Tiger Guards

Chapter 534 Mission Accomplished
Morale is high!

In the central command area, Qian Man watched as the vanguard knights eagerly charged and chased after them, and a smile appeared on his face.

If these nearly 60,000 knights all have this fighting mentality, then what are they afraid of in the Han army's elite troops?
He had some knowledge of military strategy, which inspired the entire army but also led to the burning of the camp.

However, the casualties that the entire army can withstand are still limited, and cannot exceed half of its personnel!

Even if his grandfather, Tan Shihuai, were to be resurrected, it would be impossible for him to force the Xianbei people to fight even after half of them had died.

The Xianbei people are just Xianbei people. In our eyes, they are no different from the Qiang, Wuhuan, and Dingling people.

As for the Xiongnu, in Qianman's eyes, the Xiongnu were no longer like their ancestors.

What made the Xianbei people great was their grandfather, Tanshihuai; the essence of the Xianbei people would not change much.

Therefore, even when the Han army launched a fierce offensive, the Xianbei people would still become complacent, collapse, or defect.

He has tried every possible method; whether it succeeds or not depends on the protection of the gods.

Qian Man looked up at the azure sky and could even see the bright sunshine in the air.

Today, the northerly wind is light, which is quite different from usual.

The Han army moved to the north bank. With the slight north wind, the Han army's crossbow power would not increase much, and their own arrows would not be weakened too much.

Although still inferior to the Han army, it has a numerical advantage, which can eliminate the Han army's qualitative advantage.

If the north wind is still strong... then he won't even start a war!
The wind direction and force have a huge impact on bows and arrows!

On the side facing the wind, let alone shooting arrows, sometimes you can't even see the other side clearly with your eyes open!

How can you fight when the sand and dust are blinding you?
The enemy came riding the wind, the strong wind pushing their backs, allowing both infantry and cavalry to charge easily and quickly gain the upper hand.

On the side facing the wind, even if you ride your horse forward, it's difficult to increase your speed to what you should be charging at.

When charging, the faster you are, the faster your reaction time at the moment of impact. Even between two equally skilled riders, the one with the faster speed will often win and survive.

Speed ​​sometimes symbolizes courage and determination.

The faster you go, the more likely your slow-moving enemies will be intimidated by your courage and determination, and thus decide to retreat.

When warriors clash, whoever flinches loses three points of strength; if you don't die, who will?
At this moment, although he was unaware of what had happened to the vanguard, the sight of the more than 5,000 cavalry charging forward was inspiring the various Xianbei tribes.

On the chariot, Zhao Ji discarded the bow he had used, so that he would not use the bow again after such intense use in a short period of time.

But it also has a special meaning, as it is used to reward meritorious officials and soldiers when the opportunity arises.

His right arm hung down, his hand trembling uncontrollably, and he looked solemnly at the Xianbei knights chasing after him.

A guard asked, "Grand Marshal, is the enemy general dead?"

"If he's lucky, he shouldn't die."

Zhao Ji had little recollection of the first two arrows, only remembering that the trajectory of the third arrow grazed past the opponent's head.

Thinking of the reaction of the enemy's head when hit by an arrow, Zhao Ji raised his left hand and pointed his index finger at the soldier's cheek: "If you shoot from here, you'll be lucky and the arrow will cut through the skin and go through the nose; if you're unlucky, the arrow will go through the back of the head."

The soldier's face flushed red, and he stared wide-eyed, trying hard to understand. Zhao Ji said, "If you want to be a good archer or warrior, you need to learn about human anatomy. I send you to the military doctor often not to do manual labor, but to learn when it's time to learn. There's a lot to learn about the structure of the human body, the internal organs, and the skull."

"Yes, I understand."

As Zhao Ji's personal guards, they were at least elite soldiers, or meritorious squad leaders selected from the army, or squad leaders with exceptional martial prowess.

They were to stay with Zhao Ji for a period of training before being demoted to squad leader or centurion.

Therefore, the outside world's claim that Zhao Ji's personal guards were filled by military commanders of a hundred men is somewhat exaggerated.

Reliable and qualified centurions are the backbone of the army, and Zhao Ji is not so extravagant as to use centurion-level military officers as personal guards.

What he could do was to select promising soldiers from the lower ranks of the army in advance, train them, and then increase and maintain his control over the army by promoting them. Other officers who made meritorious contributions under the command of generals and colonels would often leave the army when they were promoted to the rank of 600 or 1000 shi, either to enter the official system to gain experience or to start as county lieutenants, border guards, or pavilion chiefs.

Only by doing these things well can one have the opportunity to be promoted to county magistrate and become the head of a region.

However, Zhang Liao's subordinates are a special case. Their merits are so great that some of them have already been quickly transferred to other positions and have been officially appointed as county magistrates or county lieutenants.

In the current understanding of officials and common people, they still feel that the military commanders and captains are not worth much, and only the county magistrate or county captain are considered officials.

This perception is not wrong. The captains who lead troops often have limited range of action. They are usually confined to the military camp. Even when they go home, they do not have any special privileges and cannot bring any large-scale benefits to their fellow villagers and neighbors. At most, they can bring a few relatives to join the army, bypassing the county and prefecture soldiers.

However, the positions of county magistrate and county lieutenant were different; they were the starting point for entering officialdom and could serve as badges of honor for one's family background and social standing.

Even though the county magistrate was appointed by the central government, strictly speaking, a family that produced a county magistrate was considered a sign of a poor family.

If none of your father's or grandfather's three generations produced a county magistrate, how dare you call yourself from a poor family?

As Zhao Ji chatted idly, he watched as the pursuing Xianbei knights drew closer and closer, coming within about a mile of him.

He turned to look at the charioteer, who was still cracking the whip, forcing the horse to speed up.

One of the shield guards beside the lord was using a hand axe to chip away at the broken arrows on his shield, while another shield guard was drinking wine from a gourd.

Zhao Ji shifted his gaze to the herd of horses and said to the charioteer, "The third one on the left and the fifth one on the right are injured. Release them."

"Here!"

The driver agreed. The situation wasn't too critical. He controlled the untying of the different ropes, and soon the two horses broke free from the other knots and separated from the herd.

These well-trained draft horses have a strong sense of community, and even so, they still follow the lead horse.

Zhao Ji reached out his left hand to pick up another spare bow, pinched an arrow in his right hand, and without drawing the string, turned around and made a feint of drawing the bow fully to the Xianbei cavalry chasing and closing in from behind. At the same time, he instructed the guards behind the chariot: "Prepare the ballistae, give them a little surprise."

"Here."

The short-statured guard responded and crouched down inside the carriage. At the back of the carriage was a firing port and a legendary large yellow crossbow.

He settled himself in and secured the crossbow: "Ready to fire!"

"hair!"

After Zhao Ji completed his feint with an arrow, the guards at the rear of the chariot released the trigger, and the large crossbow fired a specially made short spear.

One of the Xianbei knights who had closed in from over a hundred paces behind was immediately blown in the head by a horse, and the knight behind him was hit on the head by a misaligned short spear, immediately losing consciousness and falling off his horse.

The Xianbei cavalry slowed their pursuit. When Zhao Ji slowly pinched the arrow and made a feint to shoot, the Xianbei cavalry slowed down and tried to dodge to the sides.

Zhao Ji remained motionless, his bow fully drawn, and the Xianbei pursuing cavalry, in their attempt to evade capture, were thus passively split in two.

Seeing this, Zhao Ji made another feint, slowly drawing back his bow, holding the bow handle horizontally in his left hand, and waving to the Xianbei knights behind him.

Feeling humiliated, the Xianbei knights accelerated their pursuit again, but failed to merge with the enemy, leaving the central area still empty.

"They are already afraid. My mission is complete. Now it is up to all officers and soldiers to fight the enemy with all their might."

Zhao Ji put the bow back in its original position and ignored the Xianbei knights chasing behind him.

His vanguard, numbering over a thousand chariots and riders, also moved diagonally, about to join him.

Due to the presence of this chariot and cavalry convoy, the pursuing Xianbei knights instinctively slowed down once again.

Zhao Ji could easily understand the changes in the Xianbei people's mentality.

Anyone who has owned a Teddy or similar breed will easily understand.

(End of this chapter)