Objectively speaking, since heavy cavalry has appeared in the Zhao army, it is imperative for Qin to form its own heavy cavalry.
However, under today's production conditions, it's not that it's impossible to form heavy cavalry, but it's that it consumes too much financial and material resources, and may even be worth the loss.
You know, the iron armor that weighs hundreds of kilograms all over the body is not just talk in today's era.
The iron armor consumed by just one heavy cavalryman is enough to arm dozens of people, and it is still full armor.
If the heavy cavalry is to form a combat force, it will need at least three thousand. And just the amount of iron used in these three thousand armors, a rough calculation, it can almost arm an army of 50,000 to 60,000 people.
However, on the battlefield, can three thousand heavy cavalry definitely defeat a fully equipped army of fifty or sixty thousand?
If it is on a plain, it may be possible, but even if it is slightly sloped or slightly forested, the three thousand heavy cavalry will not be able to play its role.
And with a deeper understanding of heavy cavalry, more and more restrained arms, weapons and even tactics will be discovered. For example, the most famous Yue Jiajun's hook and sickle gun, or deliberately digging holes in the route of the heavy cavalry to cause their horses to stumble.
It can be said that there are too many cheap ways to restrain this expensive unit.
Not to mention, iron weapons are not all that heavy cavalry consumes.
In order to wear something that weighs hundreds of kilograms, the horses and pawns used by the heavy cavalry need to be re-selected or even specially bred.
The selection of this personnel alone is no different from the selection of Qin army elites.
The gestation of war horses requires time, patience and even luck.
Even if everything is ready, the subsequent consumption will be astronomical. The horses and warriors themselves need to consume a lot of refined food, especially after training, which is almost always foreseeable. At the same time, the auxiliary soldiers it equips will also consume a lot of food.
And these soldiers, because they need long-term training, are actually unable to participate in busy farming work. This is undoubtedly a drain on national strength.
Therefore, even in Zhao State, Zhao Kuo only dared to quietly train three thousand soldiers.
This was only done after the New Deal was implemented, the farmland was effective, and the Party's military factory was operating normally.
It can be said that this heavy cavalry is a double-edged sword. If used properly, it will naturally be able to kill enemies, expand territories, and be omnipotent. However, if used improperly, it will be a gold-eating beast that will bring disaster to the country and the people. .
Needless to say, if Qin expanded its heavy cavalry at will without knowing the importance, it would be digging its own grave.
Of course, there is a reason why Zhao Kuo dared to expose the heavy cavalry.
On the one hand, the war between Korea and the Han Dynasty involves changing the offensive and defensive positions, and it has reached the point where one of the trump cards has to be exposed;
On the other hand, the core of the heavy cavalry was still firmly in Zhao Kuo's hands.
Yes, heavy armor and war horses are just a cover. The most important parts are the two most inconspicuous ropes on the feet under full armor.
That’s right, stirrups! To be precise, it should be a bilateral stirrup (unless otherwise specified in the following text, all stirrups generally refer to bilateral stirrups)
Without the support of stirrups, cavalry on war horses need to spend a lot of strength and energy to control their posture. This is why cavalry is difficult to train and not cost-effective.
As for the heavy cavalry, without stirrups, it would be almost a disaster.
Because without the help of stirrups, the cavalry and war horses cannot be combined. Once they bump into an opponent while running wildly, the knight cannot use the stirrups to unload the force.
You must know that the effects of force are reciprocal. How hard you hit the enemy will reflect back to your spear.
Such a huge reaction force is simply not something ordinary people can bear. Not even the elite soldiers of the Qin Army, or even people with natural powers like Zhao Wei, could do it.
Even if the arm is not broken immediately, the huge impact will directly push the cavalry off the horse.
It can be said that without stirrups, light
Cavalry can still be of some use, but heavy cavalry is almost a waste of resources.
Of course, stirrups aren't actually that difficult!
To put it bluntly, it is nothing more than two ropes.
Even among steppe tribes, unilateral stirrups have appeared.
Of course, that thing is only for auxiliary personnel to mount horses, and cannot connect the cavalry and war horses.
However, going from unilateral stirrups to bilateral stirrups is obviously not a problem.
In fact, this is often the case with inventions in this world. As long as this layer of paper is pierced, it is very simple, but if it is not pierced, it is really difficult to reach the sky!
However, given the ingenuity of Qin's skilled craftsmen, it is not necessarily impossible to think of making stirrups.
But at least, the lack of this stirrup will greatly delay the Qin army's process of forming heavy cavalry.
Of course, if the Qin army failed to discover this problem with heavy cavalry without testing, it would rush into mass production and even directly put untested heavy cavalry on the battlefield.
Zhao Kuo didn't mind teaching Qin Jun another lesson.
But no matter what, the King of Qin had made up his mind, and the war machine of Qin finally started to operate. The rest can only be witnessed by history.
While the Qin army was busy building up heavy cavalry, Qin's national policy of Lian Heng was also quietly in progress.
Although the Qin State no longer has politicians like Zhang Yi, the abilities of Fan Sui and Tu Jia should not be underestimated.
The next day after King Qin made up his mind, Fan Sui and Tu Jia slowly drove out of Xianyang City with several carriages.
Yes, Fan Sui personally led the team.
And his target is not another country, but the Wei State, which is also actively running now.
The arrival of the Qin envoy had already surprised everyone in the Wei state, but when they learned that the Qin envoy was actually Fan Sui, the prime minister, the whole Wei state was even a little frightened.
Fan Sui had just entered the country, and the King of Wei couldn't wait to summon his good brother Xinling Lord into the palace.
There is no way, the shadow of the famous tree, Wei State has really suffered too many losses at the hands of Qin State's Prime Minister, and the King of Wei can't help but not take it seriously.
However, although Lord Xinling was a little surprised by Fan Sui's personal arrival, he quickly understood from the surprise.
Qin has always been a "pragmatic" country.
Since a big shot like Xiang Guo has been dispatched, things will definitely become more serious.
And in today's world, what other important events are worthy of the Prime Minister of Qin personally taking care of me?
It’s nothing more than “joining vertically and horizontally”!
Now that the strength of the two powers has become apparent, Fan Sui of Qin came simply to unite with Wei and fight against Zhao.
After some words, King Wei obviously believed Lord Xinling's analysis, but even so, how Wei would deal with itself was still a problem.
Surrender to Qin?
This is obviously not possible. Not to mention that Wei just took over Zhou from Zhao last year. Now less than a year has passed and Wei has turned against Qin. What will the people of the country think? How should people around the world view our country?
But what if you don’t surrender to Qin?
Will it anger Qin, and will Qin retaliate? Once the Qin army retaliates, will the Zhao army provide assistance? Is the assistance sincere or just a process? ..
Of course, the most important point is that Wei has already formed an alliance with Qi and Chu, and has even basically reached an agreement. Now that Qin is interfering again, this is obviously very bad for the alliance of the three countries. of.
But it is Qin after all! You really can't argue with him.
There was no other way. Lord Xinling could only tell the King of Wei to try his best to make peace with Qin, neither saying there was no alliance nor an alliance.
In a word: don't refuse, don't admit, don't take responsibility.
You can neither offend Qin nor get too close to Qin.
At the same time, Lord Xinling also suggested that envoys be sent to Zhao, Qi and Chu immediately to inform Qin envoy Fan Sui to come.
The key point is that all meetings with Qin envoys must be in public.
There can be no less than three Wei ministers present.
This is of course done to the State of Zhao, but also to the upcoming allies Qi and Chu. It is to tell the three countries: We, the State of Wei, are very honest and have nothing to do with the State of Qin. They are all forced by the State of Qin.
Finally, before Fan Sui arrived in Daliang, King Wei spread all the news according to Lord Xinling's words.
The audience with Fan Sui was also at a court meeting in public. Even if Fan Sui personally asked for a secret agent, King Wei refused without hesitation.
Even though Fan Sui finally agreed to Fan Sui's request despite his uncertain expression, King Wei also summoned Lord Xinling, Lord Longyang and the ministers in charge of foreign affairs.
Fan Sui, who has matured with age, naturally smelled the smell of suspicion in the air.
But obviously, this suspicion is not for Zhao Guo to avoid.
If he was avoiding suspicion because of the Zhao State, King Wei should not have such an attitude. Instead, he should immediately deport himself or keep him under strict supervision.
The absence of these two measures shows that Wei Guo's body and mind have become separated from Zhao Guo's appearance.
But now, in addition to Zhao and Qin, perhaps there is only the alliance of Qi, Chu and Wei, which may be able to maintain its territory.
It has to be said that Fan Sui is Fan Sui. With almost no information, he has already guessed the cause of Wei's anomaly.
After knowing the reason, Fan Sui didn't panic at all.
No one can withstand the temptation, especially a person like King Wei who sees small gains and forgets justice.
After understanding that Wei had no longer fallen to Zhao, Fan Sui also told the truth about the joint attack on Han in the coming year, and asked the Wei army to participate in it, and was willing to pay half of the land for it after capturing Han. To the State of Wei.
Land has always been the obsession of today's Wei State.
Faced with Fan Sui's temptation, King Wei couldn't hold back after all, and finally nodded to Fan Sui.
Of course, Lord Xinling was actually not surprised by such a result. After all, if even the King of Wei could not be persuaded, Fan Sui would not be worthy of being the prime minister.
Although that was promised to Qin, it was obvious that both Qin and Zhao, who had just experienced a war, needed time to digest this gain.
Therefore, although Qin wants to attack South Korea, everyone with a discerning eye knows that this war will not be fought for a while.
Whether Qin, Zhao, or Wei, they all still have enough time to prepare for the next war.
