In the minds of many people, if you want to mention a combat professional, then he or she must be a sword user.
And if you want to say that you are a powerful combat professional, then this person must have superb sword skills, able to "face dozens of enemies and still move in and out with ease."
Unfortunately, the relationship between swordsmanship and combat in the real world is not as close as we would like.
Ordinary soldiers in the army rarely use swords. Even in the Padrosi Empire, where advanced smelting technology has led to a decrease in the price of weapons, swords are only issued to people at least the level of squad leader. As for other ordinary soldiers, if they had swords, they would only save money from their salaries to buy them.
Only nobles and officers carry swords all year round, as well as mercenaries who pursue more flexibility. However, even among these two, the former only use swords as secondary weapons, while a large proportion of the latter group use long-range weapons. Crossbows and other weapons such as axes and machetes.
So under this premise, how important is the role of swordsmanship?
"Click——"
"call out--"
The stubby crossbow that comes out of the string is made of fine hardwood. The tip of the steel arrowhead has been quenched with cold water and is extremely hard. Even it can penetrate plate armor made of mild steel at a certain distance. .
"Take it!" "Uh-huh -" The arrow that hit the left armpit with lightning force pierced the pectoralis major muscle and pierced the tip from the back. The warm fur and leather jacket he was wearing were like a thin sheet in front of it. Thin parchment paper is as fragile. What's even worse is that all kinds of dirt, bacteria and soil on it will also enter the body. After that, infection will cause high fever and the person will die in pain - if they don't die immediately.
"teacher!"
"left."
The powerful crossbow needed to be wound with a foot pedal. Mira, who was riding on horseback, had no way to reload the shot after firing it. She stuffed it back into the saddlebag on the saddle and stretched out her right hand to pull it out. He picked up his long sword.
"Ha!" "Ding Qiang!" The girl swung her hand without any plan and without any use of the advanced sword skills she had learned. The weapons clashed, and the person catching up from the right rear had to slow down in order to block the blow. speed.
'No, I can't run away! A lot of sweat oozed from the fair forehead of the Luoan girl. The two bad horses loaded with supplies were in extremely tight situations under the pursuit of their lightly armed opponents. Her mind began to become a little confused, but under this situation, her extremely sensitive ears still caught the sound of the bow string being pulled tightly, "Ra-".
"No!" "Crack-" "Take--" "Don't be distracted." The archer on horseback fell to the ground with a crossbow in the middle of his head, and after Henry said this, he used his hand to He then reloaded the arrow and shot down another enemy who got too close.
"Teacher, ahead, slope!" Horse hooves trampled on the snow, and the sun was shining brightly in the sky above. Due to the rise in temperature, the snow on the ground has melted somewhat in the past few days, and the snow and water mixed together and turned into snow. Mud makes the ground slippery and soft. In this case, if you rush into a slope——
"Click--" "Click--"
Henry turned around and put away his crossbow, which had only a few missing crossbows left, and then reached out to Kramer behind him.
Mira also stopped beside him. Even though she was running on a horse, she was panting due to the sword swing and the tension.
"Qiang——" More than forty highlanders riding horses, wearing furs and holding machetes, surrounded them. There was no need to ask why. The highlanders who lived by plundering saw only two mercenaries. When carrying a bulging supply of supplies, there was only one thought in my mind.
Starting from the fire of rebellion ignited in the mixed village, the scope of these highlanders gathering to rebel and plunder was probably much larger than imagined, and if you think about it carefully, most of the reasons had nothing to do with the sudden cold wave. No contact.
Henry narrowed his eyes slightly. Although there were more than forty people on the other side, they did not come forward immediately. This reason was not only because the sage deliberately killed only a few archers among them, but also because of the initial encounter. At that time, he killed several people in an instant and the bloodshed was not unrelated.
It is true that these ethnic minorities in the Palohia Plateau are brave and good at fighting, but they are not without plans.
After the rebellion of the late Ronno and his gang, they killed the leaders of their own village, and then went to other mixed-inhabited villages nearby to find other highlanders who were also dissatisfied with their lives and the Lamanite nobles above them. A chaotic but sizable team gathered together, trying to "seek justice".
But when people gathered together, they had to eat. The only option for the highlanders who lacked logistical supplies was to plunder and hunt. Coupled with the lack of unified command and strict literacy, many people were attracted by the wealth and women in the passing villages or caravans along the way, and left the group without authorization to form various bandit groups.
These simple-minded peasants do not have any great righteousness or clear goals in their minds, such as "to establish the highlanders' own country" or "to gain freedom". They just vent their dissatisfaction on others and plunder wantonly. Abuse, burning, killing and looting all the way, without purpose or direction, somehow they ended up in the south of Bao Forest, and happened to encounter a sudden cold wave and heavy snow.
Youdao is the result of unscrupulous people born out of poverty. Having already embarked on this path and there is no turning back, what they can and will do when encountering natural disasters is, of course, to satisfy their own needs by plundering others.
The ones who attacked Constantine and his group were most likely the same group of people, because when the forty or fifty of them encountered Henry and Mira, half of them were obviously injured with bandages wrapped in strips of cloth.
In this situation, the highlanders showed extreme ferocity. If the sage had not been able to fight one against ten and strike without mercy, the two of them would not even have a chance to escape.
But even so, the situation before them is still very difficult.
These people don't give up easily.
Of course they don't want to be killed. But compared to starving to death in the ice and snow, it might be easier to be hacked to death with a sword. And if you win, you can also get enough food to fill your stomach, and——
Mira clenched the sword in her hand with a gloomy expression. The looks of these dirty highlanders looking at her made the girl feel a chill.
There were about forty people left, wearing miscellaneous fur clothes that they had snatched from others, dirty and even stained with the blood of the original owner. Riding on stolen horses and even mules of different sizes.
There are only two people on their side. Although the long-range attacker has been eliminated and both of them are wearing armor, it will still be a hard fight.
Neither the sage nor the Luoan girl can bear the possibility of being seriously injured. They are the only hope for Constantine and others now. If they get stabbed in the melee and become weak, they will not be able to survive in this ice and snow. When there is no store at the back of the village, I am afraid that I have to be picked up before I can find anyone.
If that wasn't bad enough, the horses they were riding were just inferior horses of poor quality. In fact, after encountering a battle, they kept neighing and trying to escape. If they were to control these horses to charge towards the opponent, they would even be thrown off due to the resistance of the horses. And if they dismount and fight on foot, the two horses are likely to be frightened and run away with their supplies without looking back.
The difference between a good horse and a bad horse becomes extremely obvious at this critical moment.
It would be best to avoid fighting, but the targets of these guys are at least the barely sufficient supplies they carry. In addition, with the number of more than 40 people, they will not be satisfied even if they are given all.
The options were only bad and worse, and it seemed like they couldn't help but choose.
The hysterical highland mob had no more rationality in their minds than the toxin-infected earth dragons. After just a moment of hesitation and timidity, they rushed over with strange screams.
Henry winked at Mira and then dismounted decisively. He quickly pulled out Claymer and at the same time with his left hand, he pulled out Constantine's broad-bladed sword tied to the saddle.
The sage rushed out with two weapons of staggering size and heavy weight in one hand.
"Fario Lebuchion (run back, guys)!" The tall Henry's cloak fizzled and he charged with both swords. This exaggerated scene was so shocking that several highlanders in front of him who had just mustered up their courage immediately jumped up. He screamed and wanted to run back, but Henry waved his hand casually, and the two big swords intertwined like scissors and directly "cut" the neck of the mule that the leader was riding into two parts connected to his waist.
"Crack - crack -!" Before he could even scream, the mule's front legs gave way and fell to the ground. The steaming internal organs bloomed on the snow like a frog that had been trampled on the stone road. The bright color of human and animal blood formed an extremely sharp contrast with the white ground.
The horses were frightened. Taking advantage of Henry's success in frightening them, Mira quickly got off the horse, thrust her sword into the ground, and then tied the two horses to a small tree.
"T-la--" She quickly picked up two crossbows and stepped on the strings to load arrows. Then she lifted them up and headed directly towards a highlander who had come back to his senses and planned to take a detour from the sage's side. Came out.
"Seize-" The crossbow missed and hit the upper part of the body, knocking down the man directly. However, the highlanders who recovered their senses also erupted again, using the advantages of numbers and vehicles to make a detour toward Mira with strange screams. Rushing towards her, intending to knock her down and attack the sage's back.
There was no time to rewind it.
Mira casually threw the empty crossbow on the ground, then picked up another one that was ready and took rough aim before pulling the trigger.
"Pa-hoo-grab-" "Ahhhhh-" The first of the highlanders who rushed over fell off the horse. The girl followed the law again, turned around to avoid the horse that had lost its owner, and threw away the crossbow. He pulled out the long sword on the ground.
"Haha!" She held the sword tightly with both hands and slashed with all her strength. "Qiang——" The two people who were covering each other swung their long swords and big swords one after another, hitting the enemy. The hot blood fell on the snow and fell into it because of the melting temperature.
Sword skills.
Does it work in this case?
The sword skills Henry taught her were systematic and excellent.
Exquisite blocking, counter-attacking skills, and knocking down the opponent while ensuring your own safety at the minimum cost of effort.
These superb combat skills can make a battle like an exquisite dance. The entire process is under your own rhythm, and the opponent has no choice but to become a partner in this dance of death.
But in such a one-to-many situation.
Sword skills are of no use.
It's not even as effective as a spear and a suit of armor that covers more surface area.
"Wha—" Condescendingly, another highlander who rushed over waved the machete in his hand.
"Pa—!" The girl rolled towards her side without hesitation. The melted snow water made her clothes, hair and fur collar of her cloak all wet. In order to facilitate her movement, Mira quickly He ripped off the fastening rope of the cloak and threw it aside.
"Bang!" Henry chopped down two people again, but the highlanders who came back to their senses began to take advantage of their mounts to circle around him to keep their distance. In this case, even the sage could not solve it quickly.
The Luoan girl's ivory white hair, which was long enough to cover her eyes, stuck to her forehead due to moisture. Underneath, her crystal blue eyes sparkled.
"Boom!" Henry came to his senses and raised his foot to kick away a highlander who dismounted and tried to sneak attack from behind. Then he grabbed two big swords and charged into the enemy's formation again.
Blood splattered wildly, and screams and wailings occurred one after another.
There are more than thirty people.
She began to feel tired, and she had only dealt with a few people. The physical exertion caused by the climate and slippery ground was a bit severe, and she had to control her breathing.
Mira thought breathlessly, but as an infantryman, it would never be a simple matter to knock down an enemy on horseback.
They were coming and going in circles nearby, not giving her a chance to attack. Except for the few people she knocked down at the beginning, if she took action rashly now, she would only be attacked from behind.
"Watch out!"
"ah--"
She was distracted, and the girl suddenly noticed this, and so did her enemy.
The highlanders who were circling outside suddenly shrank their encirclement.
They came on horseback.
Several machetes came at the same time from several directions. In a flash of lightning, Henry turned around and threw the sword horizontally, directly nailing the one on the south side to the tree. But there were still three people. Mira raised the sword in her hand. Her thoughts and breathing were in chaos and she didn't know how to defend them all.
If you block this side, you will definitely be hit by the person on the other side. You can't do it. There is no way to react at all——
"Squat down, Mira."
For a moment, someone said this.
There was no time to hesitate, and at the risk of giving up her defense, the girl squatted down decisively.
"Loose the string!"
"Pah——" "咻咻咻咻咻——" "Ahhhh——"
"Dong - Dong -" Two entities filled with long and heavy arrows fell to the side of the girl who was kneeling on one knee in a defensive posture.
These arrows, which were much larger than the bows and arrows on the East Coast, gave Mira a sense of familiarity, but she was so confused that she couldn't remember what they were for a moment.
Then the female voice telling her to squat came again.
There were screams one after another, blood splattered everywhere, horses and mules neighed and ran into the background sound in the distance.
What Mira heard was the familiar accent.
Dialect of Avenella.
"Longbowman! Load the arrow!"
"aim!"
"put!"
"call out--!"
"Step forward and load the arrow!"
"Lebsian! Lebsian!" The remaining highlanders screamed and ran away, as did the horses and mules that were still alive.
The sun shone on the melted snowy ground of Ba'ao Forest. Mira turned her head, and the man's cloak standing high under the shining golden light rustled.
"Fortunately, I caught up."
"haven't seen you for a long time."
Ming Na tilted her head and smiled at the two of them.
Standing next to her was an entire squadron of Avenela longbowmen.
