Three Kingdoms: I am not Liu Bian

Chapter 344: Overwhelming Force
The last crimson rays of the setting sun clung stubbornly to the horizon, gazing resentfully at the battlefield.

The elite cavalry, armed with armor, transformed into an unstoppable torrent of steel under the blood-red sky, fiercely wedging themselves into the rebels' hastily assembled and loosely organized lines!

"Tuqi" refers to those who can charge into enemy lines.

And what kind of cavalry can out-charge armored cavalry?

Horse armor, or more commonly known as full armor.

Since the Yin and Zhou dynasties, there have been lacquered horse head guards and torso armor, but they were mostly used to protect the shaft horses in chariot warfare, that is, the core warhorses located in the shaft of the chariot.

During the Former Han Dynasty, leather armor replaced lacquered armor as the material for full-body armor.

After the establishment of the Later Han Dynasty, the frying method replaced the carburizing method of iron blocks, which promoted the development of the hundred-refining steel technology. The water-cooled blower technology was also developed, and steel gradually began to be produced on a large scale. Iron armor replaced leather armor.

The original purpose of establishing the Valiant Cavalry Battalion was to create an armored cavalry force.

But when it came time to spend the money, Liu Bian realized just how expensive a full suit of armor really was. No wonder that even General Yuan, who controlled four provinces in Hebei, could only gather three hundred suits, while Cao Cao, who dominated the four provinces of Xu, Yan, Yu, and Sili in the Central Plains, only had ten suits.

A full suit of armor is worth 200,000 coins!
A complete set of full armor covers the horse's face, neck, chest, torso, and rump, with a surface area far exceeding that of a human suit of armor.

The armor worn by people in the Later Han Dynasty was fish-scale armor, and full armor was naturally also fish-scale armor, which meant that a large amount of iron plates had to be consumed.

Full armor must possess sufficient toughness and strength to withstand slashes and arrow impacts on the battlefield, preventing shattered iron plates from injuring horses. This necessitates the use of high-quality wrought iron or low-carbon steel.

Therefore, each piece of armor requires craftsmen to go through multiple processes such as hot forging, cold quenching, and polishing. Due to the complex curves of a horse's body, many armor pieces need to be forged into specific arcs, which requires the blacksmith's superb skills and experience.

Several small holes need to be drilled along the edge of each armor plate. Then, using leather straps or ropes, hundreds or even thousands of armor plates are strung together one by one in an overlapping manner to form a strong yet flexible armor body.

The inside of the armor needed to be lined with thick leather and silk to prevent chafing of the horse's skin and to absorb impact and reduce the penetrating force of spears and arrows.

Each step of the process involved in making a full suit of armor, which would cost at least 200,000 coins, and that was after the salt and iron monopoly was implemented.

Liu Bian initially intended to train all 11,600 elite cavalrymen—6,000 from the Xiaoji Camp, and 5,600 from the Left and Right Wuwei Camps, the Zhongjian Camp, and the Zhonglei Camp—into armored cavalry.

Not much, only 2.32 billion coins.

Even though the money came from the emperor's private treasury, when he first heard that the emperor wanted to make at least 11,600 sets of full armor, the Minister of the Imperial Household, Tian Fen, thought he had misheard.

Furthermore, to assemble 11,600 armored cavalry, at least 20,000 sets of armored gear would be needed in case of damage or loss, meaning the total expenditure could reach as high as 4 billion.

The thought that four billion coins could vanish from the treasury with just a few words from the emperor was daunting. That was almost half a year's worth of national revenue.

Even though this money was actually just going from one pocket to another, with most of it going into the national treasury through the Maritime Trade Office, except for a portion that was given as a reward to blacksmiths and wages to miners, this did not stop Tian Fen from immediately taking off his official hat and threatening to commit suicide by hitting his head against a pillar to remonstrate with the emperor!
Liu Bian didn't argue too much with Tian Fen on this issue. After all, the Han Dynasty was still at peace, and even if they were to launch a northern expedition against the Xianbei, building a heavily armored cavalry of over ten thousand men seemed too extravagant. Therefore, they only forged three thousand sets of iron armor and combined them with leather armor left over from the Han armory, barely managing to assemble six thousand armored cavalry.

As for the distribution of iron armor, it is impossible for people to be completely impartial; favoritism is the norm. Lü Bu assigned it to the command of Cao Xing, Huang Gai, and Gao Lan.

Cao Xing was an old brother who came from Bingzhou with him, while Huang Gai was a comrade-in-arms who fought side by side with him and a former subordinate of the guerrilla general Sun Jian. Even if it was just for Sun Jian's sake, he still had to take care of him.

As for Gao Lan, he was once a Tiger-Ben Imperial Guard and a favorite general of the emperor, so naturally he would be favored.

One unit of the elite cavalry consisted of nine hundred men, while the remaining three hundred men, each wearing iron armor, were assigned to Lu Bu's personal guard unit.

Of course, compared to Zang Ba, who came from the bandits of Mount Tai, Lü Chang, a former subordinate of Xiahou Yuan, and Zang Hong, the son of Zang Min, the governor of Taiyuan, Cao Xing, Huang Gai, and Gao Lan were not only more senior, but also more valiant than the other three. Naturally, no one could criticize Lü Bu's decision.

The armored cavalry charging at the forefront were Gao Lan's troops!
With Gao Lan leading the charge, both he and his horse were covered in heavy black iron armor. Wielding his lance, he charged into the enemy ranks, like a moving iron tower.

There was no loud collision as expected, nor was there a stalemate.

Yes, it was nothing but devastating tearing and crushing!

The rebel soldiers thrust their spears out in terror, but most of them only managed to leave a string of piercing sparks on the cold horse armor before being deflected or broken, at most leaving only a shallow scratch or a white dot.

Moreover, the vast majority of people do not have the courage or opportunity to stab or slash.

Occasionally, a lucky person might manage to pierce a horse through the gaps in the armor plates, but the horses from Bingzhou, upon experiencing the intense pain, would instead become enraged, neighing and charging forward with even greater ferocity!
The first rank of rebels was like a scarecrow being hit by a giant wave; their bones were broken and they were sent flying backward.

The armor not only provided protection for the warhorse, but its own impact force was also terrifying.

If you are hit head-on by them while they are running at full speed, you will either die or be maimed.

Most people were instantly crushed, their internal organs shattered, and they lost their breath. Even those who still had a breath left were mercilessly trampled over their fallen bodies by heavy iron hooves. The cracking sound of bones breaking was so dense that it made one's scalp tingle. It was intertwined with the screams of the dying, instantly turning the battlefield into a meat grinder.

The iron cavalry surged forward relentlessly, advancing deep into enemy territory with overwhelming force.

Armored cavalrymen, aided by their horses' speed, easily pierced through flesh and blood with their lances, often taking down two or three people at a time.

However, Gao Lan was not very lucky. The powerful impact of the armored cavalry caused the spear shaft to break in the middle when he thrust out.

Gao Lan immediately drew his ring-pommel sword from his waist and used the momentum of his charge to slash left and right.

The sharp blades slashed at the rebels, sending up sprays of warm blood, and limbs and severed bodies flew everywhere.

(2032 words)
(End of this chapter)