Eastern Jin Dynasty: My powerful father

Chapter 342 There are joys and sorrows
Huan Xi's confidence in this war was not groundless. After Zhu Xu's 30,000 Hexi Xianbei soldiers arrived, Liang Jun had made up for the last shortcoming, which was the lack of archers and cavalry.

War is an art involving the cooperation of multiple arms. Before Zhu Xu arrived, Liang Jun was not without archers and crossbowmen.

Among Deng Qiang's 30,000 heavy infantry, 10,000 were equipped with crossbows.

But the only thing missing is the cavalry archer, that is, the bow cavalry.

Guanlong Tuqi, as the name suggests, is an elite cavalry used to charge into battle.

Yan Shigu, a scholar during the Sui and Tang Dynasties, mentioned in his annotation of "Book of Han·Volume 49·Chao Cuo Zhuan": "The sudden cavalry is said to be sharp and can be used to clash with the enemy."

Of course, there are also assault cavalry with the ability to mount and shoot, but at least Liang's Guanlong assault cavalry is mainly focused on close combat and has almost given up its long-range strike capability.

This is also inseparable from Huan Xi's idea of ​​​​building an army.

In the early years, there were currently 5,000 cavalrymen in the Guards, 2,000 of whom were equipped with lances and bows, which could be used for long-range strikes and close combat.

However, after Huanxi conquered Tiefu Xianbei in the Hetao area and gained the allegiance of the Huns, he also gave up the comprehensiveness of the cavalry.

Although these 25,000 men are all close-combat cavalry, the Hu people in Hexi and Hetao areas can easily piece together 200,000 horse-riding and string-controlling men with just one order from Huan Xi.

Huan Xi sighed, there is nothing perfect in this world.

In other words, there is no need for the Huns' horse archers to have excellent melee capabilities, nor does it require the melee cavalry to shoot the opponent to death with bows and arrows.

If we really want to do this, if there is a next time, even if these Huns and Xianbei people come after all because of Huan Xi's power, I am afraid they will choose to work but not contribute.

Huan Xi had no shortage of cavalry. Among the cavalry with combat formations alone, there were three units: Guards Yicong, Guanlong Tuqi, and Baibao Xianbei, totaling 25,000 people.

Now Zhu Xu has brought Xianbei, Hexi, so that Huan Xi has a cavalry with long-range strike capabilities. Under the protection of Guanlong's sudden cavalry and the guards' Yi Cong, this cavalry will definitely be put to great use. .

"That's all, a riding bow is also a bow, but compared to a walking bow, its range is shorter."

Of course, who would bring infantry and crossbowmen to rob the camp.

Of course, Huan Xi had never mobilized such a large number of Hu people, and he also considered the issue of rewards after the war. He could not let them come all the way to fight for him, only to get nothing after the war.

If you emphasize the comprehensiveness of cavalry, then it is likely to be mediocre in both close combat and mounted shooting.

If there were ten thousand infantry and crossbowmen at that time, Murong Ke would not have dared to attack the mountain.

In yesterday's battle in the Loess Plateau, Huan Xi only brought the melee cavalry out of the camp. When he was besieged in the Loess Plateau, he was unable to use volleys from a high position to injure the enemy, so he had to use the cavalry in close combat.

This time, Wang Meng sold iron and recruited 30,000 Hexi Hu people, 50,000 Hetao Hu people, and a total of 80,000 cavalry for Huan Xi, also because it was profitable.

But there is another problem that gives Huan Xi a headache, that is, the number of walking bows is too small.

Huan Xi has always insisted on a point of view: human energy is limited.

As long as we can take down the salt pond, everything will be worth it.

What also left Huan Xi helpless was the number of arrows.

Zhu Xu led Hexi Xianbei into battle lightly from Longshan. Not only did he not prepare much food for the hasty march, he did not even carry many bows and arrows.

According to Zhu Xu's report, the average person in Xianbei, Hexi, only had two riding bows and twenty arrows. The riding bow barely had a replacement, but there were only twenty arrows, which could not be used.

Although Liang Jun's crossbowmen only had 10,000 people, the total number of bows and crossbow arrows totaled no less than a million.

However, there is one more thing that requires logistics to keep up with, which is the replenishment of arrows.

Zhu Xu led Hexi Xianbei's light troops to advance quickly. Not only did he not carry much food, but he also did not prepare many bows and arrows. Each person in Hexi Xianbei only had one bow and twenty arrows.

In other words, there are 30,000 Xianbei horse archers, but only 600,000 arrows, and there are no replacement bow strings, which is obviously not enough.

Huan Xi made reference to the "Taibai Yin Jing" in formulating the military equipment system. There is a clear provision in it that a bow must be equipped with three strings. After the string is broken, it can be replaced with a new string at any time.

A crossbowman is equipped with hundreds of arrows. Now Liang Jun has 10,000 crossbowmen and one million bows and crossbows stored in the camp.

It seems like a lot, but it only meets the needs of the crossbowmen.

In order to fully utilize the strength of Xianbei in Hexi Province, Huan Xi still had to think of something to do with Huan Wen.

As for Guanxi, Huan Xi couldn't count on it. Not to mention whether he could make it in time, Wang Meng still had to equip the 50,000 cavalrymen in Hetao with armor. He was really full of ambition but not strong enough.

Of course, Luoyang had no shortage of bows and arrows. Since Huan Wen could not stay in Luoyang permanently and could not deploy heavy troops in Luoyang, he naturally had to provide Huan Huo with a large number of weapons and equipment, especially arrows.

After all, bows and arrows are powerful weapons for defending the city. Even if Huan Wen did not lead his 30,000 cavalry to the north, Luoyang City still had a large number of bows and arrows.

'Anyway, Lao Huantou stopped at Luoyang and refused to cross the river. Storing his bows and arrows in Luoyang would be a waste. It would be better to send them to Hedong for my use. '

With this thought in mind, Huan Xi immediately called for paper and pen, and wrote a letter for Huan Wen on the spot. In the letter, he expressed his greetings to his father, and only revealed the purpose at the end.

"I'm just borrowing some bows and arrows. I'll pay them back later."

Huan Xi muttered to himself.

After sealing the envelope with fire paint, Huan Xi handed it to Zhou Qiong and warned:

"This matter is of great importance and must be handed over to Mr. Chu personally."

Zhou Qiong was ordered to retreat, and then he took more than ten cavalrymen and rode westward.

For safety reasons, naturally you cannot go directly south. You have to go west to Jie County, bypass the salt pond, then go south over the Zhongtiao Mountains, cross the Yellow River via Fengling Ferry, and then go east from Hongnong County to Luoyang.

Just as Zhou Qiong left Liang Jun's camp, in the north, outside Yanmen Pass, Deng Xia led Baibao Xianbei to the north with great fanfare, unabashedly showing his intention to attack Daiguo.

In fact, Xie Ai asked Deng Xia to attack Dai Guo. He didn't care how much he could capture. The key was to let Dai Guo's cavalry in Yanmen Pass know that there was danger in the rear, forcing him to urgently return reinforcements and not dare to go south.

If Deng Xia chooses to go north quietly, he will not alert the enemies in Yanmen Pass.

Dai Guo Buqi was led south by Fu Jian without knowing it and threw himself into the battlefield in Hedong County. Once Huan Xi's war on the southern front was frustrated, even if Deng Xia sacked Shengle City, he could not make up for his fault.

After all, once the Dai army went south, Fu Jian blocked the news after Deng Xia invaded the Dai country. It was difficult for the 50,000 Dai army cavalry going south to receive news.

(End of this chapter)