I, the prince in distress, send money

Chapter 29 Horse Bandit
"It's horse bandits. We're in trouble."

When Chris saw the situation two hundred meters away clearly, he sighed sincerely.

The profession of bandit exists in all places and at all times, and its vitality is extremely tenacious.

When Isaac's caravan was doing business in the Bohemian Empire, they encountered quite a few of them, but they usually traveled on foot and were half civilians and half bandits.

The more remote the village, the more likely it is that the entire village is doing this part-time job. They like to deceive visiting caravans with a friendly attitude and then attack them in the middle of the night.

Therefore, caravans usually only stay outside the town and never camp near any village, thus avoiding most unnecessary dangers.

Once we enter the border provinces, the vast and sparsely populated areas become a paradise for horse bandits.

Like now.

Isaac, who was standing behind a carriage, had already left the carriage formation with his men and lined up outside. He raised the Bohemian cavalry sword in his hand and shouted loudly.

"first row!"

The five men standing next to Isaac immediately lowered their muskets and flintlock rifles and pointed them straight forward.

The caravan scout, who had already run back to a hundred meters away, kicked the horse's belly hard, causing the horse under his crotch to speed up.

The five horse bandits following behind saw people lined up in front with guns raised, and subconsciously slowed down their horses. They stopped a hundred meters away and watched the scouts return to the convoy.

They pulled the reins and made the horses circle around twice. After observing the convoy from a distance for a while, they turned the horses' heads and ran back the way they came.

From beginning to end, these horse bandits were very cautious and did not give Isaac a chance to shoot.

The lead bullets fired from matchlock guns and flintlock guns can also kill enemies about 100 meters away, although the hit rate is very low, only about 20%.

But if five muskets fired at the same time, there was still a high probability of hitting a head.

However, Isaac did not order the shooting, and the horse bandits were also very tactful and did not rush over rashly or make any provocative or threatening moves.

Only after the horse bandits had gone far away did Isaac return to the chariot formation with ten musketeers.

The caravan scout who escaped jumped off his horse and reported to Isaac.

"Boss, the situation is not good. We have encountered bandits. The wooden bridge one kilometer away has been tampered with, and the convoy cannot pass."

"How many men and horses are they?"

"uncertain."

The scout pointed at the arrow on his shoulder, feeling a little scared.

"They hid deep in the woods, leaving no trace. They left a few people on guard outside. One of them was an extremely accurate archer. He shot me in the shoulder from a distance of about a hundred meters. I almost couldn't get back."

"Okay, I understand. Let's go find a doctor to remove the arrow and stop the bleeding."

After saying that, Isaac turned around and walked back to Chris.

"We need to stay here for a while and fight the bandits."

"How long will it take?"

"It could take two days at the shortest, or a week at the longest. We need to wait for more caravans to arrive, or for more caravans to arrive in front of us. Only then can we gather enough people to pass this road."

At this point, Isaac couldn't help but tell a cold joke.

"Of course, if a patrol comes, we won't have to wait... although this is bad news."

Chris knew the subconscious meaning of this sentence, so he didn't respond and just shrugged.

"Then I'll start arranging for people to set up the stove and prepare to cook dinner tonight."

"sorry to bother you……"

Isaac hesitated for a moment, but he still placed the flintlock in his hand beside his left foot, gently hammered his chest with his right hand, and saluted Chris with a chest-beating salute.

"Your Highness Chris."

Chris waved his hand, left his hiding place, ran to find a few young men under Connie's command, took them to the carriage, unloaded the five large pots, and began to dig a fire pit on the spot.

At this time, only five of the ten carriages were loaded with cargo, and the other five were loaded with daily necessities and food for the team, among which coal and firewood were essential items.

Theoretically, there is unlimited firewood in the wild. As long as you have a knife, you can chop wood and collect burnable hay at any time.

In fact, cooking fuel is not something that can be collected casually. If you think there are a lot of burning materials in the wild, that is just an illusion.

In fact, when you try to have a picnic, for example, if you bring a pot and try to boil a pot of water in the wild, you will know the problem.

Therefore, the caravan always carried half a cart of coal. On the one hand, it could be used for their own use. On the other hand, when it was not needed, it was also a commodity that could be sold at a good price in villages and towns that lacked fuel.

Smoke from the cooking stove rose slowly. Chris was chopping the frozen meat with a machete, preparing to blanch it. Suddenly, there was a commotion in the carriages. Players and caravan members were shouting and running to the side of the carriages with swords and guns in hand.

At this time, Chris also realized that the horse bandits were coming.

Indeed, accompanied by a burst of dense horse hooves hitting the ground, and a muffled sound coming from far away, nearly thirty horse bandits came trotting from the end of the driveway on horseback.

"Do you need me to hide?"

Chris, who was standing next to the pot, shouted loudly. Isaac, who was standing next to the carriage and looking out with a monocular, replied without turning his head.

"Not for now, we can't fight yet."

Isaac's judgment was correct. After the horse bandits came to the front, they did not rush forward, but stayed at the edge of a small woods two hundred meters away.

Then a guy who was suspected to be the leader of the horse bandits rode his horse forward and raised the monocular telescope in his hand to observe the convoy.

After watching for a while, he realized something and rode forward with his two younger brothers, stopped 120 meters away, and shouted loudly.

"Give us one-third of the goods and we'll let you go..."

The bandit leader's voice was very loud, so everyone in the convoy heard his shouting.

"We don't need much. Don't put up any unnecessary resistance. We have thirty-five men and thirty-five muskets. A single volley can kill seven or eight of you!"

"fart!"

Isaac yelled back, his voice at the top of his lungs, exposing the bandit leader's lies. "Do you think I've never been in the military? I was so scared when thirty muskets shot eight people dead... Tell me, where did you find so many sharpshooters?"
One-third of the stuff? You’re daydreaming! Come here and let me slap you twice! "

Isaac's tough attitude made the horse bandit leader look ugly. Without saying a word, he turned his horse's head back to the horse bandits. Then the more than 30 horse bandits retreated and ran away quickly.

"Are we safe?"

One of the guys under Connie asked cheerfully, and then was slapped on the head by Connie.

"It's not safe. Those horse bandits are going to fight us. Tonight will be the test. Now, hurry up and find a place to sleep."

"The fight won't start until tonight."

A player next to him felt a little regretful and put down the spear in his hand angrily.

"I was just thinking about launching an anti-cavalry charge."

"The horse bandits are not fools either."

Chris witnessed the whole process. While putting the frozen meat into the boiling pot, he recalled Isaac's response and learned valuable lessons.

Isaac's tough attitude towards the horse bandits just now was correct. The bandits are a group of people who bully the weak and fear the strong. The horse bandit leader's clamor for protection money just now was not true. It was just a test.

This was the first time that the Isaac caravan came to the province of El. They were unfamiliar faces and the locals had never seen the flag of the Isaac caravan. Therefore, after the caravan formed a chariot formation, the horse bandits would not force their way in.

The bandits' shouting was a strategy to test the team's confidence. If Isaac agreed to the one-third protection fee, the bandits would know that the team lacked confidence.

The bandit leader would use a tough attitude to demand that the caravan's men move the goods out. Then, during the process of moving the goods, the bandits would approach the convoy under the pretext of taking things, and then launch a charge.

Who would want only one third when they can take down the convoy and get all the goods in one go?
As long as they could successfully break into the caravan formation, while the caravan guards and servants were in chaos, the bandits could charge and hack back and forth, slaughtering the caravan at the lowest cost.

In the chaos of battle, bandits on horseback will have an absolute advantage.

Isaac's tough attitude made the bandit leader realize the former's confidence, and for a moment, they did not dare to charge forward.

However, it was impossible for the bandits to just leave and let go of the Isaac caravan with ten four-wheeled carriages.

The bandits will not be willing to leave empty-handed until they have given the caravan a try, tested its hardness, and determined whether it is a rock or a fat sheep.

Because of the presence of the chariot formation and more than a dozen muskets, and the terrain with a small hill on the left side of the chariot formation and a small bush on the right side, there was no space for the horse bandits to circle back and forth, so they were unlikely to charge the formation during the day.

The bandits are not an army, they are just a group of thugs who are willing to risk their lives for money. They are not afraid of death, but they are also unwilling to see unnecessary casualties.

"They will definitely come back tonight."

Isaac walked over to Chris, who was stirring the pot with a large iron spoon.

"Well, do you want to do something?"

"I'll make arrangements. Set up some traps on the hill, dig some horse pits on the slope, and then over here in the woods..."

"There's barbed wire, razor wire cages."

Chris said and Isaac was stunned for a moment.

"Ah, barbed wire, what is this?"

"Something that can be placed in an open space to prevent wild animals and people from passing through...

I'll set up the tent later, and you'll see when you go in. My people know how to use it."

Isaac stopped talking. He looked at Chris deeply, then turned and left without saying a word.

After nearly two months of close interaction, others might still be unaware of the latter's magic, but Isaac had already realized that there was something unusual about Chris.

The ten people following Chris were the biggest offenders, not to mention their fair and clean appearance and extremely hygienic living habits, which were not something that poor people could have.

Just their daily conversations and versatile performances made Isaac feel like he was studying with ten famous scholars.

This is really incredible. You know, knowledge is not something you are born with.

Next is Chris's ability to get food and some miscellaneous materials anytime and anywhere.

Every time, he would leave with his entourage, go to the city, or after a while in the town, he would ask someone to pick up the goods, saying that they were things he had purchased.

However, Isaac, who was a smuggler himself, could tell something was wrong after one or two times... Getting some cheap stuff once or twice could be considered good luck.

However, even though they were so far away from Neama, in a strange place where they were unfamiliar with the place, Chris was able to consistently obtain the materials he needed, whether it was homespun cloth, salt, or even coal. As long as the caravan needed something, he could get it.

Isaac was no fool, he thought of Neama's previous smuggled goods.

Chris also knew about Isaac's suspicion, so this time, when the bandits attacked, he revealed his cards and stopped pretending.

After cooking enough cabbage, vermicelli and pork stew for fifty people, and everyone taking turns to enjoy a hearty meal, Isaac led his men to set up Chris's tent, and then Chris went in and picked up his cell phone.

In the industrially developed 21st century, barbed wire is no longer a rare item. Chris can find a lot of it by just opening an online shopping platform and doing a random search.

There are barbed wire fences ranging from five yuan for ten meters to one hundred yuan for ten meters.

Chris specifically chose a concertina wire mesh with built-in barbed blades, a diameter of 50 cm, which can be installed and used without much effort. It is black and has built-in night camouflage.

The price was fifty dollars for ten meters, and Chris bought two hundred meters at once, spending one thousand dollars.

With a ding-dong sound, as the money was spent, twenty bundles of packages wrapped in plastic and shaped like car tires fell down.

Chris walked out, signaled the players to come in and get their things, and asked them to follow Isaac to set up a cordon.

Two hundred meters of barbed wire cannot create a direction that prevents bandits from passing through, but it is enough to form a forest of iron thorns in the bushes.

Among the players, there is Lao Yinbi who has played hunting games and is particularly good at setting traps. He made valuable suggestions on the two hundred meters of barbed wire.

"Barbed wire doesn't keep the enemy out, but it lets them in. Getting out isn't easy...

Arrange it here, here, and here, then cut some bushes and put them on top to camouflage it. If they want to pass through here, their calves will definitely be cut.

Bandits charge the camp on horseback?
Oh, that's even better. A horse's calves are more fragile than human legs. If it kicks the wire mesh, its calves will definitely be entangled in the wire mesh and it will fall.

Well, we could consider digging some horse traps between the wire mesh and inserting some sharpened wooden poles. That should work... By the way, Chris, do you have any animal traps?"

(End of this chapter)