Although he agreed to Fraser's request, Leo could not send troops blindly. An adult ogre is nearly three meters tall and weighs more than six hundred pounds. Human warriors are like kindergarten children in front of them. Even for an awakened super warrior, it would take all his strength to defeat an ogre warrior. After a period of training and actual combat, as well as updated equipment, half of the militiamen in Hewan have reached the strength standard of regular imperial infantry, but they are still no match for the ogre's stick. Moreover, the threat from Brother Lawrence was still ringing in his ears. Leo had never hesitated to assume the worst of aliens. He could only remain vigilant and wait for Urian to return before making plans. Revenge came so quickly. On the next morning, Leo had just finished his morning exercise, brushed his horse, and was about to go to the shooting range on the side of the big house to practice archery when he heard a sudden and urgent horn sound in the distance. It was the sentry tower built by Uliyan beside the canal that played a role, and the sentry guarding it discovered the enemy at the first time. But the enemies of this attack were not weak ogres, but a group of horse thieves! As soon as the horn sounded, a group of horse thieves emerged from the woods opposite the canal. There were about forty of them, wearing tattered and dirty fur armor, turned-up felt hats, riding fast horses, and easily crossed the more than two-meter-wide canal, making terrifying howls and rushing straight to the river bay.
Leo suddenly felt overwhelmed. He picked up his shield and shouted to the dazed little mouse beside him: "Hide in the big house!" These bandits coming from the western border are the most disgusting existence. They are skilled in archery and horse riding, coming and going like the wind, and are impossible to wipe out completely. Whether it is an agricultural village or a nomadic village, there is no way to deal with them. In an agricultural village, the knight lord only had three or five horses. His followers and militiamen could neither catch up with the horse thieves nor shoot them, so they could only stay in the village and passively take the beating. Although nomadic villages have more herdsmen and can form a team of light cavalry that is as powerful as horse bandits at any time, the population of nomadic villages is too dispersed, and it is actually more difficult to deal with when they are suddenly attacked by horse bandits. Only the fishing and hunting tribes and villages deep in the mountains are not afraid of horse thieves. The mountains are not suitable for fast horses to gallop, and the hunters' longbows are not afraid of shooting at horse thieves. The River Bay Leader reacted quickly, and Ivan, who was following Leo, immediately picked up the small trumpet at his waist and blew it. The villagers who were reclaiming land to the north of the camp rushed to the camp and hid in the lord's house. Olivia appeared at the door of the lord's house, standing on the wooden stairs, anxiously watching the old and weak villagers enter the house. While maintaining order, she gave orders and ordered the militia reserve members to pull back those villagers who were still trying to carry food and leather. The militiamen who were still carrying logs to build houses quickly picked up nearby weapons and equipment, armed themselves, and rushed to Leo in the center of the village to gather. In order to ensure the military strength of Hewan, Rio has ordered all militiamen except those on patrol to only be responsible for work within the camp these days, and their weapons and equipment are placed nearby so that they can form a battle formation to meet the enemy at any time. At present, there are not many projects in the river bend. The main force of the militia is responsible for building houses in the village, the militia reserve is responsible for building river embankments on the river beach in the north of the peninsula, and the rest of the people continue to reclaim wasteland. This was all thanks to Freya. This powerful groundhog, under Leo's deception, single-handedly advanced the construction progress of the river bend by at least one month. The horse thieves were extremely fast. From the time they appeared in the canal, they had reached the village in less than two minutes. As they shouted, they raised their short bows and shot at the militiamen. In such a short time, not even half of the militia had assembled in place. Those who arrived first were busy stringing crossbows and shooting at the horse bandits. Leo also raised his yew longbow and shot three arrows in a row, successfully knocking down a horse thief. "Raise your shield! Raise your shield!" The militiaman, who had just shot a crossbow arrow and was about to restring the crossbow, was interrupted by Leo. The boarmen's crossbows have poor accuracy and slow shooting speed, and they are no match for the horse thieves.
It was okay to shoot at them from a long distance, as it all depended on luck. But now the horse thieves were approaching, and continuing to shoot at them would be courting death. While he was shouting, the horse bandits had already reached the entrance of the village. Several militiamen who did not have time to raise their shields were immediately hit by arrows and let out painful groans. Fortunately, the horse thieves' short bows were not very powerful. After piercing through the thick fur armor of the militiamen, the arrowheads did not penetrate deeply into the flesh and were not fatal for the time being. When the bandits approached the village entrance, they dispersed and sneaked into the village from all corners. They put down their short bows, raised their scimitars and spears, and rushed towards the militia. The village was filled with piles of construction wood and houses blocking the road. The terrain was complex and not suitable for long-range guerrilla warfare by the horse thieves. Moreover, more and more militiamen came from all directions, and the experienced horse thieves naturally could not let these militiamen unite and form combat effectiveness. According to the normal attack pattern, the horse thieves only need to kill indiscriminately before the village militia gathers, creating enough chaos and casualties to make the enemy's morale collapse prematurely, and what remains is a carnival of killing. No village’s militia could stop the attack of the horse bandits if they had to fight on their own or even turn around and flee. A horse thief laughed wildly and raised his scimitar, riding his horse and charging towards a nearby militia who had not yet formed up, sweeping it fiercely with the scimitar in his hand! Under normal circumstances, with the help of the impact force brought by a fast horse, the sweeping power of the scimitar can even rival the chopped power of a two-handed weapon. It can easily cut off the opponent's head or arm. The bloody effect created can even scare the surrounding villagers to death. It doesn't matter even if the arrow hits the shield. In his impression, the militia's thin wooden shield can only block some arrows! However, the militiaman in front of him did not choose to dodge, but bravely raised the wooden shield in his hand. The horse thief smiled ferociously and swung his sword without hesitation, ready to chop the militiaman in half, including his shield. This time, the militiaman's shield blocked his fierce sword. A deep cut was made on the surface of the round shield, but it did not crack. The militiaman holding the shield only staggered slightly, and was unharmed. The oak shields of the River Bend militia are an inch thick! The round shield in the hands of the militiaman in front of him was one of the ones that Ulyaan asked Valeri to remake. It had a layer of soft pine wood on the outside and a layer of hard oak on the inside. This double-layer structure, which imitates the round shield of the Empire's regular infantry, enables the round shield to better withstand chops and blunt blows, and greatly reduces the impact force borne by the militia. If time and materials were not limited, Uliyan would even like to cover the shield with a thick layer of leather. The horse thief, who failed to cause any casualties, was still furious and prepared to turn his horse around and attack again. Before he could turn around, he saw another militiaman in front of him throwing the short spear in his hand at him. The sharp short spear flew more than ten meters and accurately hit the horse thief's chest, piercing him instantly. At least half of the wooden handle of the short spear came out from behind him. Amidst the huge spurt of blood, the horse thief fell off his horse and died a miserable death. The more than 20 militiamen who had formed an array also threw out the short spears in their hands.