Time flies so fast, and in a blink of an eye, it is already a month after An Sanxi led his cavalry team to roam the grassland.
After arriving on the grassland, the scouts discovered a small tribe.
The scouts reported after investigation: There are only more than 400 people in this tribe, including 133 adult men, 150 women in their prime, and the rest are old people and children.
This tribe was very poor and weak, so they were forced to graze near the Ming Dynasty.
An Sanxi rode up to a small hill and looked through his telescope at the felt bags scattered along the bend of the river below. He counted about seventy of them.
After doing some calculations in my mind, I roughly figured out the situation. This is a very small fringe tribe.
There are more than a thousand cattle and less than ten thousand sheep.
"Everyone has it. This tribe is our first target to conquer. Let me say it again, the rule of survival on the grassland is that the weak eat the strong, and the strong annex the weak. You have all studied Mongolian with me for more than two months. Listen. The story of two months on the grassland. Now we rush down and defeat them, and then this is our tribe. Women and cubs are also our women and cubs. As long as the boys are not taller than a wheel, don't kill them indiscriminately, understand? .”
"Understood!" The cubs responded like wolves howling. Everyone is gearing up and eager to try.
When they arrived on the grassland, they felt that their equestrian skills were improving rapidly. Although their fighting skills were not yet good enough, they had enough firearms to make up for it.
I have long wanted to fight and prove myself.
Everyone meditated on Cao Dian in their hearts to control their nervousness.
After all, they were trained intensively, and their equipment and supplies were far ahead of this era.
In the holsters on both sides of the front of the saddle, there are three double-barreled short-fire muskets on the left and right. and a flintlock and carbine each. Four grenades for each person, and a saber bought by Yang Fan from Hyundai.
Yang Fan equipped them with the current Type 65 saber, which is widely praised in use. The blade length is changed to 96 cm, made of stainless steel, and the blade is chrome plated.
The sabers of these new recruits were not sharpened.
When wielding a saber that weighs 1.85 kilograms, it is easy to injure yourself and your horse if you lack physical strength, so only those senior cavalry can sharpen their sabers.
But even if it is not sharpened, with the impact inertia of the horse, a saber placed flat on the horse can still easily cut off the enemy's head.
In cavalry combat, spears were generally used in this era. However, spears required months and months of practice, and Yang Fan simply did not have the time.
As the saying goes, a stick in the moon and a sword in a lifetime will last a lifetime.
Knife training is very fast, it only takes a few months. Yang Fan has a modern compilation of cavalry drills, which is definitely the pinnacle of cavalry tactics and techniques.
Modern cavalry swordsmanship has also been accumulated over hundreds of years, and was finally determined by modern scientific research. Perfect beyond the standards of this era.
It is difficult to place a long gun on a horse. If not placed properly, it can easily hit the people and horses in front, causing unnecessary casualties.
Immediately fixing the spear requires equipment such as a goose wing ring and a winning hook, which also adds additional weight.
It is impossible for a cavalryman to hold a spear with his hands all the time, otherwise his hands will get sore after a short time. I can't hold a gun at all during combat.
Moreover, using a hand-held gun can easily hit the person in front when marching or fighting, which is very unsafe.
The solution is also very simple. Generally, a copper tube is installed in front of the stirrup, and a hook is installed on the front side of the saddle.
Insert the spear into the barrel connected to the stirrup, and secure it with a victory hook. In this way, the spear will not be lost when the horse is bumpy, and the tip of the spear is pointed upward, so it will not hit the friendly troops in front.
Yang Fan understands the principle that one inch is long and every inch is strong, and one inch is short and every inch is dangerous.
When the enemy rushes forward, the side with the spear will definitely have the advantage.
However, I don't know how to use such a heavy weapon, which is just a burden, so I might as well give up. Anyway, I have a riot helmet and stab-proof suit. It's not as cost-effective as fighting hard. The weight saved can be used to carry more supplies, firearms and ammunition.
Yang Fan was also troubled with the choice of saber.
The question of whether to use a straight knife or a curved knife has troubled Yang Fan for a long time.
This is not a small problem. Straight swords and curved swords have been changed repeatedly in history in various countries and civilizations in Asia and Europe.
But every change is based on realistic considerations and actual changes on the battlefield.
Yang Fan, Tu Shanyue and Lin Yueru discussed the advantages and disadvantages of straight swords and scimitars for a long time.
Both of them are experts in using knives, and their skills are very good.
Generally speaking, with the same weight, thickness, and thickness, a straight knife is longer than a curved knife, which means that the straight knife stabs the opponent first.
The situation is reversed when chopping.
Note that the following principles are a bit confusing.
The center of gravity of a straight knife is on the spine line of the blade, some pointing forward and some pointing backward.
You need skills when chopping, otherwise your position of chopping will be easily misplaced when you rotate. It looks like the same place, but the actual cut is somewhere lower.
Because the center of gravity is difficult to grasp, it is easy to cut off the target.
But the machete is different.
The blade is an arc, and the center of gravity is not on the blade at all.
But in the air behind the arc. In this way, it is very easy to control the direction when chopping, and the knife falls at a precise position.
This principle is like the wooden handle of a grenade or the long shaft of an arrow. The center of gravity moves backward to increase stability.
So at that time, Lin Yueru made a very classic summary: "The criteria for choosing a straight sword or a scimitar depends on the quality of my soldiers. If my soldiers are all well-trained veterans, they will be equipped with straight swords. After practicing the straight swords It has a wide swing range and is extremely difficult to defend against, and its assassination can also directly penetrate the armor."
"If the master's soldiers are recruited temporarily and neglected training, like militiamen, it is best to equip them with scimitars. Because the scimitar training time is short, the difficulty is low, and it is quick to get started. But the scimitar can only cut and kill, and the stabbing effect is No, it’s difficult to penetrate armored enemies with a scimitar. It’s not easy to cut through armor when slashing.”
Tu Shanyue also added: "Sir, look at why the tribes on the grasslands all use scimitars. It's because the Mongols today don't have a standing army at all. They are herdsmen recruited temporarily during battles. Such recruits lack professional training. , you can only use a machete."
At that time Yang Fan asked: "Then why did the Qin, Han, Sui and Tang Dynasties use straight knives?"
Tu Shanyue said: "At that time, the country was strong and well-trained. But starting from the Song Dynasty, the military strength was no longer good. It began to weaken the generals and the army. If the training could not keep up, it would not be able to equip fixed swords. It was not easy to use. It was difficult. Not bad at all."
Yang Fan later used it to look through European information and found that it was really like this.
Britain and France are both the pinnacle of European cavalry. It turns out that those who use straight swords are nobles and officers, and those who use scimitars are soldiers.
This is enough to explain the problem.
Officers and nobles have been trained for a long time, so they dare to use fixed knives, which are difficult to use but difficult for the enemy to defend. The soldiers are all veterans who come out every two or three years, and they can get used to it faster with a machete. Reduces training costs.
If Yang Fan's militiamen were to distribute weapons, it would be better to use machetes.
However, Lin Yueru continued to add: "The dispute between straight swords and curved swords has lasted for thousands of years. In fact, each has its own advantages. The knives used in the Ming Dynasty are actually a combination of straight swords and curved swords, such as Yanling sword, Xiuchun sword, The Royal Forest Saber, Qi Family Sword, etc. all have a shape with a straight blade but a slightly curved tip. Try to combine the two, and try to reduce the difficulty of use while retaining the ability to stab and penetrate armor."
After Yang Fan figured it out, he finally made up his mind and equipped his small cavalry squad with the Type 65 saber that was standard in later generations of the army.
An Sanxi gave an order, and thirty cavalrymen formed a row, shoulder to shoulder, and appeared on the hill.
The remaining men took shelter in a pine forest five miles away, guarding the remaining horses and baggage.
Soon, the herdsmen in the camp discovered that a group of people wearing colorful clothes appeared on the hills. Apart from the herdsmen and armed groups, there was only one kind of person left on the grassland - horse thieves.
The camp below was instantly in chaos.
The middle-aged men were busy looking for horses, the middle-aged women rushed into the felt bags to look for bows and arrows, and the old people drove the children into the felt bags to hide.
An Sanxi looked coldly at the more than 400 people below and said, "Move forward."
