"My lord, there are three differences in the decoration of this yellow horse."

Sun Wu replied to Qingji, "One is the cushion, the second is the pedal, and the third is the "iron shoe". Generally speaking, horses do not have such ornaments, or ...... Harness?"

"Hahahaha, Changqing, this is not a decoration, but a horse harness."

Qingji smiled and introduced Sun Wu and Wu Zixu.

He clapped his hands, and immediately three guards came over with trays.

On top of the trays, stirrups, horseshoes and saddles are placed.

Qingji first picked up a "Takahashi-style" saddle and said slowly, "This is a saddle. The transition from flat to high at both ends of the saddle limits the rider's tendency to slide back and forth, but provides longitudinal stability."

"This is the stirrup, which provides lateral stability by immobilizing the feet, while at the same time uniting the man and the horse with the assistance of the saddle, allowing the cavalry to use the speed of the horse to make a frontal impact."

After a pause, Qingji picked up the horseshoe again and said meaningfully, "This is the horseshoe. Don't look at it as just a small thing, it's not small!"

"The horse's hooves are in contact with the ground, and they will fall off quickly due to the friction of the ground and the corrosion of stagnant water.

"The use of a horseshoe not only protects the horse's hooves, but also gives the horse's hooves a firmer grip on the ground, which is good for both riding and driving!"

"Shhh

From Qingji's mouth, after learning the usefulness of the stirrups, saddles, and horseshoes, Sun Wu and Wu Zixu couldn't help but gasp and feel shocked.

If the horses were equipped with these harnesses, wouldn't it be easy to form a cavalry unit?

Actually, Qingji wasn't lying.

Horseshoes aside, the saddle and stirrup were the most important inventions of the complete harness after the horse's chew and bridle.

In the days without stirrups, people had to ride on the back of a bare horse, and only by grasping the reins or mane and clamping the horse's belly with their legs to keep themselves from falling off while the horse was galloping.

However, this method is very unreliable, first of all, it is easy to get tired after riding a horse for a long time, and at the same time, it is difficult to use the bow and arrow effectively on the back of a running horse.

In melee combat, the rider is unable to use swords and spears at will, and slashing or stabbing misses, and the collision of the blades of both sides can cause the rider to slide off the horse at any time.

Therefore, the cavalry training of this era was extremely difficult, the scale was difficult to shape, and the combat effectiveness was not as good as that of later generations!

In fact, in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, there was already a "saddle".

"Liutao" records: The general of the chariot and horse, the military horse is not equipped and the saddle is not prepared, and the punishment is punished.

The saddle is the saddle and the halter with a chewing mouth on the horse's head......

Until the late Warring States period and the Qin Dynasty, the cavalry's harness or equipment had saddle pads, decorated with Yingluo and short belts, the horse's belly had a belly belt, and the hips were strangled.

But, in the end, the so-called "saddle" is just a simple saddle pad!

The mainstay of the war in this era is for the chariot.

And the cavalry units can also be put into battle.

There are a large number of methods of training and selecting cavalry in "Liutao", such as requiring knights to "cross ravines in the dust", "rush the enemy and obstacles", etc., which shows the strictness of the selection and training of cavalry!

They were all horse-mounted cavalrymen without stirrups, which only more intensive training could make up for it.

"Drive!"

In order to convince Sun Wu and Wu Zixu, Qingji ordered the two to ride on a war horse equipped with bilateral stirrups, horseshoes and Takahashi saddles, and galloped all the way.

Their riding skills are not covered either.

Basically, the generals from the nobility have a certain equestrian background.

I saw that on the huge school field, Sun Wu and Wu Zixu drove their respective mounts, coming and going like the wind, kicking up billowing smoke and dust.

The sound of horses' hooves like thunder and explosion swept in.

Sun Wu and Wu Zixu, who were riding on horseback more and more easily, but had not yet finished their fun, ordered someone to get bows and arrows, and the arrows hit the opposite target without missing a shot.

So much so that they also tried to ride horses and chop and perform martial arts, and they all found that things were really the same as what Qingji said......

Finally, Sun Wu, who had dismounted from the horse, looked admiring, bowed to Qingji and said, "King, these stirrups, horseshoes and saddles are really treasures, indispensable equipment for cavalry, and a great weapon!"

"If this cavalry treasure can be equipped in large quantities in the army, then the cavalry will definitely be as important in war as the chariot, or even better!"

"Good."

As a traverser, Qingji, who has the advantage of foresight, naturally knows the strength of the cavalry equipped with stirrups, horseshoes and saddles!

To a large extent, the reason why the chariots that were in their prime-time glory were eliminated was because of the "Three Treasures of Cavalry......

"The widow has commanded the generals to make stirrups, horseshoes, and saddles. It will be ready for use in less than three months."

Qingji set his eyes on Wu Zixu's body, and said slowly: "Zixu, you are responsible for forming the Iron Cavalry Regiment for the widows, which can be said to be a long way to go."

"The widow needs at least a 10,000-strong iron horseman, and in a year, it can be worthy of an iron horse in a war. Zixu, you might be able to do it?"

As soon as he heard this, Wu Zixu immediately solemnly promised: "Respectfully accept the order!"

Wu Zixu: This is a reassurance.

Wu Zixu took this errand with a hard head before, but now he is full of confidence.

With stirrups, horseshoes and saddles, as well as plenty of war horses, why is it difficult for Wu Zixu to train an iron cavalry regiment?

The cavalry of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period were extremely difficult to train, and they were almost as expensive as the air force pilots of later generations.

……

The next day, Qingji was in the Zide Hall again and met with the prince of the country, Kuai, who came from afar.

Kuai Shen came here, and he really asked for Wu Guo.

Prior to this, Qingji had already received news that when he led the Seven Nations Alliance to besiege Jinyang City, a war had already broken out in the Central Plains.

In November last year, with the acquiescence of Qingji, the Song State waved 20,000 troops to attack the Cao State.

With Cao's own strength, he could not resist the powerful offensive of the Song army.

Fortunately, the previous Qingji also acquiesced to the defense of the country to send troops to annex the Cao State.

So Weihou Ji Yuan fought fiercely with the Song army in Taoqiu under the banner of rescuing Cao Guo.

However, the Wei Cao coalition army was defeated and could only retreat to Taoqiu City.

In desperation, Cao Boyang could only send envoys to ask Zheng Guo and Wu Guo for help.

Knowing the ins and outs of the matter, Qingji did not panic at all.

For the envoy of Cao State, Qingji avoided it, but Kuai Yu was the prince of Weiguo, and Weiguo had helped Qingji seize the throne before, so such a favor, Qingji seemed to have to return it.

Seeing a depressed look on his face at this time, he said to Qingji: "King Wu, now the Song army is strong, and after Taoqiu defeated our Wei Cao coalition army, it continued to increase its troops to attack Taoqiu City."

"If King Wu doesn't send troops to help in the war, I'm afraid Cao Guo will ...... He died at the hands of the Song people!"