Zhao Yongtang reined in the horse and let out a soft "hush", and the horse slowly stopped.
Zhao Yongtang made meritorious service in the two battles of Zhangjiakou and Jining. At this time, he had been transferred to the Scout Regiment and became a probationary member. Han Wu and Ma Xiaoping served as commander-in-chief respectively under him. The three brothers are now
Worked in the same Baihu. Baihu was Huang Tan from the Jia Ding group.
Their equestrian skills were only trained in assault before the expedition. They can only be said to be able to ride horses, but their skills cannot be said at all. They are not good at hacking, killing and fighting on horses.
The reason why they were selected into the scout group was mainly because they had been able to ride horses before and had some experience. There were not many horses among the people in the Ming Dynasty. In the two hundred years of horse administration, families in Hebei and Shandong were assigned to raise horses.
There are many people who can ride horses among the people. Even when he was nine thousand years old, he was still an excellent horseman and could shoot a bow with both hands.
The first condition for Yang Fan to choose a scout is not riding skills, but bravery and outstanding training performance. At the same time, people must be alert, bold and careful, have ideas and ideas.
Secondly, there is the foundation of riding skills. After all, this thing is relatively slow to learn.
The selection of scout cavalry in the Beijing camp was a matter of choosing the best among the weak. These people were really poor in strength. Yang Fan had a great headache. The Beijing camp had already spent more than two hundred years in peace and quiet, and had already used up the troops at night.
However, an army cannot be without scouts. Scouts occupy an important position in the army of any era.
Originally, there were 25,000 horses in the capital camp. In addition to the 8,000 horses borrowed by various yamen, the remaining horses were over 9,000 that were starved and hairless and skinny due to corruption. There were also more than 9,000 horses that could really be used.
Just about 8,000 horses.
This time, Yang Fan was unselfish and took back the riding horses occupied by various ministries. This made people in Beijing furious. The adults of the Sixth Ministries and the Fifth Army Governor's Mansion were so angry that they cursed behind their backs. However, they did not dare not to return the favor.
The horses, at this juncture, were all counting on Yang Fan to set off quickly.
Yang Fan directly fed the horses with grain, a large amount of bean cakes, corn and other grains, plus the careful care of more than a hundred veterinarians transferred from the Luanshitan Racecourse. Three months later, the 25,000 horses were finally
It has a look.
】
As the saying goes, horses will not gain weight if they do not eat night grass. This is indeed true. Yang Fan freely fed the horses with concentrated feed, grains, and beans. Soon, the horses became fatter and stronger one by one, and their hair also grew.
Thick and rich with satin-like luster.
Those who can ride horses in the Beijing camp are all organized into the first six regiments. They are used as mounted infantry to enhance mobility. Cavalry is useless. It is not easy for them to maneuver on horseback.
Among them, the first and second regiments are used as scouts. They are also responsible for communication and liaison.
Zhao Yongtang led thirty cavalrymen including Han Wu. They stood on a hill and watched the Mongolian brigade coming not far away. They discovered this Alxa cavalry from three hundred miles away and followed them at a distance.
.They each had three horses. They changed their mounts. The Mongols could not do anything to them.
Wu Ya'er Huntaiji was sitting in a carriage and opened the curtains with his hands. He saw the Ming army cavalry on the hill in the distance observing him. He felt agitated.
These damn flies have followed me for three hundred miles.
When you advance, he retreats, and when you retreat, he advances. Hanging him neither far nor near made the Alxa people extremely uncomfortable.
"Arubuhuazagutu (centurion), go and get rid of these nasty flies. They are as annoying as rancid meat."
"The great Tumen are Nuoyan (Wanhu), I will let them go to Changshengtian. My scimitar is already hungry and thirsty." Alu Buhua said respectfully, putting his hand on his chest.
"Go ahead and kill them. Let our Tumut brothers and Yongshebu brothers see that our Alxa Mongolian warriors are no worse than them."
"Obey, the Immortal God will protect Alxa."
Arubuhua is Alxa's assistant, and he is famous for his swordsmanship and wrestling. Therefore, Alxa Wanhu used their left guard. Along the way, various Qianhu tried it, but none of them took any advantage.
The drive also failed. They kept following.
"Brother Zhao, look, another Tatar cavalry is coming. This time they seem to be very elite. They all wear feather armor, and the horses also have iron foreheads." Ma Xiaoping said.
Along the way, they adhered to the principle of the enemy advancing while we retreat, that is, following the surveillance and never engaging in combat. Their horses were all good horses, and they were always fed with food to keep them fat and strong. On the other hand, the Mongolian horses
All of them were hairy and very thin.
There is no way, the Mongolians themselves don’t have food to eat.
Now is really not the time for a big war. Mongolia always starts wars when the autumn is high and the horses are fat. Now, they have just survived the harsh winter, and both the people and the horses are too thin to look good.
Yang Fan deliberately attacked them when they were at their weakest, just like last winter when he sent camel cavalry with firearms to visit the overwintering camp. Although it was shameless, it resulted in small casualties and high benefits.
The Mongols really couldn't catch up with the fat horses, which had been eating bean cakes and grain for half a year, and there were three horses per person.
The people in Alu Buhua all ride good horses, because they are Lord Wanhu and Huntaiji's personal guards. In the overwintering camp, the places with the most grass roots and the thinnest snow are given priority to them. Therefore, these are good horses.
The horse also maintained a certain amount of physical strength.
Zhao Yongtang repeated his old trick and turned around and walked away. Aru Buhua followed up.
Soon, Zhao Yongtang discovered that this time the Mongols were getting closer and closer. The distance gradually narrowed.
Zhao Yongtang shouted: "Everyone stopped advancing, turned their horses' heads, formed a horizontal formation, and prepared their steel crossbows."
The cavalrymen of the three small flags immediately stopped and then turned their horses' heads. Although they did not have stab-proof clothing, they wore silk underwear armor made of thirty layers of thick stitches under the cotton coats. The horses' torsos were also wearing silk armor.
Because the plate armor is too heavy and affects mobility, the scouts have no choice but to give up. They wear cotton coats on the outside and silk armor on the inside. This makes the weight very light. However, silk is very expensive. But it is still affordable to equip only scouts.
There is no plate armor equipment, but they all wear beak helmets. The horses have steel foreheads on their heads, breastplates on their chests, and silk armor on their bodies. Their protective power is also higher than that of the Mongols.
The Mongolians' mounted archery is powerful, but the steel crossbow has been proven in actual combat to have superior performance. It is no worse than the Mongolians' mounted archery.
Whether it is shooting speed, accuracy, or direct shooting range, they are all surpassed, even crushed. They also have more arrows than the Mongols.
Since he couldn't get rid of these elite Mongolian cavalry, Zhao Yongtang simply fought with them directly and defeated them, so that they would not dare to pursue him.
