Liu Chan led his army from dry roads to water roads, and then to dry roads again. At this time, they finally arrived at Yangping Pass. Not far beyond the pass was Mianyang, where Liu ascended to the throne of Hanzhong, and further east was the Hanzhong Plain.
"Come here, please stay! Where are the people and horses coming from and where are they going?" the garrison at Guanxia asked loudly. Because the garrison at Guanxia was flying their own flag or a banner with the word "Liu", their words were more polite.
Yangping Xiongguan, which is stuck at the western gateway of Hanzhong, not only guards against Cao Wei who may be invaded by Chencang Road in the north, but is also at the terminal intersection of Jinniu Road and Chencang Road.
It is about five miles wide from north to south and about eighteen miles long in circumference.
"The Red Star Army under the Crown Prince of Hanzhong is escorting the people who want to go to Hanzhong! Please switch to let them go!" Li Er stepped forward and shouted loudly.
When the garrison closed the gate and heard that it was the prince's personal troops, and had received an order from Chengdu in advance, it was indeed true, so they quickly opened the gate and let them go.
Liu Chan ordered the army to escort the people, grain and grass to continue eastward, and first pass the customs to Nanzheng where Wei Yan stationed troops. He himself led Guan Xing and the Red Star Army's hundred cavalry slightly behind.
"General Ma Mengqi, are you in the pass?" Liu Chan looked for a garrison in the pass and asked.
"Prince, General Ma is inspecting the pass today."
That would save trouble. The guards who guard Yangping Pass do not live in the pass every day throughout the year, and the soldiers also take turns to guard it.
Generals like Ma Chao usually live in nearby counties and patrol the passes regularly.
There are beacons set up at the passes, and beacon smoke will be ignited when encountering an enemy.
Ma Chao happens to be here, but it saves him the trouble of looking for him elsewhere.
Just as he was about to ask the guard to lead the way to see him, he saw two people coming in a hurry.
The first man with red lips and jade face had a handsome face, but he was nine feet tall, with muscular body and waist. He walked with a sense of power. He was none other than Ma Chao.
Following him was another unfamiliar general, who seemed to be very powerful and had bright eyes. He didn't look like an ordinary person.
"Your Majesty Ma Chao."
"The last general, Ma Dai."
"See the prince."
The two of them rushed to Liu Chan with long strides, clasped their fists and bowed.
"The prince is coming, but Chao can't welcome him from far away. I hope the prince will not blame you if you are rude."
At this time, Ma Chao was no longer as sharp as before, and his tone was gentle and respectful. Who would have thought that he was the mighty general in the mouth of the Qiang and Hu who almost killed Cao Cao back then.
"You two generals don't need to be polite." Liu Chanxu helped the two men stand up. "Generals have the important responsibility of guarding the pass. They cannot leave their posts without permission. How can I blame you?"
He looked at Ma Chao after he got up. At this time, he no longer seemed as bitter and hateful as when they last met.
Although he still looked a little gloomy, his complexion looked much better.
Liu Chan was sizing up Ma Chao, and Ma Chao was also sizing up the Crown Prince of Hanzhong.
Compared with when they first met in Hanzhong half a year ago, Liu Chan has become much taller and stronger. His face and facial features still have the childishness of a young man, but when he looks around, he does not have the childishness of an ordinary boy.
Moreover, his aura that belies his age and brought about by killing on the battlefield left a deep impression on Ma Chao last time, and it is even more obvious now.
"After half a year of separation, the prince has become more powerful." Ma Chao said this out of emotion, but he did not mean to flatter him.
Liu Chan said with a smile: "Since I left Hanzhong, General Gu Jinguan's complexion is much better than before."
"This is also thanks to the prince's blessing. The prince invites his attendants to speak in the pass."
"please."
Although Ma Chao was no longer so energetic, if someone else came...for example, the aloof and arrogant Wei Yan, he wouldn't be so polite.
The reason why Liu Chan was treated like this was not entirely because of his status as the crown prince.
After the celebration banquet in Hanzhong, Ma Chao, who led the troops to guard Yangping Pass, often thought of what Liu Chan said to him that day.
Especially the sentence "Thirty years of fame and dust, eight thousand miles of clouds and moons, waiting to start again, clean up the old mountains and rivers", the first sentence ignited the flame in his heart that was about to extinguish, and later it became more and more flavorful as he tasted it.
In his opinion, the first half of the sentence describes the ups and downs of his first half of life, but the second half contains an indomitable belief that he does not possess.
Yes, it is faith.
Gradually, from this heroic sentence, he tasted an unswerving and unrepentant belief in serving the country, which was exactly what he did not possess.
The longer time passed, the more impressed he became by its grand ambition.
Compared with this belief, when he was young, he rashly launched an army in order not to lose his position as a prince, causing his family to suffer. Later, he fought for revenge, and he seemed so small...even a little unbearable.
As the situation gradually opened up, Ma Chao became increasingly curious about Liu Chan who could say such things...
"The prince wants to form a cavalry army?"
The two chatted for a while, and Liu Chan mentioned to Ma Chao one of the purposes of his visit.
When Ma Chao heard about the cavalry, his eyes immediately lit up, but he soon regained his composure.
Where are there so many horses in Jingyi Prefecture...
Sure enough, Liu Chan waved his hand in embarrassment and said: "You can't call me a cavalry army. I just want to train a cavalry team for the Red Star Army. But I am not good at this, so I turned to the general for help."
Ma Chao pondered for a moment and said: "Training cavalry is not a matter of just a few words, it can be achieved overnight. I need to see the prince's choice of horses before I can judge."
Liu Chan was not disappointed when he heard this, and was even a little surprised.
Ma Chao's favorability score is 37, which is not low considering the time they have been together, but considering his character, Liu Chan is actually prepared to do things perfunctorily.
After all, it is normal for the dignified General Zuo, Jiajie, and even a prince in the past not to do such a small thing.
But since he wants to see his candidates and horses, it shows that he is not just perfunctory.
"What's the difficulty? They are already in front of the pass, and the general is just watching."
When the two arrived at the pass, Ma Chao circled the newly formed cavalry team of the Red Star Army with his hands behind his back, scanning the cavalry and their horses one by one.
I saw him sometimes smiling and nodding, sometimes shaking his head and sighing.
Liu Chan didn't know what he meant, so he walked up to him and asked, "What do you think, general?"
"The horses are out of whack."
Ma Chao's outspokenness made Liu Chan feel helpless. All the good horses were in Cao Cao's hands. I wanted to buy them, but he couldn't sell them, right? !
"The Yunnan horse is famous for its endurance and can run long distances. Because it lives mostly in mountainous areas, it is strong and flexible and can walk on dangerous mountain roads. However, its short stature, short limbs, and lack of explosive power make it not a good choice for assault charges. .”
As expected of an expert in cavalry, even the Yunnan horses in the south understand it so thoroughly.
"But the soldiers are good soldiers." Before Liu Chan could answer, Ma Chao continued, "I am in Hanzhong and have heard about the Red Star Army's battle in Jingzhou. When I saw it today, it turned out that the army was in good shape and the momentum was extraordinary."
Liu Chan heard this and asked: "But I don't know if such a hundred horses can be of great use?"
Ma Chao did not answer immediately and said: "The prince can first order them to charge twice and wait for me to see."
Liu Chan obeyed and ordered the cavalry team to charge in front of the pass.
Speed up the charge, turn, charge again, slow down and stop.
Ma Chao nodded. He still had the basics. It seemed that he had put in a lot of effort in training.
It's just that this kind of intensity of charge is okay if it's against Soochow, which is not good at dealing with cavalry, but it may be enough to fight against the Northern Army.
"If we charge at this speed, it will be difficult to break through the formation of Cao Jun's spears and halberds from the front. We can only attack from the side or from behind when the battle situation is tense, but..."
Liu Chan knew what he wanted to say. If Cao's army, which had no shortage of cavalry, could be flanked or rear-attacked by his own cavalry without intercepting them, they would be almost defeated without any cavalry.
But if intercepted, wouldn't it be more difficult for the Yunnan horses, which have a hard time attacking the elite infantry formations, to confront Cao's cavalry, which rides large horses from the north and are good at mounted combat?
At this time, he was really a little disappointed. Could it be that his cavalry squad could only be used to beat a hundred thousand people?
"But..." Ma Chao changed the topic, "The soldiers of the Prince's Red Star Army are well-trained, and the Yunnan horses are stable and flexible. There is a strategy that you can try."
Liu Chan couldn't help but complain in his heart, why do people these days always like to make people gasp for breath when talking? Wouldn't it be better to finish it all at once? !
However, there was still a look of joy on his face: "General, tell me quickly!"
After a period of guidance from Huang Zhong, the soldiers of the Red Star Army have greatly improved their shooting skills, but riding and shooting is another matter.
After understanding this situation, coupled with the characteristics of Yunnan horses, horse shooting and complete melee assault were rejected by Ma Chao.
"Does the prince know how to throw a spear?"
Liu Chan nodded, of course he knew this...Does Ma Chao want his cavalry squad to use throwing guns?
"The Red Star Army is all wearing armor. It would be better if the horses can be covered with vests. The Yunnan horses can fully afford it." Ma Chao pondered his thoughts and said more and more excitedly, "Although the range of the spear is short, it is powerful. And it can be thrown with one hand, unlike a crossbow.
"In this way, the prince's cavalry can also be equipped with shields! With shields and armor, it is difficult to kill the enemy with ordinary bows and arrows..."
As Ma Chao explained, Liu Chan began to think that he could give it a try.
This kind of spear-throwing cavalry equipped with shields does not have to rush into the enemy's formation, but can also cause several rounds of effective killings when facing the enemy's infantry formation.
Moreover, he can preserve himself as much as possible on the battlefield, which is really attractive to Liu Chan, who has difficulty training soldiers and gets along with him like a brother.
Although they are still weak against Cao Wei's elite cavalry, they are useful in fighting infantry formations!
Moreover, Cao Wei's cavalry Liu Chan had his own way to deal with it. The last of the three changes in the battle formation that Uncle Zhuge improved was for the cavalry...
After returning to the pass, he was about to discuss training with Ma Chao in detail when someone came from outside the house to report: "Report, there is someone at the pass asking to see the prince, saying that there is urgent military information to report."
(End of chapter)
