The tight shield formation of over twenty men blocked the charge of most of the bandits. As the shield formation stabilized, the constantly thrusting short spears and longswords, and the fiercely smashing war hammers and battle axes, caused a large number of casualties among the bandits in front of the shields. In less than the time it takes to drink a bag of water, five bandits had already fallen before the shield formation.
Seeing that the shield formation could not be broken through head-on for the time being, a bandit leader, accompanied by three henchmen, attempted to bypass the shield formation and attack from the flank.
Art, who was just pulling his knight's sword from the belly of a bandit, saw the few bandits attempting to bypass the shield formation and shouted loudly to Ron, who was on the left side of the shield formation: “Ron, enemy on the flank.”
Ron slammed his shield, knocking down an enemy in front of him, then pulled Jason, who was constantly swinging his short sword to hack at what was in front of him, out of the shield formation and ran towards the few bandits on the left.
By the time Ron arrived at the rear flank, several bandits had already cut down two coachmen who hadn't managed to hide under the carriages, and were now raising their axes to hack at a wounded Soldier on the ground who was screaming. In this critical moment, Ron didn't hesitate at all. He picked up a short spear from the ground and threw it forcefully like a javelin at the bandit raising his axe. The hand axe, which had fallen onto the wounded Soldier's chest, was deflected by the short spear along with its owner. The moment the axe-wielding bandit fell, Jason had already charged forward with his short sword drawn horizontally, delivering a horizontal slash that chipped the long knife in another henchman's hand. After Jason joined, Ron and Jason formed a shield formation with their backs to each other, fending off the bandits attacking from three sides.
Benson, who had narrowly escaped, stopped rolling. After overcoming the initial panic and severe pain, he regained his courage. He knew that if Ron and Jason couldn't stop these bypassing bandits, he wouldn't escape the next incoming axe.
Benson's left shoulder was struck by an arrow, and his entire left arm was numb. He took a deep breath, slowly stood up supporting himself with his right hand, pulled out a wooden-handled short knife from his waist, and charged, shouting, towards the three bandits encircling Ron and Jason. The bandit fiercely hacking at Ron's wooden shield didn't notice Benson rushing up from behind. Benson endured the pain, took a few steps, and crashed into the bandit's back. The bandit stumbled from the impact, and the wooden-handled short knife plunged into his back. The bandit twisted his head back, a mouthful of blood surged from his chest and lungs, and he collapsed, twitching uncontrollably.
With one opponent down, the pressure on Ron and Jason immediately lessened. After taking a shallow cut on his arm, Ron plunged his broadsword into the bandit leader's abdomen. The remaining henchman, under the continuous hacking of Ron and Jason, finally couldn't hold on, retreating while defending, attempting to return to the main group.
In front of the shield formation, the bandits had spontaneously given up on a frontal assault, attempting to bypass to the flanks to avoid the constantly thrusting blades from the shield formation. However, under the command of Art and Odo, the shield formation continuously adjusted its direction, always keeping its front facing the majority of the bandits.
The scattered bandits on both sides of the shield formation were being relentlessly targeted by Baron Belian and two recently returned attendants. Baron Belian and his two attendants were warriors who had experienced brutal battles; they showed no fear facing seven or eight bandits. The swords and spears in their hands were without any fancy moves, their actions simple and decisive, yet each strike was fatal. In no time, three bandits had already fallen under Baron Belian's sword.
As time passed, the situation on the open ground began to turn. Although a few Soldiers in the Patrol Team also fell, the bandits had already left more than ten bodies in front of the shield formation, yet the shield formation showed no sign of being breached. Any gap that appeared due to a fallen Soldier was immediately filled by someone nearby.
After killing the last bandit who had bypassed the shield formation, Ron did not rush back to the shield formation. He quickly ran with Jason to the hitching post, untied the reins of two warhorses, jumped onto their backs, reined them around, and made a semicircle towards the rear of the bandits. Once the horses gained speed, he threw a short spear at the bandits, then drew the broadsword from his waist and charged diagonally towards the bandits' rear.
A few henchmen at the rear of the bandits saw the cavalry galloping from the rear flank and cried out in alarm: “Cavalry!! Cavalry are charging!!” With that, disregarding their comrades fighting desperately at the front, they began to retreat on their own towards the direction they came from.
Hearing their comrades' alarm, several bandits turned their heads and glimpsed the two charging cavalrymen, all retreating backward. This retreat caused a chain reaction among several people nearby.
When Ron and Jason galloped over, seven or eight bandits had already fled a dozen steps. Ron and Jason spurred their horses into the bandits, and only a dull thud of breaking bones and tearing tendons was heard, as several bandits were knocked down and sent flying by the warhorses.
“Disperse and pursue!”
“Roar!”
The shield formation, with a mighty roar, split into five or six three-man combat formations, slashing and killing the gradually retreating bandits.
“Art, don't pursue. Get on your horses and intercept them. Don't let them run into the dense forest.” Seeing that the battle was decided, Baron Belian stopped Art, who was about to lead his troops in pursuit. He turned and ran back to the hitching post, untied the reins, mounted his horse, and led his two attendants towards the edge of the dense forest.
Art also followed, mounting his horse and giving chase.
...
On the other side, the sharp-faced, monkey-jawed leader was now filled with regret. He had anticipated that this group of black-clad men would be difficult to deal with, so after much deliberation, he devised a tactic of paralyzing the enemy and then launching a surprise attack.
For the past three days, dozens of bandits had hidden in the woods more than five miles from the caravan, trailing it from a distance. They had been eating hard bread with cold water for days, all to avoid being discovered by the caravan's guards, hoping to create the false impression that no one dared to target the caravan. In fact, they had largely succeeded. In the past, the black-clad men would always patrol a two-mile radius around their camp before setting up, and then continuously send out Soldiers for patrols and sentry duty. But today, they only hastily patrolled the immediate vicinity of the camp, without detailed reconnaissance, and the sentries were also late in taking their posts.
The sharp-faced, monkey-jawed leader decisively seized the opportunity, strongly advocating for a surprise attack before nightfall. However, he never imagined that the black-robed Soldiers in the camp would react so quickly. They hadn't even emerged from the dense forest when the black-clad men had already begun to gather. By the time they seized the last opportunity to rush out of the dense forest, a dozen black-robed Soldiers had already assembled and formed ranks in the open ground, with more black-robed Soldiers continuously joining the shield formation.
However, now the sharp-faced, monkey-jawed leader had no time to ponder why their numerically superior side had been defeated so easily. His inner thigh, which had a bleeding hole from a short spear, began to go numb. To approach the caravan silently, their horses were hidden deep in the dense forest. The five or six henchmen who had fled earlier had already plunged into the dense forest. If those fellows took their life-saving horses, he, being wounded, would truly have no way to escape.
Just a dozen steps from plunging into the dense forest, he cursed at the two subordinates supporting him in his escape to quicken their pace, stumbling towards the dense forest.
Just as he was about to enter the dense forest, several cavalrymen suddenly charged out from the right. The sharp-faced, monkey-jawed leader hadn't even had time to turn his head for a look before he was knocked to the ground by a warhorse, and everything went dark before his eyes.
...
It was already completely dark, and the open ground in front of the dense forest was brightly lit by bonfires.
Around the camp, within a half-mile radius, Odo personally led two complete combat groups on continuous armed patrols, guarding against any possible enemy activity. After all, a dozen or so henchmen had escaped into the dense forest during the evening battle, and their big leader was currently imprisoned in the camp. They might attempt a risky raid on the camp at any time.
Around several bonfires in the camp, the Patrol Team Soldiers who had survived the bloody battle were chewing on fragrant roasted bacon and loudly boasting about their bravery and achievements in the evening battle.
In a large military tent, “Cook” Spencer, with the help of three Soldiers, was “treating” a wounded Soldier whose belly had been cut open. He was desperately trying to push the Soldier's intestines back into his stomach. The constantly gushing blood soaked Spencer's hands, and the intense pain made the Soldier struggle and scream non-stop.
Spencer yelled at the assisting Soldiers: “Useless! I told you three to hold him down! Are you all f***ing softies?!”
Glancing over, he saw a wounded Soldier sitting nearby with an arrow in his shoulder. Spencer turned and snapped: “Hey, you! Are you blind? Get your f***ing ass over here and lend a hand! It's just an arrow, stop playing dead, hurry up and get over here!”
After cursing the wounded Soldier, Spencer continued to stuff intestines back into the belly, muttering non-stop: “F***ing unlucky. Working like a beast every day, and now I have to be a ‘barber.’ I should have just been a Soldier.”
In the small tent nearby, a series of pig-like screams drowned out the groans of the wounded Soldier in the treatment tent. Baron Belian, with his arms crossed, watched with interest as Art used his sword hilt to smash the fingers of the sharp-faced, monkey-jawed ugly fellow one by one. Each shattered finger was met with an earth-shattering scream.
“I'll ask one last time, do you have any other accomplices, and where is your bandit lair?”
The sharp-faced, monkey-jawed man's face was contorted, his teeth bared, and blood already stained his clenched jaw. Three of his fingers had been smashed, and he was on the verge of passing out from the pain.
“Let me go, I'll give you all my valuables.” The sharp-faced, monkey-jawed man squeezed out a sentence with difficulty from his bleeding teeth.
Art took a pinch of salt handed to him by Ron and slowly sprinkled it onto the sharp-faced, monkey-jawed man's leg wound. The sharp-faced, monkey-jawed man looked in horror at the white powder sprinkled on the bloody hole on his inner thigh, “Bastard, what are you sprinkling?”
Art stared at the slowly melting salt crystals at the edge of the bloody hole and said, “Don't worry, you'll know in a moment.” As he spoke, he pressed the salt crystals into the wound with his finger.
“Ah!!!!!! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~”
...
“Ron, tomorrow morning, you and Jason ride quickly back to Sap, tell Lord Galvin about the battle here, and ask him to bring troops to take over the captives.”
“Oh, and tell him that most of the bandits in the Southern Hills are here. The remaining few henchmen won't significantly affect his caravan. So, tell him not to forget to pay me a certain amount in advance. We can discuss the remaining portion after we return safely.”
“My Lord, we cleared out the bandits in the Southern Hills so quickly, I'm afraid Lord Galvin won't hand over the payment so easily.” Ron had witnessed the cunning of merchants, especially one disguised as a nobleman.
Art wiped the slippery blood from his hands onto the military tent flap and said, “I assume Lord Galvin is a reputable nobleman. He won't care about such a small sum. Besides, he still has so many livestock and carriages waiting for us to escort back.”
Art lifted Ron's still-bleeding arm and examined it for a moment, then said, “Go find someone to bandage it, then go rest and get something to eat. Oh, and go find Bass and Tuba. Kazak can be excused; he's injured, let him rest more.”
“Yes, My Lord.”
Seeing Ron walk towards the bonfire, Art turned and entered his military tent. Baron Belian's two attendants were dragging the sharp-faced, monkey-jawed man's corpse out of the tent. Art entered the tent and said to Baron Belian: “My Lord, we should discuss whether it's necessary to annihilate these bandits in one fell swoop~”