Chapter 56: Prairie Swallows (Part II)
(Thanks to "Zhao Wuxian 2014", "Oghuz", and "Sumuyu" for their support!) )
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A hundred paces away from the wall of the Hange Tribe, thousands of Karasuma people had already gathered in all directions, some dismounted, some galloped back and forth, ready to shoot.
Although the Hange wall is only a one-person-high earthen wall, it is by no means a simple wall. After the last attempted invasion of the Karasuma people, the Hango tribe took this as a warning and made a series of enhancements and improvements to the defense of the wall. For example, an inner wall was added, which was separated from the outer wall by three zhang as a second line of defense; For example, cut down a large number of thorns, pile them on the outer wall, and bind the earthen wall with vines to make it difficult for the incoming enemy to climb over; For another example, digging a trench with a width and depth of nearly a foot around the perimeter of the earthen wall to prevent the enemy cavalry from attacking, can only be attacked on foot in an honest manner.
Because of this series of defensive measures, although it was simple, it was quite effective against the Karasuma people, who did not even have a few ladders and only relied on crowd tactics, and they withstood it for three days. In just three days, these simple defenses had been almost destroyed: the trenches had been filled with dirt and corpses, and the thorns had been broken by the Karasuma people with knives and axes, and picked away with spears. For this, the Karasuma people paid more than 300 lives. Now, at last, the time has come for them to ask for a price.
Boom Boom! Fifty paces away from the wall, dense Karasuma cavalry flew along the wall, smoke and dust were spreading, and arrows rained down, overwhelmingly shooting at the Hange tribesmen behind the wall. Many of the tribesmen held pot lids, pottery pots, door panels, and homemade wooden and leather shields to resist the arrows. Most of the Karasuma people use single bows, and the penetration of arrows is limited, as long as they are blocked, they basically can't shoot through, but if they can't block it, it's enough to choke.
Tang Nu stood high on the watchtower, with a round shield on his arm, holding a two-stone hard bow, clenching his teeth and firing. After shooting more than 20 arrows in a row, he replaced it with a single bow with a stone, and shot more than 10 arrows, and the leather finger sleeves were worn out. In just half a burnt of incense, he shot nearly thirty horsemen in one go. The five servants beside him also tried their best to shoot wildly, and they also made quite a success. So much so that when Karasuma rode under the watchtower, they widened their distances and went around far away.
After the Karasuma cavalry galloped around Hango Village and suppressed more than a dozen rounds, they retreated with a rough horn. Hundreds of Karasuma men armed with swords and spears, rode their horses out of the dense fog and dust, and pounced on the wall. When the fast horse was about to hit the wall, the Karasuma people suddenly turned their horses, and the war horse grazed the base of the wall, and the Karasuma people jumped up. Some were in mid-air and were knocked over by head-on arrows and javelins, while others were lucky enough to pounce on the wall.
"Kill! Never let a single Karasuma man in! Donnu raised his bow and struck an arrow right in the right chest of a Karasuma man who was about to climb over the wall. Unexpectedly, he was weak to open his bow, and could only half-open the string, but instead of falling with an arrow, the Karasuma people were ferocious, pulled out a bloody arrow, cut down a tribe with a knife, and jumped down. Undecided, a stout figure rushed in obliquely, smashing Karasuma's head with a single blow.
Tang Nu looked fixedly, but it was the bow maker Meng Yuan, who couldn't help but give him a thumbs up.
Meng Yuan smiled and carried the hammer on his shoulder. Tang Nu on the watchtower suddenly changed his face, and raised his hand at Meng Yuan is an arrow. Meng Yuan was blind, and watched the arrows shoot - flying past his ears, and a scream came from behind him.
Meng Yuan turned back in shock, only to find that a Karasuma man with a short axe was hiding his face and falling......
The battle for the walled wall gradually became white-hot under such a tragic battle of swords and arrows and arrows.
Seeing that the Hange tribesmen were about to be unable to resist, there was a sonorous sound of horses' hooves in the distance, and the sound was huge, and there were hundreds of horses.
When Tang Nu heard the sound of this special iron hoof, he shouted with joy: "Our cavalry is back again!" Let's work hard and get the Karasuma people out! ”
Sure enough, the cavalry rushed through the wall like a whirlwind, raised their bows and fired a volley, and the critical attack was like rain, and all the Karasuma people who had not had time to climb over the earth wall were shot down, and the few Karasuma people who had already climbed over the wall were beaten by the swords and sticks of the Hango tribe surrounded by a swarm of bees because of the loss of support.
A very important reason why Hange Village has been able to carry it in the past few days is that there is this mobile cavalry waiting for an opportunity outside the village. At every critical moment, they would appear, stab the Karasuma people's chrysanthemums from behind, and then beat the horses and ran away, so that the Karasuma people could not catch up.
Although the Karasuma people also had sentinels, in order to defend against this elusive cavalry, the cordon had to be lengthened, and the men and horses were scattered, and it was impossible to stop this concentrated light cavalry. The Hange cavalry used this wolf pack tactic to perform many successes, and saved the situation at critical moments many times.
Seeing that the Karasuma people were repulsed again, Tang Nu on the watchtower excitedly waved his cavalry, but at this moment, as if he saw something, his whole body stiffened, his face changed greatly, and he roared to the southwest halberd: "Be careful, Karasuma people...... Sky! It was the horsemen of the king of Khanlu, and the old thief of Uyan actually staked all the goods at the bottom of his crate ......"
King Khan Lu cavalry guard, a total of more than 300 horsemen, under the leadership of the leader of the thousand people Chang Chilu, one person and two horses, well-bowed horses, suddenly killed from a dense forest, tightly bitten the Hange cavalry, Ouroboros chased.
The 200 Hango cavalry was suddenly attacked and almost cut in two. Fortunately, they were well-trained and disciplined, and although they were not panicked, the center of the cavalry quickly galloped outward, occasionally returning to their horses and firing, while the flanks volleyed from the flanks to form a convex semicircle. As the Hango cavalry galloped, the semicircle continued to expand outward, and it seemed to be about to disperse at any time, but it was always alienated.
The two sides continued to shoot at each other, although the bows and arrows used were almost the same, but the Hango cavalry shot back from their horses, with the wind and the trend, while the Karasuma cavalry guards shot against the wind, and the range was naturally slightly inferior. Just such a small difference causes the proportion of casualties to be skewed.
While the Hango cavalry was strangling with the Karasuma cavalry guards, on the side of Hango Village, Pufforo personally led all the Karasuma people to bet on it. More than 1,200 Karasuma people, although they are not elite, and their equipment is very simple, but they are all strong, and they are bloodthirsty and fierce, compared to Hange Village, where the old and weak account for half, they are too strong. After being fully pressed, in just half an hour, it broke through the outer wall and entered Hange Village.
"Retreat, all retreat into the inner wall!" Tang Nu's voice was so hoarse that he couldn't shout anymore, and every time he gave a command, he was shouted by the servants beside him. Although there are also flag commands, most of the people guarding the village are ordinary people, and how many people can understand the flag logo? So this communication has to basically rely on roaring.
In fact, there was no need for Tang Nu to give an order, most of the tribesmen had already noticed that something was wrong, and they retreated one after another, and some of them were slow to run, and they were chased by the Karasuma people from behind, and they were killed instantly. Donnu's eyes were red at the sight, and he raised his arms and raised his bow, but his arms trembled, as if he could not pull the bowstring when he lifted a mountain—he had shot nearly a hundred arrows today, and he had already exerted extraordinary performance, his finger sleeves were worn out, his fingers were bleeding, and his arms could no longer be lifted, and now he could not shoot a single arrow. His people were slaughtered, and his heart was bleeding. Hange Village, in danger.
A hundred paces away from the wall, Puffou and the fifty cavalry guards stared at each other, like a vicious wolf waiting for an opportunity to pounce and bite. Seeing that most of the more than 1,000 warriors broke into the wall, and the Hango people retreated step by step, Pufflu opened his mouth and laughed wildly: "The Hango tribe is about to end, what about your Hango cavalry?" Why don't you see killing to relieve the siege? Wowha! ”
Before the words fell, I suddenly saw a lot of smoke and dust not far away, and a group of Karasuma people and wolves rushed to run away, desperately escaping, and it seemed that there was a group of evil wolves chasing and killing behind them.
Before Pufforo could react, a strangely dressed cavalry rushed out of the smoke and dust: wearing hats, thick felt, all masked, and holding a strange crossbow in their hands, they were killing with great momentum.
Where did these cavalrymen come from? Before Puffou could turn his mind, his cavalry guards had already divided into thirty horses and rushed forward to intercept them. The other party only has more than 30 riders, and his cavalry guards are all elite, and they can be easily killed one-on-one, which is Puffro's idea. But as soon as the two sides made contact, the result almost shocked Pufforo's jaw.
The Karasuma cavalry guard did not dare to fire arrows for fear of accidentally injuring the pursuers, but planned to kill the enemy with knives, axes, spears, and lassoes at close range. Of course, they also saw the crossbows in the hands of the enemy, so they raised their round shields one by one, ready to block the enemy's blow, and then rushed close to fight. But the next moment, the Karasuma Riders realized that they had made a big mistake.
As the cavalry approached, they raised their hands and fired - most of the Karasuma cavalry guards blocked the arrow, except for three or four horsemen who moved a little slower and were dismounted. And when the guards lowered their arms and shields according to their usual thinking, drew their swords and axes, and prepared to kill, they were shocked to find that the enemy did not pull the strings and arrows at all, but quickly moved a pole-like thing, and then, a continuous stream of crossbow arrows shot out like beads......
The Karasuma cavalry guard was dealt a fatal blow in an instant, and some of them were hit by three or four arrows in the face, bleeding all over their faces, and fell to the ground with a cry of grief; Some of them are in the middle of the chest and abdomen, tumbling and falling off their horses; Some of them were hit by the arrows of the war horses, and in the pain, they turned the master off the horse. In just one shot, most of the thirty Karasuma cavalry guards fell, and the remaining seven or eight people had never seen such sharp weapons, and they scattered in all directions.
The cavalry struck a blow, cheered together, and so on, and the sound seemed to, as if, as if......
Puffru's mouth was wide open, and before he could associate the female's voice with the peculiar cavalry, he saw the other man urging the cavalry to rush towards him, and the crossbow was aimed at him.
Puff puff!
The arrows were scattered, and the Karasuma cavalry guards fell down one after another, and only a few quick eyes and hands raised their bows to counterattack, and shot several opponents, but at close range, the bow and arrows were no faster than the crossbows, and they were soon shot into hedgehogs.
Puffou also shot two horsemen with a bow, and when he was about to shoot the third arrow, a thin masked knight rushed out of the diagonal spur, raised his hand and burst three shots, hitting Puffru's wrist, arm, and cheek. In particular, an arrow in the cheek pierced the right cheek and knocked several molars away.
Pufforo was bleeding profusely, his soul flew out of the sky, and he fled. The emaciated masked knight aimed at Puffru's back, and a powerful lever moved, and the spring clicked, but no arrows were fired, but the crossbow bolts were gone.
"Ma Jun, this stupid person, why don't you decorate the arrow box with more arrows. What a chance......" The masked knight complained angrily while changing the arrow box, and listened to the voice, it turned out to be a slave.
As soon as Pufforo ran, the flag was also moved behind, and more than a thousand Karasuma people who had already attacked Hange Village heard the sound of cavalry galloping and shooting behind them, and then saw that the main general had run away, and there was a great chaos.
Tang Nu was overjoyed, and he didn't care to find out where this cavalry came from, the golden dragon broke the lock and waved the banner, and his voice was hoarse: "Kill!" Kill! Get rid of the dogs! ”
The host and guest were changing, and the Karasuma people, who had suffered from the enemy on their backs, were once again expelled from Hange Village.
This strange cavalry that raided Pufforo was none other than 30 grassland swiftlets led by Niannu, and with their sharp crossbows, they caught the Karasuma cavalry guards off guard. At this time, seeing that Puffuru was wounded and fled, and the grassland swallows drove their horses in pursuit, all the girls had only one thought: to kill the prince of the Uyan tribe, the Karasuma people would be defeated, and the siege of Hange Village would be solved.
The girls rode like flying, and the skill of controlling horses was not under their father and brother in the slightest, and they slowly gathered together in pursuit, only to find that there were only twenty horses left, some of them were left behind, and some of them were unfortunately killed......
"Catch up and kill Puffou!" Nian Nu stared at the hasty figure fifty paces ahead, and suddenly, her face changed, not only her, but all the girls' faces changed......
Three hundred paces ahead, a Karasuma Essence suddenly appeared from a low hill, as many as fifty horsemen, swooped down and slashed towards them.
Almost all the girls reined in one after another, except for a thin figure, who did not hesitate to rush towards Puffle, who had already reached thirty paces.
"Niannu! Come on! ”
"Don't chase it! Come back! ”
Pufforo had run fifty paces away, but when he saw his father send the last of his guards to reinforce him, his heart was hot at first, and then it was cold, and he couldn't help but let go of the reins and slow down his horse. He knew in his heart that his father had let himself go. With the soldiers of the clan, clean up a small Hange village, if they can't fight and step on it, the reputation of the Wuyan Department will be defeated, and it will be difficult to call on other departments. Therefore, he cannot escape, he must be killed. Well, with this elite new force, why does he need to escape? It should have been the cavalry that pursued him who had fled, but they were only about twenty horsemen......
Puffou immediately turned around, ignored the sharp pain in his cheeks, spat out a mouthful of blood, drew his knife and pointed forward: "Kill back......"
Before the sound fell, a familiar thin knight Feng also rushed forward, raised his hand and pointed with one hand, and dialed it with one hand - click, click, click!
Ten arrows were fired, and Pufforo had short arrows stuck in his face, and he roared to the sky, and fell heavily into the dust.
Historically, after Uyan's death, he was succeeded by his eldest son, Puffou. No one could have imagined that at the foot of this White Sandalwood Mountain, the successor of the King of Karasuma in Youbeiping would die at the hands of a thirteen-year-old girl.
With a single blow of her life, Niannu shot and killed the prince of the Wuyan tribe, and she was in great danger - a hundred paces ahead, the sound of hooves was like thunder, smoke and dust were flying, and the figures were towering, it was the last elite rider of the king of Khanlu!