Iron Harvest: When Farming Becomes Conquest-Chapter 235 - 4: Civilian Crossbowman, Give Some Respect

Crossbows were primarily provided for farmers.

Of course, not everyone was issued one.

Instead, a training ground was established.

Crossbows were kept at the training ground, where farmers would visit regularly to train and then return the crossbows to their original spots before leaving.

About ten of these training grounds were estimated to be set up.

One residential area consisted of a hundred brick houses, and four or five residential areas shared a training ground, where they would go to train whenever they had the time.

Roman only provided crossbow arrows and the training ground.

As for the rest, he did not interfere.

The trainees were responsible for making their own targets, collecting the arrows, and if necessary, learning the skills to maintain and repair the crossbows.

Two policemen were dispatched to regularly check the quantity of crossbows every day.

Roman did not believe that the farmers would be hostile to this arrangement.

In the past, they were not qualified or had no access to military equipment, that doesn’t mean they disliked military equipment.

Humans, as intelligent beings, inherently crave weapons of mass destruction.

Once they mastered the way of the crossbow arrow, gaining a new means of killing, their once submissive spines would gradually straighten up.

Previously, when facing nobles and knight lords, at most they would fantasize in their minds about stabbing them with pitchforks.

But now, their minds would wander to shooting those lords with crossbow arrows.

Once driven into a corner, and truly having a crossbow in hand, they would pull the trigger without hesitation.

"I can’t live!"

"Neither can you!"

And this was the abundant warrior ethos Roman wanted to see!

The more abundant the warrior ethos, the stronger the combat effectiveness!

Even if one day in the future Roman took all his troops out on a campaign, he wouldn’t have to worry about someone stealing from his home.

Thousands of farmers skilled with crossbows would show what it means to "attack the lord’s territory, and you must be struck and destroyed."

For those outstanding farmers, Roman would also gather them to form militia crossbowmen.

There weren’t any barriers to this.

As long as they could shoot accurately and move quickly, they could become one of the militia crossbowmen.

In a year, it would be easy to muster two to three thousand men.

But correspondingly, the militia crossbowmen had no salary.

"What need for a salary in defending your homeland?"

"I’m not even charging you for training."

Of course, if Roman were to conscript these crossbowmen to fight abroad, he would also have to pay military salaries and issue pensions.

But that was another matter.

Cross Light Crossbows to the militia.

Heavy Crossbows to the army.

The distinct feature of the Heavy Crossbow was its powerful penetrating ability.

It could inflict effective damage even on Conquest Knights, and in some ways, its destructive power was not less than Roman wielding the Crack Armor Great Bow.

However, the downside was that the Heavy Crossbow was not easy to carry, so they were equipped as considered appropriate.

After all, the enemy’s Conquest Knights wouldn’t likely be many.

Generally, Archers with longbows were sufficient.

Archers had a longer range, faster shooting speed, and a wider coverage than Crossbowmen.

In field battles, the agility of Archers far surpassed the former.

Regarding the knowledge of manufacturing bows and crossbows, Roman had also passed it through the power of the Blue Gemstone to his carpenter envoys.

Now, the Wood Factory had about nearly seven hundred workers.

Among them, three hundred apprentices made furniture, while the rest of the veteran carpenters began mass production of crossbow parts.

...

Trick Riptide was one of the Shattered Archers of the Riptide Family.

He was now in charge of escorting prisoners of war from Buck High Land to meet the Grand Duke of Riptide.

He was also the progeny of the former Grand Duke, Alster.

From a bloodline perspective, he was Roman’s older half-brother.

The initial Shattered Archers were followers of the First Generation Grand Duke of the Riptide Family.

After a century of development, most of today’s Shattered Archers were served by the descendants of the Riptide Family.

It was because the previous Lord had many illegitimate children, and the descendants of the Riptide Family had eyes sharper than normal people, naturally making them potential Divine Archers.

They were Conquest Knights as well as Shattered Archers, invincible on the battlefield, hardly encountering any resistance—the range units were too overwhelming.

For superior descendants of the Riptide Family like Roman, by the age of twenty, they could certainly become qualified Shattered Archers.

For a Shattered Archer, a sniping range of one hundred fifty meters was just basic.

In this campaign to quell the rebellion at Buck High Land, the Shattered Archers were credited with the primary achievement.

That day, when Lord Owen went up on the city walls to boost morale, he was shot dead by a Shattered Archer standing more than three hundred meters away.

The entire Buck Castle was thus thrown into chaos, and eventually breached by Trick in one fell swoop.

But now, Trick was somewhat uneasy.

Not because of the Buck Knights lurking in the shadows, but because of an unknown army trailing behind them.

Their banners bore the symbols of the Thorny Iron Ring and the Light Spear.

Trick, almost forty, had never seen such an insignia, and found it very unfamiliar.

When he sent someone to inquire, instead, someone from the other side rushed over to inform him that they were the army of the River Valley King.

The River Valley King?

Where did this River Valley King come from?

Such a Duke Level noble should have been well known to him.

In the Black Iron Land, there were only three dukes.

This might mean that the others came from foreign lands, perhaps Cangyue, Ice Island, or Wandong... but those foreign countries did not have such high-ranking nobles either.

After all, that was a force of a thousand elite soldiers.

When he asked their intention, the messenger avoided answering and claimed they were on a journey for a merchant named Morry Pereya.

The messenger also said that the River Valley King was a close friend of Morry and was willing to offer a hundred Gold Coins to ransom Mr. Morry, hoping Lord Trick would show consideration.

This request was outright denied by Trick Riptide.

According to clues, the ruler of Buck High Land colluded with a Witch; that merchant was not clean either.

They were to restore order.

The descendants of Owen could take the throne as long as they bowed to Grand Duke Gael, and the Owen Family would remain the rulers of that land.

Even if they refused to become loyal dogs, at most they would be put under house arrest, still enjoying good food and drink.

Only one point, they must not be taken away by the Buck Knights, otherwise, it would mean the mission of quelling the rebellion failed.

But that merchant was somewhat complicated.

Perea had had contracts with the Oak Family.

The prospects of Selin’s son were limitless, yet he consorted with the Witch, an utterly abnormal situation.

This was a serious matter that needed to be personally investigated by Grand Duke Gael, who might follow the vine to find the big fish.

Once the messenger received his answer, he didn’t say much and directly rode back.

...

Then, that very same night, he noticed activity in the army hundreds of meters away, with the banners of the Thorny Iron Ring fluttering under the veil of night, drawing closer and closer.

And also, he saw antlers appearing in the forest, the figures of the Buck Knights flickering in and out of sight.

"Damn it!" Trick cursed softly, starting to wake the soldiers and arrange them for battle.

His military strength had suffered losses during the siege of Buck Castle.

After all, the siege had lasted for two months, and now there were only about three thousand conscripted soldiers left, and some were disabled.

The Buck Knights were never a concern for the Shattered Archers.

Although they only had twenty Shattered Archers on this expedition, they could shoot and kill fifty Buck Knights on the battlefield; the enemy wouldn’t even touch a hair on them even if they all died.

But the key issue was that mysterious force of a thousand strong and elite soldiers.

His eyesight was excellent, clearly seeing the army move in orderly retreats, with strict discipline and well-equipped.

Six hundred Heavy Infantrymen took down thick and broad shields from the supply carts, carrying fifty-pound shields and silently advancing, making him quite nervous.

The deep night was quiet, the moonlight sparse.

The highland was covered in dense forests, casting long shadows.

But the lower the terrain, the sparser the forest.

A battle was inevitable.