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Many horse bandits had rushed right in front of the militia formation. It seemed that they only needed to swing their swords to take the militiamen's heads.
But their scimitars were a step slower than the short spears thrown by the militiamen.
More than twenty short spears flew over with terrifying force, knocking down seven or eight horse bandits and their horses at once.
The result was predictable when the short spears forcefully thrown by the militiamen hit the horse bandits charging at high speed.
The shabby fur armor couldn't provide any protection at all. No matter which part was hit, the spears went straight through.
Even the fast horses under them were no exception. A short spear hit a horse in the neck, and the tip protruded from the other side of its neck and then stabbed into the horse bandit's abdomen.
A horse bandit who thought he had successfully dodged the short spear had his abdomen pierced by the spear tip. Every jolt of his mount made the spear stir wildly in his belly.
As the mount fell, the horse bandit's belly was already churned into a mess, and his intestines flowed all over the ground.
Only a few horse bandits who sensed something was wrong pulled the reins, lowered their bodies, and successfully avoided the short spears, bypassing the militia from both sides.
Leo felt a little relieved and was very satisfied with the performance of the militia.
If it had been a month ago, these militiamen wouldn't have had enough courage and calmness to throw the short spears in their hands at the horse bandits who had rushed within ten meters.
Even when they saw the horse bandits charging towards them on horseback, some of them would still, like ordinary villagers, couldn't help but take a step back, causing the Shield formation to disperse.
Or they would just hold up their shields high and act like a coward.
Even if some militiamen threw their short spears, they couldn't hit the enemy accurately because of fear and panic.
Sure enough, actual combat was the best way to train. After seeing blood a few times, the militiamen who used to panic when facing kobolds could now face the charge of the horse bandits without changing their expressions.
Some veterans in the militia could even ignore the howls of the horse bandits and the flashing sword lights, patiently waiting for the right moment to deliver a single - fatal blow to the horse bandits.
The heavy losses of the first batch of horse bandits directly led the following horse bandits to choose to avoid the militia. Only a few bold horse bandits tried to skim over the militia's Shield formation and swing their scimitars, but their attacks were blocked by the calm militiamen with their shields.
The horse bandits who had looted countless times immediately realized that this was a tough nut to crack and decisively gave up on them, charging towards the lord's mansion.
They didn't come to fight but to loot, so they didn't have to entangle with the huddled militia.
Causing enough killing and chaos was their top priority.
Seeing all the horse bandits rushing towards the lord's mansion, Leo shouted loudly, "Break up the line formation and advance forward!"
"Maintain the formation and don't be impulsive!"
With his cold shouts and suppression, several militiamen who were eager to cross the Shield formation and chase the horse bandits endured their restlessness and returned to the formation.
More and more militiamen stood in two rows, holding their shields and striding forward towards the lord's mansion behind the horse bandits.
Several horse bandits who had rushed to the front were about to swing their swords to chase down the lone villagers when suddenly they heard a continuous sound of bowstrings breaking.
A hail of crossbow bolts rained down from nearby houses, the rooftops of the lord's mansion, and the small second - floor windows, skewering the horse bandits and their horses like porcupines.
Not only the militiamen in the militia but also the fifty militia reserves were equipped with crossbows seized from the Wild Boar Men.
Vicki, a militiaman appointed as the reserve drill instructor by Leo for his excellent performance, even led a dozen crossbowmen and openly stood on the balcony corridor built outside the second floor of the lord's mansion, shooting at the approaching horse bandits to draw their attention.
"Where did all these militiamen come from in this lousy village!" the leader of the horse bandits couldn't help swearing. He quickly glanced at the slowly approaching militia Shield formation behind him and then turned to look at the half-closed door of the lord's mansion.
He roared unwillingly, "Charge in and kill them!"
Before the attack, he had actually sent scouts to secretly approach the area around River Bend to observe the situation and assess the strength of the enemy and their own forces.
Unfortunately, his scouts didn't see the grand drill of the River Bend militia and reserves.
So the number of militiamen in this village far exceeded his expectations.
Moreover, he never expected that the militiamen in this village were so well - equipped, so powerful, and had so many crossbows!
Seeing the calm and even somewhat composed appearance of the militiamen, he almost suspected that these were regular troops brought back by some meritorious lord.
Or even a trap!
The bandit - suppression troops assembled by the lords with their elites were probably at this level.
But the leader of the horse bandits had a mission and didn't want to give up easily.
If the horse bandits rushed into the mansion, controlled the door, and used the old and weak inside as hostages, they would regain the initiative.
A horse bandit near the lord's mansion jumped off his horse and climbed up the wooden stairs, trying to stop the door of the lord's mansion before it closed.
Once the door of this fortress - like lord's mansion was closed, it was impossible to open it with the short weapons in the hands of the horse bandits.
Suddenly, a short figure rushed out from inside the door and rammed into the horse bandit.
The horse bandit grinned maliciously and was about to kick the figure away when the figure had already rushed in front of him and landed an uppercut on his chin.
Amid the crisp sound of bone shattering, the last thing the horse bandit saw was a huge furry fist and a muscular hairy arm thicker than his calf.
And a dog's bark.
This was The Kobold Blacksmith of River Bend. Years of blacksmithing had given him a deformed body different from his kind. His upper body was extremely strong, and his two arms were thicker than his legs.
Since he never wore clothes, most of the hair on his body was in a mess under the burning of the sparks, some blackened and some bald, looking extremely terrifying.
The horse bandit was hit by his Ascending Dragon Uppercut, his chin was shattered, his skull was concussed, and he flew more than a meter into the air before falling to the ground, unconscious.
Seeing this, another horse bandit leaped directly from his galloping horse onto the wooden platform in front of the door.
Before he could raise his knife, he seemed to sense something and suddenly looked towards the door.
Inside the dark door, pairs of scarlet eyes approached, and seven or eight The Kobold Blacksmiths of the same build emerged and pounced on him.
Seven or eight devilish, muscular pit bulls with charred black fur pounced on a man and tore at him. The sight of flesh and blood flying everywhere was just as psychologically terrifying as gut - wrenching scenes.
The other horse bandits dismounted their horses one by one and rushed to help.
However, the crossbows in the hands of the reserve militiamen finally showed their power at close range. Once hit, the horse bandits would either die or be severely injured.
Some horse bandits didn't even reach the wooden platform of the lord's mansion before being shot down on the open ground outside.
The casualties of his comrades finally exceeded the horse bandit leader's tolerance. He reined his horse around the open space in front of the lord's mansion, shooting three militiamen with crossbows in succession. Reluctantly, he put his fingers in his mouth and let out a sharp whistle.
Hearing the whistle, all the horse bandits gave up the attack, mounted their horses, turned their horses around, and galloped out of the village.