For the fear of cavalry, Zhao Yu can be said to have been brought from his previous life, when it was often said that in ancient wars, cavalry was simply the king of the battlefield. And the powerful dynasties of all dynasties will have an iron cavalry, and the cavalry of the nomads has always been a lingering dream of the Central Plains farming dynasty, especially the Mongolian cavalry is a legend in Eurasia, so in his impression that the ancient war cavalry is difficult to defeat.

On the first day of Zhao Hao's crossing, he encountered the pursuit of the cavalry, and saw that those volunteers were crushed under the impact of the Mongolian cavalry, and the little yellow men who protected themselves were like paper paste under the impact of the war horse, and he almost died under the iron hooves of the war horse. This deepened the impression in his heart, but in order to survive, he also racked his brains, ballistas, artillery, muskets, etc. were all drummed out under the coercion of this fear, and it was not without reason to move to Qiongzhou, after all, war horses could not swim across the sea.

Zhao Yu always aimed to defeat the Mongol cavalry when he was training, and he was also thinking hard about how to defeat the enemy, and as a modern person, he had advanced insight and careful thinking as a science student. He combined ancient and modern combat examples, and personally went into battle to command, trying to find a way to break the enemy in terms of strategy and tactics, and even in every small detail.

After years of hard work, Zhao Hao really has some experience, and he also found an interesting phenomenon when learning to ride and shoot. Ancient cavalry usually stuck arrows in the sack and shot one by one, but there were many people who did not like this method, so they held two arrows in their left hand and held the bow handle, and their right hand was full of arrows, and then they took arrows from their left hand and shot again. There are three main types of archery they practice, namely split mane shooting, counter-kick shooting and wiping shooting, in addition to some elites can also practice left and right bowing.

The cavalry will be close to the right side of the horse's mane, and then hold the bow in his left hand and pull the string with his right hand to shoot, so it is called the mane shooting method; Unlike the previous species, the sash means a belt tied behind the butt of a livestock, and as the name suggests, it is a type of shooting that attacks the pursuers behind them while moving. The cavalryman moved his body close to the left side of the horse, then turned and shot with his bow and arrow.

The counter-kick shooting method is an attack method when encircling the enemy's infantry in the process of encircling it, and it is also a riding shooting method in the general impression. Because it is a wrapping array rather than a frontal charge, the cavalry can only shoot arrows from the side, the cavalry will be close to the left side of the horse, the bow body hangs down to the stirrup on the left, and then the right hand holds the arrow to draw the bow, aiming and firing, so it is called the counter kick shooting method.

Everyone knows that people's two hands are divided into main and secondary, and the vast majority of people are right-handed, and those who can shoot the bow left and right are a minority after all. Therefore, when the cavalry shoots arrows, they hold the bow in their left hand and pull the string in their right hand to shoot, so when projecting from the side, ordinary people can only aim at the left side. Riding and shooting in a longitudinal formation is also a common tactic used by the Mongolian army, they will turn to a counterclockwise direction to release arrows around the formation before they arrive at the formation, and then they will reorganize the team and shoot again, and the cycle will continue until the opponent's formation collapses.

The Song musketeers used a linear tactic, and if they waited for the enemy to enter the firing range and then fired, it would not only waste firepower, but also make it difficult to effectively kill and injure the enemy. Therefore, Zhao Hao's tactics designed for the characteristics of the Mongolian army were to wait for them to turn around and prepare to draw their bows before firing, so that the enemy soldiers would be like lining up to hit the muzzle of the gun, and the killing effect would naturally be much better.

"As the rumors say: Yi Di uses troops, each bow and cavalry gathers violently, and attacks the large array, and if he can't defend it, he will have the trouble of rushing. Although Your Majesty has a plan, you must also deal with it carefully! Wang Yinglin saw that the enemy cavalry was attacking back and forth, and the arrows were like locusts, but when he fell one after another in order to break through the barrage of musket salvos and exert the power of the bow and arrows, he was still intimidated by his momentum, and raised his sleeve to wipe the cold sweat on his forehead.

"Governor Wang, don't be impatient, this is just a watch before the feast, if our army will panic before this little battle, peace talks to recover the Central Plains!" Zhao Hao smiled and said with a smile, he knew that the questions he raised were very low-level, but he still explained patiently, because he knew very well that the war between the Song and Mongolia was by no means a war that could determine the world, but would last for several years, even more than ten years, so that these civil servants, especially the ruling circles in the decision-making circle, could understand the truth on the battlefield more, which would still be beneficial in the future.

"Governor Wang, historically, the ability of mounted archery to continue and develop for thousands of years, and let the northern nomadic Rong Di go south again and again to conquer the Central Plains, in fact, it has a lot to do with the lack of effective means of attack to curb cavalry movements in a dynasty dominated by infantry troops. Because when the infantry army uses knives, guns and bows and crossbows as the main combat weapons, it is difficult for the infantry to take into account both hand-to-hand combat and long-range attack tasks when facing each other, while the cavalry archer in front of him can easily realize the conversion of long-range shooting and impact battle formations, and win more with less with the help of war horses. ”

"Is this why Your Majesty is trying to develop firearms?" Wang Yinglin seemed to have an understanding when he heard this, he had just seen that the guards accompanying him were not moved by the fierce battle on the battlefield at all, and they didn't even frown, and he couldn't help but be ashamed of his panic.

"Well, that's one of the important reasons." Zhao Yu nodded, "Governor Wang, please see, the muskets equipped by our infantry are far more powerful than crossbows, and their power and lethality are also superior, and ordinary armor is simply difficult to stop." Therefore, it can replace the crossbowmen for long-range killing, and when the musket is equipped with a bayonet, the length is not inferior to the short spear that fights in front of the infantry army, so that it can be used for two purposes. Coupled with the support of indestructible artillery, the advantage of cavalry has been greatly reduced, so in the dignified formation, although cavalry shooting will give the opponent a headache, but it is not impossible to restrain it, nor can it be invincible, and it is no longer enough to pose a mortal threat to us when attacking! ”

"Oh, the role of the cavalry is fading day by day, why does Your Majesty still vigorously develop the cavalry?" Wang Yinglin was puzzled.

"No, the real horror of cavalry lies in outpost warfare such as reconnaissance, raiding, and interdiction outside of regular warfare, as well as sabotage warfare on the logistics line. Such skirmishes are often sudden and brutal, and are where good mounted archers come in. In addition, in the vast terrain of the plains and desert steppes and other combat areas, if the infantry has no danger to defend and the cavalry covers, it will still encounter the dilemma of 'surrounded by a hundred horsemen and surrounded by thousands of people'. Zhao Yu waved his hand and said, "At the moment, we are fighting according to the battalion, and we have formed a large array, there is a danger to rely on, and we have become a siege, the depth is only ten miles, tens of thousands of people are fighting in such a small area, Meng Yuan's good tactics are contained, and the advantage is difficult to play, so it is almost impossible to break through our defense line, and a strong attack that does not know the current affairs will only increase casualties." ”

"Your Majesty's analysis is extremely serious, it is the minister's nonsense." Wang Yinglin nodded again and again when he heard this, and the current situation was just as the little emperor said, the enemy cavalry who were charging into battle and testing suffered heavy casualties under the fire of muskets, and when they regrouped, they were bombarded by the mortar teams of various battalions, and they scattered and fled in all directions, and it was difficult to regroup. Thinking of what His Majesty had just said, he asked, "Your Majesty said that the musket can restrain the enemy cavalry, but it is one of the reasons, please ask Your Majesty to give me another advice!" ”

"Speaking of this reason, it is also helpless, this is also to consider the consumption and economic reasons on the battlefield!" Zhao Hao couldn't help but smile bitterly when he heard this.

"I want to hear about it!" Wang Yinglin was greatly surprised when he heard this reason, and said politely.

"Does Governor Wang know how long it takes for the Mongols to train a qualified horse archer?" Zhao Yu thought about it and asked first.

"I don't know, but I know that the northern barbarians rode sheep and shot birds and mice when they were young, shot foxes and rabbits when they were young, and everyone could bend their bows when they were adults, and they were all armor horses. It can be said that he was born to be a cavalryman. Wang Yinglin replied.

"Well, that's good." Zhao Yu nodded and said, "Mongolia is located in the northwest, and with the advantages of environment and animal husbandry that are different from those of the Central Plains, there is no shortage of horses. From the age of five or six, boys can already learn to ride horses, and the saddles used for practice are made of wood, and there are five- or six-inch high guards on the front and back, left and right, so that even five or six-year-old children can sit in the middle without worrying about falling. By the age of thirteen, they had basically achieved some equestrian skills, and they began to learn mounted archery and foot archery. ”

"Archery can be said to be a Mongolian housekeeping skill, and they have to practice archery from an early age, which is a basic personal martial art, and after all of them are learned, they must be trained in field hunting. The Mongols practiced tactics such as encirclement, luring the enemy, intercepting, breaking through, hurrying, encircling and annihilating, and tracking in the field hunting, and skillfully used them in warfare. It can be said that they must go through more than ten years of study and training to become a qualified cavalry archer, but do you know how much time it takes us to train a qualified musketeer? ”

"Hmm...... As far as the minister knew, it took three months of training to recruit a recruit before he could be incorporated into the armies and then trained, and as for how long it would take to qualify, the minister did not know. Wang Yinglin replied after a moment of silence.

"What Governor Wang said is probably good. After three months of new training in the battalion, a recruit can basically be called a soldier, and after three months of basic tactical training and running-in, he can go into battle. But this is only a normal situation, if the situation is urgent, an ordinary farmer can learn to use a musket in only three or four days, and basically become proficient in using it in a month, and he can go into battle to kill the enemy, of course, the combat effectiveness and organization are far from the same. Zhao Yu said.

"The minister understands that there are no immortals in war. But we can train a musketeer in a short time, while the Mongols can't train a horse archer in a short time, and they can't replenish in time after suffering heavy casualties, but we can, and we can afford to wear down personnel. Wang Yinglin said.

"Yes, that's just one of them!" Zhao Hao smiled and nodded......