The real thing that Zhao Yu can refer to is Chen Fenglin's 'improved' Wugang car, and its 'advanced' point is that the cowhide rhino armor of the predecessors has been replaced with a wooden compartment, and there is no major improvement in others. In his previous life, he was most familiar with the 'partial van' used by the famous general Qi Jiguang in the Ming Dynasty, which was in a period of alternating mixing of cold and hot weapons, and was also the most popular example of arguing on the Internet about the use of car riding. The other was the 'Hussite chariots' used by the Czech army against the heavy cavalry of Europe in the 14th century, when firearms were also in the early stages of warfare, but the focus of the debate was which was more advanced, two-wheeled or four-wheeled.

Nothing appears in a vacuum, but has a heritage, and the same is true for the partial vans that came later. In Zhao Yu's memory, the Ming Dynasty was first of all Guo Deng in Datong once built a side car for defense, the wheel is three feet long, nine feet wide, seven feet high, the box is thin, equipped with firearms, each car is assigned to ten people. The left and right sides of the battle were matched, and the front and rear were hooked to each other by hooks and loops, and the cart was loaded with clothing, food, equipment, and the foothills of the horses.

In the Chenghua period, the famous general Yu Dayou of the Ming Dynasty guarded Datong, at this time, the war of the Mongol tribes against the Ming Empire slowly turned into a large-scale multi-arm field battle, siege warfare, and the pressure on the border of the Ming Empire increased sharply. It was at this time that Yu Dayou learned in detail about the situation of the Datong border army and the Altan Khan army, coupled with the generally high expenditure on the nine sides of the Ming Empire, it was difficult to support the large corps to fight. In light of the time and local conditions, he changed the tactics he advocated in the southeast to use several times or even more than ten times the number of troops to destroy the opponents, and began to advocate the small-cost tactics of winning with surprise infantry troops.

In accordance with the so-called principle of "a chariot wins a horse, and a horse wins a foot" in the art of war, Yu Dayou proposed a new method that he had used in the Liangguang region, in which the infantry, cavalry, and chariot fought together. It was thought to mean that the infantry could not resist the trampling of the cavalry, while the chariot could block the trampling of the cavalry and give full play to the advantage of firearms. According to this mutual restraint relationship, after training the initial car battalion with certain results, he let go of his hands and feet to create a chariot combat method that made the northern war situation of the Ming Empire turn around-Datong Town Military Vehicle Drill Method.

Yu Dayouqi supervised the construction of a new type of chariot, using a wheelbarrow. The diameter of the wheel is four feet six inches, and two large logs are laid vertically, each one foot and two feet long, and three small logs are horizontal between the two large logs, so that they can be pushed, and there are three ropes for hanging shoulders to pull. A six-foot-long piece of wood was placed in front of the car and two small pieces of straight wood were installed vertically as a barrier. The car is equipped with four large gun heads, a big Buddha machine, two shields, two small moon flags, and a cloth curtain. There is a standing log in the middle of the rear of the car, which is equivalent to the steering wheel of the car, which is held by the team officer alone. There are two brackets in front of the car, which are lowered as frames when parked. There are two iron cones at the back of the car, which are inserted into the ground when parked, which is equivalent to an anchor of a ship.

The new tank had fifty people per vehicle. Among them, there are two standard-bearers, four players, two tiger fork players, two hook and sickle players, and four knife pullers, a total of 14 people. These people practiced martial arts, usually stood next to the cart, did not participate in the cart, and when they encountered the enemy, they rushed forward to break the formation. There were 16 cart pushers, divided into two shifts, one shift of eight people, and four people on each side of the cart. The sixteen cart pushers were not people's husbands, but firearms men. Among the sixteen people, there were four bird-bearers, four sharpshooters, four sharpshooters who fired the Franc machine and carried the sub-guns, and four knife-pullers. These sixteen men were only responsible for pushing carts and guarding carts, and did not charge to break the formation.

Soldiers were not allowed to put their luggage on their carts, and every four men were given one pack horse to carry their luggage, and only those who pushed the cart were allowed to put their weapons on the chariots. Finally, there are two officers in charge, one of whom is driving the car and supervising the stormtroopers to break the formation, and the other is responsible for the helm and supervising the soldiers behind the car. In the case of the enemy, the chariot is lined up, the sergeant on the chariot shoots the bow and crossbow cannon, and the infantry immediately rides out of the battle, the distance is close enough to intersect with the enemy's horses, and the bow and arrow are released, and then the cavalry takes the opportunity to rush into the enemy formation and slash, and the infantry is ten in charge of cutting the head.

Zhao Yu thought that Yu Dayou's use of a wheelbarrow as a chariot was also a brainstorm, which changed ordinary people's understanding of chariots. But it is also extremely admirable, it can boldly adopt the common wheelbarrow under the limited financial resources, and use manual push and pull, changing the previous way of being dragged by livestock. The chariot is equipped with spears in front of the vehicle, light and easy to transport, the vehicle itself plus the guns, plates, guns, etc. on the car, the total weight is not more than 300 catties, with 16 people in shifts, several people can be lifted when encountering pits, even if it is a rough and dangerous road can be passed smoothly. It has achieved the purpose of each vehicle cooperating with each other, the line is the formation, and the stop is the battalion.

Zhao Hao thought that if the tank was also divided into levels, this kind of wheelbarrow could be regarded as an ultra-light tank, although it had good passability and lightness, but it also determined that the defects of this tank were very obvious. The small size of the vehicle determines that it cannot be loaded with more weapons and baggage, and it cannot carry soldiers, so it chooses to drag livestock and use manpower to push and pull, which determines that this kind of chariot cannot carry out long-distance combat, and can only fight according to the city in order to obtain material replenishment. So unicycle wasn't his first option.

Later, Qi Jiguang was transferred to Jizhen to serve as the commander of the Beijing Defense Army, and he carefully studied the car camp established by Yu Daying, and believed that the development of the car camp was very promising. But instead of keeping his wheelbarrow, he modeled it after the old one. It is made as a partial van to protect the military and civilians. The wheels are one foot and three feet long, nine feet wide in front and back, and seven feet and five inches high. The thin plate of the car is left with the hole of the gun, and the axle is like a light car like a folk two. Out of the left and right hatchbacks, the second contact. The front and back ends are interdependent, each with a hook and loop. Hold each other and use a rag as a curtain. It can be seen that this kind of chariot is very distinctive, with long wheels at both ends, and can be driven at the end of the horse, and can advance or retreat.

In addition, Qi Jiguang also built a heavy four-wheeled chariot, which is one zhang and two feet high, and it is strange not to use a wooden ladder to connect one zhang and five feet high. It is equipped with large and small firearms, and five-color flags are arranged, and thieves are greeted by their flags. Listen to the drum and advance, stop when you smell the gold, and consider the advance and retreat. It can be said that this is a command vehicle, and it also functions as a mobile fire fortress, and strengthens the firepower in separate formations.

Each of Qi Jiguang's chariots was equipped with twenty soldiers, divided into two teams, Zheng and Qi, with ten people in each team. Those who operate the chariot are the regular soldiers, and those who fight with the vehicles are the odd troops. In terms of establishment, a chariot is called a chariot; Every four cases are a game, with a total of 100; Every four bureaus are a division, and a general manager is set up; Every four divisions are one, and there is a thousand total; Every two divisions are a battalion, with one general; There were 128 chariots and more than 2,600 officers and men. All the vans are connected to make the car camp "like a wall" and become a wooden fortress.

Zhao Yu can see from the configuration of his van that it uses the Franc rapid-fire cannon as the core of firepower, supplemented by the arquebus, to kill the enemy with firepower. However, they were still equipped with cold weapons such as rattan cards, knives and guns, and rakes, and fought in close combat with the enemy, and they were not completely overloaded with firearms. But concentrated fire was still not to be underestimated, enough to inflict terrible casualties on cavalry beyond the range of the bow and arrow.

From a formal point of view, Qi Jiguang's modified side van increased in size, and was pulled by horses, and it was refined, with a distinction between light and heavy, and assisted by cavalry. However, Zhao Yu believes that Qi Jiguang's foothold is still defense, because of its antique car system, so there are some shortcomings that have not yet been overcome, such as the car style is too heavy, too many people and horses are needed, it is not suitable for danger, and it is not suitable for offensive combat, etc., and the large use of firearms also makes the odd soldiers idle. Therefore, it was not enough to completely defeat the Mongol cavalry in a field environment......

Zhao Hao drew a few sketches, but he was not very satisfied. Since the domestic ones are not good, then look at the imported ones, and turn their attention to the Hussite tank. In terms of function, there is no difference between the role of Chinese and foreign chariots, Hussite chariots usually support troops in mobile combat, and when threatened, they are transformed into a kind of defensive fortress, acting as a stronghold and bulwark.

However, the Hussite chariot was designed with a somewhat different concept from the Chinese, believing that the unusually heavy chariot as a bulwark was necessary, and the basis of the design was actually a four-wheeled farm cart drawn by four horses. The vehicle itself was already heavy, but they also added heavy detachable wood guards with ropes to the side panels of the vehicle, which acted as the 'shielding armor' of modern tanks, so as to strengthen the protection of the combat infantry inside the body of the vehicle and reduce the threat of projectile weapons.

In addition, the Hussite was equipped with a heavier, taller, longer guard plate with triangular gun holes that allowed soldiers to shoot with their guns or crossbows. The other type is long and placed between the wheels under the chariot as underbody armor, which has the effect of blocking small projectiles and preventing crawling enemies from burrowing from underneath the vehicle.

Zhao Yu only smelled the shape, never saw the real thing, and never even saw the restoration map, so he could only draw a sketch according to his imagination. However, I was stumped by how to install the side guard plate, you must know that the guard plate hanging down will collide and friction with the wheel, and even jam the wheel. At first, he also thought that there might be a mistake in the record, but when he thought about the problem he thought of, others could think of it too.

After pondering for a while, Zhao Hao finally figured out that as long as the carriage is designed to be narrow at the bottom and wide at the top, then the guard plate will hang down from the roof like a curtain and will not touch the wheels. A slight modification and reinforcement of the wheels reduces wear and tear on the sloping compartment plates, which explains why the guards are held in place by ropes. At the same time, these suspended guards also act as cushioning and reduce hard impact on the cabin, which he thought was a remarkable design that offered an alternative to reducing damage by simply increasing the thickness and strength of the material.

In addition, the hussite chariot was a fully enclosed compartment, with only a narrow door on the other side, and the walls could be lowered and retracted like a drawbridge to allow the occupants of the carriage to enter and exit. In fact, Zhao Yu also intended to adopt a van-like design, which could save the soldiers from suffering from wind and snow, and also prevent the gunpowder from getting wet in the rain, and could even be used as a mobile barracks for soldiers. With a slight modification of the interior, it can also be used as a baggage truck, medical vehicle, and cooking vehicle, etc., and has great potential as a mobile platform.

It is recorded that a Hussite chariot could carry between fifteen and twenty combatants, crossbowmen, musketeers, halberdiers, and shieldmen. From the point of view of establishment, Zhao Hao estimated that the size of the Huss chariot should be about the same size as the light partial van used by Qi Jiguang, but the four-wheel design has much higher load capacity and stability than the two-wheeled one, and can carry more weapons and equipment.

In terms of the formation of combat vehicles, each tank has its own commander, and the combat personnel are in groups of ten. A "column commander" commands a queue of 50 to 100 chariots, and above the column commander there is a commander-in-chief who has full command of the chariots, and this commander-in-chief has two sub-commanders, one of whom is in charge of the infantry and the other is in charge of the knights who fight on horseback. It can be seen that their combat mode is also based on the vehicle formation as the core, and the infantry and cavalry are mixed and combined operations.

On the march, the chariots moved in columns. The last vehicle of each column is the flag car, and the signal flag controls the dispatch of this formation. The convoy advanced in four formations, two of which were on the periphery and two on the inside. The outer detachments were longer and were deployed on the front and rear flanks of the inner detachments, with these staggered convoys acting as flanks.

After assembling, the chariots are arranged in a circular defensive formation, and the chariots are tightly linked with chains, so that the defensive formation can be quickly carried out and arranged into a circular melee position. After the vehicle was deployed, the soldiers unloaded the bars and harnesses, and then lowered the defensive planks. When possible, soldiers dug trenches in front of the chariots and covered part of the wheels with excavated earth to protect the wheels.

The horses remained near the inside of the chariot ramparts, ready to be used quickly again if needed. The horses are guarded by the rider and the shieldbearer, while the shieldbearer also covers the narrow spaces of the battle workshop. In the gaps of each chariot and workshop stood armed soldiers with cold weapons, flanked by musketeers and crossbowmen. Inside the circular fortress where the chariots were arranged, there were also cavalry detachments ready to take turns supporting the combat crews of the convoy.

The Hussite chariot has many advantages, but the disadvantages are also fatal, and its heavy body in the past discouraged Zhao Hao. After recovering Jiangnan, the Song army captured the Luzhou Horse Farm in the twelve horse farms of the Yuan Dynasty, plus a number of captured war horses, although the shortage of horses has been alleviated, but it is far from enough to establish a strong cavalry according to this, so spending a small amount of money to do big things is still Zhao Yu's principle of doing things.

The main opponents of the Great Song Dynasty who seized Jiangnan and advanced into the Central Plains were concentrated in the northwest and northeast regions, and the adaptation of chariots to the terrain included plains, grasslands, plateaus and other places. As for the terrain of the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun, it is not conducive to the chariot formation or the cavalry, so neither side has an advantage. The use of chariots to maintain strategic mobility is still the only choice, but the Hussite chariot that is too heavy is not Zhao Hao's choice, he needs to ensure the operational needs, collect the advantages of various chariots, and then optimize to design a chariot with balanced comprehensive capabilities......