Late Han Zhao Tang

Chapter 96: Hunting Geese in the North

Hu Yanhe was disappointed that he did not get the permission to move south, but considering that Zhang Yu had soldiers under his command and was the captain who protected him, Hu Yanhe had to have a deep talk with Zhang Yu.

Zhang Yu saw through Hu Yanhe's thoughts, and in order to gain Zuo Nanbu's cooperation, Zhang Yu said something about the situation.

For example, although the Xianbei looted last year, it does not mean that they will continue to loot. Especially since Kuitou is dead, Budugen will not let Qianman go. As for why there has been no conflict between the two, it is estimated that they are competing for the support of the lower-level tribes.

Once the situation becomes clear, the conflict between Budugen and Qianman will be inevitable. However, because of the conflict, Qianman dare not lead the main force south, otherwise it will be easy for the opponent to seize the opportunity. In the future, the conflict in Yanbei will not intensify.

After suppressing Hu Yanhe's idea of moving south, Zhang Yu made some promises, promising that if Qiangyin was recaptured, he would give Zuo Nanbu more fertile pastures and let Zuo Nanbu manage the Chanhepo Salt Pond.

At the end of the conversation, Zhang Yu changed the subject and shamelessly asked Hu Yanhe for good horses to strengthen the combat effectiveness of his troops. This made Hu Yanhe speechless. He came to visit, but only listened to Zhang Yu's empty promises, not only did he not get any benefits, but he was also being taken advantage of by Zhang Yu.

But after some thought, Hu Yanhe, taking into account Zhang Yu's position and the fact that he and the Han army were in the same boat, finally sent more than a hundred horses to the Yunzhong Yicong Camp.

With the support of Yang Zan and Hu Yanhe, Zhang Yu had 800 men under his command, of which 500 were cavalrymen. However, the subsequent supply of military horses still had to rely on the allocation of Bingzhou.

As the Baideng camp was repaired, in order to strengthen the strength of the troops under his command, Zhang Yu led the team to practice every day, sending hundreds of cavalry out hunting and simulating horseback archery hunting. In order to improve the discipline of the cavalry, Zhang Yu used horns and flags to control the cavalry.

It was still sunny in the early morning, but in the afternoon, the north wind blew hard, forcing the cavalry to rest.

Zhang Liao went up the hill where Zhang Yu was watching the parade in the north wind and said, "Captain, strong winds often blow in the north in winter. Arrows are difficult to use in strong winds. We need to practice charging and killing when we are training the troops."

Seeing Zhang Yu's encouraging expression, Zhang Liao pointed to the grassland and continued, "The Hu people's cavalry will advance when they are in a favorable situation and retreat when they are not. When the wind blows, it is difficult to unfurl the flags. If our army fights with the Hu people, it is better to abandon bows and hold spears. When the enemy's troops are unprepared, we will charge bravely and defeat the enemy."

Zhang Yu pondered for a moment and said, "The cavalrymen who broke into the battle formation are all extremely brave. It may not be easy to ask them to abandon their bows and use spears."

After a pause, Zhang Yu said, "How about this? Wenyuan's tactics will be implemented in our headquarters first. If it is feasible, then we will implement it to the entire army."

"promise!"

"Shi Yi, what do you think of the tactics I mentioned before?" Zhang Yu asked.

Shi Yi pondered for a long time and said, "The captain wants to use weak cavalry as bait to lure the enemy deeper, and then the troops and horses will flank and break the formation with close range and strong shooting. It is not impossible. The captain only needs to set up an ambush in advance, and the place he chooses must be on a hillside or in a valley so that he will not be noticed by the enemy."

With his own family cavalry, Zhang Yu kept thinking about how to strengthen cavalry tactics in order to innovate and stand out. He let the various units under his command practice and developed a systematic combat model.

What he had just discussed with Shi Yi was Zhang Yu's strategy based on the common tactics of the Mongolian cavalry, namely, luring the enemy deep into their territory, outflanking them from both wings, and attacking them with a rain of arrows.

As he was talking, Shi Yi suddenly thought of something and said, "Captain, the bait cavalry should not be weak cavalry. In my opinion, they should be elite cavalry. If the weak cavalry escape, they will scatter like birds and beasts, and it may be difficult to attract the enemy to the ambush site."

"Correct!"

Zhang Yu also reacted and said, "The bait cavalry must be able to fight and leave at the same time, and be agile and responsive. Weak cavalry may not be able to take on such a big task, so elite cavalry is necessary."

In ambush tactics, the cavalry that encircles the two wings is crucial, but the cavalry that serves as bait is even more important. Whether the ambush is successful depends entirely on the acting skills of the bait cavalry.

"Shi Yi, your unit should practice ambush tactics and see how effective they are!" Zhang Yu ordered.

"promise!"

"what about me?"

Seeing that the other two had tasks, Hao Zhao asked anxiously.

Zhang Yu looked at the cavalry formation at the foot of the hill and suddenly had an idea. He said, "The cavalry under Bo Dao's command are practicing marching formation."

"Why is it worth practicing marching formations?" Hao Zhao asked puzzledly.

Zhang Yu stroked his slightly stubbled chin and said, "The cavalry nowadays mostly march horizontally and vertically. If they are ambushed by the enemy or attacked by enemy cavalry, it will be inconvenient to change direction."

"It would be better to spread out the cavalry in twos and threes. If we encounter enemy cavalry, we can gather them together to make it easier to respond. If we engage the enemy, marching in twos and threes will give us a strong momentum. If the enemy sees us, they will be afraid in battle, which will benefit our army!"

Practicing marching in groups of three or two was Zhang Yu's creative idea that combined the tactical thinking of the infantry system of threes.

The infantry under the three-three system tactics advanced layer by layer when attacking and provided cover alternately when retreating, forming a dense firepower network. The combat environment and weapons and equipment of the cavalry in the cold weapon era were definitely different from those of the infantry in the hot weapon era.

But there are similar situations. When light cavalry fights the enemy, they disperse their troops to avoid the dense attack of arrows. When retreating, the cavalry takes over the cover and uses horse archery to cause losses to the enemy cavalry.

Zhang Yu didn't know whether this creative idea would succeed, but all he had to do was try more cavalry tactics and he would always find better tactics.

When the Yunzhong Yicong were divided into three parts to practice cavalry tactics, Zhang Yu contacted Budugen, who was very happy about the Han Dynasty sending troops to Yanbei.

As Zhang Yu said, the reason why he had not yet started a war with Qianman was that he was actually trying to win the support of the middle and lower tribes. Once he was ready, he would go to war with Qianman.

Budugen was naturally delighted that the Han Dynasty had sent troops to Yanbei and was willing to support him. In order to express his obedience, Budugen sent people to Luoyang to pay tribute. In addition to contacting Budugen, perhaps because he was tired of Zhang Yu's urging, Zhang Yi deployed resources from various counties to escort a large amount of food, weapons and armor to Pingcheng, and 300 horses followed the army to Yanbei.

With the arrival of military supplies, although the Yunzhong Yicong could not reach the level of one man riding two horses, it finally became a veritable cavalry unit.

After more than a month of training, the tactical drills of the Yunzhong Yicong finally achieved a lot of results. According to the tactical situation, Zhang Yu made new adjustments to his troops.

Since Zhang Liao was inclined to attack the enemy, Zhang Yu simply let him take charge of Zhang Liao's armored cavalry after the replacement of soldiers. The armored cavalry led by Zhang Liao was responsible for attacking the enemy and was also proficient in horseback archery.

The ambush tactics led by Shi Yi were successful, and Zhang Yu led the whole army to practice. In addition, based on Shi Yi's characteristics of being good at riding and shooting, through the replacement of soldiers, Shi Yi was allowed to lead the light cavalry and be responsible for scouts and bait cavalry in the army.

As for the tactical drill of the cavalry marching in threes, its effect surprised Zhang Yu greatly. According to this tactical arrangement, whether encountering an ambush or a cavalry charge, the troops can use the space and the mobility of the cavalry to easily change the formation.

When attacking, the scattered cavalry deployment like stars in the sky can easily trap the enemy with fewer soldiers, which is helpful for helping the team to disrupt the enemy's square formation. Even the enemy cavalry, seeing the loose cavalry formation, are likely to charge without authorization, and the team can pull them back at any time so that the armored cavalry can break through the formation.

The fact that the infantry's three-three system could achieve such a tactical effect after being adapted to cavalry tactics was an unexpected surprise. This made Zhang Yu feel good about himself for a while, and he wondered if he was the legendary cavalry genius.

The cavalry tactics that Zhang Yu accidentally innovated were not unheard of in history. The person who created similar cavalry tactics was not someone else, but Genghis Khan, who led the Mongolian cavalry to dominate the Eurasian continent.

To use Genghis Khan's words to describe his cavalry tactics, he said: "Advance like a bush of peach skins on a mountain, deploy in a formation like a lake, and attack like chiseling through a hole."

Of course, this cavalry tactic is not without its drawbacks. Its biggest drawback is that it requires a high level of military literacy from individual soldiers. And if you don't practice it frequently, it's hard to master this cavalry tactic.

Therefore, Zhang Yu changed the training mode. The cavalry generals were responsible for training. The troops were dispersed in groups of ten to hunt around Pingcheng in order to strengthen the combat capabilities of the grassroots.

When the cavalry were training intensively, Yang Zan suddenly came over, looking hurried, as if there was something urgent.

Zhang Yu, who had been watching the military exercise on the mountain, returned to the Baideng Mountain camp after being notified by Meng Ningzhi.

Inside the big tent, Yang Zan stood up to greet Zhang Yu who entered the tent with a sword in hand.

"Ji'an, there may be an important matter in the county now, and you must take action!" Yang Zan said.

"What's the matter?"

Zhang Yu untied his cloak and hung it on the wooden rack, then pressed down with both hands, signaling Yang Zan not to be anxious and to speak slowly.

Yang Zan calmed down and said, "Since Ji'an's troops arrived in Pingcheng, I have been enforcing strict laws to restrain the Hu people. Yesterday, a citizen escaped into the city and said that several Wuhuan Hu people had kidnapped women. The county officials led the troops to attack and captured one person, and the rest of the bandits were defeated and scattered."

"Through interrogation, I learned that the bandit Hu received orders from Nengchen Di to rob Han people and make them slaves, and then sell them to the Xianbei tribe outside the Great Wall. I want to ask Wuhuan chief Nengchen Di to hand over the bandit soldiers, but I am afraid he will not be willing. Now I don't know if Ji'an can ask for them, and let me bring them to justice to deter the bandits in the border counties."

"How many cavalrymen are there under Nengchen Di's command?" Zhang Yu asked.

"There are no less than 3,000 tribes with a large population, living at the junction of Yan and Dai." Yang Zan said.

Zhang Yu pondered for a moment and asked, "Which tribe of the Xianbei did the Han people sell to?"

"Kebineng's troops!"

Yang Zan said: "I heard from the bandits that Ke Bineng particularly likes the customs of the Han people, so he often orders the Wuhuan to rob the Han people for him, and he pays money and food to buy them off."

"Kebineng?"

Zhang Yu narrowed his eyes slightly, looking thoughtful.

After thinking for a while, Zhang Yu asked, "How strong is Ke Bineng's army?"

"I don't know!"

Yang Zan asked, "Why did Ji'an ask about the situation of Kebineng's troops?"

Zhang Yu stood up from his chair, put his hands on his belt, and said in a deep voice: "The capable minister Di has been colluding with Kebi for a long time. Even if we punish the Hu bandits now, it will be difficult to stop the Han people from being plundered."

"What does Yi Ji'an mean?" Yang Zan asked.

"Not urgent!"

Zhang Yu did not rush to give an answer, and said: "I would like to trouble Gong Tan to find out the strength of Ke Bineng's troops, and then I will discuss a solution with Gong Tan."

"it is good!"

　ps: Today's update is a little late, it won't be so late tomorrow
　　
　
(End of this chapter)