Weird Three Kingdoms

Chapter 3328: Post a Post

Cao Hong was wearing an exquisitely crafted suit of bright silver mirrored armor, standing on a high platform in the camp, gleaming in the air.

No matter from which angle you look at it, Cao Hong's armor always shines brightly.

But in reality, Cao Hong's heart was not as full of light as the armor on his body, but was constantly sinking into darkness.

Because it can be seen clearly from the high platform that Cao's cavalry was almost completely suppressed.

Whether in terms of basic cavalry quality, the physical strength and endurance of war horses, or the tactics of mutual coordination between cavalry, Cao's cavalry were far behind.

Cao Hong had originally anticipated this kind of gap, but he did not expect it to be so big.

On the one hand, Cao Hong himself was not good at commanding cavalry, so he did not have a clear idea of ​​the difference between the upper and lower cavalry. On the other hand, the previous cavalry confrontations between Cao's army and the Hussars were all small units, and they were not under Cao Hong's nose, so naturally he could not have any very intuitive impression.

This battle is obviously not easy to fight.

But, Anyi cannot be lost.

At least not now.

Anyi was an important support point in Cao Cao's entire strategy. Once lost, it would be equivalent to losing all the core points of the structure in the Yuncheng Basin, which meant that Cao's army could only be defeated all the way. Even retreating to Zhongtiao Mountain would be dangerous because the cavalry army could bypass the Chenguan Road...

Of course, Cao's army could also defend on the Chenguan Road, or even set up an ambush, but that would mean that Cao's army would have to defend a larger area, and the cavalry would have greater battlefield convenience and more breakthrough points. On the contrary, Cao's infantry advantage could only be reflected by gathering together, especially the use of the Zhonglingjun and Zhonghujun, which was the top priority.

The sound of the cavalry's horses' hooves roared, stirring up billowing yellow dust.

Not to be outdone, Cao's army's war drums also kept beating to boost morale.

Cao Hong narrowed his eyes and watched, hoping that the cavalry would lose their patience and launch one or two attacks on the infantry line regardless of the consequences...

On the battlefield, those who lack patience will always die the fastest.

Just like the game between hunter and prey, it is also a competition of patience.

Some traps originally set by Cao's army on the battlefield were found and marked by the Cavalry Army.

This was not surprising. Cao Hong even thought about whether he should go to other places to throw some caltrops or something at night. If the Hussars were careless tomorrow and thought that there would be no problems in the areas they had cleared, then he could teach these Hussars a lesson.

Suddenly, the large flank force of the Hussar Cavalry began to move forward, immediately attracting Cao Hong's attention.

coming!

"Spread the word everywhere!" Cao Hong shouted, "Hold the formation!"

The messenger ran and shouted again.

Cao Hong stared at the large flank of the Hussar cavalry that was sweeping over him, and couldn't help but mutter, "Come on! Go!"

……

……

The Hussars have indeed "come".

It was just as Cao Hong wished, but it was also different from what Cao Hong had imagined...

Previously, the cavalry that suppressed the battlefield and harassed Cao's army were basically small cavalry units. But now the large cavalry unit led by Li Li has a completely different momentum when it moves.

The combination of iron and blood, the high unity of strength and speed.

In the current Han Dynasty, the only ones who truly utilized cavalry tactics to the extreme were the troops led by General Fei Qian.

If being able to ride a horse, run, and swing a weapon a few times is called "elite", then such "elite" is too worthless.

To put it simply, the "elite" of the Hussars is "costly".

Ok……

This seems to make sense too?

First of all, the daily expenses and combat equipment of cavalry are much higher than those of ordinary infantry. Even though Fei Qian still has large-scale workshops and horse farms, the combat readiness of his infantry has also been improved, so the ratio has only been slightly reduced, probably maintaining at a level of one to four.

In other words, raising one cavalryman is equivalent to raising four infantrymen.

As we all know, war horses perform high-intensity exercises on the battlefield, such as sprinting, sudden stops, quick turns, etc., which will consume a lot of the horse's physical strength. Generally speaking, after a war horse has been running for half an hour, it is necessary to control the horse's speed slightly to let the horse take a breath to lower the temperature of the horse's blood and prevent the horse from cooking its own heart...

That’s right, this cute girl or boy with a long face, big eyes and myopia is so stupid.

The three prefectures of Chang'an are currently researching new breeds of war horses, but they have not yet taken off. According to the future plan of the cavalry, the horses of the cavalry will no longer be mixed, but will be divided into different uses. For example, light horses may be fast but have poor endurance, suitable for short-distance rapid charges, while heavy horses have better endurance and are suitable for long-term battles and marches.

Xiliang horses are tall and strong, but have poor endurance and are very picky about what they eat. On the other hand, Hetao short-legged horses have high endurance, are hardworking and are not picky about what they eat, but they can't run fast...

Those who want everything often do not excel in any one aspect.

Fei Qian's solution to this problem for cavalry at this stage is to equip them with multiple horses, using spare horses or a rotation system to ensure that the war horses can continue to play a role on the battlefield, but this also brings higher expenses.

Therefore, Cao's army's strategy of attrition was indeed correct purely from a theoretical point of view.

Although Fei Qian is very powerful at the moment, every link in his system is interconnected, with very little redundancy.

  Take the feeding and care of the cavalry horses for example. If Fei Qian had not recruited a large number of Hu people to fill the cavalry team, which would have been equivalent to free horse herders and veterinarians, Fei Qian would have had to add additional logistical support personnel, which would not only increase the expenses, but might not have been able to take good care of the horses!

After all, if it weren't for these Hu people who have rich experience in animal husbandry, these stupid big guys would inevitably bump into each other, or even get sick and spread the disease. If they are not treated in time, they will be doomed.

Therefore, in the Cavalry Corps, every link and every person is very important.

It is precisely because of this that when Xu Chu and Li Li discovered abnormal signals in the enemy Cao's army formation, they did not choose to ignore it, but chose to cooperate and test it...

The cavalrymen were galloping, getting closer and closer to Cao's army.

The atmosphere became increasingly tense.

The Zhonglingjun Zhonghujun who was in charge of supervising the Cao army was staring at the cavalrymen rushing towards him from a distance, while shouting "Hold on, hold on", but it was unclear whether he was shouting to others or to himself.

The commanders of the Central Army and the guards were all like this, and the other ordinary Cao soldiers began to tremble even more. If they were not standing closely together, some of them might not be able to suppress their fear and turn around and run away even with the support of the camp behind them!

After all, many of Cao's ordinary soldiers were farmers.

Go with the flow, invest against the wind, it's already...

  Ok?

Anyway, bronze and diamond can never be on the same channel.

Just like the cavalry's sword is short and the infantry's spear is long.

Cao Hong clenched his fists tightly and gritted his teeth, looking forward to the moment when the cavalry would crash into the Cao army's infantry formation...

There were obvious flaws in the Cao army's infantry formation, and some of them looked like they couldn't even hold their spears properly, but Cao Hong ignored these problems, because in Cao Hong's mind, these Cao army soldiers were to be consumed!

  As long as we can consume one more point today, we will have more hope of victory tomorrow!

"Come on! Come on!"

Cao Hong roared.

If the cavalry lost their speed and were trapped in the infantry formation, they would often not be able to gain any advantage, so if they directly crashed into them with flesh and blood, the losses would undoubtedly be huge, and this would play into Cao's army's hands.

  Cao's army hoped that the Hussars would fight hard, exchange and consume their energy!

As long as the Hussars slow down a little, the front army will be unable to advance, and the rear army will inevitably be crowded with the front army. At this time, it is the best time to order a stone-throwing attack!

……

……

As for cavalry, they are unpredictable during combat. As a cavalry commander, he naturally does not have the same preferential treatment as infantry generals, who can command soldiers with flags and drums on a high platform in the rear like Cao Hong, while he himself is in a relatively safe position.

Generally speaking, cavalry officers must follow the cavalry and command from the front row, and personally engage in battle with the enemy, which makes them easy targets for attack. Therefore, in every battle, the danger of cavalry officers is even greater than that of ordinary cavalry. It is also because of this that cavalry officers are more likely to win the hearts of soldiers...

Well, so to speak, the fact that Shandong generals later mostly dominated the army with infantry, could this factor also be involved?

After all, when the situation is not right, the infantry commander has horses and can turn around at any time, and the infantry under his command can be thrown to the opponent like a gecko's tail to block the road, while if it is a cavalry commander, it is very likely that he will be surrounded by the enemy and unable to return. Therefore, there are more and more infantry commanders left in Shandong, and more and more people choose infantry formations. After all, Guanzhong is different from Shandong. As a cavalry military school, being on the front line to command is almost a basic requirement for every cavalry commander.

The same is true for Li Li.

He led the cavalry to attack the flank of Cao's army and directly led and commanded the troops on the front line.

As the cavalry approached the Cao army's front line, the sound of war drums rang out in the Cao army camp. As the messenger shouted, some arrows with white tail feathers as a mark were shot out and stuck diagonally on the ground. This served as a warning to the cavalry and could also boost the morale of their own infantry line.

In the course of normal field battles, cavalry would generally use a huge array of scattered soldiers to harass the enemy's infantry line. The front-line commander would control the timing of concentration and dispersion, lure the enemy's infantry line to become scattered or wavering, and then take the opportunity to launch an assault, causing the entire enemy formation to collapse.

But it is obvious that Cao's infantry will not leave the protection of the camp, so there is no question of luring or pulling them.

Similarly, it was impossible for the Hussar cavalry to gallop indefinitely, ignoring the infantry line in the center of their own formation and giving Cao's army the opportunity to counterattack from other directions of the camp.

Li Li didn't care at all about the long-range light arrows shot from Cao's camp. On the one hand, the lethality of these arrows depended entirely on their own gravity, and their armor-piercing ability was not strong. On the other hand, these arrows had no accuracy at all. If they were hit by chance, they only needed to cover their head and face and protect the weak parts such as the face of their warhorse.

When approaching Cao's army formation, Li Li suddenly ordered the cavalry around him, "Turn!"

"Send the flag signal!"

The guard took the order and deftly unfolded the rolled-up flag that he was carrying behind his back.

The tricolor flag was immediately blown straight by the wind, standing out against the crimson tassels on the helmet.

The Hussars began to turn at the edge of Cao's firing range.

The tricolor flag began to wave and rise and fall.

……

……

"What is the Hussar going to do?"

Cao Hong frowned.

"Like a demonstration?"

The guard at the side responded.

Cao Hong remained silent, his brows furrowed.

It seemed that the cavalry was just feinting and did not actually attack Cao's formation, which made the Cao's infantry formation, which was originally extremely nervous, suddenly feel relieved.

I don't know how many Cao army soldiers were gasping for breath at the same time, like the sighs in a crosstalk theater.

In the eyes of others, the Cavalry Army's change from vertical to horizontal seemed to be for the purpose of "scare" Cao's army, or to try to force Cao's army to change its formation and expose a flaw in this way.

But Cao Hong felt that the Cavalry Army would not be so stupid.

Horsepower and manpower are limited in a short period of time. If the Cavalry Army runs for a while with such great effort but gets nothing in return, it would be a loss!

Unless there is some other purpose...

"General, where is the stone cannon..." asked the guard at the side.

Cao Hong frowned, hesitated for a moment, and said, "Don't move for now."

The Hussars were moving at high speed. Not to mention whether these catapults could perfectly estimate the lead time of the Hussars, even if they could accurately estimate the lead time, what if the Hussars turned?

It is difficult to guarantee accuracy in the vertical direction, so you can only win by covering. If you use it to hit the horizontal movement...

  That’s too difficult!

Therefore, this powerful weapon in Cao’s camp could only remain silent.

"What are you doing......?"

Cao Hong suddenly thought of something, and a hint of doubt appeared in his eyes.

……

……

Just when most of Cao's soldiers thought that the Hussars would just circle back, Li Li shouted in the Hussars: "Archers to the outside! Throwers! Prepare to cover!"

The whistle sounded, passing from the front of the queue to the back over and over again.

The Hussar cavalry, which was in a roughly parallel formation to Cao's army, began to exchange positions as orders were given.

Today, the war horses of the Hussars have different types, and the cavalry are also beginning to evolve towards their own different specializations.

People are all different, and even the same cavalry will have some subtle differences.

For example, some are good with bows and arrows, some are good with swords and spears, and some are good at throwing, especially the Hu cavalry...

The slingshots used by the Hu people were originally used for herding sheep. Some guys who were good at slingshot could even use a long whip to roll up the stone and accurately throw it at the horns of the head sheep!

This is almost comparable to the archery skill of shooting through a willow leaf from a hundred paces, but it was no longer useful after the Hu people became the cavalry of the Han army. But no one expected that after Fei Qian invented the grenade, this stone throwing skill would become popular again in the cavalry ranks.

Because this skill can be used to throw larger "stones"...

As for why not use a crossbow?

The range of the cavalry crossbow is too short, and due to material limitations, even after being improved and reduced in size, the weight of the cavalry crossbow is still not light, which makes many cavalry prefer bows and arrows to cavalry crossbows. Of course, some cavalry with poor archery skills will still use cavalry crossbows, after all, it is more convenient.

As for the infantry crossbow, or even the double crossbow with a longer range, it is undoubtedly a big burden for the cavalry, and it is generally difficult to carry. So in the final analysis, it is because of the characteristics of cavalry and the current technological limitations that the Hussar cavalry has taken an unusual path in its evolution.

While Cao's army was thinking about how to deal with the cavalry, the Hussars were of course studying how to deal with the infantry.

After Sima Yi "sacrificed" his blood relatives, his meridians were opened up, and he suddenly discovered that the heavily armored and heavily armed cavalry with bows had undoubtedly become a nightmare for the infantry line.

But as mentioned before, it is impossible to have both on the battlefield. The heavily armored and heavily armed cavalry archers that restrain the infantry will be easily controlled by the medium-armored cavalry, and the medium-armored cavalry in turn will be skewered by the dense spear formations of the infantry.

In order to break this simple game of rock-paper-scissors, the Hussars mixed in tigers and bugs...

The sticks are heavy armored archers, and the bugs are throwing soldiers.

The tiger uses the chicken to eat, and the insects use the stick to gnaw the tiger.

In the game, horse archery is always whistling and arrows are flying like rain, but in reality, this kind of horse archery is often used for suppression, not for killing, and often consumes a huge number of arrows, but just for the sound of ding-dong, and cannot directly kill a few people. The real standard horse archery in actual combat was created by Sima Yi. Perhaps it is not Sima Yi's original creation, but the archer cavalry tactics formed by Sima Yi's summary and reporting to the Military Academy.

In the war records reported to the Military Academy, Sima Yi wrote, "If you are good at riding and archery, you can ride your horse at a distance of fifty steps and shoot at the weakest enemy. Arrows will fly like rain. Even if the enemy has the advantage of weapons and armor and gathers together to resist, can they hurt me at a distance of fifty steps?"

Avoiding direct melee combat with infantry is the core of cavalry archery tactics. Although cavalry has a high posture and strong impact, they may not always be able to defeat infantry in close combat.

Especially when the infantry's swords and spears are lengthened.

Just like now, the spearmen of Cao's infantry placed their spears on the shields in the front row, forming a dense array, like a hedgehog spreading out its spikes.

Li Li did not want to engage in close or zero-distance combat with Cao's army.

So, Li Li wanted to try a new tactic, he wanted to fight against Cao's army.

Get close to a very close distance, just enough to avoid the infantry's cold weapon attacks.

  Even including the opponent's bows and arrows!

Normally, infantry archers would never be placed in the first row to shoot at cavalry. And because of their own shooting range and the cover of the front row soldiers, although infantry archers have stronger bows and crossbows, it is undoubtedly extremely difficult for them to keep up with the movements of the cavalry and seize the fleeting shooting windows among the people.

The quick and powerful whistle sounded again!

As the order to attack was issued, the archers who were good at archery and had quietly moved to the outer row turned their horses' heads and rushed towards the somewhat relaxed Cao army formation!