I'm a big dick

Chapter 214 Dragon Rider, Flying Rider

In Xiong Tingbi's view, dragoons are nothing new, they are horse-riding musketeers, or motorized infantry.

Riding on horseback and dismounting to fight are the main characteristics of dragoons.

Of course, if you have better riding skills, you can wear a saber and chase down defeated enemies.If the cavalry confronted the cavalry head-on, the dragoons would obviously not work, at least not now.

But there is also cavalry and archery. Xiong Tingbi stroked his beard and smiled, watching Man Gui and other generals leading the Mongolian cavalry to charge and kill, arrows raining like rain.

Although this cavalry unit called the Flying Cavalry Battalion is all naturalized Mongols and is also good at riding and shooting, it is still very different from the troops of the Mongolian tribes.

The main thing is the armor. The Mongolian tribes are very poor, especially lack of iron. How can they have the money to equip the cavalry with a lot of armor?In fact, this is also a disadvantage when they fought against the Hou Jin army.

The Flying Cavalry Battalion, which made up for this defect, had excellent bows and arrows and sharp sabers supplied by the Ming Dynasty, and its combat power had been greatly improved. It was also capable of fighting against the Hou Jin Army on the plain.

Of course, from the emperor to Xiong Tingbi, none of them planned to use the flying cavalry battalion in such a short time.Harassment and attack, and pursuit of victory, in the current concept, will be the two combat forms of the flying cavalry battalion.

As for the Mongolian mercenaries, Xiong Tingbi also recognized them, and began to send people to contact the Mongolian tribes in Monan.

And Zhu Youxiao instructed the generals of Zhangjiakou, Datong and other border towns to hire Mongolian herdsmen to expand the flying camp and launch a larger-scale harassment of Houjin.

Among other things, the cost is very economical!

Zhu Youxiao calculated that it would only cost a few thousand taels of silver if it wasn't too much to transfer the troops from the Mongolian tribes in Monan for a few months.

And, it's not just about saving money.It also has a very positive significance for enhancing the relationship with the various tribes of Mongolia and preventing them from being wooed by the Houjin Dynasty.

Xiong Tingbi could roughly guess the emperor's longer-term plans, and when the military strength of the border towns became stronger, he would launch a policy of naturalizing the Mongols.

At that time, it was not employment, but recruitment into the army, and it was Ming's army.

Just when Xiong Tingbi was feeling relieved and thinking about it, Yang Guozhu, a member of the Dragon Riding Battalion, came to the high platform, got off his horse and boarded the high platform, and saluted: "I will meet Mr. Jinglue at the end."

Xiong Tingbi raised his hand, signaled Yang Guozhu to stand up, and asked, "The Dragon Rider Battalion has trained well, and it will be a powerful iron cavalry battalion in the future."

Yang Guozhu got up and grinned, and said, "My lord, the general will be better at riding and shooting."

Xiong Tingbi was stunned for a moment, looked at Yang Guozhu and thought for a while, and probably understood what he meant.

It's still a conservative mentality. I don't have confidence in the dragoons. I feel that it will be difficult to get military merits in the future, and the limelight is definitely not as good as the Flying Cavalry Battalion.

Xiong Tingbi shook his head and said, "You think riding and archery will have a better future in the future, but I really don't know how you learn it in martial arts?"

Yang Guozhu's face was a little hot, and he bowed his head in silence.

Although Xiong Tingbi was not very sure, the power of the firearm still moved him a lot.

He also agreed with the emperor that the training period for muskets was short and the requirements were low.With the manpower advantage of Ming Dynasty, it will become an invincible force.

"Practice the dragon riding battalion well, and you will have more opportunities to make achievements in the future." Without further explanation, Xiong Tingbi pointed to the flying riding battalion in the distance, and said, "You don't need to know the deep meaning of the flying riding battalion established by the Holy One." .”

Yang Guozhu bowed and replied: "Yes, the general will obey the order."

"In addition to riding skills, the skills that musket infantry should have should not be neglected." Xiong Tingbi solemnly reminded, and only after Yang Guozhu responded, he waved his hand to signal that he could retreat.

In the distance, the training of the Flying Battalion has just ended.

Man Gui and two guerrillas rode on horseback, talking and laughing loudly, and galloped towards the high platform.

These two guerrillas were genuine Mongols who came from outside the Great Wall to join them. The governor of Yansui named them "Fengruhu" and "Tiger Dawei" because of their superb riding skills and high martial arts skills.

When Zhu Youxiao recruited naturalized Mongols from various border towns, these two junior officers entered the newly formed Flying Cavalry Battalion and entered the Martial Arts Cavalry Department to study.

Others don't know why the emperor was promoted, but Zhu Youxiao knew that these two not only had powerful names, but also were heroes and martyrs who fought for the Ming army in history and died heroically.

Two real Mongolian compatriots, and Man Gui, who can't tell the truth from the fake one, got together.The bold personality and superb riding and shooting quickly warmed up the relationship between the three of them, and they became close friends.

"Jiannu's cavalry shooting is definitely not good, but foot shooting is powerful, and the big bow and heavy arrow are quite lethal." Man Gui shook the cavalry bow (horned bow) in his hand, "Of course I can't beat it with this."

This is the analysis in the martial arts cavalry textbook, mixed with the experience and theory of later generations summarized by Zhu Youxiao.

Why are the Mongols good at riding and shooting, and they have a large number of people, but they can't beat the Jiannu who are also known for riding and shooting?

Excluding factors such as the fact that the Mongolian tribes fought independently and were not united, as well as the quality of the generals, weapons, equipment and tactics were also important reasons.

In fact, the riding and shooting that Jiannu boasted was only compared to the Ming army, and compared with the Mongols, there was a gap.

To be precise, Jiannu is good at infantry. He uses a large bow similar to a longbow. The range and lethality are similar to those of a bird's gun, and it is far better than the horn bow used by the Mongols.

The Mongolian cavalry lacked armor, mainly light cavalry, and their big bows and heavy arrows posed a great threat.On the contrary, Jiannu's armor protection is very good, and the light arrows of the Mongols often have limited damage.

If it's just about riding and shooting, the Mongolian cavalry can still support it; but if you want to fight a tough battle, the strong and fierce Jiannu cannot be resisted by the Mongols.

Although the Flying Cavalry are all Mongols, they have been naturalized to the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Youxiao treats them equally without discrimination, and there is no confession in the martial arts professor that they should keep their privacy.

Therefore, the composition of the flying cavalry battalion and their tactics are already very different from the traditional Mongolian cavalry.

The armor is complete, as are horn bows, step bows, light arrows, heavy arrows, and sabers. Compared with Jiannu in terms of equipment, they are only stronger than weaker.

As for tactics, Zhu Youxiao didn't have any special innovations.But he has explained that the Flying Cavalry and the Second Dragon Cavalry Battalion should cooperate as much as possible in combat, give full play to their respective strengths, and cooperate in combat.

Hu Dawei had his own opinion about Man Gui's statement. He stroked the horse's head and said, "With beans as the concentrate, this war horse is stronger than the one that eats grass, and has improved endurance and physical strength. It is better than Jiannu's." It shouldn't be too bad, right?"

Mengruhu was satisfied with the armor on his body and the symbol of martial arts graduation - the imperial saber, and said with a smile: "Even heavy arrows, the armor can defend one or two; this saber is not something that Jiannu can resist. .”

"The saber is indeed extremely sharp." Man Gui put his hand on the handle of the saber, thinking that it was bestowed by the emperor, and was also satisfied with the shape and sharpness of the saber.

Hu Dawei laughed and said: "This saber is said to only attack but not defend, which is very suitable for a certain family's temper."

While speaking, the three of them had already come to the high platform, kicked off their horses, climbed onto the high platform, knelt down on one knee and saluted, "I will meet Mr. Jinglue at the end."

"Excuse me." Xiong Tingbi liked these three straightforward men very much, and smiled with admiration.

Man Gui stood up and asked straightforwardly: "My lord, the general feels that the practice is almost done, and he can go to Jinzhou."

Xiong Tingbi pondered for a while, and said: "Wait a minute, some food, grass and supplies have to be transported to be enough for the Flying Cavalry Battalion."

After a pause, Xiong Tingbi continued: "According to the reports of the officers and soldiers staying in Dalinghe and Jinzhou, there are many Mongolians grazing around. After you pass by, don't drive them by force, but try to win them over. It is best to naturalize them." I am Daming."

"The general will know." Man Gui replied: "The life of the Mongolian herdsmen is very hard, so I will not make things difficult for them. But if they collude with slaves, I will not show mercy."

Fierce as a tiger said: "I heard that Horqin has surrendered as a slave, and he is the enemy of Ming Dynasty. We will fight one at a time."

Although they all belong to the Mongols, the tribes are not united, and there are conflicts and attacks from time to time.The naturalized Tigers and Tigers have no psychological barriers to being loyal to the Ming Dynasty and attacking Mongolian tribes.

Among them, the one is as fierce as a tiger, and was promoted in history for his meritorious service in exterminating the Mongolian chief Gan'er in Hetao!

"The two ends of Khalkha's first mouse, Wansui said that there is no need to be too tough." Hu Dawei added: "It's just that it's hard to distinguish between the various ministries."

Xiong Tingbi nodded slightly, and said: "So, don't recruit and expand the Flying Cavalry Battalion for the time being, to prevent spies from getting in. The imperial court will get soldiers from other Mongolian tribes to supplement the Flying Cavalry Battalion."

"Also, I have another idea." Xiong Tingbi stroked his beard and narrowed his eyes, "Use the strengths of the Flying Cavalry Battalion and the Dragon Cavalry Battalion to fight together..."

...........................

The fact that cavalry played a supporting role in the war, or was eliminated, was not due to muskets, but the power of machine guns.

At least for a long time, cavalry played an irreplaceable role on the battlefield.

However, in the battle between the Ming army and the Jiannu, whether it can get rid of the embarrassing situation that the defeat will cause heavy losses, and the victory will make it difficult to expand the results depends on the strength of the cavalry.

Although there was no discrimination against the flying cavalry battalion led by Man Gui, Zhu Youxiao did not tell them another cavalry tactic.

In terms of riding skills, on the overall level, the Ming army is definitely not as good as Jiannu.No matter how hard you train, it will be difficult to make up for the gap.

But is there a solution? The answer is yes, that is the cavalry wall charge tactic that originated in Poland and was learned by Gustav and introduced into the battlefield.

Winning or losing a war is sometimes really difficult to figure out.

For example, the cavalry wall tactic was not considered a tall and advanced thing at the time, and could even be called barbaric and backward.

Because with the development of firearms, European cavalry began to be equipped with short firearms, usually two to three. When encountering an enemy, they would shoot with the gun first, then reload the ammunition or retreat, then shoot forward, and finally rush forward to chop. kill.

The style of play is very civilized and elegant, but it was beaten all over the ground by the brutal group charge of the Polish hussars.

Gustav learned from the painful experience and learned the brutal tactics of charging with sabers in a tight formation.

(End of this chapter)