Black Pine Territory (11)
After Shang Ye reported the results and losses to Santos and Makarov, both of them were very curious about the huge disparity in losses between the enemy and themselves.
Makarov had not expected his Repeating Crossbow to achieve such results in its first battle.
He requested to examine the battlefield traces and interrogate prisoners of war in order to understand the details of the entire battle.
Santos was also very curious about this, and he followed Shang Ye to investigate the details with Makarov.
By comparing the enemy soldiers who died in battle, it was found that the enemy suffered the greatest casualties, with the most soldiers dying from arrows, at a distance of 30 to 40 meters from the Repeating Crossbow positions, which was the location where they had just climbed up the steep slope to the camp.
However, most of the soldiers who died were shot in vital areas, and there were cases of captured soldiers who were shot with five arrows but were still able to move.
Makarov concluded that the repeating Repeating Crossbow's lethality was still relatively low at this stage because a single arrow was only 30 centimeters long and the arrowhead's health bar was also very narrow. It was effective against lightly armored targets and could be used to kill them by utilizing firepower density.
Although it can be used in defensive battles, its firepower is insufficient and it is not suitable for normal siege battles, because the enemy troops are basically covered in iron armor and have sufficient defense, so the Repeating Crossbow is far less effective than the Bed Crossbow.
Makarov was not surprised by this, because he had already tested it when he was in the territory, and the effect of using Repeating Crossbow to shoot at heavy armor was indeed very poor.
As for tonight's battle, it can only be said that we were very fortunate that various conditions were met to achieve such an effect.
First, the enemy's equipment consisted entirely of leather armor, offering very poor defense; second, the camp's location was well-chosen, with its varying elevations providing a suitable firing environment for the Repeating Crossbow; and finally, the enemy officers were too complacent and positioned too far forward, falling almost entirely in the first volley, causing the entire force to lose its organization.
Based on Makarov's findings and his own on-site investigation of the battlefield, Santos analyzed the details of the battle and arrived at this conclusion.
Shang Ye agreed with this, Santos instructed Shang Ye to record the key points of the battle so that Shang Ye could report it to the Military Academy as a classic example.
This is also a common practice of the Two Rivers Territory troops under Victor's leadership: after a battle, they summarize, preserve records, and select battle examples to tell students in military training.
Given that the Shang Ye Detachment had worked hard all night and achieved such results, Santos arranged for the Shang Ye Detachment to stay at the camp after dawn to carry out defensive duties and protect the engineering team and the laborers building the camp.
Santos decided to organize his troops to set off after dawn, taking advantage of the Black Pine Territory's recent defeat to pursue them and strive to break through the Black Forest defenses in a short time, advance into the heart of the Black Pine Territory, and engage the Black Pine Territory army in direct combat, rather than spending too much time and energy in the Black Forest.
Makarov, on the other hand, planned to stay in the camp. He instructed Santos to take the Repeating Crossbow with him, along with a basic quiver of arrows. He would also arrange for the used quivers to be refilled and the arrows to be coated with anesthetic to increase their lethality.
Three hours later, the entire camp began to bustle with activity. Troops were everywhere, preparing to depart, and the shouts of the soldiers and the neighing of the horses created a particularly noisy atmosphere.
The Night Owls, who were on scouting in the Black Forest, also noticed this situation and saw a large number of troops pouring out of the camp.
An owl stared in disbelief at the scene before him. "Is this entire force made up of Cavalry? There isn't a single foot soldier among them."
Because the army of the Two Rivers Territory, under Victor's design, placed particular emphasis on mobility, and Santos took advantage of the convenience of water transport to carry a large number of chariots and mules, so when the army set off, even the Logistics Department drove chariots, and basically no one walked.
This scene was beyond the comprehension of the night owl. When he saw that the troops had entered the northern road of the forest, he immediately realized what was happening and hurriedly entered the forest. He needed to send back the news of the enemy's deployment as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, Lord Macut and his men had traveled south to a point less than 10 kilometers from the docks. There, they encountered several soldiers who had fled the previous night. They had not been organized by Night Owl and had instead run away on their own, only to run into Markut and his group.
Markut learned from them about the disastrous defeat of the night raiding force the previous night, which strengthened his resolve not to fight Two Rivers Territory. His men were also shocked by the strength of the Two Rivers Territory army and all agreed with Markut's decision.
Meanwhile, Arman had already returned to the barracks alone. After all, he was a veteran of the Black Forest infantry and was most familiar with the geography inside the Black Forest. He found a forest outpost, borrowed the outpost's horses, and quickly returned to the barracks.
He found Viscount Perez and Cavalry Battalion Commander Raman, who were still waiting for news at the camp, and reported to the Viscount his disastrous night raid, but he completely disregarded his rash actions and emphasized his suspicions about Markut's men.
Viscount Perez already knew that Markut had escaped from the castle, and he was quite surprised that Arman had returned alone.
After listening to Arman's report, he was furious that Arman had lost four squads of soldiers, and he was skeptical of Arman's claims.
Out of consideration for Arman, Viscount Perez only relieved Arman of his position Battalion Commander, instead of stripping him of all his power. Instead, he assigned Arman a small squad to capture Markut's men who were still in the territory.
Arman saw this as a lifeline and immediately led the squad back to the castle, attempting to capture what he considered to be spies.
Viscount Perez and Raman remained at the barracks, intending to lead the remaining troops into several passes deep within the Black Forest to establish a fortified defense and prevent the advance of the Two Rivers Territory forces.
On the Blackwater River in Boler County, eastern Duchy, Victor stood at the bow of the boat early in the morning, looking at the scenery on both banks. It had been half a year since he last returned to his hometown.
According to his observation, the condition of Boler County was significantly better than that of the Central Region. Along the way, both banks of the river were bustling with the harvest season, and there were no major changes in production and daily life; everything was peaceful.
Victor estimated in his mind that he would reach Golden Sunflower Territory in about two hours. He would stay there with his guards and wounded soldiers to prepare for next year's advance.
As for Alex, he will lead the fleet north to bring the secret agreement and Baron Rossi back to the Northlands.
Just as Victor was pondering, Alex came up to the deck and saw Victor.
"Getting up so early, are you feeling apprehensive about returning home?"
"How could that be? I just rested for two days and wanted to get some exercise and get back into shape."
After saying that, Victor started exercising on the deck. Alex naturally didn't intend to join in. He just wanted to get to Golden Sunflower Territory as soon as possible so he could rest on land for a while. He was feeling restless after sitting on the ship for several days.