In the desert, five hundred cavalry against five hundred cavalry.
The two sides were all lightly armored elite cavalry. They did not have bows or crossbows, and the only weapon in their hands was a wooden pole.
One side was the elite cavalry from Yuan Zuozong's Ji Bei Camp, and the other side was He Zhonghu's Iron Monument Camp. The reason why the two sides were practicing martial arts here was not because the group of Northern Liang elders in the distance wanted to see the battle prowess of Northern Liang with their own eyes. Instead, it was for a reason that even those outside the Northern Liang Path would find inconceivable. Horse competition! Beiliang placed the most importance on horse management, and there were pastures all over the place. Among them, Yanzhi Pastures sent out the most horses, producing sixteen hundred horses a year. Of which, around three hundred could be used for cavalry. This was a shocking number in the Liyang imperial court. One must know that even though Nanjing had seven pastoral supervisors in three prefectures, it was barely the same number. Of course, the pastures in the south of the capital were inferior and the horse management was poor. Beiliang's Xianli Pastures were the best. Over the years, the number of horses allocated to the elite cavalry units of Northern Liang had never changed. However, the quality of the warhorses sent from the various pastures was very particular. Even when Huaihua's Great General Zhong Hongwu held the power of the cavalry, he could not control the allocation of good horses. He had to follow a rule, and that was that every cavalry in Beiliang had to fight in pairs. If they won, they would take the good horses. If they lost, they could only eat the leftovers of others. A few cavalry troops with over ten thousand people would choose eight hundred cavalry each time. Another cavalry troop with similar combat strength would choose elite soldiers and fight each other. The flag holding camp would send out five hundred people, and the small camp would send out two hundred to three hundred people. Beiliang claimed to have three hundred thousand cavalry, but it was referring to the total strength. Naturally, it could not be all cavalry. In fact, the total number of Beiliang cavalry had always been between one hundred and one hundred fifty thousand. Otherwise, unless Liyang sent all the horses in the world to Beiliang, it could not support the Xu family cavalry. Based on historical records, the Great Feng Dynasty, which had always been crowned as the most prosperous after the Great Qin Dynasty, only had eight hundred thousand horses in the thirty years from Zhenyuan to Linde. Furthermore, Beiliang's most elite cavalry always had two or even three horses per person. This was an extremely exaggerated matter in the two Liao provinces where the horse source was relatively abundant.
Horses were the foundation of armors and weapons, the most important weapon of the country.
The current commanders of Beiliang's cavalry were Yuan Zuozong, the veteran deputy commander He Zhonghu, and the "Zhou Partridge" Zhou Kang, who was promoted last year. Out of the Xu family's 140,000 cavalry, Yuan Zuozong did not lead any "personal troops" other than the three old battalions that existed before Xu Xiao became the King of Beiliang. Excluding the Great Snow Dragon Cavalry and the Long Xiang Army, He Zhonghu led the left cavalry of forty thousand, and Zhou Kang led the right cavalry of thirty thousand. The Ji Bei Battalion was one of the old battalions of Beiliang and was directly under the command of the Great Commander Yuan Zuozong. The Ji Bei Battalion's name had a deep history. After Xu Xiao became the vassal of Beiliang, Ji Zhou, where the Han family ruled, was the largest source of horses outside Beiliang. During the Spring and Autumn War, Xu Xiao formed many good relationships with the Han family. Later on, the entire Han family was executed, not only because they had offended the old Grand Secretary of the previous dynasty, but also because the Liyang imperial court had long coveted the vast pastures of Ji Zhou. Thus, they could legitimately send good war horses to the northern defense line. However, the Han family's words carried enormous weight in Ji Zhou, and they never tampered with the numbers. However, they intentionally or unintentionally lost good horses to Beiliang. Although the Han family and the Xu family became enemies later on, they were already a thorn in the side of the Zhao family. At that time, for Zhang Julu to be able to sit on the Grand Secretary seat, the Han family played an important role.
The two armies charged forward, and dust filled the air.
A rider of the Ji Bei Battalion tilted his head and dodged a wooden pole that looked like an edgeless spear. He then used the pole in his hand to point at the heart of the rider opposite him, knocking him off his horse. The light rider of the Iron Tablet Battalion was only hit by the pole, but before his body landed on the ground, he was grabbed by the shoulder by his comrade and thrown back onto the horse. Then, he continued to charge forward, tearing apart the enemy line.
On the other hand, the riders of the Ji Bei Battalion and the Iron Tablet Battalion pierced each other's chests with their wooden poles at almost the same time. With the momentum of the war horse's charge, the sturdy poles bent at an astonishing angle, knocking the weaker riders off their horses on the spot.
No matter how skilled the cavalry was in spear techniques, they would never use the fancy technique of 'killing' the enemy with a single point of the pole. They would always rely on the momentum of the cavalry's charge, and the cavalry would always be so clean and neat.
After each side penetrated the enemy's formation, both sides had changed positions. However, the Ji Bei Battalion and the Iron Tablet Battalion did not slow down their horses, nor did they stop their horses to turn around and charge again. Instead, after the cavalry successfully pierced through the enemy's formation, both sides took a large and precise arc at almost the same time, striving to gain more momentum from the collision as quickly as possible. During this period of time, the riders who fell off their horses had to immediately lead their horses away from the battlefield. After all, this was not a real battle, and falling off a horse meant 'death'.
Chen Yunchui was the deputy commander of Beiliang's infantry. He narrowed his eyes and watched the situation on the battlefield. He smiled and said, "Old He, the 120 A-class war horses from the Xianli Ranch and the 400 B-class war horses from the Kouer Ranch should have nothing to do with the Iron Tablet Battalion."
He Zhong was calm and said calmly, "This is just a charge. If we were at a disadvantage in the early stages, we would have lost. You, Chen Yunchui, would have died seven or eight times in the Battle of the Western Wall."
Chen Yunchui laughed and said, "How can it be the same? The Iron Tablet Battalion is fighting against the Ji Bei Battalion, one of the best elite troops in Beiliang. They are not the hotheads from West Chu."
He Zhong suddenly sneered and said, "Old man, why don't we make a bet? If I win, you will give me that Yellow Parasite Scout. How about it? "
Chen Yunchui laughed and scolded, "I only have four Yellow Parasite Scouts in total, and they are all my treasures. I won't make this bet, I definitely won't! Also, why don't you say what you will do if you lose? "
He Zhong said calmly, "The soldiers I have trained will never lose."
Chen Yunchui turned his head to look at the young King of Beiliang, who was sitting high on his horse and carefully watching the battle. He smiled and said, "Your Highness, look. Isn't Commander He's face as thick as the city wall?"
Hsu Fengnian smiled and did not say anything.
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