To say that Western Xia is not easy to fight, it is inevitable to talk about the armament composition of Western Xia.

The Western Xia was a system in which all the people were soldiers. No man, a woman, could evade military service as long as he was a Tangut citizen between the ages of 14 and 70.

In normal times, although you are engaged in all walks of life or teach your husband and children at home, as long as war breaks out, every citizen is a soldier!

Therefore, although the population of Western Xia was less than one million, it could recruit troops, at least 300,000 troops, and at least half of them were elites in their prime.

Speaking of the elite of the Western Xia army, Di Lie is like a few treasures, and the head is the way.

Just like the children born in the Republic Air Force family in later generations, they knew what type of there was in the United States when they were young, and the Di Lie family had people who participated in the battle against the Western Xia for generations, and they knew the general situation of the Western Xia military strength very well.

The elite troops of Western Xia were divided into three parts. The first is the Arballistae.

The equipment of the Arbalvo Corps is the Divine Arm Bow that Di Li holds in his hand.

The Divine Arm Bow, also known as the Divine Arm Crossbow, was originally a crossbow and arrow device invented by the Great Song Dynasty. Invented during the Shenzong period, the bow body is three feet long, the string length is two feet five, and the shooting range is far more than 240 steps.

It is said that the civil officials of the Great Song Dynasty have a problem, that is, they like to show off and brag.

As early as the Renzong period, Bi Sheng invented movable type printing, so the imperial court printed Zeng Gongliang and Ding Du's compilation of "Wujing General Essentials" and then exposed it all over the world, first, to show off the great invention of movable type printing, and secondly, to tell the world through "Wujing General Essentials", how awesome the military technology of the Great Song Dynasty is.

As a result of this show-off, the "General Essentials of the Martial Arts" quickly spread to the Liao State and Western Xia, so that not only did the military technology of the Great Song Dynasty have no secrets to speak of, but it was also learned by foreign countries and made the same utensils to complete the abuse of the Song army.

In the Shenzong period, the officials of the Great Song Dynasty, represented by the ruling king Anshi, did not realize this and continued to remain stupid.

In the first year of Xining, Li Hong, a native of the Song Dynasty, invented the first generation of divine arm bows, that is, strong crossbows. With the squirt (a kind of arbor with excellent toughness) as the arm, the sandalwood as the bow, the iron as the head of the Dengzi spear, the copper as the horse's face and teeth, and the hemp rope and silk as the string.

The first generation of divine arm bows were immediately used in war, but they did not know how to make them, and as a result, several pieces were captured by the Western Xia on the battlefield, and together with the written materials shown off by the literati of the Great Song Dynasty, the Western Xia soon imitated the copycats.

It must be admitted that the Shenjian bow from the Xixia cottage is far superior to the original Shenjian bow of the Great Song Dynasty in terms of quality and performance, because the Tangut people made an important improvement, changing the wood and sandalwood to wild yak horns!

This improvement not only increases the toughness and durability of the Divine Arm, but also increases the range of the Divine Arm. The range of the original Divine Arm has been increased by more than 100 paces, and more importantly, the penetration of the crossbow has been increased.

When the Western Xia tried to produce the Divine Arm Bow, it was very targeted, specifically for the famous Buren armor of the Great Song Dynasty, and the design standard was that it must penetrate the target wearing the Buren armor.

Imagine, on the battlefield of the Cold Weapon Age, when both sides have divine arms and bows, the other side has a hundred steps more firing distance than their own, what is this concept? This is a one-sided slaughter!

It is this copycat version of the divine arm bow design that makes the skilled craftsmen of the Great Song Dynasty stare at it, because there is no wild yak on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and the Loess Plateau in the territory of the Great Song Dynasty!

In addition to the crossbow corps, there were two elite divisions in Western Xia, Iron Harrier and Bubazi.

The Iron Harrier is a heavy cavalry, and the cavalry and mounted horses are covered with cold-forged armor.

Cold forging armor is a unique technology of Western Xia blacksmiths, and its craftsmanship leads the world, far surpassing the Liao Kingdom and the Great Song Dynasty.

The cold forging armor is not afraid of the divine arm bow of the Great Song Dynasty, nor is it afraid of the simple knives and spears of the infantry of the Great Song Dynasty, and it is the best defensive armor equipped in the armies of various countries in the world, and there is no one.

The body of the Iron Harrier cavalry and the body of the horse sitting down are connected by iron chains, and the men and horses are one. Even if an enemy's bow or weapon happens to pierce through a gap in the armor leaf and kill the cavalry, the cavalry will not fall off their horses and will still be able to complete the charge.

Therefore, once the Iron Harrier and the Great Song infantry encountered, as long as the disparity in strength was not more than ten times, then no matter what kind of exquisite battle formation the Great Song infantry put on, they would not be able to stop the Iron Harrier's wave of charge.

Then let's talk about the infantry, the infantry, the infantry. This infantry consisted of Ding Zhuang of the mountain tribes.

There are many ravines and slopes in the territory of Western Xia, and these Dingzhuang have practiced the ability to run like flying in complex terrain since childhood. Uphill and downhill like walking on flat ground, entering and exiting the stream is comparable to swimming fish, and it can exceed the height and distance, and jump vertically like flying.

In the deep and dangerous place of the valley, it is the home field of the Western Xia Bubazi, stabbing and covering, and winning every battle. The Song army from the Central Plains was simply unable to resist it.

Di Lie concluded: "The Western Xia army usually adopted guerrilla tactics in battle, and once it found an army that had broken away from the main force of the Great Song Dynasty, it concentrated its superior forces and annihilated it. ”

"The tactics used are very simple, first of all, a covering long-range strike by the crossbow corps, then a group charge launched by the Iron Harrier, and finally a hand-to-hand combat by the foot soldiers. The Great Song army had no choice. ”

In the previous wars between the Great Song Dynasty and the Western Xia, the Great Song Dynasty could basically only win in the defensive battles of fortresses and cities.

Hearing this, Fang Jinzhi couldn't help but interject, "Why didn't our Great Song Dynasty send cavalry to pursue those main forces of Western Xia?"

As soon as these words came out, even Bai Sheng laughed, this wife was really speechless.

Di Lie couldn't treat Fang Jinzhi like Bai Sheng, and patiently explained to Fang Jinzhi.

Because of the lack of horses in the Great Song Dynasty, the cavalry they possessed was simply not enough to track down the main force of the Western Xia army, which was moving quickly and with strange traces. Even if there were scouts who could occasionally find out where the enemy was stationed to rest, by the time the main force arrived, the enemy had already heard the wind and ran away.

And if the cavalry alone is used to pursue, and the infantry arrives later, the front cavalry will inevitably be destroyed by the main force of Western Xia.

After hearing this, Fang Jinzhi suddenly realized, and couldn't help but blush. She has been practicing martial arts since she was a child, and at the age of fourteen or fifteen, she followed her father, uncle and aunt to attack the city and pull out the village.

Whether it is the Ming Sect of the Great Song Dynasty or Fang La, they don't pay attention to cavalry combat, or if they want to pay attention to it, they can't pay attention to it, how can you train cavalry without horses?

After Di Lie spoke, everyone drank a round of wine, and Zhou Cheng suddenly said: "I heard that what the Di Pavilion Master said is the regular configuration of Western Xia soldiers and horses, I don't know if the Di Pavilion Master knows Ma Kui and Yipintang?"

Di Lie nodded and said, "I've also heard of Ma Kui and Yipintang, but my ancestors and father and brother have not encountered these two special troops, so I don't know what it is." ”

Only then did Bai Sheng remember that Zhou Cheng had lived in Xingqing Mansion for many years, and immediately encouraged: "Master Zhou might as well tell me what you know about Western Xia, and try to be as detailed as possible." ”

Zhou Chengdao: "Ma Kui is a female soldier in Western Xia, who often fights with Bubazi, and in some fortresses and fortresses, they live with Bubazi in their daily life. Occasionally, they would disguise themselves as nomadic or farming women, specializing in booby-trapping Scouts of the Great Song Dynasty. ”

Bai Sheng was very surprised when he heard this, and asked, "Are there also female soldiers in this era?"