The next day the dark clouds dispersed and it was a sunny day again. Early in the morning, Zhao Yong dressed up, led a group of nobles from aristocratic families, and rushed towards the armed camp outside the city.
This time Zhao Yong did not choose to take a car, but to ride a horse. There are three armed camps outside Handan City, scattered in a triangle shape around Handan City. The number of men and horses in a battalion is about 8,000 to 10,000, which is divided into foot soldiers and chariots, plus a small amount of cavalry.
Zhao's infantry military system is similar to that of Qi and Qin, that is, the "Wushi system" is implemented. A corps of five people is set up as a corps commander, a ten-person team is set up as a captain, a tun of five shi is set up as a commander, two tuns are combined into one general and are set up as a general of 100 people, five hundred people are set up as a chief of 100 people, and a brigade of 1,000 people is set up as a military lieutenant.
The chariot is divided into units, with a total of seventy-five people in each chariot. They are also mainly foot soldiers. In addition to the three "soldiers" who stand on the chariot and fight, there are also seventy-two ordinary foot soldiers. , cooperate with the guards, and the officers are called "car officials".
At this time, wars carried out by various countries were still mainly based on infantry and chariots, with cavalry as a supplement. There was no special cavalry military system. The first regular cavalry unit in history was established by Zhao Yong.
Each of the three major battalions in Handan has a captain to command the troops and horses of the battalion. The highest officer of the three major military preparation camps is Fei Yi, the Handan Kingdom Lieutenant appointed by Zhao Yong himself.
The Beiying camp that Zhao Yong inspected this time was located ten miles outside Dabei City in Handan.
In fact, the current military systems of various countries in the Xia Dynasty are caused by various factors such as the expansion of the scale of war and the improvement of the quality of weapons. They are also more conducive to the centralization of power by the monarchs of the country.
At the gate of Beiying, Lieutenant Fei Yi and Captain Zhang Yuan had already been waiting here.
Fei Yi rarely wore armor this time. The body wrapped in iron armor, coupled with his serious face with Chinese characters, did look like a commander-in-chief.
Zhang Yuan was a man in his forties. Zhao Yong heard that he had been Zhao Zun's deputy general. In the battle against Qin and Zhao in Hexi, Zhang Yuan was also killed among the dead.
The northern camp occupies a very large area, and there is a small hill to the south of the camp. It is said that the soldiers and civilians who died in the battle to defend Handan are buried there.
In the military camp, the soldiers were already in full formation, waiting for the monarch's review.
Zhao Yong walked slowly to the center of the camp, the largest training platform, and looked around the school grounds.
When Zhao Yong entered, all he could see were densely packed chariots and war horses. Zhao Yong suddenly discovered that the armor rate of these warriors was very high and varied. Most of them wore leather armor and bronze armor, but a small number of them wore iron armor.
But no matter how you say it, basically all the soldiers present are wearing armor, but some of the armors are relatively crude.
Zhao Yong thinks that the reason why the standing armies of various countries have high combat effectiveness is that they have abundant supplies and a high armor rate. These two factors are very important. Armor was also an important weapon that determined the outcome of the war at this time.
It can be seen that economy is still the most important factor in determining the strength of the army.
Zhao Yong said to Zhang Yuan beside him: "Let the soldiers practice without worrying about the few."
"Here!" Zhang Yuan replied, cupping his fists.
Zhang Yuan took the military flag from the soldier next to him and waved it toward the sky. Smoke and dust suddenly filled the field.
At this time, the standing armies of various countries have fixed training methods, and they usually conduct corresponding training according to their organization or combat formation.
The chariot soldiers must be able to draw their bows and shoot arrows in all directions while the chariot is galloping. The infantry must be brave enough to charge, advance and retreat freely, be agile and flexible, and the cavalry must be proficient in mounted archery.
In addition, the State of Zhao also implemented level-by-level training, that is, teachers at all levels were taught by officers or full-time education, and a cyclical and progressive training method was adopted, from separate training to combined training, starting with individual soldiers, and then being promoted to corps commanders step by step, and even more... Finally, the whole army has a big drill and exercise. Those who practice well will be rewarded, and those who do not will be punished!
During the Warring States Period, due to the expansion of the scale of wars and different purposes and interests, monarchs of various countries generally did not go to the battlefield to command operations in person.
But the State of Zhao is an exception. Since the founding of the state by the Zhao family and Xiangzi, all subsequent kings have records of going into battle to fight. The late king Zhao Suhou went to war with his father at the age of twelve.
Among the six arts of a gentleman, etiquette, music, archery, charioteering, calligraphy, and numeracy, Zhao Yong, apart from not respecting etiquette and not understanding music, the other four were cultivated from an early age. Otherwise, ordinary people would never be able to do it last time he rode to Daidi. of.
Zhao Yong does not have fair skin and delicate hands like ordinary princes. On the contrary, as a young man under twenty years old, his hands are full of calluses left by sword practice and archery.
Zhao Yong looked at the sergeants training hard under the school platform, and he felt a faint impulse in his heart, but he also knew that the situation here seemed inappropriate.
He stepped off the rammed earth platform and looked at the rows of soldiers standing on each side, holding their weapons solemnly. Fei Yi and Zhang Yuan were also following him.
At this time, in addition to bows and arrows, the main weapons used in battle formations were Ge, halberds and Shu (shu was similar to spears). Although swords are widely used, they are not suitable for fighting in battle formations, but for close combat, so armed soldiers always carry a sword on their waist.
Zhao Yong took a soldier's long sword and visually inspected it. It was about two people tall and copper-yellow in color. The sword blade was hard and sharp, with a faint cold light. Zhao Yong turned around and found that most of the Ge's lengths were around two and a half meters, varying in length, but the longest ones would not exceed three meters.
Zhao Yong held the handle of the sword with both hands and stabbed forward. He turned to ask the soldier beside him: "Is it like this?"
The soldier was stunned. He did not expect that the monarch would show his superb martial arts in front of him, and he was so frightened that he did not dare to speak for a long time.
"Didn't you hear what the king asked you? Why don't you answer quickly!" Zhang Yuan shouted at the soldiers.
The soldier hurriedly knelt on the ground: "Hui Guojun, he stabs like this, but he can also knock and chop!"
"Get well, I don't blame you."
Zhao Yong then took the rice cooker on the side, put the tail end of the rice cooker on his shoulder, and took a slight step forward with his left leg. Then Zhao Yong pressed the tail of the rice cooker with his left hand, controlled the body of the rice cooker with his right hand, and stabbed a few times. Next, he asked again: "How about this?"
"It saves effort, but it's a bit slow to use the move, and you can't swing it." The young general next to him seemed eager to show off in front of Zhao Yong, and took over the soldier's words.
"Shu is one foot and three feet long. There are a lot of troops fighting in the battle formation. It's densely packed. Three or five people can stab you. What other tricks do you need?" Zhao Yong replied disdainfully.
Fei Yi's eyes lit up. He seemed to have never heard that his king was proficient in weapons.
Zhao Yong pointed to the cavalry who were practicing riding and archery in the distance and said: "I see that our knights have no use other than shooting at them from a distance with bows and arrows and harassing them."
Everyone didn't understand what Zhao Yong meant.
"If we shorten the pot to five feet, make it made of iron, hold it with knights, and line up hundreds of people to attack the enemy's battle formation at high speed, wouldn't it be twice the result with half the effort." Zhao Yong said slowly.
All the generals were shocked. If these tactics were used on the battlefield, who could stop them?
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