Officer Jin's voice came from the front. Zhang Gudu heard the words and immediately made a judgment and issued an order: "Prepare clutch tactics!"
"No!" the commanders shouted in response, and then passed the order to the team leaders below, including the commander.
Since the Han family invented horseshoes, stirrups and saddles, and equipped them on a large scale among the Han cavalry.
The cavalry arm has been redefined!
The tactics of the cavalry have undergone earth-shaking changes!
Before the Battle of Mayi, deep in the hearts of people all over the world, the most powerful tactic of cavalry was to outflank.
This is a tactic created by General Hannibal, Carthage's greatest strategist, during the Third Carthaginian War on the European continent hundreds of years ago.
In the hands of Hannibal, the Carthaginian cavalry repeatedly outflanked the Roman legions in front of the phalanx, defeating the seemingly all-powerful Roman legions.
Since then, this tactic has become a symbol and representative of cavalry.
Whether in the East or the West.
When the cavalry faced the heavily awaited enemy infantry group, they used the tactics of outflanking to attack them.
As for the battle between cavalry and cavalry, it is either a head-on confrontation, or it is a matter of escaping thousands of miles away and protecting oneself wisely.
It's not because people don't want to use cavalry for more activities and give this branch more tasks.
But because...
The cavalry at that time could only perform these tasks.
Even the cavalry who can complete the above tasks are elite and ace!
Most of the miscellaneous cavalry cannot even master cavalry hedging tactics.
As for outflanking, an advanced tactic that requires close cooperation and tacit understanding, only a very small number of cavalry units can use it freely.
This is somewhat similar to the age of flintlock guns in later generations. Those who can line up to shoot each other must be elites!
Not an elite, want to play queuing to kill?
There are no doors!
Queuing up to be shot is not queuing up to die, nor is it gambling on one's life.
Otherwise, the British Lobster Soldiers would not be so legendary.
However, even with the advent of stirrups, horseshoes, and saddles, the development of cavalry tactics was not smooth sailing.
Take the Han army as an example. During the Battle of Mayi, the Han army's cavalry group, especially the light cavalry group, still used the cavalry hedging and flanking tactics learned from the Huns.
Even in the eyes of the Xiongnu nobles at that time, the tactics and formations of the Han Dynasty cavalry were like a child trying to imitate an adult.
Without the advantages of cuirassiers and other equipment, it is still unclear who will win in the Battle of Mayi.
But by the time of the Battle of Gaoque, the Han army's cavalry tactics were greatly enriched.
Officers and staff who grew up in the war created a variety of tactics tailored for the Han cavalry.
For example, when Yi Zong's troops broke through Ziling and galloped through Honghu Fortress, within half a month, the Han cavalry marched a thousand miles, with an average daily march of nearly a hundred miles, which was equivalent to a daily march of thirty kilometers in later generations.
Undoubtedly, this reflects the long-distance combat capability of the Han cavalry.
During the Battle of Heyin, Zhidu's troops even used difficult tactics such as infantry and cavalry coordination.
After the Battle of Yanji, the Han cavalry tactics became more diverse.
Field cavalry units can even basically cooperate with swordsmen and crossbow units in combat.
The cooperation between foot and horse gradually matures.
The cavalry commanded by Yi Zong, with the cooperation of the bow and crossbow firepower of the county soldiers, completed the task of annihilating the Huns cavalry many times.
Today, the cavalry along the Great Wall, especially the main field regiments, have basically matured their infantry-cavalry cooperative combat capabilities and are fully capable of cooperating with infantry.
But in the Andong region, the development of cavalry showed another trend.
Because in the Andong area, the Han army was dominant and had no opponents.
The only two tribes, Xianbei and Wuheng, that could pose a slight challenge to the Han army, also knelt down and sang conquest under the strong strength of the Han army and the sugar-coated bullets of Han merchants.
Therefore, the environment that Anton's Han cavalry had to face was not how to cooperate with a huge infantry group in combat.
It's about how to maximize all the advantages of cavalry.
Spend the minimum amount of effort to achieve the maximum combat effect.
After all, Anton has a vast territory, and the area under the jurisdiction of just one western captain already covers thousands of miles, even though many places are covered with wastelands, ice fields, and primeval forests.
However, there are many important resource areas within its jurisdiction that need to be protected.
In addition, with the rise of the dispatch system, countless rangers who originally came to Anton for gold, after realizing that they could not compete with the famous giants and powerful men in the gold rush river, set their sights on the depths of the ice sheet.
All kinds of savages are born.
For the sake of five baht, the rangers took risks and went out in groups.
Some of them obtained permission from the Protectorate and could legally capture slaves.
But the vast majority are illegal slave-catching teams consisting of thirty or fifty people.
The Protectorate and the government also turned a blind eye to this.
After all, instead of letting these guys drink and cause trouble in the local area, commit crimes or even commit crimes, it would be better for them to vent their energy to the boundless ice fields to the east of Andong and the vast mountains to the west.
And as the number of slave-catching teams increased,
A problem is put on the table: most slave-catching teams are only small groups of thirty or fifty people but no more than a hundred people, and their targets are usually Igfan and savage tribes with hundreds or even thousands of people.
Although their opponents are far inferior to the heroes of the slave catching team in terms of equipment, skills and tactics.
However, the advantage in numbers is enough to make up for everything.
Even if they can't defeat the slave-catching team, they can still protect themselves with their numerical advantage.
Maybe even counterattack the heroes who are daring and overestimating their own capabilities.
Under such circumstances, the "heroes" of the slave-catching team could only use their ingenuity to find a solution to this problem.
And they did find a solution.
Not only make maximum use of your own equipment advantages and long-range firepower advantages.
Under normal circumstances, when the slave hunting team discovers a tribe of savages, they usually choose to harass them.
This forced the tribe to send out their precious military force to resist.
Of course, the enemy came out to intercept or confront, and the slave-catching team took advantage of the situation and retreated.
If the enemy does not pursue, continue to harass until the enemy becomes unbearable and chases the slave team across the ice field.
If the enemy is pursuing you, take them to an already selected battlefield and use the ambush set to eliminate them.
If the enemy neither pursues nor confronts, but chooses to retreat.
It would be like a gangrene attached to the bones, following behind them, using the horned bows and powerful crossbows equipped by the rangers to shoot at their rear forces and the men and horses on their flanks.
Mainly dealing with their horses and livestock.
Until the enemy is cornered and has no choice but to surrender.
The whole process was completed in one go, flowing smoothly, and it was breathtaking.
Soon this method of warfare spread from the slave-catching teams to the army.
The light cavalry of the Huyi Army quickly learned the entire battle method from the rangers and carried it forward.
This is the clutch tactic.
The so-called clutch tactics are actually to maximize the use of the Han army's advantages.
Including range, speed as well as maneuverability and discipline.
When encountering an enemy, he will basically not engage in head-to-head combat, and will not even give the enemy a chance to come into contact with him.
Use the high speed and maneuverability of the Han cavalry as well as the range of the horn bows equipped by the Han cavalry and the shooting skills of the Han cavalry to destroy the enemy at a long distance.
Of course, this is just a simplified version of this tactic.
However, that is a method that would only be used against an enemy with an absolute advantage.
That is no longer a tactic, but a strategy.
At this moment, the Han cavalry rushed towards the front of Lin Hu's cavalry at an extremely high speed.
A group of Linhu cavalry who were ordered by Dan Linzhe gave up the Wuheng people they had entangled and rushed towards the Han army, intending to block and entangle this Han army.
The leading Gudu Hou Xiannu looked at the Han cavalry speeding towards him.
From this distance, he could even clearly see the appearance and attire of the Han army riders on the opposite side.
Inexplicably, his heart suddenly tightened, as if he had encountered a huge beast.
"How is that possible!" Xiannu shook his head hard, trying to shake off the fear in his heart: "These Han cavalry can only be nine hundred at most, and I have nearly two thousand. Even if I lose, I should be able to defeat him.
Live and hold them back?"
At this moment, the distance between the two armies was less than fifty steps.
Xiannu knew that the Han Dynasty people were about to collide with his army head-on, so he immediately waved the meteor hammer in his hand and shouted: "Get ready to engage the enemy!"
……………………
Almost at the same time, Zhang Gudu calmly raised his hand and shouted: "The whole army is about to shoot!"
Several soldiers who followed closely blew the whistles in their mouths, and the sharp whistles spread throughout the army.
At this moment, the distance between the Han cavalry and Lin Hu's cavalry was no more than thirty or forty steps.
This distance is the optimal shooting range of the Han army's horn bow.
At this distance, the horn bow's bow arrow has the greatest lethality and the highest accuracy.
In the horrified eyes of the Linhu people on the opposite side, the Han army riders raised their horned bows, opened their bow strings, and aimed forward. At the same time, all the cavalrymen in the entire army completed an incredible action at this moment - they
Suddenly they turned their horses around and ran backwards. At the same time, they loosened the bow strings that were tightened by their fingers.
Clang!
The vibration of the bow string sounded like thunder.
The dense rain of arrows shoots at the enemy like they have eyes.
At this moment, the training results of the Han army were fully reflected.
In the past three years, this cavalry has fought no matter the wind, rain, thunder or lightning.
There must be riding and shooting training every day.
They had to contact each other three hundred times a day to fire their bows. On average, a soldier would use up a horn bow in three months, and a war horse would die from exhaustion every two years.
In addition to daily training, Zhang Gudu also took them into the ice fields to hunt and even train with the savages.
They once slept in the barren mountains and walked through the ice and snow.
They once shot tigers and leopards, hunted giant bears, and had sex with savages and competed in the vast world.
Hard training and hard work day and night have created their extraordinary riding and shooting skills as well as their amazing tacit understanding.
When they appear on the battlefield, it is the end of their enemies.
Because their tactics were exactly the tactics that a thousand years later, the Mongolian light cavalry across the world would rely on to be invincible.
Amazing shooting skills, close cooperation and skillful riding skills combine to form an unsolvable formula.
Not to mention that the Linhu people are still stuck in the old cavalry era. I am afraid that even if the main Xiongnu cavalry in Mubei encounter such a Han army, there will be no other end than the battlefield of hatred!
……………………
"Be careful of arrow attacks!" Xian Nu shouted, and immediately subconsciously lowered his body on the war horse, trying to maintain his posture to defend himself against the enemy's arrow rain.
Other Lin Hu cavalrymen also performed various astonishing reactions on horseback at this moment, like performing acrobatics.
Some people even immediately leaned their bodies to the left, parallel to the horse's back.
After all, the Linhu people are a force composed of Yin Zhi's cronies and die-hard loyalists after his death.
They may not have kept up with the times, but the techniques and responses they have honed over time are still there.
Especially the cavalry under Xie Nu, they are composed of the backbone of the remnants of Yin Zhixie's troops left behind in Nanchi.
Once upon a time, they were once prominent figures, warriors who were feared by all the tribes in the southern part of the country.
pity……
All their efforts are in vain.
Because the target of the Han army has never been human beings.
But...
Their war horses!
Tuk-tuk-tuk!
The accurate and powerful bows and arrows hit the horses one after another with incomparable accuracy.
This time, the hit rate of the Han cavalry's arrow attack was as high as 60%!
This is mainly because the Linhu cavalry did not know the target of the Han cavalry at all. They subconsciously thought that the Han army's target was them.
They never considered that the Han army would stare at their horses and attack them.
In the past, grassland tribes would not start their wars with war horses in mind.
Just like the Chinese Civil War, no matter how cruel the warlord is, he will generally not attack farmland and channels.
Horses are the home and source of food for all people who lead bows.
The people who draw the bow are the people on horseback.
My love for horses is extremely deep.
Even the most brutal chief would not be able to do anything against his war horse.
In the past, when China was short of horses, the Chinese army would not stare at the enemy's horses and would even protect the enemy's horses as much as possible.
Therefore, at this moment, Lin and Hu's cavalry formation were on their backs.
Hundreds of war horses neighed and collapsed in an instant, knocking the owners on their backs to the ground and destroying the entire array.
"Come again!" Zhang Gu didn't even have time to observe the results of the battle. He reined in his horse and turned back to continue accelerating.
The characteristic of clutch tactics is the continuous and uninterrupted rain of arrows until the enemy collapses or cannot help but pursue you.
And once the enemy makes the above two choices, their doom will come.
The war horses under Zhang Gudu were a cross between Wusun horses and captured Xiongnu horses.
Their biggest feature is their super endurance. They can withstand high-intensity running for up to an hour, and can run continuously for a day in low-intensity exercise.
At the same time, its speed, at least now, is much faster than the horses of the Linhu cavalry.
In other words, in front of the Han army, Lin Hu's cavalry was simply an asymmetrical enemy!
