You were made to farm, and now you're the emperor of an empire?

Chapter 139 Armor Crack! Armor Crack!! (Bonus chapter for Alliance Leader Torch)
The ambush troops in the forest soon saw that the convoy had split up.

Led by four knights, about three hundred lightly armed soldiers marched swiftly toward the fourth village.

The convoy behind them therefore slowed down even further.

Two hundred heavily armored warriors silently picked up their large shields, held them upright in front of them, as solid as a fortress, and moved with the convoy, like a tortoise shell.

……

After a night of fermentation, Earl Conde learned of Baron Haas's experience and was immediately enraged.

I hadn't even had a chance to make a move, and you'd already done it?

And you even stripped two of my barons?

it is good!
You did a great job!
The opportunity is here!

Count Conde was secretly delighted and quickly ordered his men to assemble the conscripted army.

He gave a firm order, determined to keep Roman here, so that the salt mine could be obtained effortlessly.

The problem is that it takes time to convey orders, time to assemble troops, and time to travel – not all militia members carry their own weapons, so they have to be distributed on the spot.

What does the conscription of the Kant region mean?
If I reduce your taxes, you will be a conscript, ready to answer my call during wartime. There are no prerequisites or conditions.

It's estimated that the first batch of reinforcements won't arrive until the afternoon.

Moreover, while you're chasing, they're retreating.

Even if the retreat is slow, it's not like they're standing still.

If you advance 30 kilometers while someone else advances 15 kilometers, it's as if you've only advanced 15 kilometers.

It is necessary to launch harassment and attacks to slow down the enemy's retreat, or at least prevent them from passing through unimpeded.

Now, the problem lies before those lying in ambush.

Whom should they attack?

After a brief discussion, most of the conquering knights advocated attacking the lightly armed soldiers.

Because those large shields are too difficult to deal with. They look like tough nuts to crack at first glance.

The knights couldn't charge, the conscripted militia couldn't cut them down, and even the archers couldn't shoot them down.

What's even more frightening is that they are well-trained.

They lined up in a neat row, fifty meters apart, and their formation remained perfectly orderly.

When they stand in a line and advance steadily, all the attackers can only retreat!

While the military laborers were supposed to do manual labor, they were all physically strong and carried curved swords, making them look like qualified martial artists. Would you really treat them like mere laborers in a critical moment?
No one wanted to deal with such a force.

In comparison, lightly armed troops are much easier to handle.

But it's not something you can just fight casually.

According to yesterday's intelligence, two hundred lightly armed soldiers defeated a conscription force that was nearly twice their size in a direct confrontation.

what does this mean?
To defeat three hundred such lightly armed soldiers...

At the very least, at the very least, there must be at least six hundred conscripts!

Then they were defeated again.

Today's conscripts are no better than yesterday's; doubling their numbers is simply not enough.

Don't even think about defeating the enemy without a conscripted army of a thousand men.

The problem is that after yesterday's defeat, they suffered heavy losses, and now they can only muster about five hundred conscripts.

Could five hundred conscripts handle three hundred soldiers?
They felt it was a bit risky.

Fortunately, the enemy's number of knights was small, only four.

This time, they gathered twelve knights who had come overnight from other knightly territories. Since they were faster on horseback than on foot, they went ahead, while the main force followed behind.

The two knights who suffered a crushing defeat yesterday and fled at the last minute were also included.

Today they strongly oppose attacking heavily armed forces.

Yesterday's strategic mistake resulted in the direct loss of twenty or thirty cavalrymen, leaving us with even fewer cavalrymen today.

……

Without forming battle formations, the outcome of a war often depends on which side has more knights.

Let alone those legendary alien races and ancient magical beasts.

Even if they did appear, as long as it was on a plain or on land, no living being could withstand the charge of the conquering knights.

They made two such back-and-forth runs, and even the strongest army would collapse.

After a brief discussion of the attack plan,

Twelve knights, leading nearly forty riders and five hundred conscripts, gave chase.

Sig Town was dirt poor, and Kangdeling wasn't much better off.

Without an industrial base, the cavalry relied entirely on farming to support themselves. However, agricultural technology at that time was very backward, so the quality of the cavalry raised in remote and impoverished areas was predictably poor.

They lacked mounted archery skills, and even if they could, their lack of training resulted in poor accuracy, making it difficult to inflict significant casualties on the enemy.

Archer cavalry needs a suitable environment to be trained.

Most riders in the Condor region rode packhorses or inferior horses worth only two or three gold coins.

Only the knights rode relatively tall warhorses. They pursued for three or four miles and soon came upon Roman and his lightly armed troops.

……

In wars involving hundreds of people, there are basically no rules of operation.

It all comes down to combat awareness and fighting skills—just like the routine of a group fight.

You could also say it's a case of the brave prevailing when paths cross!

As long as you are brave enough and work hard enough, the difference in numbers becomes secondary.

But Roman's lightly armed raid took all the lightly armed longbowmen with him.

One hundred longbowmen provided cover, while the rest of the lightly armed soldiers went to capture the person.

"Free Fire!"

Upon seeing the cavalry enter firing range, the longbowmen unleashed a volley of fire.

Roman's longbowmen were neither elite nor professional.

But after more than a month of diligent training with plenty of arrows, practicing with a hundred arrows every day, I have developed some basic shooting skills.

A single volley of fire caused casualties of about ten people, most of whom were wounded. Although they did not die from being hit by arrows, the wounded could not help but cry out in pain, which greatly damaged morale.

The archers of the conscripted army were furious and retaliated in kind.

However, their forehand was poor, their backhand was weak, and none of their shots were decent. Their shooting was varied and unorthodox, but their arrows were crooked and had zero killing power, and they didn't even touch Roman's lines.

It's just embarrassing.

……

The cavalry originally planned to wait until the two sides engaged in a direct battle, at which point they would attack from the flanks and break through the enemy's formation.

This tactic is the most common; simplicity means effectiveness.

But not anymore.

The conscripted army was suppressed by a hundred enemy longbowmen.

We really have to force them to grit their teeth and charge through.

With that rate of fire, each archer could fire at least six arrows per minute, while our side would suffer nearly a hundred casualties and collapse before even engaging in close combat.

The only way to turn the tide is through cavalry units.

The terrain here is open, and longbows pose little threat to them.

"Scatter them!" the leading knight shouted.

The leading knight in battle held a lance, followed by many riders.

The thunder of hooves!

When advancing to within 150 meters.

A razor-thin magic steel arrow tore through the air and hurtled towards them with lightning speed.

puff! !

The plate armor, chainmail, leather armor, soft armor, and cloth armor worn by the vanguard knights were pierced one after another, and even their chests were pierced.

The gleaming arrowhead stabbed out menacingly from his back, bursting forth in a large cloud of blood mist.

The immense force propelled his body high into the air from his warhorse, landing him on his backside with a thud. His head lolled to one side, and he fell silent.
The knights fighting in the rear were terrified.

Everything happened so fast that I didn't even know what was going on.

Looking closely, I saw a knight-errant standing among the enemy troops, holding a large, blood-red bow and nocking an arrow.

The arrow, made entirely of steel and weighing a full kilogram, was fired for the second time.

His shooting movements were incredibly fast, with a fluid and elegant quality, while for the enemy, it felt like a surging fog of death was approaching.

Whoosh! !

Heavy arrows hurtled towards them with the ferocity of traveling 100 meters per second!
boom!
The second knight charging ahead was pierced through the body; his steel plate armor was pierced like paper, and he too fell off his horse.

"Armor-Splitting Greatbow!!"

It's unclear who was shouting.

In an instant, the knights who had not yet begun their full-speed charge were thrown into chaos, and their warhorses, which had been galloping, slowed down to a trot.

They all spontaneously recalled the legend from over a hundred years ago—the first archer who drew his bow and shot down a dragon.

Everyone felt numb all over, as if their scalps were about to explode.

That was a legendary knight, a household name, a renowned duke who followed the conquerors to conquer the world!
Without a doubt, the knight in front of him is his descendant.

The Cracked Armor family is known for its sharpshooters.

From a young age, each of the Cerberus has a special resource applied to their eyes to enhance their vision and protect their eyes.

Therefore, the eyes of the armor-splitting creature are exceptional, and its ability to see in the dark is quite ordinary.

Furthermore, their gaze is often very focused.

The powerful armor-piercing creature can instill fear in others simply by staring at them.

The story of the first-generation Cracked Armor glaring at a farmer to death is not just a legend!
(End of this chapter)