Knock out the chariot?

This made Qingji fall into deep thought for a while.

"No!"

Before Qingji could speak, Prince Heng, who was sitting at the bottom, retorted: "Although the lethality of the cavalry is strong, it may not be better than the chariot if it is charged head-on. ”

"Our Wu country should develop the chariots and cavalry in parallel, instead of focusing on the cavalry and eliminating the chariots."

Hearing this, Wu Zixu said in a surging voice: "Prince, you should have heard of the battle of Weishui. ”

"The final battle with the Qin people can be regarded as a frontal battle in the wilderness. The Qin army of more than 700 rode on a chariot and 100,000 soldiers, and in the end, wasn't it also defeated by the 10,000 elite soldiers and iron cavalry of our Wu State? ”

"In terms of mobility, the chariots are inferior to the cavalry."

Prince Heng shook his head and said, "Da Sima, with all due respect, you are a fallacy!" At that time, it was not only the 10,000 iron cavalry that defeated the main force of the Qin army, but also hundreds of chariots. ”

"Chariots and cavalry, which is superior or inferior, it is still unknown, how can Da Sima advise the king to eliminate chariots?"

When Wu Zixu heard this, he did not answer Prince Heng directly, but stood up and saluted Qingji on the throne: "King, the way of battle formation, such as the way of governing the country, needs to be adapted to the times, and you can't blindly follow the ancient system. ”

"Compared with the cavalry, the disadvantages of the chariot have been obvious, and the minister concluded that there are four deficiencies in the chariot."

"For one, the tank is limited by the terrain."

"The use of chariots requires open areas of plains, not mountains and rivers."

"If the enemy sets up some roadblocks, such as burying antlers deep in the chest, to keep the horses in the way, the chariot can only look at it and sigh."

"Especially when the world has seen Wu Anjun's method of leading troops in battle, and has won the essence of his "Art of War", they will learn to avoid the edge and make full use of the terrain advantages, and the role of the chariot has been difficult to play......"

Wu Zixu's words made Sun Wu couldn't help but show embarrassment.

The influence of "The Art of War" is very great.

Sun Wu can be said to be the originator of the military family, and it is inevitable that the book will say that some methods of marching and fighting will leak out.

In the world, if you talk about governing the army and fighting, everyone dares to say that they are stronger than Sun Wu.

Therefore, the generals of the world have learned Sun Wu's art of war and began to fight without emphasizing martial virtues......

In the past, among the various vassal states, maybe they would follow the ancient system, saluting first and then soldiering.

That is, first make a war letter, make an appointment, and then the two armies will fight in formation.

However, since Sun Wu was born and became famous, the famous generals of all countries have followed the emphasis on "soldiers are not tired of deceit, and generals know opportunities".

Who will follow the old ways of warfare?

That's pure death!

"Second, the mobility of the chariot is poor, not as good as that of the cavalry."

Wu Zixu continued: "Now, all the northern countries have begun to follow the example of our Wu State, forming a large number of cavalry, and equipped with stirrups, saddles, and horseshoes, and the military is extremely powerful. ”

"In war, once the enemy cavalry gets close to shoot and kill, the chariot will fall into passive beating, and it is easy to crush the soldiers when they retreat and flee."

"Third, the investment in combat vehicles is extremely high."

"To build a large chariot army, it is necessary not only to use royalists, armorers, and archers, but also carpenters and auxiliaries, and there are many non-fighting people and a lot of food consumption."

"In addition, the road conditions are not good, and the combat vehicle is difficult to reach the designated position and easy to damage at critical times, and the maintenance cost is high in the later stage."

After a pause, Wu Zixu said again: "Fourth, the practicability of the chariot is poor. ”

"In addition to frontal large-scale battles, the rest of the time, such as siege warfare, surprise attack warfare, and fierce battles, the chariot is almost unusable, and in the end it can only become the seat of the soldiers, or like the honor guard."

Qingji bowed his head slightly and agreed.

Wu Zixu's analysis of the disadvantages of chariots can be described as penetrating and hitting the nail on the head.

You know, the chariot was originally a big killer in this era.

In the era of infantry engagement, it can easily tear through the enemy's defense line, break through the enemy's formation, and inflict huge casualties on the enemy, which can be called the "ancient tank".

Such a weapon of mass destruction is naturally also highly valued by the princes of other countries, so in this world of great contention, car warfare has always been the main theme of war.

To see whether a country is strong, it is not to look at the country's land and population, nor to look at the number of famous generals, but to look at the number of chariots in the other country.

If a country has a hundred chariots, it is considered a relatively small vassal state.

If there are thousands of chariots, it can be called a powerful medium vassal state.

If there is a chariot with ten thousand rides, it is enough to dominate one side, and it can be called a superpower!

Of course, the so-called "chariot multiplication" is just a saying.

Like the state of Wu, there are more than 1,600 chariots, and it can still be called the "country of ten thousand vehicles" and a well-deserved superpower.

Just like Wu Zixu said, chariots are not easy to build.

Although the chariot is strong, it is bought in exchange for its expensive cost and configuration.

Like the chariots of the Wu Kingdom, each chariot was equipped with two or four well-trained war horses.

The structure of the chariot is mostly made of willow wood, and the outer part is inlaid with bronze armor, which is enough to withstand the loss of arrows and the sharp attack of weapons.

Considering that the chariots were mostly made of wood, they were extremely resistant to fire, so the chariots were sometimes covered with mud to prevent the enemy from launching fire attacks......

In addition, in terms of soldier configuration, it is equipped with seven armor soldiers and fifteen foot soldiers to escort a chariot.

The car is equipped with three armor soldiers, the main archery on the left side, responsible for long-range attacks.

There is a short sword in the middle, which is mainly responsible for driving the car.

On the right side is melee combat, and the car is equipped with a variety of weapons, which can be equipped with spears and main thrusts, or with hooks.

Generally speaking, the Wu army was in a group of six cars and eighteen in a team.

The horses of each chariot were covered with leather vests for protection, and the soldiers on the chariots were armed to the teeth!

A large part of Wu's military spending was actually spent on chariots.

"Da Sima, it is true that the chariot has certain defects now, but how dare you guarantee that the cavalry will inevitably be stronger than the chariot?"

Prince Heng asked rhetorically.

"Prince, the cavalry advances when it can win, and retreats when it is defeated, not only is it flexible, but it also becomes more powerful in the charge, so the shortcomings of the chariot are gradually highlighted."

Wu Zixu said meaningfully: "The most important thing is that the cost of chariots is too expensive, so it is better to spend the money on building chariots for cavalry." ”

“……”

Prince Heng finally did not continue to refute.

Combat vehicles are not useless.

However, for a variety of factors, cavalry is indeed better than chariots.

Cavalry is less costly, simpler to train, and more adaptable to terrain than chariots.

For example, cavalry can be used on river beaches and in mountains where the slope is not too steep, but chariots are not......

The trend of future warfare is also proof that the mainstay status of the chariot is bound to be replaced by cavalry.

As a traverser, how can Qingji not know?