Chapter 363 Prepare to build a tiger cavalry! Xu Chu + Feng Yan, the iron cavalry drives and smashes the enemy!
Nanyang, Wancheng.
Emperor's palace.
Martial Arts Arena.
Under the corridor on the side, Liu Bian was sitting on a futon, sipping tea and looking at the two people standing below: "You must know that the imperial court is preparing to build a tiger cavalry, but has not yet decided on a general."
"You two, one is the commander of the imperial cavalry camp, and the other is the sixth-ranked general in the riding competition. You both have the qualities of a tiger cavalry commander."
"but......"
Liu Bian glanced at the two people below and said solemnly: "Who will the imperial court choose to be the leader of the Tiger Cavalry? It will take you two to compete before the final decision can be made."
That’s right!
The two people in the audience were none other than Feng Yan from the Northern Army's Cavalry Camp, and Xu Chu from Qiao County.
In Liu Bian's impression, Feng Yan was proficient in stationing cavalry tactics and even more proficient in heavy cavalry training. He was a rare general.
Xu Chu, on the other hand, is good at charging into battle and is equivalent to a sharp knife, able to maximize the role of heavy cavalry.
It is a pity that these two people cannot be combined into one, otherwise Liu Bian would not have to be so entangled.
Feng Yan leaned over and held up his hands and said, "Your Majesty, please tell me how we are going to compete. The last general and General Zhongkang will definitely go all out to bring out their best."
"That's right."
Xu Chuxiong was proud and proud, patting his chest and promising: "The general will do his best to live up to His Majesty's trust and trust, and will not let His Majesty down."
"very good."
Liu Bian nodded, very satisfied with their answers: "In today's decisive battle, the winner can be the Tiger Cavalry general, and the loser can also be the deputy general. You two have your own strengths. You should help each other and achieve success."
Feng Yan and Xu Chu cupped their hands: "Here."
Liu Bian stood up and called to the guards: "Zhu Tong."
Zhu Tong naturally understood the emperor's intention and immediately nodded: "Here."
Immediately.
Bow and leave.
Not long after, Zhu Tong led people to the martial arts arena, leading two fully armed horses and two sets of aluminum alloy armors.
Liu Bian waved his hand and said: "You go and change the equipment. After changing, come back here. General Feng is from the cavalry camp and has actual combat experience. Let's take the lead in the competition and set an example to General Xu."
Naturally, Feng Yan would not refuse: "Here."
After the two left.
Liu Bian turned around and said, "Where is Dian Wei?"
Dian Wei took a step forward: "The end will be here."
"Although you were blocked by personal guards before, you can't stop these two people. The only one who can widen the gap may be you, so you must show your true skills. Do you understand?"
"Your Majesty, don't worry, the general will go all out in the end."
"good."
Tiger Cavalry is the most standard heavy cavalry.
In fact, the requirements for the team's riding skills are not that high. Instead, there are extremely high standards for courage, charge, and fearlessness of sacrifice.
If they encounter ordinary soldiers and horses, they will naturally be crushed with overwhelming force, but once they encounter an organized team with a certain combat effectiveness, it will not be so easy.
Especially when encountering an organized spear formation, if you cannot break through the opponent's defense at once, you will inevitably lose your speed advantage and fall into a melee. Moreover, if you are in the enemy's formation, you will easily be pulled down and killed by enemies from all directions.
Yes!
Although the heavy cavalry is powerful in combat, it is by no means invincible.
When faced with long weapon arrays that are tightly formed and protected by terrain or fortifications, heavy cavalry often have no way of making a move. If they launch a charge rashly, even if they can destroy the enemy with strong impact, they will suffer considerable damage.
From an economic point of view, the cost of training a heavy cavalryman is probably much higher than that of several or even dozens of ordinary infantrymen. To rush into battle like this is to ask for trouble.
Tiger riding is by no means as simple as imagined.
This is the reason why Liu Bian spent so much time choosing his generals.
Since you are determined to form a tiger cavalry, you must create a cavalry that is as perfect as possible, rather than just an empty frame with the form of a heavy cavalry and no soul of a heavy cavalry.
a long time.
Xu Chu and Feng Yan rode out.
They were all covered in aluminum alloy battle armor, with masks on their helmets. Only their eyes were exposed. When they touched His Majesty the Emperor, they could not even dismount and could only nod slightly:
"Please forgive me for not being able to perform the ceremony as I have a stomachache."
"It doesn't matter."
Liu Bian waved his hand and said without hesitation: "General Feng, this is the starting point. You charge through the pass and fight to the opposite side. You must not fall off your horse in the middle, otherwise you will be directly judged as a loser."
Feng Yan nodded: "I will finally understand."
Immediately.
Feng Yanle held his horse and stood at the starting point.
On the side, Zhu Tong was twisting his bow and setting an arrow.
Whoosh!
The arrow shot through the clouds and rose into the sky.
Then, Feng Yan lightly kicked the war horse, making a crisp sound. The war horse snorted and began to run forward steadily. The speed was relatively slow at first, but then it steadily entered the stage of speeding up.
With the help of the alliance of military advisors, Liu Bian also had some understanding of the tactics of heavy cavalry. The speed of heavy cavalry should be gradually increased in order to accumulate enough kinetic energy.
In a sense, this is the momentum in the heavy cavalry method. Only by accumulating enough momentum can the combat effectiveness of the heavy cavalry be fully exerted.
It's obvious!
Feng Yan knows this very well, and every move he makes is quite legal.
But soon, he entered the first difficulty.
A wave of crossbowmen rushed out from both sides, twisting their bows and setting arrows in unison, and aimed at Feng Yan, who was running towards him, with a powerful wave of shots that were accurate to the foot, and then there was a dense click sound.
However......
Feng Yan's speed did not slow down at all. He just nodded slightly, protected his only weak point, his eyes, and continued to charge forward with the narrow field of vision.
You must know that these crossbowmen are His Majesty the Emperor's bodyguards, and they use triangular arrowheads, which have super armor-piercing capabilities, but they still failed to hurt Feng Yan at all, which shows that the defensive capabilities of the aluminum alloy armor are not inferior.
Fine iron.
Not far ahead, three rows of spearmen and two rows of crossbowmen came forward. This was a standard spear formation, known as the nemesis of cavalry, even for heavy cavalry.
The key to defeating the army is the word "power" and the word "brave". If you can break through the spear defense at all costs, the next step will be a devastating crushing.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Facing the lost rain, Feng Yan rushed forward, and the dense thumping sound sounded again. Feng Yan was not afraid, straightened up his horse, faced the flying spear, and knocked it up head-on.
clang-!
Feng Yan swung with great force, pushing away three or five war spears, and rushed forward with his horse, letting the other war spears pass through his body, leaving shallow scars, while Feng Yan took advantage of the situation to force his way in.
The circle of guns, with the tall posture of war horses, directly crushed them.
Peng!
Although it was successfully knocked open and the spear formation was broken.
However, in the eyes of the Military Advisor Alliance, there is a huge gap: "Master Bian, Feng Yan's personal combat ability is still too poor. If it is Xu Chu, it will definitely be more than this."
"According to the expert's assessment of Feng Yan, it's okay to serve as a deputy general and train Xu Chu's soldiers and support him. But if Feng Yan is the leader, the Tiger Cavalry will not be able to exert its power."
"That's right!"
Even Liu Bian himself was a little dissatisfied: "Although the Tiger Cavalry relies mainly on horse charges, individual bravery also accounts for a relatively large proportion. We must give full play to our advantages."
"So I put Dianwei at the end. Even if the winner cannot be determined from the front, Dianwei will definitely be able to widen the gap and convince Feng Yan."
The Military Advisor Alliance said softly: "Well, the experts understand your arrangement."
Liu Bian's eyes were still on Feng Yan.
The first two levels are really not stressful, the key lies in the third level.
At this moment, there was only a row of infantry, a group of soldiers and horses in front, and no spearmen.
Dian Wei's voice was loud and he shouted coldly: "General Feng, the last general is Sima Dianwei of the Guards. You need to hold on to a certain hand for twenty rounds to pass."
A voice immediately rang out from the alloy armor: "How could I not know the reputation of the general, but don't worry, I, Feng Yan, will definitely defeat the general instead of persisting for twenty rounds."
Rumble—!
The war horse galloped forward, reaching its maximum speed.
Such a behemoth weighing nearly half a ton, no matter who it hits, will be almost dead.
However, Dian Wei did not dodge or evade, holding two iron halberds and staring at Feng Yan.
"kill-!"
A roar of filial piety.
Feng Yan picked up his horse, pointed at Dian Wei's head, and delivered a critical blow from a high position to Dian Wei's head.
Although such an offensive was fierce, in Dian Wei's eyes, it was as slow as a snail.
Without hesitation, he picked up the iron halberd in his palm and faced Feng Yan's fallen horse, knocking it up head-on. He only heard a crisp clang, and the thunderous horse was stopped easily by Dian Wei.
.
At this moment, Dian Wei twisted the iron halberd and pressed down on Ma Shan with his backhand. Another iron halberd stabbed at him quickly, and the ears of the halberd passed through the front of the horse accurately, locking Ma Shan on the spot.
At the same time, the soldiers on the left and right raised the iron ropes, one on the left and the other on the right, and rushed over. Feng Yan was so frightened that his eyes suddenly turned red, and his heart was full of hatred.
He pulled the horse hard, but it felt like it was poured with lead water, and it didn't move at all!
Dian Wei's strength has far exceeded his imagination, and if he can't pull out his weapon, he will definitely be attacked by the iron rope. This kind of cooperation is inextricable.
"Damn it!"
Feng Yan chewed it secretly.
He originally wanted to defeat Dian Wei, successfully break through, and win the favor of His Majesty the Emperor with an absolute advantage.
But who would have thought that Dian Wei's strength far exceeded his imagination, and the other party's skillful cooperation was enough to kill him without him being able to fight back.
Bang!
Feng Yan's body was attacked by the iron rope. Like a kite with its string cut off, Feng Yan flew upside down from his horse. With a bang, he fell to the ground, causing a puff of smoke and dust.
Dian Wei turned sideways quickly, causing the armored war horse to roar past him. He was finally stopped by the soldiers at the rear and led back to the starting point.
Although there are many written descriptions of the whole process, it actually only counts a few breaths. Especially Dian Wei's series of operations are as fast as lightning and as smooth as flowing clouds and flowing water.
When Feng Yan was rescued, he took off his helmet and walked to the emperor: "Your Majesty, you will finally have a great responsibility."
Liu Bian waved his hand to signal him to step aside: "You have done a good job. Next, let Zhong Kang have a try."
Xu Chu nodded slightly: "Here."
Immediately.
He imitated Feng Yan's method and lightly kicked the war horse's belly, causing the war horse to jog first, and then gradually increase its speed to ensure that the war horse accumulated enough potential energy to unleash the true power of the tiger cavalry.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
A wave of arrows roared towards him. Xu Chu, just like Feng Yan, just nodded slightly and rushed forward without any fancy. Listening to the dense beeping sound, Xu Chu felt excited.
Then came the second stage of the spear formation. Xu Chu swung his horse spear, and the strong force actually whipped up a strong wind, and easily swept away seven or eight spear shafts. He flicked his backhand again, and stabbed another one.
Sweep away all incoming weapons.
Seeing this scene, Liu Bian nodded slowly and secretly praised: "Xu Chu can easily defeat Feng Yan with melee weapons. The two of them are no longer on the same level."
"That's right!"
The voice of the Military Advisor Alliance also sounded: "Xu Chu is still worthy of training. It is good for Feng Yan to help him and train troops, but becoming a general is fine."
Liu Bianshen agreed, and thought to himself: "I guess once this process goes through, Feng Yan will be completely convinced. When he has the opportunity to go to the battlefield again, he will naturally be convinced."
On the martial arts field.
Xu Chu passed the second level easily, and then Dian Wei's final test came.
Because of Feng Yan's experience, Xu Chu did not choose the trick of banging his head, but took the lead in using his horse to stab the soldiers beside him to prevent the opponent's iron rope from attacking.
But......
Dian Wei Fei is a dead person.
The moment Xu Chu raised his weapon, he had already predicted the opponent's combat intentions.
He stepped sideways for a distance and stood in front of the soldiers. The iron halberd in his palm still hit Xu Chu's horse. He followed the two halberds and quickly entangled them, completely locking Xu Chu's weapon.
At the same time, two soldiers on the left and right rushed out quickly and swept towards Xu Chu with iron ropes. The familiar and tragic scene seemed to be happening again!
But...
Xu Chu's reaction was extremely quick.
He did not try to pull out the horse's pole, but quickly held the pole under his ribs. At the same time, he held the pole tightly with one hand and relied on the power of the horse's charge to deal with Dian Wei's offensive.
At the same time, Xu Chu's other hand quickly reached out and accurately grasped the iron rope in his palm, trying to lift it above his head and completely get rid of the iron rope's attack.
Have to admit it.
Xu Chu's idea is extremely correct. Only by truly avoiding the iron rope can the problem be fundamentally solved, so that he can concentrate on fighting Dian Wei and survive twenty rounds.
but......
What Xu Chu didn't expect was.
The other two soldiers in this group also rushed over carrying iron ropes. He had just raised the first iron rope above his head, and swept the next iron rope towards his chest.
clang-!
A crisp golden sound exploded.
Xu Chu was attacked by the iron rope, but he did not fly backwards from the horse. Instead, he used his two thick and powerful thighs to clamp the horse's belly tightly. At the same time, he dropped the iron rope's hand and desperately held on to the reins.
"drive-!"
Xu Chu became furious and shouted loudly.
He desperately held the horse's belly, holding on to the reins and pole with all his strength. Relying on the momentum accumulated in the early stage, he rushed forward desperately, and actually dragged the Guards soldiers holding the iron rope to the ground.
The foot rubbed for more than ten feet.
Although Dian Wei's strength was very strong, it was still difficult to match him in front of the accelerating charging cavalry. The shoes under his feet were rubbing against each other for more than ten steps before he swooped sideways to avoid the attack.
Xiyuxu—!
Xu Chu broke through all obstacles, finally stopped slowly, reined in his horse and turned around.
At this moment, Liu Bian stood up and couldn't hide the excitement on his face: "Haha! Zhongkang, I really saw you right. You have the kind of recklessness that a tiger rider needs most."
Xu Chu took off his armor and dismounted, walked forward, bowed and held his hands in his hands: "General Xu Chu, thank you Your Majesty."
Liu Bian turned to glance at Feng Yan: "General Feng, are you convinced?"
Feng Yan nodded: "I will finally be convinced."
"good!"
Liu Bian did not hesitate and gave a sonorous order: "In that case, from today on, Xu Chu will be the chief general of the Tiger Cavalry, and Feng Yan will be the deputy general of the Tiger Cavalry."
"Zhongkang!" Liu Bian shouted.
"Here." Xu Chu cupped his hands.
"This is the Tiger Cavalry training manual prepared by me. The two of you go back and study it carefully. You must understand it thoroughly so that the Tiger Cavalry can become combat effective as soon as possible and strive to go to the battlefield as soon as possible and make contributions to the imperial court."
"Here."
****
Sili, Luoyang.
Zhang Liao Military Camp.
now.
Zhang Liao stood in front of the sand table and stared at Shaanxi County carefully.
This is the first line of defense garrisoned by Niu Fu.
Behind him is Hangu Pass where Fan Chou is stationed.
Now that Dong Zhuo is dead, the imperial court has issued an order to sweep through Heluo as soon as possible to prepare for the attack on Bingzhou.
There are actually many roads entering Bingzhou from Heluo, such as the southern three of the eight Taihang passes, Zhiguan pass, Taihang pass, and Mengmen pass.
but......
In contrast, if we can capture Shaanxi County and go north from here into Hedong County, we can sweep through Bingzhou along the Yuncheng Basin, Linfen Basin, Taiyuan Basin, and Lingding Basin.
This route is much easier than starting from the high ground of Shangdang. Moreover, now that Dong Zhuo is dead and Niu Fu is left alone, this is definitely good news for Zhang Liao.
Therefore, after discussions with Chen Gong, they decided to start from Shaanxi County first and open the way into the Yuncheng Basin in Hedong Province, so that they could gain absolute strategic initiative.
"Just hand over Hanoi to Zhang Yang. He has been recruiting troops in Shangdang before and is familiar with the situation there. With him stationed in Hanoi County, he will definitely be able to defend the three southern provinces."
"Well, that makes sense. Besides, we also need to..."
"..."
While Zhang Liao and Chen Gong were discussing specific strategies.
"Report—!"
Suddenly, a long announcement sounded outside the tent.
Zhang Liao raised his eyes and looked.
But seeing his own scouts rushing over, he leaned over and said, "General, news came back from the direction of Shaanxian County. The top of the city has been replaced with a banner with the word 'king'. Niu Fu may be dead."
"ah?"
Zhang Liao was stunned for a moment and said with shock: "How is this possible? There are thousands of soldiers and horses under Niu Fu's tent, and most of them are cavalry. Even if he can't defeat him, he can still escape."
"How is it possible..."
Speaking of this, Zhang Liao seemed to be in disbelief: "How could he have died in such a short period of time? Could it be that he took refuge with Yuan Wei?"
"this......"
The scout frowned and shook his head: "I don't know."
As for the scouts, they are only responsible for gathering information. They tell the general what they see exactly as they are, and leave the judgment to the general himself.
I have to admit that Niu Fu's defeat was indeed very strange. According to the analysis of combat effectiveness, he could have persisted for at least half a month, or even longer, but it was really strange that he was defeated in just a few days.
"Wenyuan."
Just when Zhang Liao was feeling melancholy, Chen Gong on the side spoke softly: "Niu Fu may indeed be defeated."
Zhang Liao was stunned and quickly turned to glance at Chen Gong: "Gongtai, could you have guessed something?"
Chen Gong nodded: "Wen Yuan, let's put ourselves in someone else's shoes and think about it. If you were Yuan Wei, knowing that you wanted to assassinate Dong, would you consider how to deal with Dong Zhuo's old troops as quickly as possible?"
"this......"
Zhang Liao frowned and thought carefully along the ideas provided by Chen Gong.
Suddenly, a flash of light flashed through his mind: "What Gongtai means is that as soon as Yuan Wei killed Dong Zhuo, he sent people to Hangu Pass, took the lead in recruiting Fan Chou, and then used Dong Zhuo's order to trap and kill him.
Ushisuke?”
"That's right!"
Chen Gong nodded affirmatively: ""Sun Tzu Yun": The passion of soldiers is the key to speed, taking advantage of others' inadequacy, and attacking the enemy's unpreparedness by taking the unexpected way."
"In the annotation of "Sun Tzu" issued by His Majesty, it is called an asymmetric battle caused by information gap. Niu Fu did not know that something unexpected had happened to Dong Zhuo. Yuan Wei took advantage of this to take advantage of others and seduce him to death.
.”
"Otherwise, Niu Fu would never have been taken into custody by Chang'an without us noticing at all. And if I guessed correctly, the other party had already killed Niu Fu, and it was only recently that they changed their banner."
hiss-!
Zhang Liao was surprised and took a breath.
He nodded slowly and said with absolute certainty: "Yes! It is indeed possible, and at this time, the opponent changed the flag to a large flag with the word 'king', which is clearly to lead us to attack."
"What a Yuan Wei!"
Zhang Liao showed a horrified look: "I didn't expect that this old guy usually doesn't show off his appearance, but he just kept quiet and made a big splash. It's really admirable."
"yes!"
Chen Gong pinched a wisp of goatee under his chin and said softly: "Yuan Wei is a leader among the Yuan family in Runan. He is unparalleled in Confucian classics, military skills, and strategizing."
"Now, he assassinated Dong Zhuo first and quickly stabilized the situation in Guanzhong. The next step will be to join forces with Yuan Shao and seize Bingzhou, and Hedong County will become Yuan Wei's main battlefield, so he will never give up."
"king?"
Zhang Liao frowned, thinking about the powerful general named Wang in the Han court in Chang'an.
However, after a long time, there was still no answer.
Chen Gong paused for a moment: "Wen Yuan, Wang Yun is from the Wang family in Bingzhou, or the person currently stationed in Shaanxi County is most likely Wang Yun."
"Yuan Wei is good at employing people. He has sent Wang Yun to Shaanxi County and recruited the troops of Fan Chou and Niu Fu. Now he wants to lure us and others to attack Shaanxian County. He is obviously preparing to sweep Bingzhou."
"This old fox..."
Chen Gong was so impressed that he couldn't help but sigh with emotion: "It's really amazing! This series of methods is really admirable. Wen Yuan, we have met our opponent this time."
Zhang Liao nodded: "I don't know when Duke Xuande will come. If he arrives with his troops, we can completely let go. Even if we start the attack from Shangdang, there will be no problem."