Chapter 28: Mo Gong

  (Thanks for "Zhao Wu Xu 2014" and "Hu Ye Bu Huo"'s timely support, I bow to you.)

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  "Control the horse's speed! Keep running! Occasionally turn back to observe the distance with the pursuing riders...... Alright, just like that...... Pay attention to the distance, good! Enter the shooting range. Listen for the horn command, raise the bow, load the arrow, and shoot!"

  As Tanu Shaya's command sounded, a short and desolate horn blew, and more than 30 Han Gog riders who were galloping in the wilderness almost simultaneously turned around, raised their bows, and shot arrows that fell like rain. Thirty steps away, the Han Gog cavalrymen, dressed as pursuers and wearing protective gear, cried out in pain. Although they were headless arrows, being hit on exposed parts such as hands and feet was still painful. If a warhorse was hit by an arrow and felt pain, it would jump around wildly, even with the protection of saddles and stirrups, causing these Han people who had just changed from slaves to soldiers to be busy and flustered for a while.

  Ma Hu rode Silver Arrow, keeping a tight watch on the outside of the cavalry unit thirty or forty steps away, not letting go of any training mistakes.

  The drill is over, the captain of the pursuing cavalry team, Wu, comes to report the results of the previous round: "Pursuing for ten miles, shooting six rounds of arrows on horseback, a total of 23 people and 17 horses were hit; seven of our own men were hit by arrows, nine people failed to complete the six rounds of horseback archery, two of whom only shot two rounds..."

  "Demote these two to deputy cavalry." Ma Xiu's tone was unyielding.

  "Ah." Wu Zui said with a smile, "This score is much better than half a month ago. If we can have another month of training, our 200-meter horse riding will be 90% qualified."

  Ma Xun glanced at Wu Zui with a sideways glance: "Don't be too happy, this is just a drill. When it comes to the real battlefield, various factors will affect and restrict us, and we may not even be able to exert 30% of our current abilities. Soldiers who have not been tested in actual combat can never be considered qualified."

  Within two months, Ma Xian continuously swept across the banks of the Wei River, attacking and defeating various tribes of Wuhuan and Xianbei, rescuing a large number of Han slaves and capturing thousands of barbarians as slaves. Many of these bandits, who were accustomed to plundering, found it difficult to adapt to this sudden reversal: weren't we, the wolves of the grasslands, the ones who did this kind of thing? When did the Han people start doing this too? The wolf eating the sheep had turned into the sheep eating the wolf - was this still just?

  In just two months, the Han army gathered over 2,000 Han civilians and captured nearly 3,000 slaves, making it a medium-sized tribe of about 5,000 people. The reason for this achievement was not only due to Ma Xun's bravery among the three armies but also the newly formed Han cavalry made great contributions.

  These Han cavalrymen, either captured Hans who had been prisoners for more than five years or half-Han people born in the barbarian land, also included a small number of barbarians. Among them, whether they were slaves herding sheep and horses for the Huns or warriors recruited by tribal leaders to participate in inter-tribal battles, they had lived outside the Great Wall for a long time, learned from the Huns, and their riding and shooting skills were not inferior to those of the Wuhuan and Xianbei tribes. Equipped with new-style horse equipment and trained in military discipline, combined with the sense of unity forged by their shared fate, this cavalry quickly formed combat effectiveness.

  There are more than 200 cavalrymen, and over 150 infantrymen. With more than 350 skilled archers and horsemen, even if they were to encounter the 300 Xianbei elite cavalry again, they would have the strength for one battle. However, Ma Chan was not satisfied. In his view, this army still had many shortcomings, the most obvious of which were three points:

  1. Lack of real battlefield combat experience. Many of the Han cavalry had seen blood, whether it was in the last two months sweeping away the Hu people or participating in inter-tribal struggles before, they all had blood on their hands. But in Ma Xian's view, this was at most just a gang fight, and it was completely different from a real battlefield.

  Two, equipment is simple. The Han Goguryeo army did not lack horses, and there were many skilled craftsmen in the army who were good at making armor, and the short bows they made were also powerful. However, due to the scarcity of copper and iron tools, the production of arrowheads was limited, and for the Han Goguryeo cavalry, which mainly relied on bows and arrows to defend against enemies with insufficient blades and armor, this was a clear weakness.

  Third, the cavalry archery is not advantageous. If these cavalrymen were placed on the Central Plains battlefield, they might have some advantage over the infantry-based armies of various vassals, but against the Xianbei and Wuhuan people who are also skilled in cavalry archery, there would be no advantage to speak of. In fact, this is still relying on the saddle, especially the stirrup, that the Han dynasty's cavalry archery skills barely caught up with the Hu cavalry, after all, they were professional warriors who had been fighting on horseback for half their lives, not slaves who came out halfway.

  Ma Hu's idea was to utilize the advantage of horse equipment being one step ahead, and train a cavalry similar to that of Mongolia. Mainly using bow-riding as the main force, specializing in counterattacking with arrows, and in actual combat, forging a powerful bow-riding army that can skillfully use the "Mangudai" tactic.

  The Mongolian cavalry that swept across Eurasia in later generations relied on this wolf pack tactic. Ma Xun had traveled to Hungary (said to be the descendants of the Western Xiongnu) years ago, visited the local museum, saw detailed pictures and text descriptions of this tactic, and even had video simulations, leaving a deep impression. So this time, when he fled from Hebei and escaped from the pass, he consciously practiced this tactic and gained valuable experience in actual combat.

  Of course, the so-called "Mangudai" is a team combination tactic, and one person can't play it. To make every Mangudai cavalryman learn and use it, not only excellent riding and shooting skills are needed, but also strict discipline, strong team consciousness and tacit understanding, which cannot be achieved by ordinary training and cohesion of the army in a short period of time. It's not that simple to pull out a cavalry unit, even a "mounted infantry" army, and practice for a few months to master it. If so, this Mangudai would be too worthless, how can it match its great reputation?

  Since repelling the 300 Hu cavalry a month ago, Ma Xian has slowed down his conquest of surrounding tribes. Except for continuing to accept slaves from various tribes who fled and defected to the Han tribe, Ma Xian devoted all his energy to training archers and horsemen. A strong fist is needed to stand firm, even the Central Plains dynasty that emphasizes benevolence, righteousness, etiquette, and sincerity does so; not to mention the north of the Great Wall.

  "Team A takes a break, Team B continues. Old rules apply, whichever team's performance is not as good as the other will have to groom and feed the opponent's war horses." Ma Han thought for a moment, then added another sentence, "Tonight, we'll add a bonus, a whole roasted lamb feast, the winning team gets to eat the lamb legs."

  To rapidly improve training efficiency, Ma Hu introduced a competitive mechanism, dividing the 200 elite cavalry into two teams, A and B, led by Tang Nu and Wu Zhui respectively. They took turns playing the roles of pursuer and pursued. This not only made it easier for them to discover various problems during training but also formed a healthy competition between the two teams. On the grasslands beyond the Great Wall, what was most valued was bravery, what was most cherished was honor, and what could not be tolerated was defeat - let alone losing and having to groom and feed the opponent's warhorses...

  It was under this stimulation that both teams, whether they were the main riders or the deputy riders, held their breath. If you win today, I will definitely win back tomorrow. After two months, the tacit cooperation and shooting level between each team have greatly improved, and a preliminary combat effectiveness has been formed.

  When Tang Nu and Wu Zhui announced the dinner party with a thunderous voice, saying that the winner would eat lamb legs, three hundred Han Ge riders (with fifty more patrolling around the perimeter, not joining the training) shouted in unison, each one like a chicken blood oath, vowing to win today's laurel. This is not just about washing and feeding the opponent's war horses, nor is it just about eating which part of the lamb's meat, but mainly, at the bonfire dinner party, the dancing girls frequently flashed their autumn waves, sending them to whom?

  Iron hooves galloping, grass folding smoke rising, Han Gou cavalry once again plunged into the scorching hot training.

  Ma Xun's eyes were fixed on the rolling dust and smoke on the training ground, where the cavalry was galloping back and forth. In his mind, he was also turning over various pieces of information about the movements of the vassals that he had gathered from merchants who had come from the border regions in recent days.

  At that time, the world was in a state of great disorder, with war and strife everywhere, and the various feudal lords were constantly at odds with one another.

  The Battle of Boma, Gongsun Zan and Yuan Shao's Jieqiao War has ended. Due to the unexpected death of Kou Yi, the soldiers of the first camp had no intention of fighting, and Gongsun Zan escaped a great disaster. However, as the saying goes "success or failure depends on Xiao He", Ma Feng helped Gongsun Zan kill Kou Yi, which seemed to rewrite the history of Jieqiao War, but soon he killed Du Chang, the black mountain army. As a result, not only did Yuan Shao escape with his life, but also caused the entire Black Mountain Camp to collapse, and the Youzhou Army lost an important ally.

  Ma Huan did this on both sides, and history almost returned to its original point. Fortunately, Du Chang's Black Mountain Camp was far from being comparable to Kou Yi's First Landing Camp, so after a small setback, Gong Sun Zan again turned the tide of battle, back and forth with Yuan Shao in a fierce war that lasted for months. Until a month ago, the First Landing Camp launched a counterattack in anger, avenging their lord, and again heavily defeated the Youzhou cavalry. Gong Sun Zan finally could not withstand it, first retreating to Nanpi, then retreating to Ji County, building a city wall on the southeast side of the city to defend.

  It seems that history has turned back to its original point, but Gongsun Zan is different from the historical big defeat. This time, he fought with Yuan Shao and both sides were severely damaged, making it difficult for them to launch a large-scale battle in a short period of time. This also makes various forces around begin to stir, such as Liu Yu, the governor of Youzhou, Wuhuan of three counties, Xianbei tribes, and some small forces that want to take advantage of the situation...

  In the Central Plains battlefield, in February, Yuan Shu defeated Yuan Yi in Yangzhou; In April, Wang Yun and Lü Bu killed Dong Zhuo and drove out the Western Liang army; In May, the remaining forces of Dong Zhuo, Li Jue and Guo Si invaded Chang'an; In June, Cao Cao defeated the Yellow Turbans in Yanzhou, captured tens of thousands of Yellow Turban soldiers, reorganized them into the Qingzhou Army, and formally established his foundation.

  This world is beginning to show a familiar three-kingdoms situation in Ma Hu's impression. Unfortunately, his current strength is too weak, and the wolves around him are watching, unable to do anything. But being unable to do so now does not mean that there will be no opportunities in the future.

  In the early Three Kingdoms period, among the four warlords, which route was the strongest? Without a doubt, Gongsun Zan could definitely squeeze into the top three. Just in terms of military strength, he was one of the few in the world. So where did the fame of the White Horse General and the power of the Youyan Iron Cavalry come from? The answer is the blood and bones of ethnic minorities, specifically the Xianbei people and the Wuhuan people, which made this strong Three Kingdoms army.

  Throughout history, any army that has fought and killed with nomadic tribes on the border has always been the most elite and backbone of a dynasty. Forged in this iron and blood, they must be the sharpest blades under heaven.

  Ma Xun had full confidence that as long as he was given time to hone his skills with this "Liguo", he would definitely have a place among the heroes of the future.

  As thoughts flew by, a horseman galloped from afar, one of the Han Gog cavalrymen patrolling the southern bank of the Wet Water River. He loudly reported to Ma Xian: "Reporting to the commander, there is someone who claims to be Yan Zhi and requests an audience with the commander."