Chapter 1292: Training the Cavalry

Besides these, Baifeng also made a decision that shocked everyone: to dispatch twenty Cavalry to Xiao Town—real horse cavalry, not Ox Cavalry.

The total number of guarding Soldiers in Xiao Town was finally set at one hundred and thirty, mainly because the area of Xiao Town is relatively small; although it is quite important, it is remote, and no large tribes would go to Xiao Town.

Furthermore, the city wall of Xiao Town has already been built, which is enough to withstand most enemies. Although no traces of wild people have been found in Xiao Town yet, Baifeng guesses that human tribes must exist, only they have not encountered them yet.

However, if they do exist, they are just small tribes of a few hundred to a thousand people. Although the overall population of Xiao Town is not large, their level of civilization is high, they are wealthier, and their ability to resist risks is stronger.

More than a hundred Soldiers with the best Weapons, occupying the city wall, are enough to defend against an attack by a thousand people. Moreover, Huaxia will also equip Xiao Town with some long-range Weapons; even treasures like the Strong Crossbow are prepared to be arranged with two units sent over.

As long as the Strong Crossbows are installed on the Arrow Towers of Xiao Town, then no enemies can invade. Added to this, things like the Bomb are even more indispensable; as the production site for the main raw material of the Bomb, how could they not have Bombs to use?

What Xiao Town mainly needs to deal with is wild beasts. Humans themselves are the hunting targets of many wild beasts. In the past, when building Xiao Town, the large number of humans arriving attracted many wild beasts, but none succeeded, and they became food for the humans.

Now that so many people are moving there, and they also have to farm and graze, it will naturally attract wild beasts. These Soldiers must also play the role of guarding against wild beasts.

From those brought over by Suirenshi, it is necessary to select some people who are physically strong and are also hunters to serve as herdsmen, because only hunters understand wild beasts best.

Hunters have also faced enough wild beasts; even if they encounter beasts like wolves or leopards, they can remain calm and face them. If a person who has never dealt with wild beasts were to serve as a herdsman, they would certainly be afraid if they encountered a wild beast.

As for the Cavalry, he also wants them to play a role in protecting the herdsmen during their daily training. Although the salt flats of Xiao Town are not as flat as a plain, they are still relatively flat, and there are no dense forests, so letting the warhorses run on the open salt flats is also quite good.

Moreover, the Huaxia Cavalry is indeed at a point where it needs to be well-trained. Why are the herdsmen in the north natural Cavalry? Because they grow up on horseback from childhood; if they exchange the whip in their hands for a Changdao, they will turn from herdsmen into Soldiers.

Then Huaxia can also do this. Those Cavalry are still Soldiers, but they need to do some auxiliary grazing work. In the process of chasing and driving the sheep flocks, they can practice their horse-riding skills well, and they can also use the whips in their hands to practice as if they were Swords or Knives.

A peaceful place like Huaxia City cannot train good Cavalry. They just ride on horseback every day, perform some running, let the horses get familiar with commands, and then practice mounted archery, but without practice, it is difficult to train real skills.

Baifeng cannot bear to throw them directly into the battlefield to fight; given the current combat losses, once they are sent to the battlefield, they will certainly suffer great losses.

Although it is said that a few dozen heavy Cavalry can chase and hack at a thousand infantrymen, the Huaxia Cavalry has just started and is not fully formed at all. They can only ride horses and hold Knives; as a combat force, in Baifeng's view, it is too poor.

If they can attack those wild beasts through mounted archery while grazing, and can hit smaller moving targets, then on the battlefield, a Cavalryman can use high mobility to harass and break a hundred-man team, which can truly reflect his power.

After so many years of breeding, the number of Huaxia horses has reached over three hundred. Except for some foals, they are basically rideable. What Changle said to Baifeng also gave Baifeng a new idea: to take the herd of horses to the Western Development Group, take half of them over, and conduct breeding and training there.

Perhaps the Western Development Group has some wild horses, wild donkeys, and the like. If they can capture more wild horses there, that would be best. It is very difficult to want to capture wild horses. Baifeng feels that his luck in capturing horses has been used up, and it is estimated that it is impossible to capture horses using the previous methods, so he can only use violence.

To want to catch up with a horse, one must know how to ride a horse. It remains to be seen when Huaxia will be able to produce a heroic Soldier who can ride a tall horse, hold a Taomaguan in his hand, and go to the grassland to capture wild horses.

The Soldiers heading to Xiao Town are all rotated, changing every two years. However, for the first batch of Soldiers going to Xiao Town, only half can be rotated out in the second year, and the remaining half will have to wait until the third year.

As for who is chosen and who is not, Baifeng only gave them the opportunity to go voluntarily, not the opportunity to refuse. First, he let them sign up voluntarily; if the number of people signing up is not enough, then random selection is conducted. If you are selected, you must go, unless you have a reason at home that truly makes it impossible to leave Huaxia for too long—even if your wife is about to give birth, that won't work.

The distance between Xiao Town and Huaxia City is not too far, and life is not too bitter; it is just that you cannot go home for two years. If you miss your family, you can let your family come to visit. Every year, a certain quota will be given for a period of family visit leave, ensuring that apart from the necessary time spent on the road, you can definitely stay at your own home for three or four days.

In later generations, those young people who went to university would leave home for several years, and once they went to the border or the plateau, they would be stationed there. The conditions were much worse than in Xiao Town. At least in Xiao Town, there is no altitude sickness, and it is impossible to say it hurts the body. The environment of that era was so good, yet there were still people who could give up their homes to go to the frontier. In this era, everyone is about the same, and as a Soldier, the treatment Huaxia can provide is better than most people's. If they cannot endure this bit of bitterness, then Baifeng will certainly carry out strict punishment.

Now everything is ready, just waiting for the people of Suirenshi to come to Huaxia City. They can probably only stay outside Huaxia City for one or two days, let them visit Huaxia City, and then the Huaxia officials will carry out a policy briefing. After everyone understands, they will set off immediately and head to Xiao Town.