"The biggest threat to the Xiliang Army is the cavalry..."
In the Chinese military tent, Xu Shu's slightly deep voice echoed. Although more than ten letters of relevant information about the battle of Zixian have been sent out, the personal account of the person involved still has irreplaceable value.
This major threat raised by Xu Shu sounds like nonsense, but those present here are all generals with considerable status in the Qingzhou Army. Of course, it can be heard that Xu Shu has another reason for saying these words.
The Qingzhou Army is not only strong in cavalry. Before Wang Yu formally established the Sixth Cavalry Army, Qingzhou's cavalry had always been in a auxiliary position. The real decisive force was the infantry. After defeating Yuan Shao, the importance of the cavalry increased day by day, but the Qingzhou Infantry
He did not pull down any pawns, and he had considerable experience in fighting against the enemy's infantry and cavalry.
In the battle where Yu Jin annihilated Qian Man at Ma Ti Liang, his tactics were quite standard.
First, use strong bows and powerful crossbows to kill and destroy the enemy's cavalry formation, and then use shield formations and spear arrays to weaken the enemy's impact and resist the enemy's cavalry charge. When the enemy cavalry's momentum slows down, it is the swordsman's turn to perform.
The cavalry, which had lost its speed, had no advantage against the infantry armed with swords and axes.
As long as the tactics are implemented thoroughly enough, at least in frontal confrontation, the Qingzhou infantry is not afraid of the cavalry.
Although the proportion of cavalry in the Xiliang army is relatively high, the living habits of the Qiang people are actually closer to those of the Han people. They cannot be like the Xianbei and the Xiongnu, where all the people are soldiers and the entire army is cavalry.
Among the 300,000 Xiliang Army, the proportion of cavalry is less than 30%. Although this number is not small, considering the lack of equipment of the Xiliang Army, these 80,000 or 90,000 cavalry are not even light cavalry.
He can only be regarded as a ranger similar to a scout.
In addition, these cavalry are not used in a centralized manner, but as elite personal guards, scattered in the hands of various leaders. The strongest among them, Ma Teng and Han Sui, have less than 10,000 elite cavalry under their command.
If they cannot be used intensively, a small number of cavalry will pose an extremely limited threat on the battlefield. Considering that before Ma Chao counterattacked, he had fought with Han Sui for a round. Regardless of the casualties and escapes in the internal strife, after Ma Chao was furious and Han Sui was defeated, his subordinates
The number of cavalry is only about 50,000 at most.
As for the Qingzhou Army, although Pan Zhang underestimated the enemy and rushed forward, he was not dazzled by his eagerness to achieve success. He rushed forward himself, but Ma Zhong was behind him, so when he attacked the Zhuqiang camp, the army
The array has always been kept intact.
The comparison of combat power is like this. As far as common sense is concerned, Ma Chao's counterattack, let alone reversing the situation, should not even be able to defeat Pan Zhang and Ma Zhong. Even if Pan Zhang's troops are defeated, it will be the end of a strong crossbow. No.
It may pose a major threat to Xu Shu's team again.
Since Ma Chao won in the end, there must be some correct opinions.
"The cavalry under Ma Mengqi are all spear cavalry!" Under everyone's attention, Xu Shu's statement began to involve details that were not found in the military report.
"Lance cavalry? Is it the kind used by the cavalry in the Battle of Juma Water?" Lu Qiling asked in surprise.
"In terms of the length of the spear, they are indeed the same."
Xu Shu nodded and confirmed Lu Qiling's statement: "They are also holding two-foot-four spears. When charging into the formation, they can use the length of the spears to destroy our army's spear array and shield array. The length of the infantry
Although the spears are about the same length, they can only passively withstand the impact. Although they will not be harmed by the enemy cavalry, the weakening effect on the enemy cavalry's impact is greatly reduced."
"Where are the crossbows in the army? Did you put the Xiliang people in front of you so easily?" Lu Qiling had experienced the entire battle of Juma River and knew the advantages and disadvantages of the spear cavalry in detail.
Spears are not suitable for use by light cavalry. In addition to swords, the light cavalry uses Zhangliu tassel spears and horse spears. The main role of spears is in the impact at the beginning of the battle. It can be used in combat.
Not enough to watch.
The light cavalry has no armor protection, but the target is very large. If they use spears to charge into the formation, they will slow down in the first collision and will be weak later. Even if they have to use light cavalry to charge into the formation, the main method is not
Instead of colliding with each other, they passed by the enemy like the wind, and while the men and horses were intertwined, they launched an attack, which was the so-called crossing the horse with a sword.
It would be a burden for the light cavalry to hold a spear, let alone an extra-long spear.
Of course, with the advantage of the Xiliang Army in terms of strength, they can use this method to fight for consumption. However, the highly equipped crossbows in the Qingzhou Army are not just for display. What the light cavalry fears most is the intensive shooting of crossbows.
Even if tens of thousands of cavalry attack at the same time, as long as there are more than 5,000 crossbows in the array, the enemy can be greatly weakened during the charge. Before formal contact occurs, the formation of the enemy's cavalry will become scattered.
No matter what weapon he holds, he cannot pose a threat.
A wry smile emerged from Xu Shu's lips, and he gave the answer with difficulty: "The damage caused by crossbows is very limited, because the cavalry of the Xiliang Army...are equipped with a large number of paper armors."
"Paper armor?" All the generals were shocked. Zhao Yun asked as if to confirm: "Is it the kind our army has used before?"
"Yeah." Xu Shu nodded.
Wang Yu suddenly asked: "Yuan Zhi, you said a large amount is a bit vague, how about being more specific?"
"The cavalry of Ma and Han are equipped by the whole army, and other people and horses are also equipped with at least half of the cavalry." Xu Shu had already been prepared for this and answered very quickly.
"So many?" Tai Shici looked surprised and uncertain, "Doesn't that mean that the Xiliang army has at least 50,000 paper armors? Where did they get so much paper? If Cao Cao is not bad, Xiliang
Liang Jun, why...eh? Could it be..."
"Yeah." Xu Shu gave a positive answer to Tai Shici's question: "It should be Cao Cao's support."
"Fifty thousand pieces of paper armor, the kind of armor for men and horses. Even Cao Cao couldn't take it out easily, right?" Taishi Ci's eyes widened and he was speechless: "Is it possible that he bought it at a high price before the war?
Are all the paper you made and the paper you made yourself used on this?"
"It seems that's it..."
Wang Yu sighed and took over the conversation: "He is indeed Cao Cao. This extraordinary courage alone is enough to be worthy of his reputation. From this perspective, Yuan Zhi was clearly defeated by Ma Chao in this battle.
, In fact, the defeat to Ma Chao and Cao Cao’s cooperation is indeed not an injustice. If you want to dig deeper, this may not be a mistake of this general."
Xu Shu had not written the information about the large quantities of paper armor equipped by the Xiliang army in the military report before, and Wang Yu also understood his intention. The large-scale outflow of Qingzhou paper occurred with Wang Yu's acquiescence, and Qingzhou benefited from it.
Very abundant. But in a sense, it also strengthened the enemy's strength.
Wang Yu dared to do this, and of course he had the corresponding confidence, but he never expected that the paper armor that Cao Cao spent so much money to create would not be kept for his own use, but would be used to arm the Xiliang army!
From a practical point of view, Cao Cao's approach is the most cost-effective. The Xiliang Army has poor equipment but a large number of troops. Arming the Xiliang Army with the cheapest paper armor will significantly improve its strength. But the Xiliang Army is not
Cao Cao's subordinates are just allies. Supporting a few thousand soldiers is a great favor. Tens of thousands of soldiers at a time...
"Tsk tsk... The root cause is that I underestimated the enemy." Wang Yu waved his hand to stop Xu Shu, preventing him from acquitting himself, and quickly assessed the current situation in his mind.
Xiliang's spear and light cavalry tactics should have existed originally.
In history, Cao Cao was defeated by Ma Chao. He also said something like this: Although the thief has a spear, how can he stab him if he can? The princes just stand on the wall and watch, and the thief retreats. This means that the spears and spears of the Xiliang army are powerful, but
As long as we defend our side with deep trenches and thick fortifications, we are not afraid that he will do something strange.
There is a saying in later generations that Ma Chao's Qiang soldiers used the spear tactics of the Macedonian phalanx. But according to Wang Yu's understanding and what Xu Shu said, Xiliang's spears were actually equipped by cavalry.
Of course, the Xiliang Army in history could not have had paper armor, but as long as the number of these spears and light cavalry reaches a certain level and they launch desperate attacks all over the mountains and plains, no matter how well-trained troops suddenly encounter them, it will definitely be difficult to please them.
Although Wang Yu has a way to break the paper armor, Ma Chao has now integrated the Xiliang army. Even without paper armor, the 80,000 spears and light cavalry are not easy to deal with, not to mention there are more than 100,000 infantry to assist in the battle.
Woolen cloth?
This battle is really troublesome. Are you planning to give up on Bingzhou?
While hesitating, Wang Yu suddenly heard Tai Shi Ci's voice. When he raised his eyes, he saw that the latter was whispering to Xu Shu.
"Yuan Zhi, you said in the military report that Ma Chao was very brave. Did he personally lead the troops into the battle? In that case, why are you so stupid that you don't mobilize the crossbowmen and concentrate on shooting him? Let him be made of iron and copper.
, and how many more nails can be drilled into the body.”
Taishi Ci had a loud voice, but he didn't realize it. His whispers were almost as formal as others' speeches. But this time he asked the right questions. Shoot the man first, shoot the horse first, and capture the thief first, capture the king.
, instead of thinking hard about how to defeat an army of more than 200,000 people, it is better to focus on how to deal with Ma Chao.
Any general who likes to personally lead his troops into battle can greatly boost his own fighting spirit and at the same time provide his opponents with weaknesses that can be targeted. Xu Rong used this move to defeat Sun Jian back then. Wang Yu himself did the same
Because of this, he gradually retreated behind the scenes in the past two years and handed over the responsibility of rushing to the battlefield to his generals.
Apart from Wang Yu, the only princes who liked to lead the charge themselves were Lu Bu, Sun Ce and Ma Chao, who was facing him now. Because it was not universal, Wang Yu did not change his mind for a while.
"Ma Chao does like to charge first when fighting, but his tactics are quite special. He does not always rush to the forefront. Instead, he hides behind when the battle is going well. When encountering a stalemate or an unfavorable situation, he leads his bodyguard to suddenly
He rushed out to break the deadlock, and after the troops behind him reorganized, he retreated, making it difficult to carry out targeted sniping."
Xu Shu's answer rejected this possibility. Judging from the speed of his answer, it was probably that he had tried a similar method in the battle formation, but it had never worked.
"This guy is really unusually cunning." Taishi Ci said depressedly: "In this case, if we want to defeat the Xiliang army, doesn't it mean that we have to fight head-on?"
Xu Shu didn't answer in silence.
For so many days after the war, he had been reflecting and planning a counterattack, but he still couldn't figure it out. Unless Wang Yu ordered a large-scale mobilization in Jizhou and also assembled a large army, it would be difficult to defeat the Xiliang army head-on.
All the generals were also silent.
To defeat the strong with the weak, there always needs to be some opportunity. Ma Chao does not divide his troops and is only willing to fight head-on battles. There are no obvious weaknesses in his tactics. How to fight such a battle?
In the silence, Wang Yu suddenly spoke, and his words were astonishing: "A head-on confrontation is certain, but Ziyi, this battle may not be as difficult as you think."
Everyone was stunned and looked at Wang Yu. After the latter said these words, he had no intention of explaining. With the inexplicable smile on his face, it seemed unfathomable. (Unfinished)