Chapter 91: Imperial Guard

  As the weather warmed up, Liu Yu's patrol mission became increasingly heavy, with almost three patrols every month. And Liu Yu clearly felt that the border defense troops of Fandorsa Province were becoming more and more restless, just hearing about the clashes between the two countries' border patrol teams seven or eight times. They had also clashed twice with Fandor's patrol team on a small scale, fortunately, both clashes were not intense, and Liu Yu's side did not suffer any casualties.

  The Beastman Kingdom and the Empire of Fandor also exercised restraint, not immediately breaking out into war. However, the Beastman Kingdom had already begun to reinforce its troops at various passes and strongholds in the southern mountain ranges, with Emalbennon Fortress receiving a regiment of Bimon warriors and 2,000 wolf tribe warriors as reinforcements.

  "Dismount, set up camp." When the day had completely darkened, at the eastern edge of the southern mountains controlled by the Beastman Kingdom, a patrol unit began to set up camp, cook food and prepare for rest under their officer's orders.

  "Alexander, come and help me." Liu Yu had just dismounted his war horse when Ivan, who was in charge of setting up the military tent, shouted to him. Liu Yu didn't hesitate and went to help him.

  "Today we didn't run into Fanuo's patrol team, otherwise we would have had to fight again." Ivan said to Liu Yu while hammering wooden stakes into the ground.

  "Yeah, indeed, I heard from those guys in the Flame that a few days ago when they were fighting that one battle, Fanord's patrol team was like a pack of mad dogs, with quite a number and decent strength. They got several of their men injured, fortunately no one died." Liu Yu helped Ivan steady the wooden stake while responding.

  "The key is that our southern army's cavalry is still a bit off, like Nari and those new recruits' riding skills are just enough to ride a horse. Letting them fight on horseback with Fanord's cavalry would be too difficult for them." Ivan inserted the wooden stake deep into the ground to ensure the stability of the tent, this guy was still very serious about his work.

  "We old soldiers aren't much better, we used to patrol on foot in the mountains, now riding horses I'm really not quite used to it." Liu Yu didn't blame Nari and those new recruits entirely, he knew his own horsemanship was also pretty average. Faced with the changes in the border patrol environment of the kingdom, he too had some trouble adapting at first.

  After the Beastmen Kingdom completely occupied the southern mountain range of Zhisheng Sas Province, Liu Yu and his patrol team changed to the eastern edge of the mountain range. The terrain in these foothills is relatively flat, suitable for horseback riding, and since the beast tribe had already repaired the roads within the mountains that horses could travel on, Liu Yu and his team rode warhorses during their patrols.

  This not only makes the soldiers more relaxed and saves energy, but also improves the efficiency of patrols. A patrol mission of over 100 miles can be completed in just three days by riding a war horse in an orderly manner.

  However, the problem is also exposed. The warriors of the Beastman Kingdom can ride horses, but the warriors stationed in the south were originally infantrymen, and most of the battles they participated in were infantry battles. Now, letting them suddenly become cavalrymen, the combat effectiveness on horseback is not something that can be achieved overnight. Soldiers who are not skilled in horsemanship may even fall off their horses during battle.

  The most elite cavalry of the Beastman Kingdom were mainly in the territory of the Northern Centaur, where the Centaurs could be considered natural heavy cavalry, and it was impossible for anyone to make them look like horses, so they naturally became cavalry.

  The warriors of the wolf tribe, apart from the "Dark Wind Wolf Riders", are a crack cavalry unit, while other wolf tribe legions are purely infantry.

  As for the regular army of the Beastmen Kingdom, it's a different story. According to their military system, each of the ten legions of the Beastmen would have a large-scale rotation every few years.

  For example, the fourth division where Liu Yu was located would not be stationed on the border forever. They would also have times when they were stationed within the kingdom. However, for new recruits in their first two years, most of them would be assigned to the border, which could temper their combat effectiveness.

  In countless rotations, the ten divisions of the Bi and Mong tribes gradually showed a division of labor in the army. That is to say, some Bi and Mong divisions were cultivated as infantry, and whenever they rotated to the border, they went to the territory of the Southern Wolf Tribe as infantry.

  Another part of the Mongol army was trained as cavalry, and whenever they were rotated to the border, they went to the centaur territory in the north.

  It is said that "each profession has its own expertise". The method of the Beastman Kingdom indeed enhanced the combat effectiveness of the army. In the past, the chaotic and disorderly way of switching between different types of troops often failed to fully utilize the army's combat effectiveness.

  But when the battlefield changed, problems arose. Liu Yu and his infantry-based southern army were really struggling to adapt to cavalry warfare.

  At the same time, the Farnese Empire launched an attack on the Beastman Kingdom, often involving a full-scale war across the entire border. The Beastman Kingdom, which was already struggling to make ends meet in terms of military strength, could not possibly transfer its elite cavalry from the north to the south. Every time he thought about this, Liu Yu had a feeling of herding ducks onto a shelf.

  But their opponents did not have such troubles, the military forces of the Fano Empire were well-equipped and had a complete range of troops. Their army of 100,000 people would have at least 10,000 to 20,000 cavalrymen, even if it was an infantry corps, there would be nearly 10,000 cavalrymen.

  The reason is simple, the vast territory of the Fandor Empire has many plains, and cavalry has a wide range of play. So when Liu Yu and his southern army infantry were worried about patrolling on horseback, the border defense forces of the Sas Province of the Fandor Empire had smoothly completed the transformation of their border patrol methods.

  "Hmm", "assemble" Liu Yu had just set up the military account with Ivan, and Di Qing's command and the beast tribe's military horn sounded in the camp.

  "Leave 20 Wolf Tribe warriors behind, the rest immediately mount their horses, there is an enemy situation thirty miles south." Before Liu Yu and the others could react, Di Geng had already given the order. A moment later, Liu Yu and the others all mounted their warhorses, carrying their weapons and holding torches, following Di Geng as he rapidly charged south.

  This time they came out on patrol, in order to deal with possible sudden situations, the patrol team warriors were all riding their own war horses, leaving the walking horses in the fortress, so that they could take out the fastest charging speed at any time and rush to where they were needed.

  "Come on, come on." On the back of a galloping horse, Liu Yu urged his warhorse forward with one hand and adjusted the iron helmet on his head with the other. On his back, apart from a bow and a quiver of arrows, he also had a short spear over 1.5 meters long tied up. The Southern Army had traditionally used this type of short spear; in the past, when fighting in complex mountainous terrain, long spears were too cumbersome to use.

  "What's going on?" Liu Yu grasped his "Golden Marrow Sword" and quietly prepared for battle.

  In the midst of a thunderous cavalry charge, Liu Yu and his patrol team of nearly two hundred warriors from both tribes rode their warhorses along the foot of the mountains, rushing southward. At the speed of their charging warhorses, they would cover a distance of over thirty li in no more than half an hour.

  "Hmm, hmm." Liu Yu, who was charging forward on horseback with all his might, saw a few li ahead at the foot of the mountain, where in the dark night there were flickering flames, and Di Qing had already ordered a Mohe warrior to sound the military horn on horseback.

  "Hmm, hmm........." The "hmm" was soon echoed by the sound of a military horn from the front. Liu Yu listened carefully and recognized that the horn signal was two long and one short, which according to military rules was a distress signal when encountering a strong enemy.

  "To the south, the patrol troops at Tora Mountain Pass encountered the enemy and are fighting. Let's go kill them!" Di Qing led Liu Yu and others to charge forward at full speed while explaining briefly. More than 200 cavalrymen charging in the dark night was a very shocking scene, sounding like a torrent rushing over from afar.

  Soon afterwards, Liu Yu heard the beast tribe warriors' battle cries and various shouts in human language from the Fano soldiers.

  Di Qing did not lead the cavalry troops to charge directly into the battlefield at the foot of the mountain, but instead charged in a slightly easterly direction. Liu Yu quickly approached and saw that there were hundreds of Fanode cavalrymen holding torches, estimated to be at least two or three hundred people.

  These Fano'de soldiers surrounded a circle, apparently they and the most forward soldiers together with the beast tribe's patrol troops, surrounded. The beast tribe's cavalry charged, but before approaching these Fano'de cavalry, they suddenly changed direction and rushed towards Liu Yu and his men.

  Tonight is the end of the month, just at the time of the waning moon. The field of vision for Liu Yu and his men was extremely limited. If it weren't for both sides holding torches, they probably wouldn't have been able to see where each other were.

  When the two cavalry clashed, the cries of the war horses were heard, and Liu Yu and a Frankish cavalryman who collided with him both wounded each other's horses. Before his horse fell to the ground, Liu Yu jumped up from the horseback and knocked down another Frankish cavalryman who was charging towards him.

  "Guard attack." Liu Yu had already drawn his waist dagger and inserted it into the opponent's chest at the moment he landed. The ordinary iron armor of the opponent was easily pierced. But at this time, a loud human army order was transmitted in the dark night.

  "Imperial Guards, damn it, Imperial Guards." Liu Yu cursed under his breath.

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