Cao Rui looked at Wen Qin and chuckled, "It's the same as what I guessed."
"When I first asked the West Pavilion to make these armors, I hadn't thought about it so carefully. So many problems were found when they were put into service. It seems that we have to make improvements while testing them."
"Wenqing, are you willing to dismount by yourself?"
Wen Qin said with a bit of embarrassment: "The armor is too heavy, and needs someone to support it. This is why I did not dismount and salute just now."
"I have agreed with the Privy Council that one armored cavalryman must be equipped with three horses and one auxiliary soldier."
"During a normal march, the knight rides one horse, the auxiliary soldier rides one horse, and there is another horse carrying the horse, armor and helmet. The auxiliary soldier is needed to help them mount and dismount."
Cao Rui nodded: "It seems that the training and marching of armored cavalry are more complicated. But there is a reason for the complexity, otherwise there would be no need to have so many armored cavalry."
Wen Qin said with emotion: "From my perspective, these armored cavalry are really useful! The elite cavalry in the central army before are completely incomparable to the armored cavalry!"
"Armored cavalry is perfect for charging into battle formations. With the speed of the horses and the heavy armor on the horses, they can ignore arrows, making them extremely difficult to resist in ordinary field battle formations."
Cao Rui calmly asked: "Can it be used to break through the military formation?"
"Yes, that is to chisel it open." Wen Qin said: "Previously, the cavalry suffered heavy losses when charging head-on. If we use armored cavalry to charge, the casualties can be greatly reduced."
Cao Rui nodded: "Find two people to help you get off the horse. Explain it to me."
"As you wish." Wen Qin replied, and then called over two auxiliary cavalrymen to help him dismount and take off his armor.
Cao Rui also dismounted, stroked the horse's mane, and looked closely at the armor on Wen Qin's horse: "What are these armors called?"
After Wen Qin took off his armor, he came over to introduce: "The face guard on the front of the horse's head is called 'face curtain', and the one on the neck is called 'chicken neck'."
"The latter ones are called chest, body armor, rear guard, and parasite."
Cao Rui was interested when listening to Wen Qin's introduction. He looked at Wen Qin with a smile and asked, "Wen Qing, I am about the same height as you. Can I wear your armor?"
Wen Qin was a little surprised, but he answered truthfully: "It can be worn. But your Majesty has a graceful figure, and I am bigger, so my armor will be a little too big for your Majesty."
"How about I call a soldier with a similar build to your majesty?"
Cao Rui asked: "How do you call?"
Wen Qin chuckled and said, "Do you know all of these eight hundred cavalrymen? I can find them for your majesty."
Cao Rui smiled but said nothing.
Wen Qin took two steps and said to the auxiliary soldiers, "Call Feng Chao from the fourth row of Yidu."
Just as the auxiliary soldier was about to leave, Wen Qin pulled him back and said, "Watch Feng Chao unarm, then let him come over."
Cao Rui and Man Chong watched Wen Qin's deployment quietly without saying a word.
But in a moment, the knight named Feng Chao rode over on horseback. Cao Rui took a quick look and found that he was very similar in stature to himself.
Feng Chao was about to dismount when Cao Rui reached out and stopped him.
"Let me ask you, your name is Feng Chao, right?"
Feng Chao is just an ordinary knight.
Before he signed up, the highest official he had ever seen was a county official. When he arrived at the Central Army in Luoyang, he had only seen his own general, General Wen.
Now that His Majesty asked in person, Feng Chao was so nervous that he was speechless.
Wen Qin, who was standing by, quickly came to the rescue: "Your Majesty, this man is called Feng Chao, 22 years old, from Hanoi. He was recruited last November..."
Cao Rui raised his hand to interrupt Wen Qin: "I'm not asking you, I'm asking him."
"Feng Chao, just answer truthfully."
Feng Chao answered yes repeatedly. Wen Qin glared at Feng Chao and whispered, "Answer as ordered."
Wen Qin glared at him, and Feng Chao just kept silent.
Sili, as the administrative division closest to Luoyang, is rich in knights, commonly known as the Sanhe Knights.
The so-called Three Rivers refer to the three large counties near Luoyang: Henan, Henei and Hedong.
During the Han Dynasty, whenever there was a major war, the Han court would recruit the Sanhe knights to fight with the northern and southern armies as the backbone.
Cao Rui ignored all this: "It has been three months since the establishment of the Armored Cavalry. What items do you train in?"
When it comes to training, Feng Chao answered fluently: "As ordered, I have been training since May, including weight-bearing, mounting and dismounting, formation, speeding up, and decelerating."
Cao Rui ignored Feng Chao's strange title and looked at Wen Qin: "It's been more than three months and you still haven't practiced killing the enemy?"
Wen Qin smacked his lips, cupped his hands and explained, "Your Majesty, armored cavalry is too heavy. Training is very different from ordinary light cavalry, and it is much more troublesome."
"This is what I think. Carrying weights, mounting and dismounting horses are preparations before battle. They must be done in a standard and fast manner. This requires hard training."
"Once the armored cavalry charges, the formation must not be disrupted, otherwise it will be like a pile of loose sand and will no longer have the momentum to charge in formation."
"I want to practice the formation first, and then practice killing the enemy." Wen Qin explained: "This is also the first time I lead armored cavalry, and I am also gradually groping my way through it."
"Yes, that's right." Cao Rui said, "Armored cavalry is too expensive, and the Wei Dynasty cannot possibly have too many of them. I estimate that three or four thousand at most will be enough."
"Since it is used at a critical moment, it must not lose its effectiveness when the battle begins." Cao Rui patted Wen Qin's arm and said, "Practice as you should. Don't be impatient."
"Yes, I obey your order." Wen Qin accepted the order.
Cao Rui pointed at Feng Chao and said with a smile: "Can I have a try now?"
Wen Qin suddenly realized it, and personally helped Feng Chao take off his armor, and together with Man Chong, helped Cao Rui put on his armor. Man Chong was also used to leading soldiers, so he was very familiar with putting on armor.
With the armor helmet put on and the neck guard fastened, even though Cao Rui practiced martial arts very diligently every day, he still felt the weight was heavy and as if he was in an iron can.
When practicing sword skills, you are practicing your body shape and speed.
Practicing archery is about calming your mind and concentrating your attention.
Wearing this kind of armor requires physical strength and weight-bearing, which is completely different from Cao Rui's usual practice.
Man Chong approached with concern and asked, "Your Majesty, are you feeling well?"
Cao Rui gritted his teeth and moved his arms a few times: "It's okay, help me get on the horse."
The armor was too heavy, and someone had to help from below when stepping on the stirrups to mount the horse.
The warhorse under his crotch snorted restlessly and moved its two front hooves slightly.
A knight is most closely associated with his horse.
When Feng Chao was about to step forward to appease the warhorse, Cao Rui simply tapped the horse's belly lightly, and the warhorse immediately calmed down.
Feng Chao widened his eyes, unable to believe it for a moment.
Cao Rui reached out and touched the bow hanging on the left side of the saddle, and then reached out to the scabbard and quiver hanging on the right side.
There was no knife in the scabbard, and no arrows in the quiver.
Cao Rui frowned slightly, turned his head and looked down at Wen Qin: "Bring me some arrows and a lance."
Wen Qin knew that the emperor was curious, so he trotted into the ranks, grabbed a handful of arrows and returned with a lance.
Cao Rui reached out to take the lance, which was a little heavy, so he weighed it a few times before bringing it to his side.
"How long is this spear?"
Wen Qin replied, "It's about 18 feet long."
Cao Rui was somewhat surprised: "Zhangba spear?"
Wen Qin nodded: "It is the Zhangba Spear."
Cao Rui laughed, holding the spear in his right hand and the reins in his left. After shaking them, the well-trained warhorse gradually sped up.
Riding on the horse, feeling the wind whistling in his ears through the edge of the armor helmet, Cao Rui instantly understood the power of the armored cavalry.
How is this different from a tank?
Maybe there is still a difference, that is, it is too heavy.
When Cao Rui ran around the parade ground for the first time, he tried to slow down, but found that the armored cavalry slowed down too slowly and directly passed over Man Chong and Wen Qin.
He rode another seven or eight feet away before slowly stopping.
After Cao Rui returned, he dismounted his horse with the help of Man Chong and Wen Qin, and then took off his armor.
Wiping the sweat off his face, Cao Rui said with emotion: "Today I know the ability of the armored cavalry."
"Wen Qing, you have done a great job in training the armored cavalry!"
Wen Qin bowed in response.
"Let's go, General Man, follow me to check out Xiaowei again."
Man Chong bowed and accepted the gesture.
……
After seeing the armored cavalry at the Yulin Left Army, he went to the Xiaowei to see the coordination between the spearmen, sword and shieldmen, and archers.
Wang Ling was still a capable commander of the army. After he was transferred from the post of governor of Qingzhou to the position of general of the central army, the court sent Xue Ti to Qingzhou as governor.
In Cao Rui's opinion, Wang Ling is a more suitable general.
Does the Wei Dynasty lack a provincial governor? What it really lacks is a general who can lead the troops.
As it was getting dark, Cao Rui also returned to the palace.
As soon as he entered the courtyard of the study, Cao Rui discovered that Xin Pi, the attendant on duty that night, was still waiting at the door of the study.
Cao Rui stepped forward and greeted Xin Pi with a smile: "Why are you waiting here, Xin Qing? If I hadn't come to the study today, wouldn't you have to wait all night?"
Xin Pi bowed and replied, "Tomorrow is the first day of October."
"According to the previous arrangement, Your Majesty needs to go to the Imperial College in the south of the city in the morning to attend the graduation summary of the third batch of Imperial College students."
"In the afternoon, I will go to the martial arts school in the east of the city to attend the graduation summary of the first batch of martial arts students."
After that, Xin Pi took out a document from his sleeve: "Earlier, your majesty asked me to write down some memorandums, which are related to the Imperial Academy and the Martial Arts Academy."
"I would like to present it to Your Majesty today. Perhaps it will be of some use when you meet with students tomorrow."
Cao Rui took the document with one hand, but did not open it to read it. Instead, he held it in his hand: "Xin Qing is careful and cautious in his work. I am still relieved."
"Tomorrow, three of you will go with me."
"Then Xin Qing, please help me take a good look at whether there are any exceptionally talented students among this year's Imperial College students."
"Perhaps, I can recruit one or two more imperial guards." (End of this chapter)
