Mythical Three Kingdoms

Seeing Ma Chao, who was hit by his spear and still laughing, Sun Ce was furious and wanted to chase Ma Chao and fight. Unfortunately, his horse was inferior, and his strength was on par. Ma Chao taunted while running, leaving Sun Ce frustrated but unable to do anything about Ma Chao.

”I’ve told you before, cavalry and infantry are completely different. For infantry, you gather the civilians, fight ten or so battles, and train those who survive. Once they integrate the legion talent, they’re considered elite. But cavalry is entirely different,” Ma Chao explained while running.

To be honest, Ma Chao had told Sun Ce this many times before. However, Sun Ce always felt self-important, and Ma Chao had no good way to deal with it. Now, reality has taught Sun Ce a lesson.

”When you looked from above, how big was the gap?” Sun Ce was dissatisfied with Ma Chao but couldn’t do anything about him. Plus, he understood that Ma Chao had a point. With a good attitude, he stopped chasing after a while.

”Under your command, the soldiers who have inherited your legion’s talent can barely fight two each, while General Ma’s can easily fight ten in the front and three at the back. As for General Zhang...” Jia Kui thought it was best not to continue.

”What’s wrong with Jun Yi’s side?” Sun Ce raised an eyebrow and said, ”But why is the gap so big? They’re all cavalry, and they’re all good riders. Why can they only fight two each? Isn’t it said that cavalry fighting less than five each is a loss?”

”On General Zhang’s side, from charging to defeating the opponent, the casualties were probably less than fifty people,” Jia Kui rolled his eyes and said, ”As for cavalry not being able to fight five each and it being a loss, that’s in the Central Plains. Didn’t you notice that there are especially many horses among the Hu people here? Even the infantry you’ve captured now can ride horses, and your cavalry, plus the ones Meng Qi has added, are all mounted infantry.”

”...” Sun Ce’s mouth twitched, ”The gap is way too big. Over here, I can fight two, Meng Qi can fight ten, and he can fight fifty? That can’t be right; the gap is way too big.”

”Fighting fifty is a bit exaggerated. Fighting thirty is still easy, and fighting fifty is only because their organization is chaotic.” At this moment, Zhang He had already ordered the heavy cavalry to remove the heavy armor outside, placing it on another warhorse and wearing light chainmail while moving.

”Fighting thirty...” Sun Ce felt his worldview being refreshed, then suddenly appeared in front of Zhang He with his eyes shining, patting Zhang He’s left shoulder and saying, ”General Zhang, join me. From now on, you’ll be the Cavalry Chief Commander of our Eastern Wu, directly under my leadership.”

Zhang He looked at Sun Ce speechlessly, indicating he didn’t want to talk to someone like Sun Ce.

”This is just obviously restraint. Although General Zhang’s cavalry can be considered elite, I’m afraid they’re not well-trained yet,” Jia Kui sighed and said, then turned to Zhang He, after all, he had spent quite some time in Bingzhou and understood cavalry well.

”Not well-trained yet, but give me another year, and I’ll be able to completely coordinate the cavalry. Right now, they’re just fit to fight miscellaneous soldiers; nine out of ten probably can’t even beat the most elite of the Xiliang Iron Cavalry’s headquarters,” Zhang He said helplessly. These soldiers were all reserve seeds left by Juo Yi.

However, the current biggest problem is that these soldiers were originally developed as Heavy Crossbow Elite, now being developed by Zhang He into Heavy Cavalry. Although both carry heavy equipment, cavalry and infantry are completely different affairs.

Now, these soldiers, relying on their originally strong physiques, have adapted to cavalry combat and are indeed powerful, but compared to the Xiliang Iron Cavalry headquarters, they’re still far behind, after all, the Xiliang Iron Cavalry headquarters have an unbroken lineage.

”Not well-trained?” Sun Ce was shocked, then patted Zhang He’s shoulder even harder, ”Didn’t expect the real elite cavalry to be so powerful that there wouldn’t be any troops capable of countering them on the plains. I see even arrows don’t have much of an impact on them.”

”That’s just because the arrows are too weak,” Zhang He said resentfully, ”At our level, compared to the next stage, we’re actually just miscellaneous soldiers. Even if I advance one more step, at that level, it’ll probably be equivalent to barely touching their backs.”

At this moment, Zhang He recalled the flamboyant gesture of Juo Yi waving his cloak, the arrogant Juo Yi of the past. The more he learned, the more he felt the other party’s strength.

”Uh...” Sun Ce felt a bit overwhelmed, realizing that at this level, they’re just miscellaneous soldiers, so his soldiers probably wouldn’t even count as cannon fodder. At this moment, Sun Ce felt exhausted, as if they had just left the beginner village.

”Military Spirit Legion, that’s completely unattainable,” Jia Kui said with a tug of his mouth. After spending a long time in Bingzhou, he understood how Trap Formation worked.

”None of this matters, let’s solve the problem at hand, General Sunx, you should abandon your soldiers that need to be abandoned. In Liangzhou or Bingzhou, randomly recruiting some Han men to train would be better than these miscellaneous soldiers,” Jia Kui said disdainfully without mercy.

Sun Ce helplessly watched his captives, who had been trained for over ten days, sent to capture prisoners, and then looked at Ma Chao and Zhang He’s elite cavalry, turning to ask, ”Isn’t it rare to have elite cavalry? I see Meng Qi has only over two thousand.”

”That thing, no one has much. Elite cavalry is forged through experience. Generally speaking, in Bingzhou and Liangzhou, capturing and arming the young and strong means you have quality mounted infantry. Training them for two years can make them average cavalry, but after that, it all depends on kill, kill, kill,” Jia Kui explained simply and roughly to Sun Ce. With Sun Ce’s kind of intelligence, it’s better to explain things simply.

”Oh, I see, it’s no different from infantry, but is there a simpler method?” Sun Ce, being the typical opportunist, asked immediately.

”Generally speaking, by fighting repeatedly, they can become elite cavalry. Of course, there are quicker ways, such as leading a thousand mounted infantry to topple five times the elite cavalry led by General Zhang. Those who survive can become the seeds of elite cavalry,” Jia Kui said with a cold smile to Sun Ce, ”But usually, those who do this all die.”

”Cough, cough, cough,” Sun Ce glanced back at Zhang He and then roughly estimated, ”I think if I did that, I’d die too.”

”Anything else?” Jia Kui asked, seeing that Sun Ce still seemed to have questions.

”What if they’re originally elite, and they accomplish wars that are supposed to be impossible?” Sun Ce asked, rubbing his chin.

”Then they would enter another realm, a realm of military self-recognition, also known as Military Spirit,” Jia Kui said with a sinister smile at Sun Ce, ”I think you can give it a try.”

”Better not,” Sun Ce chuckled awkwardly twice, suddenly feeling like if he did that, he would die.

”So we should lead the troops south; there’s likely to be another big battle,” Jia Kui said suddenly with great optimism, and Sun Ce nodded repeatedly, calling for Zhang He and Ma Chao to lead the troops southward. However, he didn’t notice the smile at the corner of Jia Kui’s mouth, ”Sun Bofu isn’t bad either...”