Lord of the Oasis - Chapter 288
Chapter 288: Tactics of the Desert Bandits
The bugle horn was blown.
A dull and long sound was heard in the desert.
This was Kant’s order. The cavalries, who had already lined up neatly, began to move along with the long bugle horn. Horse hooves came in waves as they charged into the flat desert.
Rolf personally led 120 Sarrandian horsemen, holding their scimitars tightly with solemn expressions.
The 220 lightly armored desert bandits had already pounced forward, like sparrows flying in the sky, or a wolf pack scattered in all directions, waiting for an opportunity to strike.
The Sarrandan people were familiar with the desert from the soul.
They were the race that lived in the desert to begin with.
They were the elites of the desert!
At the posthouse, the guards of the trade caravan were restless. Looking at the leader of the trade caravan who was at the top of the posthouse, they were all panicking, as if they had encountered a horse gang. They wanted to hide, but they did not dare to abandon the leader and leave.
Even when they saw Rolf leading the cavalries to resist, they still felt uneasy.
This included the merchants on the rooftops.
Everyone could see the fighting strength of both sides.
Rolf was indeed brutal, just like a bandit leader, but this did not represent his fighting strength!
The 600 fully armed, mail armor-clad, and well-trained elite knight attendants, along with the knights who led the team as commanders, they could easily wipe out the same number of horse gangs!
The regular army was an elite force that could crush the bandit groups.
On the contrary, Rolf’s army was made up of a large number of desert bandits who were the pitiful light cavalry in leather armors.
In the Dukedom of Leo’s combat sequence, only the poorest and most impoverished noble families would use these cavalries. Only the guards of the trade caravan would be equipped with such defensive equipment.
Although leather armor had a certain defensive effect, it was extremely limited.
Despite bandits and horse thieves with noble backgrounds would not have a set of mail armor each, but they still had two layers of mail armor. How could the the light cavalry unit led by Rolf compared to them? The defensive equipment of Rolf’s troop was so pitiful that they could not bear to look at it.
Even if there were 120 Sarrandian horsemen, but it was still very few of them.
If they were to clash with the knight attendants, they would be crushed on the spot!
These merchants’ hearts were beating rapidly.
Looking at Kant, who had his back to them and was still holding a silver cup, their gazes were very unfriendly.
They could already guess that these cavalries were Kant’s capital. Perhaps in the Nahrin Desert, if they were careful, they could completely defend the Oasis Lookout and this posthouse. But if they were to fight against the strong opponents, they would definitely lose everything.
An army of 600 knight attendants could already be considered as the regular army of the Dukedom of Leo.
These merchants had different thoughts from Kant.
They looked at Kant with hatred in their eyes.
The previous groveling and the fear were all reasons for these merchants to hate Kant.
As long as Kant lost his army as a support, the noble families behind these merchants would extend their hands into this desert. For example, these merchants might be able to talk to those knight attendants because of the connection between the noble families.
If these knight attendants really killed them, then it would start a war between the noble families!
The salt mines in this desert could not be swallowed by a few noble families alone. it should only be a win-win situation.
But in this win-win situation, it definitely would not include Kant, the original lord of the Nahrin Desert.
The merchants looked at each other, and their breathing became heavier. They nodded to each other and understood the meaning in their eyes. Now that they were united, they realized that they were not afraid of these soldiers and Kant, instead, they had the confidence to unite and fight against Kant.
However, this was only their illusion. The royal knights and light footmen saw the merchants’ small actions behind the scenes. They were expressionless, but their eyes were extremely vigilant.
If Kant gave the order, there would be a bloody storm on the roof.
They could do it.
However, Kant did not speak, nor did he give the order.
Shaking the red sugar water in the silver cup, the sweet feeling in his mouth had not dissipated. Looking at the dust and the horsemen in the distance, the smile on his lips remained.
Two cavalry units were approaching to each other.
The 600 cavalry units slowed down slowly, as if they had something to say.
However, the desert bandits, who were riding desert horses that were suitable for desert raids, continued to charge on the two wings and did not stop. They quickly flanked from both sides, bending their backs and holding the reins as they galloped.
Rolf led the Sarrandian horsemen to stop. The 120 people formed a three-line formation, holding a lance as they charged forward.
The tactics used by the two were different.
But they were closely linked!
This was the wolf pack tactic that the Sarrandian people learned when fighting against the Kujit people.
The scattered desert bandits were the wolf pack that lured and drove the enemy away. The Sarrandian horsemen who formed a charging formation was the wolf king that gave the final blow to the enemy and completely tore the enemy’s throat apart!
There were not many of them, but their structure and their tactics were clear.
The centuries of conflict in the Continent of Caradia had long turned these people into war machines!
The 600 knight attendants slowed down.
They discovered the desert bandits that were charging and scattering on both sides.
However, they chose to ignore them because of their own strength. However, they still drew closer to each other and held their shields to guard their surroundings. They planned to continue forward and talk to the enemy cavalries that were standing still.
It was best to be able to deal with these enemies without bloodshed. They came here to intimidate others.
Countess Agatha’s order was very clear.
Destroy Baron Kant’s armed forces, control this young baron, and indirectly control the Nahrin desert.
As for the merchants who came here, if they dared to resist, then kill them all. If they didn’t resist, then gather together with the surrendered Baron Kant’s troops and bury them alive in the desert.
There was no need for them to appear in the Nahrin Desert as well as other forces.
The leaders were two grand knights.
The basic and middle-level commanders were 40 knights, while the rest were knight attendants.
This was the reliance of the gale mercenary group, which had once roamed the three counties of the Dukedom of Leo. They were usually quiet, but as long as there was a movement, they would appear and show their fangs.
The dark hands of the Countess of the East County, Agatha, had always been known for her bloody ruthlessness.
However, they had miscalculated.
Rolf had no intention of talking to them.
Nor did he have the intention to surrender because he was at a disadvantage.
Seeing that the other party had slowed down from 500 meters away, as if to show that they wanted to negotiate, the corners of Rolf’s mouth curled up into a disdainful smile. The malevolence on his face became more and more intense, and the machete in his hand was raised high, spinning slightly.
This is an attack. Don’t hold back!
An order to the desert bandits.
“Pfft, pfft, pfft, pfft, pfft, pfft, pfft, pfft, pfft, pfft, –”
The horseshoes struck the sand.
There was a lot of weird noise.
Desert bandits galloped on both flanks, circling the 600 horsemen, neither too close nor too far, as if they were wolves and vultures waiting for an opportunity.
However, their equipment made the knights disguised as gale mercenary group smile mockingly.
What could these cavalries in leather armors do?
In close combat, these cavalries would be chased and massacred by these knights!
Their gale mercenary group wasn’t undeserving of their reputation. They had once occupied a small border town in the Silver Platter Kingdom. The armed cavalries of the town’s self defense team wore leather armor, but they were forcefully cut off by them and easily slaughtered.
The advantage of equipment was sometimes so terrifying that it could control the situation on the battlefield.
Moreover, they were cavalries!
But things did not go well as they expected.
It was just like they had encountered the invincible Swadian heavy cavalries, the extremely mobile Kujit archers on the grassland or the extremely strong armor-piercing Sarradian cavalries in the desert.
Don’t use your original mindset to measure your opponent. It will be fatal on the battlefield!
Today, the desert bandits would teach this group of arrogant knight attendants, what exactly a tragedy looked like!
They quickly rode around these knight attendants and attacked, surrounding these them in a circle. After the warm-up on their desert horses, these desert bandits pulled out their short javelins from their backs.
The circle that they rode their horses in gradually compressed inward.
When they They slowly approached from a range of more than 50 meters.
finally reached a range of about 10 meters, both sides could see each other’s faces.
The knight attendants narrowed their eyes.
In their panic, the kite shields in their hands were instantly raised.
“Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh –”
The sound of air being torn apart was incessant.
Numerous black shadows instantly flew out from the ring-shaped formation of the desert bandits who were galloping on their horses.
The shadows were the short javelins that they had been holding in their hands.
They were heavily nailed onto the kite shields of the knight attendants.
“Dang dang dang dang dang –”
The muffled sounds of heavy blows were incessant, and the entire shield was pierced through by the thick and sturdy short javelins.
There were even some of them who were slightly slow, the short javelins that was hurled over at high speed nailed onto their helmets. The sharp tips of the javelins instantly pierced through the helmet, breaking the skulls and directly killing the unlucky knight attendants in one strike!
The circular shooting formation that was inspired the Kujit people became a simplified version of the javelins in the hands of the desert bandits.
However, the effect was still the same.
The lethality of the javelins became even stronger because of the javelins being hurled!
Javelins could break through the armors.
At close range, within 20 meters, these desert bandits used the inertia of their high-speed attacks to throw short javelins. As long as they hit the body, it would be fatal, and they could instantly finish off the opponent’s terrifying weapon!
220 desert bandits, 4 short javelins per person.
In an instant.
The javelins were like rain, splashing onto the group of knight attendants who were caught off guard.
People shouted and horses neighed, and blood splattered everywhere!
