Since the Accounting: A Chronicle of the Roman Khanate

Chapter 798 If the impact force isn't enough, use a cannon.

The peasant army's lack of offensive capability is actually an old problem. Tang Sai'er herself had experienced this firsthand in previous battles.

Before she set off, others had also helped her analyze the situation.

According to Guo Kang and others, this was actually a necessary compromise. They believed that the person who compiled these "folk military strategies" must have been a highly knowledgeable individual, or even a group with extensive combat experience. Therefore, they specifically simplified and specialized them to meet this need.

Based on experience, the most basic soldiers are infantry. Therefore, in dire circumstances and with low training levels, the army will primarily consist of infantry.

For example, according to the experience of the Purple Horde, many nomadic peoples on the steppe, although called "residents on horseback," mostly fought on foot. This was because their horses were too inferior to undertake combat tasks, and the training and coordination among the personnel did not allow for highly mobile warfare. Therefore, although they might ride a small horse around in peacetime, they actually went to the battlefield on foot.

In all its wars, the Golden Horde used a similar tactic: drawing large numbers of steppe infantry as cannon fodder. Similarly, the local Slavic refugee groups, though they often raised livestock, primarily relied on infantry in battle.

Even setting aside such obscure tribes, when the Turkic Khaganate was restored, it only had seven hundred people, two-thirds of whom were mounted warriors. The rest couldn't even gather a decent warhorse and had to follow on foot. It was only thanks to Empress Wu Zetian's generosity that their tribe was able to turn their fortunes around. This was arguably the worst-case scenario, and the common choice made by everyone.

Slightly better-off tribes began preparing cavalry. The minimum standard for cavalry was actually quite low. Having a batch of horses to keep up with the main force, a hunting bow, and an axe and hammer for daily work was enough to constitute a "cavalryman." Long spears, on the other hand, were considered more "high-end" weapons because many grasslands lacked trees; timber was a scarce resource, especially long, sturdy logs. According to the statistics of the Purple Horde, this type of cavalry constituted the vast majority.

Tang Sai'er had no recollection of this. Guo Kang and others believed that this was because the intensity of battles in the Central Plains was too high, and these "trash soldiers" who couldn't even afford spears were generally not considered regular troops. Even if they were armed and invaded, they would often not be regarded as "enemy troops," but rather as "thieves" who routinely came to steal and plunder.

The reason it's called theft and robbery is because, based on their accumulated experience, many nomadic tribes don't even dare to rob them outright. They usually disperse into small teams of a dozen or at most several dozen people, looking for loopholes in the security lines, and then sneaking in when the patrols aren't looking. Then, they look for villages with weak defenses, preferably without any armed guards.

However, such theft is very common in border areas, sometimes even mutual. Therefore, border residents are often quite fierce; almost every adult male possesses a certain fighting ability. Sometimes, even women and children join the fray. Thus, to minimize losses, nomadic tribes often seek opportunities when guards are absent due to work, service, or festivals, quickly rushing in, grabbing what they need, and running away. Compared to robbery, it's perhaps more akin to theft…

When organizing regular army tactics, people probably wouldn't specifically consider these things.

Of course, if they had the capability, cavalry would also become heavily armored. This was common in resource-scarce regions and eras. On the steppes, ambitious and powerful tribal leaders, if they could afford it, would equip their trusted subordinates with armor, creating an armored cavalry force. In places like Europe, especially after the disintegration of the Frankish Kingdom and the descent of the European heartland into darkness and chaos, resources were prioritized for arming knights as the military backbone. The rise of armored cavalry during the Wei, Jin, and Northern and Southern Dynasties, with the level of heavy armor among cavalry even surpassing that of the early Tang Dynasty, may also be attributed to this reason.

Analysis suggests that, given limited resources, heavy cavalry is better positioned to concentrate its strength and has a significant advantage over the overwhelmingly numerous infantry and cavalry units. They can exploit weaknesses through mobility and then, relying on their superior skills, quickly defeat them with minimal losses.

What might sound unusual is that once military capabilities reach their highest level, people start developing heavy infantry.

For heavy cavalry to become combat-ready, they only need a few military nobles or powerful clans. But for heavy infantry to become combat-ready, they need a broad and reliable mobilization capacity, a well-developed military and civilian organization, and a widespread and effective military tradition. Those warlike nations may produce a number of legendary warriors, but only a true "war-loving nation" can keep its war machine running at full capacity, continuously producing qualified heavy infantry, rather than disposable cannon fodder.

If maintaining heavy cavalry requires a large amount of money, then maintaining heavy infantry requires the legitimacy of the state, as well as the cohesion and military traditions of the entire ethnic group. These things may not cost money, but when you really think about it, they are worth far more than money.

Throughout history, very few ethnic groups have met this standard. Guo Kang and his contemporaries bluntly stated that only the Han and Rome could be considered truly "skilled in warfare." All others were nothing more than ignorant fools. Even a smattering of their knowledge was enough for them to rise above others.

According to the observations of the Purple Horde, a steppe tribe with a heavy cavalry force could dominate the region; a reliable heavy infantry force, on the other hand, had the strength to conquer the steppes. While the Mongols, during their rise to power, left an impression on Europe of their swift and swift cavalry, many of the truly fierce battles on the Central Plains battlefields were fought on foot. Cavalry alone could not achieve strategic objectives. And when the Mongols ceased to fight on foot, delegating this task to other armies, they became the weakest link in the Mongol army.

Moreover, this situation was not unique to the Mongols. According to Guo Kang, it was the same as it was during the time of the Xiongnu.

The Central Plains and the grasslands were actually a system of both opposition and unity. When the Central Plains achieved unification, unified nomadic empires also began to form on the grasslands. Modu Chanyu and the heroes of the late Qin Dynasty all rose to power in the first year of Qin Er Shi's reign. The Xiongnu's conquest of the Donghu and expulsion of the Yuezhi also occurred almost simultaneously with the unification of the Han Dynasty.

In its early years, the Xiongnu army consisted mostly of cavalry and was poor at fighting tough battles. However, after the reign of the Chanyu Laoshang, the army's strength, like that of the Han Dynasty, further developed. In paintings and descriptions left by the Han people, the Xiongnu army already included heavy infantry fighting in formation with halberds, as well as foot archers using crossbows.

Compared to the mounted archers who were constantly chased and stabbed by Han cavalry, these heavy infantrymen, capable of forming ranks and fighting against the Han army, were the best embodiment of the Xiongnu's military strength and their trump card for suppressing other tribes. After all, from Parthia to Korea, across most of Eurasia, these were basically the only people capable of engaging the Han army in serious open-field battles. The others often couldn't even last a single round of archery... Later, the Xiongnu scattered, and Zhizhi Chanyu was reduced to only a thousand men who fled to the Western Regions, where even the locals dared not offend him. Zhizhi was cruel and tyrannical, frequently slaughtering nobles and abusing his people, yet the surrounding Kangju and Wusun people, possessing tens of thousands of cavalry, dared not disobey him. The Xiongnu's influence only disappeared after the Han Dynasty eliminated Zhizhi. This demonstrates the immense power of their deterrent force.

Therefore, when considering tactics, it's easy to get the impression that "only the poor use cavalry, while those with the means prepare heavy infantry." Even the Purple Horde itself often viewed it this way, thinking that cavalry was nothing special, and that having well-trained heavy infantry capable of earthwork and engineering construction was the mark of a modern army.

And that's where Tang Sai'er and the others' problem lies.

She herself had previously stated that the rebel army often faced the problem of insufficient offensive power in battle. Guo Kang and others had also pointed out long ago that the key issue was the lack of standardization.

Although peasant armies did undergo training and reorganization, and could recruit regular soldiers and even lower-ranking officers when conditions allowed, their organization was still far too rudimentary compared to the Ming regular army. Therefore, they could only employ rudimentary tactics and couldn't truly leverage the impact of cavalry.

After Li Xuanying analyzed the situation, everyone discovered that not only was there a problem with the cavalry, but the lack of infantry was also a critical issue on their side.

Perhaps in order to overcome the stronger enemy and maneuver against the government forces while at a disadvantage, Tang Sai'er's school of thought emphasized improving the army's mobility and launching attacks in all directions to keep the government troops constantly on the move. To put it bluntly, it's essentially the same as the nomadic lifestyle of the grasslands in traditional military theory. However, it utilizes nomadic livestock, even donkeys and mules, to conduct mobile warfare within the heart of the imperial territory—a "nomadic" tactic. If possible, the best time to strike is to first wear down and destroy the enemy.

This approach was actually quite effective at the end of the Yuan Dynasty. However, when Tang Sai'er and her group started their uprising, they encountered their most formidable opponent. Zhu Wenkui's great-uncle was not only exceptionally talented in military affairs and rich in command experience, but also excelled at suppressing nomadic forces. Therefore, Tang Sai'er felt even more frustrated after encountering him…

After these points were explained, Tang Sai'er was exposed to another perspective and began to understand.

The battles fought during this period validated some of their ideas. For example, their previous observations and speculations were indeed reasonable. Her training methods and formations were still too simplistic, and their effectiveness was difficult to guarantee.

This cavalry formation relied heavily on the guidance of veteran soldiers in the front ranks during attacks, depending on them to spot key targets so everyone could swarm in. This was, in fact, the most manpower-efficient tactic employed when there was a severe shortage of regular military personnel. Moreover, to maximize the impact, Tang Sai'er had proposed, during pre-battle discussions, that they directly deploy several wedge formations, cramming everyone into them, without even mentioning how to maintain reserves.

Even a relatively unprofessional officer like Zhu Wenkui was quite surprised by this, wondering what would happen if the entire family was mobilized for a charge, even if the gap was found and the timing was right. Tang Sai'er explained that the charges weren't initiated randomly, but rather after the front lines made their assessment. If the enemy was clever enough to fool even these veteran frontline soldiers, then falling for their trick was inevitable, because the "cavalry" in the main force were far less skilled and experienced; anyone would have fallen for it…

These traits likely stem from her previous experience commanding rebel armies. After all, the predicament she faced before was the peasant army's lack of offensive power, forcing her to rely on overwhelming numbers. According to conventional strategic thinking, before the decisive battle, the government troops should be exhausted and worn down. If, under such weakened conditions, even a full-scale attack couldn't break through the government forces, then the battle was destined to be lost.

So, winning the battle would be ideal, but if not, then one has to accept the loss. People rebelled because they couldn't survive, so frankly speaking, they didn't really value their lives. After all, even if they lost, the effect would be the same as not rebelling at all. So they might as well take a gamble.

Others initially thought this experience might be useless. In the words of the Italians, the tactical approach she had learned was a bit too unorthodox. However, after several actual battles, everyone discovered that Tang Sai'er's perception of her army's lack of impact was only relative to Eastern forces. In Europe, the hastily assembled troops were already capable of putting up a fierce battle against Polish-Lithuanian cavalry. Having reached that level, a slightly unorthodox approach wasn't necessarily a major problem…

Tang Sai'er herself had been searching for a solution. This time, she had a flash of inspiration and decided to try a different approach: sandwiching rapid-fire artillery between the cavalry units to see if she could improve their breakthrough capabilities.

The orphanage cavalry moved first. These men were few in number and lacked experience in large-scale cavalry warfare, but their discipline and morale were excellent; they were a small but elite force. Their execution was also superb; upon receiving orders, they immediately began their operation, bypassing their own engaged cavalry and attacking from the flank.

A group of cavalrymen immediately rushed to intercept them. These were light cavalrymen recruited by the Lithuanian court from Eastern Europe; they were numerous and their tactics were flexible. Upon discovering that the Orphan Army cavalry's fighting strength exceeded expectations, they immediately began to rally their allies, drawing more men to their side.

Tang Sai'er immediately commanded the artillery to advance, stopping at a distance of only about twenty zhang (approximately 33 meters) from the enemy, almost right behind their own ranks. Guo Kang had designed these small, six-horse-drawn artillery carts for them, which were very easy to unload and could even run alongside the cavalry. After unloading and reloading the cannons, she waved a flag to disperse the troops in front.

The orphanage cavalry immediately flanked to the sides, circling back to the rear of the formation. The enemy, without much thought, immediately gave chase. Several cannons, positioned halfway through the battle, unleashed a volley of fire at the approaching enemy. Several gaps were instantly torn in the enemy formation, and those behind were shocked, halting to assess the situation. Taking advantage of this moment, Tang Sai'er's main cavalry, originally at the rear, bypassed the cannons and charged forward, through the still-smoldering smoke, launching a charge against the bewildered enemy.

(End of this chapter)