Quantity is certainly an important way to improve the combat effectiveness of cavalry, but quality is also another way to improve the combat effectiveness of cavalry.

As a traverser, Cao Liang has actually been in possession of the two major artifacts in the cavalry harnesses: the Takahashi saddle and the bilateral stirrups.

The advent of these two artifacts has significantly improved the combat effectiveness of the cavalry to a higher level, and has completely made the cavalry from the auxiliary arms on the battlefield to the real main force, and has truly become the king on the battlefield.

The earliest use of cavalry in the Central Plains Dynasty was the Hufu cavalry of King Zhao Wuling in the Warring States Period, and the chariots that flourished in the Shang and Zhou dynasties were gradually replaced by cavalry in this era.

However, in the beginning, it was not very easy to control the war horse, there were no stirrups, no bridles, the rider could only sit on the back of the bare horse, grasping the horse's mane with his hands, and his legs between the horse's belly, just controlling the war horse was very difficult.

The cavalry developed to the Han Dynasty, and all kinds of horse harnesses came into being, such as the halter, armature, bridle, saddle, and stirrup, which greatly facilitated the riding and effectively improved the combat effectiveness of the cavalry.

However, in the Three Kingdoms period, the saddle was nothing more than a small cloth bag tied to the horse's back, so that the rider could sit comfortably when riding.

The so-called stirrup is just a unilateral stirrup hanging on the side, the position is low, and it is designed to facilitate the rider to step on the horse, in fact, after the rider rides on the horse, the feet are still in the air, and this stirrup is equal to nothing.

The real meaning of the Gaoqiao saddle and bilateral stirrups in history is to appear in the period of the Sixteen Kingdoms of Wuhu Chaohua, the first to apply them in actual combat is the Xianbei people, it is because of the Gaoqiao saddle and bilateral stirrups greatly enhance the combat effectiveness of the cavalry, so the Xianbei people were able to stand out in the pattern of the Wuhu war, became the real winner, and established the Northern Wei Dynasty.

A Takahashi saddle is a saddle with a low middle and high ends, made of wood, covered with leather for the convenience of the rider. The bilateral stirrups are metal structures, mostly made of iron or bronze, and are pedals that hang on both sides of the saddle, so that the rider can step on the stirrups with both feet when riding a war horse.

The Takahashi saddle and bilateral stirrups are very simple in design and production, and it can even be said that they can be imitated at a glance, but such two simple harnesses have a qualitative leap in improving the combat effectiveness of the cavalry.

For a long time, it is often a difficult thing to control and control a war horse, so it takes a lot of time and a lot of energy to train a cavalry with superb riding skills, and the first condition for the rider on a high-speed galloping war horse is to manipulate the war horse well, so that he does not fall off the horse, which will undoubtedly cost the rider a lot of physical strength, thus affecting the combat effectiveness.

A qualified and excellent cavalryman needs strong leg strength and waist strength, they need to use their powerful legs to clamp the horse's back, and use the waist to control the balance, so that they can free their hands.

In fact, it is difficult for most cavalry to do this, so most of the weapons they are equipped with are one-handed weapons, and the other hand is used to manipulate the reins, and they can only do simple chopping and other actions.

The appearance of the Takahashi saddle and bilateral stirrups solves the difficulties of the rider when riding a horse, and the concave saddle just puts the rider's hips on the horse's back, which solves the problem of longitudinal movement, and the two feet step on the bilateral stirrups, which perfectly solves the problem of lateral movement and truly realizes the problem of the integration of man and horse.

With the high bridge saddle and bilateral stirrups, the rider is more flexible and convenient to control and control the horse, not only the hands are liberated, but also they can swing greatly on the horseback, complete the military action of left and right chopping, greatly improve the combat effectiveness of the cavalry, but also greatly reduce the requirements for the quality of the cavalry.

One of the simplest inventions, but with epoch-making significance, Cao Liang has been kept secret before, because these two things are too easy to imitate, even if their own army is equipped, the enemy can imitate it, everyone has this thing, if you want to defeat the enemy, you can't rely on this.

But Cao Liang can't keep this thing hidden, after all, even if he doesn't take it out, Xianbei people will invent it in the future, so Cao Liang needs an opportunity, good steel must be used on the blade, or not to shoot, once it is shot, it will play a decisive role.

Now that the Huns have been wiped out, and the Xianbei people have been driven back to the desert, the hidden danger of the foreign tribes has temporarily subsided, and Sima Yi has increased the number of cavalry on a large scale, trying to suppress the state army on the cavalry.

With the economic conditions of the annexed states, it is impossible to engage in an arms race with Sima Yi, so the backwardness of the number of cavalry is already irreversible, and the only way to solve the problem of cavalry combat effectiveness is to improve the quality of the cavalry and win the quantity with quality.

Undoubtedly, now is the best time to introduce the Takahashi saddle and the bilateral stirrup, and it is true that after this battle, Sima Yi will also discover the importance of the Takahashi saddle and the bilateral stirrup, and will also imitate it to equip his cavalry.

But Cao Liang couldn't stop eating because of choking, and he couldn't stop making and using these things because he was afraid that Sima Yi would grasp the secret of the Takahashi saddle and bilateral stirrups. Now the cavalry of the state army is no longer the weak cavalry at the beginning, the three main cavalry dominate the world, invincible, if the full completion of the equipment of the high bridge saddle and bilateral stirrups, the combat effectiveness will increase sharply, and it is not difficult to completely defeat the Sima cavalry after the expansion of the army.

At that time, although Sima Yi mastered the technology of the Takahashi saddle and bilateral stirrups, but after the cavalry lost the decisive battle, he wanted to form a cavalry stronger than the Bingzhou army has become a luxury.

Therefore, after Cao Liang got the news of Sima Yi's expansion of the cavalry, he immediately made a corresponding decision, that is, to put the Takahashi saddle and bilateral stirrups on the horse and equip them into the three major cavalry.

With the current strength of the state, it is not difficult to create these things, and the craftsmen and raw materials are also ready-made, and Cao Liang can produce them at any time.

However, the most important thing is to keep it secret, and this news must not be leaked before equipping the cavalry team or even engaging the enemy army, so as to ensure the technical superiority of the Bingzhou cavalry, so as to ensure that the Bingzhou cavalry is invincible in this decisive battle.