Iron Powder and Spellcasters

   Chapter 277 Confrontation

   The sparse stars twinkled in the blue-grey sky at dawn, and the grey-white mist rolled and swirled over the Big Horn.

  If there is no human presence, all this is just an ordinary morning in early winter.

   But the peaceful scene is full of murderous intent.

   "Boom."

   "Boom."

   The sound of paddles echoing on the river like a fish tail hitting the water.

  Er, a sheepskin raft silhouetted from the fog, then a second, a third…

   These sheepskin rafts are small and can only carry five or six people each.

  Among the five or six people, two of them were paddling with sweat profusely. The remaining few people knelt and sat with their horned bows in hand, looking around without daring to move their lower bodies.

   Fear, excitement and greed were mixed in everyone's face and eyes.

   There were no beacon fires, no shouts of killing, no arrows or lead bullets. The eight sheepskin rafts did not suffer any resistance, and they successfully crossed the Dajiao River and officially entered the territory of Tiefeng County and Langtun Town.

   "Ganquan! It's a success!" A young Hurd [Shi Jian] couldn't hide his joy, and said to another young Hurd in a low voice, "The two-legged man didn't find you and me!"

  The young Hurd known as [Ganquan] has a scar on his face that runs through the bridge of his nose, and he scolded the speaker in his voice: "Shut up!"

   The former stopped talking immediately.

  Gan Quan walked to another old Hurd man: "Bald tail! Count the number of people. Blow the horn and let the rest come over."

   The old Hurd [Bald Tail] with ravines on his face took out a deerbone flute, put it on his lips and blew it gently.

   "Woo yo... woo yo..."

  The sound of the bald tail is like the sound of a deer, it is not very loud, but it has a strong penetrating power.

   Across the river, another young Hurd [Tsing Ma] is waiting anxiously.

  Suddenly, Qing Ma heard the sound of deer croaking from behind the thick fog, and learned that Gan Quan and others had successfully crossed the river.

   "Drive the horse into the water!" Qing Ma ran immediately, shouting to order the slaves and subjects: "Drive the horse into the water!"

The    horse group moved, and the more than 200 horses only walked slowly, and the rumbling sound did not want to be hidden.

"Hurry up! Hurry up!" Qing Ma used a scabbard to beat the slow slaves and subjects, his triangular eyes gleaming fiercely: "Don't ask the horses to drink water! Drive them away! Horses are not made of salt and cannot be melted! Go away! Sly slacker!"

  The river water in early winter was so cold that the horses crowded together and walked reluctantly into the cold water.

   The Hurds shouted and swung their whips to drive away the horses.

The leader of the    group of horses—a large horse with a light red and white nose bridge took the lead to swim.

   Son Mazi is not the first time swimming.

  The water of the Big Horn River hit its strong body, and the son was breathing desperately, his chest was bigger than usual, his body was floating in the water, his neck and back were exposed on the water.

  The rest of the horses followed behind the leader, separated the water, and slowly paced forward until their hooves could not step on the riverbed, and they began to pedal and paddle.

   A dozen Hurds took three rafts and followed behind the horses. Everyone had a lasso and lasso in hand, just in case.

   But an accident happened. An old white-fronted horse was not strong enough and suddenly lost his balance while swimming.

  The body of the white-fronted old horse was thrown sideways uncontrollably, it broke away from the horses, and was carried downstream by the river.

  The Hurds on the raft hurriedly threw the noose, but the accident happened too fast, and the white-fronted old horse disappeared in the thick fog in a blink of an eye.

   Qing Ma was furious, and his triangular eyes were burning with anger: "Blind idiot! Don't row forward! Let the horses run diagonally against the water! Don't let the water wash away the horses!"

   Not far downstream, the eight sheepskin rafts that had just crossed the river rowed back. The eight rafts inevitably drifted hundreds of meters downstream during the round trip.

   The old white-fronted horse just drifted past them, but the horse was already dead.

  The oars of the Hurd watched silently as the old white-fronted horse floated up and down in the dark river.

  The first trip is for people, the second for horses, the third for saddles, weapons, and armor, and the fourth and fifth for people.

   It took five full tosses to transport more than 100 riders and more than 200 horses from the west bank of the Big Horn River to the east bank.

   The leader of this Telltown Centurion is "Hell's Ash", which means fountain.

  The triangular-eyed Qingma and another young man [Shijian] are Ganquan's "partners", the full-time samurai of this miniature tribe.

  Other people are Ganquan's subjects and slaves, such as the old slave [bald tail], Ganquan was given to Ganquan by Ganquan's grandfather when he could not walk.

   In terms of bloodline, Gan Quan had a prominent background, and his grandfather was the father of the fire roaster.

   But in terms of strength, Gan Quan's hands are only a hundred or so cavalry, more than two hundred horses, and his subordinates are old and young, and his combat power is very poor.

   For the Hurds, being a pioneer is a very high honor, and as usual, they can get more spoils. So according to common sense, Gan Quan would not be able to take the lead no matter what.

   But who made Ganquan the blood relative of the fire roaster?

  The fire roaster took care of this nephew who had no property, made Ganquan one of the pioneers, and arranged Ganquan's marching route in the upper reaches of the Dajiao River.

  On the second day after the night battle at Shovel Harbor, Gan Quan and his Centurion arrived at the border of Lower Tiefong County without a sound.

   The difficulty of crossing from the upper reaches of the Big Horn is much easier than that of the lower reaches of Shovel Lake.

   Ganquan first found a place with gentle water flow, and then he prepared his skin bag and raft overnight, and successfully crossed the Jiehe River under the cover of thick fog the next morning.

   Ganquan was the first "Tulukota" of the Telltown Department to lead the troops to cross the boundary river - he didn't know this for the time being.

  [Note: Turukota is roughly equivalent to Centurion]

  Compared to the failed raid on the lower reaches of Shovel Lake, Ganquan's crossing was surprisingly smooth, and the Paratus didn't even raise any alarms.

After    ecstasy, deep doubts followed.

   Ganquan, Qingma, Shijian and the old slave Bald Tail had to decide what to do next.

"Do you still need to think about it?" Qing Ma shouted impatiently: "The fire roaster ordered you and me to loot the village and disperse the troops of the two-legged man. Horse saddle and bow, and kill the two-legged man when you see it. ?"

   The old slave Bald Tail asked in a hoarse voice: "Where is the two-legged village? Where is the two-legged army?"

   Tsing Ma was speechless when asked.

  The Palatu people have suppressed the Herd tribes for 30 years, and the Herders have a black eye on the internal situation of Palatu.

   In the past thirty years, the only way for the Hurds to know the inside story of Palatu was through the smuggling caravans.

   However, most of the smuggling caravans have a noble background in Plato, and the information given is also half-truth.

   Ganquan only knew that he was in the most remote "grassland" on the two-legged man's territory.

"You don't need to worry so much! If you are afraid of wolves biting people, why don't you play around?" Gan Quan licked his teeth, his eyes flickering fiercely: "You and I are pioneers, and the fire roaster ordered you and me to make a big splash. Send someone Go send a letter to the fire roaster and tell him that you and I have already crossed the river. You and I will cast the net and find the camp of the two-legged man first."

   Seeing that Yan had already ordered, Bald Tai did not say anything more.

  Ganquan ordered people to deliver letters to those who roasted the fire, and at the same time ordered people to hide the sheepskin raft, and led more than 100 riders to gallop towards the populated place.

Once the    battlefield area expands to hundreds of kilometers in length and width, the ability of each force to make independent decisions becomes critical.

   And this, happens to be the strength of the Hurd tribes.

  …

   Ganquan crossed the upper reaches of the Dajiao River unscathed and entered Xia Tiefong County at the same time.

  Another Terdunnayan "Taltai [Fat Man]" was also crossing the lower reaches of the Dajiao River into Zhongtiefeng County.

   Tartai is a relative of the fire roaster who is marrying his wife. According to the route, he needs to cross the river downstream of the Big Horn and upstream of the Shovel Harbor.

  The so-called "route" in the common language is called "Zasahei" by the Hurds. In Hedd, Zasahi also has the meanings of "military order", "decree" and "order".

   It can be seen from this that for the Hurds, [route] and [military order] are the same word, and route and punctuality are also the most important concepts in the military operations of the Hurds.

  After the big boss has set the route, all the little bosses must strictly follow the route.

   Deviating from the route without permission will be severely punished, and will be severely punished if the deadline is exceeded.

The reason why    has this military custom is because of the hunting tradition of the Hud people. During the hunt, any small force that strays from its course will cause the prey to rush out of the siege.

   Therefore, during a month or even three months of hunting, each unit must strictly follow the route.

   This is how the Hurd hunted and fought in this way.

  The fire roaster designated his pioneer officers an area to cross the river, and the Kotas had to cross the river in the designated area, because other areas were the "routes" of other Kotas.

  Hard's tribes did not have the engineering ability of the Plato's standing army to cut wood into bridges, and not many people even knew how to build pontoon bridges.

   So Fatty Tartai's way of crossing the river is similar to Ganquan: first, a small group of archers reached the east bank through the thick fog and occupied a "landing field".

  Then the raft goes back to the west bank to pick up more people.

   The only difference is that Fatty Tartai is more cautious, more experienced, and has more troops on hand.

   This time, Fatty Tartai brought out three hundred teams, all of whom were carefully selected young men.

   Crossing the river for the first time, Fat Man Tartai pulled up two leather ropes on both sides of the Big Horn River.

   With the leather ropes firmly fixed on both banks, the sheepskin raft can pull the leather ropes across the river without being washed downstream.

   It took a little time to cross the river for the first time, but it was very fast the second time.

  When the sun rose and the fog gradually dissipated, the sheepskin raft had already made two round trips.

   Personal slave "Chahan [Bai]" respectfully reported to Tartai: "Nayan, there are already 100 sons on the other side."

Tartai got his name because he was born fat. This is not a good name. Tartai also hates others to call him "fat man" on weekdays, so his companions, subjects and slaves call him "Nayan [leader] in person. ".

   "Have sentinels been released?"

   "Released."

   "Yes!" Tartai ordered with a soft whip: "Send the horses over."

   "Hey ha." Chahan bowed his chest and prepared to leave.

   "No! Don't send it away yet!" Fatty Tartai narrowed his eyes, his eyes almost becoming a slit: "Send ten horses first, let them ride out, and see what's going on further away."

   "Hey."

   So ten horses were sent over, and some time was delayed.

  The Teltown people on the east bank didn't have time to saddle their horses, so they rode directly on the bare backs and let the horses go.

   did not wait for the sound of hooves to go far. A chilling battle cry suddenly sounded behind the gradually thinning mist: "[Common language] Draw your sword!"

   As if there were hundreds of men roaring at the same time: "Uukhai!"

   "There is an ambush! Stupid! The sentinel should be damned!" Fatty Tartai scolded: "Take Erlang back."

  It was too late, two dull gunshots sounded one after another on the other side of the river, and the sharp bugle sound penetrated the mist and resounded on both sides of the Big Horn River.

   First company commander Tamas jumped out of the field and charged at the front with a pig hunting spear.

  Tamas never imagined that someone was ahead of him: a short, flat-ended pig-hunting spear, howling and rushing into the mist.

   Shorty Peter hasn't said a word since the dilapidated prefab house was burned down. He doesn't cry or laugh, he eats what he eats and drinks what he drinks, just like walking with corpses.

  Even the first company commander, Tamas, assured the dwarf again and again that he would rebuild the house for him when the barbarian Heard was defeated, but it did not make the dwarf's eyes shine.

   At this moment, however, Peter the Shorty screamed like a madman and rushed to the river bank, surprising his comrades.

   When the rotten prefab house with a big hole in the roof and four walls leaking air was burned down, Peter Bunir's heart was also empty.

   But now, that missing piece is filled with hatred and anger.

  Peter Bunir didn't dare to hate the "Blood Wolf" who gave him his surname, and he didn't want to hate him as the company commander of his brother, so he could only hate the barbarian Hurd.

   God-killed Heard barbarian!

   Damn Heard Barbarian!

  Why are you here?

   Kill you all!

  The more than one hundred Terdun people who crossed the river gathered together with their backs against the river. The fog had not yet cleared, and they could only hear the screams of killing from all directions.

   "Spread! Don't crowd together!" A little leader with red feathers shouted hoarsely: "Spread!"

   Except for the red feather feathers, none of the Teldun people on the east coast wore armor - they sat in a boat wearing armor, and they sank when they fell into the water. The weapons in their hands were only horned bows and scimitars.

  Everyone yearns for the shore, crowds into the safer crowd, and there is no room to open a bow.

   Hong Lingyu became ruthless and dragged his subordinates out of the crowd one by one: "Spread out, build a bow!"

The cries of    were getting closer and closer, and some Terdun people couldn’t stand the psychological pressure, so they loosened their bowstrings and shot arrows towards the pale mist.

  The arrow was engulfed by the white fog, and I don't know if it hit anyone.

  Other Terdun people also opened their bows and fired arrows one after another, shooting wherever there was a sound.

   The Teltown people on the other side were desperately paddling and dragging their rafts across the river.

   Hong Lingyu looked in his eyes, anxious in his heart.

  Herd people generally think that the first twelve arrows are the best arrows for an archer, and then the archer's strength gradually depletes, and the accuracy, power and speed of opening the bow will be much worse.

   However, because they couldn't stand the psychological pressure, the "good arrows" of the Teltown people had all been wasted on shooting fog.

   "Stop!" Hong Lingyu angrily whipped his whip and beat his subordinates: "Shoot when you see someone with two legs! Shoot again when you see someone!"

   A huge force suddenly came from behind, and along with the exclamations of his subordinates, Hong Feiyu, who was standing in front of the crowd, was severely knocked down by a short Platonic soldier who rushed out of the white fog.

The   hunting pig spear failed to pierce the armor, and Hong Feather was completely smashed by brute force to break the ribs, and was pushed down abruptly.

  Hong Lingyu struggled to get up, but the short Paratus smashed towards Hong Lingyu's back like a madman, as if he was killing a mortal enemy.

  The Teltown people have been stunned, even the Hurd people have never seen such a ferocious evil star.

   "Shoot him! Ah!" Hong Lingyu vomited blood after being smashed through the armor, and he even heard the crisp sound of a broken spine: "Shoot him!"

  Telden archer came back to his senses, and shivered with his bow and arrow.

   "Death!" Another tall Palatine jumped out from behind the white fog and rushed towards the Terdun without the slightest hesitation.

  The tall Platoon's pig-hunting spear went straight to the throat of the Teldun in front of him, only slightly delayed at the throat, and pierced all the way to the spine.

   The Teltown man whimpered and grabbed the shaft of the spear.

   The tall Paratus tried to withdraw the hog-hunting spear, but the Terdun refused to let go.

   If it was a new recruit, he would probably foolishly tug-of-war with the Teltown people at this time.

   But this tall Palatine soldier was the first company commander, Tamas. Seeing that the spear shaft was being held, he immediately cut off the spear and drew his sword, ignoring the barbarian with a spear stuck in his throat, and slashed at others with his sword.

  In an instant, more and more soldiers from Tiefeng County rushed out of the white fog.

   Seeing the hundreds of Teltown people on the river bank, most of the soldiers of the first company were stunned, and then they shouted to kill the enemy.

  The two sides started a melee in the mist. The people wearing leather robes were the Hurds, and the people wearing common clothes were the Paratus people.

   The dwarf Bunir, who was already insane, was still smashing the red feathers one after another. The tip of the pig hunting spear had been smashed to pieces, and the dwarf continued to smash with the broken spear.

   Hong Lingyu screamed and kept digging at the soil to try to get up, but his lower body no longer obeyed.

   A gust of wind roared, and the mist dissipated in an instant.

  The fog blocking his view has disappeared, and Fatty Tartai on the other side of the river immediately ordered his troops to fire arrows.

  The arrows hit the east coast like hailstones, flying towards the two sides who were fighting regardless of the enemy or the enemy.

   It was at this time that Bart Haring arrived at the battlefield with the second company.

   Seeing the battle situation on the shore, Bart Xia Ling shouted badly.

   The barbarian Hurd had no way to retreat, and his morale was strong, and the two sides on the shore had already killed red eyes.

   And the barbarians on the other side obviously did not intend to rescue the troops, but wanted to kill the Paratus as much as possible.

   "Company Commander, shall we come?" Sergeant [Nine Fingers] asked eagerly.

   "Last fart!" Bart Shalling yelled: "Blow the retreat!"

   "Retreat?"

   "Let you blow and blow!"

The melody of    retreat sounded.

   First Company Commander Tamas, although he did not know why, still shouted and ordered the soldiers around him: "Retreat!"

   "Retreat!" The sergeants in the company also repeated the order, pulling the red-eyed warrior beside him to leave the battlefield.

  Tamas passed by Peter Bunir and found that the latter was still smashing a red feather on the back.

   And that Hong Lingyu was dying, and he wasn't dead yet.

  Tamas kicked the dwarf Peter, lifted the armor curtain on the back of Hong Lingyu's neck, and gave the dying Hong Lingyu a joy.

   "Enough." Tamas scolded with a sullen face, pulling the lost dwarf Peter to retreat to the attack position.

  The Terdun people on the east coast fought with a single will, and suddenly lost the enemy, and they became at a loss.

   "[Hedde] raft!" A Teltown man threw his weapon and shouted in surprise: "[Hedde] raft!"

   This cry was like a starting gun, and the people of Terdun who were still alive rushed to the sheepskin raft that had not yet landed.

   "[Hedde] don't leave me here!" the seriously injured Teltown man cried and begged: "[Hedde] don't leave me here!"

   But no one paid attention to it, and a chance of life suddenly appeared in the desperate situation, and all the people of Teltown who were still alive became ignorant.

   "[Hedde] is over!" The furious fat man Tartai threw his whip into the river.

   "[Hede] Surrender to avoid death!" The soldiers of the 2nd Company, speaking blunt Hede, pulled into a loose line and rushed to the shore: "[Hede] Surrender to avoid death!"

  Bart Xialing did not rush ahead, he stayed on the high ground by the river bank, frowning and observing the battlefield situation.

   Sergeant "Nine Fingers" cut off the leather cord connecting the two sides of the strait as soon as possible according to the order of Bart Xialing.

The sheepskin raft of the Teltown people was caught off guard and was pushed downstream by the river.

  The Terdun people who lost their will to resist put down their weapons and surrendered on their knees.

   The Terdun people on the other side saw that the situation was over, and symbolically released a few rounds of arrows, and they stopped wasting arrows.

   Several corpses floated on the water and were carried away silently by the river water.

   The first confrontation between the two armies in Zhongtiefeng County ended in a small victory for the defender.

   [Did not catch up with…]

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   (end of this chapter)