Daqin Engineers

However, this development process has not been smooth sailing.

At this time Shen Bing is training troops... The main direction of Shen Bing training is still expanding the Shenwu Army, which is the cavalry.

This is the advantage of the Hetao area. This area is a good horse farm with fertile grass and beautiful water. The quality of the horses raised is no worse than that of the Huns.

In addition, Shen Bing knew that the cavalry was the king in the future, so of course he would not give up this opportunity.

And in this regard, the original Hetao people have certain experience... Many of the people returning from the dynasty are horse merchants and herdsmen. At the beginning, Li Mu's northern goblin riders were formed by the horses they raised.

Shen Bing immediately organized them to raise horses for the Shenwu Army. In addition, Shen Bing also selected a part of the herdsmen who could ride horses to join the Shenwu Army and expanded it to 6,000.

But Shen Bing believes that the number of Shenwu Army is not a big problem, the bigger problem is horse shooting.

In this regard, Shen Bing has discussed this issue with Wang Ben several times:

"The last time we fought with the Huns, the Shenwu Army won a big victory, but it also exposed our army's deficiencies!" Shen Bing said: "Especially the Shenwu Army, although it has more than defense but insufficient offense."

Wang Ben feels the same:

"The general said it was true."

"The Shenwu Army should be the main force rather than the auxiliary force."

"However, in the last battle with the Xiongnu, the Shenwu Army was not only a support, but almost a shield, a shield used to block the Liang Army."

What Wang Ben said is.

The last time the enemy was killed were almost all the powerful crossbows with a thousand foot soldiers. The Shenwu Army just took advantage of the vine armor and mobile to block in front of the Huns cavalry, making it difficult to get close to the infantry square. .

Fu Su Zeqi said:

"But our army repelled the more than ten thousand Xiongnu army with one thousand soldiers and two thousand fine horses."

"How can we not continue to fight this way in the future?"

Shen Bing and Wang Ben looked at each other and shook their heads in unison.

Wang Ben explained:

"The son knows something."

"Last time I waited for the game to actually take advantage of the defense."

"If our army is going to fight a hundred miles away... the infantry will travel for two days and the cavalry will only take one day, how should we respond to the enemy?"

Fusu said "Oh" and then he understood the truth.

In ancient times, it was very difficult for infantry and cavalry to coordinate.

This is not like modern times. Infantry can ride in cars, infantry fighting vehicles, and even the Soviet Union directly allows soldiers to lie on the back of the tank and coordinate with the tank.

It is almost impossible for the ancient cavalry to coordinate with the slow-moving infantry... the infantry can't keep up with the cavalry, and if the cavalry slows down and waits for the infantry, the cavalry is meaningless.

Therefore, the situation where infantry and cavalry coordinated the combination of infantry crossbow and cavalry maneuvering like the last time is not impossible, but it is by no means normal.

Especially for the Xiongnu cavalry who came and went like wind, the infantry of the Qin army could not catch up with them.

In short: it is head-to-head with the Qin army dominating, flexible and mobile operations... The Qin army's infantry will have to fight separately, so the advantages of the two armies cannot complement each other, and no matter which army faces the Xiongnu, it can almost wait to die.

For example, the Shenwu Army fought against the Huns alone.

Although the Shenwu Army has the advantage of vine armor defense, it is far worse than the Xiongnu. The Xiongnu can hit the Shenwu Army at a longer distance accurately and quickly, but the Shenwu Army has nothing to do with the Huns outside the range.

Over time, the Shenwu Army will fall into the so-called cavalry trap, that is, "fighting and not being able to fight, walking and not being able to go"... It is not only infantry who will fall into this trap, but the cavalry who is not skilled enough in cavalry and shooting will face it. The same goes for the Huns cavalry.

If this problem is not resolved, the Shenwu Army will not be able to fight the Huns cavalry at all, even if the Shen Bing gives more subsidies to boost morale, it will not help.

Fusu thought for a while, and said:

"So, I can only practice riding and shooting."

Wang Ben replied:

"The Shenwu Army has been practicing riding and shooting day and night."

"However, the Xiongnu specialized in riding and shooting since childhood.

"No matter how I wait to practice... after all, I'm inferior."

In fact, Wang Ben said it lightly.

Compared with the Xiongnu, the Shenwu Army is more "inferior" in riding and shooting.

If there is any word to describe it, it is that the Xiongnu are professional cavalry and the Shenwu Army are amateurs.

The Shenwu Army is not without the best, such as Xun, and Wang Ben.Wang Bai and Lei Hui can also be counted as one... Their riding and shooting skills are no worse than the Xiongnu.

But it's just that these talents with special experience and talent are comparable to ordinary Huns riders, and the overall quality is far worse than the Shenwu Army.

According to Wang Ben’s observation on the battlefield:

"The Xiongnu can use the power of riding to open a bow, and the range is at least 30 steps farther than our army and very accurate!"

"It is also supplemented by a scimitar that is good for slashing, which can be used for long shots or close attacks. The combat power cannot be underestimated!"

This is also what Shen Bing observed in the city.

The Xiongnu cavalry is almost integrated with the horses. The horses are like the four legs they grow. They always step on the appropriate points to open their bows and arrows, and then follow the direction of the horses or even when the horses jump to the highest point. Arrows... the whole process went smoothly.

In addition, the Xiongnu can draw a heavier bow when riding on horseback for a long time:

The bow used by the Shenwu Army is generally two hundred jin (101 jin in modern times).

This bow strength is not weak. The minimum bow strength used by infantrymen is 120 jin (about 60 jin in modern times), but this is for the weak.

Most of the cavalry are veterans selected from the infantry. They were trained to open bows when they were still infantry, so they could open stronger bows, and they still opened two hundred jin of bows on the back of the unstable horse.

If a stronger bow is used, the cavalry will have to use its full strength to open the bow, so there is no extra strength and energy to maintain balance, let alone control the horse.

But what the Xiongnu uses is a strong bow of more than two hundred and fifty Qin Jin...

Coupled with his shooting skills, his shooting range is more than thirty steps farther than the Shenwu Army.

Thirty steps may not be much for the cavalry, but it will be a big trouble in battle.

Because in this way, the Xiongnu can keep shooting against the Shenwu Army outside the range of the Shenwu Army, and then come up with "the enemy advances, I retreat the enemy retreats, I advance", so the Shenwu Army will never injure the Xiongnu.

This made Shen Bing once wanted to invent the saddle and stirrup.

Because if these two things come out, they can make up for the inaccuracy of the Shenwu Army's riding skills.

But after considering it for a long time, Shen Bing finally held back.

He could not predict what would happen to the Huns who were also equipped with saddles or stirrups.

If the Huns are equipped with saddles or stirrups, they may no longer be the Huns that can be defeated by Wei Qing and Huo Qubing, but the Mongolian cavalry who swept Asia and Europe.

Shen Bing didn't dare to take this risk anyway, unless he could beat the Huns to the ground first.

Or at least hit it to the point of severe damage.