Chapter 27 The Invention of the Stirrup
Although Fan Kuai was brave, he was not Ying Bu's opponent after all, and he could not resist it after twenty meetings. The horses retreated step by step. Wang Ling rushed over with a shout, fighting side by side with Fan Kuai, fighting Ying Bu with one sword and one shot. The soldiers beside Ying Bu were cut down piece by piece like sorghum stalks in the field, and the defeated generals kept gathering around him, and the battle circle became smaller and smaller. Ying Bu only hoped that Shen Shiqi could quickly lead reinforcements to the shore, and there might be a turning point, but when he looked through the river and glanced at the other side, he found that Shen Shiqi's flag was gone and there was no one on the shore. Ying Bu felt despair in his heart.
Ying Bu's momentum became weaker, and his skills slowed down. As one went up and down, Wang Ling and Fan Kuai became more and more brave as they fought, and they attacked frantically, and defeated Ying Bu ten steps away. Ying Bu began to surround him, slamming his spear and guns from the outside, and some took the opportunity to shoot cold arrows. Ying Bu was shot several times. Fortunately, he was wearing heavy armor and was not seriously injured. Even so, he was still frightened.
Ying Bu abandoned the King of Fan Kuai, turned around and killed the four or five Qin soldiers, and fled. Ying Bu thought to himself that he would leave the green mountains without worrying about the burning of firewood. Fan Kuai's King of Fan Kuai was chasing him. A small number of Huainan soldiers followed Ying Bu in a staggered manner, and on the way, they were all shot and killed by the Qin army's bows and arrows. Only Ying Bu escaped alone and chased after Wang Ling Fan Kuai desperately. Ying Bu was only concerned about running away and panickedly ran into a canyon full of thorns. There was no path at all. As he ran, the sharp thorns and stone ridges left countless blood grooves on his legs. The bows and arrows fell behind him in rows, and there was no time to take care of them.
While running, Fan Kuai shouted, "It's better to set a fire and burn Yingbu to death." Wang Ling said, "It's not appropriate. You have to see people in your life and see corpses in your life."
From a distance, the two saw Ying Bu's war horse running up the mountains, running higher and higher. The valley was filled with clouds and mist, as if it was galloping in the air. Fan Kuai shouted angrily: "Chasing!" and chased him out in front of Wang Ling. The large group of people were waiting to rush up, but found that Ying Bu ran down again.
Wang Ling smiled and said, "There is no way to go. Yingbu's death is here." Fan Kuai retreated and shouted repeatedly, "Arrowmen, archers, line up, line up, shoot arrows on the mountain, and shoot arrows." Three thousand archers immediately squatted and stood under the mountains, holding bows and arrows diagonally, aiming the flashing arrows at Yingbu. Yingbu's war horses arrived halfway through the foothills and encountered a heavy rain-like arrow, and several arrows shot through the scales and penetrated into the flesh.
"Ying Bu, surrender quickly and go back to Xianyang with me to apologize. I will protect you from death." Wang Ling ran back and forth in the war horse, laughing wildly. Fan Kuai said sternly: "A dog thief who is at the end of the road. Talking about something with him, kill him." Ying Bu was like a wounded cheetah, gasping on the hillside, screaming strangely: "Fan Kuai Dog thief, do you dare to compete with me one-on-one?" Fan Kuai is also a wise man. He was not afraid when Ying Bu was not injured, let alone the feathered arrows were inserted all over his body. "Come on, come here, come quickly and let grandpa send you back."
Ying Bu rushed down the mountain like a mad tiger, waving his iron spear and screaming shrillly, pounced in front of Fan Kuai, and stabbed the gun, and the arrows on his body trembled. "Damn!" Fan Kuai put Ying Bu's iron spear out and shouted loudly: "Go together and kill Ying Bu." The soldiers behind him surrounded Ying Bu like a tide and stabbed the gun. Ying Bu was furious: "Fan Kuai, shameless person, aren't you going to fight one-on-one with me?"
Fan Kuai slashed with a knife and laughed, "What else should I defend against a traitor like you?" Wang Ling also rushed up, and stabbed Ying Bu's war horse with a shot in the chaos. The spearhead pierced the horse's belly, and blood flowed like a stream. The war horse neighed wildly, and his four hooves softened, and he fell to the ground and died. Ying Bu was also thrown off the horse's back.
Ying Bu was thrown out by a war horse and walked a step further away. After standing up, he climbed up the mountain with his feather arrows. He followed him with a round of feather arrows. Ying Bu rolled on the ground, and he was hit by several arrows on his legs and back. Qin soldiers bent his bow and shot arrows constantly. Ying Bu rolled up while climbing up, and his whole person was shot into a honeycomb. Blood remained between the thorny cracks at the foot of the mountain and formed a stream at Fan Kuai's feet.
Fan Kuai laughed: "Shoot the arrows, shoot the arrows, keep shooting him to death." Wang Ling got off the horse and ran up to see that Ying Bu could no longer move. His black face turned into a purple purple, his eyes were still wide open, and his eyes were full of grief and anger. Wang Ling pulled out his sword and cut Ying Bu's head, turned around and came back, and stepped onto the horse: "Get off the troops."
The report of the great victory of Huainan was heard, and Wang Zhu was already in Hanoi. He received two reports at the same time, one was the great victory of Huainan and the other was the disastrous defeat of Dai County. Needless to say, the great victory of Dai County was a big defeat of Dae County beyond Wang Zhu's expectations. He never expected that the Huns' army would be so fast, and he did not expect that the Qin defenders would be so useless. The two cities of Shanggu and Mayi fell one after another within three days. Maodun and Han Xin personally led the army to Dai County, with a total force of 300,000. The Dai County magistrate Zhang Han and Wu Pu fought fiercely with the Huns outside the city, losing 50,000 troops, and Wu Pu was defeated and died. Zhang Han could not resist the fierce attack of the Huns, and hurriedly retreated from Dai County and fled to Tongtar City, only 200 miles away from Jinyang.
The guards of Jinyang were Yuan Sheng, Dong Yi and Sima Xin. The three of them discussed not to sit and wait for death. They sent 30,000 troops to Lishi to support Zhang Han, and at the same time asked General Wang Ben to be anxious. When Wang Ben received the battle report, the situation was actually a critical moment. Wang Zhu ordered Fan Kuai and Wang Ling to return to Hexi to defend the enemy, and all matters in the south were left to Huan Qiong to handle.
The Huns army advanced in unison, and the 150,000 troops of the wise kings on both sides had already arrived outside Shangjun City. Meng Duo and Wang Ao actively deployed defenses and looked for opportunities to fight fiercely outside the city with their superior forces and the Hun cavalry. The Huns were strong and strong, and Meng Duo had more defeats and fewer victory. It was a stalemate for the time being.
Wang Zhu arrived at Jiguan ten days later and received a war report from Meng Duo. He felt anxious. When Wang Ben was young, he had fought with the Huns and knew the power of the grassland cavalry. He said to Wang Zhu: "The Huns are superb riding skills and are strong and powerful. The individual quality is several times stronger than our soldiers. Meng Duo and the Huns will definitely suffer a loss when they engage in field battles." Wang Zhu just nodded without saying a word. After a while, another soldier outside the tent reported: "General, there is a war report."
Wang Ben took the battle report and was shocked: "Your Majesty, the big thing is not good. The Huns pretended to attack Tongtar and sneaked into Lishi. Sima Xin led the army to fight. The team was dispersed by the Hun cavalry and unfortunately died in the chaos." Wang Zhu's face changed drastically, he patted his forehead and took a breath of air conditioning: "The Huns are really so strong!" Wang Ben said: "Your Majesty, Yuan Sheng and Dong Yi have led the troops back to Jinyang and are ready to defend to the death. Zhang Han was surrounded in Tongtar City."
Wang Ben handed the battle report to Wang Zhu and said, "Your Majesty, our army cannot handle the cavalry and shooting skills of the Huns. Please order the border guards in all places to defend and not come out." Wang Zhu shook his head and said, "It is not a solution to not defend and not come out. Maodun came with all his strength this time, and his potential will inevitably destroy our China. He will not give up until he achieves his goal. Besides, there is another Han Xin to give him advice." Wang Ben said, "But when fighting outside the city, our army will inevitably be defeated." Wang Zhu sighed, "Is there no way to control the crossbow warriors?
"Wang Ben said: "The crossbow-controlling warrior was born in the grassland and made a living by fishing and hunting. It is reasonable for our army to not resist." Wang Zhu blurted out: "That's not necessarily, how did Yue Fei win?" The monk Wang Ben was confused and said in surprise: "Yue Fei? Who is Yue Fei?" Wang Zhu said in a silence: "Ah-he is an ancient war god-that, the general, you go down first and let me be quiet alone." Wang Ben respectfully withdrew from the general's tent, but he kept wondering in his heart: Who is Yue Fei?
Wang Zhu thought about it and couldn't fall asleep in the middle of the night. He walked to the stables and watched the war horses one by one. He patted the horses on the back and said to himself, "The same horses, why is the difference so big?" He rubbed the smooth horse with his hands, and suddenly felt strange, as if something was missing on the horse. Wang Zhu was like a bitten by a poisonous snake, shivered, and suddenly woke up. In the darkness, his eyes emitted a strong light and said to himself, "Stacks, stirrups, how could I forget the stirrups? The stirrups had not been invented during the Qin Dynasty. The Huns would not use stirrups."
Stirrup perfectly applies animal power to close combat, allowing cavalry and horses to be integrated, greatly improving the role of cavalry in war, making horses easier to control, and riders more stable and safe. Wang Zhu once heard from a British military strategist Montgomery in military class that commented on stirrups: "Seldom inventions are as simple as stirrups, and even fewer inventions have such great historical significance. It has brought the West into the 'knight era'."
Stirrups not only help to get on the horse, but their main function is to support the horseman's feet when riding, so that the rider can easily master balance on the horse, so that the rider can use his legs to control the horse's speed and direction, free up his hands to shoot arrows, and kill enemies. In addition, it can also reduce the fatigue of the rider's long journey. The reason why the invention of stirrups is of its functions.
Wang Zhu drew a drawing overnight and hung two belts on the left and right sides of the saddle, with a shape similar to a triangle. Before dawn, he called Wang Ben and asked him to create it according to the drawings.
The stirrup was created. Wang Zhu convened the generals to hold a meeting and placed the stirrup on the table behind him to show everyone. Everyone looked at each other inexplicably. Canghaijun even thought that this thing was a new weapon with great lethality, while Xiahou Ying thought it was a ritual instrument for sacrifice. Wang Zhu couldn't laugh or cry.
He brought a war horse, and Wang Zhu personally put the saddle on the horse's back and stepped on the stirrups to the horse's back. A sigh came from behind him. Wang Ben and others nodded one after another, exclaiming: "It turned out to be used to get on the horse." Wang Zhu snorted coldly and shouted: "Get the bow and arrow."
Wang Zhu stepped on the stirrup with his feet, held a bow in his left hand, shook the reins with his right hand, and the horse's front hooves flew into the air, and a loud bang, suddenly rushed out. Wang Zhu pressed the stirrup with his feet hard, stabilized the center of gravity, waved his right whip to raise the speed of the horse to the limit, and ran in circles in the open space in front of the camp, his body was as stable as walking on the flat ground, without any bumps. After three sharp turns in a row, Wang Zhu shouted at the stunned generals: "Look at me hit the red heart."
Three targets were set up in the open space according to Wang Zhu's instructions. Wang Zhu was running, his arms flew into the air, put on the arrow shaft, pulled the bowstring, and exhaled: "Cent!" "Swoosh!" The arrow hit the bull's eye, with a very powerful force, and actually penetrated the wooden target. Wang Ben said in surprise. It is important to know that relaying on a horse without stirrups is difficult, and it is impossible to shoot such a steady, ruthless and accurate bow. Perhaps Xiang Yu could do it.
The war horse was full of wind, and it was wandering rapidly in the open space. Wang Zhu only used his legs to control the war horse, speeding up and turning just right, which was more flexible than the ones with both hands. He was not idle with his arms, and then shot two arrows in a row, "swooshing" the two arrows hit the red heart again, and the same bull's eye. Wang Zhu whistled in a long voice, and the war horse lingered, and the wind rushed to Wang Ben's body, nailing to the ground like a nail.
"It's amazing, it's amazing!" If it weren't for the fact that Wang Zhu had exposed his identity, the generals would have knelt on the ground and bowed to him.
Wang Zhu turned sideways with one foot on the stirrup, jumped off the horse, and said casually: "This is not a magical skill, you can do it too. Xiahou Ying, just get on the horse and try it. Use the method I just used to step on the 'storch' and shoot arrows. Go." In order to conceal his identity, Wang Zhu dared not call me.
Xiahou Ying swallowed, looked at Wang Ben and Zhou Bo, and coughed, "I don't have that ability." Wang Zhu said with his eyebrows, "If you get on, you can go up. There is so much nonsense there, you can shoot it with your heart, it doesn't matter if you can't do it." Xiahou Ying was relieved, and pulled the reins of the horse, imitating Wang Zhu, relayed the stirrup, and rushed onto the horse's back: "Hehe, it's so much easier." Wang Zhu shouted, "Press the stirrup with both feet, and whipped the horse." Xiahou Ying stepped on the stirrup, moved the center of gravity back, and whipped it down with a whip, and the horse turned into a black light and rushed out. Xiahou Ying ran three times along Wang Zhu's route, turned around, and slapped, three arrows shot through the bull's eye in succession. Xiahou Ying stepped on the reins of the horse, stood in front of Wang Zhu, and even killed himself.
Wang Ben bowed and laughed: "Congratulations to General Xiahou, congratulations to General Xiahou, the general has made great progress and is the best in cavalry and shooting." Wang Zhu said tepidly: "You come down and let the general get on the horse." Wang Ben sneered: "You———I am old, I am afraid I am afraid it's not possible." Wang Zhu said: "Liang Po can still eat rice and eat strong bows at the age of 70, but the general is not old yet, go up." Xiahou Ying jumped off the war horse
, eyes full of surprise: "You———This, this stirrup is really amazing. My god, it's simply a treasure. I feel that the whole person is full of strength when riding on a horse, which is more powerful than on the flat ground. People and horses grow together. They are amazing, amazing." Wang Zhu's face showed a smug look. Wang Ben said "Oh", frowned, grabbed the reins, and stepped on the reins, and stomped on the reins, and made a loud noise on the reins.
Chapter completed!