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Taking a glance at the militiamen behind Ivan, Leo asked in a low voice, "How many have arrived?"
"Including me, there are forty in total," Ivan replied and then added, "Some of the arrow - wounded militiamen wanted to come along, but I didn't let them."
"You did the right thing. Forty men are more than enough," Leo said, patting him on the shoulder. Then he waved his hand and called over several key members.
Pointing at the distant watchtower, Leo began to arrange The Plan.
"Ujin, take ten men and sneak through the left forest. Hide behind that big rock first. When you see someone come out, give them a good beating."
"Moros, take five men and guard the right side. When the fight starts, go and guard the horses. Don't let the enemy get to the horses."
"The rest of you follow Ivan and wait over there. When I give the signal, rush up and block the door."
After giving the instructions, Leo looked at everyone. He still seemed a bit worried. He added, "There are only more than twenty horse bandits, but they're all good fighters. So, use the crossbows for volley fire as much as possible. Don't fight them one - on - one, and don't chase them. It doesn't matter if a few get away. Just follow our usual training. Got it?"
The small - group leaders looked a bit hesitant, but they still nodded obediently.
In their view, there were only more than twenty horse bandits left. They could definitely win even by charging straight at them.
Everyone had come here filled with the anger of revenge and, of course, wanted to wipe them out completely.
Leo didn't bother about the militiamen's thoughts. Seeing them nod, he waved his hand, and they all scattered.
Leo himself sneaked back the way he came and reached the stone wall of the watchtower again.
After waiting quietly for a while, when the sentry horse bandit walked away, he grabbed the gaps in the stone wall with both hands and climbed up the wall as fast as a gecko.
On the wall, there was a strong - built horse bandit sitting bored on the crenel, fiddling with his short bow.
This watchtower is more than ten miles away from the World Tree Avenue and has been abandoned for two or three hundred years. The roads have been overgrown by the forest.
In this desolate place, the probability of being attacked is extremely low.
The main purpose of the horse bandits' sentry duty was to beware of wild beasts in the vicinity. These beasts might startle the horses.
If they saw the beasts in advance, they could make noise to drive them away. Ordinary brown bears and leopards wouldn't dare to fight head - on with dozens of horse bandits.
In this attack on River Bend, they had lost eighteen brothers but didn't even manage to steal a single horse.
In their five - year career as horse bandits, there had never been such a failed raid.
Maybe he could stir things up with a few brothers and fight for the position of the leader.
The horse bandit was sitting there bored, dreaming of his grand plan.
Suddenly, he heard a slight rustle behind him. Before he could react, a hand covered his mouth and nose.
A sharp steel sword slashed across the horse bandit's throat. With great force, almost half of his neck was cut open.
Like a burst water pipe, a huge amount of blood spurted out and splashed under the stone wall.
Leo let go of the horse bandit and let him fall off the wall. Then he took a few running steps on the wall, jumped up with both hands holding the steel sword high, and chopped down fiercely.
On another slightly lower stone wall, a horse bandit had just heard the noise. When he turned around, he saw Leo diving down from above. The raised steel sword, with a shrill gale swirling around it, slashed towards his head.
The space on the stone wall was narrow. The horse bandit had no time to dodge and could only raise the short bow in his hand to block.
However, it was in vain.
Due to their height and strength, the standard steel swords commonly used by the people in the Northern Region, with lengthened hilts and blades and weighing a full three kilograms, were the hand-and-a-half swords that southerners called 'bastard swords'.
This kind of sword was used as a two-handed weapon in the South.
At this moment, a three-kilogram, one-and-two-meter-long thick-ridged and wide-bladed steel sword was irresistible under Leo's overhead slash.
The horse bandit's short bow, a wrist with a fur wristband, and his entire head was split in two!
If the horse bandit hadn't instinctively leaned back when raising his bow to block, Leo would've sliced him in half as easily as butchering a pig!
Amid the splashing blood, Leo put away his steel sword, took out his longbows, calmly nocked an arrow and drew the bow, shooting through the chest of a horse bandit on the third stone wall with an arrow.
Only then did the horse bandits realize they were under attack. They all shouted loudly to give the alarm and then raised their bows to shoot at Leo.
After disposing of the horse bandit sentinels on the stone wall in one go, Leo then turned around, bent down and hid under the parapet beside him, while whistling.
Four or five arrows flew over. One passed over his head, and the rest hit the stone wall. The iron arrowheads splashed a shower of sparks on the weathered stone wall, leaving a mark, and then rebounded and fell.
Outside the watchtower, Ivan let out a roar and led more than twenty militiamen to launch a charge.
The structure of the watchtower restricted the path of the attackers, but at the same time, it also restricted the exit of the defenders.
The leader of the horse bandits and Monk Lawrence occupied the relatively intact rooms in the watchtower to show their unique status.
The other horse bandits could only set up tents outside.
The open space enclosed by this small watchtower was not large. Coupled with the part occupied by the collapsed stone wall, only a dozen tents could be accommodated on the open space inside the entire watchtower.
Therefore, some horse bandits chose to set up tents in the sheltered area behind the watchtower.
When they were attacked at this time, the horse bandits inside were holding their weapons and looking around, and they also had to defend against the powerful bowshots of Leo from above.
The horse bandits behind the watchtower heard the shouts and came around from the outer wall to check.
Before these horse bandits who came around along the wall could reach the main entrance, suddenly a wave of crossbow bolts shot from the other side, and four of them fell instantly.
Suddenly, a group of people emerged from behind a boulder not far away. It was Ujin leading ten militiamen.
Facing the unsuspecting horse bandits walking along the wall, the militiamen shot as easily as they usually did when shooting at targets.
Seeing that there were only five enemies left, Ujin suddenly forgot Leo's instructions. He threw down his crossbow, drew his single - handed sword, and shouted, "Kill them all!"
The remaining five horse bandits did not show the expected fear and retreat. Instead, their eyes showed a fierce light, and they let out random howls from their mouths. They raised their scimitars and charged towards the militiamen.
At the front of the watchtower, thanks to the horse bandits' hesitation and Leo's sniping, Ivan had successfully blocked the door with his men.
In the front, seven militiamen held round shields and formed a shield wall to block the arrows shot by the horse bandits from the watchtower.
The militiamen behind shot back at the horse bandits with crossbows.
Although the horse bandits' short bows had a rapid firing rate without shield protection, they posed little threat to the militiamen.
As for the crossbows of the militiamen, once a shot hit, it could immediately incapacitate the hit horse bandit.
Watching their comrades fall one by one, the remaining horse bandits could only flee into the rooms of the watchtower. Then they used the thick stone walls of the watchtower for defense.
The militiamen advanced slowly while shooting. Soon they entered the open space within the watchtower's enclosure and suppressed the horse bandits inside the watchtower, making them afraid to show their heads.
Leo was also on the stone wall, shooting down at the horse bandits from a high position. He shot down three horse bandits in a row. It wasn't until they all hid inside the watchtower and were blocked from his sight by the stone wall that he climbed down the stone wall and jumped beside Ivan.
At this time, the solemn voice of Monk Lawrence came from inside the watchtower: "Stop it all!"