The military system of the grassland peoples has always been that all the people are soldiers. Nomadic cavalry were required to bring their own weapons, armor, and horses in response to the leader's call for military service. However, the 1,000 "Royal Court Iron Horsemen" under He Lian were an exception.

The founder of the "Royal Court Iron Horse" is, of course, the Xianbei male lord Tanshi Huai. In order to ensure their own safety and maintain a military deterrent to the rest of the Xianbei tribes, Tanshi Huai ordered that all Xianbei nobles must send their adult sons and nephews to Danhan Mountain to accept his selection. The selected warriors were the original source of the "Iron Cavalry of the Royal Court".

This kind of behavior is the usual method of the grassland peoples. The sons and nephews of nobles who were conscripted into the army were not only well-trained and highly combat-capable, but also faintly a kind of hostage in disguise. And for the children of the nobles who have been recruited, it is not a loss-making business to have the opportunity to make friends with other nobles, and they may also be favored by the king Tanshihuai, so that they will be entrusted with important tasks.

Speaking of which, this practice of Tanshi Huai is just a continuation of the old wisdom of the original Huns, and it is not an innovative invention. And the "royal court iron horse" in the Tanshihuai period, when they were recruited, they had to bring their own weapons, armor, war horses, and servants, and even their living expenses in the royal court had to bear a considerable part of themselves.

At the beginning of the Tanshi Huai period, the scale of the "Royal Court Iron Horse" was slightly larger than now. After He Lian succeeded to the throne, due to the lack of prestige, many members of the "Royal Court Iron Cavalry" took the opportunity to leave, so that in a certain period, the scale of the "Royal Court Iron Cavalry" once shrank to 600 people.

In order to make up for the lack of troops, Helian had to select herdsmen with outstanding courage and skill in riding and archery among his direct tribes to fill the vacancy. Of course, these poor herders could not afford to bring their own weapons, armor and horses. As a result, Helian had to provide them with the equipment they needed.

However, in this way, those noble sons and nephews will not do it. Even lowly herdsmen were given free weapons and horses. So, wouldn't they, noble warriors, deserve better treatment?

Helian, who had a headache, was overwhelmed by this rumor. In order to maintain the loyalty of this elite army in his hands, the sad Helian finally had to announce that the equipment and war horses of all the members of the "Royal Court Iron Cavalry" were provided and fed by Danhan Mountain.

That's not a small expense.

Why didn't Tanshi Huai do it back then?

It's just that you don't have that much wealth. The wealth production capacity on the grassland is terrifyingly low, and since Tanshi Huai has enough prestige to make his subordinates obedient, of course he will not spend this high amount of money on raising troops.

For this reason, Helian had to greatly increase the tribute required by the tribes under the jurisdiction of the Danhan Mountain Royal Court, so that he was secretly numbered and cursed, and fell into the notoriety of "greedy for money".

Fortunately, in this incident, Helian did not gain nothing. The so-called "eat people's mouths soft, take people's hands short". The "Wang Ting Iron Horseman" who accepted and even offered him, in terms of loyalty and obedience to the dispatch, is afraid that it is stronger than the period of the old Wang Tanshihuai.

Since the "Royal Court Iron Cavalry" received the offerings of Danhan Mountain, their war horses naturally would not lack forage in winter. Even if there is an occasional shortage of forage, the iron cavalry will "consciously" turn out the winter forage accumulated by the herdsmen and feed their horses.

As for the cattle and sheep of those herdsmen, did they starve to death because of this?

Please, we're feeding the horses of King Helian. You slaves under the rule of the king, still dare to argue with the king of Helian?

Therefore, the "Wang Ting Iron Cavalry", which appeared in front of the Taixing Army and took on the task of blocking the enemy after the break, rode a war horse, although it was not as fat and strong as in autumn, but it was enough to support a fierce battle.

"Helian is going to escape!"

Xie Xun's voice was not loud, just enough for Zhang Yan beside him to hear clearly.

At this time, Xie Xun's front army had approached a place only one and a half miles away from the Xianbei camp.

Based on Xie Xun's understanding of the tactics of the Xianbei cavalry, no commander would send the most elite troops in his hands to fight hard as soon as the battle began.

For those Xianbei leaders, ordinary herdsmen are the most cost-effective cannon fodder. Even if it's dead, go back to your own tribe to collect it. In the vast and boundless grassland, what is lacking is never a two-legged shepherd, but an excellent pasture with abundant water and grass.

Tribes that occupy good pastures can easily get the human resources they need from countless small wandering tribes struggling to survive. The elite cavalry unit is the key to maintaining its own position. If there is a loss, even if this battle is won, it will not outweigh the loss!

What the? Suppose those cavalry are not elite?

It's all in iron armor, not elite enough?

You must know that on the grassland, the price of a pair of iron armor is equivalent to several strong young herdsmen.

The elite will not be sent out as cannon fodder. However, when the rear is broken, dispatching part of the elite cavalry is a more common method used by the Xianbei people when dealing with the enemy's pursuit.

You know, the nomadic cavalry, by its very nature, is still a militia force. Fight with the wind, and they have no problem. However, if you want to let these nomadic cavalry carry out dangerous activities such as "breaking off" in an unfavorable situation, the commander must first risk the collapse of the whole army!

In this case, if you don't want to lose too much when retreating, the commander can only send out reliable elite troops around him to carry out the task of breaking off.

Zhang Yan has cooperated with Xie Xun for more than a year, and naturally listened to Xie Xun's analysis of the combat characteristics of the grassland cavalry. Hearing Xie Xun say this, Zhang Yan replied:

"Do you want me to drive them away?"

"No."

Xie Xun stared at the Xianbei Iron Rider who was staring at the front and categorically denied the idea.

"The enemy is all elite, and if you really want to talk about the kung fu of cavalry and archery, our army is far inferior. You're just riding dozens of horses, and you want to fight hundreds of elites, and you have no chance of winning. ”

After saying this, Xie Xun turned his head to a herald and said:

"When I went to report to the commander, I said that most of the enemy troops would retreat, and the advance of our army would inevitably be dragged down. What's next, please give me instructions! ”

"No!"

When the herald departed, Xie Xun ordered:

"Whole army, slow down, guard the bows!"

At the sound of an order, hundreds of light leather shields suddenly appeared, providing enough shelter for the front of the Taixing army. As long as an order is given, a well-trained Tai Xing army can raise a shield wall above his head, so that the incoming arrows will return in vain.

This scene fell in the eyes of the commander of the "Royal Court Iron Cavalry", but it only provoked a chuckle from him.

"These men are also clever."

Raising a shield, even the lightest leather shield, can reduce the lethality of the arrow by seventy or eighty. However, at the same time, raising a shield, even the lightest leather shield, can make the soldier's physical strength double. He believes that if he consumes these Han troops, sooner or later he will be able to drag these Han troops to exhaustion.

It's a pity that this kind of situation will never happen.

Zhang Madness heard Xie Xun's judgment, and he had a number in his heart.

Since Helian wants to escape, it is impossible for the Taixing army, with foot soldiers as the main force, to stop it. However, it is okay to take the opportunity to bite off a piece of meat from the Xianbei people.

Now, it depends on whether the teeth of the Taixing cavalry are sharp enough.

"Herald! Guerrillas attack! ”

The banner of the Chinese army began to wave. The cavalry soldiers who received the order gathered their personal weapons and armor, and then jumped on their horses. Some careful riders even grabbed a handful of black beans from the bag on their bodies and sent them to the mouth of the war horse to give the war horse the final meal.

Since the beginning of the war, the soldiers of the guerrilla cavalry, in order to maintain the physical strength of the war horses, have been advancing on foot with the Chinese army. Seeing that the striker easily defeated a Xianbei division and fished out a large number of heads, the eyes of many guerrilla soldiers were red.

Song Guo rode on his horse and took a deep breath. Although he was well-known in the state, he had never commanded such a large scale of cavalry on a formal battlefield. If it weren't for the arrogance from Lejin and the transfer of Han Dang, the deputy general of the cavalry team, to assist Song Guo, I am afraid that the guerrillas would not even be straightened out at this moment!

Therefore, the current guerrillas, although Song Guo is a thousand-man leader, the real person in charge is the deputy general Han Dang. Fortunately, Song Guo is older and has more experience, so he knows how to make trade-offs, and his mind to fight for power and profit is not heavy. Otherwise, Zhang Qiang would rather not have these merge state rangers, and would not appoint Song Guo as the commander of a thousand people.

Fortunately, Han Dang is also a general knowledge. He served as a deputy general under Le Jin for two years, and he was naturally familiar with things in the army. Seeing Han Dang nodding to himself, Song Guo immediately shouted at the top of his voice:

"Listen! Let's go! ”

In fact, on an open battlefield, the voice of an individual is hardly heard far. Relying on passwords and commanding 100 people is almost the limit of a person. With a large force of nearly 1,000 guerrillas, the commander-in-chief could only convey the instructions of the commander-in-chief through golden drums and banners. That's why, in a regular army, there are always a lot of flags and a lot of drums and trumpets.

Although Song Guo's guerrillas have not been in the army for a long time, after all, they have been trained for more than half a month, and they can still complete the basic military instructions. These battlefield recruits, relying on their horses and strong physical strength, launched a charge against the iron cavalry of the Xianbei people.

Judging by the momentum alone, these knights are like a raging wave, trying to drown everything in their path!

PS: Sure enough, there is no motivation for codewords when I am sick. But finally there is a chayexschayexs. recommendation, Ming'er for two more. It's a lot of pressure for a slow hand stream.