Chapter 4: The Mercenary Crisis

At nightfall, Mayfield left some people to guard the luggage, and then asked Matthew to order more than fifty personal guards to ride on war horses and follow the leader of the mercenaries out of the town of Kuna. The leader of the mercenaries was a strong man who had been with the merchant before, and his name was Aman.

Since the mercenaries did not have horses, in order to speed up the journey, Matthew instructed his guards to take the mercenaries with him. As for the black-haired female swordsman, she was placed in Mayfei's carriage by the others.

In the carriage, Mayfield looked at the female swordsman who was far away from him. Judging from the strange accent from before, this female swordsman was definitely not from the Uhtred Empire, and out of curiosity, he asked, "You must be from the East." ”

The female swordsman nodded lightly, but did not reply. It seems that he is still haunted by the teasing of the young man before. But Mayfield ignored this, and he continued to ask, "What's your name?" ”

"Tone. The female swordsman glanced at the nobleman, and then stared at the young man's same pupils and black hair as her for a while, and finally took the initiative to ask, "You, too, Oriental?"

"Yes, but no. Seeing the female swordsman staring at him suspiciously, Mei Fei smiled and explained to her, "I was born here, but my mother seems to be from the East like you. ”

Yin hesitated for a moment, then looked at him with a look of hope, "Okay, take me, can you meet her." ”

"She died shortly after I was born. Mayfield smiled regretfully, and turned her gaze to the crescent moon outside the window.

The female swordsman was silent for a moment, then spat out "I'm sorry." Then she opened her mouth, but she couldn't say anything comforting.

"Nothing. Mayfi paused, retracting her gaze at the female swordsman, "How did you end up with Tam and those mercenary groups." ”

"I've just arrived, here. No, the money is gone. Just follow, Aman, they, go together, make money. Yin didn't seem to mean to hide it, she thought for a moment and continued to add: "Tam, help, me." ”

"Then you should know why Tam brought you with me in the tavern just now. "Obviously, from the words of this female swordswoman, she did not have an important role in the ranks of merchants. And the reason why she appeared in front of Mei Fei with the mercenary leader was probably just the merchant's own will.

The swordswoman didn't answer, seemingly acquiescing.

"I just took advantage of the situation to propose to go to the night attack, and those words are what they want you to say. ”

"Well, that's, too, my, thoughts. Yin nodded and generously acknowledged: "Thank you, you." ”

In order to achieve his goal, this merchant named Tamu used all the methods he could think of.

And Mei Fei also has her own calculations, in view of the unlucky circumstances of the guards recently, the mood of the team is obviously a little low. They need to fight a good battle to boost the morale of the whole team and stabilize the mood of the guards. Otherwise, with such a military appearance to Bishui City, it is difficult to guarantee that there will not be a worse situation.

If you can take down this group of thieves and capture a group of prisoners of war, maybe it can also play some unexpected role in taking over Blue Water City with Mei Fei. So he agreed to the other party's request.

But to be honest, Mayfei is still a little surprised now.

But less than a day after he was canonized, he left the capital and rushed all the way to Bishui City. At this time, except for the few great nobles who participated in the celebration, few people in the entire Eastern Regions of the empire should know the news that he was canonized to Bishui City. And this humble businessman was able to point out his origin just by virtue of some one-sided features.

As an ordinary businessman, how did Tam get the news?

"Nothing. Mayfi shook her head and continued, "I'm not counting either, I'm unconditionally helping you deal with the thieves. ”

"Companion, captured. Yes, save them. The swordswoman seemed to be very concerned about this: "So, thank you, you." ”

"Most of the captives they take for ransom or to buy them into slave traders, and the mercenaries are not in danger for the time being. Mayfield thought for a moment and said.

"Hmm. The swordswoman nodded.

For the next war, where there is a huge disparity in numbers between the enemy and us, Mei Fei is not very worried. His subordinate guards are all well-trained cavalry, and they have a great mobility advantage over the bandits, even if they can't defeat the opponent head-on, they can pull and break through from the side. Moreover, anyone with a little military knowledge knows that without specially trained heavy infantry, even if it has a numerical advantage of several times, it is difficult to form an effective combat effectiveness in the face of a group charge of cavalry.

The average bandit is usually made up of three types of people.

The highest and lowest members were the serfs at the bottom of society. Because they lost their arable land and could not survive, they took the risk of doing this kind of business that would go to the gallows. These people have little ability to fight, and they may be able to win by swarming ordinary mercenaries. If you encounter a regular cavalry, the biggest effect it can play is to be used as human cannon fodder to counteract the impact of the cavalry.

The second type is the cancer of law and order, such as gangsters, scoundrels or fugitives. These people are not a good thing in the first place, and it is normal for them to be driven away by the local sheriff, so they take the opportunity to join the thieves group together or simply. Their combat ability is better than that of serfs, but they only stay at the level of fighting in the streets and smothering in the ground.

The last type is mercenaries. The group of people who are already licking their lives on the knife edge, once they are obsessed with money, they will easily do something hurtful. Most of them are similar to ordinary soldiers, and they know some tactics, but because they have no reliable discipline. These tactics usually don't work out very well either.

As the backbone of the armies of various countries, there is an insurmountable gap between the military quality and equipment of the heavy infantry and the rabble of thieves.

A rabble like a bands of thieves. As soon as the cavalry regiment charged, the whole area would collapse. Not to mention the fact that they were about to face an unprepared raid. When properly directed, the battle is essentially a one-sided slaughter.

However, the purpose of Mayfei's trip is not just to eliminate this group of thieves.

Under the guidance of the mercenaries, Matthew and a group of guards quickly found the place where the caravan had been ambushed by a group of thieves not long ago. Mei Fei relied on the torches in the hands of the guards to look at the battlefield, and by this time the blood on the ground had begun to solidify, and the carriage had already been taken away. But without horses, they certainly won't get far. The guards carefully searched for the whereabouts of the thieves, and hundreds of people were still carrying carriages, so it was difficult for such a large target to be hidden.

After a while, Matthew brought the mercenary leader Amand to report: "Young master, judging from the trajectory of the wheels, they should be heading south. ”

Mei Fei glanced at the map in the servant's hand, pointed to one of them, and said, "This bandof thieves has more than two hundred people, if you want to choose a place to be stationed." It is necessary to find enough water. Then the nearby streams and lakes are the most likely places for them to settle. ”

"My lord, the beach you are referring to is not far to the south, and is the only nearby source of water that meets their needs. But the terrain is very empty, and they can easily detect any movement around, which seems to be not conducive to our surprise attack. Amand glanced at where Mayfi was pointing.

"There is a small hill on this side, and we can take advantage of the darkness to get out of their sight from behind the hillside and attack on the bank of the river behind them. ”

"Aman, do you know the terrain of this generation? Seeing the latter nod, Mayfield continued, "There are so many of us moving together with horses that it is too quiet for the sentries to be detected. ”

"So next, you take five knights and go ahead, and when you meet the sentries, they'll take care of it. Matthew and I followed from a distance with a large army, and if we found a large force of the thieves, leaving two knights to keep an eye on, you and the others would come back first to report the situation. ”

While Mayfield explained to the mercenaries, Matthew also called in five personal guards.

"I see, sir. When Amand agreed, he immediately jumped off his horse and set off with his guards.

Then things went surprisingly well, just as the female swordsman said, and the thieves lost all vigilance after the successful robbery. Not to mention the patrolling sentinels along the way, they didn't even find any vigilance until the camp where the thieves were stationed.

Mayfei's carriage was parked at the back of the hill, and the others had already disembarked and stood on the high slope looking down on the camp at their feet, leaving only Matthew and the female swordswoman who was riding in the carriage with him, and the guards on standby at a location not far away. The mercenaries were lined up on both sides of the camp and ready to launch a surprise attack. There was no doubt that the camp in front of them was just as the female swordsman Yin had said, and there was no defense against them. These thieves had already fallen asleep with the joy of victory, unaware of the impending catastrophe.

At this time, the countless shining stars under the desolate night sky began to gradually dim, the silver moon suddenly converged into a white light and shadow, and the earth under his feet completely disappeared and sank into darkness.

The night was still deep, and the dawn was far away.

Mei Fei retracted her gaze and turned to look at Shanlan's bonfire not far away: "Tone." Let Aman, with the mercenaries, lie in ambush outside the camp and stand by, and they will only be responsible for containing the thieves who try to escape. ”

Seeing the female swordsman nodding, Mayfield turned to Matthew on the side and ordered, "Matthew, tell the knights." The purpose of our trip is not to eliminate all thieves. I need them to bring back enough captives for me. The first goal of the raid was to capture the leader of the bandits, so that he could force the bandits to abandon their resistance and surrender. ”

"Understood, young master. ”

Before Matthew could finish speaking, the female swordsman, who was about to leave, suddenly turned her head and proposed in her awkward tone, "I, too." I, I know, that, the chief. ”

"Oh?" Mayfi glanced at the female swordsman with some surprise, "It's dangerous. ”

"I'm very, awesome. Yin stared at the young nobleman dissatisfied, as if he thought he was being underestimated.

"Yes. Mayfield suddenly laughed: "Then go ahead." ”