When I was in Qin Dynasty, I lost contact with the wave

Chapter 701: Battle of Yishui, Yan Dan cut off his beard and abandoned his robe
The first appearance of heavy cavalry was in the Battle of Hedong during the Fifth Coalition.

In this last war organized by the six Shandong states to unite and resist Qin, Zhang Ji led his second generation of generals to form a heavy cavalry of 2,000 people.

The heavy cavalry at that time only wore a simple layer of leather horse armor on their war horses. Although it was a rudimentary device, it still looked a bit thin.

The Meng family's golden fire cavalry were also only covered in heavy leather horse armor. Even the Meng family could not afford such a horrific cost and still owed the Mo family a large sum of money.

The high cost of heavy cavalry goes far beyond the production of horse armor; the most expensive part is the warhorse itself.

Admittedly, even a set of leather horse armor is expensive, but the warhorse under the crotch of a cavalryman must be able to carry a cavalryman who is holding long and short weapons, wearing dozens of kilograms of heavy armor, and weighing more than 100 kilograms, and still be able to gallop fast. This is a very high requirement for the warhorse.

All these burdens are a huge challenge for a warhorse. If under such heavy pressure, the warhorse not only needs to carry these loads, but also needs to wear horse armor. A warhorse that can bear such a heavy load must be a good horse.

And if the material of the horse armor was changed from leather to iron armor weighing forty to fifty kilograms, then even if these war horses were not thousand-mile horses, they would be the best horses among the Qin State's war horses.

The armored cavalry of the Three Thousand Battalion has no less than twelve thousand such fine horses, ensuring that each cavalryman of the Three Thousand Battalion is in the best configuration of three horses per cavalryman, and also has a warhorse as a reserve.

But because of this, the cost of a 3,000-man cavalry battalion is enough to support thirty ordinary armored soldiers.

Moreover, ordinary soldiers only need to eat meat once in a while, but heavy cavalrymen eat what their horses chew. The high-quality grass eaten by a horse alone is much more expensive than the daily meals of ordinary soldiers, and cavalrymen carrying heavy armor also have to eat meat for every meal.

Add to that the expenses of the grooms and veterinarians in the camp, as well as the expenses of the new weapons that Zhang Ji equipped the 3,000-strong camp with... Let's put it this way, even though Zhang Ji contributed so much to the Qin treasury, there were still many times when Zhi Su Nei Shi wanted to greet Zhang Ji's mother in a friendly and cordial manner.

This heavy cavalry unit, named "Three Thousand", consisting of only 3,000 people, was also the basis for Zhang Ji's march south.

Returning to the battlefield of China, Zhang Ji's eyes lit up with the familiar feeling.

Unlike the grassland where the intelligence network was imperfect, when Luo Wang turned his attention back to the State of Yan, Zhang Ji felt very comfortable with the feeling of fighting from a God's perspective.

Zhang Ji went south from Dai County, crossed the flat grassland of Dai County, bypassed the rugged and winding Taihang Mountains, crossed the Juma River and Laishui, and camped in the north of Yi County for one night.

The men did not take off their armor, the horses did not unsaddle their saddles, and there was not even a fire.

Each cavalryman of the Three Thousand Battalion took out dried beef from the dry food bags they carried with them and drank sweet wine with a very low alcohol content, taking their final rest before the battle.

According to Luowang's intelligence, Yan Dan has already arrived at the city of Wuyang, and it seems that he is going to personally lead his troops to break into the city and capture Yan Chunjun.

After one night, a fierce battle broke out again under the city of Wuyang.

Yan Dan dispatched a brave general among the three princes, whose name was the same as that of Yan's capital, "Wuyang", to launch a new round of siege. Yan Dan sat on his horse, quietly watching the defense of Wuyang City being constantly persecuted under the attack of his army.

However, Ju Wu on the side did not have a smile on his face like Yan Dan. He did not think it was glorious for the Yan people to sacrifice countless lives to attack Yan's lower capital, nor did he think it was something to be happy about that the defense of Wuyang City was destroyed by the Yan people.

As if he couldn't bear it, Ju Wu turned around and sighed, no longer looking at the bloody and cruel battlefield.

On the south bank of the Yishui River, which was almost separated from Wuyang by a river, Chang'an Jun Chengjiao stood on a small hill and overlooked the entire battlefield.

Looking from a distance, there was only a huge black flag flying on the top of the mountain, and other than that there was a yellow forest. Cheng Jiao was looking at the entire battlefield from the top of the mountain.

The view from the top of this solitary mountain is extremely broad.

Even though the sky and earth are hazy in the morning mist and autumn frost, the Southern Great Wall of Yan State opposite can be seen in its entirety, and Wuyang City, the lower capital of Yan, across the Southern Great Wall of Yan State, is also in sight in the distance.

When the sunlight broke through the frost and fog, the two sparkling waves of Yishui River in the east and north seemed to be right before our eyes, and the Laishui River in the northwest also came into view, flashing like a silver line in the distant sky.

Cheng Jiao sighed in his heart, if only he had 100,000 soldiers under his command, he would definitely send at least 30,000 of them to bypass the north to attack the northeast bank of the Yishui River. By cooperating with the southwest bank of the Yishui where he was, he would be able to achieve great results!
The terrain on the northwest bank of the Yishui River is flat without hills, and camping across the river is very suitable for fighting an annihilation war.

However, is the combat effectiveness of 3,000 battalions really enough to disrupt 250,000 Yan troops?
Although he knew that Zhang Ji would not fight a battle without confidence, Cheng Jiao still had doubts in his heart.

Three thousand men might not even make a sound if they entered an army of one hundred thousand, let alone a full two hundred and fifty thousand Yan troops?
But that is Zhang Ji after all!

Whatever!

"Be prepared to cooperate with Lord Luonan's plan. As long as the Yan army on the other side becomes chaotic, we will cross the river immediately!"

Cheng Jiao was staring at the Wuyang City where the shouts of killing were deafening, while Yan Dan, who was standing under the Wuyang City, was staring at Cheng Jiao on the hilltop with a smile on his face.

Is there anything more satisfying than letting Cheng Jiao watch him capture Wuyang City and kill Yan Chunjun?

It’s a pity that Yan Dan didn’t hear a word.

You stand on the bridge and look at the scenery, and people who look at the scenery look at you upstairs.

Suddenly, the rumbling sound of war drums resounded throughout the battlefield, a sound completely different from that of the Yan army's war drums.

The Qin army's military drum music was more passionate and flamboyant, which was very different in style from the dignified and majestic military drum music of the Yan army, and it also attracted Yan Dan's attention at the first time.

Yan Dan looked back at the right wing of the Yan army. The sound like the Yi River bursting its dam was heart-wrenching. The warhorse under his crotch also neighed and became restless.

The soldiers on the right wing of the Yan army, who were originally watching the front army's repeated attacks on the city, listened in panic to the deafening sound of horse hooves and the shaking of the ground, and looked at the black torrent that seemed to swallow up the sun and covered the sky. Their eyes gradually became dull, and in an instant turned into pure terror.

A large flag with the word "Zhang" on it fluttered in the wind. From men to horses, a battalion of 3,000 cavalrymen appeared in the sight of the Yan army, with only two pairs of eyes showing besides the horses' legs.

In the eyes of people at that time, these heavy cavalrymen, whose men and horses were fully covered in iron armor, were almost as powerful as the tanks that suddenly appeared on the battlefield of World War I and could not be penetrated or stopped by bullets.

There was no overly complicated formation, just a cone-shaped formation consisting of three cavalrymen, with Zhang Ji as the head of the cone, charging towards the arrows shot from the right wing of the Yan army.

Ding-ding-ding-ding!

The arrows made crisp sounds when they hit their bodies, and under the dense rain of arrows, there were no other casualties except for seven or eight unlucky war horses who were shot in the legs and fell down, and disappeared in the smoke and dust raised by the Three Thousand Camps.

Seeing this, the fear in the eyes of the Yan army soldiers became more and more intense, as if they had seen some kind of ghost-like Asura.

"Form a battle array! Quickly form a battle array! Even if the Qin people have cavalry, we can stop them with our shield warriors!"

The commander of the right wing of the Yan army was Ju Wan, the son of Ju Xin, a famous general of Yan who was killed by Pang Nuan. After all, he was the son of a famous general. Even if he did not show the same talent as his father, he would not be at a loss.

The advantage of cavalry, in addition to mobility, is impact. As long as the shield formation can resist the impact of the Qin cavalry, and then surround them with spearmen, they can completely delay the cavalry, making them lose mobility and impact, and fall into the quagmire of infantry.

However, an even more shocking scene appeared on the battlefield.

Zhang Ji held the Overlord Spear made from the Mohist mechanical technology and used it to split the huge shield in the hand of a large shield warrior who was blocking him.

The State of Yan was not short of iron ore and was even extremely rich in it. The State of Yan concentrated a lot of its national strength on producing iron shields and armor.

Faced with a fully armed heavy infantry, even the light cavalry of the Donghu and Xiongnu could not break into the heavy infantry's formation.

This was the knowledge and experience that Ju Wan had accumulated when facing the grassland wolf tribe in Liaodong. However, what shocked him was that the heavy iron shields were easily cut into pieces under Zhang Ji's halberd like cutting paper. He thought that Zhang Ji's situation was just an isolated case, but he didn't expect that it was actually the norm.

The sharp spear tip pierced through the iron shield and lifted it up, and then was knocked away by the armored warhorse.

And that is also a high cost that costs more than horse armor.

Ma Shu!

A spear that is eight feet long is called a lance!
The reason why the horse lance is suitable for heavy cavalry is not only its length, but also its sharp lance tip!

The lance tip has eight obvious armor-piercing edges. Ordinary heavy armor can be easily broken by the force of the horse's charge, and iron shields are no exception.

However, due to the length and weight of the horse lance, those who can wield it must be strong and powerful warriors.

Before guns and cannons replaced swords, spears, and halberds, heavy cavalry was an invincible weapon on the battlefield.

The heavy cavalry weighed half a ton and rushed forward at a speed of more than ten meters per second. Even the earth was shaking. The terrifying scene was enough to make people lose their courage even before the battle began.

Not to mention the soldiers who had never seen heavy cavalry, even the officers and generals had lost some of their courage.

And when the big shield soldiers were unable to stop the heavy cavalry, the Three Thousand Battalion was almost unstoppable and easily pierced through the right wing of the Yan army with just one encounter.

Zhang Ji’s goal was very clear, he wanted to take advantage of the Yan army’s panic and attack the Yan army’s center!

"Fire the flare!"

An arrow shot into the sky with a loud bang. It was a signal arrow!

Upon hearing the sound of the arrows, Chang'an Jun Chengjiao immediately ordered his men to blow the horn, launching the most fierce river crossing attack by the Qin army in recent days!
Everything happened like a whirlwind, and the unstoppable 3,000-man battalion broke into the central camp of the Yan army.

Zhang Ji rode his horse while looking for Yan Dan's trace.

To capture the thief, capture the leader. Even though the 3,000 soldiers in the camp are like ghosts and gods at this moment, killing gods and Buddhas, heavy cavalry is usually not used in this way.

Heavy cavalry is either used for attacking strongholds like Zhang Ji did, to tear open the defense line and then retreat as soon as the infantry in the rear can catch up.

Even these good horses, selected from hundreds or even tens of thousands of miles away, could not withstand fighting with such heavy loads for a long time. The general choice was to retreat to the camp to rest. If the situation was tense, they would be arranged to change horses and return to the battlefield.

But Zhang Ji had no infantry to support him. He only had 3,000 fully armed armored cavalry from the 3,000-man battalion.

Therefore, Zhang Ji made three preparations!

Zhang Ji waved the Overlord Spear in his hand and looked at the big flag in the center of the Yan army's central camp on horseback.

Yan Dan seemed to have evacuated long ago, and he evacuated in time, but the large flag of his Yan army was not taken away.

In other words, the Yan army could not take it away, and dared not take it away.

The flagpole of the big banner was as thick as a bowl, which was not convenient to carry. Moreover, they were running for their lives. If they took the big banner with them, it would be like sharing their coordinates with the Qin army in real time.

But if Yan Dan wanted to retreat under the eyes of the Three Thousand Battalion, he must have a large number of elite troops gathered around him.

When Zhang Ji saw Yan Dan who was tightly protected by his personal guards, a ferocious smile appeared on his face.

It's time for him to let Yan Dan experience what it means to cut off one's beard and abandon one's robe.

On horseback, Zhang Ji did not intend to concentrate all the forces of the Three Thousand Battalions to attack the Yan army’s central camp, but chose to divide his troops!
"Yang Wu, lead a brigade of cavalry to Yishui to support Chang'an Jun!"

"Jin Xu, Wang Xi, Zhao Ou, the three of you should lead a brigade of cavalry to attack the Yan army that is attacking the city from behind!"

"Fu Kuan, Guan Ying, you two each lead a brigade of cavalry and follow me!"

Zhang Ji was very confident in the abilities of these people. People who could leave a mark in history books, even if their fame was not as great as the Three Heroes of the Early Han Dynasty, would definitely not be bad.

When Zhang Ji formed the Three Thousand Camp, he transferred these six people into the Three Thousand Camp to serve as the leaders of Five Hundred, each leading a brigade of cavalry.

"Zhou Li - Xiao Si Tu" states: "Whenever the soldiers of the people are assembled and used, five people form a group, five groups form a tandem, four tandems form a soldier, five soldiers form a brigade, five brigades form a division, and five divisions form an army.

A brigade consists of 500 people.

Historically, these six people were all generals who were good at commanding cavalry. They either served as cavalry generals or cavalry lieutenants, especially Fu Kuan and Guan Ying, who were both famous for their cavalry battles.

However, after Zhang Ji gave the order, no one immediately divided their forces.

"My Lord, Guan Ying and I just charged as the vanguard, and each of us lost nearly a hundred men. The two brigades of cavalry combined only have more than 800 people..."

Fu Kuan killed a soldier with his lance, wiped the blood off his face and said.

Zhang Ji understood what he meant. Fu Kuan and Guan Ying were certainly not cowards who were afraid of death. They were just worried about his safety.

However, Zhang Ji ignored them. The current situation did not allow him to explain to them. He just said coldly, "Eight hundred is enough!"

(End of this chapter)