In the past, Xu Huai tried his best to avoid direct confrontation with the elite cavalry of the Chihu people. However, when he was attacking Taiyuan, in order to successfully capture the Han army camp in Yunzhou, Xu Wuqi organized troops and horses to intercept the enemy in the Qizi Mountain area in the north of Taiyuan. He called for reinforcements and had a fierce battle with the elite cavalry of the Red Husbands.
In that battle, the Chushan Army deployed defense on the chess pieces one day in advance, which can be said to be waiting for work.
However, purely from the results of the Qizi Mountain interception battle, it can only be regarded as a miserable victory.
Two brave generals from Chushan, Shen suppressed the evil, Wang Hua died heroically in battle, Chushan Jianrui died in more than a hundred people, and more than 600 people who were captured by Tianxiong Army and the reinforcements from Luliang Mountain rebels died in battle or were seriously injured.
In the battle of Qizi Mountain, more than a thousand enemy cavalry traveled more than 400 miles in the wind and snow for two days and nights from Yunzhou to Taiyuan. The intensity of the march was not slightly lower than that of the Chushan cavalry, which traveled day and night from Huaiyuan to Fancheng. However, After resting for less than two hours, they entered into a fierce battle, resulting in less than 500 casualties.
If the red cavalry had not formed an overall breakthrough in the end and achieved the combat goal of reinforcing the Han army camp in Yunzhou, they would not have been considered defeated in that battle.
It was also this time that everyone in Chushan truly appreciated the powerful and tenacious combat effectiveness of the elite Chihu cavalry.
This also forced Xu Huai to rethink how the Chushan Army should be organized more rationally in order to face the Chihu people on the future battlefield.
Since the land of Yanyun was lost at the end of the previous period, and the northwest was occupied by the Dangxiang people, the Central Plains lost the conditions for large-scale breeding of fine war horses.
After the establishment of the Dai Viet Dynasty, only a small amount of good horses could be exchanged through border trade every year, and the possibility of forming a large-scale cavalry force was lost.
Since the establishment of the Dai Viet Dynasty, the Forbidden Army has used infantry as its absolute main force. The most elite and capable Western Army Forbidden Brigade, the light armored cavalry, is mainly responsible for spying on the enemy and covering the flanks of the infantry array during combat.
In the past, the main force of the Dai Viet Imperial Army had a check and balance with the Dangxiang people and the Khitan people who had large-scale cavalry for more than 100 years. There were countless battles, big and small, and both sides won and lost. At least they did not suffer too much loss, which proves that this set of tactics is effective to a certain extent. It's still effective.
At present, the Tianxiong Army's six-chamber troops are mainly organized based on this.
However, after in-depth study of the main battles between Dai Viet and the Dangxiang people and the Khitan people for more than a hundred years, and analyzing the cavalry tactics of the Chihu people who killed the Khitan people and defeated the army, Xu Huai had to admit that the Chushan army, which was a mixture of infantry and cavalry at this time, He is not qualified to win a field battle with the Red Husband Cavalry of the same size.
Red Husbands were born and raised on horseback, so they are naturally good at riding and shooting tactics of light armored cavalry.
At this point, although the field cavalry units of the Khitans and Party members are not inferior, the Red Husband Cavalry also possess extremely terrifying battlefield penetration capabilities.
The Red Husband's cavalry's tenacity and hard work over long distances are much better than those of the Khitan and Dangxiang people.
No matter from any angle, the Red Husband Cavalry can be said to be the pinnacle of cavalry in history.
What makes people even more desperate is the size of the red cavalry.
The Chihu people invaded the south twice, but the Vietnamese troops and horses were too weak and were no longer on the same level. As a result, the Chihu people's terrifying cavalry power had no chance to be used.
If the Chushan Army still adheres to the traditional mixed formation of infantry, armor and light cavalry, once it loses the strength of the solid city,
Based on this, if you encounter Khitan cavalry of the same size in the wilderness, there is a high probability that they will be eaten up.
At the same time, no matter how diligent the Chushan cavalry is in training, the level of cavalry shooting in light armor can only be infinitely close to that of the Red Husband Cavalry. How can it be possible to surpass the Red Husband Cavalry who were born and raised on horseback?
This is also doomed. On the flank battlefield, using only light armored cavalry to fight against the red cavalry, the Chushan Army will definitely be at a great disadvantage and will be unable to cover the infantry array well.
Before there was no better way, Xu Huai chose to form an elite guard cavalry battalion, mainly to develop in the direction of penetration operations.
In addition to equipping armor, spears and other weapons that are conducive to sudden killing operations, Chushan also started to build horse armor.
Of course, the most important thing is that the guard barracks focus on practicing more intensive charges, assault tactics and formations that require higher levels of organization.
The narrow Tongbai Mountain Road is naturally extremely difficult for the light armored cavalry who usually practice loose formations and cover the flanks with mounted fire. However, this is the daily training subject of the Chushan Guards Cavalry Battalion, and is even practiced.
The terrain is more rugged and undulating.
At present, it can only be said that there are some small results.
This is also the key to Xu Huai not wanting to rush to expand his army on a larger scale. He cannot spread out his limited resources yet.
Looking at Liu Xian who fell into silence and a dozen of his cronies around him, Xu Huai wondered if he was truly alert.
At this time, a huge ship came this way from the south bank, and several small boats came together from the north bank. Xu Huai accompanied Liu Xian, and Zhao Yi and others led the horses.