Iron Harvest: When Farming Becomes Conquest
Chapter 148 - 20: Kill one bandit and receive five copper coins

Chapter 148: Chapter 20: Kill one bandit and receive five copper coins

The village called Pudun received a warning.

A gang of extremely vicious thugs had pillaged Doug Village and Vit Village. Now they were rushing this way.

Baron Crow, tens of kilometers away, decisively lit the wolf smoke and came to this village closest to the bandits.

His Conquest Knights had gone to intercept the criminals.

He himself was here to assemble the Militia for battle.

Baron Crow hadn’t seen the exact situation of the raiders but had heard about it from the fleeing Conquest Knights and farmers.

The number was truly vast, no less than a thousand.

Even if the Cavalry composed of Conquest Knights could intercept their march, scatter their troops, and make them flee like birds and beasts,

they wouldn’t be able to subdue everyone.

Such a large group, once scattered, would inevitably break into ten or so gangs of robbers, bandits, and marauders.

Baron Crow believed it was necessary to prevent future troubles, so he organized a Militia in advance to avoid being caught unprepared!

This village had a population of about fifteen hundred, and the number of Militia was about a hundred, of mixed quality.

But when Baron Crow arrived, he also issued a conscription order to other Knight estates and villages, quickly assembling a force.

He also brought along the castle’s Guards and able-bodied men.

So, when Aaron and Green arrived at Pudun Village with two hundred Lightly Armored Soldiers, what awaited them was a Militia force of about three hundred people, ready to set out and punish the thieves.

Both Aaron and Green had a robust warhorse.

They had come on horseback, clad in Silver-white Armor.

Aaron in front, Green behind. Together, two hundred Lightly Armored Soldiers.

They had hurriedly come, while the convoy behind them still traveled at an oxen’s pace, they had covered ten kilometers in two hours and arrived at Pudun Village, initiating pillage in advance.

Scouts discovered the Conscript Army of Pudun Village.

After a short rest, Aaron and Green began to arrange their troops.

Twenty-five men in a row, six rows in total, formed a square formation, one hundred and fifty men responsible for the frontline battle.

Another fifty men were tasked with striking the flanks, cutting off the enemy’s rear.

Once the formation was set, they approached Pudun Village.

Baron Crow also noticed this marauding force, so he led his Conscript Army to meet them in battle.

Likewise fully armored, mounted on warhorses.

From a distance, they could discern each other’s identity.

Roman had not assigned any ranged units to Aaron and Green; Baron Crow’s Militia also didn’t have any Archers.

So, the two armies faced each other from thirty meters apart.

Beneath the helmet, Aaron’s face was impassive, as were the ranks behind him in solemn silence, their fine steel-made Long-handled Axes and spears raised, uniformly arrayed, as cold and silent as a forest of steel.

In the moment of the standoff, when Baron Crow saw the enemy’s standard military posture and columns, he had an ominous feeling in his heart.

The opposite side was orderly, bristling with weapons; they were like a silent forest, their equipment and weapons exceedingly refined.

On their side, however, the formation was loose, he even heard some of the Militia whispering.

But atop a horse, one had a broad view, easily discerning the numbers on both sides.

Their number was almost twice that of the opposite side.

This was a huge advantage!

Crow forcibly suppressed those uneasy emotions.

He was a young baron, with a hereditary title passed down from his ancestors. He had grown up in Earl Kant’s castle, learning knightly skills, and now in his late twenties, he was a Second Rank Conquest Knight.

But in the case of being alone, a Conquest Knight couldn’t charge; it would be tantamount to seeking death—this was not the suppression of a rabble.

Especially since there were Conquest Knights on the opposite side.

The main force of the battle would still be this group of Militia.

They couldn’t delay any longer; the longer they delayed, the more the Militia saw the enemy’s refined equipment, the more they saw the orderly columns, the less daring they would be to charge and kill the enemy.

"Kill a thief, reward with five copper coins!" Baron Crow drew his Magic Steel-forged Knight’s Sword and shouted aloud.

The originally subdued and hesitant morale was restored to stability.

Many of the militia, hearing of this hefty reward, revealed a look of longing in their eyes.

A full five copper coins, no small sum, could feed and support a family of four for a full month.

"Kill them!"

Baron Crow brandished his knight’s sword.

The Conscript Army behind him surged forward en masse, some with a reckless abandon.

"Don’t move!" Baron Crow heard the high call from the knight in silver armor on the opposite side.

Very young voice, younger than his own.

That remarkably young knight was restraining his soldiers, ordering them not to charge and to maintain their formation.

Fifteen meters away!

"Don’t move!!" the silver-armored knight called out again.

Ten meters away!

"Don’t move!!!" He remained eerily calm and steady.

Five meters away!

The pupils of the lightly armored soldiers at the front reflected the scene of the enemy, wearing chain mail, armed with wooden spears, pitchforks, axes, and iron blades charging towards them.

The enemy drew near, and a close-quarters combat ensued!

"Attack!!"

Hearing the command, which was a stark contrast to the previous ones, the soldiers at the front instinctively raised their long-handled axes—fine steel axes glinting coldly—as they swung them fiercely at the foes before them!

...

The injured let out shrill screams and wails.

The number of enemies wasn’t great, but the fact that they were all cavalry was terrifying.

As was customary, the sharpest knights were to carve an opening.

The Conquest Knights who undertook this mission were usually men of great bravery, and their actions directly influenced the outcome of the battle.

But no one had ever told them how to breakthrough such a Heavy Equipment Array.

They collided head-on, and the great impact force made the Heavy Shields tremble violently, emitting a groaning sound as if they were about to give way.

The entire fine steel shield was forced to move back a good half meter, nearly knocking the soldiers with heavy armor behind it out of place; owing to the collision, the legs that supported the shield sank deep into the soil, resulting in an even more solid structure for the shield.

This was still the outcome without all the impact force being concentrated on the Heavy Shield.

Due to its sloping structure, most of the force was dissipated.

The sharp knights tasked with breaking the lines, along with their horses, slid up—and more accurately flipped over—the angle at which the Shield Wall leaned back.

The charge of the Conquest Knights’ horses was insufficient to complete a leap.

Normally, a warhorse could easily jump over a height of more than a meter and a few meters in distance with a rider on its back.

But in a full-speed charge with heavy weight, they couldn’t jump, and even if they could cross the first Shield Wall, they couldn’t jump over the second.

Thus, a chain-reaction crash took place.

A total of more than ten riders, including four Conquest Knights, crashed into those shields and broke down there, tumbling in a mess, losing their basic combat capabilities.

Even if they managed to stand up, trapped deep within the enemy ranks, there was no possibility of escaping alive.

However, two Conquest Knights and other riders consciously slowed down their horses upon seeing the Shield Wall, dropping to the rear.

Upon witnessing the catastrophic crash ahead, they tugged at the reins and made a dangerous turn.

One of the riders, barely a meter away from the Shield Wall, with hard hoof mud splattering even on the wall, luckily and dangerously completed the turn without colliding head-on.

Following that, the other riders left without looking back.

By this time, the archers had long been ready for their third volley.

An arrow shower fired directly, and those riders who had escaped the perils of the Shield Wall couldn’t withstand the onslaught of arrows; they were shot in the back and fell to the ground, dead.

However, the archers’ arrows were practically useless against the Conquest Knights, who were fully armed, and their horses were protected by fine armor.

Ultimately, only two Conquest Knights managed to escape from this ambush.