"The Three Great Training Camps is a major affair of the royal court, as well as an important matter that the Holy Emperor pays close attention to. There's one thing that you need to know about this matter. The Three Great Training Camps are prepared for the army. The royal court isn't training you so that you can strut around in the capital. Rather, it's to send you into the army so that you can become the backbone of the empire.
"Thus, there are some things that you need to know in advance. Besides, given your current cultivation realm, it's about time for you to come into contact with this matter. "
Standing at the edge of an archery training ground surrounded by wooden poles, Zhao Qianqiu slowly explained to the crowd.
"The military can be divided into three categories: archers, infantrymen, and cavalrymen. These are the occupations that you will have to choose in the future. Archers correspond to the dexterity of martial arts! "
Zhao Qianqiu pointed to a student at the far end of the training ground. Grabbing an arrow in his hand, that person drew his bow and released it abruptly. Xiu xiu xiu! In the blink of an eye, twelve arrows shot forth like a torrential rain.
In the blink of an eye, that person had released at least twelve arrows. Twelve sharp arrows drew different trajectories in the air and accurately hit twelve different wooden puppets fifty meters away from them.
Each of the twelve arrows pierced deep into the wooden puppet's body.
Xiu xiu xiu!
At the same time, another student drew his bow, and this time, fourteen arrows rained down on the same wooden dolls from different directions.
All of the arrows were aimed at the vitals of the wooden dolls.
Upon seeing this sight, everyone's heart skipped a beat.
"This is dexterity! Martial artists who cultivate dexterity-type cultivation techniques are able to move several times faster than others. Some of them are even able to move more than ten times faster than others. In other words, in a head-on brawl, regardless of strength, if you punch an agile martial artist, he will be able to return two, three, or even more punches to you. "
"On the battlefield, these agile martial artists are most suited to be archers. Archers, when paired with a martial artist's speed, are able to unleash a torrent of arrows in a short period of time. It's rumored that the most formidable master archers of the Eastern and Western Turkic Khaganates are able to simultaneously shoot fifty rabbits running through the grass from several li away, and they even hit the exact same spot. "
"In other words, on the battlefield, he can shoot down fifty of our elite infantries in the blink of an eye! If there were ten Godly Archers, you can imagine how many infantrymen would fall in an instant. If there were more, fifty, a hundred, or even more, our front line would start to collapse! "
"However, although the sharpshooters of the Eastern and Western Turkic Khaganates are the most powerful, in this world, the most powerful archers are from our Tang dynasty. Do you know why? "
At this point, Zhao Qianqiu suddenly paused and smiled at the crowd.
"Crossbow, armor, and arrows!"
Zhao Jingdian said in deep thought.
"Smart! Because our Tang dynasty has the best bows and arrows in the world, the sharpest arrows, and the armor to protect our soldiers! "
Zhao Qianqiu praised.
Standing by the side, Wang Chong inconspicuously frowned. In that instant, he recalled the matter that Elder Ye and Duke of Hu had mentioned.
In the past few decades, the Tang dynasty had been trading with the rest of the world, and the Eastern and Western Turkic Khaganates had made use of this opportunity to amass a large amount of steel, Black iron, arrows, and armor.
This amount of time was sufficient for them to forge a large amount of armor and sharp arrows. Even though he had reminded Elder Ye and the others to make use of 'tariffs' to control the outflow of steel, there was nothing they could do about it.
Even though Zhao Qianqiu had reminded Elder Ye and the others to make use of 'tariffs' to control the outflow of steel, there was nothing they could do about it.
"Zhao Qianqiu must have intentionally omitted this information to prevent fear from striking a blow to everyone's confidence!"
Wang Chong thought. Intentionally omitting a portion of the truth, Wang Chong couldn't tell if this was a good or bad thing.
"… Only master archers are capable of dealing with master archers. Thus, the empire has always placed great emphasis on grooming master archers! "
Zhao Qianqiu continued.
"Strength, speed, and dexterity, these are the three main categories of martial arts. Dexterity corresponds to archers, who are able to shoot dozens of arrows in a single breath. Speed corresponds to cavalry."
Zhao Qianqiu took a few steps forward. In the middle of a massive training ground, a few examinees were riding on two pitch-black armored war steeds. They galloped swiftly along the training ground. There were many wooden stumps in the training ground, and they were arranged in a dense formation.
These examinees weaved through the narrow gaps between the wooden stumps as one, but their speed didn't slow down in the slightest.
The wooden swords in their hands pierced through the wooden stumps nonstop, and every single time, they would accurately strike the same spot on the wooden stumps.
"Looks like there are quite a few good seedlings in this batch's Kunwu Training Camp!"
Standing at the periphery of the training ground, Zhao Qianqiu saw an examinee leaving a mark on the wooden stumps of the same height and same spot, and he couldn't help but praise.
"One of the advantages of the Steel Cavalry is their speed. They come and go like the wind, and their mobility is great. The second advantage is the power of their charge!"
Zhao Qianqiu suddenly gestured to one of the instructors on the training ground. Upon seeing this, the latter chuckled.
"Zhao Qianqiu, I'll say this first. I'll smash this rock. Tonight, go and get one for yourself and bring it up! "
"Cut the crap, are you going to do it or not?"
Zhao Qianqiu reprimanded jokingly. Clearly, the two of them were familiar with one another.
"Forget it, on account that you're my student, I'll give in to you!"
The instructor waved his hands helplessly before pulling down his helmet. Then, he slowly turned his spear around and aimed it in another direction.
Following the direction of his spear, the crowd finally saw a massive boulder around the height of two grown men fifty zhang away.
"It's heavy! It's Xuanwu rock! This boulder must weigh at least four to five thousand jin! "
Wang Chong immediately estimated the weight of the boulder. He had noticed this boulder when he first arrived, but he didn't pay it much heed, thinking that it was some kind of decoration.
But from the looks of it now, it seemed to be a practice target for cavalry!
Boom!
Seated on the back of his steed, the instructor and his steed were donned in a heavy black armor. He exuded a deep killing intent, reminiscent of a demonic god who had walked out from the depths of hell.
The war horse sneezed and suddenly leaped forward, like a bolt of lightning, leaving behind countless afterimages in the void.
"Boom!"
Before anyone could react, they heard an earth-shattering sound in the distance. The earth quaked, and fifty zhang away, the four to five thousand jin Xuanwu rock suddenly shattered into pieces. Innumerable fragments flew into the sky like a rain of petals before exploding violently.
In that instant, everyone was dumbfounded. Even from a distance of several dozen zhang away, the violent gale caused by the explosion left a stinging sensation on the faces of the crowd.
"Neigh!"
The warhorse neighed. Amidst the smoke and dust, the man and the horse's aura fluttered as they slowly revealed themselves. Under the contrast of the dust and stone fragments in the air, they looked like gods.
"Zhao Qianqiu, remember to bring a Xuanwu Mound over tonight. This Xuanwu Mound is for training, so I'll put it on your tab! "
As the instructor spoke, he leaped onto his horse, flipped over the fence made of wooden stakes, and disappeared from the foot of the mountain in an instant.
"Did you see that? This is the might of the charge of a steel cavalry. An Origin Energy Tier 5 martial artist under the coordination of a steel cavalry can easily exert the might of an Origin Energy Tier 8 pinnacle cultivator. And this is just a conservative estimate. A Rank Five True Martial Realm cavalry corps could easily clean up a Rank Seven True Martial Realm infantry corps in a joint charge on the battlefield! This is the might of a steel cavalry! "
"Be it the Eastern and Western Turkic Khaganate, Goguryeo Empire, Ouzan Empire, Erhai's Mengshe Zhao … Even Anxi's Charax Spasinu and Abbasid Caliphate, all of them have groomed a large steel cavalry unit."
"On the battlefield, the might of a single steel cavalry unit is negligible, but a steel cavalry unit will always be the nightmare of any formation, as well as the greatest threat you will face on the battlefield in the future."
"When a large group of armored cavalry charges, they can definitely tear apart any phalanx. On top of that, just like archers, only cavalry can deal with cavalry. Thus, the empire has placed great importance on the grooming of a steel cavalry unit! "
Zhao Qianqiu said.
Hearing those words, Wang Chong frowned indiscernibly, but he didn't say anything. The might of a steel cavalry charge was indeed formidable.
But to Wang Chong, it wasn't something that he couldn't deal with.
The current empire was still stuck at the level where a steel cavalry charge could deal with a steel cavalry charge. But when he became the Grand Marshal of the Central Plains and commanded the army, a steel cavalry charge wasn't a problem at all.
At the very least, it wasn't just cavalry that could deal with cavalry!
"Other than archers and cavalry, the rest are infantrymen! This is the largest military branch of our Tang dynasty! Just like what you are seeing right now! "
Oblivious to what Wang Chong was thinking, Zhao Qianqiu had already arrived at the final zone of the training grounds.
Following his gaze, the crowd saw a large number of students fighting with one another in the massive training ground.
The archer zone, cavalry zone, and infantryman zone. Of the three major training zones, this was the only one with the largest number of students. Here, everyone used a wide variety of weapons, and their martial arts were also different. Their fighting styles were also not the same.
Compared to the archers and the cavalry charge, the combat and training here were much more plentiful.
"Infantrymen are all about strength! You don't have to be skilled in horsemanship or archery, but as long as you possess strength, you will be a powerful infantryman. Of the three major military branches, infantrymen have the lowest requirements. Of the three major military branches, infantrymen have always suffered the highest casualty rate. However, things are different in our current dynasty. From the Han to the Sui, and now to our current dynasty, the infantrymen of our Tang dynasty can be said to be the strongest in history! "
"In the entire world, our Tang dynasty's cavalry is no match for the Ouzan, and our archery is no match for the Eastern and Western Turks. However, our infantrymen are the strongest!"
"You have to remember that our Tang dynasty has never been a single military branch. When our archers counter the other party's archers and our cavalry counter the other party's cavalry, it will be our infantrymen who rule the world! "
Hearing those words, a commotion broke out in the surroundings. Even the examinees who were passing by couldn't help but chuckle upon hearing those words.
Indeed, the infantrymen of the Tang dynasty were the most formidable in the world. Be it archers or cavalry, once an army of infantrymen were allowed to get close to them and engage them in melee combat, it would be a one-sided slaughter.
Thus, even though infantrymen couldn't compare to archers or cavalry, the Tang dynasty still maintained a massive army of infantrymen!
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