"What, my family?" Upon hearing this, Hu Yanzhuo suddenly became nervous and sweat dripped from his forehead. He was afraid that Wu Dong would threaten him with his family.
Hu Yanzhuo's family mainly consisted of an old mother, a wife, a concubine, a son and a daughter. The son was captured, and the others were taken to Weisheng.
Hu Yanzhuo was originally the governor of Runing County, but his hometown is from Taiyuan, Shanxi, and his family has been staying in Taiyuan. When Wu Dong captured Hu Yanzhuo that day, he had already sent people to invite Hu Yanzhuo's family.
.
"General Hu Yan, you go and meet your family first." Seeing Hu Yanzhuo's nervous look, Wu Dong couldn't help but smile.
At that moment, Hu Yanzhuo got up in a hurry and followed others to see his family. His family was doing well and had adequate supplies, but there were many soldiers guarding them, and they were obviously under house arrest.
That night, Wu Dong hosted a banquet for Hu Yanzhuo's family, with Zhu Wu, Dai Zong and others accompanying him.
Wu Dong said: "General Huyan, your martial arts skills have no place in the imperial court. How dare the imperial court go to war with the Khitans after all these years? Even Xixia has not had a war for more than ten years...and I
Liangshan has been at war with Goryeo these years, and will start war with the Liao, Jin, and Xixia people in a few years... The general's ancestor, General Hu Yanzan, was a famous general who fought against the Liao. Isn't it possible that the general is unwilling to follow the legacy of his ancestors and fight against foreigners?
Do you want to contribute?"
"This..." Hu Yanzhuo fell into deep thought. In fact, he had already planned to surrender. Although this person is highly skilled in martial arts, he is a descendant of the generals of the Hu family, but his willpower is average. In addition, all his relatives were invited today.
Now that he is here, he has no other ideas. But even if he wants to surrender, he still needs a step down, and now Wu Dong is giving him a step down.
"General Huyan, why not join Liangshan and fight against the foreigners with us?" Wu Dong said.
Hu Yanzhuo stood up suddenly, knelt down in front of Wu Dong, and said: "Since the governor has invited us to fight against the foreigners, Hu Yanzhuo dare not refuse anymore. From now on, I will be a member of Liangshan."
Wu Dong was overjoyed and helped Hu Yanzhuo up, saying: "The general's chain horse is invincible in the world. If it joins Liangshan, Liangshan will also have a powerful cavalry in the future."
Not only Wu Dong was happy, Zhu Wu was also very happy. This time when the imperial court was encircling Shaohua Mountain, Zhu Wu also saw the power of the chain horse, and immediately praised: "The general's chain horse is the strongest in the world today.
The cavalry."
Hu Yanzhuo even said he didn't dare, but he couldn't hide the joy and pride on his face.
At this time, Hu Yanzhuo's son, Hu Yanting, who was only fourteen or fifteen years old, suddenly said: "My Huyan family's chain horse cannot be called the strongest cavalry in the world."
Everyone was stunned, and Hu Yanzhuo hurriedly scolded: "The adults are talking, why are you, a child, interrupting?"
"What I said is true... The so-called cavalry's advantage lies in its speed. Our chain horses put heavy armor on the horses and the people also put on heavy armor. Although they are powerful, they are not fast enough and have lost the essence of cavalry.
Hu Yanting said unwillingly.
"Nonsense." Hu Yanzhuo scolded.
Seeing the father and son arguing, Wu Dong couldn't help but laugh and said: "It's okay, you can say anything you want...is your name Hu Yanting?"
"Yes, Governor." Hu Yanting said hurriedly.
Seeing Wu Dong asking Hu Yanting questions, Hu Yanzhuo couldn't say more, so he listened from the side.
Wu Dong asked again: "How do you think the cavalry should be used?"
Hu Yanting's eyes flashed, and he said: "The cavalry should be like the Jurchens, all mounted and shot... relying on extremely fast speed, relying on the bow and arrow in their hands, traveling long distances, outflanking the left and right, and destroying the enemy...
This is the real cavalry. I heard that the Jurchens have defeated the Liao people, which shows how powerful they are."
Although Hu Yanting is young, his knowledge is no worse than that of his father, and he is not as arrogant as his father. When he was in Huashan last time, if Hu Yanzhuo listened to Hu Yanting and didn't move forward, he would also
Impossible to be captured alive.
At this moment, Wu Dong was already deep in thought. He knew that what Hu Yanting said was right. The Jurchens were indeed very powerful in cavalry and archery. There was a saying in later generations that "the Jurchens are invincible if they are not equal to ten thousand." The number of Jurchens is small, but
Relying on his powerful cavalry and archery skills and just tens of thousands of Jurchen soldiers, he was able to destroy the Liao Dynasty in ten years and the Northern Song Dynasty in two years. It was really powerful.
But Wu Dong knew that the Jurchens' cavalry and archery were not the most powerful, but the Mongolians' cavalry and archery skills were the most powerful. The Mongols' cavalry and archery took the advantages of the cavalry to the extreme, and they could conquer with just the cavalry.
of Eurasia.
The current strength of the Mongols is still very weak. The main reason is that the Liao Kingdom is very wary of the Mongols and does not allow any iron weapons to enter Mongolia. The Mongols usually use bone arrows for hunting. Only after the Jin Kingdom conquers the Liao people, can they
After the Mongols were no longer wary, a large number of iron weapons entered Mongolia. The Mongols finally got the coveted iron arrowheads, and then they began to develop and grow. Then Genghis Khan, a generation of genius, emerged, unified the grasslands, and brought the cavalry's roundabout strategy to its extreme.
No one can beat him anymore.
Genghis Khan's great detour strategy can be said to be the pinnacle of the cavalry strategy in the cold weapon era. Under the premise of comprehensive reconnaissance of terrain and intelligence, relying on the cavalry's endurance and rapid maneuverability, it can cross unimaginable deserts, dangerous shoals, snow valleys, and wastelands, taking it by surprise.
Boldly penetrate deep into the enemy, divide them, and cooperate with the rest of the troops to surround the enemy on all sides, forcing the enemy to quickly disintegrate.
Wu Dong knew these strategies and tactics in his heart, but he only talked about them on paper. To realize all this, he also needed a group of cavalry generals and countless rigorously trained cavalry, which Liangshan currently does not have.
Compared with the mounted archery of the Jurchens and the mounted archery of the Mongols, the Huyan family's chain horses are really nothing, and they have not played the real role of the cavalry at all.
While Wu Dong was thinking about this, Hu Yanzhuo was already scolding his son, saying: "What nonsense are you kiddoing? The Jurchen barbarians are only temporarily victorious. The Liao people are strong and can defeat the Jurchens in the end."
Wu Dong frowned and said nothing, but in his heart he was scolding Yanzhuo for being confused. It was already the first year of Xuanhe, and just five years ago, the Jurchens' unrivaled hero Wanyan Aguda defeated the Liao army of 100,000 with 3,700 cavalry.
,Four years ago, the Jurchens used 20,000 cavalry to defeat the 700,000 Liao army. This event had already spread all over the world. Everyone knew that the Jurchens were rising and a new power was about to appear in the farther north. Hu Yanzhuo actually
They also believed that the Jurchens only had a temporary victory.
The Jurchens' military front was irresistible. Wanyan Aguda was almost another Genghis Khan. Wu Dong even doubted whether he could stop the Jurchens in the future. The Liao people had been corrupted, and relatively speaking, they were not a big enemy. However, the Liao people had already been corrupted.
The people were also many times stronger than the officers and soldiers of the Song Dynasty. Later, Song Huizong wanted to unite with the Jin Dynasty to attack the Liao Dynasty and took the opportunity to take back the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun. As a result, the officers and soldiers of the Song Dynasty were vulnerable to the Liao people, and the Liao people were vulnerable to the Jin people.
, the Jin people finally saw how weak the Song Dynasty was, and after destroying the Liao Kingdom, they easily destroyed the Northern Song Dynasty.
****
Early the next morning, Wu Dong called Duan Jingzhu over.
"Grand Governor." Duan Jingzhu saluted hurriedly.
During this time, he had seen the power of Liangshan. Song Jiang and Tian Hu, who were originally rated as heroes in the world, were not safe and needed Liangshan to rescue them. However, Tian Hu was directly replaced by Liangshan. Now Tian Hu's
The territory has become Liangshan’s territory.
He was very excited. The stronger the force he joined, the greater the benefits he would get. However, he did not have a specific position yet, so he didn't know what Wu Dong asked him to do.
"Jingzhu, sit down... By the way, how many people do you have under your command?" Wu Dong said.
Duan Jingzhu is not just a horse trafficker and horse stealer. He has a gang of his own that goes to the north with him to sell horses and steal horses.
"There are many... There are more than a dozen brothers who came to Liangshan with me. In addition, there are hundreds more." Duan Jingzhu said.
"Where do you usually sell horses?" Wu Dong said.
"In Xixia and Khitan, it's mainly these two places." Duan Jingzhu said.
"Do you know Mongolia?" Wu Dong said.
"Mongolia? I know...but they are farther north and generally don't go there." Duan Jingzhu said.
Mongolia means "eternal fire". It was originally a branch of the Shiwei people. In the Tang Dynasty, it called itself Mongolia. Now there are countless Mongolian tribes on the grasslands, and they have never been unified.
Wu Dong nodded and said, "Can you go to Mongolia to sell horses for me?"
Duan Jingzhu frowned and said: "Grand Governor, you may not know that Mongolian horses are short and small, not as tall and fast as Western Xia horses and Khitan horses."
Wu Dong smiled and said: "Although Mongolian horses are relatively short, their endurance far exceeds Xixia horses and Khitan horses. In addition, Mongolian horses have much lower requirements for forage than other horses. I need such a war horse."
Mongolian horses have amazing endurance, are far more adaptable to cruel conditions than other horses, and can run long distances. This is one of the reasons why the Mongols are able to dominate the world.
"That's it. Thank you for your advice, Commander-in-Chief." Duan Jingzhu was surprised in his heart and didn't understand why Wu Dong knew this. To be honest, even he, a horse trader, didn't know this. Mongolia is too far away and he rarely goes there.
In that place, he rarely had contact with Mongolian horses and didn't know the temperament of Mongolian horses. If Mongolian horses were really like this, they could be trafficked.
"If you go to sell horses, how many horses can you sell in a year?" Wu Dong said.
"This... only a few hundred horses a year... In fact, many of them are stolen. We don't have much money. If we have money, we can form a larger gang or buy horses from other horse traders...
...If you have enough money, you can have up to 2,000 horses a year?" Duan Jingzhu said.
Wu Dong was overjoyed and said: "You have plenty of money. I'll give it to you. You sell me horses. The more the better!"
This time, Tian Hu's hometown was raided and countless gold and silver were obtained. The last thing Wu Dong had to worry about now was money.
"I want to form a cavalry. It can't be done without horses! Also, after you go to Mongolia, bring back some Mongolians who are good at riding and shooting. I will hire them with a lot of money." Wu Dong said.
Just having horses is not enough, you also need to learn the riding and shooting skills of the grassland peoples, and these Mongolians are just the teachers.
"Grand Governor, you... are you imitating King Zhao Wuling's Hufu riding and shooting?" Duan Jingzhu said in surprise.
"So... Jingzhu, you have done a good job in this matter. If you want money, I will give you money. If you want an official position, I will give you an official position. In short, the more horses, the better." Wu Dong said with a smile.
"Thank you, Commander-in-Chief." Duan Jingzhu was also very happy in his heart and said: "However, Commander-in-Chief, it is winter now and the Mongolian grassland is extremely cold. If you go to sell horses now, you will probably die on the way... It's not that I don't want to
I’ll try my best, but my brothers may not come with me, and they can only sell horses until the spring of next year.”
"This is natural, you just need to be prepared now." Wu Dong said with a smile.
****
At the foot of Puzhou City, Tian Hu looked at Puzhou City with red eyes, feeling extremely sad. The death of his son was a huge blow to him, so he came to Puzhou City with heavy troops and wanted to take revenge.
After arriving here, he came to his senses and realized that it was impossible to conquer Puzhou City. Moreover, he had no idea who his son's enemy was, so what was the point of attacking Puzhou City?
Tian Hu was ready to return, but before returning, he still needed to "borrow food" from Puzhou City. The so-called borrowing food meant violently attacking Puzhou City first, and then using Puzhou City to provide food and grass as a condition for retreat. He came in a hurry
, did not bring enough military rations, and in the past few days, the military rations that were supposed to be shipped from Gaizhou suddenly stopped, which caused Tian Hu's army to be short of food, and many soldiers began to grab food from the surrounding people's homes.
"Brother, something bad is going to happen!" On this day, Tian Bao suddenly broke into Tian Hu's military camp.
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Can Liangshan train a powerful cavalry?
Please collect it, give me a red ticket, thank you all