"Captain, but most of the soldiers who can ride and shoot can't swim."
"But what we have formed is a naval army..."
Shen Bing replied:
"That's it, just call in these three thousand people!"
Wei Wei was stunned for a moment. Although he was confused, he still complied with Shen Bing's request and ordered his troops.
When Shen Bing went to the county government office to report, Yang Duanhe was also quite surprised.
Yang Duanhe was surprised at several points:
First of all, he thought that Shen Bing would take a few days to recruit soldiers, for example, let the soldiers compete in a few battles to select the strong and flexible ones, but he didn't expect that it would be over in less than half an hour.
Secondly, like Wei Wei, he did not understand why Shen Bing chose cavalry instead of those who were good at swimming and boating.
Third, the reason why he appointed Shen Bing as captain of the navy was because the captain could command about 10,000 troops.
In other words, Shen Bing could choose 10,000 people from the 200,000 Wei soldiers to form a naval army, but Shen Bing could only choose 3,000...
So the first sentence Yang Duanhe asked was:
"Does the captain know how many naval forces there are in Chu State?"
Shen Bing replied:
"I don't know."
Yang Duanhe said:
"It's no wonder that the captain only ordered 3,000 people."
"The Chu State has 30,000 navy troops. If our army goes south and attacks Chu, the 3,000 people of the school lieutenant will probably be short of troops..."
Shen Bing cupped his hands and replied:
"The general doesn't know something."
"Let's not talk about whether soldiers are more valuable than more. When we go south to attack Chuduo, we will fight in the Huaihe and Yangtze river systems."
"Its widest point is only a few miles, so it will be of little use if the navy has too many troops."
What Shen Bing said is true.
The naval force is no better than the infantry in land warfare. Land warfare is spread out on land and connected in all directions.
Water battles are limited to one river.
The navy of this era usually fought with twenty-five men manning a small boat.
The reason why there are twenty-five people is because in units of wu, twenty-five people are exactly five wu.
In addition, two small boats are connected together with wooden planks in the middle to make a large boat, which is a "fang".
The boat can accommodate fifty people for combat, which is commanded by a captain.
In this way, 3,000 troops can equip 120 warships or 60 boats.
These warships were able to spread out on a river several miles wide. The Chu army was followed by thousands of troops, and the contact area between the two armies was only as wide as the waterway.
In other words, water battles are a typical pattern of "the brave will win when meeting in a narrow road". When there are more people, it is sometimes difficult to play an effective role in a water battle.
Of course, this is only "sometimes". If they ride on the pedals and fight each other like infantry in the water... then the number of troops can also affect the situation of the battle.
Yang Duanhe felt that it made sense. At the same time, it was Shen Bing's choice, so he didn't object.
Then Yang Duanhe asked again:
"Then what's the point of using cavalry to form a navy?"
"Don't you still want the navy to ride on board the ship and fight?"
Shen Bing replied:
"General, the most important thing in combat is to avoid letting the enemy know the attack route."
"But the water battle route is the easiest for the enemy to predict."
Yang Duanhe nodded in agreement.
This is the weakness of water warfare. The navy is not as flexible as infantry. It cannot move without water, so the march route is almost dead.
Shen Bing continued:
"Therefore, even if my subordinates train the navy to be invincible, as long as the Chu army is prepared in advance..."
"For example, if we use wooden stakes or iron chains to block the river, how can our navy function?"
"Or the navy wants to make emergency reinforcements or raid somewhere, but the waterway is blocked right in front of us... so what should we do?"
At this point Yang Duanhe had nothing to say.
If the navy can ride horses, they can indeed quickly maneuver to their destination and enter the battlefield under these special circumstances.
After thinking about it, Yang Duanhe could only ask:
"The captain really only wants these people?"
Shen Bing answered firmly:
"really."
After a pause, he added:
"General, can my subordinates choose some people from the engineers and soldiers?"
Seeing that Yang Duanhe was puzzled, Shen Bing explained:
"The navy needs to make boats and boats. If there are no craftsmen..."
Yang Duanhe hesitated for a moment and then nodded:
"Go and order it yourself. It must not exceed five thousand yuan, otherwise the engineers will be injured."
Shen Bing responded happily:
"Thank you General!"
Shen Binghui actually had other reasons for selecting his troops this way.
Which arms can truly be called elite in this era? Which arms have the most promise?
No doubt the cavalry!
It is easy to train water warfare, but it is difficult to train cavalry.
Not to mention anything else, just riding a horse is enough to make the moon fall.
This is just a matter of riding. If you really want to be able to ride well enough to be able to fight, don't say anything in a few years.
If you want to go to the point of riding and shooting, it will be the best among the best.
Just like the Wei soldiers, only 3,000 of the 200,000 people were able to ride and shoot.
And I'm afraid these three thousand cavalry and archers are still wet... That's one thing, but whether they can shoot accurately is another.
However, in an era without saddles and stirrups, it was not easy just to learn how to do it, because it was like performing acrobatics and risking one's life.
Another reason is that cavalry can be said to be the only highly mobile unit in this era.
The infantry can travel fifty miles a day, and the cavalry can travel more than a hundred miles a day. If more horses are prepared for a rapid march, it can still be two or three hundred miles.
This marching speed cannot be matched by infantry.
Why did the German army win the "Blitzkrieg" during World War II?
It is because of its speed that the opponent is attacked violently before he is ready.
So at this time, Shen Bing was asked to order troops. Of course, he would not let go of the elite cavalry easily.
One of the problems is the war horse.
This was not a big problem at first. When the Qin army captured Daliang, they captured tens of thousands of war horses in the city.
The problem is that the Qin Army has allocated these war horses to the Qin Army's cavalry and transportation teams, and even transported a batch to Handan. At this time, it will not be so easy to get these war horses back.
However, what Shen Bing didn't expect was that as soon as he mentioned this request, Yang Duanhe immediately prepared 5,000 war horses for him.
Three thousand cavalry requires almost five thousand horses, because some horses will always be in trouble, such as injured, pregnant, etc. In addition, replacement training is also necessary to prevent the horses from being overtired.
In addition, two thousand experienced grooms were given as gifts for the purpose of raising horses.
This surprised Shen Bing. When did Yang Duanhe become so generous? There were five thousand horses at the beginning?!
What Shen Bing didn't know was that this was actually Ying Zheng's idea behind his back.
When Ying Zheng heard about Shen Bing's method of training navy troops, he also found it interesting and secretly said:
"This Shen Bing is really different from ordinary people."
"To form a naval army, you don't choose people who know how to swim, but you choose cavalry?"
"But what he said is reasonable. If the water war is limited to waterways, wouldn't it be self-defeating?"
So with a stroke of the pen, it’s done!
What does five thousand war horses mean?
If it can help me unify the Central Plains, I will not hesitate to use fifty thousand war horses.