The advantages of the agrarian Central Plains Dynasty in ancient China were that it had a large population, a large number of troops, a large number of cities, a large number of passes and fortresses, a large amount of grain, a large number of weapons and equipment, and a strong economic strength. Militarily, the Central Plains Dynasty built cities, military towns, fortresses, fortresses and other military defense systems and fortifications in almost all the country's transportation arteries. The Central Plains Dynasty used almost all of the country's geographical territory to artificially create cage traps with these artificial fortifications, and divided them into defense lines, defense belts, war zones, military towns, and so on.

The land of the Central Plains Dynasty was like a small war zone that was organized and divided by artificial fortifications and natural natural barriers. In this case, the cavalry of the northern nomads going south will have to attack and break through one by one, and these obstacles on their way to the south. The countless defense systems and fortifications of the Central Plains Dynasty gave the Central Plains Dynasty the ability to consume the cavalry troops of the nomadic tribes in the south and north, and the ability to buffer and delay the war.

The Central Plains Dynasty could have the opportunity to hold back a large number of cavalry troops of the nomads with a small number of troops at a dangerous pass, and consume the limited war resources of the nomads. In addition, once the nomads occupied these cities, passes, fortresses, fortresses and other fortifications, they had to send troops to defend them, which would also cause the forces to be dispersed and weakened. The nomads, on the other hand, are weak in urban offensive and defensive warfare.

And the army of the Central Plains Dynasty, which has an advantage in population, materials, weapons and equipment, and economic strength, hopes most to fight urban offensive and defensive battles with the nomads. The layers of fortresses, coupled with the abundance of materials, caused the nomadic cavalry troops to hardly dare to penetrate into the hinterland of the Central Plains Dynasty, they were afraid that once they were blocked in front of a certain city, fortress, and fortress, and the back road was cut off by the enemy, they would be surrounded and eliminated by the enemy's superior forces.

On the contrary, the defenders of the Central Plains Dynasty could use cities, fortresses, etc. to defend the city, as long as they could delay the nomadic cavalry troops, it would give the Central Plains Dynasty time to assemble a large army and wait for the arrival of reinforcements in the rear. As long as the reinforcements have the ability to resist the onslaught of the enemy's cavalry troops in the field and on the march, they can smoothly enter their own cities, fortresses, fortresses and other fortifications to defend and play urban defense warfare with the enemy, which can bankrupt the strategy of the nomads.

The advantage of cavalry is that it is fast and powerful, and it is easy to disrupt the enemy's formation, break down the division and annihilate the enemy's army. The field chariot array, with huge and sturdy vehicles as obstacles, can effectively block the cavalry's assault, maintain the integrity of their own formation, provide a protective circle for officers and soldiers, and at the same time cover their own weak points, which is the best weapon and combat tactics to prevent the army of the Central Plains Dynasty from being crushed and defeated by the nomadic cavalry troops in the field. At the same time, the high-speed and mobile cavalry movement was seriously hindered, and the activities of the enemy's cavalry were greatly restricted, and it was naturally difficult to give full play to its combat effectiveness.

As long as the army of the Central Plains Dynasty ensures that the army will not be overwhelmed by the nomadic cavalry troops, and fights in areas with small battlefield space, the superiority of the infantry troops will be reflected, as long as there are enough troops and bows and arrows, the nomadic cavalry troops can be crushed. However, the nomads have limited economic strength, limited war resources, and limited troops, and can hardly afford to play a war of attrition or a long-term urban offensive and defensive war.

In addition, in some special geographical terrain, the army of the Central Plains Dynasty could defeat the nomadic cavalry as long as they set up a large army array, including a chariot array, covering an area of several tens of square kilometers, and carried out a suppressive battlefield flat attack on the nomadic cavalry troops with superior forces. The chariot array is the largest battlefield guarantee for the Central Plains Dynasty army to fight against the nomadic cavalry assault. In fact, it was precisely because it was difficult to resist the flexible attacks of the infantry that the chariot formation faded out of the war stage for hundreds of years after the Spring and Autumn Period.

After that, the Sui and Tang dynasties built up powerful cavalry, which was enough to fight the nomadic cavalry, and the chariot became an abandonment. In the Song Dynasty, they lost the land of horse grazing, and there were never enough horses to build up their strong cavalry army, but they did not re-attach importance to the chariot formation tactics to deal with the northern cavalry, which made Zhao Yu very puzzled? Although the chariot formation tactics had inevitable limitations, they were also very effective in resisting the northern cavalry, and even in the Ming Dynasty hundreds of years later, its use of the chariot formation also dealt a major blow to the northern nomadic cavalry.

Although the Song Dynasty also relied on military vehicles to block cavalry in some battles, the scope and degree of application were no longer the same as at the beginning, and the Central Plains regime seemed to have forgotten this tactic, mainly relying on the infantry-based army and the cavalry that was not as large as the northern minority regime to resist the northern invasion, and the result was, of course, more defeats and fewer victories. But if you pick up this tactic, it is much better than using infantry and cavalry that are not as strong as your opponent to fight hard.

In terms of cost, Zhao Yu knew that cavalry cost a lot of money, and there were high requirements for horses, personnel and tactics, and it was difficult to surpass the nomadic cavalry with the quality of the existing soldiers. Combat vehicles, on the other hand, can be used for many years with a one-time investment, and there are almost no costs other than necessary wear and tear and repairs. And although the vehicle formation also depends on the environment, the form of change is still relatively simple, basically relying on the formation to resist the opponent's attack, the requirements for soldiers are not high, and it is also convenient for training......

Since Zhao Yu came to this world, he was almost thinking about how to defeat the Mongols, and the most important thing was how to deal with the enemy cavalry. At first, he was partial to Qiongzhou, separated by the sea, and he had to rely on the naval army to resist the enemy outside the island; However, the river network in the south of the Yangtze River and the Jianghuai River is dense, and the mobility of the cavalry is limited, but the boats are more convenient, and the development of cavalry is not a top priority; This time, Chen Fenglin thought of his front and wanted to restore the camp in order to deal with the enemy cavalry.

"Is this the Wugang car?" Zhao Yu walked to the chariot and looked closer. The length of the car is about two zhang, the width is four, the perimeter is surrounded by a compartment board about five feet high, there are two wheels in front, equipped with two wheels, and the shape is similar to that of a modern truck.

"Your Majesty, exactly. This is somewhat different from what is recorded in the war book, which is covered by a large shield. In wartime, spears should be tied to the outside of the car to prevent the enemy from attacking. There are also shooting holes in the compartment to facilitate soldiers to shoot, and the carriage can be used as a shield to block enemy arrows. Chen Fenglin replied.

"If you are in a formation, you must connect the chariots in pairs to form a formation!" Zhao Yu said again.

"Exactly!" Chen Fenglin called a few soldiers to demonstrate while introducing, "When forming a formation, you can drive the chariot with perforation on one side facing outward, unload the horse, adjust the direction, lay the chariot flat with the frame, and then hook the wheels with the box with iron cables." ”

"The gap between the bodies of this car is so large that enemy riders can easily pass through!" Zhao Yu looked at the fact that due to the wheels, it was difficult for the boxes of the two cars to be tightly combined, leaving a lot of space, and the war horse could jump over, he frowned.

"Oh, the space between the two carts can be filled with knives and carts to prevent the enemy from passing through, and the outside is covered with a cloth curtain to make it one." Chen Fenglin ordered the two soldiers to push a knife cart between the two carts, and covered the curtain with a smile.

"Well, the curtain can block stone arrows, and it can also block rockets when wet, not bad!" Zhao Yu nodded.

"When facing the enemy, you can sprinkle thistle terrestris in front of the car formation, arrange the horse rejection, make it difficult for the enemy to approach, and our soldiers can take turns shooting according to the carriage!" Chen Fenglin asked the soldiers to arrange the horses and demonstrate how to fight.

"What does Your Majesty think?" Zhao Mengjin also saw it for the first time, and when he saw the little emperor's inquiry with interest, he smiled and said with a smile.

"I don't think it will be possible to stop the onslaught of the enemy cavalry with only the musket!" Zhao Hao touched his chin and said, "A car can only accommodate four people to shoot at the same time, if it is used for wheel shooting, and the carriage is narrow, the soldiers will turn around and retreat, and the charges will inevitably collide with each other, which will inevitably affect the shooting speed." Although the gap between the other two vehicles has been filled with knife cars, they still occupy at least two battle positions, reducing the density of firepower. ”

"Your Majesty, my subordinates have also thought that we can shoot one person and the other person be responsible for loading, so as to avoid mutual influence. When the shooter is tired or injured, he can be replaced by someone else! Chen Fenglin took over and said.

"There are still shortcomings, judging from the previous battles against the enemy cavalry in the recovery of Jiangnan, if there is no artillery support, it is difficult to block the attack of the enemy cavalry with muskets alone, and it is difficult to do it even by relying on simple fortifications." Zhao Mengjin shook his head and said.

"What Zhi Shuai said is good...... Chen Fenglin nodded, thought for a moment and said, "Then can you replace the jammed knife cart with artillery to increase the density of firepower!" ”

"It's not a good idea!" Zhao Mengjin looked at the little emperor and said.

"Well, you can think about it. However, the artillery was sandwiched between the two vehicles and was difficult to operate, and the artillery still needed to be towed by horses, and it had to be rearranged in wartime. If the artillery is arranged like a battleship, it is best to fire as long as the formation is complete! Zhao Hao hummed, but said thoughtfully.

"Although what Your Majesty said is good, it is still difficult to solve the matter of the gap between the two cars!" Chen Fenglin said with a wry smile.

"yes!" Zhao Hao also felt funny, patted his head and said, "It seems that we still need to find a way to improve this car from this car." If it is changed to a four-wheeled single-wheel carriage, the single-wheel can be disassembled when the formation is formed, and the gap left when the two carriages are connected is not a matter of concern! ”

"Your Majesty, my subordinates have also thought of using a four-wheeled vehicle as a chariot, but the four-wheeled vehicle is inconvenient to steer, and it is very difficult to walk and adjust!" Chen Fenglin said.

"Inconvenient steering?! How is this possible! Zhao Yu said in surprise.

"Your Majesty is indeed so, the four wheels are level, and the axles are fixed, and it is difficult to reverse the direction without force." Seeing the little emperor's look of disbelief, Chen Fenglin explained.

"I see!" Zhao Yu nodded. In fact, to achieve the steering of a four-wheeled vehicle, it is actually very simple, just add a simple steering mechanism.

At this moment, Zhao Hao also remembered that it is said that the carriage in the Roman period already had a steering mechanism, but it is impossible to verify whether it has a relationship with the later technology. But in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, horse-drawn carriages became popular in Europe, and the principle was that the front axle was made together with the wheel bar, which was connected to the chassis by a rotating pivot, which was the bogie, so that the vehicle could be easily steered. However, this simple technology was only introduced to China during the Qing Dynasty, which was still a technical problem in this era.

However, the emergence of the steering mechanism of the four-wheeled carriage was indeed a technological breakthrough at that time, which greatly improved the practicality of the four-wheeled carriage. It can be said that it is the extensive application of four-wheeled carriages that has become one of the factors that has enabled the development of military logistics in modern times. And the subsequent colonial history of America/Africa also fully proves the practicality of the four-wheeled carriage.

"Your Majesty has thought of a solution?" Zhao Mengjin looked at the little emperor's appearance, knew that he had an idea, and asked with a smile.

"It shouldn't be difficult." Zhao Yu nodded and said, "Tomorrow, you ordered the craftsmen of the baggage camp to come here with the tools and materials to build the vehicle, and I will go back and think about it!" ”

"Yes!" Zhao Mengjin and the two looked at each other and saluted. It seems that the matter of the little emperor's safari is going to be postponed again......

Zhao Yu returned to Xingzai, asked people to get the drawing tools on the ship, and began to work. He felt that the ship he had designed was now just a carriage, and therefore he felt that it was not a task, but when he did it, he felt that it was not so simple. Because this requires the resolution of several necessary conditions, but there are contradictions between them, and you have to find a balance between them.

First of all, the vehicle acts as a kind of stronghold, which can support the mobile combat of the troops. When threatened, the chariot was transformed into a kind of defensive fortress, and the height and width of the chariot were insurmountable by the cavalry. And it is necessary that the Hussite chariot as a bulwark is unusually heavy, otherwise it will be difficult to block the impact of the war horse; However, the chariot also served the purpose of carrying soldiers, food, and weapons, and if it was too heavy, it would inevitably be very demanding on the road and require more horses to tow it.

In addition, the role of the chariot is to resist the cavalry, so its height and width are insurmountable by the war horse, and to ensure the comfort of the soldier and the convenience of combat, it is necessary to have a tall and wide platform. However, the increase in the height and width of the chariot will affect its passability, after all, the chariot formation is used for field battles, and the environment and passing conditions are harsh, and the clumsy chariot will be difficult to use in actual combat.

In addition, it is necessary to take into account the pulling force of the horse, how many soldiers a chariot can carry, plus the strength of the equipment and baggage it carries. And the protection of the combat vehicle must also be thought about, how to reduce the threat to the soldiers, so as to choose what kind of materials. In addition, the cost of the tank cannot be ignored, so that a large number of equipment can be used. I can't help but feel funny when I think about myself as a ship engineer who was stumped by how to build a carriage today, but the big words have already been said, so I can't save face......