Chapter 22 When three people are together, there must be my teacher
Chapter 22 When three people are together, there must be my teacher
Luoyang was established as the capital when Duke Zhou built Luoyi. Later, King Ping of Zhou moved eastward and it officially became the capital.
During the restoration of the Later Han Dynasty, Emperor Guangwu of Han built the North and South Palaces, but they were destroyed during the rebellion of Dong Zhuo.
After the establishment of Cao Wei, Emperor Wen and Emperor Ming successively built Luoyang and built Taiji, Zhaoyang and other palaces on the original site.
When the Sima clan replaced the Wei dynasty, they still made Luoyang their capital.
Luoyang is not big.
Seven li from east to west and nine li from north to south has been almost the same size since the Han Dynasty. It is incomparable to the huge Luoyang City during the Northern Wei Dynasty.
There are twelve city gates on the four sides, namely Daxia Gate, Xuanyang Gate, Kaiyang Gate, Shangdong Gate, Pingchang Gate, etc.
In the northwest corner of Luoyang City is Jinyong City, which was built during the Cao Wei period. It is divided into three parts and connected as one, so it is called Jinyong Three Cities, also known as Yongchang Palace.
The purpose of building Jinyong City was to "prepare for the unexpected". This custom should have originated from the construction of the Bronze Sparrow Towers by the Cao family in the northern part of the west wall of Yecheng.
The defensive facilities of Jinyong City were very complete, and together with Baichi Tower in the northeast corner of Luoyang, it served as the commanding height of the entire city. But at this time, it became a detention place for the deposed emperor, deposed empress, and convicted royal family members.
Outside of Luoyang City during the Han, Wei and Western Jin Dynasties, there were many buildings where a large number of people lived, and even nobles and aristocrats lived. For example, the Taiwei Mansion was located in the south of the city, and there were residences of the lords of Wu and Shu in the east of the city.
As for the southern part of the city where Shao Xun and others had just arrived, Lingtai, Mingtang, Biyong, Taixue and Guozixue were the most conspicuous "landmark buildings".
The place they settled in was Biyong.
Biyong was a place where the children of nobles learned etiquette, classical music, dance, poetry, riding and archery and other skills. It has been discontinued and is now vacant.
To the north of Biyong is the Imperial Academy, to the south is a residential area, and to the west, across Kaiyangmen Street (north-south), is the Mingtang.
This place is not far from Sikong Mansion and is spacious, making it suitable for a large army to be stationed.
The guests and servants from Panyuan Village who had arrived earlier gathered here, making a lot of noise.
To be honest, Shao Xun was a little disappointed. It was obvious that Concubine Pei did not bring them into the city.
But you can understand it if you think about it carefully.
Luoyang City was either filled with official facilities such as the imperial palace, government offices, warehouses, and military camps, or with the residences of real wealthy families and princes. Ordinary houses were not unavailable, but you had to be at least one of the first residents when Cao Wei built Luoyang City. Without the bonus of this era, it would be a bit difficult to live in it - without the imperial decree, how could the messy peasants and soldiers enter the city? Especially in a tense situation, people were still worried about not having enough food.
There is no other way, I can only rely on myself.
From the first day of his arrival, Shao Xun began to observe the nearby terrain, buildings, and roads.
Fortunately, he found that if the enemy came, he could still fight a street battle.
In addition, from a military perspective, they could stay outside the city and form a corner with the garrison inside the city, supporting each other and making it difficult for the enemy to move freely, or even attack from both sides. This was quite good, provided that the garrison inside the city really supported them - was it possible? Hard to say.
"There are three things to do now." Shao Xun looked at Li Zhong, Huang Biao, Zhou Ying, Zhong Huan'er, and Wu Qian who were standing beside him, and said, "The first is to repair the outer wall of Biyong, the second is to stockpile military supplies and equipment, and the third is to find out the situation of the friendly neighboring troops."
After saying this, he looked at Wu Qian and said, "You will take care of the wall repair. The laborers needed can be recruited from nearby."
"Du Bo, there are so many nobles and wealthy families nearby. How can we order them around?" Wu Qian complained.
"I will discuss this matter with the owner of the building, you just need to be prepared." Shao Xun said, "It's already this time, if you still act arrogantly, I have nothing to say."
"Okay." Wu Qian felt relieved. As long as someone stepped forward, he would just be a person doing his job. It wouldn't be difficult.
As the two were talking, the sound of horse hooves was heard on Kaiyangmen Street.
Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and saw hundreds of riders riding their horses, passing by like lightning.
"This - riding a war horse on the road, is there any urgent military information?" Li Chong, who was born in the Imperial Guard, said solemnly.
Generally speaking, it is strictly forbidden in the army to ride a war horse on the road without sufficient reason, and those caught will be whipped.
Because horses have very poor physical strength, they can only travel for two hours a day at most. The rest of the time they either rest or eat horse feed to replenish their energy.
If you are riding a war horse and suddenly encounter the enemy, at that time, the enemy has enough horsepower and can fight repeatedly, but your horse is exhausted and sweating like a pig. How can you fight?
It is obvious that these hundreds of cavalrymen in front of us have no riding horses for traveling, only war horses, but they are still moving forward at lightning speed. There must be some urgent military situation.
"They won't come so soon." Shao Xun consoled him, "At most, they are some enemy cavalrymen acting as vanguards. This cavalry should be driving them out of the city. Or, the enemy hasn't arrived yet, and they are deployed on the periphery. In the battle of Luoyang, the main battle is actually on the periphery."
Li Zhong nodded silently.
"It's just a ranger, that's fine."
"The Rangers are also very scary, Xianbei or Wuhuan? Or Xiongnu?"
"It can't be these three families. The cavalry that just left are most likely Xianbei people, but they are imperial guards."
"King Chengdu should have a lot of cavalry under his command, right? What should we do then?"
"We have no choice but to fight to the death."
Everyone was talking and talking.
Shao Xun frowned. He found that these people were very afraid of cavalry. This was not a good sign. After all, they would have to face overwhelming Hu cavalry in the future.
"Let me ask you, if we encounter enemy cavalry in the plains while marching, how will we deal with them?" He turned around, looked at everyone, and asked.
There was some silence for a while.
"Du Bo, maybe we can learn from Ma Xiping's wisdom and use bows and crossbows and chariots?" After all, Li Chong was from the Imperial Guard and was well versed in military affairs, so this was the first thing that came to his mind.
"Why is this method effective?" Shao Xun asked.
"The chariot formation is connected end to end, which can stop the enemy cavalry from charging. There is a baffle on one side of the side chariot. Archers can stand on the chariot and shoot outwards, thus killing the enemy calmly." Li Zhong replied.
"Did you hear that?" Shao Xun glanced at everyone and said.
"heard it."
Shao Xun leaned over on the spot and used his dagger to draw a diagram on the mud to explain. In fact, the core is to create obstacles to prevent the cavalry from rushing directly. It doesn't have to be a side carriage. In an emergency, a baggage and grain transport cart can also be used. You can even use deer antlers that a single soldier can carry and throw them on the ground before the battle. This has been used before and the effect is very good.
Of course, the sidecar is definitely the most professional.
There is a baffle on one side to block the rain of arrows from enemy cavalry archers. There are also shooting holes on the baffle so that our own archers can shoot calmly without interference.
Considering that the stability, accuracy, range, rate of fire and power of mounted archery are not as good as those of infantry bows, and the target is also very large (there are horses), mounted archers are at a great disadvantage in the shooting duel and simply cannot hold on.
With the protection of the side carriages, the infantry could take turns to rest, recover their strength and energy, and continue to fight. In the end, I am afraid that the cavalry would be more tired than the infantry.
Malone used this trick to create a miracle.
"But this method also has flaws. Who can tell me about it?" Shao Xun suddenly asked after he finished drawing the diagram of the chariot formation.
"Du Bo, if the enemy has brave and courageous infantry, the chariot formation will be in danger, right?" Huang Biao said after thinking for a moment.
"Not bad." Shao Xun gave him an approving look and said, "Huang Biao's answer is very good. Think about it again, are there any flaws?"
"Is it dangerous to fire rockets at will?" someone asked.
"No, fire prevention is easy to do, think about it again." Shao Xun shook his head and said.
"Cut off the food supply and this formation will collapse on its own," someone said.
"What if they brought enough food? Ma Long brought enough supplies to last for three years." Shao Xun denied it and continued to encourage, "Think about it again."
"Dig up the road."
"It's easy to fill up the road, but that's not a good idea. It can only slow down traffic, not stop it."
"The most important thing is to select elite infantry. Ma Xiping's 3,500 men were all elite soldiers who could use all kinds of weapons. They were definitely not a mob." Li Zhong sighed and said, "In fact, not everyone on the grassland has a horse, and war horses are also very valuable. Those who can become cavalry must be the best of the best, not just fillers. On the other hand, infantrymen are armed with low-quality wooden spears, and they are easily panicked when facing a battle. Once they flee, the morale of the entire army will collapse."
"Very good!" Shao Xun patted his shoulder heavily and said with a smile: "That hits the point. A while ago, I asked everyone to learn archery, but many people didn't think much of it. Now you know the benefits, right?"
To put it bluntly, the threshold for infantry is too low, and anyone can join. Moreover, under the hereditary military system, the quality of most infantrymen is worrying and their training is very inadequate.
On the other hand, the cavalry has a natural threshold because of the preciousness of horses, and people with low skills are not eligible to be selected.
How many horses does a country have?
During the heyday of the Tang Dynasty, there were more than 700,000 horses in the government-run ranches and post stations.
The Liao Dynasty's horse management was very good, but there were only over a million horses in the country.
Raising horses is not economical, and herders may not like to raise them. Moreover, a large number of herders do not have horses. They are herdsmen and slaves, with no personal property. They usually ride the horses of the nobles and help the nobles herd cattle, sheep, horses and camels. That's all.
In the Middle Ages, the personal qualities of cavalry and infantry were naturally unequal, so there were many myths of cavalry defeating infantry. However, if they encountered elite infantry with the same personal qualities as the cavalry, although they were still passive, their disadvantage would be greatly improved.
"Archery is too difficult. You won't be able to master it in a few years." Li Zhong pondered, "In fact, in the grassland country where archers are used, herders ride sheep when they are young and horses when they grow up. They also hold collective hunting activities every year. They have a good foundation in riding and shooting. Once they enter the Central Plains, they will become more and more difficult to deal with."
At this time, the fighting power of the Hu people is just so-so. But if they enter the Central Plains, their equipment level will be greatly improved, and they can even be supported by the people of the Central Plains, so that everyone - at least some people - can leave their jobs and no longer be obsessed with livelihoods, and can focus on training without distractions, and their fighting power will gradually improve.
They already have a solid foundation in riding and archery. Once they start full-time training, they will be able to improve on the parts they have already mastered and make up for their shortcomings. It can be said that they have undergone a complete transformation.
At this time, it would be a joke if the Central Plains dynasty still used temporarily conscripted farming and fighting soldiers to deal with full-time professional grassland cavalry.
"So..." Shao Xun cleared his throat and said, "Let me summarize. When you encounter enemy cavalry during the march, you must first use carts to stop their charge. Secondly, the soldiers in the chariot formation must be selected from elite and brave fighters. Those who are not qualified to fill the numbers must not be used. That will only harm everyone. It is a taboo to bring civilians with you during the war. It is absolutely unacceptable. Do you understand?"
"Understood." Several people responded in unison.
"Write your thoughts after you go back. Those who can't read can dictate and ask someone to write for them." Shao Xun added: "There is always a teacher among three people. This method is very good. We learn together and have a deeper impression. When we really encounter a situation, we will not be at a loss."
"promise."
"Also, let me ask you another question." Shao Xun continued, "If you don't have time to set up the chariot formation, or if you are halfway through setting up the formation and the enemy cavalry is already in front of you, how can you resist the enemy? Everyone must submit a strategy. That's it, let's disperse first."
"promise."
Everyone left one after another, with Li Chong walking at the end. Before leaving, he couldn't help but look at Shao Xun a few more times.
This person doesn't look like a worldly soldier who knows nothing.
On the contrary, he seemed to be well-trained and experienced. It was difficult to resist cavalry with foot, but he was confident, as if he had experienced it more than once.
Li Zhong even had a deep suspicion that if Du Bo was allowed to lead the cavalry, he would most likely become a very outstanding cavalry general, proficient in all kinds of tactics to kill the infantry.
What a remarkable man, could it be that he was gifted by heaven?
After everyone left, Shao Xun climbed up the outer wall of Biyong and overlooked the entire Kaiyangmen Street.
The buildings are lined up one after another and the houses are densely packed.
In this environment, neither cavalry nor infantry could deploy their troops.
Once a war breaks out, it will only be a chaos.
Having a large number of soldiers may not be effective, because the contact area is very small and there are only a few people fighting in the front row.
If one side has many soldiers but they are not very elite, and the front row is killed and cannot stand, when the queen retreats hastily, it may disrupt the formation of the rear and cause a great rout. It would be tragic then and no one knows how many people would die.
Thinking of this, he suddenly became more confident in defending Luoyang.
The quality of the Imperial Guards should be better than those in Yecheng and Guanzhong. Although according to Li Zhong, there are many fake and weak troops in the Imperial Guards, after all, it is the end of the dynasty, so it is understandable. But overall it should be OK, right? As long as there is enough food and supplies, Luoyang can be defended.
But the question is, are there really enough supplies? If the war becomes protracted, will there be a shortage of food?
he does not know.
His level is very low and he has no access to such core secrets. Even Concubine Pei and King of Donghai may not know the truth. The only ones who know the truth are probably King of Changsha Sima Yi and senior officials of the shogunate, right?
My balls hurt.
No matter what, he should do his own thing first. Training soldiers is the only thing he can do.
(End of this chapter)