"I heard what Xu Fu said when we were at sea..." Zhao Si laughed sarcastically and threw the blame to Xu Fu decisively.
"He is just a warrior, he knows nothing about training soldiers and fighting!" Wang Li was amused. Now Xu Fu, a liar, had basically been completely crucified after Zhao Si returned from the sea.
"While riding on horseback, you have to take care of horseback riding. You can't bend the bow with all your strength to set the arrow. Therefore, riding a bow is not as good as a walking bow." Wang Li said.
"For example, you can pull a three-stone bow standing on the ground, but you can only pull two or even one stone on horseback," Wang Li said.
"Not to mention, Da Qin's crossbows were already famous among the Six Kingdoms during the Warring States Period. The barbarians on horseback would have been shot to pieces before they even reached the shooting range. If they dared to stop shooting, they would be able to face the well-formed soldiers. , even if the difference is several times, there will never be another chance to mount the horse." Wang Li shook his head and said.
Zhao Si nodded and said, "In that case, if Da Qin faces the Huns and has its back against the Great Wall, isn't it already in an invincible position?"
Wang Li paused for a moment...and then said after a long silence: "It's true that you said so."
"But that's not how war works." Wang Li said.
"The Xiongnu, on the one hand, have many tribes and their hearts are divided. On the other hand, they are not engaged in production. Their weapons and armor are far inferior to those of the Qin Dynasty. However, in the Qin Dynasty, in addition to infantry, they also have chariots and cavalry. They are also famous all over the world. They are far superior to the Huns and have sufficient food and grass. , With Da Qin at your back, as long as you don’t rush deep, you will indeed be in an invincible position." Wang Li replied.
"But it's not that cavalry can't defeat infantry." Wang Li looked back at the first battle against Chu that his father Wang Jian had personally reviewed for him. That man's tactical ideas so far gave Wang Li the feeling of standing tall on a mountain. .
"The foot bow is far better than the cavalry bow. Under normal circumstances, when fighting in formation, it is difficult for several times of cavalry to attack the foot formation. But there is only one thing. Cavalry is stronger than infantry." Wang Li looked solemn.
"move!"
When Wang Li talked about rising, he simply drew a circle on the ground. Then I drew two more small circles and wrote riding and walking.
"Look, let's say this is a battlefield. Here are 100,000 infantry and 100,000 cavalry. Let's start the battle now. The cavalry can mobilize and assemble much faster than the infantry." Wang Li said.
"Secondly, assuming they both want to get here and set off at the same time, the cavalry will arrive before the infantry."
After Wang Li finished speaking, he placed a few more stones in the circle.
"What if these places are food routes, granaries, and cities?"
"The cavalry arrived before the infantry." Zhao Si replied.
"But how can the cavalry attack the city?" Zhao Si asked back.
"Will the cavalry not fight if they dismount? If there are not many defenders in the city and the gap in numbers is too big, and the city is not tall enough, but the gap in numbers is big enough, the city can be broken easily. If the city is strong, so can siege equipment. Made now." Wang Li replied.
"Is there enough time now for the infantry to return for reinforcements?" Zhao Si asked again. It took too long to build siege equipment, and the infantry had enough time to return reinforcements.
"How do you know whether I have built it or not, and whether I really want to attack the city?" Wang Li asked.
Zhao Si paused...
"Use your strengths and avoid weaknesses!" Wang Li smiled and shook his head.
"If the cavalry wants to defeat the infantry, they must move. If the infantry wants to defeat the cavalry, the cavalry must not move." Wang Li said.
"In other words, if the infantry is too tired to run, the cavalry may create a situation where fewer can defeat more. If the cavalry cannot move at all, and the infantry is waiting for work, and the formation is solid, it is also possible to win with less." Zhao Si Inexplicably, I thought of Queyue Formation.
Liu Yu defeated the Wei army's 20,000 elite cavalry with 2,000 infantry.
"I think so too, but my eldest father said that soldiers, regardless of cavalry, infantry, chariots, always use the strong to defeat the weak, and the more to defeat the less." Wang Li shook his head.
"Then according to what you said, after the horse rides on the saddle, the difference between cavalry and infantry is not big, and the cavalry is far better than the infantry." Zhao Si was confused again.
"That's not the case, that's not the case!" Wang Li shook his head.
"Even with a saddle, the range of a riding bow cannot exceed that of a walking bow." Wang Li stood up, drew his bow and nocked an arrow.
"Look, even if there is a saddle, it is impossible to exert such force on horseback." The posture Wang Li made is the most typical forward and backward step, which is the best posture for drawing the bow.
Obviously, even if there is a saddle on the horse, even if it is stationary, the position of exerting force is not as good as standing on the ground.
"The beauty of riding on the saddle is the beauty of fighting on horseback!"
Wang Li excitedly talked and gestured to Zhao Si, and Zhao Si also understood.
When there is no saddle, the horse's back is really unstable. It is difficult to carry out a cavalry assault. You must be the best among the best.
Therefore, it is difficult to use long weapons on horseback.
The center of gravity of long weapons is too unstable, and you have to use two hands. However, using one-handed short weapons cannot take advantage of the impact and condescension. Instead, you have to be stabbed by others with long weapons.
So in this era, the world's number one arena in the Central Plains is on the stage. The cavalry has not been ranked so far.
It's a chariot. You stand in the carriage, holding a long weapon. If you ride on a horse and play with a hammer with a dagger, even the infantry formation, let alone the chariot, won't be able to break through.
If you are not a particularly elite cavalry, if the two armies suddenly collide, you may fall off the horse before being killed.
With the addition of saddles, cavalry can better and more easily exert their impact and commanding heights.
"In the past, when facing an infantry formation, if the opponent was already in formation, they would even have to dismount and fight." Wang Li had a wry smile on his face.
This is a fact. Once the opponent's formation is strong, the shortcomings of cavalry using short weapons on horseback will be infinitely magnified.
"Does the Qin Dynasty have no cavalry capable of wielding weapons?" Zhao Si asked.
"Yes, but very few. The total does not exceed ten thousand."
Several conditions need to be met to fight with long weapons on horseback.
One: Use long weapons with an unstable center of gravity when the body cannot exert full force.
2: Only rely on your legs to keep your body stable during sudden stops and advances during high-speed movements. Because playing with a long weapon with one hand is not something ordinary people can do.
With such soldiers, there is no need to use cavalry on the chariot? That's not crazy.
Therefore, it is difficult for cavalry to charge into battle in this era, even with a numerical advantage.
"But it's different with the saddle. It's easy to use long soldiers on horseback! Although the force is not as comfortable as on the ground, the charge with the horse is far better than the infantry."
"Do you still remember what I just told you?" Wang Li pointed to the sketch on the ground.
"With the addition of saddles, the cavalry can easily tear up the infantry formation as long as they move into a situation where more troops are fighting against fewer troops." Wang Li said excitedly.
"Does that mean the cavalry will crush the infantry?" Zhao Si asked again.
"No... even with saddles, it is extremely dangerous for the cavalry to charge into the formation. With the same number of people and sufficient preparation, it is difficult for the cavalry to charge into the infantry formation. There are too many things that the infantry can arrange..." Wang Li shook his head. .
"So I said that the cavalry must have a numerical advantage, or the infantry must be under-prepared." Wang Li said.
Zhao Si understood immediately. It turned out that riding on the saddle improved the cavalry's ability to abuse vegetables.
In other words, as long as the infantry is not elite enough, the current cavalry can completely attack and destroy them at the speed of light.
Unlike before, we had to dismount and fight fiercely.
With the saddle, the original combat time can be shortened several times.
As for relying on a three-piece suit of horse to charge into battle and defeat the infantry, it is impossible. The advantage of the cavalry has always been in mobile combat.
However, the current cavalry will become more flexible, have stronger assault capabilities, strike faster, and give the enemy a shorter reaction time and mobilization distance.
As for the cavalry, they want to attack the infantry formation in a real sense.
unless!
He has completely abandoned his ability to move and fight!
Heavy cavalry!
Zhao Si spoke excitedly.
"I have a bold idea!"
(All comparisons are based on the fact that the cavalry and infantry are equally elite.
In fact, because of the preciousness of war horses and the diversity and possibilities of cavalry combat, ancient cavalry soldiers were often more elite than infantry. A qualified cavalryman who dismounts is a qualified infantryman, and a qualified infantryman who mounts his horse may not be a qualified cavalryman. Therefore, in ancient battlefields, it is easy to give people the illusion that cavalry is devastating to infantry. The elite level itself is not the same level. The same military expenditure, the same food, the same quality of soldiers, the same number, the number is more than 5,000, regardless of mobile combat, the light cavalry will definitely not be able to overwhelm the infantry by charging the formation alone. )
