Chapter 22 When three people travel together, one must have our teacher
The founding of Luoyang as the capital began with Duke Zhou building Luoyi. Later, King Ping of Zhou moved eastward and officially became the capital.
The Guangwu Zhongxing of the Later Han Dynasty built the South and North Palaces, which were destroyed by Dong Zhuo's rebellion.
After the establishment of Cao Wei, Emperors Wen and Ming built Luoyang one after another, and built Taiji, Zhaoyang and other halls on the old site.
The Sima clan replaced Wei, and Luoyang was still the capital.
Luoyang is not big.
Seven miles from east to west and nine miles from north to south have been almost the same size since the Han Dynasty. They are not comparable to the huge Luoyang City in the Northern Wei Dynasty.
There are twelve city gates on all sides, namely Daxia Gate, Xuanyang Gate, Kaiyang Gate, Shangdong Gate, Pingchang Gate, etc.
There is Jinyong City in the northwest corner of Luoyang City, which was built during the Cao Wei Dynasty. It is divided into three parts and connected into one, so it is called Jinyong Three Cities, also known as Yongchang Palace.
The purpose of building Jinyong City is to "be prepared for the unexpected". This habit should have originated from the Cao family's construction of Tongquesantai in the northern section of the western wall of Yecheng.
The defense facilities of Jinyong City are very complete, and together with the Baichi Tower in the northeast corner of Luoyang, it serves as the commanding heights of the city. But here, it became a place of detention for deposed emperors, deposed queens and convicted clan members.
Beyond the city of Luoyang in the Han, Wei and Western Jin Dynasties, there were many buildings where a large number of people lived. Even the officials and nobles lived here. For example, the Taiwei Mansion was located in the south of the city, and there were Wu and Shu in the east of the city. The second main residence.
As far as the southern area of the city where Shao Xun and others have just arrived, Lingtai, Mingtang, Piyong, Taixue, and Guozixue should be the most conspicuous "landmark buildings."
The one they settled in was Piyong.
Piyong is the place where the children of Gongqing learn etiquette, elegant music, dance, poetry, riding and archery and other skills. This meeting has been closed and it happens to be vacant.
To the north of Piyong is Guozixue, to the south is a group of private houses, and to the west across Kaiyangmen Street (north-south direction) is Mingtang.
This place is not far from Sikong Mansion, and the place is quite spacious, which is suitable for the garrison of large armies.
The guests and servants of Panyuan who arrived earlier gathered here, making a scene in a noisy manner.
To be honest, Shao Xun was slightly disappointed. Obviously, Concubine Pei did not get them into the city.
But you can understand it if you think about it carefully.
Luoyang City is either a royal palace, government offices, warehouses, military camps and other official facilities, or it is the residence of a real wealthy family or prince. Ordinary houses are not unavailable, but you must at least be the first batch of residents when Cao Wei built Luoyang City. Without the dividends of this era, it is a bit difficult to live in it - how can the messy mud-legged and sergeants without the Holy Order be able to live in it? What about entering the city? Especially in a tense situation, people are still worried about not having enough food.
I have no choice but to rely on myself.
From the first day of arrival, Shao Xun began to observe the nearby terrain, buildings, and roads.
Fortunately, he found that if the enemy came, they could still fight in the streets.
In addition, from a military point of view, they are stationed outside the city, and they can interact with the garrison inside the city to support each other, making the enemy unable to use their hands and feet, or even attacking from both front and rear, which is still very good. The premise is that the garrison in the city really supports them - is it possible? Hard to say.
"There are three things now." Shao Xun looked at the five people surrounding him, Li Chong, Huang Biao, Zhou Ying, Zhong Badger, and Wu Qian, and said: "The first is to repair Piyongwai. The second is to stock up on military supplies and equipment, and the third is to find out the situation of neighboring troops."
After that, he looked at Wu Qian and said, "You will take care of what is needed to build the wall. Let's go and recruit them nearby."
"Uncle, there are many nobles and nobles nearby, how can we mobilize them?" Wu Qian cried bitterly.
"I will discuss this matter with the owner of the building. Just be prepared." Shao Xun said: "It's already this time. If you still want to show off, I have nothing to say."
"No." Wu Qian was relieved. As long as someone came forward, he was just a person who was ordered to do errands. It was not difficult.
While the two were talking, there was a sound of horse hooves on Kaiyangmen Street.
Everyone looked for the reputation and saw hundreds of horsemen riding their horses, passing by like lightning.
"This - riding on a war horse, is there an emergency military situation?" Li Chong, who was born in the Su Wei Army, said with a solemn expression.
Generally speaking, if there is no good reason, it is strictly forbidden to ride a war horse in the army, and you will be whipped if caught.
Because the physical strength of the horses is very poor, they can travel for up to two hours a day. At other times, they either rest or eat horse feed to replenish their physical strength.
Suppose you are riding a war horse and suddenly encounter an enemy. At that time, the enemy has enough horsepower to fight repeatedly, but your horse is running exhausted and sweating profusely. How can you fight?
The hundreds of cavalry in front of them obviously did not have riding horses for traveling, only war horses, but they still moved forward at a lightning speed. There must be an emergency military situation.
"They didn't come so quickly." Shao Xun comforted: "At most, they are just some enemy cavalry serving as vanguards. This cavalry team should have been driven out of the city. Or, the enemy troops have not yet come, they To deploy on the periphery. The battle against Luoyang is actually about the periphery."
Li Zhong nodded silently.
“It’s just a ride, that’s fine.”
"The cavalry are also scary, Xianbei or Wuhuan? Or the Xiongnu?"
"You can't get out of these three families. The cavalry that just left are mostly Xianbei people, but they are the Forbidden Army. "
"There should be a lot of cavalry under the command of the King of Chengdu, right?"
"The only option is to fight to the death."
Everyone was talking. tongue, there was a lot of discussion.
Shao Xun frowned. He found that these people were very afraid of cavalry. This was not a good sign. After all, they would have to face overwhelming cavalry in the future.
"Let me ask you, if you encounter enemy cavalry in the plains and wilderness while marching, what should you do?" He turned around, looked at everyone, and asked.
There was silence for a while.
"Uncle, maybe you can learn from Ma Xiping's old wisdom and use bows, crossbows and chariot formations?" Li Chong was the first to think of this because he was from the Imperial Guard after all and was familiar with military affairs.
"Why is this method effective?" Shao Xun asked.
"The car formation is connected end to end, which can prevent the enemy from charging into the formation. There is a baffle on the side of the side carriage. The archer stands on the car and shoots outward, so he can kill the enemy calmly." Li Zhong replied.
“Did you hear that?” Shao Xun looked at everyone and said.
“I heard it.”
Shao Xun leaned down on the spot and drew a picture on the dirt with a dagger to explain. In fact, the core is to create obstacles to prevent the cavalry from charging directly. It doesn't have to be a sidecar. In an emergency, a baggage and grain truck can be used. You can even use antlers that can be carried by a single soldier and throw them on the ground when fighting. It is not that no one has used this before, and the effect is very good.
Of course, the sidecar is definitely the most professional.
There is a baffle on one side to block the enemy cavalry archer's arrow rain. There is also a shooting hole on the baffle so that our own infantry archers can shoot calmly without interference.
Considering that the stability, accuracy, range, rate of fire, and power of the mounted archer are not as good as those of the walking bow, and the target is still very large (with a horse), the mounted archer suffers a lot during the shooting and simply persists Not going down.
With the protection of the sidecar, the infantry can also take turns to rest, restore their physical strength and energy, and be able to fight continuously. In the end, I am afraid that the cavalry will be more tired than the infantry.
Ma Long used this trick to create a miracle.
"But this method also has flaws, who can tell me?" Shao Xun suddenly asked after drawing the schematic diagram of the car formation.
"Uncle, if the enemy has brave infantry, the chariot formation will be dangerous, right?" Huang Biao thought for a moment and said.
“Not bad.” Shao Xun glanced at him approvingly and said, “Huang Biao’s answer is very good. Think about it again, what are the flaws?”
“Use rockets. Is it dangerous to shoot?" someone asked.
"No, fire protection is easy to do, think about it again." Shao Xun shook his head and said.
"Cut off the grain path and the formation will collapse without attack." Someone said.
"What if you brought enough supplies? Ma Long brought enough supplies with the army for three years." Shao Xun denied and continued to encourage: "Think again."
"Dig the road."
"It's easy to fill the road. This is not a good idea. It can only delay the traffic, but not stop it."
"The most important thing is to choose The 3,500 elite infantrymen that Ma Xiping had back then were all elite soldiers who could use all kinds of weapons and were definitely not just a mob." Li Zhong sighed and said, "Actually, not everyone on the grassland has a horse. They are also very valuable. Those who can become cavalry must be the best of the best, and will not be just a few. On the other hand, infantry has inferior hair-rooted wooden spears. It is easy to panic when fighting. Once they flee, it will destroy the morale of the whole army. Collapse.”
"Very good!" Shao Xun patted him heavily on the shoulder and said with a smile: "That's right to the point. A while ago I asked everyone to learn archery, but many people didn't take it seriously. Now do you know the benefits?"
To put it bluntly, the threshold for infantry is too low and anyone can get into it. Moreover, under the world military system, the quality of most infantry is worrying and their training is very inadequate.
Looking at the cavalry, because of the preciousness of the horses, there is a natural threshold, and people with low skills are not eligible to be selected.
How many horses are there in a country?
During the prosperous period of the Tang Dynasty, there were more than 700,000 horses in the official ranch and inn.
The Liao Kingdom's horse administration was very good, but there were only more than a million horses in the country.
Raising horses is not economical, and herders may not necessarily like them. Moreover, a large part of the herdsmen do not have horses. They are herder slaves with little personal property. They usually ride the nobles' horses and help the nobles herd cattle, sheep, horses and camels, and that's it.
In the Middle Ages, the personal qualities of cavalry and infantry were naturally unequal, so the myth of cavalry defeating infantry was created many times. However, if you encounter elite infantry with the same personal qualities as the cavalry, although they are still very passive, the disadvantage will be greatly improved.
“Archery is too difficult, and I won’t be famous in just a few years after practicing it.” Li Zhong mused: “In fact, in the country where the grassland leads to bows, herders ride sheep when they are young, and horseback riding when they are older, and they also hold collective hunting activities every year , In terms of riding and shooting, they have a good foundation. Once they take over the Central Plains, they will become more difficult to deal with. "
The combat effectiveness of the Hu people is actually just that, so-so. But if they take over the Central Plains, their equipment level will be greatly improved, and they will even be able to rely on the people of the Central Plains to support them, allowing everyone - at least some of them - to get out of work. They will no longer be obsessed with making ends meet, and can train without distractions, and their combat effectiveness will gradually increase.
They already have a good foundation in riding and shooting skills. Once they are fully trained, they will be able to improve on the parts they are already proficient in, and make up for the shortcomings they are less proficient in. It can be described as a radical change.
At this time, it would be a joke if the Central Plains Dynasty still used temporarily recruited soldiers to fight against the professional prairie cavalry who were completely off-duty.
"So..." Shao Xun cleared his throat and said: "Let me summarize. When you encounter enemy cavalry while marching, you must first use a cart to stop its charge, and secondly, the soldiers in the cart formation must select elite people who dare to fight. . It is absolutely forbidden to use it as an excuse. It will only harm everyone. It is absolutely forbidden to carry people with you in war. Do you understand? "
"I understand. Everyone responded in unison.
“When I go back, I will write down my experience, dictate it if I don’t know how to read, and find someone to write for me.” Shao Xun added: “When three of us are together, we must have my teacher. This method is very good. Everyone learns together, and the impression is more profound. , there won’t be anything you can do if you encounter a situation.”
“No.”
“Also, let me ask another question: “If you don’t have time to set up the car formation. , or in the middle of the battle, the enemy cavalry is in front of you. How to resist the enemy? Let’s leave it at that.”
Everyone dispersed one after another, with Li Zhong walking at the end. Before leaving, he couldn't help but look at Shao Xun a few more times.
This man doesn’t look like a soldier who knows nothing.
On the contrary, he looks well-educated and very sophisticated. It is difficult to refuse to ride with foot, but he is confident, as if he has experienced it more than once.
In fact, Li Zhong deeply doubted that if Du Bo was allowed to command the cavalry, he would probably be an excellent cavalry general, proficient in various tactics that could kill infantry.
What a strange man, could it be a gift from heaven?
After everyone left, Shao Xun climbed up the Piyong outer wall and overlooked the entire Kaiyangmen Street.
The buildings are row upon row and the houses are densely packed.
In this environment, neither cavalry nor infantry can get into position.
Once there is a fight, it can only be a chaotic battle.
More soldiers may not necessarily work, because the contact area is very small, and there are only so many people fighting in the front row.
If a party has a large number of soldiers but is not very elite, and the front row is killed so that it cannot stand, and when it retreats hastily, it may disrupt the rear position and cause a huge rout. It will be tragic at that time. Know how many people are going to die.
Thinking of this, he suddenly became more confident in defending Luoyang.
The quality of the imperial guards should be better than those in Yecheng and Guanzhong. Although according to Li Chong's words, there are many fake and weak troops in the Imperial Guard. After all, it is understandable that the dynasty is in its final years. But overall it should be pretty good, right? As long as there are enough food and materials, Luoyang can definitely defend it.
But the question is, are the supplies really sufficient? Once the war becomes protracted, will food be exhausted?
He doesn’t know.
His level is very low and he has no access to such core secrets. Even Concubine Pei and King Donghai may not know it. The only ones who know the truth are probably Changsha King Sima Yi and senior officials of the shogunate, right?
My balls hurt.
No matter what, he should do his own thing first. Training soldiers is the only thing he can do.
(End of this chapter)