"Dear Princess Cheshire:

Military life is better than I thought. I have become accustomed to life in Daizhou. Thank you for the cotton-padded clothes you sent to the Daizhou soldiers. Everyone said they were very helpful. I also drank the new tea you sent.

, I feel extremely warm in the cold winter. Everything is fine here. Except for the Khitan surprise attack I encountered when I first arrived, I have never encountered any other wars. Don't worry about peace.

In addition, Yuan Jing said hello to his sister, so that Xiaohua doesn't have to worry about his brother. Yuan Jing is now being trained by Uncle Xin and Yan Zhao every day, and his progress is extremely rapid. I believe that he will become an independent general in the near future.

I just put this aside and wish you peace, health and prosperity.

Zhao Weiji from Northland"

…

Unknowingly, Zhao Weiji has lived in Daizhou for more than two months. He has been basically familiar with things in the army, and together with Yang Yanzhao, he has become a general guarding Daizhou. Yang Ye spends most of his time in Yanmen Pass and Daizhou.

The city was basically held by Yang Yanzhao and Zhao Weiji.

Li Er was appreciated by Yang Yanzhao because of his previous performance. He was trained by Yang Yanzhao and Zhao Xin in turns every day, and he basically shed a layer of his skin. It also made Zhao Weiji realize that there is also Spartan-style training in the East. But basically

Li Er, who had supported all these trainings, also improved very quickly. His martial arts skills were no less than those of ordinary generals, but he still lacked some experience.

In addition, since Li Er had already begun to stand out, he could not be called Li Er by another name. Zhao Weiji named him Jiguang, with the character Yuanjing. They were both named after Qi Jiguang, a famous anti-Japanese general in the Ming Dynasty.

I hope he can wipe out the Yi Di like Qi Jiguang.

Also, due to the discovery of cotton products, Zhao Guangyi was crowned a prosperous Mingjun with auspicious protection. Zhao Guangyi then went down the slope and started promoting cotton. Zhao Weiji, who learned about this, naturally did not let Zhao Guangyi go and immediately went to the other side.

He asked for the first batch of cotton-padded clothes. Considering the important names of Daizhou and Yanmen Pass, Zhao Guangyi did not shirk the blame. So the soldiers here became the beneficiaries of the first batch of cotton-padded clothes.

Zhao Weiji, who gradually adapted to military life, also began to discover problems with the Song Dynasty's army.

First of all, starting from the Song Dynasty, Chinese soldiers began to transform from amateur to professional. Originally, except for a small number of border guards, the soldiers of the Central Plains Dynasty were generally amateur soldiers who were half farmers and half soldiers.

Soldier. Starting from the Song Dynasty, once recruited into the army, they became professional soldiers. They stayed in the military camp for training during peacetime and participated in war during wartime. They no longer farmed and were fully supported by the state.

However, there are two major problems with this professional army: First, the three religions and nine streams are omnipresent. Later in the Song Dynasty, there was a saying that "set up a recruitment flag and free people to eat food." The army became a tool for disaster relief. Once a famine occurred, the court would recruit troops.

, in order to prevent the peasants from being forced to revolt. Although the current army has not reached that point, the complexity of the troop sources is beginning to take shape.

Second, it seems that these Song Dynasty generals have not adapted to the changes brought about by the professional army, and they do not have effective military training methods. There are many military books in ancient times, but most of them are in the strategic and tactical sense, and specific training is not mentioned much.

These generals have mastered the method of training the army in a short period of time, but they have not yet mastered the method of adapting to professional soldiers in a long period of time.

Secondly, starting from Emperor Taizong of the Song Dynasty, the army implemented a more garrison method. The imperial troops were stationed in the capital and other counties. They rotated inside and outside the capital and returned to the capital regularly. Depending on the distance, they would go out to garrison the east of the capital and the east of the capital for a period of one to three years.

The garrison troops in Xi'an, Hebei, Hedong, Shaanxi, Jiangnan, Huainan, Liangzhe, Jinghu, Chuanxia, ​​Guangdong and other places rotate on a three-year basis. The troops sent to guard remote areas rotate on a half-year basis. The champion of the garrison army is replaced.

It is used in the names of garrisoning, stationing, and providing food.

The garrison is a normal garrison, and most of them are sent to inland prefectures and prefectures. They are under the jurisdiction of the local governors and magistrates, and have the status of local security forces dispatched by the imperial court. The imperial troops stationed in border areas are stationed and have the status of being dispatched by the imperial court.

The border guards in border areas have the surname of hostage. For the imperial troops who perform garrison and garrison duties, their family members are not allowed to accompany them during the garrison period, and they can return to their original garrison at the end of the period.

This completely disrupts the normal progress of training and command. Training will always have to be started from scratch, and generals will never be able to understand the soldiers.

Finally, the Song Dynasty was dominated by infantry, and infantry would always be beaten when fighting cavalry.

After understanding this, Zhao Weiji had a discussion with the generals of the Yang family. The result was that as long as the garrison law existed, everything was in vain. However, since the garrison law was promulgated by Taizu, it was impossible to abolish it for the time being. So

Their focus is on how to improve the combat effectiveness of the army in a short period of time.

On this day, Zhao Weiji asked Yang Yanzhao: "What is the best way for infantry to fight against cavalry?"

"Generally speaking, it is difficult for infantry to fight against cavalry, but if a large number of archers can be used to snipe from a long distance, it can slow down the speed of the cavalry's impact, thus helping the infantry to fight against the cavalry."

"However, it is difficult for today's archers to achieve a large number of long-range snipers."

"What about using crossbows?"

"The crossbowmen have a problem with the loading gap."

"Okay, I understand. I already have a way to increase the army's combat effectiveness in a short period of time."

After returning, Zhao Weiji spent seven days developing the new Yuanrong Crossbow. The Yuanrong Crossbow is also commonly known as the Zhuge Liannu. However, the biggest problem with the Zhuge Liannu in this era is that the range is too short and the force is too weak.

Too light.

Zhao Weiji relied on his knowledge of modern physics to improve this repeating crossbow, tripling its range and tripling its power. However, this crossbow has a shortcoming: it is much slower to load.

In order to improve this, Zhao Weiji introduced the three-stage shooting method to Yang Ye. This is a tactic invented by later generations in the era of front-loading muskets to make up for the slow reloading speed.

Divide the crossbow units into three groups, with the first group shooting and the second group preparing to reload the third group. This rotation can make up for the slow loading of ammunition.

After Yang Ye tested the new repeating crossbow, he praised it greatly. However, another problem arose: the production speed of the crossbow machine was too slow.

In this regard, Zhao Weiji proposed the assembly line production method and parts standardization. In fact, the assembly line production method existed as early as the Qin Shihuang period, and this is how the Terracotta Warriors and Horses were produced. Combined with the parts standardization production method, the production efficiency of the crossbow machine was greatly improved.

Already.

A month later, Daizhou had organized a crossbow unit of 12,000 people.

"I wonder how effective the new troops will be." Yang Yanzhao sighed.

"This new crossbow unit will be effective on the battlefield, but after all, it is not a way to fight against the cavalry," Zhao Weiji said. He knew very clearly that in the cold weapon era, the cavalry has always been a nearly invincible combat unit. The cavalry

The role of the cavalry lasted even until the early days of the hot weapon era. It was not until the emergence of the heavy machine gun that the cavalry officially withdrew from the stage of history.

At this time, the messenger brought Yang Ye's order and asked to go to Yanmen Pass for a meeting. It seemed that a Khitan army was advancing outside the pass.

"Everyone is here. We received reports that a Khitan cavalry force of about 20,000 people is advancing into the pass. I am ready to test the power of the new army. What do you think?" Yang Ye, who was sitting in the main seat, said.

"I think there is no problem." Yang Yanzhao answered. "But it would be better to ask Duke Anding about the specific operations. After all, he almost single-handedly established this army."

"Mr. Anding, what do you think?" Yang Ye turned to Zhao Weiji and asked.

Zhao Weiji thought for a moment and said: "Of course it's okay for the new troops to go into battle, but I need the cooperation of other troops."

"There is no problem in cooperating. Please give me your permission, sir." Yang Yanping, the eldest man next to him, said.

"I need five thousand infantry in the center to resist the Khitan cavalry head on."

"Is five thousand enough?" Yang Erlang asked.

"Five thousand is enough." Zhao Weiji continued: "Then divide the crossbow troops into two groups and deploy them on both sides of the infantry to snipe the local cavalry. Another four thousand cavalry can be deployed behind the crossbowmen. Once the Khitan cavalry approaches or

When the arrows were exhausted, the crossbowmen immediately retreated, the cavalry outflanked them from both sides, and the infantry met them head-on."

The Song Army quickly took action according to Zhao Weiji's arrangements.

When the Khitan army approached, the Song army had already lined up and prepared to attack. Soon the Khitan army launched an attack, but what greeted them was a rain of arrows that was three times more violent than the bows and arrows they had encountered before. Moreover, the arrows were coming from behind.

They were attacked by a hail of arrows just outside the shooting range.

Because the Song Army used continuous crossbows and three-stage shooting, the arrows were fired almost without interruption before the arrows were exhausted. Moreover, the crossbowmen arranged on both wings did not stand in parallel, but formed a certain pinch.

In this way, the arrow rain formed a certain crossfire. The Khitan cavalry suffered terribly.

Not long after they rushed out, the Khitan cavalry had already reduced its strength by as much as one-fifth. Moreover, its impact speed had dropped significantly.

The Song Army's infantry also advanced under the cover of arrow rain, constantly compressing the cavalry's sprint space. Just when the Song Army's arrows were basically exhausted, the cavalry behind the crossbowmen quickly outflanked the Khitan wings.

Come.

The Khitan cavalry, which has always been famous for its rapidity, suddenly had its mobility controlled, and its combat effectiveness was sharply reduced. Yelu Yingji, the Khitan commander of this operation, immediately understood that the battle was unwinnable and immediately led his troops to retreat.

After seeing the Khitan cavalry retreat, the Song army only pursued briefly and then stopped.

The new army formed by Zhao Weiji won a success in its first battle, and he was naturally very happy. But what he didn't know was that his activity also aroused the interest of the other two people.

…

In the Bianliang Palace.

"Your Majesty, this is the battle report sent from Daizhou."

"I'm really old, and I'm becoming more and more inaccurate in judging people. I didn't expect that this kid had achieved such great results in two battles just three months after he went to Daizhou. Although it wasn't a big battle, it was still beyond my expectations.

Unexpected."

"Then Your Majesty, how about that?"

"No need for now, I want to see what other abilities this kid has that I don't know about."

On the other side, the residence of Han Derang, the military envoy of Liao Xingjun in Nanjing, Liao Dynasty.

"I didn't expect that the Song Dynasty could have such capable people. But this method of warfare also has flaws. It is not the best way to deal with our Daliao cavalry." A young man commented after reading the latest battle report at Yanmen Pass.

"Yelümo, have you seen where I put the book I read earlier?"

"Go back to General, I'll put it back on the bookshelf for you. It's the fifth book on the third shelf from the left on the second floor."

"Okay, I found it."

Zhao Weiji didn't know what kind of future this internal and external attention would bring. At this time, he had already begun to tinker with new things.
Chapter completed!