A son who doesn't resemble his father? Love you, old man, see you at Xuanwu Gate!

Chapter 10 The Three-Thirds System

Northern Army.

On this training ground simulating the battlefield of northern desert, a gleaming white-horse cavalry unit accelerated continuously.

They did not wear the heavy armor that war cavalry usually wore, nor did they have long halberds that were strong for every inch. Instead, they wore mirror-finish armor, which was an improvement on fish scale armor, and weighed no more than twenty pounds in total. All of them carried only lightly armed ring-pommel steel swords, bows and arrows, as well as lightweight improved crossbows and crossbow bolts.

This was a mobile cavalry force that the Han army had never had before.

Agile and fierce.

The white horse charged swiftly to the distance of the pre-set target, and the guards, who were crouching on the horse's back, rose almost simultaneously and pulled the trigger of their crossbows.

Thousands of crossbow bolts swept across the "enemy's vanguard," and in an instant, straw flew everywhere.

Within a hundred paces, the white horse did not stop. The guards, who had replaced their bows with powerful ones, immediately nocked arrows, held them in place, and released them. One after another, the sharp arrows flew out of the bowstrings with a piercing sound, instantly destroying the "enemy's central army".

The white horse galloped faster and faster, and the guards, now armed with steel swords, charged into the "enemy's rear" like the wind, beheading countless scarecrows.

With just one charge, an equal number of enemy troops were annihilated. Although it was not an actual battle, the terrifying destructive power terrified all the Han generals watching.

This was not the white horse's limit. The reins tightened little by little, and the speed inevitably decreased. When it slowed down, the guards dismounted and returned to the enemy lines.

The steel blade struck the enemy's vitals with steady, accurate, and ruthless movements, without any unnecessary actions. One slash to the neck, another to the heart, causing the Han generals to gasp in shock.

That finishing blow was so bad, even a god would shake his head.

The white horse stopped to rest, and the soldiers regrouped.

Seeing the Crown Prince's personal guards standing resolutely beside the white horse, Gongsun Ao, Zhao Shiqi, Zhao Ponu, and others all had red eyes.

I love it!

Wei Qing's expression was solemn. He greatly admired the Crown Prince's personal guards' excellent performance, but showed no envy whatsoever.

In this "new army," he seemed to see the shadows of the "Zhao border cavalry," "Han crossbowmen," "Wei elite soldiers," "Qi skilled warriors," "Chu Shenxi," "Qin elite soldiers," and "Yan death squads" from the Warring States period.

It can be described as comprehensive.

If such an army were to go to the battlefield, it would be a massacre for ordinary troops. In fact, people are not much different from straws.

The only downside is that it's too expensive.

For these eight hundred men, the expenses totaled over ten million coins in just over a month. Keep in mind that a slave in Chang'an only costs a little over ten thousand coins, so this group of the Crown Prince's personal guards was practically worth a fortune.

If every soldier in the Han army had acted like this, the Xiongnu would have perished long ago, and the Han dynasty would probably have perished due to the depletion of its treasury and financial resources.

This is neither a regular army nor an elite army; it's more like a special army.

Huo Qubing stood beside Liu Ju and asked in a low voice, "Brother Ju, the formation of the guards seems to be quite particular when the cavalry charges and when they dismount to become infantry?"

As an unparalleled general, given his achievements and the Emperor's favor towards him, the cost of training troops would never cross his mind, but he could instantly grasp the characteristics of a battle force.

Although the straw army could be destroyed in an instant, Huo Qubing still gleaned a lot from it. While the crossbow bolts and arrows were certainly blinding, the White Horse Army first found the straw army's weak flank and focused on attacking it, while other firepower was used to cover and pressurize one flank of the enemy.

However, the White Horse was too powerful. Even when it was providing cover fire, it looked like it was breaking through the battle formation. During the attack, the White Horse always maintained the advantage of facing the enemy from two, or even three, or multiple sides.

Simply put, it's like two people fighting. If one person always uses one leg or one hand to fight, then the other person will undoubtedly find it much easier to defend themselves than if that person uses all four limbs.

Of course, in reality, most situations are that both sides are physically intact. So what should be done then? In this case, a skilled fighter will first conceal their true striking power, while constantly confusing their opponent until the opponent reveals a weakness, and finally seize the opportunity to strike a fatal blow.

This kind of military formation or tactic—finding the enemy's weaknesses, or even creating them, to disrupt the stability of the enemy's battle formation—was something that Huo Qubing's military books had never seen before.

Huo Qubing assumed that with the same number of troops, his chances of winning would be no more than 40%, and this was based on the fact that this imperial guard had never been on the battlefield.

Without having been on the battlefield, one is not a main warrior, lacking the fierce courage to fight to the death, possessing only the valor to draw one's sword.

Liu Ju noticed the subtle slaps that Gongsun Ao and his generals were making, and laughed heartily, "The three-thirds system!"

"What is the three-thirds system? How do you attack? And how do you defend?"

"Offense is the best defense, but the premise of offense is to preserve one's own strength so as to ensure that one will not be easily annihilated by the enemy under any circumstances. The three-three system is a basic and effective circular defense tactic."

Liu Ju spoke eloquently and clearly about the characteristics of the "three-three system tactics," leaving everyone, including Wei Qing, completely bewildered.

Huo Qubing's eyes, however, were incredibly bright. He drew a triangle on the ground with his foot and asked, "Brother Ju'er, is this it?"

"Brother, you are so clever!" Liu Ju exclaimed in amazement.

In the face of genius, effort and sweat seem so laughable.

Generals Gongsun Ao, Zhao Shiqi, Lu Bode, and Zhao Ponu looked at each other, wondering what was going on.

Wei Qing looked thoughtful.

"Thank you for teaching me, Brother Ju'er. I have three hundred taels of gold, which I will bring to you later as tuition fees."

Huo Qubing turned and left, eager to try out the newly learned tactics, his voice carrying from afar.

Gongsun Ao, who was close to Wei Qing, could no longer hold back and pointed at the triangle, asking, "Grand Marshal, what does this mean?"

"If you compare a corner to a soldier, then look at it again," Wei Qing slowly shared his insights.

When attacking, two soldiers are in front and one is behind, forming a triangular formation, which constitutes a basic combat group. If three combat groups are formed into a triangular formation, a combat squad is formed, and three combat squads can form a combat group, which deploys in a skirmish line formation when attacking.

Wei Qing calculated that a battle group of 27 people, when fully deployed, could cover a battle line two miles wide.

If this is implemented, the already abundant Han army will become even more abundant.

This is a very practical "mass production" tactic on the vast northern battlefield.

Gongsun Ao suddenly realized, and his desire for military merit made him tremble uncontrollably. "I am willing to offer a hundred gold pieces as tuition fees!"

"I am willing to donate eighty gold coins as tuition fees!" said General Zhao Shiqi.

“I am willing to donate sixty gold coins as tuition fees!” said Lu Bode, the captain of the crossbowmen.

"..."

The generals of the Han dynasty repeatedly expressed their gratitude. Before long, Liu Ju had received 600 gold coins. With the addition of the money from his mother and uncle, he had 1,000 gold coins. The expenses for the Crown Prince's palace in Weiyang Palace were suspended. With this capital, the cost of building the Crown Prince's palace would not be a problem.

[Build an army and repel the invading enemy. Reward: Wealth Manual (Completed).]

(End of this chapter)