***
At dawn, in a field outside Changsha City, nearly 10,000 cavalrymen were practicing horse fighting. The sound of iron hooves was like thunder, and dust was raging in the sky. There were many wooden stakes in the field, and all the cavalrymen took turns to practice one action, which was chopping.
This seems like a very simple move, but for a cavalryman running at high speed, it is definitely not a simple move.
According to Newton's third law: forces act reciprocally.
When cavalry charges at full speed, the speed can reach over 50 kilometers per hour. The impact is very large, so its reaction force is also very large.
When you strike with your sword during a charge, you must grasp the timing, angle, force, etc., otherwise the huge reaction force will prevent you from holding the weapon; if the weapon is stuck, you may even be pulled off your horse.
Therefore, there are usually no fancy moves in cavalry combat. What matters is speed, accuracy, and ruthlessness, and grasping the right timing to kill with one strike. The most critical thing is the timing of the strike.
If you draw your sword too slowly, you won't be able to hit the enemy's vital points.
Drawing the knife too early is tantamount to seeking death.
Unless you are sure that you can cut the enemy in half with one sword, the huge counter-force will force you to abandon the sword. So you usually wait until you pass the enemy, then quickly cut horizontally and then drag the weapon away from the enemy's body.
In order to successfully pull back the weapon, the force must be controlled well. If the force is too small, it may not cause fatal damage to the enemy; if the force is too large, the saber will be stuck too deeply into the enemy's body and it may not be possible to pull the knife out smoothly.
Cavalry is different from infantry. You will never have the chance to draw your sword twice. If you fail to draw it once, you will have no choice but to wait for others to chop you with your bare hands.
As for those who perform all kinds of martial arts on horseback, that is pure bullshit. This is only possible if the horse's speed is slowed down or even stopped.
Qin Mu fought in Jiangxi. He swept across Huguang and captured more than 10,000 war horses. Now he recruited young and strong men who knew how to ride horses and formed a cavalry of 10,000 people. Now, in addition to the art of horse riding, he practiced the same action with wooden stakes every day: chopping.
Qin Mu came out early in the morning to train with the soldiers, sweating as if he had just been fished out of the water. He was busy with many things now, but this cavalry was the top priority, so no matter how busy Qin Mu was, he would still insist on coming to train with the soldiers in the morning.
Coupled with his brilliant achievements in the past, it was easy for him to win the support of the soldiers, enabling him to quickly establish a high prestige in the army.
Xu Yongshun followed behind Qin Mu, his eyes sparkling, and he kept clamoring, "Brother Qin has a good way of training soldiers. If he keeps training like this, it won't be long before he can train an elite army. My heart is fluttering, really. My heart is fluttering. Brother, I won't leave anyway. If Brother Qin doesn't think highly of me and doesn't want me to obey orders at the gate, then just let me be a soldier in the army, Brother Qin..."
"Young Master, please don't embarrass me. The King of Zhongshan is a famous general rarely seen in the history. Young Master has inherited the family tradition since he was young and is a young talent. I'm afraid my little tricks are not enough to make you laugh, right?"
"Brother Qin, that's not right. Every generation has its own talented people. My ancestors really... Well, let's not talk about it. The glory of my ancestors is a thing of the past. Since ancient times, the so-called generals have never been more than three generations. I am already the tenth generation. How can there be any family tradition passed down? Brother Qin, please don't refuse. Just accept me. From now on, I will serve you at your command. I will be satisfied if you can give me some advice."
Xu Yongshun used the sticky tactic. As soon as Qin Mu came out of the back court, he would stick to Qin Mu and could not be shaken off, which made Qin Mu very annoyed. But there was one good thing about this guy. Although he was annoying, he knew the limits well and would not make you feel really disgusted.
Moreover, he was very good at flattering people, always seizing the opportunity to do so. Qin Mu was annoyed by him and could only say, "I don't have any military tactics. I was lucky enough to win a few battles. It's not because I'm so smart, but because the enemy is too cowardly. So if you want to learn military tactics, you've found the wrong person, but..."
"Brother Qin, please stop calling me Young Master, okay?"
"What's that called?"
"Whatever you want to call me, big brother. Just don't call me young master. If you call me that, it's clear that you're keeping me at a distance."
"Okay, then I'll call you Xiao Shunzi."
"This... Big Brother, calling me that is too... "
"Then I will continue to call you Young Master."
"No, no, no, Xiao Shunzi is Xiao Shunzi. Big brother, do you agree that I can stay?"
"Your feet are on your body. I can't control where you run."
"Okay, I feel relieved with what you said. From now on, I will lead your horse." Xu Yongshun said as he happily ran to Qin Mu's horse, snatched his reins, and wanted to help him lead the horse back to the city, leaving Qin Mu in tears.
"Alright, alright, stop it. How long will it take you to get back to the yamen if I let you lead me like this?" Qin Mu grabbed the reins and rode away with Li Shi, Niu Wanshan and a team of personal guards.
Xu Yongshun quickly jumped on his warhorse and chased after him, shouting, "Brother, please wait for me... Ugh, what a hell of a place, it's so dusty..."
As soon as Qin Mu entered the governor's office, he saw Liu Boquan waiting. He didn't care that Qin Mu was sweating, and followed him inside while saying, "Sir, we have recruited more than 400 shipbuilding craftsmen, but there are not many who can really build warships. It is difficult to find craftsmen in this field in the Huguang area at present."
"Then send people to Nanjing, Wenzhou, and Fujian to look for him. No matter what method you use, bring him here as soon as possible."
"Sir, I have already sent someone there, but the trip back and forth will definitely take quite a while, so I'm afraid it will be difficult to complete the shipbuilding task on the time you set."
"Well, just hold on tight."
"Thank you, sir."
As soon as Liu Boquan left, it was Shao Hua's turn to be in charge of military law and said, "Sir, the list of rewards and punishments for the battle of Liuyang has been drawn up. Please review it and sign it."
"Leave it to Yang Shen first. I'll take a look later."
All military, political and livelihood issues of the entire Huguang region now have to be decided by Qin Mu, and in order to firmly control the army, he has to lead the soldiers in training every day. He is so busy that he has no time to rest. Fortunately, Liu Boquan, Shao Hua, Zhuge Min and others are very talented and have shared many specific matters with him.
In particular, Zhuge Min, Li Yuan and He Liang were actually equivalent to Qin Mu's cabinet ministers. They did not take charge of specific affairs, but after all the military and political affairs of Huguang were reported, most of them would first draft a solution through the three of them, which would then be submitted to Qin Mu for review and signature before being promulgated.
Yang Shen was Qin Mu's confidential secretary. He was in charge of keeping all the documents and sorting them out according to their importance so that Qin Mu could handle them in a more organized manner. He also had a very important task, which was to draft various orders for Qin Mu, similar to the Zhongshu Sheren who drafted imperial edicts for the emperor.
With the assistance of these people, Qin Mu was able to handle it in an orderly manner even though Huguang was in a state of disrepair and had many affairs to deal with.
Unlike the busy front yamen, the back yamen was always quiet. As soon as Qin Mu stepped into the back yamen, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. At least he could temporarily get rid of the endless military and political affairs.
Dong Xiaowan was leaning on the railing of the corridor, gazing at the white clouds outside the high wall in a trance. Her moonlit skirt outlined her beautiful figure, which was gently blown by the autumn breeze, making her look outstanding and light.
Suddenly, she saw Qin Mu walking in with big strides. His clothes were not only soaked with sweat, but also stained with dirt. He looked like a coolie carrying bags at the dock. It was the first time she had seen such a civil servant, so she couldn't help showing a look of surprise.
"You, what are you still standing there for? Hurry up and find me some clean clothes. Have you prepared the water..."
Qin Mu pointed at Dong Xiaowan without any hesitation and asked her to prepare her clothes. Then he asked the maid opposite and after getting the answer that the water was ready, he went straight to the bathroom.
Dong Xiaowan didn't expect him to order her around like a little girl, and she was a little at a loss. She knew where Qin Mu's clothes were because she slept in Qin Mu's bedroom last night.
She hesitated for a moment, and sighed as if she had accepted her fate. She went back to the bedroom to get a set of clean clothes for Qin Mu, and then moved step by step to the bathroom...
.(To be continued..)
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