Chapter 627 Iron armored cavalry, the Achilles heel of serial horses
After listening to Hu Yanzhuo's solemn words, Xiao Tang said that it seemed that he had indeed put a lot of effort into the chain-horse heavy cavalry he had built, and he was full of confidence in it, feeling that that army would definitely become a force.
A powerful cavalry that can easily overwhelm enemy formations.
However, when I think of the chain of horse army in the original work, except for the first two battles, the Liangshan army was indeed defeated and fled. However, after Xu Ning, the golden spear general who was unparalleled in the world in hook and sickle marksmanship, was lured to Liangshan, he only used half a month to capture the stronghold.
Five to seven hundred minions pulled the hook hoof in the hook and sickle spear technique by pulling the legs, and taught them the three secret techniques below. Then they scratched the hook hands and used reeds and thorns to ambush them in the mountains and forests. They all ran away and could not be restrained.
The chain of horses fell down in rows, but were annihilated by the Liangshan army in one fell swoop.
From this, it can be seen that the chain horse is also greatly restricted by the terrain. In addition to hooks and sickles, later famous generals such as Yue Fei and Liu Qi used well-trained military warriors to hold mazha knives and swords in the battles between the Song and Jin Dynasties.
Sharp weapons such as large axes used to attack cavalry, as well as reasonable and effective troop formations can also cause the enemy's heavy armored cavalry to become chaotic.
Such a force has outstanding advantages but extremely fatal shortcomings. Even if it can be used by Xiao Tang, he still feels uneasy. Why does Hu Yanzhuo admire it so much and don't care about investing a lot of his energy?
Do you want to make your name as a chain horse with time?
With his thoughts in mind, Xiao Tang waited for Guan Sheng, Hu Yanzhuo, Luo Jian and other military generals to sit down in the military aircraft hall, then he asked Hu Yanzhuo bluntly: "Commander Hu Yan, there is something I still don't understand. This serial horse
Although they are tied together with hooks and ropes, and although they are powerful and invincible when charging and breaking the formation, if the enemy is well prepared, they can lay an ambush in hidden places in the mountains and forests, and then use hooks, hooks, spears, machetes and other weapons to focus on the horse's legs.
In each team of chain horses, only one rider flips over, and the rest fall. If the horses lose their momentum, most of their combat strength will be lost in a moment.
Since then, why didn't Hu Yanzong untie the hooks of the chained horses? After all, the horses were wearing vests with only four hooves hanging on the ground, and the people were wearing iron armor with only a pair of eyes exposed. Such equipment and momentum are enough to defeat them.
The enemy's formation uses iron chains and hooks to connect the cavalry... Is this an unnecessary step?"
Just now, Xiao Tang was the deputy corporal of courtesy, and he seemed to know how to use people well, but now he suddenly pointed out the shortcomings of the serial horse that he valued so much. This also made Hu Yanzhuo's expression froze, but Hu Yanzhuo was also an upright and capable person after all.
With a military background, he was not at all embarrassed by Xiao Tang's questioning in person. Instead, he thought that Xiao Jie was a military strategist, but he had doubts about it, so he asked him bluntly. It was true that he was not the commander of the Bianjing Palace, the Privy Council who had done great things.
The high officials in the DPRK only pay attention to appearance when it comes to military matters, but they don't care about any tricks.
Thinking of this, Hu Yanzhuo couldn't help but nod his head and said: "Xiao Jieshuai really has a true insight. He revealed the weakness of this chain horse with just one sentence! In fact, Wei Jiang has always had such worries in his heart, so he used iron chains and hooks to arrest him.
The chain of cavalry was actually something I had no choice but to do. Compared with the Liao and Xia people's cavalry, I have been short of war horses for a long time in the Song Dynasty. What's more, the Liao and Xia countries have many people who are good at arching, horse riding and shooting.
Among the nomadic people, most of our great army members of the Song Dynasty came from farmers who have been farming for generations. How easy is it to build a well-behaved and well-trained heavy cavalry unit?
Before training the chain horses, let each team of thirty horses run together, and they are not allowed to move forward. When the heavy horse rushes into the formation, thousands of people must line up and all move forward. Only when they rush in together can they move forward.
The effectiveness of the chain horses was fully utilized. However, both men and horses were wearing heavy armor, and three thousand cavalry were galloping. After charging for two or three times, the lineup began to loosen up. If you want to make the three thousand soldiers form a queue, they must advance and retreat when given the order.
Ruyi, I have no choice but to adopt that method..."
When Xiao Tang listened to Hu Yanzhuo's eloquent talk again, he realized that the reason why he used the hook to connect the cavalry was because it was difficult to train a large number of elite riders in a short period of time under the general environment of the Song Dynasty. It would be like if an army had a large number of
If the soldiers do not know the nature of water, how can this army become a good navy?
However, Hu Yanzhuo showed a very stubborn enthusiasm for heavy cavalry. He highly praised the huge impact that a group of heavy armored cavalry could produce when charging. However, when the weight of the men and horses was extremely heavy, it could weigh as much as 3,000.
The formation of the cavalry troops may have been scattered after one or two charges, just like Zengtou City, a place where veteran generals who lack regular war experience are stationed, and when fighting ordinary green forest forces, they simply and roughly drive a large number of cavalry into a swarm.
It doesn't matter if he rushes over, but how can Hu Yanzhuo, a young general's descendant, be so attracted to such a large-scale fighting style?
In fact, although Xixia's iron kite heavy cavalry has a very famous name, in every battle, there must be several strong forces such as the archer and horse troops Poxi Army, the mountain combat troops Bubazi, etc. to support each other in the battle. The cavalry of the nomadic tribes in the north also have to fight with each other.
They are mainly light cavalry. They take advantage of their innate proficiency in riding skills. When fighting the enemy, they use their mobility to continuously attack the enemy's formation. Without effective countermeasures, it is difficult to withstand such a situation.
Continuous attack.
Hu Yanzhuo undoubtedly learned from the equipment style of the Iron Kites Army, as well as the historical case of Murong Ke selecting 5,000 Xianbei good archers during the Five Husties in China, and chaining their horses with iron chains to attack the troops of Ran Min, the king of Wu Miao.
This tricky method allows the cavalry under his command to quickly adapt to the various discomforts caused by violent bumps while wearing heavy armor. They can also quickly gather their formations and form a series of impacts on the enemy.
Xiao Tang suddenly remembered that this method was somewhat similar to the way Cao Cao's army connected the ships end to end because the northern soldiers were not good at riding ships during the late Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period. However, the result was of course also clear at a glance. Hu Yanzhuo was not unaware of the chain horse.
The weakness lies, but he undoubtedly underestimated the fatal harm of that weakness, just like in the original work he despised the green forest and grass and was not good at using troops, and without the assistance of other arms, he led a chain of horses to push Liangshan Po...
...
At this time, it was not just Xiao Tang, but people present such as Xiao Jiasui, Luo Jian and other people who were well versed in military matters were also gradually frowning. They seemed to have noticed that Hu Yanzhuo's tactics of relying too much on armored heavy cavalry were inappropriate. And Hu Yanzhuo's tactics were inappropriate.
It took a lot of words, but he couldn't help but smile bitterly in his heart: How could I not know that when the two armies are fighting, the correct way is to use horses, infantry, bows and chariots to fight together? But I am just a commander with limited military power.
It is only because of the reputation of the Huyan family that they won this opportunity to train heavy horses for the country. Now that I am in charge of these three thousand chain horses, there is a high possibility that they will be jealous and wary of Chao Zhongxiao. I just want to recruit capable people and select and train a few more horses.
Bows and horses, light cavalry tribes, but military power, food and wages, war horses, manpower, official dispatch...will the court allow these to me?
When Hu Yanzhuo was thinking about himself, Xiao Tang thought for a while and then said: "Hu Yan is in charge, Guandu Supervisor, this time we are going to Hedong for business, not only because Hedong is adjacent to Xixia, and the flanks can be built wonderfully to train the new army's military tactics."
Thanks, most of the officers and soldiers in the Hedong military and defensive areas are weak in combat power. As a result, the banditry in Hedong is now resurgent. We must not underestimate it. The troops led by you and the second group must also be well-trained.
Only a few soldiers are enough to deal with the crazy bandits. I wonder how many soldiers and horses you two plan to command to go there?"
Guan Sheng and Hu Yanzhuo looked at each other after hearing this. Guan Sheng first spoke to Xiao Tang and said: "Except for the officers and soldiers left behind in Xizhou, the last general and Hao Siwen praised him for being able to command six battalions of infantry and two battalions of cavalry.
, a total of about 4,000 troops and horses are at the disposal of Marshal Xiao Jie."
Hu Yanzhuo then reported to Xiao Tang: "Wei Jiang has three thousand chain cavalry under his command. Together with Han and Peng Tuan, the two states' infantry troops have numbered seven thousand. They are also good at fighting with strong men and strong horses. Xiao Jieshuai does not need to worry."
It's just that it will take some time to get the heavy armor and vests of the chain horses, but I'm afraid that the armor is not complete and it will be inconvenient, so I beg Xiao Jieshuai for some time."
Xiao Tang nodded and said: "It's okay. Now that the officials have given me permission to visit Hedong, the necessary ordnance and supplies can be allocated from the central government. The commander of Huyan can choose the armor, armor and swords from the armor storehouse of the capital.
Guan Ling goes forward. Make sure that the troops and horses are in order so as to be able to fight against the enemy... But there is one more thing that I need to ask Commander Hu Yan clearly: Among the three thousand chain horses now, who are really well trained and do not need to use hooks and ropes?
How many warriors are there who can charge freely in a chain, advance and retreat in unison?"
Hu Yanzhuo did not expect Xiao Tang to ask such a question. He was slightly startled and then said: "If there are good men who are skilled in riding and have strong military skills, most of them are from the cavalry army who have experienced battles. There are about 1,200 people."
up and down."
Xiao Tang nodded and thought about it, and then said: "Now, if you want to follow my wishes, if Huyan's control is to equip a chain of horse armies, you only need to choose a thousand pairs of iron armor and two thousand pairs of cooked leather vests. What else can you do?
Even though a two thousand horse army is not wearing heavy armor, it is not only agile and flexible, but also has miraculous effects in advancing and retreating. If trained properly, it can also maximize the advantage of the horse army in long-distance attacks, roundabout outflanks, etc.
In the Song Dynasty, we were good at using military formations to defend against the enemy. Usually, horse troops and riders were often deployed around the infantry phalanx as support or to cover the flanks. Soldiers are more valuable than finesse rather than large numbers. According to my opinion, if Huyan Commandery can command a thousand
If the chain of heavy cavalry is skillfully drilled, there is no need to chain the chain with hooks and ropes to force the cavalry to charge into the formation. Our army is located in the east of the river, and it is very likely that we will meet the Xia army in battle one day. Since Tie Yaozi is from Xia
How could they not know the strength and shortcomings of this powerful force that they rely on? What's more, the training of bravery must also pay attention to step-by-step. With time and Huyan's control, more powerful heavy cavalry forces will definitely be selected and trained. Why bother now?
