sovbooks Chapter 53 33 System Tactics
Chapter 53 33 System Tactics
"Shoot!" Liu Ying shouted from his horse.
The cavalryman held the bow in his left hand and the string in his right, pulled it back to draw the bow fully open, and released the arrow upon command.
Seven hundred arrows, like lightning, shot towards the target in front, and all of them hit the target; none missed.
"Charge!" Liu Ying ordered again.
The cavalryman spurred his horse, and the warhorse galloped off, though not at a very high speed, as the horse was limited in speed.
Who told Peng Yue to be so cunning? The warhorse he gave us was barely passable, so it could only go this fast.
"Shoot!" Liu Ying ordered again.
The cavalryman fired another arrow, and it hit the target again.
"Quite a step forward," Liu Ying remarked with admiration, noticing the progress.
These cavalrymen were not good riders when they were selected, so it was already quite good that they were able to hit the target in such a short time.
Although Liu Ying had selected cavalrymen during the retreat, their main purpose was to gather the defeated soldiers, act as a vanguard for the main army, and provide reconnaissance; there was no time for training them. Upon arriving in Xingyang, they were finally able to begin training.
"This is all thanks to the prince's excellent teaching!" Li Bi exclaimed in admiration.
"The prince's archery skills are truly remarkable!" Luo Jia exclaimed with admiration.
On the way back, they had witnessed Liu Ying's exceptional archery skills. When he began to teach the cavalry archery, their understanding of the skill reached a new level.
Liu Ying was not only skilled in riding and archery himself, but also adept at teaching others.
Under his tutelage, the cavalrymen's mounted archery skills improved rapidly.
Under Liu Ying's command, the cavalry underwent mounted archery training. Half a day passed, and in the afternoon, infantry combat training commenced.
Cavalry soldiers primarily focused on mounted archery, but this doesn't mean they didn't receive foot combat training. On the battlefield, the situation changes rapidly; if a warhorse dies in battle, wouldn't someone who can't fight on foot be committing suicide?
Not to mention, sometimes due to battlefield constraints, it is necessary to abandon mounted combat and engage in foot combat.
Therefore, infantry combat training is of paramount importance.
Infantry combat training was outside Liu Ying's area of expertise; he was completely unfamiliar with it. However, with Li Bi and Luo Jia present, this was no problem, and the two were put in charge of the training.
"Training should be based on the standard of five," Li Bi ordered.
The seven hundred cavalrymen were divided into 100-man quarters and 100-man generals, and then further divided into squads, each finding their own training grounds.
The corporal held a wooden pole in his left hand as a flag; if it pointed left, the entire squad would move to the left, and if it pointed right, they would move to the right. A plank and a tile were strapped to the corporal's right leg, and he held a small mallet in his right hand, striking the plank as he advanced.
thump...
Using wooden boards as drums, striking them was like beating a war drum. Upon hearing the drum, the cavalry advanced in perfect unison, their steps matching the drumbeats.
dong... dong... dong...
One step, one drumbeat; the drumbeat signifies moving forward at a normal pace.
Not too fast, not too slow.
Thump...thump...
"Ten steps and one drumbeat" means to move forward at a jog.
dong dong dong...
The drums beat rapidly, like thunder, signaling the charge. The cavalrymen shouted and charged with all their might.
bang...
The corporal reached down with his right hand and struck the tile.
Using tiles as gold, this is like striking a gong.
"When the metal strikes, stop!" This was the order to halt the advance, and the cavalrymen stopped upon hearing the command.
Bang bang...
The sergeant knocked on the tile twice.
A large sum of money is required to retreat; two golden sounds represent one point, signaling the order to retreat.
The front line became the rear line, and the rear line became the front line; the five began to retreat.
Although it was individual squads training, the order was impeccable.
Liu Ying, mounted on horseback, watched the cavalrymen conduct infantry combat training, his brow furrowed.
Li Bi, thinking Liu Ying was dissatisfied, hurriedly explained, "Although the King of Han destroyed the Qin Dynasty, he trained his troops using the Qin army's methods. According to Qin military law, 'When the squad leader is trained, they are grouped with the platoon leader. When the platoon leader is trained, they are grouped with the squad leader. When the squad leader is trained, they are grouped with the lieutenant. When the lieutenant is trained, they are grouped with the deputy general. When the deputy general is trained, they are grouped with the general. The general instructs them, and they are arrayed in the central field, with three large banners placed…'"
As expected of a Qin Dynasty cavalry general, he was very familiar with Qin Dynasty military law and could recite it off the top of his head.
Liu Bang cursed the Qin Dynasty as tyrannical and Qin Shi Huang as a tyrant every day. In fact, he was the most successful student of the Qin Dynasty and learned from all its strengths.
He even adopted the Qin Dynasty's military training methods. As a result, during this period, the Han army's training methods were all based on those of the Qin Dynasty.
To break free from the influence of Qin Dynasty military strategy and establish a new system, it was necessary to defeat Xiang Yu and then have Han Xin "reinvent the military strategy," summarizing and modifying the Qin Dynasty's military strategy to suit the Han Dynasty.
It will take several more years.
"Why use five people as a team?" Liu Ying was thinking of a five-person combat group, why not three people?
"This... has always been the case." Luo Jia was stunned, and it took him a long time to say it as a matter of course.
"Excellent!" Li Bi echoed.
Forming a combat team of five is an ancient military tactic, something that has been used for thousands of years, and it is naturally a matter of course for Li Bi and Luo Jia.
"What if we form a team of three?" Liu Ying asked, frowning.
"This... I don't know." Li Bi had never even considered this question.
Luo Jia nodded.
"We have seven hundred men. If we divide them into squads of five, that's one hundred and forty squads; if we divide them into squads of three, that's more than two hundred squads." Liu Ying thought of the three-three system tactic and her eyes lit up: "If the combat strength of each squad is roughly the same, the combat strength of the seven hundred men will be greatly increased."
"Is that possible?" Li Bi found it unbelievable.
"Impossible, right?" Luo Jia found it unbelievable.
"We don't know the answer to this question, so let's give it a try." Liu Ying was unfamiliar with the matter, so it was best to give it a shot.
"There's no need to try," Li Bi disagreed.
"Since ancient times, a team has always consisted of five people. There's no reason for a team to consist of three people." Luo Jia didn't believe it at all.
"We'll find out once we try it," Liu Ying decided to investigate.
If successful, the significance will be earth-shattering and extremely important.
Liu Ying summoned Gu and Xin, both squad leaders, each leading a squad of men. He instructed them to reorganize, forming three-man squads, with the three squads plus the squad leaders making a total of ten men. The squad leaders' tasks were command and reinforcement.
After being regrouped, the two groups of men became six combat teams, two more than the previous two.
"Each squad follows the leader's lead; wherever he points, that's where they attack. The leader is in charge of offense, one person is in charge of defense, and one person is in charge of support," Liu Ying and the others explained the essence of the three-man system tactic.
Gu and Xin understood, and then they began training.
"Will it work?" The cavalrymen saw it all, but no one was optimistic.
The five-unit system, a tactic used for thousands of years, is ingrained in their very being. It's not so easy to convince them that the three-unit system is more effective.
After half a day of training, Xin and Gu had mastered the skills. Liu Ying then summoned a squad of men to fight against a three-man team.
Both sides switched to wooden swords and began their duel.
"We have the upper hand." The five-man team has a slight advantage.
After all, it's five against three, so having two more people naturally gives them the upper hand.
"The five-person system is still the best," Li Bi shook his head.
Luo Jia also shook his head, thinking that Liu Ying was just wasting his time.
"Five against three, only gaining the upper hand, what's there to be happy about?" Liu Ying was pleasantly surprised: "There are still two teams that haven't gone yet. Come on, let's start the duel based on what we've decided."
He led his own group and began training with another group.
"Impossible! Impossible!" The result was completely unexpected, thus giving them an overwhelming advantage.
Based on the five-unit system, with each unit consisting of one or two squads, it would take considerable effort to determine a winner in a duel.
Using the three-thirds system as a benchmark, with the same number of people (ten), the results were vastly different, with one player holding an overwhelming advantage.
This is a departure from tradition.
It overturned thousands of years of military strategy.
"Based on the unit of 'wu', one 'shi' is two 'wu', so seven hundred men would be seventy 'shi', or one hundred and forty 'wu'. If we change it to three-man squads, one 'shi' is three squads, so seventy 'shi' would be two hundred and ten squads, which is equivalent to an increase of half." Liu Ying began to calculate: "Removing the slight disadvantage of three-man squads against five-man squads, it means that my seven hundred men are equivalent to the fighting strength of about nine hundred men, a huge increase."
Saying that 700 people are equivalent to the fighting strength of 1,000 is a bit of an exaggeration; saying they are equivalent to the fighting strength of 900 is more accurate.
Even an increase of just two hundred men is still a very impressive growth.
"Prince, isn't that how the accounts are settled?" Li Bi didn't believe it.
Luo Jia nodded in agreement.
"Whether it is or not, we'll know once we try." Liu Ying was overjoyed: "This time, we'll deploy three hundred people to train three-person teams."