General Qin

In August, the weather in Guanzhong is getting cooler, and the autumn harvest season has begun, and the golden corn ears are swaying in the farmlands everywhere.

The Lieutenant Army Camp located on the outskirts of Xianyang.

Zhao Tuo was wearing black narrow-sleeved clothes today, and was standing at the barracks with Lieutenant Sima Guang and a group of lieutenant officers.

"Borrowing the lieutenant's field and soldiers this time, I would like to thank Brother Sima for his support."

With a gentle voice, Zhao Tuo thanked Sima Guang.

Since the First Emperor set the strength and time of the Northern Expedition, Zhao Tuo spent more than half a month in the Shaofu Workshop to make the war more smooth, tinkering with several things that are conducive to peace A military weapon for nomadic warfare.

Different from paper and woodblock printing, this kind of military equipment, in addition to private experiments, naturally needs to be demonstrated in the army to know the specific effect.

The state of Qin has very strict management over soldiers and horses. Zhao Tuo did not have the right to deploy troops, so he approached the lieutenant Sima Guang who was in charge of guarding the capital, and wanted to carry out joint cooperation between the two departments.

Sima Guang was about fifty years old. He was a famous general in the time of King Huiwen after Sima Cuo.

He readily agreed to Zhao Tuo's request, and made Zhao Tuo very close to him as a brother.

Zhao Tuo was a little surprised by Sima Guang's enthusiasm. After all, the two of them hadn't dealt with each other much before, but he quickly realized it.

The Sima family is a veteran general of the Qin State, and many members of the clan are generals in the army. This time Zhao Tuo led the army to the Northern Expedition and recovered Henan. There must be many children of the Sima family in the army. Well, it's a matter of course.

Today he treats you well, but tomorrow you have to treat other people's children well, this is the way of the world.

Sure enough, upon hearing Zhao Tuo's thanks, Sima Guang laughed, waved his hands and said, "Brother Zhao, you don't have to be so polite. The giant cannon you made back then can destroy cities and fortifications. I admire it very much. Now you make it again I'm looking forward to something new coming out, let me see it soon."

Zhao Tuo nodded with a smile, and asked Zhang Han, who came with his entourage, to lead a horse to the school grounds.

"Brother Sima, please look, how is this horse different from ordinary war horses?"

Everyone stepped forward, Zhao Tuo pointed to the horse and spoke.

Sima Guang raised his thick eyebrows, and said, "This saddle is a bit weird, it's not the saddle commonly used by our Qin army."

The saddle has been around since the Warring States period. Its main body is sewn with leather and filled with dense animal hair. saddle.

But Zhao Tuo felt that the saddles of this era were not enough, although they could reduce the friction between man and horse, and it was beneficial for the knight on horseback to control the horse.

However, it cannot prevent the horse from sliding back and forth on the horseback when the horse is exercising vigorously.

When a knight sits on a horse, he can only keep his balance by clamping his legs. After a long time, he will be very tired and lack stability. If he makes an impact, he may be thrown out directly.

The saddle made by Zhao Tuo has high wooden ends at the front and back, like a bridge, and the middle is very low, allowing people to ride on it.

The cavalry can sit firmly on the horse's back through the front and rear saddle bridges. When the horse is running, there are two saddle bridges to block it, so it is not easy to slide back and forth.

Sima Guangnai was born as a general, so he was proficient in riding and fighting. He just looked at it for a while, his eyes lit up, and he clapped his hands and said, "Good thing, with this thing here, I don't have to worry about riding a horse."

"Zhang Han, practice for the lieutenant."

Zhao Tuo spoke.

"only."

Zhang Han responded loudly. Although he was a civil servant of the examination office order, he was an authentic Guanzhong man, with a burly figure and adept at pommel horses.

He supported the horse with one hand, stepped on a metal object hanging from the saddle, and turned on the horse.

It was only then that Sima Guang noticed that there were actually two circular flat-bottomed metal objects hanging from both sides of the strange saddle.

He thought it was an accessory, but he didn't expect it to be useful for anything else.

"This thing..."

Sima Guang narrowed his eyes. He noticed that when the official of the Young Mansion just stepped on the ring and got on his horse, he was very relaxed, and he could see the effect of this thing at a glance.

After Zhang Han got on the horse, he didn't stretch out his feet, but stepped on it all the time.

"drive!"

Zhang Han let out a low growl, and galloped his horse as the crowd watched.

The horse was running fast, but Zhang Han himself didn't shake much, and acted effortlessly. Even after slowing down, he drew the bow and arrow prepared in advance from the horse, opened the bow left and right, galloped and shot, and the arrows flew like flying.

Real riding and shooting.

It's not about standing up and shooting, or dismounting and shooting.

This scene made Sima Guang's face solemn. He had already realized the function of the strange saddle and the two rings for stepping on.

"Master Zhao, what is the name of this thing?"

He spoke in a deep voice, addressing Zhao Tuo's position, which represented his solemnity on the matter.

Zhao Tuo said calmly: "The two sides of the saddle are like bridges, so they are called Gaoqiao saddles. As for the things that are stepped on, they are called stirrups. With these two things, my Daqin cavalry can outperform Hu'er with just a period of training. .”

Sima Guang nodded and said, "These two things are extremely useful for riding and shooting. With the Takahashi saddle and stirrups, those barbarians may not dare to shoot against our Qin army."

Zhao Tuo smiled slightly and said, "Besides riding and shooting, it has other great uses."

"oh?"

Sima Guang was taken aback.

At this time, Zhang Han asked his servant to fetch a short spear after riding and shooting.

He galloped on his horse and ran straight to an archery target.

"break!"

Hearing Zhang Han's roar, in the charging state of the horse, he let go of the reins, held the spear in both hands, and poked straight at the target. The terrifying force pierced the target and shattered it on the spot, leaving everyone around stunned.

Even Sima Guang's face changed suddenly, he realized that he still underestimated the role of Takahashi's saddle and stirrups.

"This is a militaristic artifact. Once it gets out, I'm afraid it will change the form of cavalry warfare in the future."

Hearing Sima Guang's exclamation, Zhao Tuo smiled without saying a word.

Yes, when Takahashi saddles and stirrups appear, the form of riding and fighting in the whole world will be greatly changed.

The cavalry will no longer be just an auxiliary unit used for patrolling and harassing, but will play a huge role and become the real main combat unit.

The birth of Takahashi's saddle and stirrup greatly strengthened the cavalry's shock tactics.

Wanqi charged and crushed everything.

After a while, Zhang Han finished his rehearsal, dismounted and came.

Zhao Tuo showed Sima Guang another metal object.

horseshoe.

"With this thing, it can reduce the wear and tear of the horse's hoof, even if it is a long-distance raid of thousands of miles, it can be relaxed."

Zhao Tuo's explanation shocked Sima Guang again.

He silently looked at the high bridge saddle on the horse's back, the stirrup hanging from the horse's belly, and the horseshoe that could be nailed to the horse's hoof.

Sima Guang shook his head and said: "Facing such a godly man as Zhao Shaofu, I really feel sorry for the Yuezhi people and the Huns."

After some admiration, Sima Guang and Zhao Tuo recruited the knights in the lieutenant's army, asked them to equip their horses with Takahashi saddles and stirrups, and then conducted a drill to observe the impact of these things on ordinary cavalry.

For example, how much is the bonus to cavalry masters, how much is the horse riding bonus to ordinary soldiers, and so on.

The final test result is that with these two things, people who are originally skilled in riding skills will be even more powerful. Whether it is riding and shooting or impacting and slashing, it becomes very easy.

It will be easier for ordinary soldiers to learn to ride horses, and the cost of training cavalry for the Qin army will be greatly reduced.

After getting the experimental data, Zhao Tuo was full of confidence in these three things, and formally wrote to the first emperor, requesting to promote them in the army.

Lieutenant Sima Guang also wrote a letter, praising the great role of these three things, and calling them the "Three Treasures of the Cavalry".

The first emperor was very happy and agreed to Zhao Tuo's proposal.

The state of Qin will transfer knights from various border counties to prepare to build a large number of elite cavalry.