In the Dark Ages of Illib, and even in the Crescent countries of the western part of the continent of Chainar, there was a form of competition that was culturally or religiously discriminate, and that was the Knight Tournament that both nobles and commoners were keen to watch: whenever the annual Knight Tournament in a region began to be held, the nobles and commoners of the local and nearby regions, as well as all the knights in a fairly wide area centered on it, would flock to the arena with extraordinary enthusiasm, just as the Colosseum of Ancient Romulud in the classical and ruling times would hold the eventIt's just that no matter how grand the knightly competition is now, it can't compare to a casual medium-sized ordinary event in the latter period.

Rich and poor, young and old, regardless of national beliefs, all people have the same heartfelt worship of heroes and warriors. However, it is a pity that the image of heroes and warriors on the battlefield, except for a small number of people who have actually participated in the war, the vast majority of people can only imagine through the poems and stories told by passing or bards, and the knightly competition can give them a real opportunity to see those majestic knights on the field, and more intuitively appreciate the excellent demeanor of heroes and warriors.

Therefore, in the Dark Ages, in addition to fighting for their loyal lords or kings, or just fighting for themselves and their faith, knights everywhere often go to participate in knightly competitions held in various places on many days of the year, and there will be many different types of competitive activities in knightly competitions, among which the most popular among everyone is the competitive activity of two knights on both sides riding on horseback and shooting each other down under the horse with a practice riding spear, commonly known as horse gun competition.

In knightly competitions, the spears and armor used by the participating knights were often very different from those used in actual combat: the vast majority of practice lances were made of blunt spear heads in the shape of a crown or cup without a tip to prevent damage to the knights after being hit, and the body of the rifle was made of hollow structure or poplar and applewood with grooves carved along the grain. This will make the practice lance very easy to break, so as not to cause too much damage to the opponent as much as possible, and the moment the knight is hit, the splash of sawdust will make the spectators more excited, and the armor used by the knights in the horse gun competition will have a specially reinforced metal plate on the left chest to better resist the powerful impact of the practice gun gun, and the neck guards, shoulder pads and leg guards will add additional protection; in the horse gun competition. The saddles used by the participating riders did not have a rear axle, making it easier for the participating riders to fall to the ground if they were hit by an opponent's rifle.

In most regions, the horse-gun competition in the knight's competition is seen on horseback with a spear, but there are also some places, especially in the horse-gun competition in the knight's competition in the northern region of the Ilib continent, sometimes there will be a situation where one of the participating knights still has to fight each other with other weapons after landing, and this kind of fierce development often lasts for a long time, until one of the knights dies. The one who surrenders or loses consciousness becomes a prisoner of the winner, who is required to pay a ransom by his family, friends, or subordinates, and the winner has the right to take the loser's armor or horse. If he doesn't want it, he can let the loser redeem it in the form of a ransom, and he can get a large amount of extra coins.

In addition to the horse gun competition, the walking greatsword fighting is also a very popular knightly competition: from the beginning of the simple division into two teams for large-scale melee, after several rounds of elimination for one-on-one combat, and finally after more than a dozen rounds of fighting, the participating knight still does not fall and is left alone becomes the champion of the walking greatsword fight; Just use your weapon to resist your opponent, or forcibly drag your opponent to your safety zone in a big melee where both friend and foe will interfere with you. The loser needs to pay a ransom to redeem himself and his armoured horses, or he can obediently hand over his armoured horses or horses.

Of course. Horse-gun fighting is not comparable to the battle of the great sword on foot - the battle between horses and the fierce and accurate struck of the opponent's body with their own mounted spears is the competition held by the knights to show their bravery, skill and strength, and it is also the most important charge training for the hoplites on the battlefield: you know, this can save people's lives at the critical moment!

Because of such a lucrative effect, there is no war or no tax collection day. Knights or petty nobles with ordinary or poor economic conditions will go to knightly competitions in various places, in order to earn a lot of money - of course, in most cases, they either do not make money or lose a little, or they lose so much that even the armor on their bodies and the war horses under their crotch go to others, which determines that no matter who the knights participating in the knights' competitions are, at least they can be pulled out and can fight. Otherwise, you can only come and send ransom and loot out of thin air.

When Herman was ready to enter the equestrian arena with his men and companions from the camp area, Sir Colby didn't seem ready, and the rest of the retinue in charge of game scheduling were still busy, and it seemed that it would take some time to continue the game.

In this way, Herman can wait for Dugol, who has already gone to find out, to report back to him, and he can use this time to continue to adjust his mentality.

As far as the eye can see, the arena is divided in half by a wooden fence, so that the two knights on both sides can hedge against each other from opposite directions on their respective horses, and stab their opponents with their long, heavy riding spears, and the whole field is covered with fine gravel and cleared of the original stones, which can prevent the knights from falling off their horses and injuries, and minimize the casualties that are prone to accidents during the race.

Receiving the prepared practice rifle from Helois, who was still dressed in iron armor, Herman set his sights on the weapon in all his boredom.

The cavalry originally referred to the spear that the cavalry could throw and stab, whether it was the classical era or the ruling era, the spear used by the Ilib cavalry at that time was not significantly different from the spear used by the infantry - because the stirrup did not appear at that time, so the Ilib cavalry at that time and the knights of today could use long-handled weapons to attack the opponent, and could only use the tip of the spear to stab. Its power is simply terrible: this is the main reason why the cavalry of the Illibs continent was not strong in the classical era and the ruling era.

In the early Dark Ages, stirrups entered from the east, allowing the cavalry of the Illib continent to control their horses more freely, and the spears in their hands gradually evolved for horse battles, and in just one or two hundred years, they completely defined their shape - the shape of the cavalry spear inherited the characteristics of the knight's sword, or it looked like an enlarged and elongated version of the knight's sword: a special sharp or passivated spear head at the top. The whole is a conical barrel with a length of four to five meters, with a thick tip at the top and a thick bottom, a guard that expands outward at the bottom end, and a handle on the inside.

And the shape of the cavalry gun is basically fixed: a sharp metal cone is installed on the top of the long-handled gun body that is two or three meters short and four or five meters long, the hardwood gun body is equipped with a handguard in the position of the hand, and there is a wooden cone for counterweight at the rear, and at the same time, the saddle will also make a "butt hole" to absorb the impact of the assassination when charging, and protect the knight from the backlash caused by its reaction force; Because the riding gun itself is used as a disposable weapon, and few knights can keep the riding gun intact after the first charge instead of a piece of rotten wood, plus the use of a riding gun made of solid materials will only cause unnecessary burden or even damage to the knight's hands, so it has become one of the places that knights always need to pay attention to how to accurately hit the target with the riding gun in their hands, whether in the game or on the battlefield.

Therefore, a qualified knight will always find time and opportunity to practice hard, and one of the original purposes of the knightly competition was based on this idea, to provide an occasion for all knights to train intensively, but it has since evolved into the current mode of competition and social interaction; For the spectators, the heavily armed knights will shoot their opponents with their long riding spears in an instant. The splashing of wood and the scene of the knight who was hit jumping off his horse are also very valuable to watch.

When Sir Colby appeared on the other side of the equestrian arena, the spectators, nobles and commoners, stood up, craned their necks and waited intently for the exciting moment.

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"The second son of my master, Cornell Elton Cyrille," Duggor learned of Sir Colby's true identity from the other clerks and his entourage, and his expression changed dramatically as Sir Colby's clerk once again recounted his master's name in a frustrated manner.

"I really didn't expect to follow Lord Ronald for so long, and even Sir Colby, who participated in a knightly tournament. It was a nobleman with such a prominent status" Now Dugol could be described as a cold sweat, and just as he was about to run to Herman, the herald's eyes were fixed on him: just as Sir Colby's clerk had finished his complaint to his master, and now it was his turn.

Dugol, who realized that he had forgotten about this important matter, hurried to his position, bowed, and shouted to the audience: "My master, Fret Duwakin Ronald's second son, Gotha's grandson, the leader of the Iron Cross company, the ruthless Sir Hermann Duwakin Ronald!"

After the usual enthusiastic cheers. Dugol was just about to breathe a sigh of relief, but he was shocked to hear what the clerk said next: "Prepare to change the flag!"

"No, no, not yet, wait, listen to me" Dugol hurriedly ran to the herald and shouted anxiously, because he knew very well that the change of flag meant to change to the family coat of arms of the knights of both sides who were about to enter the field now, which meant that the game was about to begin!

"Musicians, blow the trumpet!" the herald continued unmoved.

Accompanied by a rapid and powerful trombone melody, Dugol was so anxious that he almost grabbed the herald by the collar: "Wait! I have something important to report to my master! Please wait a little!"

"Then go," the herald had just finished the first half of the sentence, and after Dugol hurriedly saluted, he hurried to Herman, and the second half of the clerk's mocking words came from behind him: "See if you can survive the return of the Holy Descendants of Osmond!"

"Wait!wait!" Running to Herman, who was ready to play, Dugol hurriedly said to his knights and companions: "Colby is the eldest son of Conrad, the Grand Master of the Ruling Order, and the organizer of this knightly competition, the Duke of Byer, and the future Duke of Saxony. ”

"Grand Master of the Ruling Order?duke of the Duke of Bair?" After hearing this unexpected truth, Herman, who was just as surprised as his subordinates and companions, looked up at Sir Colby, who was preparing for the game opposite, "He concealed his true identity along the way in order to compete?"

"Whether he faces heretics or monsters, he will win every battle and conquer everything" Dugol was terrified before he could finish his sentence when he was interrupted by Ou Ling: "We are all holy people! Of course we know who he is!!"

"Lord Ronald, you have to quit this game!" Although Ah Tie, who was on the side, said that there were still some things he didn't understand, but he could also judge from his head that it was unlikely to have a good result if he competed as usual.

"Dugol, you hurry up and tell them that Herman is going to quit the game!" Chris shouted anxiously at Dugol, loud enough that the crowd in the nearby audience could hear it quite clearly.

"Of course!" Dugol hurriedly agreed, and immediately rushed to the presiding platform, while Chris, Ou Ling, and Ah Tie stared nervously at Dugol's figure, for fear that he would not be able to catch up.

Heloise, who was on Herman's right, saw that everyone had agreed to let Herman give up the game, and Herman had not said a word until now, so she hurriedly approached Herman's side and stretched out her hands: "Lord Herman, please give me the riding gun in your hand."

At the same time, Dugol, who had been tossing back and forth for a long time and still had good legs, quickly ran back to the vicinity of the presiding platform, and after rummaging through it several times, he found the white linen with a hanging scroll, and began to prepare to cover the black dragon shield with a white background of his knight. (To be continued.) )