The tribes on the grassland are inseparable from horses, thousands of years ago, there are pictures of horses and horses on the murals in the Yinshan area, and those rough lines show that in the domestication and riding of horses, the grassland has a more ancient history than the Central Plains. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

The same is true of the Donghu people, who have been inseparable from horses since the beginning of their tribe formation.

There is such a legend about horses in the Chishan area: after the formation of the dust world, the Donghu people use tools to work for a long time, and the limbs are divided into hands and feet, although it is convenient, however, the running is far less fast than the four-legged animal, the Donghu people want to escape the danger with the help of a good running animal, and they are not satisfactory after trying the cattle and sheep, the cattle are too clumsy, and the sheep are too weak. Until one day, the ancestors of Donghu saw a wild horse being chased by wild beasts in great danger, so they rescued the wild horse from danger, and the wild horse was grateful to the Donghu people, saying: "I will not forget the grace of regeneration you gave me." ”

Then one day, the grassland was hit by a fire, and the Donghu people and wild horses fled with them, but the people ran too slowly on two legs, and the fire was about to fight. In an emergency, the mustang lowered its head and said, "Ride on my back!" So the men seized the horse's mane and got on the horse's back, and ran out with haste to do so. In the end, both men and horses survived. Since then, Donghu people and horses have become loyal friends who depend on each other......

Whether this legend is true or not, it is precisely because of the successful domestication of wild horses that the grasslands ushered in an epoch-making change. Without horses, the grassland economy could not be operated, so the Donghu people attached great importance to horses, and the number of horses became a tent and a sign of the strength and wealth of the tribe.

Under the fox furry hunting city, Hu Er can ride a horse at the age of ten. Horses were used by the Donghu people for warfare and hunting. In Donghu, both men and women rode horses, and only the lowliest slaves and weak old men were deprived of the right to ride horses.

It is precisely because of this tradition that the Donghu people only think that they are the people who know horses best in the world and can give full play to the functions of horses, until they met Zhao Jun today......

Unlike last year's slightly hasty expedition to the grassland, this time, the Zhao army was obviously prepared, and they not only relied on the caravans that went deep into the grasslands in Yidun to find out the habits of the Donghu people in the spring and summer. In order to make this expedition foolproof, it also relied on the strong national strength to create an expeditionary force with the coordination of chariots, feet and horses, and under the layers of nets, the most cunning jackal Liuhe on the grassland was also forced into a desperate situation.

This is a tactic that the Donghu people have never thought of and have never seen: the crescent-shaped barrier formed by Wugang chariots slowly advances, the 3,000 Taiyuan foot soldiers stabilize their positions, and the 4,000 county cavalry guards the two wings, standing still under the attack of the Donghu people, but slowly forcing them backwards.

As the battlefield space where the Donghu people could maneuver was slowly squeezed, Zhao Qi, who was located in the north of the battlefield, began to put leather armor on the horses, and the riders also wore simple helmets and thick leather armor, and those in the front row even wore iron chain mail, shining in the sun.

This heavy cavalry, numbering 1,000 and known as the "Iron Cavalry", was an elite unit built by Zhao Wuxian after the "Iron Armored Army". In the past, they had been stationed in Shangjun to guard against the Qin State, and their main weapon was a spear of one and a half zhang, and each soldier also carried a ring-headed knife or an iron gun around his waist.

As soon as these guys who were almost armed to the teeth appeared, they shocked the Donghu riders, although they also wore some equipment, but at most they were some animal skins and thin armor, I had never seen cavalry still so armed, those cavalry with armor on their bodies, as if they weighed hundreds of pounds, could they run? Can I participate in the battle?

"The bulkier it is, the slower it is."

The 3,000 Donghu riders who were ordered to stop the post division wanted to harass them, but the horses of the heavy cavalry were covered with leather armor on their heads and had a curtain on their chests to resist light arrows. So no matter how disturbing the Donghu people were, only seven or eight horses were shot and wounded in total, and the riders were indifferent even when the arrows were hit in the chest - the arrows of the Donghu people were so bad that there were no iron arrows at all, and there were less than half of the bronze arrows, and more stone arrows and bone arrows, how could they break the thick armor of Zhao Qi? In this way, the heavy cavalry continued to line up in an orderly manner against the harassing light arrows.

What's more, there were also 4,000 light cavalry of Zhao Guoshangjun coming around from both flanks, restricting the play of the Donghu people.

The task of these light cavalry was to reconnoiter and cover, provide fire support to the heavy cavalry in wartime, clear out the remaining enemy, and follow the pursuit. Light cavalry generally do not wear armor except for a helmet. Their main weapon was the bow, and the quiver carried two kinds of arrows, one lighter, with small, pointed arrows, for long-range projectiles, and the heavier, with large, wide arrows, for shooting at close range.

The same was true of the Shichiyo-gun light cavalry on the Southern Front, which had been rigorously trained and carefully selected for their horses. Zhao Wuxian realized early on that without high-quality soldiers and horses, it would be difficult to achieve good mobility. Therefore, the cavalry of Zhao State, except for Rong Di's subordinate army, were all selected from the good families who brought their own horses. The sons of the good families of the border counties or Yecheng were sent to the barracks at the age of thirteen or fourteen for strict training in horseback riding and shooting, so that they all possessed excellent skills in controlling horses and weapons, but they were slightly inferior to the Donghu people in controlling horses.

However, the strict discipline formed by these Zhao cavalry in the process of training is incomparable to the Donghu herdsmen with a loose nature, and it is precisely because of this strict military discipline that the cavalry of Daijun can still stabilize their positions in the last defeat and retreat, and do not collapse and scatter.

Now, they're back, with a strong desire for revenge!

……

On this grassland in the upper reaches of Leshui, tens of thousands of horsemen gathered, the smoke and dust in the center of the battlefield rolled, and there was a faint thunderous sound coming, obviously a large number of Donghu cavalry were constantly running, they were already being attacked by the Zhao army in the north and south, the east is the remnants of the gravel mountain, and the west is Rao Leshui, for a time there is no way out, can only try to break through the past.

However, not only was the Wugang car formation indestructible, but the light cavalry of the Zhao army was not vegetarian, and the north and south lines had a total of 8,000 light cavalry, divided into four corners: east, west, north and south, each corner was 2,000, 1,000 in front, and 1,000 in response. They continued to rush out of the formation and plunged into the ranger battles two or three miles away from the line, tangling with the Donghu rangers and covering the infantry and heavy cavalry formations.

The Donghu people flexibly controlled the horses to and fro, gathered and scattered from time to time to attack the Zhao country rangers with the riding bow, the Zhao army fought back, the ringing of the riding bow and bowstring came from afar, and from time to time there were people from both sides falling off their horses, and the fight was very fierce.

In solo or skirmishes, the Donghu people may be able to gain the upper hand in the competition by virtue of their familiarity with the terrain and skillful riding and archery. However, in this kind of large-scale battle, they had limited space to roam on horseback, after all, the Zhao army had the advantage in equipment and tactics, and the Donghu rangers could not get the slightest advantage, and their range of activities was constantly compressing to the center of the battlefield.

After the Zhao army's light cavalry repelled the Donghu people, they sent sentry cavalry to inform their Chinese army of the situation.

"General, the rangers of the Donghu people have been repulsed, and we have also made contact with the post Sima, and the northern army is ready to attack at any time."

"Great goodness!" Sima Xuqu of Taiyuan County was overjoyed and ordered: "Wugang chariot formation, advance north!" He then personally sounded the rumbling drum of the beginning of the campaign.

After hearing the reply to the sound of the drums, the new child dog who was in charge of commanding the light cavalry of Daijun also waved his banner and ordered the light cavalry on both flanks of the southern front to start outflanking the past, covering the Wugang chariot formation, and driving the Donghu people to the middle.

The entire battlefield is more than ten miles long and wide, and in addition to the rapid exchange through the whistle Qibin, the two Zhao armies mainly communicate through the color of smoke.

Zhao Jun also used wolf smoke, and after a while, red smoke mixed with red paint rose from the southern wilderness, like a smear of blood in the sky......

"This is the signal of a general offensive." Putting down the clairvoyant mirror, the post that had been enduring for a long time also asked people to wave their flags left and right, and ordered loudly: "Blow the trumpet of the advance!" Kill with me, and use the sword in your hand to tell the Donghu people that Huaxia men can ride and fight, and their courage is far beyond Hu Lu's ability! ”

……

"Ahh

As the empty sound of several horns resounded through the grassland, on the north side of the battlefield, four thousand light cavalry began to retreat from the struggle, with two hundred men as combat units, lined up in many parallel columns.

When the horn sounded again, the slow speed of the columns brought the sound of horses' hooves, and the light cavalry lightly clamped the belly of the horses, and began to slowly speed up and run south. These roughly parallel hussar columns, advancing in a wide arc line.

The Donghu people had already sensed that this was a signal for the Zhao army to launch a general attack, and Liu He expected that this was the Zhao cavalry who was going to rely on the sharpness of the armor and collide head-on with the Donghu people. So he also made a countermeasure, so that the attack in the south was changed to containment, and two thousand horsemen were transferred to the north to help, and the Donghu people with tribes as a unit, and the Donghu people with uneven numbers also roared towards the Zhao cavalry who was slowly moving south.

However, what everyone didn't expect was that the first Zhao cavalry column that encountered the Donghu Striker chose to flee without a fight!

Seeing that column quickly turned around and retreated to the side, the Donghu people were a little stunned, but before they could react, not far from the front of the side, the second, third, and fourth columns of the Zhao army swept in, and they did not directly rush into the cavalry of the Donghu people, but continued to circle and galloped towards the rear of the Donghu people's battle line.

The eyes were full of surging horses, the scene was extremely chaotic, and the leaders of Donghu who led the army to charge did not dare to be careless, looking left and right, only to find out in horror that those Zhao cavalry columns had occupied their flanks, and kept shooting bows and arrows to this side!

If the light is better than the bow immediately, Zhao Qi may not be as good as the Donghu people who shoot and hunt for a living, but this kind of enemy shooting is dense within a hundred steps, as long as the bow and crossbow in his hand are strong enough, the hit rate is naturally very impressive. For a time, the strong bow was like a piano, and an impassioned war song was played. In the dense sound of strings, one after another Donghu people fell to the ground with arrows.

Although they also made some counterattacks, after all, the armor of the Zhao cavalry was better, and for a while, the already poorly ordered front of the Donghu cavalry became more and more chaotic.

It turned out that after more than ten years of development, the tactics of the cavalry of the Zhao army had become quite flexible from the initial three-plate axe. When they were training, the most common method of warfare was to divide the light cavalry into many columns and advance in an arcing line. When the light cavalry of the first column encountered the enemy, the column either stopped advancing or retreated slightly according to the situation, while the rest of the troops continued to advance, using an arc formation to occupy the enemy's flanks and rear, and continued to harass.

This tactic forced the Donghu people to hesitate to retreat in order to protect their flanks, and the light cavalry of the various columns took the opportunity to approach the enemy and shoot with bows, and the arrows of the Zhao army were a whole era ahead of the stone arrows and bone arrows of the Donghu army, and the continuous casualties made the Donghu cavalry even more confused.

It is similar to the "Rava tactic" most commonly used by the Mongols in the later Western Expeditions, which first harassed the enemy formation with an arc-shaped skirmish front to lure the enemy army to waver......

But this is not the end of it, the real killer of this tactic is the heavy cavalry hidden behind the light cavalry......

Behind the light horses running around, a bright red color kept jumping, it was the red tassels on the top of the heavy cavalry's heads fluttering in the wind, like a flame that brought light in the middle of the night, and it was extremely conspicuous on the bright green grassland!

PS: There's another chapter later.,The Spring Festival is over.,July will also return to normal updates.,Ask for a recommendation ticket!