Chapter 126: The Iron Rider (1)

Yang Qiu stepped on the war horse, ran around the school field, danced the spear in his hand, and made an assassination move. The biggest advantage of the bilateral stirrup and Takahashi saddle is that it can liberate the power of man, allowing the cavalry to devote all their energy to operating the weapon, instead of clamping the horse's belly hard when necessary to ensure that it does not fall to the ground.

Assassination, archery, Yang Qiu tried a few times, then jumped off the horse, and said happily: "Good baby, really good!" ”

Xu Rong and Li Kan and other generals also tried it, and it was really much more convenient. After the use of this equipment, the combat effectiveness of the cavalry increased considerably.

"There are many craftsmen in the city, so let them hurry up their work, and the saddles and stirrups don't need to be made very beautifully, as long as they can be used. The horseshoe told them to practice with other animals, and when they were proficient, they nailed the horses. Chen Cheng said: "Pick some people with good riding skills to come out, regardless of whether they are Han or Qiang, Huns." On that day, you went to pick three or four hundred prisoners of war who were willing to take refuge in them. ”

"Plus, with these things, longer and heavier weapons can be used on horseback, allowing craftsmen to build more spears. The short spears used by the Huns are generally less than a zhang, so our weapons only need to be longer than those of the Huns........ Well, it's just two feet. ”

Just when the Marquis of Xubu Gudu was rushing to his hometown in a hurry, the people in Linrong City were also very busy. Forge new equipment and nail horseshoe to warhorses......... The sound of "tinkling" in the city rang out from morning to night.

Chen Cheng rode a war horse along the banks of the Yellow River and inspected all the nearby places suitable for crossing the river. His current "Scouting" skill has been upgraded to level four, and he can probe the situation within a radius of forty miles, but he still has to see it with his own eyes, and he has to ride a horse and run on it himself to get it more clearly.

Although it is said that the Yellow River is harmful and only profitable, on both sides of the Yellow River in the middle of Linrong and Lian County, there is no obstruction from Helan Mountain, and almost all of them are barren land. It can grow some grass, but it can't compare to the foot of Helan Mountain, let alone planting crops. When you get to the vicinity of Linrong, because there is a shade of the Yinshan Mountains in the north, the climatic conditions will be better.

As far as Chen honestly investigated, the terrain on the west side of the Yellow River in the middle section is relatively flat, unlike the hills and mountains in the east. When the Huns went south, they crossed the Yellow River after going south for a certain distance, and then invaded the north from the west of the Yellow River.

Chen Cheng judged that when the Huns came back, they would also take such a route. Because this is the only way to be the most convenient and fastest. In order to grasp the movements of the Huns as quickly as possible, he has been wandering around thirty or forty miles south of Linrong with a small number of soldiers and horses all day, so when the Huns began to build a pontoon bridge thirty miles away from Linrong, he was immediately discovered.

When the two pontoon bridges of the Huns were almost completed, Chen Cheng also ordered 3,000 cavalry in Linrong City and killed them in the direction of the Huns crossing the river. Of the 3,000 cavalrymen, only a thousand had new stirrups and saddles, and wielded spears of two feet and feet. It takes a lot of time for craftsmen to make these equipment, but nailing horseshoes is simpler, and as long as you are skilled, it is not a problem to nail dozens or hundreds of them a day. So the three thousand horses that attacked were nailed to their horseshoe.

With a horseshoe, the horse could gallop on some mountain roads or not very smooth roads without worrying about the horse's hooves breaking, which greatly increased the mobility of the cavalry. Thirty miles is neither near nor far, and for a cavalry with a farrier, it will take less than half an hour to rush through. Even if you take small steps to save horsepower, an hour can come.

The 3,000 cavalry under Chen Cheng's command was divided into three parts, and the 1,000 elites with new weapons and equipment were naturally led by himself, Xu Rong led 1,600 cavalry selected from the Han and Qiang people, and led 400 Xiongnu prisoners of war that day.

When the 3,000 cavalry drove out of the city gate, a Hun wizard with bright feathers on his head and a large beard was dancing at the city gate. The Huns have the most primitive totemic beliefs, this wizard was rescued from the knife by that day, and has been very cooperative these days, helping to pull a lot of prisoners of war anyway.

Chen Cheng naturally doesn't believe in these Shinto things, but even if others don't believe it, they will be affected to some extent. The Huns were very superstitious, not only the slave herdsmen at the bottom believed in it, but also most of the noble leaders at the top.

When the soldiers and horses were out of the city that day, he rode up to the wizard's side and asked in a loud voice, "Is it a good thing or a bad thing for us to attack this time?" ”

The wizard shook frantically for a while, then stopped, gasped and replied, "Good luck, good luck! ”

That day, he was overjoyed and asked, "So we're going to win?" ”

The wizard peeked at the Han soldiers on the side and said affirmatively, "You can win!" And an absolute victory! ”

That day turned to the Hun soldiers behind him and said loudly: "Did you hear it, the wizard said, the gods will bless us to victory!" ”

These Huns came over anyway, and their morale was very average, and there were quite a few people who wanted to run away halfway, and in fact, they had secretly run several of them these days. That day, he unceremoniously raised the butcher's knife and carried out the military discipline of "pulling out the team", that is: if one person escapes, the whole team will be killed!

Hearing that the wizard said that they would achieve a great victory, the morale of these evil Huns was a little stronger.

Three thousand cavalry marched unhurriedly, and it took an hour to reach the place where the pontoon bridge was. Many of the Huns have come, and the people on both sides of the Yellow River are neighing. When the cavalry of the first platoon appeared on the mound in the distance, the Huns on the east bank of the Yellow River immediately stirred.

"Enemy attack, enemy attack!"

The leaders of the nobles shouted at their soldiers, whipping their panicked men with their horses, telling them to mount their horses and prepare for battle. Some of the Hun cavalry, under the urging of the leaders, rushed towards the north, preparing to charge after the whole formation was over, and be sure to defeat the enemy in front of them.

However, Chen Cheng did not immediately lead his soldiers and horses to attack, but took a good time to descend the mound, leaving more than 1,000 cavalry in three rows. There are more than 300 riders in each row, about fifteen meters apart from the front and back, about one meter apart from the left and right, and one or two miles wide when unfolded.

The more than 1,000 cavalrymen were assault cavalry, armed with bilateral stirrups and high bridge saddles, and carried spears and shields more than three meters long, as well as spears and ring-headed knives. Because the spear was made in a hurry, the quality was very poor, and it was estimated that it would break after a few assassinations. At that point, it will be necessary to change to other weapons. The soldiers were all in armor, and most of the iron armor in the army was concentrated on the assault cavalry in the first row.

The 400 Hun cavalry of that day were in the second formation, using traditional weapons such as short spears and bows and arrows. Xu Rong brought 1,600 horsemen, the largest number, but his combat effectiveness was definitely not as good as the more than 1,000 horsemen in the first formation. Put them at the rear, firstly, because their combat effectiveness is very average, and secondly, to monitor the Huns in the second formation.

That day was well aware of this, but he could only obediently do it. Now it is the army of the Han people in front and behind, if he dares to think crookedly, under the attack from the front and back, it will be completely wiped out after a while. Moreover, he saw the power of those cavalry led by Chen Cheng himself, and he did not doubt that he could win the battle.

Besides, he personally cut off the heads of so many Hun nobles, even if he wanted to jump sideways repeatedly, it would have to be accepted by the Huns.

The Huns at the pontoon bridge were divided into two parts, a small number of soldiers and horses stayed in place to protect the pontoon bridge, and most of the Huns rushed towards the mound after hastily forming a team. They had nearly 8,000 soldiers and horses to cross the river, and even if they only took out half of them, they were more than the Han army on this side of the mound.

In the understanding of the Huns, when fighting in the field, the greater the number of cavalry, the greater the advantage. It doesn't matter if you have a lot of equipment, as long as you have enough people, you can win.

Nearly 7,000 Hun cavalry rushed over, the momentum was huge and overwhelming, but there was no order. At the beginning, you could still see the formation, and after running for two miles, they were already completely mixed together, and there was no establishment at all. Seeing that the equipment and tactics of the Huns had not changed, Chen Cheng knew that although this battle had not yet been fought, he had already won.

The Huns began to charge, and Chen Cheng immediately ordered his soldiers to launch a surprise attack. Three rows of assault cavalry, under the guidance of the general banner, quickly rushed up against the Huns. The hedge of cavalry and cavalry, the victory of a large number of troops, it would have been like this. However, this time, Chen Chengjun used epoch-making weapons and equipment to teach the Huns who once dominated the steppe a lesson, teaching them to recognize what is the correct use of cavalry.

More than three meters of cavalry spears easily used less than two meters long short spears to pick off the Huns, many Huns struggled to use the short spears in their hands to stab the opposite side, but helplessly found that the weapons in their hands were simply out of reach. The enemy, on the other hand, easily tied them into meat skewers one by one with their long riding spears.

Many Huns angrily threw out their spears and used them as spears, causing some damage to the Liangzhou army, but they could not change the situation on the battlefield.

After Chen Cheng routinely shot two arrows, he didn't care what he hit, and immediately switched to the melee mode of spear and shield. With the new equipment, his combat effectiveness is stronger than before. Amid the deafening sound of horses' hooves, a four-meter-long cavalry spear stabbed into the body of the Huns on the opposite side. The tip of the spear pierced the enemy's chest, provoking him off horseback.

The Huns, who were not yet dead, stared at a pair of dead fish-like eyes and struggled desperately on their riding spears. Chen Cheng exerted force with his right hand, shook the barrel of the gun, and threw the enemy out. Behind him, there was a "puff puff" and "click" sounds, the former was a horse gun piercing through the flesh, and the latter was a gun burst under the impact of high speed.

After using the horseshoe, the maximum speed of the horse gallop became faster, and the cavalry spear was longer, so there was a certain chance that the cavalry would break with each assault. After all, it is a temporary weapon, and it is not comparable to a well-made horse lance.

The assault cavalry of the first row broke up the formation of the Huns, and the assault cavalry of the last two rows completely tore apart the battle formation of the Huns. Although there were only more than 1,000 cavalry in the first formation, the impact shown was better than that of the more than 7,000 cavalry of the Huns.