Warring States Odyssey
In the mid-to-early Warring States period, Zhao's strength was actually not strong, and it belonged to a relatively weak class among the seven hegemons. It could only maintain itself by taking advantage of the situation between the two major powers of Wei and Qi, and at one point even had to surrender to the state of Wei. The rise of Zhao began after the reform of Wu Ling Wang's Hu clothing and archery.
In fact, in the early Warring States period, cavalry had already appeared on the battlefield, and a small number of cavalry units were established in various countries, mainly used for patrol, reconnaissance, message transmission, and small-scale raids. However, the cavalry was still very primitive in terms of numbers, quality, and tactical use, and it did not play a decisive role in winning or losing wars.
It wasn't until after Zhao Wuling Wang's reforms on Hu clothing and archery on horseback that cavalry began to formally develop into an independent branch of the military, and large-scale deployment of mounted troops also started among various states, especially in Qin and Zhao. The cavalry forces established by these two countries had already numbered tens of thousands. This was because both countries bordered the nomadic regions to the north, not only could they learn archery techniques from the nomads, but they also occupied vast areas suitable for horse breeding.
The effect of Hu Fu riding and shooting is not only to establish a strong army for Zhao, but also to greatly expand the territory of Zhao to the north. Not only did it annex Zhongshan State, but it also incorporated the areas of Linhu, Loufan, Donghu and other nomadic peoples into Zhao. It not only expanded the land by thousands of miles and increased the population by millions, but also occupied a large number of high-quality pastures. Moreover, most nomadic peoples are fierce and warlike, and after joining Zhao, they brought a strong and brave atmosphere to Zhao, which greatly improved the combat effectiveness of the Zhao army. This enabled Zhao to leap from a weak country to the second strongest among the seven powers in just over a decade. Other countries also followed suit and formed their own cavalry units.
However, Qi, Chu, Wei and Han lacked good horse breeding areas and did not have the conditions to form large-scale cavalry. Yan was close to the northern regions but its national strength was too weak, making it difficult to occupy horse breeding areas from nomadic tribes. Therefore, cavalry only developed in Qin and Zhao, while other states also established some cavalry, but they were still mediocre.
At that time, the cavalry was still in its early stages of development. On the one hand, the horse equipment was not perfect, which limited the development and growth of the cavalry. On the other hand, the tactics, theory, and experience of the cavalry were also insufficient, making it impossible for the cavalry to fully exert its combat effectiveness. Although the cavalry had already shown great potential, it still could not completely replace the role of chariots, and many countries still equipped large numbers of chariots. The battles between states were still mainly fought with chariots or infantry as the main force, and the kind of large-scale cavalry battles that would clash with each other had not yet appeared.
Moreover, at this time the number of cavalry had greatly increased, but compared to the total military strength of various countries, the proportion was not high. When Li Mu defended the north and resisted the Xiongnu's attack, his troops were: 1,300 war chariots, 13,000 cavalry, 50,000 elite infantry, and 100,000 archers. It can be seen that even in Zhao, which was most skilled at using cavalry, the proportion of cavalry was not high, with a ratio of about one to ten with chariots, with one war chariot accompanied by ten cavalrymen.
Now Zhao Jun is stationed in Fanwu, with a total of 1.5 million troops, including 1,500 chariots and 15,000 cavalrymen. However, the number of war horses has reached over 700,000, because in addition to the chariots and cavalry, a considerable portion of the war horses are allocated for use by infantrymen, who ride horses to the battlefield before dismounting to fight. This was also a common practice during this era.
Since obtaining Li Mu's authorization, Gao Yuan immediately started working, first selecting soldiers and war horses. They had to choose 1,000 men from the 15,000-strong cavalry, which was not difficult with Li Yinghong's help. However, selecting horses was a bit troublesome because at that time Chinese war horses were not very large, with an average height of about 1.3 meters, which was not much bigger than a donkey. They could not compare to the tall and majestic horses Gao Yuan had ridden in the past.
Although Gaoyuan had no experience in training cavalry, he also knew that when the cavalry fought, the power and impact of war horses were more important than humans, especially when fighting head-on. Large war horses had a greater advantage over small ones, so Gaoyuan could only choose some relatively larger war horses for this new cavalry.
Three days later, the first batch of 200 new-style cavalry equipment arrived, and both men and horses were selected. At this time, the formation of the cavalry was roughly the same as that of the infantry, with a formation of 50 people, five people forming a squad, ten people forming a company, 50 people forming a battalion, 100 people forming a regiment, and 500 people forming a brigade. The 1,000-strong cavalry was divided into two brigades, with two brigade commanders, Du Yi and Ji Hua, both of whom came from the Central Army Camp and had a good relationship with Gao Yuan.
With the new cavalry, Gaoyuan's riding skills also improved rapidly, and he was no longer much different from other soldiers. Moreover, he was more familiar with the characteristics of the new cavalry, so it was enough to teach the soldiers. Therefore, after the arrival of the cavalry, Gaoyuan began to train the soldiers, first of course, adapting to the new cavalry. In fact, this batch of soldiers had a good foundation, and they were used to riding single-low-bridge stirrups. After switching to double-high-bridge stirrup saddles, as long as they adapted a few times, they could basically master their body balance on horseback. Of course, all the soldiers also believed that riding this new cavalry was indeed much more stable than in the past.
Later, he began to practice some horseback riding skills, such as single hanging, horse switching, toe hiding, and sea bottom fishing. In fact, some movements had only been seen by others before, but not practiced himself, so every night, Gao Yuan would work overtime to practice these skills, and also practice riding and shooting techniques. In this regard, Gao Yuan was very humble in learning from Li Yinghong.
Although Li Yinghong is not very old, his horse riding and archery skills are quite excellent, and he can teach Gao Yuan well in this regard. Of course, during the training process, it's inevitable that he will fall off the horseback, but Gao Yuan has a strong personality and knows that these techniques are the foundation of his survival in this era, so he practices very hard. Moreover, his basic skills and quality are excellent, and he picks up quickly, after more than ten days of practice, Gao Yuan also mastered the key points of horse riding combat, and can fight evenly with Li Yinghong on horseback, but his archery skills are still insufficient, however, archery skills cannot be improved overnight, it takes time.
Liu Chong had not boasted, and by the ninth day, he had completed all 1,000 sets of new-style horse armor, while also forging 300 sets of horseshoes. The soldiers had basically mastered the use of the new-style horse armor, so they began to practice cavalry tactics.
Although Gaoyuan didn't understand cavalry tactics, in this era, there was no mature theory of cavalry tactics yet. Moreover, Gaoyuan came from a modern society with advanced information and had many examples of cavalry battles as well as historical records of powerful cavalry armies to refer to. Additionally, Gaoyuan had also studied some basic military theories, so he could more or less summarize some principles of cavalry tactics.
In the understanding of the highlands, the strongest point of cavalry lies in speed, that is, mobility. They come and go like the wind, swift as lightning, and can cover hundreds of miles in a day. If they fail to strike, they immediately retreat far away. With their combination of riding and shooting, they are considered the most powerful type of soldier in the cold weapon era. The Mongol Empire relied on this tactic to sweep across the entire Eurasian continent, invincible wherever they went. Moreover, cavalry also has a strong impact force in frontal battles, as they are armored mounted troops, almost like tank corps in the cold weapon era.
Although the thousand cavalry troops formed now are all light cavalry, if the opponent is not well-trained and can't maintain a complete formation, it's also difficult to resist the impact of the cavalry. At the same time, although the light cavalry's impact force is not as good as that of the heavy armored cavalry, its flexibility, speed, and mobility are higher, not only can they launch a frontal assault, but also can bypass and attack from multiple directions, and even if they lose in battle, the cavalry can use their speed to quickly retreat from the battlefield, then reorganize their troops and look for opportunities to turn defeat into victory.
Therefore, the plateau also decided, with Mongolian cavalry as the main reference, and made some modifications in some places to train this cavalry.
Before training, first choose the equipment of the cavalry. Since it was decided to take Mongolian cavalry as the main reference, the primary weapon is naturally the bow and crossbow.
In this era, the bow is still dominated by single-body bows, which are divided into longbows and shortbows. The range of the longbow can exceed 100 meters, and the throwing distance can reach 150 meters, but its shape is large and not easy to carry, and it takes a lot of effort to open it, so only a small number are usually equipped in the army. The shortbow is convenient to carry and easy to pull, but its range is only 50-60 meters, and the throwing distance is 80-100 meters.
In this era, the crossbow has made great progress, and its manufacture is very exquisite. Although the crossbow is not easy to open, it is small in size, long in range, and stable in shooting posture, so it is widely used in the military. The crossbow is divided into two types: hand-pulled crossbow and foot-operated crossbow. The range of the hand-pulled crossbow is about 100 meters, while the range of the foot-operated crossbow is extremely far, reaching more than 200 meters. However, the crossbow cannot be thrown.
The final selection for the plateau cavalry was that each soldier, in addition to basic armor, would be equipped with: two long spears, one long sword, a round shield, two hand-pulled crossbows, two short bows, and six quivers of arrows, each holding thirty arrows.
While riding and shooting, there are different techniques such as straight shooting, side shooting, and turning back to shoot. According to the actual situation on the battlefield, different choices are made. When charging forward, straight shooting is used; when circling around to attack from both sides, side shooting is used; and when retreating, turning back to shoot is used. Moreover, the way of shooting arrows is also different. Before going into battle, first pull open two hand-held crossbows, then during the charge, first shoot out the hand-held crossbow, and then use a short bow to shoot. The front row of soldiers shoots flat, while the back row of soldiers shoots at an angle, forming area attacks.
At the same time, the cavalry's column changes were also trained, including lateral charges, arrowhead charges, arc-shaped charges, cross charges and so on.
After more than a dozen days of training, the newly formed cavalry, although not yet at a very mature level, has already shown initial results. After all, with the use of new horse equipment, the stability of soldiers on horseback has indeed increased greatly, so they can also complete some complex and difficult movements.
Li Mu also conducted two small-scale cavalry confrontations, with 100 riders on each side engaging in actual combat. The new cavalry corps emerged victorious, with minimal losses. Later, the number of participants was doubled, with 100 new cavalrymen facing off against 200 regular cavalrymen. Although the new cavalry suffered more than half casualties, they ultimately emerged victorious, demonstrating that the use of the new cavalry corps had indeed greatly enhanced their combat effectiveness.
At the same time, Gongjiangying also explored some experience in horseshoeing, of course, at the cost of injuring twenty-four war horses. Fortunately, all the war horses of the new riding army were horseshoed.
At this time, the cavalry combat capability of the plateau also made great progress. Just at this time, the decisive battle between Qin and Zhao also began.
