Among Zhao Han's emperor's personal guards, there were only about a hundred people with superb riding skills.
Most of the other personal guards came to Xiaoling Racecourse to learn horse riding after they were responsible for protecting the emperor, and they were able to ride a horse to a running level.
Not only are there few who are proficient in riding, there are also almost none who are proficient in hunting.
They learned that Zhao Han was going to hunt, so they collected more than a dozen hounds in advance and practiced quietly in private. However, their ability to command the hounds was similar to Zhao Han's ability to ride a horse, and they were even less able to use falcons.
This may be the most amateur emperor hunting operation in Chinese history!
"Woof woof woof!"
"Whoa whoa"
The hounds kept barking, and the guards rode horses and roared, trying to scare the prey out of the forest.
After struggling for a long time, a rabbit that had been lost all along popped out.
"Your Majesty, there is prey!" the guards shouted in surprise, more excited than killing a few Tatars on the battlefield.
Because the land is full of Tartars, but there are few game animals in the mountains.
Zhao Han couldn't laugh or cry about this and shouted: "Who is going to hunt this rabbit?"
"I go!"
You Julian came out from the horse, bent his bow and bowed the string, and shot an arrow, but he was still three feet away from the hare.
Tian Xiuying also galloped forward, but she didn't know whether her performance was extraordinary or inferior, and the arrow flew past the rabbit.
The hare fled in panic and finally disappeared into the grass.
Zhao Han praised: "Good archery skills."
You Julian blushed and said, "I haven't touched a bow and arrow in almost four years. I will definitely hit it next time."
Tian Xiuying explained: "Women haven't drawn their bows in a few years."
The guards could only lead the hounds and go back to the mountains and forests to look for wild animals. After entering a little deeper into the mountains, it finally became easier, and soon a deer was driven out.
Zhao Han was about to pick up the flintlock and take aim when Liu Rushi, who was following him, shouted: "Your Majesty, that is a pregnant female beast!"
"Sure enough, it's not hunting season." Zhao Han had no choice but to put down the shotgun.
Most wild animals mate in spring. Take the deer deer, for example, they mate in late winter and early spring. Now the rapeseed has just been harvested, and wheat is about to be harvested. These two months are the season for giving birth.
The pregnant female deer was allowed to escape, and soon a wild boar was driven out.
The body is not very big, only about 200 kilograms.
Tian Xiuying rode her horse to catch up, letting go of the reins with both hands. On the undulating horse, she actually drew the standard horse bow to seventy percent full, and then shot it while galloping at high speed.
Uh, I ejaculated crookedly again...
Tian Xiuying was immediately embarrassed. When the guards drove the wild boar back, she stood still and drew her bow with a red face.
call out!
An arrow pierced the wild boar, only piercing the fur. The arrow hung on the wild boar and was dangling. The wild boar was in pain and was hunted by hundreds of people. It fled down the mountain in a panic.
There were also guards down the mountain, beating gongs to drive them back.
"boom!"
There was a gunshot and the wild boar fell to the ground.
Zhao Han put down his flintlock gun and slowly reloaded the ammunition.
"Good gun skills!"
"Your Majesty's perfect shot!"
The crowd immediately cheered and flattered him.
The wild boar was hit by a bullet and an arrow, but it was not completely dead. It only fell to the ground for two or three seconds before it got up and ran away again, and rushed straight towards Zhao Han.
Phew! Phew! Phew!
Tian Xiuying, You Julian, and another female officer shot arrows in unison. Because the distance was very close, all three arrows hit, but the wild boar still survived.
Zhu Youdong, the captain of the personal guard, was afraid that the emperor was in danger, so he immediately rushed out on his horse, charged a few steps, leaned out, and hit the wild boar on the head with a hammer.
The wild boar staggered and ran a few more steps before finally falling down.
Another guard said: "Your Majesty, I'm afraid this beast is not dead. You can give it another shot."
Zhao Han didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "If you add another shot, it will be considered as my hunt?"
"Hahaha!"
Everyone burst into laughter instantly, and the flattering guard scratched his head in embarrassment.
Tian Xiuying said: "Your Majesty, some prey have thick fur and must use special arrow clusters, otherwise they will not die even if they are hit by ten arrows."
"That's it." Zhao Han suddenly realized.
For example, the emperors in the early Qing Dynasty had special hunting heavy arrows. When shooting tigers and other fierce beasts, the arrows were not sharp, but were oval iron cones. They did not cause penetrating damage, but caused hammering damage.
Zhao Han was just playing around today, doing everything very amateurishly, not even preparing arrows for hunting.
Tian Xiuying asked curiously: "Why is there no match rope in your Majesty's gun?"
Zhao Han explained: "The gun is fired by flint and fired by flint." Then he asked, "Can you still use a fire gun?"
Tian Xiuying said: "It was fired with a match rope."
This noble concubine of the old dynasty was born in a family of hereditary military attachés in Shaanxi. When she was born, her father Tian Hongyu was already serving as Qianzong in Yangzhou. He was an officer who liked to make friends with heroes, and was nicknamed "Little Mengchang".
Officials who are generally called "Xiao Mengchang" can be directly replaced by Song Jiang.
Anyway, Tian Hong is a man of three religions and nine schools of thought, and Tian Hong can make friends with anyone he meets.
The unofficial historian said that he brought Chen Yuanyuan to Beijing and tried to present it to Emperor Chongzhen, but in the end it fell into the hands of Wu Sangui. It is not impossible that it is possible.
Because Concubine Tian’s stepmother and music teacher was a geisha from Yangzhou.
"Give her a flintlock gun." Zhao Han said.
The mass production of flintlock muskets started last year, and the first batch was delivered this spring. Priority was given to the dragoons in Liaodong. Currently, there are 5,000 dragoons equipped.
In addition, three thousand pairs of breastplates were also made, which were used to dress some of the valiant cavalry.
Although Li Dingguo defeated more with less last year, he kept up with thousands of Manchu and Qing cavalry and captured the opponent's cavalry commander on the spot. However, the Datong cavalry also suffered heavy losses because the newly formed knights' cavalry skills were far inferior to those of the Manchu and Qing knights.
Lu Xiangsheng and Zhao Han exchanged letters and discussed changing the cavalry tactics. Zhao Han suggested that three thousand of the knights should engage in a wall charge.
The existing knight armor was too heavy, so I had to replace it with a breastplate that only weighed 10 to 20 kilograms, and then used a wall charge to fight the Manchu cavalry in exchange for my life.
The wall charge is not that mysterious. To put it more bluntly, it is the "line up and shoot" in the cavalry world.
Using a group of soldiers with strict discipline, extremely high organization, and insufficient cavalry combat skills to line up in a dense row and charge forward regardless of life and death, using organization to make up for personal combat skills. This is a very clumsy but completely unreasonable approach.
, and is very suitable for cavalry tactics in countries with large numbers of people and strong foundations.
Traditional cavalry formations are very sparse, leaving enough space to avoid battlefield obstacles, avoid dead human corpses and horse bodies on both sides, and still be able to rescue one's own generals when they fall from their horses.
When a wall charge is launched, there is no room for maneuver at all. If you encounter an obstacle, you will most likely fall down. When you see your own general landing, you can only step on it. Its actual combat premise is: the army has strict discipline and a high degree of organization.
None of the soldiers are afraid of death.
If a traditional cavalry unit encounters a wall charge, the first reaction is to turn around and run away. Cavalry is not so desperate.
Even if you dare to hedge, loose cavalry formation, and encounter a dense cavalry formation, it will be equivalent to being beaten by several, and there is basically no possibility of victory.
However, the shortcomings of the wall charge are also obvious. Once you charge, you cannot change formations, surround, or even direct, and you instantly lose all tactical abilities except charging.
If both sides adopt a wall charge, there will be only one result: people will fall on their backs, and the battlefield will be chaotic. Just like lining up to shoot at close range, both sides will suffer heavy casualties!
It is absolutely impossible for cavalry generals like Li Dingguo and cavalry soldiers with superb combat skills to charge with a wall. Because they cannot use their talents, they can only huddle in the cavalry wall and become an ordinary unit that rushes to the death.
The scarce Indian Marwari horses cannot be used for wall charging, because... it is a waste!
However, it was said that after Tian Xiuying got the flintlock gun and figured out how to operate it, she began to practice using prey.
"boom!"
There was a gunshot, the prey ran, and the bullets flew to nowhere.
"Ha ha ha ha!"
Zhao Han was amused and laughed heartily. He raised his gun and aimed at the mountain elk. As the gunshot rang out, the bullet splashed fine gravel. Although it also missed, it was only half a foot away from the prey.
"drive!"
Zhao Han took the flintlock musket handed to him by the guard, which was already loaded. He immediately jumped on his horse and gave chase. The "electricity chasing" horse under his crotch was extremely powerful. Zhao Han fired another shot while running at high speed.
Shooting with a flintlock gun on horseback should also be regarded as a riding skill, right?
After two consecutive shots missed, the guard still wanted to drive the mountain moose back. Zhao Han said with a smile: "Let it escape. If the two shots missed, it should not be fatal."
Liu Rushi also wanted a flintlock gun. After asking the guards for advice, she started practicing against the trees. Seeing her shrinking posture, the guards around her got out of the way, for fear that she might accidentally become a prey.
"boom!"
A bullet flew into the sky. Liu Rushi leaned back, rubbing his numb arms and said excitedly: "It's ringing, it's ringing!"
Zhao Han smiled and said: "Hold tighter, don't get hurt by the fire blunderbuss."
Liu Rushi nodded repeatedly: "Don't worry, husband, I will be able to practice well. I can't practice bow and arrow, and I don't have enough strength to draw the bow, but this fire blunderbuss is much easier."
She has a heart for galloping on the battlefield. She can only think about it at ordinary times, but now she is very satisfied to be able to ride a horse and shoot a gun.
We hunted until mid-afternoon and only caught one wild boar and one deer. The nearby mountains and forests were filled with smoke.
Hundreds of guards continued to look for prey. Zhao Han, the concubine, and the female officer dismounted their horses to rest, and some guards stood around to guard.
Zhao Han asked the female officials to disperse, and even Liu Rushi was invited aside. Only Tian Xiuying was left and said: "There are Tatars in Nanjing who are working hard to bribe officials everywhere. If you and Chongzhen's children are approached by strangers, they should remain calm."
That's it. If they give you money, just accept it in full and report to me quietly."
Tian Xiuying was startled, and then nodded: "The daughter of the people obeys the order!"
Zhao Han added: "Your father went to Liaodong with the Tatars. From now on, if the Tatars are destroyed, I will try my best to save your father. You must not conceal your detailed actions for this reason."
"Yes!" Tian Xiuying was even more surprised.
Tian Xiuying was named a noble concubine by Chongzhen, the first of all the concubines, second only to the queen. Tian Hongyu naturally followed Zhanguang, and was promoted to the governor of Zuo, the highest power position of the Ming Dynasty military general.
Of course, this so-called real power is only relative to honorary titles and cannot actually interfere in military affairs.
When Li Zicheng was in Beijing, he beat Tian Hongyu half to death.
Fortunately, Tian Hongyu was a "little Mengchang" and had a wide circle of friends. He hid in a church and was protected by missionaries. After the Manchus entered Beijing, they searched everywhere for the Ming Dynasty royal family and clan. Tian Hongyu, as a relative, was forcibly recruited by the Manchus to serve as an official.
Especially when I heard that Concubine Tian Guifei was not dead and most likely went to the south, the Manchu Qing Dynasty did not let Tian Hongyu leave and even took her with her when she returned to Liaodong.
Hou Fangyu's father, Hou Xun, is also alive and is currently in Liaodong.
Since the Manchu Qing Dynasty sent them to do detailed work, they would definitely come into contact with Tian Xiuying and Hou Xun, as well as Chongzhen's children.