Sword of Light: Humanoid Self-Propelled Artillery

Chapter 149 One Person, Multiple Riders

Swish!Swish!Swish!
With his physical abilities tripled and enhanced in every way, Wang Gensheng's throwing knife flew precisely over a hundred meters and pierced the sentry's forehead with remarkable accuracy.

Wang Gensheng's throwing knife skills made another appearance, proving that under certain conditions, throwing knives are still more effective than firearms.

With a wave of Wang Gensheng's hand, the 500-man assault team swaggered into the camp of the Japanese cavalry brigade, carrying light machine guns.

Then the five hundred men began to disperse, working in squads to clean up the tents where the Japanese soldiers lived one by one.

The method for cleaning the tents was also very simple: grenades were used, followed by machine gun fire.

Firearms are highly lethal, so the advantage of striking first is crucial. Once you have the advantage, unless there is a significant disparity in troop strength, there is virtually no chance of turning the tide.

And the best part is that the tent isn't a traditional tiled house, so even if you don't go inside the tent, you can just stand outside and fire a machine gun without worrying about the bullets being blocked.

This further increased the killing speed, so even though it was three thousand against five hundred, the battle lasted only about ten minutes, and it was basically a one-sided battle.

After the battle was over, the follow-up fire support team and reconnaissance team entered the camp to help clean up the battlefield.

Since the warhorses were kept outside the tents—after all, the Japanese weren't so kind as to let the warhorses live inside with them—all three thousand-plus warhorses were unharmed and no one was injured by stray bullets or anything like that.

Unfortunately, the Japanese cavalry and infantry were different. The Japanese infantry were equipped with light machine guns down to the squad level, which was the most basic unit. Each Japanese infantry unit was equipped with a Type 96 light machine gun, a copy of the Czech ZB vz. 16, or a Type 99 light machine gun.

However, the Japanese cavalry only had a heavy machine gun squadron, and the heavy machine guns were of no use to Wang Gensheng, since the light machine guns that Wang Gensheng wanted could be used as submachine guns.

But the Japanese Type 92 heavy machine gun was simply too heavy to lift!
When Wang Gensheng arrived, he only had a thousand warhorses, but when he returned, he had three thousand more. So, theoretically, Wang Gensheng's cavalry regiment could have become a full-fledged cavalry unit. However, Wang Gensheng did not want the cavalry regiment to become a full-fledged cavalry unit, because it would be really difficult for him to recruit more than three thousand elite soldiers.

Putting everything else aside, just considering the assault teams using light machine guns, at least half of them need to be equipped with them. So, if Wang Gensheng wants to turn the Special Cavalry Regiment into a 4,000-strong Special Cavalry Regiment, he needs at least 2,000 light machine guns. Even if Wang Gensheng already has 500 light machine guns, he is still short 1,500!

Even if Wang Gensheng went back and took down the Japanese regiment in Taiyuan City, 1,500 light machine guns would still be far from enough. After all, a full-strength Japanese infantry regiment only has a little over 100 light machine guns at most, and a light machine gun is only one per Japanese squad.

So, if Wang Gensheng wanted to get his hands on more than a thousand light machine guns, without relying on luck, such as intercepting a train and getting four hundred light machine guns like he did that time, he would have to wipe out ten regiments to possibly gather enough light machine guns.

So after thinking it over, Wang Gen finally decided that adding only one thousand men would be enough, making it a reinforced regiment of about two thousand men, without needing to make it a special-grade unit.

Wang Gensheng himself understood that his abilities were limited and he lacked the capacity to command large-scale operations. More importantly, he discovered that his cavalry, operating alone on horseback, was somewhat hampered by the reduced efficiency of their raids.

Although there is a limit to the number of kilometers a horse can run in a day, the maximum is two hundred kilometers, and it will be exhausted if it runs any more.

However, this 200 kilometers refers to the 200 kilometers that the horse is carrying a load. In other words, the limit is for a person riding on horseback with equipment, weighing about 100 to 150 kilograms, to run 200 kilometers.

However, an unloaded horse can cover a much greater distance in a day. Moreover, having two horses per person has the advantage of reducing the load on the warhorses. After all, for long-distance marches, in addition to carrying weapons and ammunition, rations are also required. This applies not only to the soldiers but also to the warhorses.

Therefore, if the maximum distance a single person can cover in a day on a single horse is 200 kilometers, then the maximum distance a single person can cover in a day on two horses is 300 kilometers. Of course, this is the limit, and there is no need to go any further. Even if a single person rides three horses in rotation, it will not increase the distance by much.

Because riding multiple horses by one person is different from changing horses at a relay station. Changing horses at a relay station is like a relay race, which keeps the warhorse in a sprinting state. But riding multiple horses by one person is like being a sprinter. Therefore, even if you ride back and forth between several horses, you can't eliminate the fatigue of the horses when they are running.

Just as Wang Gensheng was returning triumphantly with over three thousand warhorses after a long march, Chu Yunfei came knocking on Li Yunlong's door.

There was no other way. Ever since Li Yunlong brought Kong Jie and Ding Wei to his Independent Regiment and talked to them, asking them to cooperate with him in dealing with Chu Yunfei, the artillery battalion and the First Battalion that Chu Yunfei sent to Daguzhen were cut off from their food supplies.

So, having no other choice, Chu Yunfei had to go and discuss it with Li Yunlong.

Upon arrival, Chu Yunfei went straight to the point, demanding that Li Yunlong withdraw his troops from Daguzhen. However, Li Yunlong feigned ignorance and said:

"Da Gu Town, what happened to Da Gu Town? Tell me!"

Li Yunlong then called Zhang Dabiao over and asked him:

"Chief of Staff Zhang, what's going on in Daguzhen? What happened that upset Commander Chu?"

Upon hearing Li Yunlong's words, Zhang Dabiao naturally recalled the story he and Li Yunlong had previously agreed upon, and immediately responded:

"Oh! Commander, we have several battalions conducting exercises around Dagu Town. This is an order from the Lion Corps. You were drunk that day, so I arranged for three battalions to participate in the exercises myself! Then I got busy the next day and forgot to inform you!"

After hearing Zhang Dabiao's words, Li Yunlong immediately pretended to be ashamed and said:
"Brother Chu! I'm so sorry I didn't inform you beforehand!"

Chu Yunfei, feigning magnanimity, said:
"Since Brother Yunlong is only now learning about this, I won't say anything more. I only hope that your troops will immediately withdraw from the outskirts of Dagu Town. I think Brother Yunlong won't refuse!"

Upon hearing this request, Li Yunlong immediately nodded in agreement:

"no problem!"

After saying that, Li Yunlong turned to Zhang Dabiao and said:

"Chief of Staff Zhang, did you hear what Regiment Commander Chu said?!"

But Zhang Dabiao pretended to be embarrassed and said:
"Commander, I'm powerless! This order comes from Lion's Den, and I dare not disobey! How about this, Commander, you go to Lion's Den yourself and ask them to rescind the order. That way, we won't have any responsibility, and we'll have given Commander Chu an explanation!"

(End of this chapter)