Chapter 36: The Battlefield
I didn't know what was going on, but I quickly ordered to attack the knight. Pen, fun, and www.biquge.info
Resarit rode his horse and shouted, "That boy is the grandson of King Harlaus!
After the war I learned that the child in King Harlaus's arms was his only grandson, Prince Dick. Prince Dick was the widow of his father, Crown Prince Diego, and upon his birth, the prince was given the title of Duke of Paraven. The aged King Harlaus pinned his hopes on his only grandson to revive the Kallad dynasty. As soon as the prince was made a duke, he became the crown prince of the kingdom of Svadia, which also cut off the illusion of many lords usurping the throne. King Haraus came to power in a coup d'Γ©tat and expelled Lady Asona of Suno, who was supposed to inherit the throne. In my later conversations with King Haraus, I learned that the ancient Karad dynasty had a bad tradition of very few kings having an heir during their reign. At that time, the Kalard Empire was in turmoil, wars were frequent, and the monarch died, and the monarch's only flesh and blood was Lady Esona. The woman's rise to power caused the dissatisfaction of the nobles, and an internal struggle began, completely ignoring the external strife, so that the ancient Karad dynasty came to an end on the stage of history without any suspense.
Perhaps the Kallad dynasty still had a chance to revivenation, and Count Harlaus was pushed to the forefront of history in this turbulent era, ending the civil strife and renaming the empire the Kingdom of Swadia. The new king, King Haraus, began to lead the Swadians on a long road of revival.
In the countless long nights since I entered politics, I began to wonder why the Kallads had adopted such a seemingly stupid way of succession. The disadvantages of this are the rivalry between the royal family and the nobility and the weakening of the national power, but it is not without benefits. Through this brutal method of selection, the best leaders usually defeat their opponents and then lead the country to a great prosperity, while the hereditary system often leads to the low quality of the monarch and the mediocrity of talent, and the most serious consequence is the decline of the country's strength. I have never known what kind of succession to the throne should be adopted in a country, but I think that sometimes it is a good choice for the Kugit people to meet the "Kuritai" aristocratic councils, where the princes and nobles of the country gather to discuss the election of a monarch. Of course, every time there is a competition of interests in "Kulitai", but the monarch promoted must not be mediocre.
Sure enough, I saw a whole phalanx of Svadian knights, majestic in their army. A few knights in the front row, holding the banner of King Harauth, a red flag painted with a black lion.
After the army of the Kugit Khanate was defeated by Harlaus, the Kugit people talked about the "flag" and were terrified when they heard about it. The majesty of the male lion obscures the brilliance of the steppe wolf.
I'm old now, and I don't have anything to be embarrassed to admit about back then. When I saw the military appearance of these knights, I was really frightened, so I reined in my horse and hurriedly asked my subordinates to stop. However, these knights don't seem to be interested in us stragglers, and may think that we are just a rout, and attacking us is detrimental to the knighthood.
It was in the glittering light of these knights that I made a decision that would change my life.
I looked at the astonished expressions of the brethren and pretended to be calm, and said, "Kill King Haraus for a reward of 1,000 dinars, and kill the child in his arms for a bounty of 500 dinars." Capture any of them alive, and I will give him 3,000 dinars. With that, I rode my horse and rushed out.
My warriors, stimulated by the amount of the bounty, rushed out as well.
Resarit later told me that he had listened to my decision and wanted to draw his sword and kill himself. But he drew his handguard sword and pointed the tip of it at King Haraus.
I ordered the soldiers to draw their swords and spears, charge at the phalanx of knights, and within a hundred paces of King Harauth, turn to King Harauth, and shoot the men on the hillside as fast as they could. I reckon that the turning ground was still 200 paces away from the phalanx of knights north of the hillside, and that we could shoot our arrows before retreating.
A ridiculous thought popped into my head, a small Kugit army of 35 men, rushing towards a phalanx of knights of at least 100 men, as if it were hitting a boulder with a quail egg. I think that's what everyone who witnessed this happens.
The knights were indifferent, presumably trying to see what we were trying to do. In their eyes, we Kugit crumbs can be hacked to death with a single sword, so we don't guard against it.
The Kugit horse was not a good breed, but it was constantly fighting and racing with wolves in the savannah, but it became the best war horse in Calradia. In just a moment, I felt like we were in front of the knights.
I saw that I was close enough to King Haraus, and I ordered loudly, "Turn!"
At the sound of the command, all the riders jerked on the reins so that the horse's head was facing the top of the slope.
As I stretched my bow, I gave a second command: "Shoot arrows!"
35 bows are raised at the same time, and arrows are drawn and bows are drawn. In less than two seconds, 35 arrows flew in a parabola towards King Harauth.
King Haraus turned over and dismounted, holding his shield in one hand and his grandson in the other. The other knights were not as quick as King Harlaus, and they were shot one after another.
Seeing this, the knights quickly charged.
I performed another stunt, firing three arrows in a row, one of which hit King Harauth's forearm, and the Kujit arrow pierced through King Harlaus's gauntlet with the speed of its fall.
The king hurriedly threw himself on the ground and shielded Duke Dick with his wings.
I didn't let go of the arrows again. People speculated afterwards that I could actually shoot another arrow to kill King Harlaus, who was not wearing a helmet at the time. The reason why the arrow did not shoot became a topic of discussion. A professor at Aaron University even gave a lecture to discuss why. Some people say that I was moved by King Haraus's act of sacrificing his life to save his grandson, so I did not release arrows; some people say that the phalanx of knights is about to rush in front of my eyes, and I have no time to replenish another arrow, so I do not release arrows; others say that I am a spy sent by Swadia to Kugit, and I am just playing on the spot, so I do not shoot; some people speculate that King Haraus and I cherish each other heroically and cannot bear to harm him; and even worse, they say that I have a broken sleeve of love between King Haraus and I and am reluctant to release arrows.
I laughed at all the speculations and did not answer, and if anyone pressed them, I would say that they were Tengger's will.
Many years later, when I was recuperating on the coast of Rhodok, my youngest grandson Dharlandet asked me why I didn't shoot the arrow at that time, and I told him the truth: "Because my purpose has been achieved, there is no need to shoot him." β
I say this because after King Harauth fell to the ground, I shouted, "I shot Harlaus!" Resarit understood and shouted, "Harlaus has been shot!"
When the other soldiers heard this, they also shouted, "Harauth has been shot!"
The cry of the 35 seemed to shake the wilderness.
The knights were in a big mess and hurriedly rushed up the mountain to see how the king was doing, and the commander of the knights, Count Relo, who was on the mountain, was angry and scolded: "You have been fooled, chase after you!"
The knights were in a hurry to chase after us, and we were already far away.
When the knights were going up the mountain, I ordered Ulligi to blow the trumpet. The horn carries a message: "The enemy chief is dead!"
When the Kugit army, which had been in a bitter battle, heard this horn from behind the enemy, their morale was greatly lifted, and they shouted "Haraus is dead" and "Harlaus is dead" all over the mountains.
Nayan Asugan hurriedly ordered a general attack, and the Swadia army was distracted, so it was defeated. On the contrary, the Kugit army was murderous.
It is said that when King Harauth saw this, he sighed and led his troops to withdraw to Dehrim.
The Swadian army was like a lost dog, throwing away its armor, the Marshal of Sweden left his soldiers and led his cronies to flee, and the Viscount Lemmary and other lords escorted King Haraus to retreat. Only the Count of Crespo commanded the ranks in order, volunteering to be the queen of King Haraus.
Some of Count Crespo's wounded soldiers asked to stay behind to cover the retreat of the king and lords, and the count agreed to their request. The wounded soldiers lined up as they did when they were not wounded. In front of the wolf-like Kugit cavalry, these poor people looked insignificant.
All they could hear was roaring in unison, and rushed towards the Kugit army with their weapons, putting life and death on the line.
This is similar to my attack on King Harlaus. But I wanted to shoot King Harauth and run, and they would see death as home.
A wild laugh erupted from among the Kugit troops, and a volley of bows was fired, and then charged.
This group of wounded soldiers quickly disappeared into the cavalry group.
Towards the end of the battle, only one Swadia light infantry was holding out the battle. He brandished his spear so that the Kugit soldiers did not dare to approach.
He shouted, "Lao Tzu is Uncle Fabel, who is under Count Crespo. Kugit miscellaneous, Lao Tzu has already killed the five of you today, enough for this!"
I immediately became interested in this Swadia light infantry called Fabel. This Swadia light infantry was covered in blood, like a wounded lion. I suddenly understood the meaning of the black lion on King Haraus's banner. I think the image of the lion is probably derived from the heroic and indomitable Swadian soldiers. The Swadia lion is noble and proud, disdainful and subservient to the enemy, daring to fight to the last moment. This is the spirit of Svadia and the source of the tragedy of Svadia's reckless militarism.
While I was admiring, Faber stabbed another Kugit rider to death.
I stepped forward and ordered the soldiers to stand back. Although these soldiers were not under my command, they knew that I was the lord of the khanate, so they withdrew.
I said to Fabel with great interest: "Swadians, I give you a favor. Let's duel, if I lose, you win freely, if you lose, you have to be at my disposal. β
Fabel laughed, laughed for a while, and said, "Miscellaneous people are not small. I'll let you see how Uncle Fabel cooks you!"
While I was admiring, Faber stabbed another Kugit rider to death.
I stepped forward and ordered the soldiers to stand back. Although these soldiers were not under my command, they knew that I was the lord of the khanate, so they withdrew.
I said to Fabel with great interest: "Swadians, I give you a favor. Let's duel, if I lose, you win freely, if you lose, you have to be at my disposal. β
Fabel laughed, laughed for a while, and said: "Tatar, you are not small. As a token of appreciation for your courage, I'll let you see how Uncle Fabel cooks you!"