The next day, Su Qin once again said goodbye to his ministers and head maid outside the manor.
The reason was that the Earl of Runestone had notified him of the engagement ceremony in a few days.
Su Qin looked at Telang. He still needed to stress the matter of taking in refugees.
"Right Minister of Finance, make sure attendants are stationed at every entrance to Gulltown to receive refugees. Harvest time is almost here. I authorize you to mobilize 100 militia to maintain order in Gulltown and patrol the villages!"
As the leading figure among the local powers, Telang did not dare be negligent and immediately answered.
"Yes, my lord!"
Although it was the rainy season, several hundred more people had trickled into Gulltown over the past month. Of course, those who could form families were given priority in doing so.
He also glanced at Aila and nodded to her.
Then he immediately called to the ten spear-wielding personal guards behind him, and they rode their warhorses northeast.
The warhorses were not very good ones. They were all inferior horses left over from before!
There was a huge difference between warhorses and inferior horses!
Their speed and carrying capacity were on completely different levels, with at least a twofold difference!
Their prices differed severalfold too!
Only Su Qin's warhorse was decent!
Horses were divided into types too: nags, inferior horses, warhorses, and exceptional steeds!
Below those were pack animals: donkeys, mules, oxen, stags, and so on!
They could all carry riders!
The best warhorses came from the North, the Vale, and the Westerlands! As for exceptional steeds, even having the money did not mean one could buy them!
The North had wolf cavalry! Real wolf cavalry! Direwolves could grow two meters tall!
With his ten personal guards, Su Qin rode ten li before stopping for a routine rest. He sat on the ground, opened the map, and glanced at the sun.
Runestone was more than 70 kilometers from Gulltown, so they still needed to rest overnight along the way.
Most people chose to rest at the Four-Way Crossroads Fortress, because spending the night in the wilderness was still unsafe.
In the wilderness, groups such as [Bandit Bands], [Mercenary Companies], and [Rebel Knight Orders] might plunder caravans and rob villages!
Travel was not safe at all for ordinary people!
Although Runestone Territory had a fortress along Hardstone Road, it was not there to protect villagers, but to provide protection and deterrence along essential trade routes!
To reach Runestone from Gulltown, one first had to head north, then turn east at the four-way crossroads!
Gulltown lay south of the Four-Way Crossroads Stronghold, Aite Keep's territory lay to its north, and Runestone lay to its east!
Once the men and horses had rested, Su Qin called for his personal guards to mount up!
It was just past noon, with half a day left until nightfall, and they were already near Augustus Castle!
Su Qin rode his warhorse, carrying a hundred-fold-forged iron spear in his hand! It weighed 10 kilograms!
Although his mount was not an exceptional steed, a top speed of 40 kilometers per hourglass was no problem!
Su Qin carried a [Redwood Horn Bow (White)] on his back. Four quivers hung on either side of his horse, each holding 30 feathered arrows!
The redwood horn bow had a maximum range of 150 meters, but its truly effective direct-fire range should have been around 75 meters!
Including his full plate armor, Su Qin's load should have reached 30 kilograms! Yet that was still nowhere near his limit!
According to his own tests, his body's load-bearing limit should have been around 500 kilograms! But there was currently nothing that could make Su Qin carry that much weight!
It was terrifying!
Leading his personal guards, Su Qin rode with his party toward their first stop, Augustus Castle!
Augustus Castle was one of the four fiefs within Gull Territory, and the hereditary fief of Right Minister of Finance Tron Augustus!
Generally speaking, a lord could not casually strip a vassal of his lands! The political system of Westeros was based on families!
A lord had to find a reason to strip someone of their title and fief! If a fief was confiscated without cause and the vassal was powerful, they would generally rebel! Stripping someone of their title without cause was illegal!
Would a higher lord intervene in such a rebellion?
Most would not! Some would even welcome such rebellions!
Because they could weaken their vassals! Lords all constrained and distrusted one another!
Unless they allied through marriage! Marriage was the best way to form an alliance!
This was fundamentally different from Huaxia's political system!
My vassal's vassal is not my vassal!
That left a great deal of room to maneuver!
With all sorts of schemes and instigation, power struggles were extremely complicated!
Su Qin and his personal guards traveled in fits and starts. Mainly, the guards' mounts were inferior horses, a little better than nags, but still unable to travel very far.
To ensure the horses still had the strength to act in unexpected situations, they had to stop at regular intervals!
Shrubs stretched for dozens of meters along both sides of the road, with redwoods several hundred meters away!
Just after rounding a bend, Su Qin saw a group of people several hundred meters away surrounding some oxcarts and fighting another group! The yellow scales flags of a merchant association flew above the oxcarts, plain to see!
A band of bandits was robbing merchants!
The bandits carried short axes and wooden shields and wore leather armor! They were fighting the merchants' dozen or so guards!
The personal guards immediately formed a fish-scale formation on their own and looked to Su Qin, awaiting their lord's instructions!
They had a rough understanding of their lord's temperament. This battle was inevitable! Especially when it was happening so close, just three kilometers from Augustus Castle!
Could Su Qin tolerate bandits acting so brazenly? What would happen if they were allowed to grow stronger?!
Soon, the bandit lookout spotted Su Qin's party moving to engage them!
In particular, upon seeing the silver gull at the front of Su Qin's warhorse, he immediately began blowing a horn, preparing to withdraw!
Su Qin roughly counted their numbers. There were thirty-odd bandits, and the warhorses should still have had plenty of strength!
After briefly weighing their relative fighting strength, Su Qin took out his horn bow!
He instructed the captains on either side.
"Rick, Ayr, take five men each and circle around both flanks. First see whether they form up to resist. If the enemy forms a battle formation, stay 50 meters away from them. Don't charge their formation!"
Leather-armored light cavalry were suited to scouting and pursuit, not charging formations!
Casualties were inevitable if light cavalry charged a formation! But these soldiers were all personal guards with martial prowess above 3, and Su Qin valued them greatly!
Su Qin drew a feathered arrow from his quiver. Its shaft was 50 centimeters long and made from bamboo wood. Gulltown's redwood forest had abundant plants and animals!
"If they scatter and flee..." Beneath his iron dragon helmet, the corner of Su Qin's mouth slowly curled upward.
"Then start the slaughter!"
Light cavalry excelled at chasing down unarmored, scattered infantry!
Su Qin drew the bowstring. A feathered arrow flew out at tremendous speed, striking the horn-blowing bandit straight in the calf!
The bandit wore leather armor over his upper body, and his shield was only a round shield!
He simply did not know how capable the bandits' commander was!
Soon!
The bandit leader saw Su Qin continuously shooting from horseback, bringing someone down every few arrows!
He glanced again at the ten personal guards circling around both sides!
They were surrounded!
He felt a little afraid!
But he still gave an order!
"Greenstone Company, form up!"
The group hurriedly began forming up in a panic! Against ordinary cavalry, they had to form up!
Their ranks could not be scattered! The bandits immediately protected their flanks and front with several layers of shields!
But gaps remained!
Su Qin's full-body armor put them under immense pressure!
Because someone in full-body armor was at least a silver knight! Their martial prowess was at least above 5!
Add to that the yellow dragon flag on a white field sewn onto the leather armor over his horse's rump! He was at least a noble lord with the title of baron!
But could the bandits retreat?
Hard to say!
At that moment, Su Qin was in front of them, his personal guards were on their flanks, and the merchant guards were behind them!
Suddenly, one bandit threw away his shield and weapon and ran toward Su Qin. He had surrendered!
The bandit leader could do nothing about it!
He did not know Su Qin's temperament or whether they would be killed after surrendering!
Every bandit watched the one who had surrendered!
This would determine whether surrender was possible!
Su Qin looked at the bandits who had already formed up, then briefly surveyed the situation on the merchant guards' side. The merchant guards had also formed two ranks, facing off against the bandits!
But the merchant guards stopped attacking!
With a noble supporting them, why charge in?
Anyone who went first now was a fool!
Watching the bandit approaching to surrender, Su Qin briefly considered, quickly took out a feathered arrow, and shot him straight in the head!
The bandit fell stiffly, his face filled with disbelief!
Wasn't the lord of Gulltown supposed to be quite merciful? I'd heard about it!
Su Qin slowly lowered his bow!
Show kindness to bandits?
What a joke!
He put away his bow and arrows.
He took the spear hanging at his horse's side and held its shaft along the inside of his right arm!
Then he began gathering momentum from 30 meters away!
Su Qin wore heavy armor all over, his horse wore leather armor, and the enemy had few men! He could charge their formation!
Once he was ready!
With a ringing neigh, Duanhong (the warhorse's name) immediately galloped toward the bandits' formation!
The warhorse was not afraid!
It knew its master was strong. With a strong master, a warhorse would not panic!
Su Qin gripped his ten-kilogram iron spear!
He went faster and faster!
The bandits' faces filled with disbelief and fear!
They felt that this knight was not afraid at all!
Su Qin hurtled toward the formation at tremendous speed!
At the instant before contact, he immediately used all the strength in his right hand, clamped the spear beneath his arm, and thrust forward!
In just a few seconds, the bandits' formation broke!
The men inside fell all over the ground!
Two bandits' bodies hung from Su Qin's spear, blood flowing from them!
Everyone stared dumbly at Su Qin.
With a deft swing of his spear, Su Qin flung the two bandits off!
They rolled several times on the ground, kicking up dust!
After breaking through, Su Qin continued forward for another dozen or so meters! He reached the caravan guards, who stared at his iron dragon helmet in shock!
Badass!
Su Qin glanced at the caravan guards below his horse, slowly turned around, and tucked his iron spear firmly beneath his arm again!
Duanhong pawed the ground with his right forehoof, waiting for Su Qin's command!
Once the warhorse had recovered, Su Qin squeezed his legs again, signaling Duanhong to advance!
Another ringing neigh!
He broke through the formation directly ahead once again!
Three more men were speared to death!
Those who had fallen immediately stood up again!
The bandit leader looked at the blood covering the ground, and his legs began to tremble!
After Su Qin broke through the battle formation!
He turned around thirty meters away!
And waited for Duanhong to recover!
This was how cavalry fought small numbers of enemies!
Against large infantry formations, cavalry would not be committed to a charge lightly!
Even heavy cavalry would not foolishly charge straight in!
They would only disrupt the enemy formation at a critical flank, shooting arrows first. Once they finished shooting, the heavy cavalry would thrust into the flank in waves, never lingering in combat!
They would repeat this cycle until their horses were exhausted or the enemy formation broke!
That was when the light cavalry came into play!
To run them down!
Faced with Su Qin's extraordinary valor, the bandits now had a choice to make!
Against cavalry capable of breaking their formation, should they keep resisting in formation? Or scatter and flee?
The personal guards held the perimeter, waiting for the enemy's morale to crumble and send them fleeing!
Then they would capitalize on their victory!
The bandits hesitated!
For dozens of meters on either side of the road, there were meter-high shrubs. They might survive if they fled into them, but the personal guards on both sides watched them like hawks!
Would Su Qin let them go?
Of course not! Every bandit here had blood on his hands. They all had to die!
He began his third charge!
The instant Su Qin charged again, the bandits began scattering in every direction!
At the same time, Su Qin successfully speared another man and flung him into the air!
Watching the fleeing bandits, Su Qin did not pursue. He was carrying too much weight, and pursuit would put too much strain on Duanhong. His load was already half that of heavy cavalry!
Then the personal guards, poised and ready, began chasing the scattered fugitives!
Their spears were a meter and a half long, so they always struck first!
They returned with a great victory! Only a few bandits escaped into the dense woods!
Of course, some horses were wounded too, but axes were not very effective against leather armor!
With some rest, medicinal herbs, and strong liquor applied to their wounds, they would recover quickly!
The bandits' defeat was only natural! Their weapons were wrong for the job!
Against horses in leather armor, horse-chopping sabers or spears over two meters long were effective!
Axes were a joke! So short!
From the front, you were bound to get hit first; from the side, you could do no damage!
Thus, in this battle, Su Qin killed over twenty bandits without suffering a single casualty. The personal guards pursued for several hundred meters, and after a few bandits entered the Redwood Forest,
They returned!
The woods were very unfriendly to cavalry!
Generally, cavalry would not enter dense woods lightly!