My older brother is Gao Huan.

Chapter 321 Let the Lords of Luoyang Open Their Eyes

Gao Ang didn't seem to mind at all. Instead, he grumbled in dissatisfaction, "No one in Luoyang can compete with me. I'm itching to get my hands dirty."

He had been helping Yuan Ziyou train troops in Luoyang.

Gao Qian and the others were also afraid that he would offend people, so they didn't let him have too much contact with others. After all, with Gao Ang's brains, Erzhu Rong could easily send someone to dig a pit for him, and he would jump into it.

"If Ao Cao is truly itching for a fight, I will have another chance to spar with you when I have time, and see if your martial arts have improved in the two years since we last met."

"it is good!"

He laughed heartily and cheerfully, "I love your personality, you're not so fussy."

"Ao Cao!"

Gao Qian angrily rebuked, "How dare you be so rude!"

In terms of family seniority, they are Gao Yu's uncles.

But what about the actual situation?

The entire Bohai Gao clan had to rely on Gao Yu, who had already reached the pinnacle of power. Even Yuan Ziyou had to rely on Gao Yu to compete with Erzhu Rong in Shandong.

Gao Yu waved his hand.

Gao Ang is a bit like Er Zhu Zhao; he doesn't have many thoughts and is used to being straightforward.

“Ao Cao is a straightforward person. It’s understandable that he got an itch to do something. Why should Qian Yong be so harsh?”

"The etiquette cannot be abolished."

Gao Qian remained extremely stubborn, and Gao Ang had no choice but to bow and say, "I was reckless just now."

Gao Yu smiled and didn't intend to dwell on the matter. "You've all had a long journey and must be tired. Please allow me to show you hospitality. After a few days of rest, you can come with me to inspect the martial arts training."

........................

On the third day of the third month of the first year of Yong'an (530 AD), the sky was cloudless and the weather was very sunny with a comfortable temperature.

The arrival of Yang Yu, Gao Qian, and others prompted Gao Yu to order the date for the martial arts review to be moved forward.

This was also related to Gao Huan bringing news of Erzhu Ying'e's pregnancy.

There was no time to lay a solid foundation for Gao Yu step by step; he had to make a big leap forward before the end of the year.

This martial arts demonstration was also for Yuan Ziyou's benefit.

If Gao Yu wants to take the first step, he needs Yuan Ziyou to unlock higher permissions and give him greater power.

Outside Dongyang City, it was very lively.

Soldiers from various prefectures gathered outside the city with their troops and military equipment, attracting onlookers from afar.

Gao Yu naturally couldn't possibly transfer all five thousand soldiers. Each Zhechong Prefecture was led by two captains with two brigades under their command, each brigade consisting of one hundred men. One captain was in charge of two brigades, meaning each Zhechong Prefecture dispatched four hundred men. The five Zhechong Prefectures combined totaled two thousand men, nearly half of the current number.

After all, half of the soldiers in the garrison were trained by Gao Yu back in Luoyang. Faced with this rare opportunity to inspect and practice martial arts, everyone rushed to sign up.

First, the "involution" atmosphere of the Xuanjia Army has been well inherited.

Secondly, since there is currently no war, the only way to get rewards and promotions is to seize this opportunity to shine in front of Gao Yu.

Gao Yu had limited warhorse resources, so he couldn't engage in pure cavalry charges like before.

This test involved having his 500 Xuanjia soldiers ride horses and act as cavalry to assess the ability of the local soldiers to form ranks and deal with cavalry charges.

The Xuanjia Army was also a government-run army, but it was Gao Yu's direct personal guard force.

They were also allocated land and serfs.

This is not.

Each soldier of the Xuanjia Army brought a retainer as an auxiliary soldier. The auxiliary soldiers were hurriedly leading their warhorses over, much like the squires beside an ancient European knight.

Unlike the fully armed Xuanjia Army, the auxiliary soldiers were poorly equipped. After all, they were not really expected to fight on the front lines. Most of the auxiliary soldiers were mainly responsible for transporting supplies and helping with miscellaneous tasks.

Several days ago, Gao Yu had specially ordered a high platform to be built, so that one could see everything clearly from the platform.

On the other side, the soldiers were also fully equipped, completely simulating the actual situation on the battlefield, while the auxiliary soldiers were placed in the rear with the main force's supplies and provisions.

The 2,400 soldiers selected for the inspection and training lined up in front.

"My comrades! We bear the name of the Xuanjia Army, and we cannot bring shame upon it!"

"Let those greenhorns on the other side see what the name of the Xuanjia Army is all about!"

Gao Yue was among them. Gao Yu intended to cultivate him, so he appointed him as his deputy general. This inspection of martial arts training was to have him lead the Xuanjia Army into battle.

Gao Yue was not entirely without experience in war; he was a seasoned veteran.

He imitated Gao Yu, raising his lance high and shouting encouragement.

"We are the Xuanjia Army, the personal guard of General Tian Ce!"

"Even when we practice martial arts, we must make the other side tremble with fear at the mere sight of us!"

The habit of wearing ghost and god masks was preserved. Gao Yue took out a mask and put it on, and the other Xuanjia soldiers also took out ghost and god masks.

'Waaah!!'

The bugle sounded, signaling Gao Yu, who was on the high platform, to give the order to the soldiers, and the military exercise officially began!
Gao Yu has tried his best to simulate a real battlefield environment.

But it's impossible to let the soldiers actually fight each other with real swords and spears right in front of them.

On the infantry side, they couldn't set up barricades, or even use spears, let alone dig horse traps in front of the formation, since warhorses were a very valuable resource.

Of course.

The Xuanjia Army couldn't possibly actually charge in. Hehehe!
At Gao Yue's command, he immediately led five hundred Xuanjia soldiers out in single file and began to gradually accelerate.

The sound of rapid hoofbeats rang out.

Gao Yue also shouted loudly.

"Where is the Xuanjia Army?!"

"The Xuanjia Army is here!"

The shouts of five hundred men combined into one, creating a deafening roar!

The rising dust made it impossible to see how many cavalrymen there were, even though it was known beforehand that there were only five hundred.

But when the thunderous sound of horses' hooves rang out, accompanied by billowing dust, it still brought a great sense of oppression!

close!

The Xuanjia Army appeared in the sight of the soldiers in the front row of the formation, like hundreds of evil spirits charging through the yellow sand!

Neither the three thousand soldiers Gao Yu trained in Luoyang nor the two thousand carefully selected from the refugees had experienced the baptism of a real battlefield. Although these refugees had followed Xing Gao to various places to "fight", they had only fought when things were going well and bullied farmers.

They couldn't take down even a slightly larger fortified village.

Li Wenshu kept swallowing, gripping the gun barrel tightly in his hand, his palms already covered in sweat.

Wang Xuan, the brigade commander, was also very nervous.

He always boasted that he was a "battle-hardened elite," and that they were people who had followed Gao Yu in "battles"!

They'd seen cavalry charges before; they'd witnessed them from the city walls.

He even mocked the Southern Liang allied soldiers who crumbled at the first touch when faced with a cavalry charge.

But now?
He then realized how foolish he had been!

Experience the cavalry charge firsthand; the thunderous sound of hooves seems to shake the earth, and the fear in your heart is constantly amplified!
Although he was terrified, Wang Xuan knew very well that he was a brigade commander. If he was so scared that he turned around and ran away, then the other soldiers beside him would probably become a group of defeated soldiers like the Southern Liang allied soldiers they had once mocked!
"Prepare for the enemy! Prepare for the enemy! Do not panic!"

Wang Xuan kept shouting, seemingly to remind the soldiers around him, but actually more to vent his anxiety.

It must be said that this method does have some effect.

At least it calmed people down. Even though they were still extremely nervous, they weren't scared out of their wits and ran away.

When the Xuanjia Army reached a certain distance from the front of the formation, they found that the formation had not obviously broken down. Gao Yue then tightened the reins, turned his horse around, and turned to the right, trying to find an opportunity to continue the attack from the flank.

The flanks of the square formation had scattered units arranged in advance. These scattered units were mostly composed of brave soldiers, working in groups of several people. They coordinated with each other, using spears, hook-and-sickle spears, bows, crossbows, and swords and shields to slow down the cavalry. They risked their lives to disrupt the cavalry's formation and slow down the cavalry, buying time for the main formation to adjust.

Speed ​​is the lifeblood of cavalry.

The way to counter cavalry is to do everything possible to slow them down. If they can't charge, they'll be easy targets on horseback.

Wang Xuan was indeed bold; after the right flank was dispersed, he slowed down the Xuanjia Army's progress.

Wang Xuan led dozens of brave infantrymen in a small squad and dared to launch a counter-charge against the cavalry, showing some resemblance to the warriors of the Tang Dynasty.

Such a bold act was immediately noticed by Gao Yu and the others standing on the high platform.

"How brave!"

Gao Ang cheered repeatedly, unable to resist praising, "Commendable courage!"

Cavalry is difficult to train, but infantry is even more difficult!

As long as the infantry doesn't break through the cavalry's lines, they can remain invincible. It sounds simple...

But this requires extensive war experience and can only be done by seasoned veterans. New recruits are more likely to be terrified when they see cavalry charging in and turn to run away.

The Xuanjia Army, which was originally gathered together, was divided into several small teams due to the harassment from the scattered units on the flanks.

Gao Yue had no choice but to create distance and regroup his troops. He quickly made a new move. After adjusting, he took advantage of the cavalry's mobility to lead the Xuanjia Army to charge quickly to the rear of the army formation and attack the auxiliary troops who were more likely to scatter.

Faced with the intimidation of the cavalry, the auxiliary soldiers were indeed not as capable as the garrison soldiers. Even if the garrison soldiers were frightened, they stood firm in place. The auxiliary soldiers, however, did not care about such things. Even knowing that it was an exercise, they were still frightened. The entire formation immediately began to collapse from the rear.

“Hong Lue is indeed clever, but if it were really on the battlefield, he would have already lost.”

Gao Yu ordered the horn to be sounded again to stop the martial arts training.

If it were a real battle, the cavalry would have been severely injured or killed long ago when the troops were slowed down and their formation was broken into several small groups. They would have probably run away long ago. How could they have had the chance to run far away, regroup the "straggling soldiers", and then charge the auxiliary troops from the rear?

However, Gao Yue reacted quickly.

In that situation, it was quite remarkable that they could still think of attacking the auxiliary troops and using them to help break through the battle formation.

Gao Yu had an idea in mind.

We need to hold more of these military drills.

Fear stems from the unknown.

Ordinary soldiers, who had never seen cavalry charge before, would instinctively feel fear.

But once they've seen it, even if it's not a real battle, it can give the soldiers a psychological expectation so that they won't be completely frightened when they actually encounter cavalry in the future.

Since there are no opportunities for actual combat at the moment, we can only train the soldiers as much as possible through daily high-intensity training.

"Among all those in the world who know military strategy today, none can surpass the general."

After witnessing this martial arts practice firsthand, Gao Qian couldn't help but sigh.

P.S.: Thank you all for your suggestions. I will do more research on related information.

(End of this chapter)