in and sent his staff to accompany Xu Huai and others to Xiangyang to submit it.
On the official road going south from Fangcheng through Biyang and on both sides, there were a large number of refugees going south staying, and the cavalry could not pass quickly.
Xu Huai also had no intention of using outposts to clear the way for the refugees, but chose to march in the wild at night with fire. They left the official road from the south of Biyang, went around to the wilderness on the west bank of the Tangbai River, and headed south, arriving at the north bank of the Han River at dawn.
At this time, Liu Xian could only stand on the river bank with the support of the guards, and came over by ferry with Xu Huai, Zhao Yi and others, so as to cross the river and rush directly to Xiangyang City.
The Chushan Guards Cavalry Battalion did not directly enter the military stronghold near Fancheng. Instead, it set up camp in an open area and independently deployed warning and defense.
"Can this Chushan cavalry be regarded as the most powerful in the world?" Liu Xian looked behind him at the Chushan army who marched for 400 miles day and night, but did not relax at all when they reached their destination. They even set up camp first to take care of their horses.
"Damn it," he said with emotion as he could no longer control his emotion at this moment.
Liu Xian had ten years of experience in serving in Bianzhou, and he had some knowledge of the world's elite soldiers and horses.
Generally speaking, those in the Western Army who can gallop two hundred miles day and night and still have enough strength to fight can be said to be the best among the best.
For example, the Chushan Guards Cavalry Battalion traveled more than 300 miles at night. In addition to many camels and horses, there were still soldiers and horses left. Liu Xian could say that this was unheard of, and he secretly felt that the people around Wang Xiaocheng back then were
It's impossible for the Guards Cavalry to do this, right?
Xu Huai held his whip and smiled, then sat on the horse and said: "How arrogant must I be to say that this army is the most powerful in the world? I have traveled more than three hundred miles day and night, and I am not going to serve as Commander Liu.
To show off or show off in front of the Duke, I mainly want to tell Liu Shijun and the Duke that the Chushan cavalry may look good, but it is only the most elite cavalry of the Chihu people.
The ability to intersperse..."
Liu Xian, as the economic and strategic envoy of Jinghu North Road, had a higher status than Chushan. Jinghu North Road was also far richer than Chushan. Except for the defense area next to Chushan, there was no room for Xu Huai to dictate elsewhere.
However, Liu Xian aggressively expanded his army in Huaichuan and strategically chose to defend forward. If he encountered the surrendered troops in the early stage, it might not be a big problem, but Xu Huai was worried that Xuanwei's army would win several battles from the surrendered troops.
, but developed a feeling of underestimating the enemy towards the real elite Red Guards.
Chushan and Xuanweijun were close friends with each other, and Xu Huai didn't want to offend others by pointing fingers at Liu Xian.
He also knew that no matter how much he said, Liu Xian and the Hubei generals were unlikely to listen. He could only take this opportunity to show off the true strength of the army to open their eyes and face the Red Army.
Don't take your elite cavalry lightly and suffer big losses.
Of course, the difference in the ability of the most elite cavalry to penetrate is very limited. There is not much difference between the limits of superior horses and generals.
In terms of internal organization, the Chushan Guards Cavalry Battalion that Xu Huai personally integrated and selected is actually stronger than the Chihu Cavalry, but unfortunately the elite Chushan Cavalry is too limited...
