Zhao Yongtang reined in his horse, and with a soft "hush", Mal slowly stopped.
Zhao Yongtang made meritorious service in the two battles of Zhangjiakou and Jining. At this time, he had been transferred to the scout regiment and became a probationary member. Han Wu and Ma Xiaoping served as commander-in-chief respectively under him. The three brothers now work in the same household. Hundreds of households are the members of the Jia Ding group.
Their equestrian training only began before the expedition. All I can say is that he can ride a horse. It doesn’t matter what the technology is at all. Even in a hacking and fighting fight on horseback, they wouldn't be able to pass.
The main reason why they were selected into the scout group was because they had been able to ride horses before and had some experience. There are not many horses among the people of Ming Dynasty. In the two hundred years of horse administration, families in Hebei and Shandong were assigned to raise horses. There are many people who know how to ride horses. Even when he was nine thousand years old, he was still an excellent horseman and could shoot a bow with both hands.
The first condition for Yang Fan to choose a scout is not riding skills, but bravery and outstanding training performance. At the same time, people need to be more alert. Bold and careful, with ideas and ideas.
Secondly, there is the foundation of riding skills. After all, this thing is relatively slow to learn.
The selection of scout cavalry in the capital camp is a matter of choosing the best among the weak. These people are really weak. Yang Fan had a headache. In more than two hundred years of comfort, the Beijing camp had long since used up its troops at night.
However, an army cannot be without scouts. Scouts occupy an important position in the military of any era.
Originally, there were 25,000 horses in Beijing camp. In addition to the 8,000 horses borrowed by various yamen, there were still more than 9,000 horses that were starved and hairless and skinny due to corruption. There are only about 8,000 war horses that can actually be used.
This time, Yang Fan was selfless and just took back the riding horses occupied by various ministries. It made people in Beijing angry and resentful. The adults of the Sixth Ministry and the Fifth Army Governor's Mansion were so angry that they cursed behind their backs. However, they didn't dare not return the horses. At this juncture, they were all counting on Yang Fan to set off quickly.
Yang Fan directly fed the horses with grains, a large amount of bean cakes, corn and other grains, plus the careful care of more than a hundred veterinarians transferred from the Luanshitan Racecourse. Three months later, the 25,000 horses were finally ready.
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As the saying goes, a horse will not be fat if it does not eat night grass. This is indeed the truth. Yang Fan freely fed the horses with concentrated feed, grains, and beans. Soon, the horses became fatter and stronger one by one, and their hair also grew out, and it was thick and shiny like satin.
Those who can ride horses in the Beijing camp are all included in the first six regiments. Used as mounted infantry. Used to enhance mobility. The cavalry is useless. It is not easy for them to maneuver on horseback.
Among them, the first and second regiments were used as scouts. They are also responsible for communications.
Zhao Yongtang led thirty cavalrymen including Han Wu. Standing on a small hill, I watched the Mongolian army surging in not far away. They discovered this Alxa cavalry from three hundred miles away. Keep your distance and follow. They have three horses each. Change the ride. The Mongols couldn't do anything to them.
Wu Ya'er Huntaiji was sitting in a carriage, opening the curtains with his hands, and saw the Ming army cavalry watching him on the hills in the distance. He felt agitated.
These damn flies have been following me for three hundred miles.
If you advance, he will retreat; if you retreat, he will advance. Hanging them neither far nor near made the Alxa people extremely uncomfortable.
"Arubuhuazagutu (centurion), go and get rid of these nasty flies. They are as annoying as rancid meat."
"The great Tumen are Nuoyan (Wanhu), I will let them go to the Changshengtian. My scimitar is already hungry and thirsty." Alu Buhua said respectfully with his hand on his chest.
"Go ahead and kill them. Let our Tumut brothers and Yongshebu brothers see that our Alxa Mongolian warriors are no worse than them."
"As ordered, the Immortal God will protect Alxa."
Arubuhua is the patron of Alxa, and he is famous for his swordsmanship and wrestling. Therefore, Alxa Wanhu used their left guard. Along the way, various Qianhu households tried it, but no one took any advantage. The eviction also failed. They kept following.
"Brother Zhao, look, another Tatar cavalry is coming. This time they seem to be very elite. They all wear feather armor, and the horses also have iron foreheads." Ma Xiaoping said.
Along the way, they adhered to the principle of retreating when the enemy advances, that is, following surveillance and never engaging in combat. Their horses are all good horses, and they are always fed with food, so that they are fat and strong. On the other hand, the Mongolian horses are all hairy, toothy, and very thin.
There is no way, the Mongols themselves have no food to eat.
Now is really not the time for a big war. Mongolia only launches wars when the autumn is high and the horses are fat. Now, they had just survived a harsh winter, and both the man and the horse were too thin to look good.
Yang Fan deliberately attacked them when they were at their weakest, just like last winter when he sent camel cavalry with firearms to visit the overwintering camp. Although it was shameless, the casualties were small and the benefits were large.
The Mongols really couldn't catch up with the fat horses, which had been eating bean cakes and grain for half a year, and there were three horses per person.
The people of Alu Buhua all ride good horses, because they are the personal guards of Lord Wanhu and Huntaiji. In the overwintering camp, the places with the most grass roots and the thinnest snow are given priority to them. Therefore, these good horses still maintain a certain amount of physical strength.
Zhao Yongtang repeated his old trick, turned around and left. Arubuhua followed up.
Soon, Zhao Yongtang discovered that this time the Mongols were getting closer. The distance is gradually getting closer.
Zhao Yongtang shouted: "Everyone stopped advancing, turned their horses' heads, formed a horizontal formation, and prepared their steel crossbows."
The cavalrymen with three small flags immediately stopped and then turned their horses' heads. Although they did not have stab-proof clothing, they wore silk underwear made of thirty layers of thick stitches under their cotton coats. The horse's torso is also covered in silk armor.
Because the plate armor was too heavy and affected mobility, the scouts had no choice but to give up. They wore cotton coats on the outside and silk armor on the inside. This is very light weight. It’s just that the price of silk is very high. But it is still affordable to equip only scouts.
The plate armor had no equipment, but they all wore beaked helmets. The horses have steel brows on their heads. There is a breastplate on the chest, and the body is covered with silk armor. The protective power is also better than that of the Mongols.
The Mongols' mounted archery is powerful, but the steel crossbow has been proven to have better performance in actual combat. It's no worse than the Mongols' cavalry and shooting.
Whether it is the rate of fire, accuracy, or direct range, they are all surpassed and even crushed. They also have more arrows than the Mongols.
Since he couldn't get rid of these elite Mongolian cavalry, Zhao Yongtang simply fought with them directly and defeated them, so that they would not dare to pursue them.
