Shi Quanbin looked at Thirteen Lang, who was tall, and he had become a lot stronger in the past few years, standing there like a mountain. nodded again and again: "The head of the sect has such a body, if it weren't for Du Tiju, it would be a pity in the countryside." I was ordered by the imperial court to come here to observe the army and see how effective the training has been in the past few years. I watched the artillery a few days ago, and it was really sharp, and there was no one in the world to compare. Let's take a look at the cavalry camp today. ”

Thirteen Lang forked his hands: "But according to the command of the regimental practice!" ”

Shi Quanbin smiled at Du Zhongxiao beside him: "Although they are in the same army, the head of the martial arts sect is different from the master of Yao Pao, and they are much bolder. Although Master Yao is in charge of heavy troops, he is polite, does not speak much, and is clearly organized, as if he is a scholar. I have been commanding the army abroad for many years, and when I came to the cavalry, I felt very cordial. A few days ago, in the artillery camp, I always felt constrained, and it was not easy to speak loudly. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "This is inevitable. In the artillery battalion, from the chief general to the non-commissioned officers, they read and read every day and calculate the trajectory of the terrain, but that's not what it looks like. The first thing they need to do is to be careful, and naturally it is that kind of bearing. ”

While walking towards the camp, Shi Quanbin asked, "Do you have ironclad cavalry here?" The iron armor supervised by the iron has become more and more sophisticated in recent years, and it can move freely on the body, which is better than leather armor. And the price is not expensive, easy to manufacture, not as much effort as leather armor. ”

Thirteen Lang said: "Back to the regiment training, although the iron armor is good, it is too heavy compared to the leather armor, and it is not used much in the army." We have a lot of leather armor here, and it's just a matter of adding two more layers when we charge into battle. The strength of the soldiers is there, and it is inconvenient to put on iron armor. ”

Shi Quanbin looked at Thirteen Langqi and said, "A warrior like the head of this mountain, what's the obstacle to wearing iron armor?" Some of the warriors in the forbidden army still put another layer of thin chain mail in the iron armor, and they were invulnerable before the battle. ”

Thirteen Lang said: "The last general can naturally wear iron armor and move freely, but it is not easy in the army." It is difficult to have such a warrior, and then Suizhou is in the south, and there are not so many good horses. Wearing iron armor, it was difficult for the horses in the army to rush up. After a few years of training, he is now worthy of an ironclad soldier. ”

Shi Quanbin nodded: "I see." If there is a shortage of people, then there is no way. ”

The large-scale manufacturing of iron armor is cheaper than leather armor, and the protection is better than leather armor. The iron prison has perfected the system, and in recent years, large-scale production, most of the elite troops in the forbidden army have been replaced with iron armor. The above battalion commanders have all been measured and refined by the iron supervisor according to their figures. Other personnel are the iron supervisor to produce several specifications, each choosing their own suit.

Equipped with iron armor, the bonus to the combat power of the forbidden army is better than guns. Not to mention the ironclad cavalry, it is the elite infantry, a row of tall soldiers wearing iron armor and holding long axes and broadswords cut all the way, flesh and blood flying, much more shocking than the scene of the enemy troops falling in rows. In contrast to the resistance to guns, the forbidden army was very welcoming to the iron armor, and put forward many opinions to the iron supervisor for the actual use of the situation, which is now very mature.

Every few years, there are generals who go to various places to select the box army, and people with tall stature and extraordinary martial arts are selected to join the forbidden army. After entering the forbidden army, they were selected layer by layer, and the elites among them, such as Zhubanzhi, the Fourth Army, and Gongsheng, Yunqi and other armies, were all strong. Iron armor is used on these people, it is a good horse with a good saddle, and it is used in the right place. With the weapons made of good steel and the strong soldiers wearing iron armor, Sanya thinks that the forbidden army is much stronger now.

Du Zhongxiao also knew the situation of the forbidden army, and listened to Shi Quanbin constantly talking about the benefits of iron armor, and he obviously felt a little contempt for the lack of equipment in the camp and field. I can't help but think of a sentence, a bullet is a coward, and a bayonet is a hero. What kind of hero is a bayonet? Obviously, in the eyes of the generals of the DPRK and China, the long axe and big sword are more qualified to be a good man than the bayonet.

When I arrived at the school, I saw the demonstration team assembled by Shisanlang, standing there neatly, Shi Quanbin said: "Strange, why don't you see the archers?" ”

Thirteen Lang forked his hand: "Back to the regiment training, there are no archers in our army." Where it is not an ironclad heavy horse, a light cavalry is equipped with a riding spear in place of a bow and crossbow. ”

"With a riding gun?" Shi Quanbin looked at Du Zhongxiao, "What is a riding gun?" Is it also a musket? ”

Du Zhongxiao nodded: "Yes, it is much more convenient to ride a gun than a bow and crossbow, and the cavalry in the army all use a riding spear." Compared with infantry muskets, the cavalry rifle is shorter, generally double-barreled, can be fired twice in a row, and is much easier to reload. Of course, the power is far worse than that of infantry muskets. ”

"I see." Shi Quanbin didn't speak again, obviously not knowing what the idea of riding a spear instead of a bow and arrow was. The cavalry of the Song army attached more importance to bows and arrows than the infantry, and most of them were archers, practicing cavalry and archery tactics. Generally, cavalry is ** into a bow, one or two into a knife and a gun. Usual training is also based on archery, direct shooting, round shooting and so on. The zigzag that the Privy Council requires to practice is already very advanced. In the end, it is nothing more than being able to shoot as many arrows as possible at an effective distance.

This situation arose first of all due to the development of the infantry, the increase in the ability to attack in the front, and the reduction in the effectiveness of the cavalry charge. In frontal battles, the Song army generally used the long weapons of the infantry army to break the enemy, and the coordinated cavalry used the advantage of mobility to attack the enemy's weaknesses and expand the results. At this time, the cavalry was more of a harassment and containment. When fighting against the Khitan party, the infantry formation, which had been lined up, was not afraid of the opposing cavalry charge.

Cavalry is important, mainly in its mobility, including inter-battlefield mobility and battlefield mobility. The use of cavalry in the Song army rarely appeared in head-to-head battles, and it was mainly infantry. This has to do with reality, but also with the tradition of a long shortage of horses. But on the other hand, the mobility of the cavalry determines that they can choose a suitable place to dismount and fight, and what the infantry has, most of them can have, is more flexible than the infantry.

Seeing that Shi Quanbin didn't speak, Thirteen Lang ordered the cavalry in front of him to show Shi Quanbin according to their daily training.

There were rules for everything, and the officers who led the team were trained, divided into several teams, and each took a cavalry spear, like the cavalry of the forbidden army shoots an arrow, and demonstrated mounted archery. It was nothing more than a direct shot, a round shot, and there was no "zigzag" shot advocated by the Privy Council at this time. Shi Quanbin saw it and couldn't help shaking his head in his heart.

After a round of acting, Shi Quanbin couldn't hold back anymore, and said to Du Zhongxiao: "Lift, in the past, the forbidden army practiced bows, and it was really like you, practice direct shooting and round shooting, and shoot relatives and shoot far." You don't need to hit it, you can just hit the target, it's the same. Recently, however, the Privy Council informed the Sanya that the cavalry should practice another kind of 'zigzag' shooting. This kind of shooting, to the horse to go zigzag, although the distance is close, but you can shoot a few more arrows, the most effective to kill the enemy in front of the battle. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "I have also heard the 'zigzag' shooting, and I practiced it several times in the army, and finally everyone unanimously discussed that it was useless, and I would no longer practice it in the future." It's not that the Privy Council said it was wrong, but the cavalry of the camp field, not that kind of usage. Zigzag is only useful when playing head-to-head. And our cavalry, unless exceptional, had only ironclad cavalry in frontal charge. They did not carry a cavalry gun, but a side-hook gun, a sword and a sword, and rushed straight into the enemy's position. The other cavalry should try to avoid confrontation with the enemy head-on, and fight quickly and retreat quickly. If it is absolutely necessary to face the enemy head-on, it becomes an infantry tactic, using mounted spears and waist knives against the enemy. ”

At this time, it was still the era of cold weapons, and the wall-hitting charge was very dangerous, and the regular army had measures to prevent frontal impact. Even if Du Zhongxiao knew a little bit of that concept, he didn't dare to use it at this time. Counting on the overwhelming rush over, the enemy's momentum collapses, and the results of the battle are reaped, which is a suicidal play. It may be possible to beat Nong Zhigao, but it is useless against the Khitan and the party. Unless there are special circumstances, the Song Dynasty fought with them mostly in hard battles, and it was necessary to repeatedly rush and kill before they could disrupt the army formation.

The strength of the cavalry lies in its mobility, finding the enemy's weak point the fastest and attacking quickly. Or maneuver quickly and master the initiative on the battlefield. If you want to charge head-on, Du Zhongxiao might as well use Guo Zheng's invincible thunderbolt. The two armies on the scale of a large army fought against each other, and the battalion and field troops relied on artillery. The artillery controls the battlefield, isolates the battlefield, and forms a local advantage. The enemy collapsed, and only then did the cavalry expand the enemy's gains, and the infantry consolidated the victory. In the battalion field, the most important step artillery coordination, not infantry and cavalry coordination, "zigzag" shooting is completely useless.

This is a fundamental difference in the thinking of war, and Shi Quanbin is completely unable to understand the fighting style of the Yingtian Xiang Army. If he hadn't watched the artillery battalion for many days and admired the artillery very much, he would have thought that Du Zhongxiao was talking nonsense.

At this time, the Song army's use of cavalry was mainly to reconnoiter the enemy's situation, attack the enemy, and harass and rob the grain route in a roundabout way. The idea of the battalion field army is the same, the frontal charge is relatively secondary, and the ironclad cavalry is mainly responsible for it. Most of the cavalry, the role of the battlefield is to cover the flanks, and to see the right time to put in as a reserve. Before the war, it was to reconnoiter the enemy situation and control the battlefield.

However, since the iron armor was equipped, even the horse's equipment iron supervisor also made a combined iron armor, and Hedong had a stable supply of good horses, and the Privy Council and Sanya changed. Increasingly, they were inclined to let the ironclad cavalry ride on mounted iron horses and charge directly into battle. After the dispersal, the results were extended by the relatively fast light cavalry behind. In the past, the cavalry of the Song army was used in a scattered manner, but now the generals of the Sanya began to tend to concentrate and fight large-scale cavalry battles.

Shi Quanbin is in the capital and is very clear about the changes in the army in recent years. After seeing the artillery battalion, I had high hopes for the battalion Tianxiang Army, but when I came to see the cavalry, it was different from what I thought, and the strategy and tactics went to the old road of the forbidden army.

The Song Dynasty lacked horses, because the cavalry suffered from the Khitan and the party's countless anger. Many people's dream is that they have a large number of cavalry, and where they lose it, they can get it back. Hedong Racecourse has seen hope and can produce excellent military horses steadily. If the horse farms there were expanded, the forbidden army would also be able to assemble tens of thousands of cavalry in a few years, with new iron armor, to defeat the strong enemies in the north like a sea of mountains.