I did it all for the Han Dynasty!

Chapter 356 Tactical Innovation
"Now?"

Zhang Liao hesitated when he saw the dark robe casually wrapped around Liu Miao's body and the crimson belt haphazardly tied around his waist.

"I'm off! I'm going to the drill ground to see a bunch of men, not to a brothel to see women. Why am I making such a fuss? Does Wen Yuan expect me to put rouge on my face?"

In principle, riding horses was not allowed in the Imperial Palace of the Han Dynasty.

Unfortunately, Liu Miao adheres to that principle now.

The attendant was supposed to call Yu Lu, but Liu Miao thought that was too slow, so he directly ordered someone to bring the fast ship that had been indulging in nightly revelry to the training ground in the north.

The entire palace is still under renovation, but the drill ground to the north has already been set up in advance, with three imperial guards led by Zhou Tai, Chen Wu, and Gao Shun stationed there.

Zhou Tai was quite excited to see Liu Miao, even somewhat agitated: "Your Majesty, shall we go to the brothel?"

"What brothel? Do you think I'm that kind of person? Go! Find two heavily armored cavalrymen!"

Zhou Tai's wishes were dashed, so he had no choice but to obediently retrieve the two sets of full armor captured in the previous battle of Kunyang, which were then worn by two soldiers.

"Let's see if we can perform this skillfully on horseback first."

Zhang Liao then had Zhou Tai bring several bows for the two cavalrymen. Tiger-type bows, carved bows, horn bows, road bows, and strong bows were all brought out for the two cavalrymen to try out.

"Your Majesty, what is going on?"

Zhou Tai also came over and squatted down next to Liu Miao, looking at Zhang Liao bustling around with a strange expression: "This iron lump, it falls over after running a few steps! Is there any need for a bow and arrow?"

"Wen Yuan said it would be useful, so I came over to give it a try."

When Zhou Tai heard that Zhang Liao was actually being picky about the heavy cavalry, his eyes widened in disbelief: "Why does he have so many problems? So many generals want to lead such a heavy cavalry unit but can't, and he's being so picky?"

"Fuck off!"

Liu Miao cursed, then stared intently at the two heavily armored cavalrymen who had switched to bows and arrows.

When Zhang Liao mentioned the issue of heavy cavalry, Liu Miao immediately thought of the invincible archery techniques of the Mongol cavalry of later generations.

If we could replicate that type of troop and those tactics, we would undoubtedly be able to inflict heavy damage on some rigid heavy cavalry on the battlefield!

The two heavily armored cavalrymen also shared their hands-on experience after the test.

"Your Majesty, General, the horn bow is still more effective!"

A horn bow is a strong bow made by combining animal horns with materials such as bamboo, wood, fish glue, and sinew.

A horn bow requires six materials to prepare: wood, horn, sinew, glue, silk, and lacquer.

The functions of the "six materials" are: "Dry wood is used for distance; horn is used for speed; sinew is used for depth; glue is used for harmony; silk is used for strength; and lacquer is used to withstand frost and dew."

Simply put, it consists of wood, ox horn, ox tendon, fish glue, silk thread, and varnish.

Such a horn bow is also quite expensive to make... but even if it is quite expensive, it is still far less expensive than the cost of a full set of armor.

Liu Miao asked for a horn bow, and with great effort, he drew it open, shaping it into a bright moon.

Although he had not undergone any special training, Liu Miao had spent a long time in the military camp, and his strength had not decreased but increased, so he was able to easily pull away.

However, Liu Miao also judged from the effort expended: "Ordinary soldiers probably couldn't draw the bow many times."

"Moreover, the soldiers are wearing heavy armor, so drawing this horn bow will require even more effort, and it probably cannot be used continuously."

"Your Majesty is wise!"

Zhang Liao then recounted the pain he felt during the Battle of Kunyang, when his warhorses were exhausted and he could no longer continue fighting.

"In my opinion, the tactics of heavy cavalry should not be simply to charge forward in one fell swoop."

While this maximizes the heavy cavalry's ability to break through enemy lines, it is not the most effective way for heavy cavalry to fight.

Zhang Liao, drawing on his own experience, devised a completely new set of battle tactics—

"Heavy cavalry should not act alone."

"On the contrary, they should fight alongside light cavalry equipped with bows and arrows."

Zhang Liao drew up a blueprint.

The two sides' cavalry clashed.

Yuan Shao's cavalry far outnumbered Liu Miao's, so they had no scruples and launched the first attack.

Zhang Liao dispatched one hundred heavy cavalry and two hundred light cavalry, armed with bows and arrows, to lure out Yuan Shao's heavy cavalry. Then, using their mobility, they quickly retreated. When Yuan Shao caught up again, another mixed cavalry force would follow the same tactic. After a maximum of three rounds, Yuan Shao's heavy cavalry would be exhausted.

Then they switched from defense to offense, using mixed cavalry to press forward. Once the enemy was exhausted, they would switch to another mixed cavalry force to charge forward. In this way, the offensive wave after wave was stronger than the last, like a tidal wave, breaking through the enemy's entire army with a single point!

Not only was Liu Miao listening, but Zhou Tai and Chen Wu behind him were also listening to Zhang Liao's tactics.

After listening, Zhou Tai stepped forward and patted Zhang Liao on the shoulder with some admiration: "So you really do have something?"

"..."

Liu Miao, on the other hand, became more and more excited as he listened.

It can only be said that Zhang Liao truly deserves to be a general who came from the border regions.

This set of tactics not only incorporates the strict discipline of the Han army, but also carries the highly aggressive and cunning wolf-like nature of the nomadic people!
If this tactic can really be deployed on the Central Plains battlefield, Liu Miao guarantees that he can send Yuan Shao to reunite with his beloved rear general's army!
However, it is clear that Zhang Liao's battle tactics are still just a pipe dream at present.

To implement this tactic, sufficient material resources are also needed, which is clearly something Liu Miao needs to solve for Zhang Liao.

Warhorses and bows and arrows go without saying.

Judging from the surplus of arrows, the cost of mixed cavalry seems to be higher than that of heavy cavalry.

However, according to Zhang Liao's mixed-unit tactics, the number of light cavalry would obviously be far greater than the number of heavy cavalry. This would mean that the biggest expense—heavy armor—would actually be significantly reduced.

So that's the calculation.

In fact, the cost of forming a thousand-strong heavy cavalry unit was actually higher than the cost of forming a unit of two hundred heavy cavalry or eight hundred light cavalry. And this latter mixed cavalry unit was clearly more effective on the battlefield than the former.

In this way, costs can be reduced.

Lower costs mean that more cavalry units can be formed, expanding one's advantage on the battlefield.

After a brief deliberation, Liu Miao decided to rebuild the cavalry accounts.

"At the court meeting the day after tomorrow, Wen Yuan will submit a memorial."

"Here!"

Zhang Liao's eyes lit up, clearly knowing that Liu Miao had already agreed to the matter!
"But don't get too excited yet, there are still other problems to solve."

Liu Miao ordered the cavalry to remove their heavy armor and place it next to the target not far away. Then he raised his bow and arrow and shot at the armored man!

"Den!"

Although Liu Miao was not as skilled as Huang Zhong or Taishi Ci, he was full of energy and his arrows were incredibly powerful, falling straight onto the armor.

But when the soldiers brought the heavy armor to Liu Miao, he could clearly see that there were only a few plates that were slightly raised.

Upon seeing this, Zhang Liao turned pale.

True.

A general like Zhang Liao, when he shoots an arrow, will surely be able to pierce through the enemy's armor.

But what about the other soldiers?

If everything is so weak and ineffective, then the mounted archery tactic is nothing but a joke!
"Um……"

Liu Miao stroked the arrowhead.

This is a triangular iron arrowhead, also known as a ram's head arrowhead.

These arrowheads were extremely effective against lightly armored soldiers, but their armor-piercing effect was only so-so.

Liu Miao then asked the soldiers for a horse spear.

This lance is heavy and long; anyone who can hold it horizontally and charge into battle must be a fierce warrior with immense strength!
But Liu Miao could also feel the cumbersome weight of the lance.

Such a lance was only used by ordinary soldiers during charges.

If the warhorse stops, wielding such a lance in battle would be tantamount to suicide!

During the Battle of Kunyang, Liu Miao knew that many heavily armored soldiers, once they charged into Yuan's army, would have no choice but to abandon their valuable lances and draw their ring-pommel swords to fight.

In this way, a large number of lances were lost due to wear and tear.

Therefore, improvements to bows and arrows, as well as lances, were also imperative.

"Get ready, we're going to Yecheng later!"

"Here!"

Not finished yet.

Liu Miao then went to the side of the warhorse and touched a cloth bag hanging down from the side of the horse.

This is not a real cloth bag, but a "cloth stirrup".

Stirrups are now widely used, but these "cloth stirrups" were not used for warfare; they were merely tools to help cavalrymen mount and dismount their horses.

Liu Miao pointed to the "cloth stirrups": "Take this too!"

Although his attendants were puzzled, they still took off the stirrups and led Liu Miao in a grand procession to Yecheng in the west.

With the continuous development of Jinling, Yecheng is no longer the desolate and barren small town that Liu Miao visited for the first time.

in contrast.

Today, Yecheng is bustling with people. Markets have been set up in front of the south and east gates of the city to sell iron tools forged in Yecheng.

With the advent of the iron-making techniques, both the quantity and quality of ironware in Yecheng saw a significant increase. Furthermore, the large influx of people migrating to Jinling created a greater need for agricultural tools, and the development of various handicrafts further fueled the demand for ironware, exceeding any previous level.

The balance and expansion of supply and demand have made Yecheng the second most prosperous place in Jinling after the southern market. As a result, when Liu Miao and his party entered Yecheng from the north gate, it attracted the attention of many people who were wondering what was going on.

As soon as Liu Miao entered Yecheng, he immediately saw a familiar person.

Hey! You're still here, kid?

Liu Miao pointed to a craftsman and introduced him to the people around him: "This is the kid. Back then, he urinated in the water and then made the first Su Tie sword!"

The craftsman was both embarrassed and surprised: "Your Majesty still remembers this humble subject?"

"of course I remember!"

Liu Miao then asked the other person, "Where is your master?"

"The master is gone."

Liu Miao fell silent immediately: "Please accept my condolences."

"No, no! Master left Yecheng! He said he earns much more doing side jobs now than he does in Yecheng!"

"..."

"You little bastard!"

Liu Miao's earlier sadness vanished instantly, and he immediately tossed him the arrowheads, lance, and cloth stirrups.

"Call your master here too, and tell him there's work to be done!"

(End of this chapter)