, wonderful and free of pop-ups! Human skin can be considered very thin and soft among all creatures in nature.
Perhaps because we learned to make clothes to cover our bodies and no longer need to rely on thick fur to keep warm and cold, over a long period of time we gradually evolved the smooth, soft and thin skin we have today, which is different from most people. The thick and tough skin on other creatures that are also mammals forms a clear distinction. And by extension, a fact that may make most ordinary people find it incredible is that the epidermis of many creatures smaller than us is stronger than that of humans.
Hunters who often deal with wild beasts may have a clearer understanding of this matter. In previous chapters, we have mentioned simple things like bows with a pulling force of more than ten kilograms and arrows that are polished, blackened and hardened with wood. Those who have the knowledge can also make their own hunting tools in the wild, but what needs to be mentioned here is that such tools are actually only suitable for hunting poultry such as chicks, and a few smaller mammals.
If you use this kind of bow and arrows to hunt an adult male deer, what you will see is that it has several arrows stuck in its body but still jumps away.
Wild animals in nature are generally stronger and more tenacious than domestic animals. The bow chosen like this has insufficient draw power and insufficient arrow lethality. Therefore, many arrows are shot, but they can only stay in the skin, fat and muscle. Partial inability to really hit the vital point is very common in hunting. Bows with higher draw power and more lethality combined with iron arrows can greatly change this. Generally speaking, bows used to attack creatures of human size and weight require at least thirty to thirty-five kilograms of draw force. ——And this is when the opponent is not wearing armor.
As we mentioned before, the thin and soft skin of humans is an extreme among creatures, combined with the leather armor and cobbler mentioned before. As a nomadic people who make a living by raising cattle, horses and sheep, the most widely used armor by the Abu Sera people is naturally the cooked leather armor peeled off from the cattle and sheep they raise.
Relatively soft and lightweight sheepskin is suitable for making clothing and gloves, while thick cowhide can provide considerable defense capabilities. Most of the farmers among the settled peoples who have experience in animal husbandry have the experience of branding cattle with the lord's mark - the farmers themselves do not own these cattle, just as they do not own the land - in order to prevent the valuable lord's assets from being used. This is what cattle thieves must do, and the red-hot iron makes people avoid it just by picking it up. When it is hot on the thick skin of the cow, they will not react excitedly.
Armor made of cooked and hardened cowhide can, to a considerable extent, block arrows fired by prairie shortbows weighing less than 35 kilograms. But that's not all. In this era where arrowheads are generally made of iron and rarely of steel with higher hardness, even if an ordinary bow is strong enough to shoot through leather armor, the force usually has been greatly weakened when it penetrates the flesh. No deeper access to vital areas is possible.
At this point, the long archers on Yavenella's side actually have a higher advantage.
The arrowheads on the grassland are basically the common triangular arrowheads with blades. This kind of arrowhead can cause a larger wound area and cut through tendons and main blood vessels to kill prey or enemies as quickly as possible. But when it comes to armor-piercing, It is not as effective as the cheaper short-tapered arrowheads. Therefore, in the centuries-long struggle with the better-armored mercenaries on the west coast and in the south, although the prairie people are all soldiers. , and it has always been just a tie.
But as we often say, as long as human beings encounter problems, they will inevitably solve them. The scarcity of iron ore is destined that grassland people will not make short conical ones like the people on the west coast, which are only suitable for breaking armor. Killing arrows, they also made other changes in another aspect——
"Whoops——"
Without the interference of the howling wind, even if the opponent is running and sprinting, the arrow can fly towards the target more effectively.
The west side of the grassland is the territory of another tribe. The situation has not yet been fully understood. Henry and his group attacked just because they were threatened. When they were about to gain a tactical advantage, another group of three or four soldiers suddenly came out. A team of ten people surrounded him from the other direction. This team was obviously in the same group as those they were attacking, because after briefly judging the situation, they quickly lined up in a line and then condescendingly drew their bows and arrows towards the people who happened to be rushing in front of them. A group of prairie warriors from the Aries clan shot out.
"Hissing -" The samurai class is worthy of being a more proficient fighting being than ordinary people. Although the time between appearing and shooting arrows is very short, they still quickly and decisively changed their formations. Only two people and two horses were hit by arrows and they were all slightly injured - but just when everyone thought the situation was not extremely bad, the two horses running in the middle of the team suddenly collapsed on their front legs and foamed at the mouth. He fell to the ground.
"Ahem -" The warrior who was supposed to get out of the saddle quickly seemed to have lost consciousness and spat out a mouthful of blood. His whole body was thrown away and landed heavily on the ground. Everyone who quickly realized what had happened immediately tightened their grip. He took off the reins: "Keep the distance! Keep the distance!" The warriors shouted loudly, and Khalid and others on the other side saw the other side open their short bows again, and realized that they were also within range. He immediately stopped and quickly turned the horse's head.
"Spread out! Spread out!"
The identity of the pursuer and the pursued were immediately reversed because of this new force. Just like what the other party had done before, everyone quickly divided into seven or eight small groups and dispersed in order to reduce the possibility of being hit. Not having an overwhelming numerical advantage is a blessing among misfortunes. The area that more than forty arrows can cover is pitifully small, so when everyone disperses, the team can no longer wait and see leisurely. He was shooting arrows, but had to drive his horse to catch up.
"Damn coward! Stupid little clan!" Khalid cursed loudly in the language of the grasslands. Just a scratch can kill a man and horse. Anyone with a brain will understand that this must be some kind of poison on the arrow. . Humans have a very long history of using poisons, and all kinds of venomous snakes and insects are naturally not rare on the vast grasslands. But surprisingly, the martial prairie people are actually quite disgusted with putting poison on arrows. Although this toxin that acts on the blood circulation can kill the prey and eat meat as long as there are no wounds in the mouth. There is no need to worry about being poisoned, but since venom is relatively rare, the targets that use them to attack are usually other humans.
This is different from what most people think. After all, in this era of low literacy, most people’s understanding of poisons comes from word of mouth, and the source of this word of mouth is It is usually the research result of a certain scholar - the most common one is that one gram of venom is enough to kill as many people as many cows, and this statement is exaggerated to a considerable extent. The lethality of many poisons has caused many civilians to turn a blind eye to creatures that are not actually a threat to humans.
It is true that whether the toxicity is strong or not is very important, but there is another important factor that distinguishes many very scary creatures recorded in books from the poisons that actually cause the most human deaths in reality - the amount of detoxification.
Venom is not something that comes out of nowhere. Although there are many types of mushrooms and plants that also contain toxins, these plant toxins usually act on the digestive system. In other words, you have to eat them to have an effect. Poisons that can directly attack the blood circulation system are usually animal poisons. As precious hunting tools, animal venom requires a lot of energy and time to accumulate.
Animals with venom are usually insects except snakes. A few smaller dragon lizards also have venom. Among warm-blooded animals, except for a few unproven flying dragons, no other species has venom - why is this so important? The reason is naturally consumption. Reptiles such as snakes and dragon lizards are cold-blooded creatures and can last for more than a month after eating at a time. Compared with them, mammals like humans and other endothermic animals that need to dissipate heat by themselves need to continue to eat to maintain the high consumption caused by constant dissipation of heat. This also makes it almost impossible for endothermic animals to possess toxins. impossible things.
Another thing that determines whether it has poison is its size. The larger it is, the more energy it will consume to move. And if it reaches a certain level, it can complete hunting without using venom.
In short, under the restrictions of various conditions, animals that are too large and have a warm temperature cannot produce toxins or even if they are toxic, they will not be too toxic. However, even if the poisons are extremely toxic due to their own limitations, the poison glands will not be too strong. The total amount of venom that can be produced and the amount of instant detoxification are not too high.
Toxins that can be captured and absorbed by humans can only be of moderate size and can detoxify to a certain extent. In addition, there are a series of problems such as the preservation of venom caused by strong direct sunlight on the Abu Sera savannah without much shelter. The effectiveness of smearing poison on arrows has been greatly reduced, causing it to be like other poisonous attack methods in various places. It has not been able to be popularized and become a truly effective weapon on the frontal battlefield or a hunting tool.
Although cruel, it is very rare and cannot become a main combat force. The big clans looked down upon it, and only small clans that needed to enhance their self-defense capabilities would choose this despicable weapon. It’s no wonder that Khalid, who was born in a middle-lower clan, would despise its users.
But no matter what, it is a fact that they are defeated. The commander of the newly-appeared enemy team obviously knew how to use tactics and equipment to change the situation. As soon as he joined the battlefield, he ordered his men to line up in a horizontal line and shoot poisonous arrows. He only needed to shoot one shot. Henry and his group would definitely give up chasing the team ahead.
Although people with a little experience understand that due to the preciousness of venom, they cannot bring all poisonous arrows, but no one wants to try this luck and die from vomiting blood after being scratched, not to mention that they have already been killed after the support army appears. They were at a disadvantage - anyone with a discerning eye could see that the opponent's commander was experienced. Although the move he made in a moment was a clear move, Henry and his party had to go with it.
If they don't scatter and flee, they will be swallowed up and everything will be lost, but if they run away, the only result will be to leave the entire caravan sitting there waiting to die——
The decision was a dilemma. As expected, the prairie raiding team, which had grown to about eighty people, immediately gathered and rushed in the direction of the caravan stationed on high ground for defense - not to mention those who were left behind at this time. The words that were disrespectful to the honor of the companions escaping. From a practical point of view, the carriage carried a large amount of supplies. Even in the rainy season when supplies were relatively abundant, it would be very difficult for them to survive if they abandoned such supplies and escaped on their own. difficult.
And if you go back, you will inevitably have to fight with the opponent again.
"Damn it!" A mercenary yelled loudly, and the resolute prairie people on that side immediately launched an offensive.
"Boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo Try your best to protect your body to avoid being hit and killed.
"Neighing -" The people could still find cover and hide, but the larger horses could only fall to the ground while wailing. The mercenaries were shot by more than two hundred arrows in ten seconds, but These grassland people were not fools. They stopped immediately after shooting three rounds. A young businessman who realized that the arrow rain had stopped stupidly popped his head up to check and was directly hit by an arrow. He fell down from the corner of the carriage on his back.
——They changed their tactics, and after several cluster-type arrow rain attacks, they began to play freely. The war horse under its crotch ran back and forth in a circle nearby, and the arrows shot out diagonally at the mercenaries and merchants in the encirclement from a high position would not hurt the friendly troops on the other side. The mercenaries who were caught in the gaps were shot one after another. Although most of the hits were only minor injuries due to the cover of carriages and shields and the excellent metal armor on the body, a few arrows bounced away without even being able to penetrate, but being continuously besieged is still not an option. .
Changing the volley to scattering was obviously to delay time. The prairie people's approach successfully made many people here shaken.
"Damn it, we have to go back!" shouted the mercenary who had started yelling before, and many others also tended to echo.
But the sage and Khalid shook their heads in unison, stopping their companions from sprinting back.
The situation seems very urgent, but the most important thing on the battlefield is to lose your head and blood. The mercenaries and merchants who had prepared earlier used carriages, shields and armors to form a temporary defense line like a moving city wall. Although the horses used for transportation suffered huge injuries, for a while the horse archers There is no effective way to capture them.
The arrows will be used up, and the average prairie people carry about thirty to forty arrows when going out. Half of the eighty people had already been consumed in the previous battle. Most of the remaining arrows at this moment were in single digits. While Henry and the others were waiting, these people were still consuming them. Compared with the heavy cavalry, the archers are relatively weak when facing this kind of stubborn enemy. The bows and arrows in their hands can only be used to open the gap and then rush in with their horses. They can use the horse's stampede and close combat to expand and destroy the opponent's front. Collapse, but at this moment there are still more than 20 or 30 mobile forces in the distance. If they rush into the array and cannot be defeated quickly, they will in turn be surrounded by Henry and his group.
The opponent's commander was not an idiot. He did not resort to cluster shooting to open gaps and defeat the defense line. Instead, he ordered his subordinates to spread out and scatter in turns. The purpose of this was to create the illusion of a critical situation in the continuous attack but retain their firepower - they From the very beginning, the target was still Henry and his thirty or so cavalry. If there were no experienced and calm-minded people like Sage and Khalid here, the team would be furious when they see their own formation being attacked. If they ran back, they would definitely be eaten up and wiped clean. After that, the caravan without external reinforcements was completely defeated by increased firepower.
——It is precisely in order to save the caravan that we must leave them to death at this moment. After Henry briefly explained the situation to make the mercenaries in the team calm down, the group rearranged the array, with Henry and his group of heavy cavalry in front and the horse archers of the Aries clan behind. They were preparing for an attack, but they stayed outside the range of the short bow, as if they were planning to wait for their arrows to be exhausted before charging forward.
"Why the hell can't we just come here! Are those bastards leaving us to die here!" Negative emotions began to permeate the caravan that had caused many casualties, but it was also at this time that the man from The prairie commander, who had shown excellent qualities from the beginning, raised his hand and ordered his men to stop shooting.
"call--"
The stagnant wind started blowing again.
There was a moment of calm.
The two sides once again fell into a stalemate. There was a commotion among the group of prairie people two hundred meters away, and then suddenly they saw someone leading the front, who may be the new commander, holding up and waving a flag toward them. The front horse took a few steps.
"You are a tough guy, how about we give in to each other!"
He shouted loudly, and his voice was heard far away in the open grassland. Mira and several other people next to him subconsciously turned their eyes to the most steady sage, while Henry's expression was calm.
as always. (.)
