What is the correct approach when swordsmen fight archers?
If you ask this question to a layman who thinks he knows a lot, most of the time the other person will tell you some difficult skills that seem feasible at first glance - such as using a sword to split the opponent's arrow, or even catching it with your bare hands. Throw it back, or dodge back and forth.
Most of the people who have these high-end cool skills in their minds and actually regard them as the correct response plan have died violently.
Meaninglessly increasing the difficulty of implementing your own response methods and complicating things that can be easily solved just because it "looks cool" is the reason why more than 90% of young mercenaries who are trainees and green card-level mercenaries in Rigal World die. .
The correct answer is simple and boring: the swordsman needs to close the distance to attack, and in the process the archer will definitely try to prevent you from getting closer. So all you need to do is wear armor strong enough to withstand arrow fire, or—
Get a shield.
Henry held the big sword in both hands, instead of adopting his usual low-hanging posture, but ran forward with the sword tip facing up in front of him.
The sage kept his hands and upper arms close to his body to maintain smooth movements even while running. Kramer stretched forward diagonally at a certain angle, and the steel blade of the 1.5-meter-long sword formed a line. It is not a wide central defense line, but it does not hinder the view because of the oblique angle.
Mercenaries are a lightly-armed profession, and the sword is more like a self-defense weapon for body protection than the main battle weapon used in high-intensity battlefield confrontations.
For this reason, in swordsmanship, especially the swordsmanship in the Rigal world, each starting position has a defensive purpose in addition to being the initial posture of attack.
Knights wearing armor can almost give up defense, because their whole body is covered with shields, and their attacks can be more aggressive and fierce.
But light-armored professions are not enough. In addition to attacking, the weapons in hand also need to consider defense. The weapon itself is a part of defense. It can neutralize the opponent's attack by actively attacking or blocking.
The plate armor worn by the sage was enough to withstand Kazuto's large bow, but he did not wear a helmet for reasons such as vision and breathing. The limbs are only protected by lightweight soft armor on the upper limbs, which can resist scratches. However, when faced with direct hits from powerful bows and arrows, it can only slightly reduce injuries.
"Oh, dalegakchi dacha (Hey, who's coming here)!" The bandits clearly found traces of Henry, who was rushing over alone. The road conditions on this side of the trail were similar to before, with a little mud in the narrow strip. The mountain path of the land has cliffs on the right side and towering mountain walls on the left.
Because it is different from the completely rocky terrain behind it, there are some shrubs growing here because of the accumulation of soil. The bandits were hiding there, with two wooden boards placed outside blocking the road, and a few figures could be seen in the middle.
The overall outline of this trail is somewhat like the U-shaped letter of the Rigar people, with Henry at one end and the bandits guarding the other end, but the curved part is not that big.
The shrubs and tree lines are all on the bandits' side, and the more than 100 meters of dirt in the middle is unobstructed for the archers.
It's ideal terrain.
"Crack!" This is the sound of the bowstring being loosened.
"Boom -" "Boom -" followed by the slight sound of airflow from the arrow.
Henry did not dodge and charged forward while maintaining the posture of holding the sword.
"Yeah! Xiluo Doganai Yi (this guy is no amateur)!" From a distance of one hundred meters, the bow can only be thrown. The first few arrows shot drew a huge parabola. If you were an outsider, you would probably be frightened by the arrows, so you stopped and tried to dodge to the side.
But Henry was no amateur.
He is an expert.
"Take it! Take it!" The arrow landed ten meters behind him.
This is mobile warfare and the best choice for a swordsman to get close to an archer.
At longer distances, bows and arrows shot in a parabola need to calculate the flight time difference and landing point. Therefore, the advantage that a swordsman has is speed - even an experienced hand takes a few seconds to complete the series of actions from nocking an arrow, drawing the bow, aiming to loosening the string. But if your legs and feet are fast enough and there is no hesitation, it will take a few seconds. You are definitely no longer in your original position.
Even if you can save a lot of time by re-aiming with your bow ready, your continuous sprinting and changing directions during this period will further confuse the opponent's prediction.
so.
The throwing of bows and arrows has always been in the form of a rain of arrows, and the collective shooting makes up for the lack of accuracy of a single arrow with coverage.
But the bandits didn't do that.
"By Midai, Maiye (archers, forward)!" The person who spoke was wearing armor and holding a fan. Under his command, the bandit archers who were hiding behind the bunker all ran out and opened their bows at Henry, who was charging forward.
This was done after weighing many factors in just a few seconds——
There are only a dozen bandits ambushing here. If the charging ones are samurai, even though the horses may be faster than Henry, they have a fatal flaw——
The goal is too big.
The difference between a dozen people's projectiles hitting a person and a horse is quite big. As long as the war horse is hit by an arrow, even if it is not fatal, there will be a cliff on the side of such a narrow road. If one misstep without control during the charge, both the man and the horse will fall into it.
It was precisely because the samurai saw through this that they preferred to charge head-on with a larger number of people; and it was precisely because the bandits knew this that they chose to guard the trail in this way.
But Henry rushed over.
One person and one sword, just like that, they came over with steps no less fast than a charging horse.
A few seconds are only enough for two rounds of arrow rain. If the second round is thrown, the hit rate against smaller targets such as the human body will be even lower, and more importantly - he has already rushed to a distance of about 30 meters. .
"Oh Majiyo (wait) -" The commander made an extremely correct choice in the tight time. He ordered his archers to stand up from behind the bunker and block the exit of the road side by side. After drawing their bows, He also asked them to wait and did not ask them to shoot immediately in the hurry.
He is very calm.
He also has a lot of experience.
The archer who can hit a target the size of a human head from a distance of about 25 meters is one of the best in a hundred.
The accuracy of flat shooting is far higher than that of throwing. Everyone stands side by side in front of Henry. The narrow road will be covered by a dozen oncoming arrows the moment they release the bowstring.
There is no need to be anxious, even if you are an expert, even if you are an opponent who has seen blood, it is too underestimated to rush in alone.
The bandit commander thought so.
The distance is getting closer.
"Hanata (let go)——!" "Pah, pah, pah, pah, pah", "Dang-dang!!"
Sparks flew everywhere, and the sage who deflected the sword edge in an instant accurately used the sword surface as a shield to deflect two arrows, while the other three struck the plate armor and cut open the surface of the armor. The velvet even cut deep marks on the copper flower-shaped rivets, but was unable to penetrate them.
"Whoosh--" The remaining arrows fell sixty meters away.
"Bagana——" The commander who thought that there was no chance of survival from this wave of shooting was dumbfounded, and the bandit archers who launched the attack looked at each other as if they almost didn't know what was happening.
What is the correct way for a swordsman to deal with an archer?
Even if you know the method, people who can't do it will still make a lot of money.
It sounds stupid, very untechnical, and even less dreamy, but.
First class eyesight.
Top notch response speed.
First class judgment.
If one of these factors is missing, you will be the one who dies in the battle.
Things like fighting should never be equal.
Its purpose is to win and survive, so the kind of duel that is popular among Rigal nobles and strictly stipulates that all conditions must be equal is often scorned by old mercenaries.
"Only a fool would want the other party to compete with him on an equal footing."
Experience, weapons and armor, physical abilities.
This is an all-round crushing——
The sage raised his gray-blue eyes. The bandits' brief daze was just a tiny gap, but they could seize this tiny opportunity to expand it and fight back.
This is the reason why a first-class swordsman is a first-class swordsman.
"Untie the bow string, close combat, the spear team moves forward!!" The commander shouted loudly, and the bandit, who showed no less ability than the samurai, decisively took out his short knife and cut the bow string, using multi-layered bamboo. The two-meter-long bow bounced back to a slightly bent straight state after losing the bowstring, forming a temporary spear.
"Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa," the bandits stabbed him forward with temporary spears that had been transformed from big bows.
"Qiang——"
Kramer.
That is.
Nothing goes wrong.
The name of the great sword that can cut everything.
"Crack-bang!!" He cut off several of them in a flash with his hands, and then turned around and slapped away a few more with the sword. The bandits decisively let go of the weapons in their hands and drew out their waist knives or short knives. , but after losing the safety factor of distance, they have completely lost the chance of victory.
"Go and ask for——" "Take it!!" The flying dagger hit the throat accurately.
"Ahem——" Kazuto's armor lacked throat protection, so how could Henry let it go.
Capture the thief first and capture the king first. The commander of the team showed outstanding command and situation judgment ability. Even if he was behind a defense line of more than ten people, the sage still gave priority to killing with the dagger he captured.
"Chisama!!" The bandits who shouted continued to kill, but without their commander, it was only a matter of time before they were defeated and died.
"Dang - Cang -" The road was narrow and surrounded from all sides. The bandits used short knives and one-handed knives, while Henry held a 1.5-meter sword.
The great sword that is invincible in open terrain will have difficulty in using it in a narrow area. Even if they lose their commander, they can still judge this and close the distance desperately.
But it's of no use.
"Pa—" Hold the handle with one hand and grab the blade with the other.
The name of Rigal's swordsmanship is: Half Sword Style.
"Boom!!" The bandit who was hit in the face by the weighted ball flew out with a bloody nose and broken teeth, and the whole person fell backward.
Henry then pushed forward with his sword sideways, like a carpenter using a planer, and hit the other man's forehead with the middle blade of the big sword, knocking his brains out. He then blocked another man with the left side of the sword tip. He stabbed his armpit with a short knife, then lifted his whole body up and kicked him away, hitting two people.
After clearing away the closest people, the sage released his left hand and held the sword in his right hand and made a large horizontal slash——
"Bang! Dang! Cang!!"
The broken weapon, blood gurgling out.
"Ahem——" Dead bodies were everywhere on the ground, and the commander didn't take his last breath until this moment.
"Waaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhing.
Counting the sprint, the battle lasted less than 30 seconds.
When Mira and her group emerged from the other side, all the bows and arrows that would threaten them had been dealt with.
"Yes, it will happen." The Luoan girl who told everyone to prepare for the situation had a slightly subtle expression.
"Huh-" Henry breathed out and wiped the blood off Claymer with the clothes of the dead bandit.
"How strong does this person have to be?" "Alakami." A slight discussion came from the back of the team, and he led the little unicorn to the vicinity of Henry, and was about to say something to his teacher. The Luoan girl's expression suddenly changed in an instant.
"teacher--!!"
"——!" The huge javelin struck in mid-air so fast that even Henry couldn't dodge it.
——No, it’s not that I can’t.
It can't be.
Mira figured it out in a moment.
"Crack-!!" The surface scratches between Claymore and the javelin sent out bursts of sparks, and then Henry's cotton armor on his left shoulder, which was scratched, was easily damaged and soaked with blood, but the javelin was also because of the scratch. The sage's reaction was "Bang——!!" It pierced into the mountain wall half a meter deep.
"Kalala -" The blow was so powerful that small rocks on the mountain were shaken down.
"Teacher..." The sage turned his back to this side and stretched out his hand to signal Mira to step back.
He can't hide.
Because there are other people behind you.
"Dong——"
"Ah, no wonder there are only a dozen or so people here. If there are guys like this, they will be no different from those in the center." Aya, whose hands and feet were weak, almost squatted before she could stand firmly, but Galeva was just in time. The ground reached out to support her.
"Ha————" The newcomer with huge fangs exhaled a white breath. The body of nearly three meters tall was covered with black armor with peeling paint, and the top of the red skin was two branches on the forehead. The pale horns stretched out and pointed straight to the sky.
"Oni." No one else needed to explain. Mira knew what character this was at a glance.
"Everyone, retreat." The sage didn't look back, because Oni was accompanied by several bandits holding bows. Judging from the appearance of their new clothes, they should be nearby reinforcements and not the ones who had just escaped. people.
A powerful and armored melee hand, coupled with the harassment and assistance of long-range troops.
Even he would be in trouble - Mira, who was thinking like this, chose to speak out to refute her teacher's arrangement.
"No." The Luoan girl grabbed the long knife and turned over to ride on the little unicorn.
"I want to fight too."
