Steel, gunpowder, and spellcasters

Chapter 290 Torrential Rain
There was no sense of ceremony in starting a war.

The sounds of bugles and drums echoed along the banks of the Ponto River as Teldun cavalry charged into the shallows and attacked the Iron Peak militia on the north bank.

Bard took a deep breath, drew a flat-headed arrow, and nocked it on his bow.

He lowered his shoulders, straightened his left arm, half-rotated his elbow, shifted his weight to his left leg, and leaned out of his body, pulling the bowstring in a slightly awkward posture all the way to his ear.

To wield this 140-pound bow, Bud exerted force from every part of his body: his arms, back, and waist.

His back muscles were bulging, his waist and abdomen were taut, the veins in his arms were bulging, and his left hand holding the bow was already a deep red.

The archery process was both long and short; the bowstring and bow made a soft, crackling sound due to the stress, and Bard's body trembled slightly.

Strictly speaking, he wasn't aiming, because his line of sight wasn't in a straight line with the arrow.

His target wasn't a fixed target, but the enemy galloping on horseback.

He wasn't even holding the bow; it was more like he was using the web of his hand to brace the bow and his fingers for support.

In a moment, as if his heart had suddenly stopped or a cold wind had swept down his spine, Bard followed his instincts and relaxed his right hand.

The bowstring twanged like a musical instrument, and in an instant, the arrow was released from the bow.

The arrow flew across the water in an incredible manner, striking the Teldun cavalryman who was riding and shooting from ten meters away.

With only a brief delay, the flat, sharp arrow pierced through the robes, skin, and flesh, penetrating deep into the lung from under the left rib until its energy was exhausted.

Air rushed into his chest, blood and alveoli flooded his trachea, and the wounded Telden man instantly lost his strength. He choked on his throat and fell from the saddle, plunging headfirst into the knee-deep river.

The battle began with this arrow, and the militiamen who saw the enemy fall from their horses cheered with excitement.

Bud didn't see this because he didn't care about the outcome of the battle.

Only militiamen going into battle for the first time would fire an arrow, eagerly watching the trail of the arrow. If they hit it, they would cheer; if they missed, they would be frustrated.

While the man who had been shot was still on horseback, Bard had already pulled out another arrow and drew his bow again.

If the militiamen were half as skilled as Bard in archery, defeating these hundred-odd Teldun cavalrymen shouldn't be difficult.

Unfortunately, most militia members did not.

Therefore, at the very first battle, the Iron Peak County militia, which outnumbered the enemy four to one, were subtly suppressed by the Teldun people.

If Bard hadn't planted fences and barricades along the riverbank beforehand, his men would have been crushed by a single charge from the Teldun cavalry.

The militia archers' shooting method was very similar to that of Bard: they held the bowstring with three fingers, leaned forward, and had bundles of arrows stuck at their feet, shooting one and taking the other.

The Teldun cavalry used a completely different shooting method: they would stand up on their stomp, holding both the bow and arrow in their left hand, with their thumb on the string; they would sweep across the front of the formation like a whirlwind, firing several arrows in quick succession while on the move, and then escape in one strike.

A hail of arrows came crashing down with the thunderous sound of hooves—the momentum of the mounted archery was truly terrifying.

If it weren't for the strict military discipline and the presence of supervisory teams in the refugee camps, many militiamen would have fled long ago.

"Cowards! What are you afraid of?!" Ish, carrying a rattan whip, walked among the militiamen, shouting sternly.

He became enraged and whipped the cowardly militiamen who were trembling behind the shield: "Think of your wives and children! Don't hide! Cowards will be hanged!"

Under the urging, coercion, and even intimidation of soldiers at all levels, the timid militiamen also stood up and tremblingly fought back against the Teldun people.

For the militia, bows and arrows were a luxury; half of the militia only had rudimentary slings.

The sling has one advantage—there's no shortage of ammunition, and the riverbank is full of stones.

Militiamen were frequently hit by stray arrows, screaming for help. Immediately, someone would carry them to the rear of the battle line to avoid affecting morale.

From time to time, Teldun men fell from their horses, and their fate was far more tragic. Not only did they receive no help, but they were also trampled to death by cavalrymen who couldn't dodge in time.

"Draw the bow fully! Don't fucking waste arrows!" Seeing some militiamen casually releasing their arrows, Ish's anger was about to burst out: "Don't aim at the people! Shoot the barbarians' horses! Shoot two horse lengths in front of the barbarians!"

The shallows that the two armies are fighting over have no official name; the people of Tiefeng County simply call it "Tushechang" or "Pangtuohe Tushechang".

Once upon a time, Ivan the Horseshoe's gang ambushed the Wolf Town convoy here.

Now it's Bud's turn to lead his troops here to defend against the Teldens.

It is no coincidence that this place is repeatedly stained with blood.

Although the Pangtuo River has less water volume than the Dajiao River, its banks are densely forested, and there are not many suitable places to cross the river.

For a long time, there have only been two ways to cross the Pangtuo River:

You can either go through Xiaoshi Town, where the terrain is flat, the river is narrow, and there is a bridge across the river; or you can walk through the shallows between Heishui Town and Niuti Valley, also known as the "Tunshechang".

Topographically, Tu Shek is the gateway to Chung Tie Feng County. The Tertons wanted to attack, and the Tie Feng County people wanted to defend, making a fierce struggle over this shallow area inevitable.

After gritting their teeth and enduring the initial rounds of arrow exchanges, the numerical advantage of the Tiefeng County militia gradually came into play.

In pursuit of a higher rate of fire, the Teldenans' mounted archery had limited accuracy and power.

The people of Tiefeng County were not very good at throwing stones and shooting arrows, but they had a large number of militiamen.

When a battle is fought in a manner that involves the exchange of casualties, that is, when the tide of victory turns in favor of Iron Peak County.

The leader of the Teldun Hundred Riders, Turukota [Chewing Corpse], stood on the south bank to watch the battle. The situation was clear: the two-legged men could only defend themselves by relying on barricades and fences. If they fought with swords against swords and spears against spears, the two-legged men would be defeated immediately.

Seeing that the "beast-driving" tactic had failed, Chewing Corpse summoned his trusted subordinate Red Feather and whispered a few words to him. The latter immediately led more than a dozen armored cavalrymen to circle around to the edge of the shallows from the right side.

The moment the Teldun cavalry entered the fray, it drew gasps of surprise from the militia of Iron Peak County.

Because these armored cavalrymen were not wearing the lamellar armor commonly seen in various tribes, but rather a complete set of black three-quarter plate armor.

As horns sounded from the south bank, the Teldun light cavalry tightened their formation, focusing their arrows on the direction of the armored soldiers' attack, suppressing the Paratul.

The Terdun armored rider dismounted thirty paces away, and approached the riverbank with his shield and rope in hand.

They remained outside the range of long-handled weapons like halberds and spears, lassoing the barricades and fences like oxen, and then using the strength of their warhorses to drag the wooden stakes away by the roots. The stones thrown and arrows shot by the militia could hardly harm the armored soldiers' vital organs.

The Tertun armored soldiers, relying on their sturdy plate armor, did not dodge or avoid arrows and stones, and attacked the militia's psychological defenses with an unstoppable force.

The fence built by Bader had no horizontal beams; it resembled upright barricades, one by one. The disadvantage was that it was easily pulled down, but the advantage was that it couldn't be pulled down in rows.

Bard sighed inwardly. The last time he saw these black three-quarter armor suits, they were worn by Custer's pistol cavalry.

"Blow the horn, second section," Bard said, putting down his bow and instructing the horn player beside him.

As if in response to the bugle call, a sharp bugle call also rang out on the north bank, even suppressing the dull bugle call.

The Iron Peak County militia changed formation, with skilled longbowmen, who had been assigned to a separate unit, moved to the left flank and began to suppress the Teldun archers.

A Tertun warrior recklessly tore down the fences and barricades, ignoring the bugle calls. He wore the best armor for a two-legged man, and unless Tengri intervened, arrows would hardly harm him.

No large gap is needed; as long as three horses can ride abreast, the cavalry can charge into the midst of the two-legged men. At that point, the credit for being the first to break into the enemy ranks will be his.

Suddenly, the sound of wind and thunder rang in their ears, and a tremendous force came from above. Even through the helmet, this immense force still caused the Teldun warrior's skull to crack and blood to flow from his seven orifices.

Terdon's vision went black, and he slowly collapsed into the river. The blunt force trauma did not kill him instantly; he eventually died of drowning while unconscious.

The armored soldier died without understanding what killed him, but the corpse-chewing observers saw it all clearly.

The two-legged man on the opposite bank raised long wooden poles, like those used in the ritual of hanging meat to sacrifice to the heavens, and swatted several of his elite armored soldiers to death as if swatting flies.

[Note: Approximately six meters]
Chewing Corpse finally understood why the fence on the other side didn't have a crossbeam—with a crossbeam, the long pole wouldn't be able to pass through the gaps in the fence to strike.

The few surviving armored soldiers fled the riverbank in a sorry state. The long poles had limited attack range; as long as they kept their distance, they would be safe.

Once the armored soldiers retreated, the battle reverted to both sides throwing stones and shooting arrows at each other.

"Let's retreat for now! Kota! Taichi sent you and me to scout the waters, not to fight each other!" Red Feather, who was following the corpse chewer, pleaded, "If we delay any longer, all of our clan's members will be wiped out!"

Chewing Corpse shook his head.

The Teldun cavalry in the field resembled a swarm of bees, seemingly running wildly, yet actually possessing a certain order. At the sound of horns, they regrouped once more.

This time, however, they did not break through from the right flank, but instead concentrated their forces to attack the left flank.

The wading field was about a hundred paces wide, so the infantry wouldn't be easily outmaneuvered by the cavalry.

Bard also adjusted his formation, moving his best longbowmen to his right flank (corresponding to the Telden's left flank).

The Teldun men lined up in three rows and suddenly surged towards the barricades like a tidal wave, somewhat resembling the charging momentum of Plato's cavalry.

At least half of the Parat people believed that the Teldens wanted to use human lives to level the barricades, while the rest of the Parat people—mainly veterans—believed that the Teldens wanted to commit suicide.

But this impressive charge ultimately only drew an arc in front of the barricades, and the Teldun cavalry turned around and ran back to the south bank.

Meanwhile, while the Paratul's attention was drawn to the powerful charge on the left flank, several Teldun riders silently galloped to the right flank and dragged away the bodies of the armored soldiers who had been killed.

The Teldenans retreated to the riverbank and disappeared into the woods as if they had never been there.

The militiamen looked at each other, standing there blankly, speechless for a long time.

"Damn it!" Ish slapped his thigh and cursed, "Do those barbarians not care about parting with those few sets of plate armor?!"

Beside Ish, a middle-aged farmer asked timidly, "Lord Ish, have we... have we won?"

"Old man, we won!" Ish laughed and put his arm around the middle-aged farmer's shoulder. "Laugh! Sing! Cheer!"

Ish wanted the militiamen to shout the battle cry that had once struck fear into the hearts of the Hud: "Uu! Uu! — khai!!!"

He waved his arms, trying to rouse the crowd, shouting until his voice cracked, "Come on! Everyone, come along!"

The Parat people's victory cry differed from that of a charge. During a charge, there was only one [Uukhai], while the victory cry consisted of two [Uu] and one [khai] echoing each other.

Ish climbed the arrow tower and roared to guide the crowd: "Uu! Uu! — khai!!!"

The victory felt so unreal that many people realized they had just won the first battle of their lives.

At first, no one spoke, but gradually the crowd began to chant softly. As the militiamen opened their mouths, the cheers grew louder and more unified.

“Uu! Uu!” This was Ish’s guidance.

The militiamen, weapons raised high and tears welling in their eyes, responded: "Khai!!!"

"Uu! Uu!"

"Khai!!!"

The roar was deafening, echoing through the clouds, and the river and forest trembled in its wake. Large flocks of birds in the distance were startled and took flight.

The retreating Corpse Chewing Corpse and his men also heard the celebratory atmosphere after the battle. The Corpse Chewing Corpse's expression gradually turned gloomy, while the eyes of his men became somewhat somber.

Amidst the deafening battle cries, Anglu rushed to Bard and took a letter from his pocket: "Lieutenant, a letter from Centurion Montagne to you."

Bud took the letter, peeled off the seal, and quickly scanned it.

Looking at the cheering crowd around him, Anglu said with some emotion, "It feels like... we're starting to resemble an army."

“Win one more battle.” Bard put away the letter and sighed. “Then they can go to the battlefield.”

This was Teldun's first attack on the Pangtuo River defense line, which began with a sudden and fierce assault and ended in an absurd manner, leaving behind more than thirty corpses and twice that number of wounded.

The militia defending the field might have thought they could breathe a sigh of relief, or even that they had already won.

But that very night, the Teldenans launched a second raid.

[Thank you to all the readers for your collections, reading, subscriptions, recommendations, monthly tickets, donations, and comments. Thank you everyone!]
[The tactic of hitting the bar down (facepalm) seems quite suitable for these farmers who have just picked up weapons—a bit like threshing. However, there is no bamboo in Iron Peak County, so the bar is made of oak core, wrapped in linen, and coated with asphalt. And because the wood is not dried, it is very heavy and inconvenient to use.]
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(End of this chapter)