The World of Yellow Sky

Chapter 539
"Ugh——"

The low and desolate sound of cavalry horns sounded slowly from the galloping cavalry. As they approached the Taihang Workshop, the cavalry also began to slow down their horses.

Although the cavalry has slowed down, it is only relatively speaking. In fact, the speed of marching is much faster than that of infantry.

Almost in an instant, with the sound of rumbling horseshoes, the cavalry army had already arrived in front of everyone.

This cavalry army is different from ordinary cavalry. The robes and belts are all white horses. The white horses are covered with yellow clothes, scriptures are engraved, and feathers are inserted on the back.

Yan Lun's attention could not help but be attracted by the flags of this cavalry army, and the wind blew up and rolled up the flags in the cavalry formation.

The cavalry stopped completely ten steps in front of him, which also gave Yan Lun a chance to see the banner clearly. Yan Lun looked carefully, and he found that on the banner of this cavalry army, what seemed to be depicted was a A four-clawed dragon.

And beside the four-clawed dragon with claws and claws, there are three vigorous and powerful characters written in black ink and ink - "Tengxiangwei"!
"Welcome to the great virtuous teacher!"

Tian Zhong lowered his head without hesitation, bent slightly, clasped his hands, and shouted loudly, his voice was even a little trembling because of excitement.

"Welcome to the great virtuous teacher!"

Yan Lun and Zhao Ji also bowed their heads and saluted together, but as soon as the two of them spoke, they were overwhelmed by the roaring and tsunami-like greetings.

Teng Xiangwei's cavalry, shouting in unison, separated to the left and right like waves splitting.

A war horse with white hair and silver-white horse clothes came out slowly. On the horse's back, Xu An was wearing a ginger-yellow Taoist robe and a Taiqing fishtail crown on his head. Folding fan made of ebony wood.

Xu An stepped off the white horse. The workshop owner Yan Lun calmed down, took a step forward, walked out of the queue, first saluted Xu An, and then reported loudly.

"According to the order of the great virtuous teacher, the Taihang workshop has now produced [-] pieces of Takahashi saddles and more than [-] pairs of double-footed stirrups. Now most of the production in the workshop has been put into saddles and stirrups. in production."

Yan Lun was a little nervous at the beginning, but when he talked about the affairs he was good at, he talked more and more smoothly.

"There is a little problem with the horseshoe, but it has been resolved. Although the horseshoes of war horses vary in size, they can be divided into several categories. When the investigators of the Eagle Wolf Guard bring the horseshoe investigation documents of the horses of each cavalry battalion, After knowing the general situation and the approximate quantity required for each size, I waited for the workshop in the Taihang Mountains to make horseshoes with all my strength, and I can definitely complete them within the time limit."

Jia Xu, who was following Xu An, moved his eyes slightly. He glanced at Yan Lun, and then looked at the Taihang Workshop behind Yan Lun, which was built with a high wall like a small city.

This time Liu Pi was ordered by Xu An to bring the Eagle Wolf Guards into the Taihang Mountains. He should have been ordered to supervise the workshops in the Taihang area to manufacture the "Gaoqiao Saddle", "Double Stirrups" and "Horseshoes".

Jia Xu was appointed as a school lieutenant before, but Xu An didn't let him manage the military, but let Jia Xu work in the Zhongjun Mansion and serve as the chief historian in the Zhongjun Mansion.

Listening to the nouns Yan Lun said, Jia Xu felt a little puzzled. He knew about saddles and stirrups, but what Yan Lun meant by "Takahashi saddle" and "double-footed stirrups".

But isn't the stirrup mainly used to assist in getting on the horse, why should it be made into two sides?

And the horseshoe, this is the first time Jia Xu heard this word.

Jia Xu glanced around, and sure enough, except for Yan Zhong who looked normal, the rest of the people seemed a little puzzled.

Xu An's expression softened a little, as if the exhaustion from the journey had been swept away.

What he had been worried about before was that the workshop's production capacity was not enough, and there was no way to complete the limited tasks before sending troops to Liangzhou. Now that he heard the production and Yan Lun's report, the big stone in his heart also dropped a little.

"Yan's family is profoundly educated, and it is true that there are many capable people. I can see the progress of Taihang Workshop."

Xu An glanced at Yan Zhong and smiled.

Hearing Xu An's appreciation, Yan Zhong's slightly serious face softened a little.

This time when Xu An went to the Taihang Workshop, all the senior generals and officials of the Yellow Turban Army basically followed Xu An.

Except for Xu Huang, Zhang Yan and other generals who commanded troops outside to guard one side, almost all the generals of the Yellow Turban Army were present.

General Gong Du of Pingnan, General Lu Bu of Zhennan, two heavy-ranked generals, as well as He Man, Zhang Liao, Huang Long, Zhou Cang, Guan Hai, Zhang Yang and other titled generals were all present this time.

Xu An praised Yan Lun in front of so many people, so his face was naturally bright.

"It seems that these days, you are not too lazy, and you are doing well, but you must remember that laziness will not last long. Only diligence is the right way. Don't be as stubborn as before."

Yan Zhong told Yan Lun a few serious words, but he didn't follow Xu An's words to praise Yan Lun.

He is most familiar with his nephew. Although he is talented and proficient in craftsman things, he is easy to be complacent and lazy. When he was studying with his teacher at home, he caused a lot of troubles.

"What my uncle taught is that my nephew must remember it in my heart and never dare to forget it."

Yan Lun is still a little afraid of Yan Zhong, his uncle. He is not afraid of his parents, nor his teacher, but his uncle, but he still respects him more.

His father died early, and his mother couldn't control him, so he hung out with a group of Yan's children in the school all day, and finally caused a catastrophe, offending the children of the prefect's family, and the guards came to him to convict him.

At that time, the Yan family was under the prestige of the eunuch, and no one dared to stop him. Only Yan Zhong stood up and held his sword in front of everyone. In the end, it was Yan Zhong who argued hard and took him back home safely from the eunuch's mansion. , and later he was brought by Yan Zhong's side to discipline him personally.

The purpose of Xu An's visit this time was not to investigate Yan Lun, Tian Zhong, and Zhao Ji's work, so he simply heard the news and entered the Taihang Workshop surrounded by everyone.

Yan Lun led the way, Tian Zhong and Zhao Ji were quite self-conscious and led the officials behind them to follow behind the team.

"Let's go to the school first."

Xu An rejected Yan Lun's proposal to eat first, and that's why he came this time.

Taihang Workshop is like a small town, not only Jia Xu and Zhang Yang have never seen such a huge workshop, even the veteran generals of the Yellow Turban Army like Gong Du and He Man have never entered Taihang Workshop. They all looked at the surrounding scene quite curiously.

The specific address of the workshop has always been kept secret, and the secrecy work has been done well. Even the senior officials of the Yellow Turban Army are not in charge of managing the affairs of the workshop, and they have not had the right to enter any workshop before.

The workshop is completely an independent institution, directly managed by the Chinese Military Government.

When passing by the main workshop area of ​​Taihang Workshop, Zhang Yang was a little dumbfounded. In his impression, those workshops were not very big, but just a small workshop area.

Although Zhang Yang had heard that the Yellow Turban Army had workshops in various places before, and the largest workshops were the same as those in other cities, except that the people living in them were craftsmen, he did not expect it to be so big.

But the scale of the workshop in front of him was so large that when he was still under Dong Zhuo's command, the largest official workshop he saw didn't seem to be one-tenth the size of the workshop here.

Xu An and his party were all riding war horses. Although the Taihang Workshop was large, it didn't take long for everyone to rush to the outskirts of the school grounds.

"This is the school ground for testing equipment."

Yan Lun pointed to the front and said, Xu An raised his eyes to look, and a rather tall earthen wall blocked his vision. On the earthen wall stood a guard soldier holding a spear every few steps.

There is a sentry post at the end of the road where they are, and a group of Tiqi wearing black wolf uniforms are guarding the sentry post.

When the guard Yinglangwei saw Yan Lun and others coming, he quickly saluted.

Xu An kicked the horse's belly and crossed the sentry post, his eyes suddenly opened up.

The school field here is different from the school field of the military camp. It is a blueprint drawn by him himself, but it is a bit like the playground of later generations.

Seeing the familiar scene in front of him, Xu An couldn't help but feel nostalgic.

"Da da da----"

The dull sound of horseshoes echoed in everyone's ears. At this time, a knight was riding a horse on the school field.

Yan Lun saw that everyone's realization was focused on the knight, and introduced: "These are a few experimenters selected from the Eagle Wolf Guard, and they are all excellent riders of the Eagle Guard."

The knight galloping around the circular runway of the school field at extreme speed, made various difficult moves on the horse from time to time.

Everyone's sights also followed the galloping of the knight. Almost all of them were battle-tested people, even He Man and other generals often rode war horses.

They were no strangers to the sound of horseshoes trampling the ground, but the sound of the horseshoes today was very special, louder and more imposing than the sound of ordinary war horses, and it seemed to run more dexterously.

"Da da da----"

In a blink of an eye, the knight on the horse had steered the horse and galloped around. Although he saw Xu An and others approaching in a mighty manner, he wanted to stop the horse, but he got Yan Lun's instruction, and the soldier who sent the message Let him demonstrate all the specific items of the experiment, so he didn't get off the horse.

On the edge of the school field, a soldier was holding a horse spear in both hands, beside the only way for the knight to pass.

There was a rush of hoofbeats, and when the dust was flying, the knight on the horse stretched out his ape arm and grabbed the long lance in his hand.

The horse was galloping, and the knight on the horse passed in front of everyone's eyes. He suddenly held a lance in both hands, stepped on the stirrups, and stood on the horse, and then suddenly exerted force.

In the blink of an eye, Ma Qian had already picked off the grass-made target.

Lu Bu's pupils shrank suddenly, and he looked forward with eagerness in his eyes.

Which of the generals of the Yellow Turban Army was not a person who was good at fighting, but in just a short moment, they saw some clues.

The double-foot stirrup is different from the single stirrup. It is a pair of pedals hanging on both sides of the saddle. Like the single stirrup, it can be used by the rider to step on the horse and ride.

However, the function of the double-footed stirrup is not only to help people get on the horse, but also to support the knight's feet when the horse is galloping. It can maximize the advantages of riding a horse and at the same time effectively provide a safety guarantee for the knight. .

The knight who used these tools was firmly rooted in the saddle, and his various movements had almost no effect.

Moreover, this kind of stirrup can liberate both hands, without the need for the knight to clamp the legs of the soldiers in both hands tightly. With the help of the stirrups on both feet, the knight on the horse can use his feet to control his balance and finish rushing, stabbing, chopping, A series of difficult movements such as hitting.

Gong Du, Lu Bu, Zhang Liao, Zhang Yang and other cavalry generals naturally understood the meaning of this tool.

The double-foot stirrup will make the horse easier to control, connect the man and the horse as one, and free the hands of the rider on the horseback. The cavalry can ride and shoot on the galloping horse, or they can ride on the horseback. Swing left and right to complete the military action of chopping left and chopping right.

The range of the bow used for cavalry archery will be longer, the melee ability of cavalry on horses will be greatly improved, and knights will be trained faster.

Xu An looked at the galloping knight in front of him, and involuntarily clenched the reins in his hand.

He has known these utensils for a long time, but he has never dared to take them out, and he has never dared to let people make them.

At that time, the Han court was powerful and had a large number of horses and cavalry. Every time the Yellow Turban Army fought the Han army, the battle formation was often crushed by the cavalry formed by the tall horses of the Han army.

On the other hand, the cavalry of the Yellow Turban Army are basically used for reconnaissance and containment, and they have no power to fight at all.

Even if Xu An later occupied Taihang Mountain, Shangdang County and other places, or even occupied Bingzhou, he would not dare to take it out easily.

The "Takahashi saddle", "double-footed stirrup" and "horseshoe" greatly improved the combat effectiveness of cavalry, but they were extremely easy to imitate.

A horse's hoof is composed of two layers. The layer in contact with the ground is a layer of hard cutin about two to three centimeters thick, and the upper layer is live cutin.

In ancient times, when cavalry fought, the horseshoes were often damaged, making them unable to fight. There are usually two reasons for this. The first is that the horseshoes are too worn out by long-term running.

The second is that the road conditions on some grounds are very poor.The horseshoe is in contact with the ground, and it will fall off quickly due to the friction of the ground and the corrosion of accumulated water. The main purpose of nailing the horseshoe is to delay the wear of the horseshoe.

The use of horseshoes not only protects the horseshoe, but also makes the horseshoe grip the ground more firmly, which is very beneficial for riding and driving.

With these horseshoes, it can not only improve the mobility and durability of the cavalry, but also benefit the logistics troops of the Yellow Turban Army and the horses of the transport troops.

Moreover, the horseshoe actually has a less obvious function. A horse equipped with a horseshoe will make a more powerful sound when running, and it will be more powerful when stepping and kicking.

A high bridge saddle, as the name suggests, is a saddle with a high saddle bridge.

The shape of the Takahashi saddle fits the horse's back, and it can "hug" the horse's back. With the function of the girth, there will be basically no rotational displacement, and the Takahashi saddle can also make the knight more comfortable on the horse. safe.

Compared with the previous saddles, it is much more scientific and secure, and it makes both the knight and the horse more comfortable.

The high bridge saddle improves the stability of the knight riding on the horse. At the same time, after the saddle surface is raised, the knight's field of vision on the horse is wider.

The double-foot stirrups liberate the knight's hands and improve stability at the same time.

The horseshoe, on the other hand, greatly improves the mobility of the war horse, enabling it to adapt to various terrains, to move over long distances, and to launch long-distance raids.

These three utensils did not improve the combat effectiveness of the cavalry by a single bit.

At that time, Xu An's cavalry was weak, but his hostile forces were not. Dong Zhuo had a large army, and Huangfusong's Han army was strong. If Dong Zhuo had learned about these weapons after he entered Beijing, perhaps history would really be reversed.

Dong Zhuo, who has a large number of cavalry, may really defeat the Kwantung Allied Forces in one fell swoop because of the strengthening of these equipment, and truly become a powerful minister like Huo Guang, and even really control the world like Wang Mang.

And Liangzhou, which has more cavalry, may become more terrifying because of these equipment. Even Huang Fusong may not be able to defeat Han Sui in the battle of Chencang. The price is undoubtedly too heavy.

So until now, the Yellow Turban Army has owned a large number of horse resources, a large number of well-trained cavalry, and a large number of workshops with high production capacity.

It is only now that Xu An has allowed the workshops in the Taihang Mountain area to start making these three utensils, and he has also tried everything possible to prevent leakage.

For the upcoming Battle of Liangzhou, Liangzhou Han Sui and Ma Teng have a large crowd. Although it has been more than a year of internal friction, their strength should not be underestimated.

Xu An would not treat two historically famous figures as waste, and rushed from Bingzhou to Liangzhou. The journey was far away. If it was not for the Wang family of Liangzhou as the internal support, otherwise Xu An would not have any peeps at Liangzhou. Heart.

But even if there are insiders who can provide them with food, intelligence and other information, it is still very difficult to attack Liangzhou.

The situation in Liangzhou is complicated, Qiang and Han are mixed, and the Han Empire has exhausted for decades, or even hundreds of years, but has not completely solved the problem in Liangzhou.

Every time the Qiang rebellion in the northwest was put down, it would rise again soon after. The reputation of the Xiliang army's bravery was not boasted, but made by fighting with swords and guns.

For this long-distance raid, even if Xu An recruited a large number of cavalry from the Xiongnu and Shanggu Wuhuan, the number of troops sent would not be too many, at most about [-] cavalry.

There are too many factors for cross-state warfare. Although the Wang family of Liangzhou can provide some support, although the Wang family of Liangzhou is a big family in Beidi County, how can it be possible to support the supply of food and grass for the [-] army for a long time? transportation.

Fortunately, there is a four-wheeled carriage. The four-wheeled carriage has undergone several improvements by craftsmen, and it is better than the initial version drawn by Xu An. This time, it can greatly reduce the consumption of transportation and manpower.

Xu An walked to the side of the war horse equipped with new equipment, stepped on the stirrups, and jumped onto the horse's back.

Feeling the padded saddle of Takahashi, with both feet stepping on the stirrups, Xu An felt a little uncomfortable for a while, riding on a war horse equipped with new harnesses was far more comfortable than riding on a war horse before. More, more labor-saving, and more stable.

Xu An kicked the horse's belly vigorously with both legs, and the horse under the seat felt the movement of the knight on the horse, shook his head slightly and snorted, and ran forward slowly with four hooves.

As the war horses galloped, the headwind hit him head-on, and the whistling sound of the wind passed by Xu An's ears.

Xu An was riding on the horse, and he had an illusion in his heart. It seemed that the horse under his seat was like his legs, which could move according to his will.

(End of this chapter)