Late Han Zhao Tang

Chapter 353 Chores
"Sir, to date, the workshops in Shanxi have cast eighty sets of vests. Including the thirty-six sets of vests that were completed previously, there are a total of one hundred and sixteen sets of vests!"

In the general's mansion, Guo Tu and the craftsmen were reporting to Zhang Yu.

Zhang Yu carefully observed the sample vests and saw that they were tightly sewn and the armor plates were shiny and solid. He said with satisfaction, "The craftsmen have worked hard to forge armor for months without a break. I will now order them to be rewarded according to the number of pieces, so that the workshops in Shanxi can be happy and encourage them to continue forging armor."

"promise!"

"Sir, are the vests still distributed to the National Protection Army?" Guo Tu asked.

"Continue to distribute them to the National Protection Army. Zilong will select elite cavalry to serve as the armored cavalry." Zhang Yu said.

Zhang Yu had few armored cavalry under his command. Through battles, capture and casting, Zhang Yu managed to gather 400 armored cavalry. Considering the upcoming battle with Yuan Shao, Zhang Yu issued an order to forge armored cavalry since the end of last year, intending to build 500 armored cavalry before the troops were dispatched, so as to be ready for a decisive battle with Yuan Shao.

There are not many generals who are familiar with armored cavalry tactics, only Zhao Yun and Zhang Liao. If Zhao Yun is not allowed to continue to lead the armored cavalry, it will be a loss of strength. In the days to come, Zhao Yun will be under great pressure, as he needs to train more than a hundred qualified armored cavalry for Zhang Yu.

"promise!"

Zhao Yun hesitated and said, "Although we have armor now, the key is to have strong horses that can carry people and heavy objects and charge forward. Although there are many horses in the army, there may not be enough horses that can carry heavy loads and run fast. Since the attack on Longyou last year, there has been a shortage of strong horses in the army."

Zhang Yu hesitated for a moment and said, "I heard that Long horses are strong and are the best horses in our dynasty. If Zilong wants to find horses now, why not send people to Longyou to look for them, or to the various tribes in Shuo Shang to look for them."

In order to ensure the mobility of the army, Zhang Yu purchased a large number of military horses from the Shuofang Hu tribe every year. During the previous northern expedition to Youzhou, many military horses were lost. Thanks to the supply from Youzhou, he was able to have a steady supply of war horses.

Now Youzhou has reduced the supply of military horses in order to protect itself, so Zhang Yu has to rely on Bingzhou again. Fortunately, Longyou was pacified this year, so there is a new source of horses. But now if you want to find horses suitable for armored cavalry, you need to spend time looking for them in Longyou.

"Sir, the good horses may need to go to Liangzhou!"

Zhao Yun said, "After listening to Pang Yu's talk about the horses of Liang Province, I feel that the horses of Hexi are taller and different from the horses of Shuofang."

Zhang Yu agreed and said, "In the past, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty traveled thousands of miles to conquer the Western Regions and took horses from Dayuan to improve the horse breed. Today, Long horses are descendants of Dayuan horses, and the Shandan horse farm in Hexi is the best in the world. It's a pity that Hexi is not under our jurisdiction, so it's difficult to take horses from Hexi for military use."

Shuofang horses were mainly Mongolian horses, and they were also the horses that had been raised in the Central Plains for a long time. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty felt that the Han horses were short, so in order to improve the Dayuan horses, he sent Li Guangli to lead tens of thousands of troops to the west to attack Dayuan. Dayuan refused to offer horses, and Li Guangli was defeated and retreated to Dunhuang with heavy losses in his troops.

Three years later, Li Guangli led his troops to the west again and finally conquered Dayuan. It was agreed that the Han Dynasty could take two horses every year, and select dozens of good horses at a time, and 3000 male and female horses of medium and lower quality were returned to the country. However, after a long journey, there were only more than a thousand horses left in Dayuan when they arrived at Yumen Pass.

More than a thousand Dayuan horses were settled in Liangzhou by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. Through breeding, the genes of Liangzhou military horses were improved, forming the unique Liangzhou breed. In history, Liangzhou horses were once again genetically improved during the Five Barbarians period. Tuyuhun introduced Persian horses and bred them with Liangzhou horses, forming the famous Qinghai Cong.

Of course, Zhang Yujin’s tradition of buying horses from the Hu people is not because he has no pastures himself, but is inherited from the low-cost horse policy of the Eastern Han Dynasty.

The Western Han Dynasty had a strong enemy, the Xiongnu, so in order to form cavalry, it mainly used official ranches. The animal husbandry in Liangzhou was particularly developed, with hundreds of thousands of military horses. However, the Eastern Han Dynasty was different. Because there were few regular troops and most of them were Hu people, they mainly operated at low cost, mostly purchasing from ethnic minorities, rather than vigorously purchasing official ranches.

"Although there are no Liangzhou horses now, Long horses are strong and not weak. If we choose a good horse, we may be able to wear armor and ride it."

Jia Xu stroked his beard and smiled, saying, "Your Excellency has good horses in the northwest. Yuan Shao governs Hebei. Although he has a rich population, his army and horses are far inferior to yours. In terms of cavalry, your Excellency is better than Yuan Shao."

Zhang Yu agreed. His horses were better than those of the princes at the end of the Han Dynasty. The shoulder height, speed and load-bearing capacity of their war horses were all better than those of Yuan Shao. Now the armored cavalry's war horses were just striving for excellence, hoping to get better war horses.

Most of the best horses in the world are in the Western Regions and Central Asia. After conquering the Western Regions, we can learn from the Western Han Dynasty to get Dayuan horses and continue to improve the horse breeds in Guanxi. After all, although the low-cost horse policy of the Eastern Han Dynasty was good, it did a lot of damage to the horse breeds. We could get qualified war horses, but it was difficult to obtain excellent military horses continuously.

"Five hundred sets of armored cavalry will be enough. After that, we will focus on making infantry armor and weapons!"

Zhang Yu asked, "Yuan Shao knows that our cavalry is elite, so his troops must have practiced square formations a lot. Gongda is the commander-in-chief. Has the general learned any countermeasures from the generals?" Xun You pondered for a moment and said, "Gao Shun thinks that if we want to defeat the infantry, we should select elite infantry, put on heavy armor, and fight with them, and then we can defeat the formation. If we follow Ma Chao's opinion, we can follow the cavalry's method and use the cavalry to attack the formation in turns. If we continue to do so, we can defeat the formation. Another strategy is to select tens of thousands of inferior horses for training, and when necessary, drive the war horses to attack the square formation, and then we can defeat the formation."

Breaking infantry phalanxes has been a difficult military problem throughout the ages. In the era of cold weapons, Gao Shun's method of breaking the phalanx was a conventional military means, relying on fighting in formation to break the phalanx; while Ma Chao's strategy of taking turns to lead the cavalry to attack the enemy's formation had higher requirements for the cavalry general, who needed to suppress the opponent's cavalry.

Zhang Yu once tried to use the Hu people's strategy of driving horses to break the formation when he was in Longyou to defeat Yan Xing's troops. Although the effect was very significant, it came at the cost of an extremely high rate of war horse losses, and it was also necessary to suppress the opponent's cavalry.

Therefore, the essence behind these methods of breaking the formation is to suppress the opponent's cavalry. After all, even in the era of firearms, artillery can be used to destroy the square formation, but it is still based on suppressing the opponent's cavalry.

Zhang Yu thought for a long time and said, "Although the strategy of driving horses to break the formation is good, it is difficult to use often. It can only be used at the critical moment. Therefore, Ma Chao's strategy of breaking the formation with cavalry is the main one, Gao Shun's strategy of breaking the formation with infantry is the second, and the strategy of driving horses to break the formation is the last."

As he spoke, Zhang Yu said to his men, "The primary, secondary, and final strategies are not superior or inferior, but take into account the strengths and weaknesses of our army, as well as the gains and losses of breaking the formation. Now I order all the generals to train according to the strengths of each unit, and follow military orders when fighting."

"I will write a military order and submit it to you for your approval later!" Xun You said.

"good!"

Zhang Yu asked Guo Tu to lead the craftsmen to retreat, and encouraged them, "You have been thoughtful recently!"

"Thank you for your care!" Guo Tu said gratefully.

After Guo Tu left, Zhang Yu asked, "Gongda, how is the rectification going in the army now?"

"My Lord, Youchu has a plan. He wants to use this exercise to break the formation as an excuse to supervise the training of all the troops!" Xun You took out the official document from his arms and said, "Youchu's ideas are all in the document. Please correct me."

Zhang Yu took a few glances and saw that Xun You's writing was meticulous. He praised him and said, "Now that I have seen your writing, I know that you are rigorous."

"I dare not. If there is anything wrong, please correct me!" Xun You said modestly.

Zhang Yu pondered for a while and said, "Today, the supervision of discipline should not only focus on the National Defense Army, but also extend it to the entire army, and strictly investigate any officers who are derelict in their duties. If there are any violations, they must be dealt with according to military law."

"I will redraft the letter later!" Xun You said.

Seeing Xun You's outstanding work efficiency, Zhang Yu nodded with satisfaction and said, "You are more intelligent than Lu Fan as the commander-in-chief, and more cautious than you. I have chosen you as the commander-in-chief. I have made a good judgment on people!"

While Zhang Yu was talking, the attendant stepped into the hall and said.

"My Lord, the Hu monk Zhilou Jianchen wants to see you!"

"Have you met with Military Advisor Zhong?" Zhang Yu asked.

"Have!"

"Military Advisor Zhong had just discussed Taoism with Zhi Loujichen, and he praised Zhi Loujichen's great wisdom to his attendants, and suggested that Your Excellency might as well meet with the Hu monk in your spare time!" said the attendant.

"On the Road?"

Zhang Yu smiled and said, "What's Zhong Yao talking about? Ever since he learned that Yuan Shu intended to usurp the throne, Zhong Yao has been intentionally or unintentionally testing whether he has the idea of becoming emperor. Now he is asking him to meet the Hu monk, perhaps he is trying to bribe the Buddhists."

(End of this chapter)