Chapter 147: Archers

Lorist and his squad of archers spent five days approaching the lower crossing of the Mitobro River when they encountered a battle, and two lords with one or two hundred men each were facing each other.

Well, Lorist admits that the word war seems to elevate the two lords, and the correct description would be that what is about to happen is a village-level fight. Look at the equipment of the two sides, there are only four or five people on horseback, all of them are peasant soldiers, not to mention the tattered clothes, and most of the things in their hands are farm tools......

As a neutral party, Lorist was ready to enjoy the fight, but unfortunately, the two lords didn't seem to pay much attention to the audience's feelings, and they were still scolding each other for almost an hour.

Lorist is impatient, if you want to fight, you should fight quickly, and when you are done fighting, you will get out of the way, which will occupy the road and not fight, what is the meaning of just scolding? Isn't this occupying the pit and not shiting?

"Pat, go and ask them if they are still fighting, and if they don't, get out of the way and let us pass first. ”

If it weren't for the five wagons full of supplies, Lorist would have led his squad of archers straight through the wilderness without taking the avenue. But there was no way, the supplementary arrows of the archers, the camping supplies and cooking utensils of more than 100 people, the grain and grass and the oatmeal and horse feed for the mounts were loaded with five carts by Sedecamp, which made Lorist sigh that if it was just him and Pat, there would be no need to be so troublesome, two small duffel bags could be thrown on horseback and set off, there were really many people and many things, Lorist regretted that he should not have promised Josk to set off with the archers.

This time, the cavalry squad led by Pete was only ninety-seven people, which did not reach the full number of one hundred and twenty people, but in order to carry the supply cart, Lorist brought another twenty guards, and Ruel and Morde wanted to come with them, so they were ordered by Lorist to take the guards to take charge of the five carriages.

Pat came back with a look of confusion on his face, "My lord, they want us to stay here obediently until they have decided the winner before they come to us to collect the toll...... Pat said.

"What?" Lorist looked back at the five wagons, and Lorist understood that the two lords in front of him had used his group as guards for the caravans.

"Day, collect my toll tax?" Lorist smiled.

"Pete, go up with a squad of archers, give you a hundred ways to drive them away, oh, take two of them, and ask them why they're fighting. Lorist commanded lightly.

"Yes, sir. Pete whistled, and the cavalry archers lined up in two columns behind him and began to charge forward.

Seeing that they were a stone's throw away from the battle of the two lords, the archers reined in their horses, then took the longbow hanging from the saddle, spread their bows on their horses, and fired a round of arrows at each of the two lords' ranks at Pete's command "left" and "right".

The two lords had never expected to be attacked by Lorlist's side, so how could there be any reason for the caravan to end up in person without looking at the excitement? A burst of arrows caused them to be in a state of confusion, and their wails arose......

Pete led the archers to shoot a total of three rounds of arrows, and then whistled, and the archers put away their longbows, drew their swords, and divided into two groups to pounce on the two lords' ranks. As expected, the two lords' ranks collapsed, and the two lords saw the archers rushing towards the first to turn around and flee, and their soldiers were even more wolf-like and chaotic.

Path praised: "Our archers are so powerful, they can defeat hundreds of people without injuring a single person, no wonder the adults insist on setting up archers......"

Before he finished speaking, he heard a "plop" sound, and turned his head to see that it was Lorist who had fallen from his horse. Pat and the guards were shocked: "My lord, what's wrong with you...?"

Lorist got up from the ground with a disgraced face and waved his hand: "It's okay, it's okay, I didn't step on the stirrup and slipped off the horse......"

"Oh my god, this is the archers?" Lorist only felt 10,000 grass and mud horses step through his heart, and the scene he just saw made him fall off his horse, "This is obviously a longbowman on horseback, is it good, how does this stupid guy Joske train archers?"

Pete brought a few captives over: "My lord, ask clearly." It is said that in the past six months, there have been many family caravans passing through the ferry, and the Viscount Davov has set up a checkpoint at the ferry, and the collection of passing taxes is soft, and the two lords here are red-eyed, and they also want to follow the cat's picture, so they want to set up a road card on this road leading to the ferry, but this road is just at the border of their territory, so they all said that they should set up their own cards. Today I made an appointment to win or lose here. ”

Well, I'm embarrassed to interrupt the two lords Huashan arguing about the sword, and it's only to blame them for not choosing a good place, just blocking Lorist's way.

"When was the checkpoint at the ferry set up, how many guards were there, and how powerful were they?" asked a prisoner who looked like a squad leader, for he was wearing half-body leather armor, which was much more pleasing to the eye than the tattered captives.

"A month and a half ago, my lord. The captive replied quickly: "There is a small group of garrison soldiers guarding the ferry, they turned out to be the newly established town garrison of Viscount Davov, and they were transferred to the ferry by Lord Viscount to collect money. I really don't know how powerful they are, but they are well equipped, and they have several iron armor ......."

Ironclad Lorist remembered, "Ruel, Morder, come over here. Lorist exclaimed.

"Yes, my lord, the last time we came we were resting in the small town next to this ferry, and then the garrison came and arrested us, saying that we were horse thieves......" Ruhl said.

"Pete, take your squad of archers to arrest the garrison at the crossing, Pat, you take Ruel and Morder over to identify them, and if they are the garrisons who attacked you, then hang them all at the crossing......" Lorist said to Pete and Pat, he was not going to watch the so-called cavalry archery show again.

"Okay, my lord, let's go. Pete paused and asked, "So, my lord, what about the captives?"

The captives in front of them were trembling, and they had just heard Lorlist's order to hang all the guards at the ferry, thinking that they were about to be in great trouble.

"My lord, spare me......," the captives knelt in front of Lorist's horse, crying and pleading.

"Let's put these away, whoever goes, go to the car and get some trauma medicine and bandages, give them them, and let them bandage the wounded pile over there. Let's go. Lorist said.

It was less than five miles from the ferry port in front of him, and when Lorist arrived at the ferry with five wagons, he saw dozens of corpses lying on the ground, as well as dozens of captives crouching on the ground with their heads in their hands. Ruel and Morder are making wooden frames with some cavalry archers.

Lorist saw several archers with bandages on their bodies, and asked Pete and Pat, who met them, "What, there are casualties?"

"Six minor injuries, don't get in the way, and it will be fine in ten days. The main thing is that some of the guards were hiding in the house, and we were caught off guard when we went in to search. Pete replied.

"My lord, we've got the ferries on the other side of the river...... Pat said.

Lorist looked around, from here to the Northland for the first time more than half a year ago, to now revisit the old land, a lot has changed here. First of all, two more ferries were added to the ferry port on the opposite bank, and there was a group of bareback boatmen who were desperately rocking four big wheels and dragging the four ferries from the opposite bank. Well, it seems that the Baron of Seuras on the other side of the river made a lot of money from the ferry crossing fee, and added two more ferries.

"When we had just killed the garrisons, all the boatmen jumped into the river, and with great difficulty we called them back, and I promised each of them an Imperial silver coin...... Pat said.

Loris nodded, seeing how hard the boatmen were working so hard, he felt that the little silver coin was worth it.

The last time it was a barren place, it had only been half a year, and a small town had already been built on a small mound in the distance. However, the small town was heavily guarded, and the city walls were full of people, with swords and grabbing, pointing at the ferry. It was evident that the battle that had just taken place at the ferry had made the garrison of the small town know that Lorist was a friend or foe, and that they were ready to fight as if they were a great enemy at this moment.

Ruel and Morder had already erected dozens of wooden frames, and forcibly hung them up with those captives, only a few of them were hanged, and the remaining captives saw that they could not escape and died, and their desire to survive exploded, and they suddenly jumped up and fled in the direction of the small town, but unfortunately Pete was already on guard, and ordered the longbowmen on horseback to shoot them all into hedgehogs.

Crying and scolding could be heard from the walls of the small town in the distance, and Lorist was in his ears, and he was reprimanding Ruel and Morder: "...... If you don't tie them up, you don't put them in a place where you can't see them, and then hang them one by one, and hang up their companions in front of them, even the pigs will run away! What if you are all dead now? If you don't tie them up, and if you don't put them in a place where you can't see them, and then you dare to kill the messengers who pass by...... Pete, you write their incriminating evidence below, so that those who pass by know why we hanged them!"

"Yes, my lord. ”

At this moment, a team of heavily armed guards also appeared at the ferry on the opposite side, and the situation that happened at the ferry just now was also seen in the eyes of the other side, and it was understandable to strengthen vigilance to prevent accidents.

"Pat, you take someone across the river first, and tell Baron Seuras that an old friend is here, don't make yourself nervous, and I will visit him when I cross the river." ”

"My lord, why don't you cross the river first. Pat said.

"No need. Lorist pointed to the small town in the distance, "There may be some kind of ghost in there, and I'm going to teach them another lesson." ”

It took more than three hours for more than 100 men and horses to cross the river with five big carriages, and Lorist was the last to get on the boat, and when there were only seven or eight people left in the last wave of people who had not crossed the river at the ferry, nearly 100 people rushed out of the small town over there, robbed with knives, and killed the ferry.

Lorlist's spears and Pete's arrows and the rest of the archers made the twenty or so bravest people who rushed to the front become martyrs in the wilderness, and then Lorist and Pete jumped on their horses and speared, killing like a crowd, a burst of guns and swords, and the remaining thirty or so lucky people who were lucky enough to live fled back to the small town crying wolf, closing the gates, and it seemed that they would not come out even if they were killed.

"Happy!" Pete said, shaking the blood off the tip of his gun.

"Let's go, the ferry is coming, let's get on board. Lorist said.

on the ferry.

"Pete, when I was a student in the city of Morente, I once read a book that recorded that in the Dark Ages, there was a group of archers, all of whom could shoot arrows on horseback, and shoot arrows backwards on horseback, killing the pursuing enemies one by one. As long as the enemy they are targeting, none of them can escape. They never assault the enemy head-on, but they follow the enemy on horseback, harassing and striking the enemy with running shots until they drag the enemy to death and collapse......"

Lorist was going to take the opportunity to instill in Pete what it meant to be a cavalry archer, and to create a Mongol-style cavalry archers: "They were scattered and unfazed, and once they faced an enemy who was ten times stronger than them, and they were outnumbered by ten times their number, but after four months they were victorious, and they suffered very little loss. Every time their enemy splits their troops and pursues them to the death, they will always be lured into a trap and run away from the enemy but can destroy the enemy completely. The book says that this tactic is called kite flying, which is to attack the enemy from a distance without close combat......"

"My lord, I know what you mean. That's what you want to build. Pete asked.

Lorist nodded happily, someone finally got the hang of it.

"It's a pity that we can't do it at all, the archers you are talking about can only exist in legends, in books, but in reality it is impossible. Pete said regretfully.

"Why?" said Lorlist.

"My lord, we don't have a proper bow. In fact, although the riding bows used by those nobles when holding hunting tournaments could shoot arrows on the back of galloping horses, the range was not far and the power was not great, at most a range of thirty or forty meters, which was enough to shoot pheasants and hares. But if it's against a monster or a battle, it's useless. Of all the bows, the longbow has the greatest range and power, and can even threaten the Golden Knight within a hundred meters of a direct shot. Although it is not as strong as a hunting bow, the hunting bow is against a demonic beast, using heavy arrows, and its range is only half that of a longbow. ”

Pete began to educate Lorist about bows and arrows: "The longbow is recognized as the fastest and most lethal bow and arrow, and is the main long-range force for defense and attack. However, the longbow is not suitable for use on horses, and even on the back of a stationary horse, it is very difficult to exert power and balance. It had now taken a lot of effort for this squad of archers to shoot arrows on horseback. Of all the people, Master Joske could shoot arrows continuously on the back of a galloping horse, and I could only shoot three arrows at most before I could keep my balance. ”

"If you don't use a longbow, you won't be able to match the range of the enemy's longbowmen, and if you rush too close, you will suffer heavy casualties from the enemy's longbowmen. So the first thing to solve when forming a kind of archers that you mentioned is a bow and arrow that can be used on horseback, and its range and power cannot be less than that of a longbow. Secondly, we don't have the right horses. None of the horses in Gelinthia could meet the requirements of the archers' mount you mentioned. Pete points out the second difficulty.

"......?" Lorist was puzzled.

Pete explained: "My lord, the mount of the archers you are talking about must have a strong body and excellent endurance, and it also needs to be resilient, good at running long distances, quick in pace, quick in response, not only able to sprint on the plains but also good at running in the mountains, so as to get rid of the pursuers. In addition, it is necessary to be hardworking, not afraid of cold and heat, strong resistance and not easy to get sick. The most important thing is to have a good appetite, whether it is roughage or concentrate grain, you can eat it and digest it, such a horse we can't find on the continent of Gaylingea. ”

"Is this guy talking about Mongolian horses? The Mongols rode Mongolian horses across the Eurasian continent, and this Mongolian horse is not a rare horse breed. There is no horse breed like the Mongolian horse in the Gelinthia continent, and the resources of this species are too poor. Lorist was depressed.

Pete made up again: "My lord, look at our mount, this Northland horse is relatively medium compared to other horse breeds, and it is also a kind of horse that is very easy to support, but if it is used as the mount of the kind of archer cavalry you mentioned, it is far from qualified." Three of our five carts were full of oats and grains, because we were worried that we would not be able to get them outside and that these Northland horses would lose fat, and once they lost fat and traveled a long way, these Northland horses would be useless.

As you said, if you use Northland horses as mounts, you must at least bring seven or eight horses for rotation, and you must have a large amount of fine grain to make horse food to maintain your condition. Take the example of the cavalry archers you cited, even if a large army of 2,000 people in a large battle of more than four months is worth scrapping at least 10,000 mounts. Both the Zinoma and the Barrigari Horse are horses with excellent endurance for long runs, but their feeding is more delicate and demanding than that of the Northlanders. ”

Well, Pete has a point, Lorist is going to form archers, not horse dealers. If a person brings seven or eight horses, not to mention that he will take care of them, someone will definitely come over and ask how much the horse sells for on the road.

Touching his nose, Lorist felt very embarrassed, he wanted to form an archer but he didn't even understand the applicable bows and mounts, if it wasn't for Pete's explanation, he would have wronged Josk for not doing his best. It's all to blame for the instructors of the knight training major of Dawn Academy, saying that knights are above board, the main force of charging into battle, and using bows and arrows is a coward's behavior, so that they themselves also ignore the training of bows and arrows, so that now they can only use throwing guns as long-range lethality.

Let's do this first, and when I settle down, I will find someone to study whether I can develop a recurve compound bow, which is much shorter than a longbow and should be very suitable for use on horseback, but I don't know if the range and lethality are comparable to the longbow. Lorist thought on the ferry.

......