Three Kingdoms, at the beginning of the game, recognize the thief as the father, hit the spectacle,

And the reason why Mi Zhu and Mi Fang, the two heads of the younger generation of the Mi family, came to the vicinity of Luoyang recently is also inseparable from Zhang Yan's behavior.

As early as a few days ago, the Mi family learned from a certain big family in Luoyang through their own intelligence network that in the next two months, there would be a large-scale shortage of food and weapons here.

Therefore, the head of the family, Mi Zhu, also personally led the team, and the Chen family, who was also in Xuzhou, continuously transported large quantities of grain to Luoyang City.

It can be said that this time, the [-]% price difference made the merchants of the Mi family and the Chen family full of food, and Mi Fang also followed Mi Zhu to the capital Luoyang a few days ago.

Although due to transportation delays on the road and other reasons, these weapons were not able to be transported to Luoyang City before Zhang Yan's departure, and they almost fell into his hands in the end, but now Zhang Yan came to find him in person, and he still called for him. After purchasing this batch of armaments, Mi Fang couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

After all, unlike my elder brother, he insisted on transporting a large amount of grain from various places in Xuzhou, making the Mi family a lot of money... This time, the Mi family will transport a large amount of food from Donghai and Pengcheng, which are thousands of miles away. The weapons and equipment were all because of Mi Fang's idea.

If this time the armaments worth millions of tens of millions are successfully sold, that would be fine, and his status of Mi Fang would rise accordingly.It's just that if this batch of weapons and equipment were all folded up here in Luoyang and could not be sold, then even if Mi Fang was the younger brother of the head of the family, Mi Zhu, his credibility within the family would inevitably plummet because of this.

Seeing Zhang Yan coming to the door in person now, Mi Fang's previous worries were unavoidably relieved, and at the same time, she felt a lot of good feelings towards Zhang Yan.

Therefore, after Sang Jin introduced the two of them to each other, Mi Fang did not put on a superior aristocratic appearance as usual, and just bowed in Zhang Yan's direction.

"Xuzhou's Mi family, Mi Fang... met the Marquis of Wan!"

After saluting in Zhang Yan's direction, Mi Fang was naturally overjoyed at Zhang Yan's appearance at this moment, and her attitude was inevitably a little enthusiastic.Seeing him come up with a salute, Zhang Yan couldn't help feeling a little dazed.

"Ah, that's not right. Didn't you say that Mi Fang is arrogant and conceited, and his rudeness made many Shu generals feel a little displeased?"

"How come looking at his performance now, although he is a little ugly, and he doesn't look like he was born by the same mother as the rumored handsome Mi Zhu, but his etiquette is very well done..."

Silently complaining in his heart, Zhang Yan also didn't expect that when the other party met, he would not follow the etiquette of greeting his peers under normal circumstances, but bowed at ninety degrees to salute himself.However, although he secretly felt a little weird in his heart, he still quickly reacted.

……

"It turned out to be a son of the Mi family in Xuzhou. I said that guy Sang Jin always behaved mysteriously. I didn't expect to be a member of the Mi family, one of the top five wealthy merchants in the world. This Marquis has admired his name for a long time."

Seeing Mi Fang bowing to him, Zhang Yan quickly stood up from the ground and stretched out his hand to help the man in front of him.

First he exchanged greetings with the other party, Zhang Yan took advantage of the effort to help the other party up, and took a closer look at Mi Fang's appearance.And behind him, Pei Yuanshao and the others saw the Lord finally appear, they also stood up from behind the table where they were resting, and cupped their hands in the direction of Mi Fang.

"I've seen Mr. Mi's family!"

"I've seen Mr. Mi's family!"

Two rough voices came from behind Zhang Yan, Pei Yuanshao and Zhou Cang also greeted Mi Fang one after another.Seeing those two strong men who were more than eight feet tall and dressed as generals, Mi Fang's eyes lit up, and she knew each other's identities in an instant.

"These two are the generals under the Marquis of Wan, they are born with swallow jaws and tiger beards, and they are extremely powerful!"

"Mi Fang from the Mi family, I met the two generals!"

Greeting to the two of them with a smile, Mi Fang also guessed that Zhang Yan asked her to purchase armaments today, most likely they were used to arm her own private soldiers.After all, for all the military positions awarded by the emperor, the expenses of the soldiers under his command are arranged and dispatched by the state, and only the private soldiers he raises need to purchase weapons and armor in large quantities.

As for whether this business can be done today, and how big it can be, I am afraid that the two generals under Zhang Yan's hands will also have a lot of say.

Therefore, in order to be able to sell as much equipment as possible under her hands, Mi Fang did not neglect the two of them at all, and bowed her hands very respectfully.

Afterwards, seeing that she and the others had already greeted each other, Mi Fang didn't go to make too many compliments, but got straight to the point excitedly, and talked about her business with Zhang Yan and the others.

"Wan Guohou, I heard that you need a batch of high-quality standard equipment. Just a few days ago, when my Mi family was helping the Xuzhou Mudu to make weapons and equipment to fill the arsenal, I also prepared a batch of equipment for my servants. A batch of equipment of the same specification."

"I don't know what categories you need, Marquis of the Kingdom of Wan, and how many of each do you need?"

She said to Zhang Yan with a smile, Mi Fang also knew that the other party had a special status. She was not only one of the princes of the great Han court, but also had the background of a giant in the court like Zhang Rang, the permanent servant, so she didn't have any worries or concealments. In this way, he directly talked with Zhang Yan about the procurement of armaments.

Seeing Mi Fang's straightforward behavior, Zhang Yan, who was already a little disgusted with the hypocrisy and obedience between businessmen, couldn't help but feel relieved, and at the same time he had a good impression of Mi Fang from the bottom of his heart. explained.

Chapter 22 Impact

"Young Master Mi, I came to Luoyang West Market this time mainly to buy some equipment for my soldiers."

"It's just because my father Zhang Changshi has always taken good care of me, and I will go south to Lujiang County to take up a post in the near future, so it is inevitable that the number of soldiers in this family will be slightly larger."

"If that wasn't the case, there would be no need to bother Mr. Mi to transport equipment all the way from Xuzhou to this Marquis."

Smiling, he briefly explained the situation to Mi Fang, but Zhang Yan did not shy away from it, and just told Mi Fang about his general situation.When Mi Fang heard this, she didn't say much, she just smiled and said "no trouble, no trouble", and then asked Zhang Yan about the type and quantity of armaments he needed.

It's a pity that even though he, Mi Fang, was the eldest son of the Mi family, one of the five wealthy merchants in the late Han Dynasty, he was also prepared in his heart for the amount Zhang Yan needed...

But when the huge number was uttered from Zhang Yan's mouth, Mi Fang still couldn't help feeling a little bit emotional, after all, she still underestimated the size and needs of Zhang Yan, the Marquis of Wan.

……

"Well, I don't need a lot, mainly some standard weapons, shields, armor and so on."

"As far as the steel knives and shields used by the regular army, I need about 1 sets to start with. I can have more knives. I can pay up to [-] and buy them directly."

"In addition to the one-handed sword used by the infantry, I may form a small-scale cavalry in the near future. It is initially estimated that there will be about 3000 people."

"For the equipment of these cavalry, in addition to the one-handed sword as a short weapon, I also need you to provide more than [-] fine steel horse spears as soon as possible. All of them, including the poles, must be made of fine steel."

"These weapons are the equipment that I am eager to use in recent training. I wonder if you have any difficulties?"

Smiling and talking to Mi Fang's figure, Zhang Yan told the opponent all his plans for the weapons of the soldiers in the future.And at the end, he didn't forget to tell the other party that his three thousand horses should be made of fine steel, and everything should be arranged according to the standards of ordinary generals.

As for the other side, after hearing Zhang Yan's words, even Mi Fang's family had a great career, they couldn't help but feel a little bit of consternation and trembling at the huge number.

"One... more than ten thousand tempered steel knives and matching shields?"

After a quick calculation in her heart, Mi Fang only made a slight estimate, but found that the transaction amount of the knives and shields alone reached a terrifying level of millions of dollars, and although this amount is not as good as the sale of the Mi family this time. The income from food, but since the profit of weapons is much higher than that of food, in terms of actual income, there is not much difference between the two.

As for the three thousand fine steel long spears that Zhang Yan mentioned later, it made Mi Fang's forehead sweat a little, and at the same time, his evaluation of Zhang Yan in his heart became extremely outrageous.

"This...the number of weapons is not a big problem, but Fang dared to ask the Marquis of Wan, if you want these three thousand fine steel horses to form a cavalry, is it too 'luxury'?"

"After all, if this long spear is used for horse fighting, it must be at least eight feet long. If the whole body is made of fine steel, it will weigh at least fifty or even sixty catties..."

"Don't say it's a weapon of sixty catties, even if it's about thirty catties, if you want to wield it, I'm afraid you have to be a warrior among warriors."

Touching his forehead slightly, Mi Fang knew that as a businessman, knowing too much sometimes is not a good thing, but after thinking twice about Zhang Yan's need for the three thousand all-metal long weapons, Still couldn't help reminding the other party slightly.

After all, even though he, Mi Fang, was already well-informed, he had only seen this kind of horse lance made of solid steel used by generals who were at least third-rate and above.

But now Zhang Yan just wanted to equip the soldiers under his command, so the weight of the fine steel horse lance was a full [-] to [-] catties, which was a bit beyond the limit of the ability of ordinary soldiers.

Even after a long period of training, these soldiers can lift this weapon and point the spearhead at their enemy, but if they are chasing the enemy and cooperating with infantry to strangle the enemy, this kind of physical ability beyond ordinary people Extreme weapons will only quickly drain the soldiers' energy.

Therefore, in order to prevent the other party from repenting when they found out that they could not use it after purchasing a sufficient amount of horses, Mi Fang, who was worried that Zhang Yan would have a bad impression of herself, chose to use words such as "luxury" to remind Zhang Yanyi Fan, at the same time secretly winked at the two generals behind Zhang Yan.

But for Mi Fang's act of kindness, Zhang Yan smiled in his heart, and then politely explained the other party's figure.

"Young Master Mi, I have already considered what you said before, but the choice of this weapon was finalized with the generals under my command a long time ago, and I will not make changes easily."

"The cavalry I formed is not the flanking cavalry that is commonly seen by the big man today. It cooperates with the infantry camp to strangle the enemy's flank cavalry. same."

"Before I came here today, I had a careful discussion with several generals under my command. You don't need to wink."

Amused in his heart, he explained to the other party that Zhang Yan also understood Mi Fang's kindness, so he didn't act too arrogantly.

It's just that Zhang Yan, who was born in later generations and knows the importance of the word "impact" for cavalry, wanted to form, but it was not the kind of troops that Mi Fang said would surround and strangle the enemy from the flanks while helping the infantry camp to fight. A heavy cavalry that can really attack the enemy's formation head-on.

Although in the current environment of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the low productivity of cavalry armor and vests made it very likely that this cavalry could only maintain half or even light armor for a long period of time...

But being familiar with this novel cavalry combat method early on is beneficial to Zhang Yan's future.

Just like what he thought when he first decided to form the cavalry, the main purpose of Zhang Yan's formation of the 3000 cavalry was to explore the corresponding technologies and tactics like when the motherland built the first few aircraft carriers in later generations.

In this way, when he goes north to the Central Plains to fight in the future, he can guarantee that his experience in cavalry formation and training will not be inferior to those native northern princes.

Chapter 23 The Evolution of the Cavalry

As for the questions in the other party's mind, Zhang Yan had been discussing with the generals under his command for a long time when he first planned to form this cavalry.

After all, forming an army is not a child's play, so Zhang Yan is not arbitrary, and everything is up to him alone. Instead, after establishing a general direction, he informed many of his generals of his plan, Brainstorm and let these generals who have more actual combat experience than themselves check for gaps and make up for them.

And when he first put forward these ideas, the issue of cavalry weapon selection was raised by many generals, and it was put on the table early.

The same as Mi Fang's question, when Zhang Yan proposed to equip all members of his cavalry with all-metal long weapons, Yang Feng and others immediately warned Zhang Yan that the refined steel horse lance was easy to buy. But it is not something that can be easily done with one or two sentences if it is to be ordered immediately like a wooden product.

It was only after Zhang Yanyan clarified his plans for the future of this cavalry, or expectations, that many generals finally understood that the cavalry that their lord Zhang Yan wanted to build was different from the cavalry they had seen in various places before. The kind of "horse archers" and even the prairie cavalry of the Huns are not the same.

At the same time, after understanding Zhang Yan's thoughts, everyone also understood why the other party had such an almost stubborn obsession with "durable" long weapons.

In the final analysis, the difference between them and Zhang Yan's concept is due to the difference in the function of the cavalry as an arm in the long river of history.

……

As early as the pre-Qin and even the Shang and Zhou dynasties, in fact, in the army of the emperor, the cavalry only existed as a ritual arm, and was not used as the main force of the army.At that time, as a substitute for cavalry in the army, what charged into battle was an impact chariot powered by cattle and horses and driven by three soldiers.

One reason for this is that in that era, the areas in the north that mass-produced good horses had not yet been largely controlled by the Central Plains regime.On the other hand, the reason is that at that time, the role that cavalry could play in the war was not very great.

In the era when stirrups and saddles had not yet appeared, it was almost impossible for a soldier to fight on horseback.Not to mention charging with a long weapon in hand, even slashing with a sword, it is easy to fall from the horse's back, resulting in unprovoked death.

At that time, the main function of the cavalry was to quickly transfer the battlefield, and at the same time dismount to fight on foot after reaching the destination.

Until more than 400 years have passed by the Han court, this relatively backward combat method has not changed much.

Although in the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, in order to be able to fight against the Xiongnu in the north, the Central Plains Dynasty also formed a large number of cavalry, and at the same time made a series of improvements to saddles and other harnesses, but because the horseshoes and other things have not yet officially appeared, the loss of horses The rate of cavalry remains high, making it difficult for the current regime to apply enough cavalry to the frontal battlefield.

After all, in the chaos army, even if they were not besieged and strangled by the infantry, if they just accidentally stepped on some abandoned remnants and broken halberds while galloping, the cracking of the horseshoes caused by this may cause a horse worth nearly ten thousand dollars to die. High-quality horses are directly scrapped.

Under the influence of these unfavorable factors, the emergence of forward cavalry and even cluster shock cavalry is naturally somewhat impossible to talk about.

If we really want to talk about the first time this cavalry appeared on the frontal battlefield, I am afraid that it will have to wait until the end of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the chaotic period when the Five Hu and Sixteen Kingdoms successively entered the Central Plains...

During the period of the Five Hu and Sixteen Kingdoms, because a large number of ethnic minorities entered the Central Plains and brought a large number of horse breeding and driving skills to the Central Plains, the proportion of cavalry in the army suddenly increased a lot compared to the Qin and Han Dynasties.And it was in the army of the Northern Wei Dynasty, the most powerful country in that chaotic era, that stirrups began to appear in large quantities as the standard equipment of cavalry for the first time.

② 0б8 Wu Liu 0 ㈤ Three

Today, Zhang Yan already has his own fiefdom, and after arriving in Lujiang in a few days, he will immediately start arranging the invention and improvement of key cavalry equipment such as Takahashi saddles and stirrups.

And when the cavalrymen under him can really sit upright on the horses, the shock cavalry will finally have the soil and conditions to appear.

As long as the cavalry began to line up and charge on a large scale, or even charge in groups, the flexibility shown by a single cavalry on the horse began to become less important.How to improve one's own impact will be the main theme of the development of cavalry for a long period of time in the future, not one of them.

……

On the other hand, seeing Zhang Yan speak so bluntly, Mi Fang also found out that her small actions were discovered by the other party, so she couldn't help but feel a little ashamed.

It's just that the other party has been so sure, so he can't persuade him too much, but quickly got into the mood, and began to discuss some details of this purchase with Zhang Yan.

"Since the Marquis of Wan has spoken so bluntly, Fang will not say anything more."

"Three thousand fine steel horses are worth a lot, but if we really want to get them together, it's not too difficult for my Mi family."

"It's just that, just for this weapon alone, the amount of money you need to invest here, Marquis Wan, is no longer a small amount."

Slightly corrected her expression, Mi Fang just roughly estimated her own weapon stock in her heart, and responded to Zhang Yan's needs.After all, even if his own weapons are not enough, as long as he talks about it with his elder brother Mi Zhu at that time, he can temporarily transfer some equipment from the Donghai Arsenal in Xuzhou to meet Zhang Yan's needs.

Seeing that the other party claimed that there was no problem, Zhang Yan finally relaxed his face, and at the same time, he was a little indifferent to the investment that the other party said was "not a small sum".