Soon, Ma Chao was appointed as a partial general, commanding 10,000 cavalry; In charge is Ma Teng's youngest, strongest fighting spirit, best equipped 10,000 elite soldiers, which is also the hope of the Xiliang army.

As a traverser, Ma Chao knows that in the era of cold weapons, cavalry, especially heavy cavalry, is undoubtedly the strongest type of troops on the battlefield, and it is a big killer when the war is stalemate! It's just that both good horses and iron armor were scarce resources in ancient times, so all armies in ancient times could only equip a small number of heavy cavalry, hoping that it would play a role in changing the situation of war.

Although the previous "Tianshui pair" strategy was good, if it was not supported by an invincible army, it would be empty talk. Although the Han Sui issue was temporarily resolved, if Hanzhong could not be taken for a long time, the contradiction would still break out sooner or later. Only by waging foreign wars, constantly conquering and expanding the territory can we cover up internal contradictions, unite as one, and unite with the outside world.

The 10,000 cavalry commanded by Ma Chao, although it was the best army in Xiliang, there was no heavy cavalry in it. Heavy cavalry, with its powerful lethality, can often determine the outcome of a war at a critical moment. As far as Ma Chao knows, the time when the all-iron armored heavy cavalry appeared in ancient times was the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties; In this era of the late Eastern Han Dynasty, there was no formed heavy cavalry, and everyone did not know its power, let alone use heavy infantry and hook sickle to deal with it. If Ma Chao can create 500 heavy cavalry, the effect of his first appearance on the battlefield will be unparalleled, and it will definitely shock the world and bring a big victory!

Therefore, the first problem at present is to create a sufficient number of heavy cavalry. To build a heavy cavalry, you must first have a good horse, and only a tall, handsome thoroughbred can withstand heavy armor. It is fast and explosive, so that it can launch a heavy cavalry group charge like Mount Tai's overwhelming.

Fortunately, Xiliang lacks everything, except for horses, Tianshui and Weiwei are both famous cities that produce good horses, and Ma Teng, Cheng Yi and Han Sui's son-in-law Yan Xing all have "breeding" stunts, and they are all masters of breeding good horses, so the problem of horses is relatively simple. 500 heavy cavalry requires 1,000 to 1,500 good horses that meet the requirements, and this horse Chao can go to his father Ma Teng to solve the problem.

With horses, the second thing that needed to be solved was metallurgy, which needed to create sophisticated horse armor, armor, spears and stirrups. The lack of stirrups was an important reason why heavy cavalry did not appear in the Three Kingdoms period. A stirrup is a pair of pedals hung on both sides of a saddle for horseback riders to use to step on their feet when they get on the horse and when they are riding. The role of stirrups is not only to help people get on the horse, but also to support the rider's feet when riding, so as to maximize the advantages of riding a horse and effectively protect the safety of the rider.

In the absence of stirrups, riding a horse was a chore in ancient times, because when the horse galloped or leaped, the rider sat in the saddle with his feet in the air, and had to clamp the horse's legs tightly: at the same time he could hold the horse's mane tightly with his hands to prevent him from falling off the horse. The role of stirrups is not only to help people get on horses, but more importantly, to support the feet of the rider when riding, so as to maximize the advantages of riding, and at the same time effectively protect the safety of the rider, so the stirrup is very important for heavy cavalry!

Although the stirrup is very important, it is very simple to make, as long as Ma Chao draws a drawing and adds enough iron, the blacksmith of the quartermaster department can make it. It's just that enough iron is the most difficult for Xiliang, which is economically underdeveloped and lacks iron, to create more than 500 sets of equipment, Tianshui City is estimated to have to smash the pot and sell iron!

Ma Chao came to his father Ma Teng's residence, 500 sets of heavy cavalry equipment, without his father's full support, it was impossible to complete.

"Meet my father!"

"It's Meng Qi, good boy, you shocked your Uncle Han Sui yesterday! Don't talk about him, after listening to your uncle, my father was also shocked, seeing that you usually don't show the dew, your strategy has far surpassed that of the military advisor, and you deserve to be a good son of your father, haha! ”

"The father has won the award, the child is still inexperienced, he has not experienced much actual combat, and he still needs to learn more from the military advisor!"

"Chao'er is so modest is not like your usual style, he didn't give you a military position before his father, he just wanted to sharpen your temperament, as the saying goes, 'those who are too rigid are easy to break, and those who are good and soft are not defeated'! Before you became an adult, I had the same opinion as your uncle, Chao'er, you were more than brave, resourceful and a little arrogant, and I was quite worried about my father, but I didn't expect that after a serious illness on your adult birthday, you suddenly became mature and steady, and you thought about things quite carefully, and your father was very pleased! ”

After chatting with his father for a while, Ma Chao stepped into the topic: "The child came this time to ask for something!" ”

"What else do we want to talk about between father and son, I am happy today, as long as your requirements are positive, I will satisfy you for my father! After all, after being a father for a hundred years, I still have to rely on you to take over, and everything in Xiliang will be yours at that time! ”

"After discussing with the military advisor yesterday, the child decided to build an invincible cavalry, the most important of which is the heavy cavalry! The child recently familiarized himself with the military book and found that the impact of the heavy cavalry on a battle is huge, our army urgently needs 500 heavy cavalry, as long as there are 500 heavy cavalry, the child guarantees to capture Hanzhong in a year! ”

"Heavy cavalry? This is relatively expensive, and it is generally used by nobles as a guard of honor, and Chao'er has to build 500? ”

"Yes, the nobles of the Central Plains, they can't make heavy cavalry in batches because the heavy cavalry has too high requirements for horses, and the Central Plains doesn't have enough good horses to arm a formed heavy cavalry! And the most important thing we lack is good horses, father, think about it, on the battlefield, if a group of men and horses are equipped with excellent armor, with shields and spears, and carry out high-speed assaults in a decisive battle, what kind of army can stop it? 500 heavy cavalry can chisel through any formation of any army, with heavy cavalry, our army will be invincible, invincible! ”

"Horses are enough, the problem is that we don't have so many fine iron tools in Tianshui City, and if we want to build 500 sets of heavy cavalry equipment, we have to gather all our resources and hollow out the old bottom for my father and your uncle Han Sui! Chao'er, are you sure this heavy cavalry has so much power? Is it worth our efforts to build? ”

"Yes, the heavy cavalry is very important to the child's strategy and tactics, as long as there are 500 heavy cavalry, led by the child, the child has the confidence to defeat all enemies!"

"Okay, if you believe in you once as a father, it can be regarded as a gift of adulthood for your father! However, these 500 sets of equipment have been stripped of our old bottom, you must cherish it, we really can't afford to lose! You give me a month, and I'll prepare you with 500 sets of heavy cavalry equipment! You hurry up and train the soldiers, a year later, your Uncle Han Sui and I are waiting to see your big play, if you can successfully defeat Hanzhong, we will celebrate your achievements in Hanzhong City, and hold a grand wedding for you and Xiaoying as a reward for you! ”

"Thank you father, for your success, the child will go and select soldiers and form a heavy cavalry brigade!"

Finally solved the problem of equipment, Ma Chao breathed a long sigh of relief, the rest of everything depends on himself, he must train these 10,000 cavalry to become an invincible division!

Ma Chao found his 16-year-old brother Ma Tie, the younger brother Ma Tie has been tall and powerful since he was a child, and he is purely based on strength, compared to his adult brother, it is not much better! You must know that Ma Chao is the best figure in martial arts, and the whole army will be able to fight with Ma Chao! After Ma Chao became an adult, his advantages in martial arts became more and more obvious, so Ma Tie's strength can be seen! It couldn't be more suitable for Ma Tie to be the captain of this heavy cavalry brigade!

"Ma Tie, do you want to be a cavalryman?"

"Great, is my eldest brother going to be my military officer? My younger brother has long wanted to be a cavalryman, but unfortunately my father thinks I am young and has always refused to give me a military position, only letting me practice martial arts, and I am almost suffocated to death! ”

"If you want to be a cavalryman, you can be a cavalryman, I will give you the position of a thousand cavalry commanders, but you have to work hard for me and train the soldiers, I have made a military order to my father and Uncle Han Sui, we must train an invincible division!" If the training effect is not good, my Ten Thousand Cavalry Commander will not be able to do it, and your Thousand Cavalry Commander will not want to do it, continue to come back and practice your martial arts! And you, the commander of a thousand horsemen, are not given for nothing, you have to fight for it with your strength! In two days, I will organize a fight, and you have to win, and you will be the commander of a thousand horsemen. In the past two days, you have to review your martial arts, don't practice for more than ten years, and you will lose, and then you will not lose your face, but the face of our whole family! ”

"Big brother, please rest assured, in addition to beating you in martial arts, I haven't been afraid of anyone, junior brother, you should know the strength of the younger brother, the second brother is not my opponent, and it is like playing with three or five ordinary big men! The little brother must snatch the thousand cavalry commanders, and the big brother, you put your heart in your stomach! ”

"You'd better be careful, don't miss your hooves and regret it too late! In addition, you can be a thousand cavalry commanders, I am your eldest brother at home, and I am the commander in the army, you must obey my orders, if you dare to act without permission, don't blame me for turning my face and being ruthless, and the military law will deal with it! ”

"Big brother, don't worry, these little brothers all understand, my father has already taught me! I'm going to practice my martial arts now, and then you'll see how I perform! ”