Chapter 111: The Unstopped Crises
Kant was a man of his word.
Moreover, reoccupying the salt mines was the main strategy for the development of Oasis Lookout.
Kant didn’t want to see such a situation, allowing the defeated Jackalan to regain their strength in the salt mines and tribal ruins. This would gave them time to develop into a strong tribe again.
Although the Nahrin Desert was vast, its resources were extremely scarce.
Kant only allowed one force to survive and develop in this barren land, and that was himself.
As for the lives of the Jackalan.
What did it have to do with him?
After lunch and a short rest, a.s.semble order was given.
Twenty Sarrandian hors.e.m.e.n and twenty-five elite desert bandits were all present. They were waiting outside the east gate of the city. They were riding on horses and whispering to each other, with a sinister smile on their faces, it was obvious that they did not take this expedition to seriously.
This group of Sarrandian desert bandits had always been fearless.
With Kant around, they did not have to worry about falling into danger because they underestimated the enemy.
They were all desert bandits who licked blood on the blade. They always underestimating the enemy due to their unruly habits. Although life and death were up to fate, none of them really thought about it. With Kant leading them, they would only be more cautious.
This time, clearing out the Jackalans who had occupied the well and salt mine was just one of the tasks.
It also included the coa.r.s.e salt in the salt mine. They had to bring some back and boil a batch of it.
Stone Pa.s.s did not had much patience to wait.
“Are you ready?”
Kant walked out of the city gate and looked at the 55 cavalries in front of him. He looked relaxed.
Time did not wait for them.
It would take a day to go from Oasis Lookout to the tribal ruins, not to mention that they had to go to the natural salt mines. It would take a long time to go back and forth, boil salt, and then lead the team to the Stone Pa.s.s.
It would took a week.
Firentis followed behind. When he heard the slight anxiety in Kant’s voice, he said, “Everything is ready.”
This attack was arranged by him. After thinking for a while and confirming that there were no mistakes, he said with certainty, “The camels and supplies are also fully prepared. Once we reach the natural salt mine, we can directly mine the coa.r.s.e salt and bring it back.”
“Well done.”, Kant nodded in satisfaction.
Not far from these Sarrandan people, ten one-humped camels were standing there quietly.
On the backs of the camels hung bulging gunny sacks. They were all food, water sack, and bags used to store coa.r.s.e salt for this trip to the deep of the Nahrin Desert. All the things were taken care of by ten peasants, and they were quite well-prepared.
The Swadian footman brought Kant’s warhorse.
Stepping on the stirrups, Kant nimbly got on the horse, pulled on his hood, and ordered, “Prepare to set off.”
“Prepare to set off!”
When the Sarrandian Horseman heard this, the leader of the group immediately shouted.
The originally neat cavalry formation gradually dismissed. The Sarrandian horse beneath them began to move its feet, breathing heavily. With the pull of the reins, it turned its head and slowly walked in the right direction.
Firentis, on the other hand, took a few quick steps and said to Kant, “Lord, do we really not need to bring more people?”
“No.”, Kant shook his head.
Looking at the Swadian footmen standing by on the city wall, as well as the light footmen patrolling around the oasis, Kant’s expression was more solemn as he said, “Your task is to defend the fortress. Communicate with Manid and a.s.sign your own areas of responsibility. I don’t want to come back and find my own estate in a mess.”
“Understood, Lord Kant.”, Firentis said with a serious face.
But he still looked worry.
Firentis had patrolled the deep of the Nahrin Desert for many days. He clearly understood that even if the Jackalan tribe was defeated, there were still had some small Jackalan tribe that was scattered in the desert.
“Don’t worry.”, Kant noticed his worry and shook his head with a smile. He patted his side and said, “I still have this.”
It was a long rod-shaped object that was stored in a slender linen bag.
It was as long as a lance or spear used by cavalry, but it was slightly bloated on the outside, as if it was wrapped in something.
[ Intimidation ]
What Kant currently possessed could be said to be a divine artifact.
Seeing the folded flag, Firentis worried expression eased slightly, but he still reminded him, “Lord, fighting on the battlefield is very dangerous. If possible, please pay attention to your safety first before considering the outcome of the battle.”
“Yes, I will be careful.”, Kant nodded, shook the reins, and turned his horse and galloped.
The horse’s hooves stepped into the sand, leaving a shallow pit.
The entire team began to speed up, heading deeper into the Nahrin desert.
Time was tight, so they had to use their fastest speed to head to the tribal ruins.
That was the only water source around. The Jackalan who had been defeated and scattered would definitely regroup in the ruins. Although the group was not as large as before, and there was no Jackalan shaman who had mastered a mysterious power, there were still quite a lot of ordinary Jacklans.
With the current 20 Sarrandian hors.e.m.e.n and 25 elite desert bandits, even though they were light cavalry, it would not be a problem for them to directly charged into theformation of these ordinary Jackalan and crus.h.i.+ng them once again.
There were two times when a bird was startled by a bow.
Moreover, [ Intimidation ] wasn’t something to be trifled with.
It could be used to weaken the spirit of the enemy by the first round. As their comrade kept dying, the spirits of the enemy continued to drop. They could kept reducing the spirit of the enemies for few more round until it became negative. How could they continued to put up a desperate struggle and fight Kant and the others to the death?
This was simply impossible!
The footprints and traces left by the expedition last month were still clearly visible.
There was very little wind in the Nahrin desert, so the footprints and rut marks on the dune could not be removed unless there was a once-in-a-century sandstorm. Otherwise, the traces would be removed after the wind blow for a period.
But it would take at least a few months.
Therefore, Kant and the others did not worried that they moved in a wrong direction.
Following the traces of the past, the team moved forward quickly. It was quiet on the way, and they did not meet too many Jackalan.
Normally, thirty to forty Jackalans would turned around and ran when they met Kant and the others. They looked panicked, obviously afraid of Kant and his light cavalry, and did not dare to fight against them.
At first, Kant ordered to his men kill them.
However, it was a waste of time and did not yield anything at all.
Therefore, when they continued to move forward, they did not pay any attention to the small group of Jackalan. Unless there were about a hundred of them, which might cause some harm to the Oasis Lookout. Kant would give the order brazenly and raised the flag of the golden lion with a red background, he would lead the team to crush them and slaughter them all in the desert to prevent future trouble.
The speed of the troops was still very fast.
Sarrand horse and desert horse were both suitable horses for the desert.
The single humped camel was also known as the s.h.i.+p of the desert. Although its short-distance burst was not as good as that of the horses, its had better endurance which was suitable for long-term journey.
This was the main factor to ensure the speed of progress.
Fortunately, Kant’s camel and warhorse did not caused any accidents.
According to the experience of his previous life, horses were extremely sensitive to the smell of camels and would be very afraid of them. On the other hand, camels would be irritable towards horses. If the two were put together, it would probably be a chaotic situation.
This was also why the camel cavalry was the absolute nemesis of the warhorse cavalry.
This was precisely the reason.
However, this kind of troop cla.s.s could only appear in the desert. After all, in flat gra.s.slands or other plains regions, the highly mobile warhorse cavalry was not afraid of the slow-moving camel cavalry.
However, in the desert, the camel cavalry was extremely powerful.
This had once been shown in the deserts of some regions on Earth.
Historically, the Arabs rode camels and defeated the elite warhorse cavalry of countless empires in the desert, including the Byzantine Empire, the Sa.s.sanid Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and so on.
To be honest, Kant was quite interested in this.
However, thinking that there were no standard camel cavalry in the current cavalry, he could only choose to give up.
The troops moved very fast.
They rested at dusk and prepared dinner. After nightfall, they continued to set off and did not sleep until late at night.
They traveled at dawn and soon approached the tribal ruins.
From the Oasis Lookout to the ruins of the Jackalan tribe, the cavalry could arrive in just one day. Even if there were footmen accompanying them, two days was enough. The distance was not too far.
Kant rode his horse up the dune, followed by ten Sarrandian hors.e.m.e.n as his guards.
“There are no sentries.”
These Sarrandian Hors.e.m.e.n, who belonged to the standard army, reported.
Kant snorted, “It seems that these Jackalan think that we will let them go?”
They did not even have sentries. They were really bold.
He stared at the bottom of the dune. On the originally flat desert, there was still a large area that was pitch black due to the fire. There were ruins everywhere, and there were ashes everywhere.
However, in the ruins, there were also tattered tents.
“Wait, that is…”
Kant narrowed his eyes. He discovered something unusual.
Among these tattered linen tents, there were more than ten tents made of brand new linen. Even when Kant’s eyes glanced over them, these brand new tents had a clear demarcation line with the other tattered tents.
It was just like the Chu River and Han border. Although they were close, the two did not cross paths at all.
Even the Jackalan in those simple tents did not dare to come close.
It was as if there was some kind of great terror.
Kant was not surprised by this.
Because he had already discovered that the people who appeared in these brand-new tents were Jackalan in mail armor and holding two-handed battle axes. Their fur was clean and neat. They were definitely not low-level Jackalan who lived in the desert.
“High-level Jackalans, is they coming again?” He said slowly.