Whistling arrows crisscrossed back and forth, and fierce shouts echoed through the valley. The sun slanted slightly to the west, the mountains cast thick shadows, and a faint smell of blood drifted in the wind.
The black wolf Toltec stood at the mouth of the valley several miles away, carrying a battle flag. As he looked at the shooting situation, his face gradually turned cold. The canine descendants of the valley are skilled in archery and dominate the camps and terrain. The longbow advantage of the legion archers was offset, and they were slowly at a disadvantage in the exchange of fire. Black Wolf looked at it for a moment longer, raised his sword eyebrows, and waved his command flag again.
"Dong dong dong!"
The sound of the war drums suddenly accelerated, accompanied by the sharp sound of the flute. The five hundred vanguard barbarians were wearing cotton armor and had been waiting for a long time. They all let out a loud roar, praising the name of the Lord God. Then, with shields in one hand and bronze spears in the other, the barbarian soldiers charged towards the camp at the entrance of the valley from nearly a hundred steps away.
Although the terrain of Taniguchi Camp is high, it is not particularly steep. In fact, it is just a slope. The vanguard barbarians ran with great strides, quickly rushed through the loose formation of archers, got within fifty paces, and quickly rushed up the slope.
"Dudu! Rapid fire!"
Looking at the barbarian soldiers rushing past, Yolich blew the bone whistle again.
The feathered arrows "swish", suddenly soared like birds, and fell on the camp in pieces. The legion's archers are shooting at a faster rate to suppress the canine descendants on the camp. The canine descendants howled and shouted, but the arrow rain suddenly became much smaller.
Yolich removed his shield and looked carefully to the opposite side, his pupils suddenly contracted. He saw many conspicuous red-haired warriors, drawing their bows without firing their bows, gazing muffledly at the charging barbarians, as if they were patiently waiting for their prey.
Outside the valley, Toltec was smiling. He watched as the vanguard barbarians were almost unscathed, successfully rushing within twenty steps of the camp, and were about to climb onto the camp.
"Didi, ew!"
Black Wolf's smile suddenly solidified. A piercing bone whistle sounded instantly, accompanied by the shrill sound of arrows piercing the air. Then, the charging barbarians fell suddenly, and their dying screams were violent in an instant. At a distance of twenty steps, the red-haired warriors accurately avoided the cotton armor and shot the barbarian soldiers in the heads, faces and necks. More than thirty brave vanguards fell to the ground.
Then, hundreds of dog warriors roared loudly, held up the stone spears and hammers in their hands, rushed out of the simple camp gate, and fought with the vanguard barbarians. A canine warrior swung a stone hammer with both hands and hit the shield of a young barbarian with all his strength, barely doing any defense. The barbarian soldier smiled disdainfully, blocked it with his shield, and then stabbed the bronze spear deeply into the dog's chest and abdomen.
However, the dying canine was like a wild beast, advancing instead of retreating, roaring and hugging the spear pierced into his chest and abdomen, and grabbing the arm behind the spear. Another dog-born warrior immediately rushed forward, swung a stone hammer, and hit the barbarian soldier on the shoulder. The barbarian soldiers immediately howled miserably and bowed their bodies, like crouching shrimps. Then they struck head-on with another hammer, and the howl suddenly stopped.
Seeing this tragic scene, the middle-aged barbarian soldier next to him had red eyes, thrust out a copper spear, and stabbed the old dog-born to death with a stone hammer and his strength. Another dog-born man raised his stone spear and threw himself at him. The middle-aged barbarian soldier took a step back quickly, raised his shield to block, then thrust out his spear with his backhand, and stabbed the dog-born to death!
After all, the vanguard barbarians were selected elite soldiers. They were skilled in martial arts, strong and agile, and well-equipped, and soon gained the absolute upper hand in close combat.
However, the red-haired warriors in the camp were merciless and didn't care about the possibility of accidental injury. They just fired arrows down the slope fiercely. These deadly hunters squinted their eyes and continuously fired sharp bone arrows, accurately hitting the vital points of the barbarians at such a close distance. The barbarian soldiers roared and suddenly fell down, dying together with the dog-born, their bodies stacked on top of each other.
The rapid drumbeats continued to urge the attack, and the fighting in front of the Taniguchi camp became increasingly cruel. Yolicki continued to move forward with the archers, approaching and shooting at the hunters in the camp, and the casualties on both sides quickly increased. The arrows continued to take away lives, and also consumed the morale and physical strength of both sides.
Toltec frowned and watched the fighting for two moments. The charge in front of the camp showed no sign of breakthrough. The two sides squeezed each other and gradually became a protracted war of attrition. Although the canine descendants lost nearly 600 people in battle, most of them were tribal warriors and ordinary men. The red-haired elites suffered very little damage.
However, the thousand-man battalion that went out to fight fell a total of 300 people. Half of them were militia archers shooting at each other, and the other half were samurai barbarians charging. Lightly-armed archers are easy to replenish, their equipment is simple, and their casualties are actually insignificant. The vanguard barbarians are the selected royal guards, and they are his direct troops. How can they be so consumed!
Thinking of this, Hei Lang clenched his hands and slowly shook his head.
The special valley terrain restricted the delivery of troops from both sides and limited the scale of frontline battles. Although there are 8,000 men in the middle legion, only about 1,000 men can be put into the front line of the battle. The same goes for the canine descendants. A large number of warriors gathered behind the camp and waited. Once the battle is carried out as a tribal unit, the weakness of the canine descendants who are not good at cooperation is covered up, and instead their advantage of being good at small-scale battles is brought into play.
"We can't continue fighting like this. The crossbowmen come forward to cover! Blow the conch horn, and the thousands of forward troops retreat!"
Toltec took a deep breath and waved the flag. Five hundred temple crossbowmen strode forward, advanced more than a hundred steps from the valley entrance, then stood with their legs spread apart, holding up the heavy crossbow with both hands. In the doubtful eyes of the canine descendants, they all suddenly raised their heads and fired a wave of ferocious crossbow bolts.
"Boohoo!"
Sharp crossbow arrows came from the sky, shot at the head of the camp, and then were nailed to the wooden ramparts. More than a dozen canine hunters died on the spot, including several red-haired warriors. The canine descendants in the camp were instantly suppressed, and the retreating conch horn was blown. The vanguard barbarians retreated while fighting, shouting to each other, and retreated out of the shooting range of the camp.
The attacking canine warriors wanted to continue the fight. However, once they left the narrow valley mouth and escaped the cover of the camp hunters, their exchange ratio with the barbarians increased significantly, and their morale also dropped rapidly. The vanguard barbarians retreated, waving their weapons and killing hundreds more canine people, and the retreat horn sounded in the camp.
The temple crossbowman fired ten rounds in a row and then stopped shooting. The temple crossbowmen retreated together with the archers, and the heavy crossbows and longbows were mixed together, making sounds from time to time. The crossbow arrows used in the heavy crossbow need to withstand several times the pressure and must be made of solid hardwood. Compared with the wooden poles and reed poles used for ordinary bows and arrows, the arrow shafts of crossbows are more expensive and more laborious to manufacture.
During this Northern Expedition, facing the canine descendants with light armor or even no armor, the power of the longbow was sufficient. For these reasons, the crossbow bolts carried by the coalition forces are very limited and cannot be fired at will.
"Red Fox Valley, Red Cat Tribe..."
Toltec stared at the lynx flag on the camp, lost in thought. There are tens of thousands of canine descendants in the valley, but it is really difficult to occupy the terrain and hold on. Black Wolf frowned and thought for a moment, then looked at Mesper next to him again.
"Mespa, call the nobles you mentioned before. I want to inquire carefully!"
Mesper called a few nobles who had escaped from the valley and told them in detail about the events that happened that day, the fighting situation of the dog descendants, and the surrounding terrain.
After listening for a moment, Hei Lang's eyes lit up. He grabbed the middle-aged Otomi noble in front of him.
"Iko, you just said that there are narrow mountain roads in the north and south mountains of the valley that can pass hundreds of samurai?"
"Yes, Captain Black Wolf. Although the mountains in the north and south are high, there are mountain roads that have been explored. It's just that the mountains in the north are slightly gentler and easier to navigate than in the south. The Parmus scouts often scout the valleys from the mountain roads. That day in Guaji The Li people also sneaked into hundreds of red-haired soldiers from the northern mountain road to create chaos in the valley. In the past half month, scouts from both sides have been fighting in the mountains. In order to complete your reconnaissance order, I have killed several elite soldiers. Family warrior!"
The middle-aged nobleman Iko felt a little distressed. Toltec thought for a moment, then grabbed Iko's arm, but asked a question that frightened him even more.
"Iko, you are an Otomi noble who was born in the valley, and you are very familiar with this place. The Guakili dog descendants occupied your fiefdom, killed your tribesmen, and have a huge hatred for you! Don't you think so? Don’t you want revenge?..."
Black Wolf paused, stared into Iko's eyes, and said in a deep voice.
"I will give you five hundred Parmus warriors who are familiar with the terrain! You rush in from the mountain path, cooperate with the army inside and outside, and attack the camp at the entrance of the valley from behind under the cover of night. Although this attack is dangerous, as long as it succeeds, it will be a great achievement. Piece! I will personally report your name to His Highness! How about it, do you dare?!"
