Standalone Northern and Southern Dynasties

Chapter 47: Three Methods of Horseback Archery (Part )
Su Lin naturally would not hide anything. He rode on his horse to demonstrate and said:
“The key to horse riding and archery lies in both riding and archery. Riding is the foundation and archery is the technique.”

"My Lord, your riding skills are already pretty good, and your archery stance is solid too. You only need to make some adjustments to learn horseback archery."

"First of all, when riding and shooting, you must ensure that the man and the horse are one. You must train the horse to run and move skillfully, and the horse's back cannot rise and fall too much when galloping on the road."

Su Ze thought of the wave pressing method taught by his father. It seems that the "wave pressing" realm is not only about reducing the horse's horsepower consumption,
It is also to make horseback archery more stable.

Su Lin added: "When riding and shooting, the person on horseback has to use both hands to draw the bow, so he must use his knees to control the movement of the horse."

"If the left knee touches, the horse will turn right, and if the right knee touches, the horse will turn left. It is best to wait until the person is on the horse's back, the person and the horse have forgotten each other, and can entrust their lives to each other in the battle. "

"Horse archery requires training the tacit understanding between man and horse. If you can't control the horse when drawing the bow on the battlefield, it's easy to fall into danger."

Su Ze listened carefully. No wonder knight training was so difficult. Just the tacit understanding between man and horse required years of practice.

Su Lin continued:

"After developing a good understanding of the horse, it is time to learn the techniques of horseback archery, which include 'separating the mane', 'matching the stirrups' and 'wiping the swing'."

Su Ze said: "My father and the soldiers practiced the method of stirrups. What are the other two methods?"

Su Lin said: "In military drills and drills, we can use the stirrup method. Stirrup means leaning over the left side of the horse, then lowering the bow to the full draw, then raising the bow to aim at the target and shoot."

"And what I used just now is the split-mane shooting method, which means leaning over to the right side of the horse, drawing the bow horizontally and shooting after fully pulling it."

Su Ze said with some doubt: "Isn't this method better than the stirrup method? You don't need to raise the bow to aim like the stirrup method, you can aim as soon as you draw the bow?"

Su Lin said: "The purpose of splitting the mane is to draw the bow from the right side of the horse. What if the enemy comes from the left side of the horse?"

Su Ze was stunned for a moment, and Su Lin continued:

"Unless you can shoot with both hands, if you encounter an enemy approaching from the left on horseback, you have to use your knees to control the horse to turn right and pull the enemy to the right to kill him. This is very dangerous on the battlefield."

"So the split-bristle method is mostly used to ambush fixed targets, with cavalry fighting infantry. When encountering cavalry, it is more appropriate to use the stirrup method, so that arrows can be fired from both sides."

It turns out there is so much knowledge.

Su Lin added: "The last method of swinging is to twist your body back, point your left toe backwards, and then stretch the bow to the full extent before releasing it."

"This method is used to shoot the enemy behind you. When the cavalry is fighting, this method is often used to pull the enemy away."

Su Lin said: "My Lord, if you want to participate in hunting, you can just practice the method of stirrups. Just like archery, the method of stirrups also focuses on precision and firmness."

"Today we will practice riding and guarding."

Sure enough, after receiving guidance, Su Ze's horseback archery improved rapidly. He already had a foundation in foot archery, and with Su Lin's one-on-one guidance, the power of his horseback archery became much greater.

Yang Zongjia and Fan Dalang also received guidance from Su Lin, and their archery skills improved a bit.

When the sun was about to set, Yang Zongjia and Fan Dalang bowed to Su Ze and said:

"Captain, thank you for teaching us archery. From now on, if you have any instructions, we will obey!"

Yang Zongjia and Fan Dalang knew very well how precious this archery skill was. Most of the officers in the Yulin Army were Xianbei people. Because the Hu people had archery skills passed down from generation to generation, these people took the family archery skills very seriously, and even used only the common archery skills taught in the Yulin Army on the training ground. And the force techniques and body postures were even more secret, and ordinary low-level Yulin Army soldiers could not learn them at all.

Su Ze asked Su Lin to teach them archery, which would give them an extra means of survival on the battlefield in the future. Moreover, as long as they could pass the examination for the material officer, they could also receive an extra two hu of rice. These were all practical benefits.

In addition, Su Ze had saved the lives of two people in the wooden pagoda of Yongning Temple, so it was natural for the two to join Su Ze.

Su Ze helped the two men up and said, "You and I are both brothers in the Imperial Guards. What's the big deal? Go ask the troops. If anyone wants to learn archery, they can come to me!"

Yang Zongjia and Fan Dalang looked at each other. Su Ze offered archery training for free, which meant he wanted to make friends with the guests.

This kind of thing was also normal in the Northern Wei army. Colonels and brigade commanders would often make friends with lower-level soldiers, forming a "master-soldier-guest" relationship.

This is similar to the relationship between a civil official and a guest. Once he becomes a military leader, he becomes the leader of this group of soldiers, forming a closer relationship between superiors and subordinates.

Yang Zongjia and Fan Dalang were actually happy that Su Ze was going to be the leader of the army, as this was what everyone did in the army these days.

The Han people and the Han people, the Xianbei people and the Xianbei people, formed a group and recommended each other for important positions. The senior officials of the Yulin Army were also happy to let the military leaders serve as middle and low-level officers.

Previously, Su Ze had prestige in the Yulin Army, but he was unwilling to be the leader of the troops, and instead became the target of the Xianbei military leaders' anger.

Now that Su Ze is willing to recruit soldiers, he can form a new faction in the army with his ability and prestige. Yang Zongjia and Fan Dalang, who joined Su Ze earlier, can also obtain a higher status.

The court, which had just calmed down from the Yongning Temple assassination case, was once again in turmoil surrounding the selection of Prince Qinghe.

The scholars in white, holding invitations from Prince Qinghe, shuttled between the residences of a high-ranking official.

At Princess Chenliu's mansion, Lu Zhu took the invitation written on brocade and presented it to Princess Chenliu who was lying on the couch.

The princess walked on the snow with the cat in her arms.

Luzhu held the invitation and said, "I didn't expect the king would hold the selection as scheduled."

Princess Chenliu took the invitation with a smile and said, "If I don't hold it now, it would seem like I have something to hide. My brother Prince Qinghe and my sister-in-law have a special relationship, and it's not that easy to break them up."

"only."

Luzhu asked: "Just what?"

"However, Yongning Temple allowed Brother Qinghe Prince to escape, and this hunting trip will also be troublesome."

Thinking of what happened in Yongning Temple, Luzhu shrank her head and asked, "Your Highness, why don't you say you are not feeling well and not go hunting?"

Princess Chenliu rubbed the cat slave in her arms vigorously. The poor cat slave made angry noises but dared not struggle, allowing Princess Chenliu to ravage him.

"Then isn't Su Ze going too? How can I not go to such an interesting event!"

"Tell the maids in the mansion to sew the hunting clothes quickly. I also want to participate in the hunting."

Luzhu knew that her princess was starting to go crazy again, but she also knew that she couldn't stop Princess Chenliu. She could only pray that this time the selection would go smoothly and that nothing unexpected would happen in Yongning Temple.

(End of this chapter)