Iron Powder and Spellcaster

wilderness

The world is vast. Winters rode along the hillside for a while and felt relaxed and happy.

Far down the mountain, a large group of antelopes were foraging.

"There, Batu." Koshhaqi pointed to the antelope herd in the distance: "Prey."

…

For this hunt, the Badlands Ministry spent all their wealth. Every family has at least one young man, totaling more than a hundred people.

In addition to hiring people, the hunters who participate in the hunt must also provide their own horses, weapons and food.

It is no exaggeration to say that if something bad happened to Koshhachi's hunters along the way, the Badlands would collapse.

Although it seems that the Badland Tribe attaches great importance to the hunting held by the Red River Tribe, it is difficult to connect their actual performance with the words "hunting" and "valuing".

Because Badlands hunters neither "surround" nor "hunt."

Their daily action is to follow a group of antelopes not too far but not too far away, heading in one direction unhurriedly. They patiently drive, guide, and protect their prey as if they were herding a flock of sheep.

Rather than saying that the Badlands are hunting, it is better to say that they are escorting the migration of the antelope herds.

However, if someone were to look down from a height of ten thousand feet at this moment, he would see: On the vast land, hundreds of hunting teams are doing the same thing as the hunters of the Badlands - [Unwaveringly Drive the wild beasts towards the ultimate hunting ground].

In the Hed tribes, hunting is the most important event after war.

Whenever there is a big hunt, the leader who organizes the hunt will predetermine the hunting area, order his troops to prepare manpower, supplies and equipment, and dispatch elite cavalry to ascertain the location and quantity of the prey.

Once everything is ready, the hunter will set off.

Hunters use hunting teams as action units, and they are not subordinate to each other but are coordinated.

They spread out in a vast hunting ground, like a giant net with no leakage, driving prey from all directions to the predetermined end point.

According to the description of the little lion, the process of driving away prey can even take up to three months.

During this period, the hunter only eats and drinks what he carries, and cannot harm the prey at all even if he is starving.

Living in the open air is not the most painful part. What tortures the hunter the most is the fear of the unknown.

Hunting is a huge activity that requires precise coordination, and the failure of any hunting team may lead to serious consequences.

The hunters have no way of knowing whether other hunting teams can encircle them on time. All they can do is stare at the prey ahead and walk forward firmly and alone.

…

"Leading a lone army to a battlefield where victory or defeat is unknown." Winters imagined the spectacular scene of tens of thousands of hunters hunting together in his mind, and praised: "For such a large-scale military exercise, even the Alliance and the Empire would probably Never."

"What is a 'military exercise'?" Koshhaqi asked in confusion.

Winters smiled and replied softly: "It's just to practice war."

While they were talking, four Badlands hunters galloped from the direction of the antelope herd. After saluting Winters and Koshhatch, they ran tiredly towards the camp.

In the process of driving away prey, hunters cannot let the prey die of exhaustion, nor allow the prey to deviate from the direction, nor let the prey be preyed upon by ferocious beasts.

Therefore, the hunting team of the Badlands was divided into six arrows, and they took turns guarding the prey day and night.

"It's not 'win or lose', Batu." Koshhaqi tried his best to gesture: "The Chihe tribe used many, many, many hunters for the siege. Even if someone escapes the prey, there will still be a lot left."

Winters understood what Koshhaqi meant: "In my opinion, hunting is a rehearsal for war, but you are actually more concerned about how much prey you can harvest."

Koshhachi grinned. He thought for a while and said: "It has been a long time since I have hunted with so many hunters. This is the first time since I was able to draw the bow."

"Haidongbu, Teldun...the three major ministries don't have as many hunters as this time?"

Koshhaqi shook his head: "I've never been a hunter in the three major divisions. But I guess it's not as good as that."

"Why?" Winters raised his eyebrows: "The Red River tribe has only been growing for a few years. Are there not as many hunters in the three major tribes as there are in the Red River tribe?"

Koshhaqi struggled to organize his words: "White Lion uses many hunters from other tribes; the three major tribes only have their own hunters."

“Isn’t it true that the more hunters there are, the better?”

"The more, the better." Koshhaqi said seriously: "But, hunt, obey."

According to Koshhaqi, he only started to learn the language of the Two-legged people after suffering a defeat in the [Battle of Styx Camp].

It is not easy for him to learn a language to his current level in such a short period of time - but it is still not enough to cope with more complex conversations.

Therefore, when Koshhachi speaks, he always jumps out one word after another, and Winters often has to guess what Koshhachi wants to express based on his body language.

Winters asked thoughtfully: "You want to say that participating in the Red River Tribe's hunt means surrendering to the Red River Tribe?"

Koshhachi nodded solemnly.

Winters was not surprised by this: "I'm afraid it's more than just surrender. The big fish will eat the small fish, sooner or later. I'm just curious. Why do you still participate in the Red River when you know that the Red River Tribe intends to annex the Badlands Department?" Hunting by the Ministry?"

Koshhaqi said matter-of-factly: "The Bad Earth tribe is weak and the Red River tribe is strong, so we have to participate."

"The Chihe tribe forces you to become ministers?"

"No, big fish eat small fish. It's better to be eaten sooner than later."

"I'm not asking you, 'Why did you surrender to the White Lion?'" Winters stared at Koshhaqi's eyes with scrutiny: "What I'm asking is - are you really willing to surrender to the White Lion?"

Winters' question was dangerous, but Koshhachi answered it anyway, and answered truthfully:

"I don't want to."

…

Koshhachi wanted to know what the world outside the grassland was like, and Winters also wanted to know what was happening in the wasteland.

Previously, Winters mainly relied on Little Lion to understand the inside information of Hurd's ministries.

The little lion provided Winters with a lot of valuable information, even including the crucial warning that the Teltowners were coming.

However, relying on the little lion to provide information means that Winters can only know what the white lion wants him to know.

Therefore, Winters urgently needed to open up new sources of intelligence.

But if you think everything is easy, it will be difficult to do it.

Not to mention the physical isolation and the intense hostility between the Hittites and the Palatians, finding a Hittite who could speak Common was like panning for gold in the sand.

So Winters allowed Koshhatch to observe his men like a spy, answering all of Koshhatch's questions as much as possible.

In exchange, Koshhachi also had to answer Winters' questions. This was a tacit understanding between the two that did not need to be stated.

…

"What about the leaders of other tribes?" Winters continued to ask: "They are willing to surrender?"

"No one is willing." Koshhaqi answered truthfully: "But the white lion's division of spoils is fair and prestigious."

Winters listened quietly.

Koshhaqi stretched out his left hand and said, "Been eaten by the three major tribes."

Koshhaqi extended his right hand again: "Been eaten by the Chihe tribe."

Finally, he held the right hand that symbolized the Akawabe: "This is better."

Winters nodded, noncommittal.

"Or." Koshhaqi rolled off his saddle and dismounted, pulled out an iron arrow from his quiver, and offered it to the Palatine champion with both hands: "Obey Batu."

Winters raised his eyebrows slightly: "Badlands Ministry? Or you?"

Koshhaqi bowed his head respectfully: "Me."

Winters did not accept the Iron Arrow and responded honestly: "You are more valuable to me in the wasteland."

[I was overdrawn yesterday]