The sun rose to the height of the tree branches, and two riders galloped on the river embankment.

Tamas, who was leading the way, suddenly slowed down, and Winters behind him suddenly reined in his horse.

"There, Centurion." Tamas pointed to a bend in the Bighorn River: "That's where the barbarian dropped his anchor."

The war horse shifted its legs uneasily, as if it could smell the lingering smell of blood in the air.

Winters pulled the reins lightly, inspecting and assessing the dikes, slopes, ravines, and rivers before him.

After pondering for a moment, he took out an atlas with a blackened cover, made a few strokes and put it back in the saddle bag: "Let's go down and have a look!"

Winters just exerted a little strength in his legs, and the spiritual war horse immediately understood.

The tall and slender mixed-race horse, with a tan black color and a white forehead, jumped down from the embankment and galloped toward the river bank like a joy, raising a cloud of dust.

Tamas did not have such equestrian skills, so he carefully walked downhill diagonally and hurriedly followed.

The battlefield has been swept clean, the birds are chirping, and the river flows calmly to the north.

If you didn't pay close attention to the red and black blood stains between the cracks in the rocks, you wouldn't be able to tell that there was a fight here a few hours ago.

Question: Who wins in a close-range duel between bows and arrows and stones?

Answer: The one with more people wins.

Probably not many of the Terdun people were killed on the spot, but many were injured. Seeing that the battle situation was unfavorable, they did not hesitate to cut the anchor rope and use the water to drift back to the west bank.

After the war, an inventory was carried out, and three corpses were fished out in succession, all of which were drowned. One of the corpses was wearing a red feather helmet; the second company downstream reported six floating corpses.

A total of nine enemies were killed and unknown wounded, two horn bows were seized, and 82 arrow clusters were recovered; three of our own party were seriously injured and some were slightly injured.

Just looking at the numbers, this battle seems like child's play.

However, for the participants in the war, they are risking their lives at any time and trying their best to kill each other. This is something that only those who have truly faced the arrows, with trembling knees and clenched teeth can understand this.

So this is a victory, although not big, but there is no doubt about it.

Only after daybreak did Winters learn of the small-scale encounter involving the company.

It wasn't because he wanted to sleep in, but because when the soldiers of the first company returned to Oxhoof Valley, he had already rushed to another battlefield.

Last night was not just one bloodshed, but three battles broke out in succession. The other two encounters were both in the defense zone of the 12th Company, and were larger and more intense.

The time difference between the three groups of Terdun troops crossing the river was less than two hours, and the crossing distance spanned nearly 40 kilometers.

Winters changed horses five times for the round trip alone and rode more than 60 kilometers.

So at this moment, Charles and Heinrich, who had always stayed together, were not with Winters - they were unable to walk steadily when they left the saddle, and were ordered to rest by Winters.

When Winters arrived at the shore, he dismounted and walked along the river beach. His eyes swept over the water, the hillside, and extended to the horizon of the river valley.

Seeing the centurion observing the terrain, Tamas did not dare to disturb him. He imitated the centurion and looked around, but all he saw was water, grass, stones and soil.

Suddenly, Winters stopped. Tamas saw the centurion bending down, as if he was picking something up.

After looking at it for a while, Winters handed the thing to the first company commander and said calmly: "Bone arrow."

Tamas took a closer look - it was a polished bone arrowhead, but the tip of the arrow had broken off.

As a veteran who has experienced the Great Wilderness War, Tamas knows some inside information about the enemy. Although the Hed tribes still widely use stone arrows and bone arrows, at least the Teldu tribe has iron arrowheads.

Therefore, Tamas was a little confused: "The Terdun barbarians also use bone arrows and stone arrows? Don't they have iron arrows? Just to prevent us from using their arrows?"

"How many arrow clusters were recovered?" Winters asked.

"Only about 80 arrowheads are intact, and there are still some arrow shafts." Tamas was quite helpless: "The stone arrowheads and bone arrowheads were all broken when they hit the stone."

"No iron?"

After thinking about it carefully, Tamas replied seriously: "There is no iron."

"Others don't know." Winters paced and pondered: "The fire-warming leader's troops should have iron arrows."

"You mean... those who came last night were not the elite of the Barbarians?"

"Why don't you send the elite?" Winters asked back: "Why don't you send the elite for the vanguard?"

"I...I don't know." Tamas began to sweat on his forehead.

"You are already the acting battalion commander, you need to think about it."

Tamas hesitated and said, "Maybe it's to test us, or to kill us."

"Yeah." Winters nodded: "From the surface, that's the case."

"Then...what about inside?"

"I don't know either." A smile appeared in the corner of Winters' eyes: "War is the art of deception."

Tamas was completely confused.

Winters changed the subject: "Barbarian anchored here last night?"

"Yes, right here."

Winters is located at the corner of the river bend, and the river flows clockwise.

On the west bank outside the river bend, the water speed is fast and the river bed is deep; on the east bank inside the river bend, the water speed is slow and the river bed is shallow.

"The people in Teltown are very discerning and it is a good ferry." Winters commented: "To cross the river from here, you don't even need to send people to the shore, just send them into the shallow water. There are only a few steps left, and you can walk to the shore.

.Besides dropping anchor, what else did the Telltowners do last night?"

"Not sure." Tamas felt ashamed: "My horse was hit by two arrows and ran away for several kilometers like crazy. The battle last night was commanded by Sergeant Bunir. According to him, the barbarian seemed to be dragging it from the water.

Something comes out."

"Drag something out?" Winters shook his head: "I think it was lowered in first and then dragged up - it should be to measure the depth of the water."

"Measure the water depth?" Tamas was shocked and asked in disbelief: "Is it possible that the Teltown barbarians want to learn and sell now? And also build a bridge on the Bighorn River?"

"You shouldn't be so stupid with a monkey butt face." Winters smiled: "If the Teltown people drive piles and build a bridge on the river, it will be like putting a noose around their own necks."

"Why?" Tamas' mood was full of twists and turns.

"Time." Winters said flatly: "The weather is getting colder day by day, and the food and grass are getting less and less day by day. They don't have much time. But this is indeed a good ferry."

"I'll send someone to monitor this place!" Tamas immediately cheered up.

Winters asked slowly, "How did you know they were going to cross the river here?"

"I...this..." Tamas was speechless.

"Based on the terrain alone, there are more than 40 locations in Zhongtiefeng County that are suitable for forcible crossing." Winters patiently explained to the first company commander and acting battalion commander: "With all our efforts, we may be able to control these more than 40 locations, but

This mentality may also be exploited by the Teltun people."

"Then...what should we do?"

"War is the art of deception, keep this sentence in mind." Winters' expression became serious and his tone became formal: "We are trying our best to deceive and mislead the Teltown people, and the Teltown people are also doing their best to deceive us. I

Let me ask you, are the fire-warmers still on the other side?"

"Here?" Tamas no longer dared to answer.

"Why?"

"The flag is still there..."

"I'm in the Cow Hoof Valley. Did I raise my flag in the Cow Hoof Valley?" Winters' tone was so calm that there was no trace of emotion:

"The fire-warming people may no longer be on the other side, and the elites of the Terdun people may have quietly moved out of camp; these raids may be a smoke cover, or they may be preparations for forced crossing; as for the enemies who came last night, they may have done it deliberately

The elite who switch to using bone arrows may just be a group of slave soldiers. Even the information that is eaten into the mouth may be poisonous meatballs."

Tamas tried his best to follow the centurion's thoughts: "Then... what should we do?"

"There is no way." Winters' tone seemed to be talking about the weather: "Intelligence is always incomplete, true and false, and complicated. The old marshal said - the commander's duty is to pass limited information, and the true and false are unknown.

information to make correct judgments.”

"Luckily you are here." Tamas licked his lips and said sincerely: "There is no need for me to think about this, otherwise I will definitely go crazy."

In the past, when Winters heard such blunt flattery, he would scold him with a straight face.

But this time, he didn't say anything. He just sighed and kicked a pebble from the side of his boot into the river.

"I'm afraid I'm going to disappoint you." Winters said with some disinterest: "I don't have this ability either. For example, I can't tell what's going on on the other side of the river, and I can't figure out what the fire-warmer is trying to do."

Hearing such depressing words from the all-powerful centurion, Tamas suddenly felt panic in his heart. Beads of sweat oozed from his forehead and back, his heart was pounding, his mouth went dry involuntarily, and his palms became dry.

Chill.

But when the anxiety exceeded the threshold, Tamas became completely numb. There was only one thought left in his mind, and this thought was as solid as a foundation.

"Wherever you point me, I will hit you." Tamas said firmly from the bottom of his heart: "I will do whatever you say."

"Tool mentality is unacceptable."

"I'm willing to be your tool. Just tell us what we should do, right?"

"What should I do? Since I can't guess it, then I won't guess it at all." Winters laughed heartily: "Let him be blown by the wind and rain, and I will remain unmoved."

"Let the wind and rain blow, I will remain unmoved." Tamas chewed on these words.
To be continued...