Steel, Explosives, and Spellcasters

Chapter 799 799 72 Interlude_2

?Chapter 799: Chapter 72 Interlude_2 Chapter 799: Chapter 72 Interlude_2 In contrast, the Terdun men, riding and shooting from atop the mounds, did hold the advantage of high ground.

Seeing no signs of the Paratu formation weakening, the observing Green Plumed Feathers [Duodai] withdrew the white horsehair signal flag and raised a red one.

Like bees dispersing and then regrouping, the Terdun light cavalry reassembled and formed a horizontal line in front of the Iron Peak County farmers’ barricades.

Although Major Ronald lacked extensive combat experience, he could not fail to recognize what this meant, and he bellowed a warning to his subordinates and militia, “The barbarians are going to use Tykes Tactics!”

In the midst of the somber horn calls, the rightmost flank of the Terdun line was the first to move, with other leaders following in sequence.

The Terdun light cavalry, like a long serpent, encircled the barricades in a counterclockwise motion, tightly gripping the Paratu people.

At the same time, the Terdun heavy cavalry, clad in armor, still bided its time.

Ronald’s barricades were being “wrapped” by the Terdun light cavalry, with the thunderous sound of hooves nearly suffocating everyone.

From the west, the sounds carried over were not just hooves, but also the piercing screech of whistling arrows.

A middle-aged farmer holding a door plank silently fell, an unfeathered arrow lodged in his nape, still trembling slightly.

The Terdun men circled the barricades, firing from all angles, rendering the Iron Peak County people’s shields almost entirely ineffective.

Circling and shooting from horseback, this was the “Tykes Tactics” the Paratu people spoke of.

The horror lay not only in the lack of any dead angle for shooting but also in keeping the Paratu within shooting range of the Terdun archers at all times.

The hit-and-run technique of shooting from horseback offered the riders a very brief window to shoot, typically loosing no more than three or four arrows with each pass.

Yet, the Terdun light cavalry circling the barricades could shoot indefinitely, emptying their quivers.

Against Tykes Tactics, the best strategy was to armor the warriors and respond with a large volume of projectile weapons.

Armor and long-range weapons… Ronald was sorely lacking in both.

The militia fought back with difficulty using hunting bows and stone slings, every fallen Terdun rider costing the lives of ten Iron Peak County residents.

Witnessing the militia fall to arrows one after the other, Major Ronald nearly crushed his teeth in frustration.

Tykes Tactics meant relentless running, and the Terdun horses’ stamina was being rapidly depleted.

As the Iron Peak County barricades wobbled on the verge of collapse, the Terdun light cavalry began to show signs of fatigue.

Finally, Ronald saw more and more Terdun warhorses struggling to even leap onto the knee-high mounds.

“Bagpipers!” the Major roared.

The militia had no drums, much less bugles, only two bagpipes to serve as signaling tools.

When the bagpipers heard the command, they took a deep breath and squeezed the airbag tightly. They couldn’t play military tunes, so the Major just wanted them to make noise, the louder the better.

The tumultuous sounds of galloping hooves, screeching arrows, dying humans’ cries and screams… the sharp, piercing sounds of the bagpipes cut through the battlefield’s chaos, reaching everyone’s ears.

This sound was so peculiar that no one could mishear it.

The Terdun people were perplexed, while the Iron Peak County farmers gripped their weapons tightly—the moment the bagpipes sounded, it was time for a general assault.

“Lieutenant Adam Ortola!” the Major shouted sternly.

Adam responded with a roar.

The barricades on one side of the river suddenly opened, and Adam, along with his men—all the militia who had seen blood—charged out from the barricades, stamping across the beach and water, fiercely thrusting into the flow of the Terdun light cavalry.

At the same time, another group of militia, carrying sharp stakes, surged out from the barricades, erecting a barrier between the barricades and the river.

Like an axe splitting heaven and earth, the serpent entwined around the Paratu people was cleaved in two in a flash.

The Terdun light cavalry outside the row of stakes gazed back in confusion, not understanding what had happened.

The Terdun light cavalry trapped between the stakes, river, mound, and Paratu people instantly went from encircling the enemy to being encircled, struck with terror.

Others among the Terdun, too slow to rein in their horses, plunged headlong into this death trap.

The Paratu people, who had been clashing with the Herders for hundreds of years, understood Tykes Tactics equally well.

To some extent, as the victims, the Paratu people knew the strengths and pitfalls of Tykes Tactics even better than the Herders did.

The core of Tykes Tactics lies in “encirclement,” and it must be done counterclockwise.

Since the vast majority of people are right-handed, and even those who could shoot left-handed could not match the strength of their right hand.

Holding the bow with the left hand and pulling the string with the right, it was naturally more comfortable to shoot on the left side of the horse.

By the same principle, for cavalry performing hit-and-run shooting, the riders had to encircle clockwise.

It wasn’t that Ronald was forced to form up here, but that he had chosen this battlefield.

Forming up by the river compressed the maneuvering space of the Terdun light cavalry.

The mounds were traps, too.

It might seem that the Terdun holding the high ground had all the advantages, but once they resorted to Tykes Tactics, this one-meter drop would become a one-way valve.

The logic was simple: when running counterclockwise, the Terdun leapt down from the higher riverbank and then had to jump up from the lower inland side.

A one-meter high mound might seem trivial, easy to descend but not so easy to ascend…

The encircled Terdun light cavalry were like that, in normal times perhaps they could have leapt onto the high ground with a horse’s jump.

But now their warhorses were severely exhausted, let alone a meter-high mound, the horses wouldn’t even attempt a half-meter barrier.