As a powerful country, the Mauryan Dynasty's military strength was equally astonishing.

The military agencies under its jurisdiction are divided into six departments, which are headed by committees composed of thirty officials, five in each department.

They are the Admiralty Department in charge of water warfare, the Logistics Department in charge of the collection of grain and ordnance transportation, the Army Department in charge of infantry, the Light Cavalry Department in charge of cavalry raids, and the two Heavy Cavalry Departments in charge of chariots and elephant soldiers.

The military structure can also be divided into six parts.

The first is the professional army or hereditary army known as Moro. They are the standing army and the basic backbone armed force of the country.

The second one is Bulituo, who are mercenaries. They have strong fighting ability, but they do not have high loyalty when they fight for profit.

The third shreni, that is, the guild army, is composed of urban craftsmen who use their handicraft skills to serve the army. They are equivalent to the role of logistics troops or militia. They are large in number but have limited combat power.

Amidoro and Mitra refer to allied foreign armies or armies provided by feudal kings and allies, acting as partners or friendly forces.

As for the last type, there is Athabika, an army belonging to the forest barbaric tribe. They are brave and good at fighting, but their character is rough and wild and difficult to command.

Among the many types of arms, infantry has the largest number and is also the backbone of the army. It includes swordsmen, archers, and spearmen. Each of them is divided into four categories: heavy, secondary heavy, light, and secondary light according to different equipment.

For example, the elephant soldiers unique to the Mauryan Dynasty were the most powerful heavy cavalry.

War elephants are trained from wild elephants. After taming the captured wild elephants, they are manipulated, turned, advanced, trampled, and killed. In addition, they must undergo multiple tests with other elephants to be qualified.

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Under normal circumstances, an elephant must be equipped with three archers, who stand on the elephant's back and fight in the box. The elephant shepherd sits on the elephant's neck and holds a goad to direct the elephant's actions.

Once the training of elephant soldiers is completed, they will become a big killer on the battlefield. Their ability to rush and kill is much more difficult to deal with than war horses.

It is conceivable that when thousands of armored elephants charge at the same time, it will be a frightening scene for human beings. However, the huge size and the shaking of the ground can make the enemy troops flee.

Under the notification of King Ashoka, the Mauryan Dynasty now has tens of thousands of elite heavy cavalry, hundreds of thousands of infantry, and tens of thousands of war elephants. Its military power can be said to be very powerful.

In addition, there are dozens of kinds of standing weapons. According to their functions, they can be divided into three types: offensive, ordnance and protective.

Among offensive weapons, the most commonly used are bows and arrows and spears. In addition, offensive weapons include broadswords, swords, javelins, hammers, battle axes, slingshots, hand-powered slings, etc.

There are also more than twenty kinds of ordnance, among which siege equipment includes various catapults, trebuchets, catapult wooden towers, siege towers, battering rams, ladders, etc.

In terms of defensive equipment, there are hanging beams, nailed rolling logs, watch towers, etc.

It is worth mentioning that the Mauryan Dynasty, like the Qin Army, attached great importance to bows and arrows. Their crossbows were wide and powerful, and the length of the bow was equal to the height of the bow holder. When shooting arrows, you need to sit on the ground and use the back of the bow to pull it.

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Whether it is a long-range attack or a close combat, its strength is very strong, and it is precisely because of this that it can defeat the dominant Macedonian Kingdom.

After hearing the report from the guards, King Ashoka on the throne slowly opened his old eyes and slowly moved the beads in his hand.

He spoke softly: "The faith of our Buddha should be spread throughout every inch of the land. It is really inappropriate for the king of Qin to prevent millions of people from receiving the baptism of the Buddha's light because of his personal preferences."

As he spoke, there was a hint of sigh in his tone, as if he really felt pity for the people. Then his eyes flashed and he continued: "In this case, the only way is to overthrow the tyrant's rule and elect a better leader."

"My king's words are truth!"

The guard below said with great respect.

Ashoka smiled and waved his hands and said: "It is not my words, but what the Buddha wishes is the truth."

Hearing this, the ministers standing aside thought for a moment and then asked: "Is the king going to send troops to Qin?"

Ashoka shook his head: "What I hate most is war, so this is not an invasion, but to help the people of Qin push away the mountains they are burdened with and make them live a better life."

The former heard the words and said: "However, according to the investigation, Qin's strength is not weak. It may not be easy to achieve the goal in this way. Even if we really win, there will be many soldiers and horses lost."

Ashoka still said calmly: "If more people can bask in the glory of my Buddha, it is inevitable to make some sacrifices."

Seeing that he had made up his mind, the minister did not dissuade him. After all, no one in this country could disobey the other party's will.

After pondering for a moment, Ashoka continued: "Since the Qin army is ferocious and difficult to deal with, let's dispatch ten combined legions and add three thousand elephant soldiers."

Upon hearing this, the minister's expression changed and he respectfully replied: "Yes."

In the Maurya Dynasty, a combined legion was composed of four ordinary legions, and an ordinary legion contained four different arms.

This includes 4,096 people forming a heavy armored infantry phalanx, 2,048 light shield troops, 1,024 auxiliary troops, and 1,024 cavalry.

There are a total of 8,192 people from four different arms."

This time King Ashoka dispatched a total of ten combined legions, which means that together they have more than 300,000 troops, accounting for half of the entire country's military strength. It is definitely a big deal.

Coupled with an army like the Elephant Soldiers, which is at the bottom of the pack, this configuration is enough to wipe out a country.

Even in the initial war with Macedonia, only 200,000 troops were dispatched. It was obvious that although King Ashoka showed that he didn't care much on the surface, he still attached great importance to it in his heart.

With the Mauryan King's order, the entire country quickly started to move. Fighting a war was not a simple matter, especially a war involving hundreds of thousands of people.

First of all, it takes a lot of time to raise food, grass and military supplies. Secondly, the two countries are thousands of miles apart, which requires drawing maps and planning march routes, which is not easy to handle.

Moreover, the climate of the two places is also significantly different, and the army also needs to adapt in advance.

Even if we start preparations now, it will be difficult to make proper arrangements without a year or two. And once two countries go to war, the winner will definitely not be determined overnight.
Chapter completed!