Chapter 2270 - 1615: Reinforcements Arrive, Another Raid!
"Old Germanic gods, please grant me a chance! Best if you can conjure up a ship, so we can get off this damned Great Island... those shameless, cruel Castilians, the more of them die, the better!..."
Shenluo Mercenary Captain Reinhardt closed his eyes, devoutly praying and chanting to some unknown Evil God. Then, his keen ears suddenly caught a rustling sound.
"Hm? What’s that sound, the Natives again?!"
Reinhardt became highly alert, suddenly raising his Shield and looking toward the pitch‑black tall grass to the south. He’d been crawling through battlefields for twenty years and had an extremely sharp sense for danger. Though the sounds were faint, like the noise of birds passing overhead, the feeling of being watched and scrutinized was exactly the same as when the Natives had ambushed them last time!
No, this time the feeling was much stronger than before, stronger than ever! Those Cipangu Natives must be more numerous than last time, many more!
"Almighty, have mercy! Damn it! This doesn’t feel right—everyone, raise your Shields! Archers, load your Crossbow Arrows, the rest of you drop your Spears and switch to Longswords!"
"Get away from the bonfire! Away from that conspicuous bonfire! Everyone hug the fence and wooden walls, prepare for a Native sneak attack and close‑quarters slaughter!"
Reinhardt’s blond hair flared, his eyes bulging like Copper Bells. He darted back behind the palisade, staring hard into the southern night. He knew these red‑haired Cipangu Natives’ Bow and Arrow were extremely sharp; once exposed in the firelight, they’d become the most obvious targets in the night.
And the enemy’s first two volleys of Arrows were the most dangerous, because they were smeared with some unknown toxin—once they so much as grazed the skin, your whole body might go numb. Then, in that poisoned, weakened state, the Natives would rush in and hack you to death with Bronze Axes and Knight’s Swords!
"Damn it! Those stupid Church Followers and Knights... they lost so many fine‑steel Knight’s Swords! All of them ended up in Native hands..."
"Almighty! Please shelter me!"
Reinhardt’s mouth never stopped, cursing and praying anxiously at the same time. Two quarters of an hour passed like that, and the feeling of being stared at by Natives suddenly weakened. He pricked up his ears in puzzlement, listening carefully like a golden‑haired dog. Then, his heart jolted—the sound seemed to be moving west? Yes! That sound really was shifting west!
Damn! What’s to the west? The colony’s strong men holed up in that least important farm? Hm, his Shenluo Mercenaries were split into two groups of thirty‑plus men, garrisoning the south and the east, both of which had suffered Native raids. Guarding the western farm were about twenty Holy War Veterans.
There were still a full two hundred Holy War Veterans left in the expeditionary army. Forty men had gone to sea with Columbus, a hundred and twenty guarded the Large Ship and Wooden Fort by the shore. Twenty guarded the area near the church, and the final twenty‑odd held the western farm, the safest posting of all!
Right now, the Cipangu Natives seemed to be about to assault the western farm... Should he report back to the central Wooden Church? Should he send support to warn the western farm?
"Bah! I, Reinhardt, would rather die than save that bunch of stuck‑up Holy War Veterans! Old dogs! What damned Castilian Expeditionary Army? The more of them die, the better! Only when enough of those Holy War Veterans are dead will we Shenluo Mercenaries get a chance, maybe even seize the Large Ship and sail home!..."
"Höllenhund! To hell with that flock of grass‑eating Castilian old dogs!..."
Reinhardt cursed viciously in his heart. Then he simply stood there, one hand gripping his Longsword, the other raising his Shield, holding the southern fence line as he drilled his mercenaries.
"Remember this! Our mission is to hold the southern fence and wooden walls to the last! That’s what Deputy Commander Antonio said: ’Not one step back’! So later, if the Barbarians try to lure us away and you hear noises from somewhere else... none of you moves an inch! You hold this line!"
"Yes, boss!"
"We’ll do as you say!"
"Right! That damned Deputy Commander Antonio just wants us dead..."
"Boss, your dog ears are always sharp—did you hear something?"
"Damn it! All of you, shut the hell up! No talking! Hold the line!"
Reinhardt roared his curses, and the mercenary squad of over thirty men fell silent, keeping a quiet, tense watch. Two hundred paces to the south, Red‑haired Mique frowned and slowly lowered the Divine Eye Magical Artifact in his hands.
"Strange! These Evil Demons’ reactions are really strange! They clearly noticed our tracks, yet they just stayed put and tightened their guard. Not a single one blew a warning horn, and no one went off to alert the rest of the Evil Demons’ camp?..."
"Could it be, just like that captured survivor gestured, that they’re some other ’Holy Roman’, a Divine Horse Great Tribe of Evil Demons, and they’re not on the same side as this so‑called Castle Tribe?"
Red‑haired Mique muttered to himself. The Bow and Arrow slung on his back glimmered faintly, already coated with the venom of Puerto Rican poison frogs. Beside him, a Warrior Captain with a Tekos face, clad in cloth Copper Armor, looked enviously at that ’far‑seeing Divine Eye Magical Artifact’ and whispered urgently.
"Captain Mique! When do we launch the attack? The hundred Warriors who came as reinforcements are all itching for battle, eager to slaughter and glut themselves on the blood of the Evil Demons!"
At his words, Red‑haired Mique tilted his head, glancing at this fully armed, newly arrived Tecos Warrior Captain. The cloth Copper Armor on the man, even padded with cotton and covered with a layer of straw, still gave off faint rustling noises. Perhaps that was why the Divine Horse Tribe Evil Demons on the other side had detected their force early.