Just as in those days as an adventurer while still in Rigar, there are often few enemies that can be defeated with swords and tactics when out and about, although they are always the most eye-catching part of the story.
During the ten-day and half-month journey, more dangers came from the surrounding environment - sudden cooling or high temperature; rain, snow and storm; flash floods and landslides. Or food spoilage caused by improper preservation leads to poisoning, and there is a lack of clean fresh water and appropriate medicine. Many young people who think they are about to embark on an extraordinary adventure will always be annoyed by all these trivial matters, and their physical strength will be exhausted and dying before they can face the glorious battle in their imagination.
A seasoned adventurer will never underestimate the power of nature.
A flash flood can submerge an entire army of well-trained and equipped knights with the best plate armor, while a landslide is enough to reduce a thousand-man army to one-third and be cut off by partitions.
There are many fleets that have disappeared in the stormy seas since ancient times. The army that mankind is proud of is so weak in the face of natural phenomena, just as mankind itself becomes small and difficult to find in the mountains and forests.
These ancient trees and soil quietly bear witness to the coming and going of human beings one after another claiming to be the rulers of this place. If the earth could speak, we have no way of knowing what story they would tell.
Maybe for them.
The small group of people who were struggling to move forward on the mountain road that had become muddy due to rain were no different from the other, larger human force that was chasing after them.
The wheels sunk deeply into the dirt.
Whether it is Rigal style or Crescent Continent style, carriages have never been good at operating in the wilderness. The flat wooden wheels are designed for flat stone roads, and they are generally usable on compacted dirt roads. However, when the weather has been raining heavily for days, the high precipitation seeps through the surface and begins to make the deeper layers of the soil wet. , the problem becomes very serious.
It has been raining intermittently for more than 5 days.
The evergreen broad-leaved forests that have become common in the middle block the direct sunlight, and even the rare moments of clearing up in the past few days have not had any effect on evaporation, making it difficult for the roads to dry out.
Whether the enemy was pursuing them is unknown. The Southern Ashigaru named Acheng who defected to their side was only the lowest level. Although he served as a messenger, such a simple-minded person who would defect in battle would naturally not be able to keep the information in his mind.
He is a typical low-level employee with no ambition, ideas or plans. He honestly - or rather perfunctorily - follows the instructions of his superiors and does whatever he is told to do. So although Henry did get crucial information about the size and general deployment of the army after capturing him because it happened right now, if you want to know more detailed and in-depth information, such as the name of the leader, who is it? Merits, then they are asking the wrong person.
There is a saying among the people, "Being a monk for a day and hitting the clock for a day", and this Cheng is obviously a typical representative. After joining Henry's side for a week, he was not very popular within the team, and seeing that he left without mercy, I am afraid that he was also the same when he originally belonged to the samurai force.
He is not completely unwilling to do things, but he always makes a fool of himself. He may think that his attitude of putting himself first is well hidden, but in fact it is exposed as soon as he opens his mouth.
When you can be lazy, you will definitely be lazy. If you do something a little bit, you will pester the women in the team to show off your achievements. At the same time, you will use very fragile words to cover up, as if you are doing all this for someone. A greater cause and glory.
He brags about other people's things, and after bragging, he pretends to be humble. 9 out of 10 sentences are about boasting, and the last sentence is "Oh, but I'm not that great, I'm just ordinary."
The vulgar and noisy presence greatly increased the frequency of sword maintenance for the soldiers in the team. Fortunately, they also had Sakura, a former courtesan who was very good at dealing with stupid men.
Friction and dissatisfaction caused by trivial matters will occur between anyone who has been together for a long time. Even without Acheng, there are other conflicts and frictions in their team. But professionals can always decide whether it is more important to control their emotions or complete the task.
- They were clearly being slowed down.
The two carriages kept taking turns getting stuck in the mud. Although powerful ghost warriors repeatedly lifted them out, they would sink again in another place after a while.
It's almost as if the wheels plowing through the land are becoming heavier and harder to turn as more and more wet soil sticks to them, and the deep marks left on the ground become more conspicuous as the water gradually fills them up.
This didn't require a jungle tracking expert; anyone with any brains could follow the clearly visible traces behind them.
Anxiety and uneasiness gradually filled the minds of people who were aware of the situation, but they did not say these things out loud. Because complaining or even blaming in this case will not help, it is just a weak way to avoid responsibility and make yourself feel lighter by finding the murderer.
The less capable people are of solving problems, the more likely they are to seek out the people who created the problems.
Fortunately, their team's overall level of integration is enough to avoid the appearance of such people.
Be quiet, calm, and solve problems.
Even if it rains continuously, the roads may not always be like this. The reason for such a serious problem is actually that they are in a lower depression. The land of Crescent Continent is undulating. Although there are roads to some extent in most places where people move around, steep stone steps and other mountain roads are obviously not meant for horse-drawn carriages. Passable.
Most of the flat roads that can be driven are located on the mountainside and at the foot of the mountain. This flatter terrain near the lowlands makes it harder to drain away water, and the parts of the depressions and valleys between the two peaks where the road connects are often where the water gathers to form flash floods. of frequent occurrences.
But you can't ask the earth to change according to your wishes, at least not immediately.
The problem might become easier if we trudge through this terrain and go uphill again.
The cold rain soaked the clothes at the ends of the limbs and soaked through the shoes and socks. Every step he took made a "plop" and "plop" sound as if the soaked clothes were thrown to the ground.
The big bow was carefully put away and placed in the car for safekeeping. Although Kazuto's bow and arrows were completed with a lot of targeted treatment due to the humid climate, they still could not withstand the continuous rain.
The swords hidden under waterproof clothing such as cloaks were well protected, but the cold rainy days brought another trouble - the swordsmen's palms generally felt cold, and their cold and numb fingers held the pen when writing notes. It will be difficult and the flexibility of controlling the weapon will also be reduced.
The baggage troops were unable to move, and the cold weather brought sensory paralysis.
This is a situation where we absolutely do not want to engage the enemy, and precisely because of this, the enemy will attack instead.
The slow convoy is like a wounded prey in the wilderness, its weak and sluggish breath tempting keen hunters to follow.
The pungent smell emitted from the soil under the downpour covered up the superior sense of smell of the ghosts as apex predators, and the majestic sound of rain also covered up the sound of approaching opponents who were moving lightly.
They still maintained vigilance, but the heavy carriage kept getting stuck in the mud along the way, making many people exhausted mentally and physically.
So the other party almost succeeded.
Almost.
When the Rigal-style oil-waxed canvas cloak was unfolded to block the rain, the huge surface area of the thick canvas opened and the falling rain made a clearly audible "tat-tat-tat" sound.
What followed was an inaudible "click".
All of this should have been obscured by the sound of carriages driving, the sound of rain, the sound of horses snorting, the team members' words communicating with each other, and even sighs.
Because it was so insignificant, the opponent was concentrating on aiming the eight-sided long tube that was so heavy that it required two people to lift it and ignored the "ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta" sound that the cloak was making.
But it was enough to alarm Henry.
Strengthening magic has never just strengthened muscles. The entire body of this tall man's consciousness can be enhanced by the druid's advanced magic. The principle of night vision is to enable the human eye to see otherwise invisible light through magical coverage.
So.
Can heat also appear in the form of light?
Eyes emitting blue light swept across, and the world in his eyes changed. In the background of the pale blue icy rain, an orange-yellow hillock-like outline and some kind of long tubular object that was fading rapidly in the rain appeared vaguely on the side of the hillside.
He immediately knew what it was and who it was aimed at.
"Zhaoyue, get down." The leader of the ghost clan is the most conspicuous target in the entire team. Her physique and armor are the most outstanding.
She failed to understand what Henry meant. For the ghost clan, the concept of dodge was almost non-existent, but as an apex predator's intuition, this warrior who had also experienced hundreds of battles stood on his head and sensed some kind of crisis.
"Bang!——" The trigger of the slender snake-shaped rod was pulled down, and the red burning match rope under the dim cloak came into contact with the thick medicine hole.
Just 1 second.
Just because the damp gunpowder takes an extra second to ignite determines the difference between life and death.
"Bang!!!" The dazzling orange flames accompanied by the huge amount of smoke emitted from the incomplete combustion of the damp gunpowder covered the entire uphill slope. The 30mm lead shot fired from the giant hand cannon weighing 15kg roared out. He slid past Teruyuki, who was sitting on the ground, and hit the dirt with such force that a large hole almost 30 centimeters in diameter was formed.
"Everyone prepares for war!!" The smoke has not yet dissipated, and the ghost leader who has experienced hundreds of battles has pulled his thoughts out of his daze. She did not waste time in thanking the sage, but instead gave a loud order.
Because they all know that this is the signal for the battle to begin.
"Idiot, shield!" Mira urged Galeva, and the tall Suomir young man immediately raised his shield to protect the exposed companion next to him. The warriors stopped their horses and hid behind the carriage, preparing to take out the large bows stored inside.
Their response was not untimely.
Because immediately after the firing of the hand cannon, "咻咻咻-", a dozen arrows fell through the thick smoke.
"Grab - snatch, snatch, snatch -!" The heavy arrow hit the carriage board and penetrated deeply. The man seized the opportunity to escape, but the horse did not have such good luck. It was fixed by the drawbar and could not The horses that had nowhere to go were wounded by arrows and began to scream and struggle. The blood mixed with the rain, and the group of people drew out their sharp swords in unison.
"Crunt against traitors!!!" The lightly-armed troops on the hillside shouted. Because the smoke blocked them, they must have felt that their ambush had achieved quite good results - they killed the ghost leader and then took advantage of the chaos to shoot arrows. Kill some samurai.
So they also drew their weapons, abandoned the side slope and rushed down.
And this was the final mistake they made.
The moment the smoke disappeared while traveling at high speed, a slender flash of light came into view.
"Crack--!!!" Anyone who touches its sharp edge will be split into two.
Skin, muscles, bones. Unable to stop Kramer's sword in the slightest, the lightly-armed warrior who lost half his head ran a few steps before he stopped charging, and then rolled down the cliff. His companions Before he had time to be surprised, Henry cut him in half with a backhand cassock chop from his right shoulder to his left waist.
"Norn-Easterbom-Quotedisi (different from what was promised)!!"
"Leloude! Leloude! (Load, reload quickly)!"
"Plas-quam-um (more than one)!" was a Southern Lamani language full of panic and emotion. The trio of Lamani mercenaries were hurriedly trying to reload the heavy hand cannon.
The ghost woman leaped up with her long hair flying in the rain-drenched air. Teruyuki threw the short spear in her hand and nailed the gunman from the collarbone to the lower back, and then grabbed the other person the moment she landed. Her head was thrown hard in the air, breaking her neck, and then she threw it away. Then she pulled out a short knife from her waist, which was considered a waist knife by mortal standards, and pierced the spine with a backhand knife and pinned the last person to the ground.
The momentum is overwhelming.
The thick ghost gold rods, as armor-piercing hardwood blunt weapons, are enough to smash a heavily armored warrior into the mud, including his men and horses, and their lethality against these light infantry is even more astonishing.
The samurai and the rest of Rigar didn't even have time to rush out. Except for Henry, who took the lead, the battle ended in less than 20 seconds after all the ghosts joined.
Only one-half of the human body flew out with blood stains like a broken doll, while the remaining people were turned into many flat sections by the sword.
But the battle is not over yet.
This team consisting of 10 archers, a group of 3 hand cannon mercenaries and 12 swordsmen would actually be impossible to defeat a team like them even if the sneak attack was successful.
They were both scouts and decoys, used to entangle their group, which was already moving at a slow pace.
In the hazy rain curtain, more silhouettes of people appeared in the distance.
A mighty cavalry force appeared, and at the same time the packhorse, which was severely injured by arrows, finally fell to the ground with excessive bleeding.
One-third of the wheels were stuck in the mud, two of the pack horses were dead, and the largest carriage loaded with supplies and witches could not move.
The enemy was only tens of meters away and it was too late.
I can only fight.
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