Fighting on horseback places higher demands on the warrior's psychological quality and physical coordination than fighting on foot, where one uses one's own feet to control the direction of progress.
Take swordsmanship as an example. When engaging in foot combat, it emphasizes the integration of steps and movements, and mastering the strength and control of strength to achieve long-term continuous fighting. This is because the two sides are in a foot combat situation. The combat distance is extremely close. As long as the strength and equipment of the attacker and defender are not extremely different, the battle basically depends on each other's physical strength and endurance as well as the judgment of the situation to determine the success or failure.
When two armies confront each other or fight to the death, they adopt the form of foot combat. Except for bows and arrows, any melee weapon usually cannot escape this situation of continuous fighting of blocking and counterattack. Obviously, fighting steadily is the true meaning of infantry fighting - and this is also the biggest difference between it and cavalry.
The weight and strength of the war horse itself far exceed the human ability to accelerate and run. All these combined have made the established cavalry invincible on the frontal battlefield since its birth. Whether it is used as a means of surprise and outflanking, as the Laman Empire is good at, or the array charge favored by the Sivaliers and Aveneras, the advantage this unit has over infantry is overwhelming, but cavalry Limited by the number of horses and the time and money required to train riders, they have always existed only as an elite force since ancient times.
The only one that can be considered as cavalry in the true sense is the nomadic people on the Abu Serra prairie. However, even though most people here know the skills of riding and shooting on horseback, the real warrior class and There is still a clear gap between ordinary herdsmen in terms of equipment, clothing and even archery skills.
Unlike the continuous infantry battle, the cavalry battle often only lasts for a moment.
The very popular lance contest in Sivalier, known as the country of knights, takes this beauty to the extreme. Knights walking in full regalia on a rectangular or oval racecourse more than 100 meters in length hold hollow and fragile materials. The finished lance entered the arena on both sides to receive cheers from the audience. Then the horse's hooves kicked lightly, ran out slowly, then gradually accelerated, and at the moment when the two sides passed each other - thrust towards the opponent.
This blow, which condenses the huge energy of the running horse, requires extreme concentration and accurate judgment to hit it steadily. It is completely different from an infantry battle in a horseback battle where both sides are moving at high speed. It is difficult enough for ordinary people to just ensure that they do not fall off the seat that is constantly swinging. How can there be enough room to swing? Let alone the weapon hitting the opponent.
Even for horse archers, there is not much difference in terms of difficulty. Although war horses on the prairie have been domesticated through the ages and have a more docile and gentle temperament than those on the west coast, they will not throw their owners off casually. However, they must be able to step on the stirrups and release the reins with both hands while still trying to maintain a galloping state. It is obvious that it may not be possible to master the skills of balancing, bowing, and shooting an arrow without spending several years of effort. Latest and fastest update
It's one thing to hunt most of the prey that can't run as fast as horses. It's another thing to attack the slow-moving caravans and groups of mercenaries on foot - when the opponent tightly grasps the reins and lowers his body without thinking about anything else, he just runs away at full speed. , to be able to draw the bow and unload the arrow steadily without slowing down the speed of one's own war horse so as to be thrown away by the opponent. This level of skill must be mastered by elites even among the prairie people.
"Pah!" The flying arrow shot towards the back of the white-haired girl at a very high speed.
It had been five days since they found Ekaterina - or as Little Mira called her: Lina -. Due to the presence of the sage, they were able to ensure sufficient food rations even though they were not very rich along the way. After three consecutive days of rapid marching in the same direction, making sure that there were no pursuers behind them and a considerable distance, the three of them returned to a slower cruising speed with longer rest periods on the fourth day, exhausted. Both your horse and yourself can get enough rest.
Three days of running at high speed is not the limit for humans and horses. With enough food and a certain amount of time to rest, even the weak Lina is still relatively tired. If they have to forcefully continue the rapid march, they can still Do this for three more days. But Henry is too experienced to make such a stupid mistake. The most important thing to do when he is in this vast grassland with no village or store in front of him is to push himself to the limit. Being able to save a little energy in the state of survival means that There will be more means that can be used when necessary.
The sage, who was well aware of all this, led the two Luoan girls to slow down and start to recharge their batteries with an outing mentality - and the facts once again proved that Henry made the right decision.
The camp of the Red-billed Clan was originally located in the west of Absera, close to the Tambur Mountains, and the lower-lying area where the servants who rescued Lina lived was facing the south, so it was natural for them to do this. Plan to escape all the way to the Thoradin Highlands area on the west coast. This is also one of the reasons why Yaji said to Henry before, "I will go back and report to the head of the family." The two parties parted ways, and the sage rushed directly to the west coast to complete the task he went here. The purpose of starting.
Absera is vast and vast. The side near the west coast is different from the southern border with rugged forest terrain and endless plains with many trees, so it is faster to get on the road. In addition, the power of the West Coast country south of Thoradin actually extends a considerable distance to the grassland area. If you start from the Red-billed Clan, it is roughly estimated that it will only take seven to ten days to see the settlement of the West Coast people. ——This is much more convenient than starting from the southern border, which is why large-scale wars against the grassland people over the years are usually launched from the Thoradin Highlands. Under such a series of prerequisites, In such a conflict-ridden area, it is natural that no grassland clan that is stronger and can choose a better area will take up residence here.
Small clans like the Red-billed Birds used the principle of darkness under the lamp to take advantage of the loopholes and find the fertile waterside camp. If it hadn't been for the long-term wind and sand here, I'm afraid it wouldn't be their turn. And this long stretch of land that extends from the south of Thoradin to the depths of the Absera grassland, which has few resources except wild grass but has witnessed countless blood and death for thousands of years, is also the escape route of the three of them. best choice.
It's just that our Mr. Sage has never let down his guard from the beginning. Albenni's personal ability is quite excellent. If Mustafa, a fool, hadn't held him back, I'm afraid the Red-billed Clan would have developed long ago. grow. Therefore, Henry - or others who have some knowledge of the history of the prairie - would think of passing through this area where the prairie power is lacking. There is no reason why he would not be able to think of it.
But even if he could think of it, Albany didn't have many cards to play. Mustafa's stupidity determines that if he wants to mobilize the people in Red Beak, he will inevitably encounter obstacles at all levels. Although the fat and greasy patriarch behaves in a face-saving way, he is angry because of Lina's rescue and wants to get her back. There is also the possibility of losing face, but what people like him prefer to do are usually not to fight against foreign enemies but to fight with their own relatives - the previous incident of mercilessly scolding Albany in front of outsiders. It can be seen that at this moment, he is just enjoying the supplies left by the caravan while blaming Albany for his negligence.
If the commander of the prairie people wanted to continue the pursuit, the difficulties he would face would not be much less than those of the fugitives. In addition, in fact, even if Lina is recovered, all Red-billed Bird can really gain in the short term is nothing more than a heart-warming and face-saving conversation. Her Royal Highness the Princess of Luoan will not play any role in their hands. Even if they look at it from another perspective, they can publicize her identity and let people who are in need of the Luoan royal family come to raise the price and gain benefits. ——But if you think about it carefully: If someone really plans to come to the rescue, will it be Henry and his group's turn? As for another person who may be interested in the Luoan royal family, how could the powerful and arrogant Otolo Empire be qualified for such a small grassland clan to bargain? The moment it was revealed that they had the news of Princess Luoan, they Together with Lina, they will become an inconspicuous ember under the attack of the Otolo Flying Dragon Knight.
Various factors jointly lead to the pursuit of Henry and the three of them being a very uneconomical act with no real benefits and many difficulties and dangers. However, the issue of face can be big or small, even if it is something that can be laughed off in many cases. It would eventually turn into a bloody war - whether it was Mustafa's pressure or Albany's original wish. On the fifth day, I had regained a lot of energy and was eating when I noticed the distant horizon. After forming a cavalry team of more than a dozen people, Henry was convinced of the fact that the other party finally decided to take this breath.
The vast field of weeds was only as high as half a person, and the endless field of vision was extremely empty. There was no terrain to hide in. The moment they saw each other, the other party also discovered them.
There was still some distance, so they quickly packed up their things and stuffed them haphazardly into their bags. After that, the three of them immediately turned over and climbed onto the horse. Nervous and still inexperienced, Lina failed several times before she succeeded with Mira's help. Climbing up, the white-haired Luoan girl didn't have time to put on her own armor. She had an idea and simply untied the shoulder straps and split them in half. She put the back armor on Lina to provide her with a certain amount of protection while sitting behind the horse. defense. The two simply tied up the armor with hemp rope, and Lina hugged Mira's waist tightly. After that, the war horse neighed and trampled on the puddle of fresh soup on the ground that was still exuding heat and quickly moved away.
The fact that the men and horses in the distance quickly turned around and chased after them proved that they came from bad intentions. The stronger sprinting ability of Avenella's horse further expanded the already existing distance advantage. However, this side The terrain of the grassland is smooth with almost no undulations and is completely barren for hundreds of miles. Even if they manage to distance themselves several times, the unobstructed and open view allows the pursuers behind them to hold on tight no matter what. There's no way to really get rid of it. At the end of the sprint, when the war horse, already carrying more weight, began to pant heavily, the prairie horse's amazing endurance was brought into play, and the distance shrunk little by little. Lina kept looking back, her face turned pale, and Henry and Mira frowned in unison.
But compared to the simple worries of the Luoan girl, the sage hesitated because of other problems.
——If he hadn't forgotten because of his old age, the Red-billed Clan would be just an extremely small clan that couldn't even be considered third-rate.
Then such a small clan sent out a team of only a dozen people to pursue them all the way. It is possible that they could accurately determine the location of their group through the smoke emitted by the cooking, and then quickly chased them and at this moment How high is the possibility of an elite team clinging to the enemy?
The above conditions may not seem difficult, but don't forget that the person who is about to be caught up is not just any low-level mercenary but our Mr. Sage. They were riding real Avenella war horses. This kind of high-blooded horses that only nobles and people with connections could obtain. Even though their endurance was relatively weak, they were still comparable to excellent prairie war horses. These two people have been traveling for such a long time. These loyal partners have never let them down. If it were just an ordinary prairie horse, it would obviously be far away in the initial acceleration stage - plus it is good enough to deserve it. These war horses can command them to avoid puddles in a suitable formation and the rider never slows down——
"Pah!" The arrow struck. "Ding!" Sparks flew everywhere. "Ah!" The force of the impact from behind made Lina scream involuntarily, although Mira did not respond due to the emergency. She also took off the close-fitting cotton armor and let her put it on, but the plate armor crafted by the dwarves could still resist the damage of arrows even without the fine curvature of the lining, leaving only a shallow dent before the arrow fell. He entered the wild grass rushing behind him.
"Lower your body!" Mira's shout became muffled with the sound of the wind, but then her whole body fell down and she also brought Lina behind her with her. The pursuer's arrow hit was more a matter of luck than skill, but the ponytailed Luoan girl didn't want to chance that.
"Pa---" The horses were galloping, and Henry took the time to look back. The pursuers who were closely following him dozens of meters away and were still slowly closing the distance were indeed dressed like prairie warriors. , there are a dozen of them lightly armed with leather armor and scimitar, many of them hold bows and arrows in their hands and stand on the stirrups with their feet firmly maintaining an excellent balance, pouring towards this side one after another. arrows.
"Wha—" Another arrow passed in front of the sage. Although it failed to hit the three people and two horses, it was already extremely accurate in the high-speed movement. He frowned. These people It was obvious that he came from a large clan capable of cultivating elite warriors, but how did they manage to find him in such a short period of time? No, from the beginning, what on earth did Albany use to convince them——
"Teacher!" He thought like this, and Mira shouted in front. Henry turned around and noticed at first glance that there were a lot of naked bodies on the ground here that were obviously close to the Tambur Mountains. Rock Oak - they were approaching the Thoradin Highlands - "Teacher! Ditch!" Mira couldn't help shouting out the dialect of Avenela. Obviously, compared to the real Luoan language as her mother tongue, this was what she was doing in this way. The most familiar language in my life for many years - Shangou -
"Remove the breastplate and unload the luggage!" Henry's judgment was extremely decisive. Mira grabbed the reins with one hand and pulled away the temporary hemp rope with the other hand, and at the same time fumbled with the leather bag connection strap fixed on the saddle. Untied, all the supplies and supplies carried by the war horse were unloaded smoothly. "Dang-crash-!" The cooking utensils and leather bags that had accompanied the two people on their long journey all tumbled and fell into the grassland behind them, and the same After unloading supplies and reducing a lot of weight on the war horse, Henry grasped the reins tightly and directed the war horse to squeeze out the last bit of strength and charge in a short distance.
"Jump!" Mira shouted loudly. The panting war horse jumped up with its hind hooves and kicked the ground hard. The pride of the war horses belonging to the Avenella Mountains was fully revealed at this moment. They crossed this road of insecurity. The narrow ravine successfully landed on the ground on the other side.
The sand and dust stirred up fine gravels, and the three men and two horses continued to move forward without any hesitation.
"Hissing, fussing, fussing—"
"Adira! (Damn!)"
"Bizipah! (Detour!)"
There were noisy sounds behind them and the cries of the horses trying to pull the reins to stop. Obviously it was impossible for the smaller prairie horses to jump over the same ravine. This bought the three of them some time, but they lost it. With all the supplies, equipment, fuel, and food, even if they knew they had reached an area close to Thoradin, the road ahead would not be much easier.
In addition, the pursuers were only temporarily thrown away.
This final sprint was really difficult. u
(:,()!: .
