[Outside the Hunting Circle]

"What is he shouting?" Pierre frowned.

"have no idea."

A stone's throw away from the felt wall, the unidentified Hurd rider was still shouting at the top of his lungs.

However, no matter how important the message he wanted to convey was, Pierre and others could not understand it.

Without waiting for the interpreter to arrive, the furious old Sergei snatched the matchlock gun from someone else and pressed the firing lever without hesitation at the noisy Herd rider.

The lead bullet passed by the Hurd rider, who was startled for a moment, then turned and left.

Pierre suddenly clenched his fists and immediately looked towards the place where the gunfire came from. But when he saw who the person who fired without authorization was, he still suppressed his anger and did not get angry at old Sergei.

"Devil! Heretic! Die!" Old Sergei was furious: "All of them deserve to die!"

Lieutenant Colonel Moritz's cold voice sounded: "Mr. Morozov."

Old Sergey was silent for a moment, gritted his teeth and responded: "Yes!"

"How is Mr. Morozov's injury?"

"Open the ladle." Old Sergey sniffed hard: "He's not dead!"

"Go and look after little Mr. Moloff." Lieutenant Colonel Moritz ordered calmly: "You are no longer needed here."

Old Sergey stood for a while like a puppet, saluted slowly, and walked stiffly towards the inner circle of the circle.

Pierre had no time to explain to Uncle Morozov now; he had more important responsibilities.

According to Pierre's visual inspection, his location is almost five kilometers away from Qingqiu.

It takes ten minutes for a fast horse to run five kilometers.

If the shape of the hunting ground is roughly a circle, then the circumference of the hunting ground should be more than thirty kilometers.

Thirty kilometers, it takes at least an hour to circle around on horseback.

From a formal point of view, the "big hunting" of the Chihe Tribe is just a simple and crude circle drawn on the ground, with hunters from all tribes sitting around, watching the ceremony and shooting.

However, when the "circle" drawn by the Akagawabu was large enough to accommodate an entire city, the situation became complicated.

Hundreds of tribes and tens of thousands of hunters are scattered around the giant ring. Except for the Chihe Tribe, which occupies the Qingqiu in the central highlands, the other tribes cannot have an overview of the overall situation, and it is difficult to coordinate and communicate with each other.

Such an arrangement undoubtedly gives those with ulterior motives an opportunity to fish in troubled waters.

"I can see it all." Pierre thought: "Can't the barbarian chief see it?"

On the one hand, Pierre believed that based on the barbarian chief's calculations, he must have prepared in advance. He had never forgotten the failure of the Plato Expeditionary Force at the Chihe Tribe;

On the other hand, I don't know where the blood wolf is, I don't know what the Chihe tribe is doing, let alone what the beacon smoke behind the horizon is about.

Surrounded by barbarians, shouldering the life and death of his relatives, friends and comrades, with one wrong step and even going to hell is not enough atonement - Pierre truly experienced the pressure of Winters Montagne for the first time.

He tried his best to tell himself to stay calm and think, but the clothes on his back were still uncontrollably wet with sweat.

Moritz glanced at Pierre and said in his usual casual tone: "Your performance is very good."

Pierre nodded expressionlessly. In fact, he was very grateful in his heart. He was grateful that there was someone he could count on by his side at this moment.

The wind and sand gradually became larger, and the air currents stirred up overwhelming dust. Not long after the wind started, everyone's clothes were covered with a layer of fine dark red dust.

Pierre clearly remembered that it was still sunny at sunrise, but the wind and sand at this moment were so strong that it exceeded the smoke and dust that the galloping horses could raise.

"Are you still waiting?" Pierre asked.

"Wait a little longer," Moritz replied, raising his head and sniffing the air.

The dust was thick and everyone covered their mouths and noses with scarves. Only Lieutenant Colonel Moritz behaved abnormally.

"What are you smelling?" asked Pierre.

Lieutenant Colonel Moritz took off his cloak and wrapped it around his face calmly, leaving only his eyes exposed. His eyes seemed to be smiling but not smiling: "It smells abnormal."

The field of vision was gradually restricted by the sand and dust, and soon even Qingqiu could not be seen clearly.

Pierre stood on the stake and looked out. He saw all the members of the nearest Badlands tribe holding bows and knives, leading their horses on foot, and seemed to be trying to escape.

The hunters of the Badlands tried their best to fight against the violent horses. One of the horses broke its reins and galloped into the red sand that blocked the sun. The hunters ran after them and disappeared from sight in the blink of an eye.

Another group of Hurd Hunters nearby was much smaller in number than the Badlands tribe, and all of them were dismounted and armed with bows. However, they were just on the alert, apparently hesitant about whether to leave or stay.

Uneasiness also spread within the mission. Someone walked up to Pierre and suggested in a low voice: "There is a car array in the camp, which is much safer than here. Should we return to the camp as soon as possible? If we stay here, what will the female wolf do?

If something goes wrong, we all..."

Pierre interrupted the other party and replied loudly at a volume that everyone could hear: "Without horses and in the sandstorm, we can't go anywhere! To move around now is to seek death, unless the horses can ride or the sandstorm stops,

Otherwise, don’t even think about going back to camp.”

"But there are only Father Carman and Balian in the camp now." The proposer also raised his voice: "If we don't go back, they won't be able to hold on!"

"It doesn't matter." Lieutenant Colonel Moritz ended the dispute lightly: "Just leave it to Father Kaman."

The proposer was not convinced, but he did not dare to contradict Lieutenant Colonel Moritz, so he could only salute angrily and strode back to the shooting position.

"Camp?" Pierre watched the other party walk away.

"Just leave it to Father Kaman." Moritz repeated without changing his tone: "Besides, there is the lion."

As he spoke, the hail-like sound of hoofbeats penetrated the sand and dust and reached everyone's ears, becoming increasingly clear.

There are cavalry coming here!

"Musketeers!" Pierre ran to the direction where the hoofbeats came from, holding a spear and shouting: "My position! All troops are ready!"

The members of the mission equipped with muskets moved in an orderly manner to the side facing the incoming horse, each looked for a suitable shooting position, and carefully opened the gunpowder pool.

The wind and sand were so strong that the gunpowder in some gunpowder tanks was instantly blown away.

"Don't panic! Recharge!" Pierre suppressed the urge to curse: "Take your cloak and cover the fire door!"

Others immediately took off their cloaks and even coats to help the musketeers shield themselves from the wind and sand.

The Huds were not deaf, they also heard the sound of rolling hooves.

The smaller group of Hurd hunters suddenly fell into panic. Some hunters ran towards the horses desperately, while others stood there at a loss.

The poor leader tried hard to restrain the crowd, but the incoming cavalry gave him no chance.

The black cavalry broke through the sand and dust, the tips of the cavalry's spears were stained with dark red dried blood, and they went straight towards the smaller group of Hurd hunters.

The two sides had not yet had any substantial contact, and the smaller Hurd Hunters were completely in disarray.

Like a handful of bloody water scattered on the sand, the hunters from an unknown small tribe fled in all directions. Some got into the hunting circle, some fled into the sandstorm, and some ran towards the Tiefeng County mission in a panic.

"No firing!" Pierre jumped out of the felt wall, entered the open space between the first trip rope and the second trip rope, and threw his spear fiercely at the running Hurd hunter.

When the spear was released, Pierre pulled out his saber, rolled up and stopped in front of the tripping horse rope, and shouted loudly: "Get out!!!"

Even if they didn't understand the language, the meaning Pierre wanted to convey was accurate. The Hurd hunters woke up instantly, and most of them were knocked back by Pierre and rolled and crawled away to other places.

Only a thin Hud man, who didn't know whether he was frightened or not at all, continued to run towards the temporary fortifications of the Tiefeng County Mission.

Pierre gritted his teeth and stepped forward.

The skinny Hurd hunter saw Pierre and yelled something at the top of his lungs. He didn't pay attention to his step and ran into the previous trip rope.

The thin Hurd hunter stumbled heavily, and the wooden stake holding the tripping rope was also dragged crookedly.

Pierre was so angry that he raised his knife and was about to chop the thin Hurd hunter to death. Seeing Pierre's destructive expression, the thin Hurd hunter crawled backwards in horror.

The next moment, Pierre was angry and yelled unwillingly, turning around and rushing towards the wooden stake that fixed the snagging rope. Reason temporarily prevailed over his rage, and repairing the stumbling rope was more important than venting his anger.

He lifted up the leaning wooden stake. The soil in the hunting ground was loose, and the original hole where the wooden stake was fixed had been deformed. Pierre could only use the handle of the knife to pound the wooden stake deeper.

Suddenly, a stone fell on the wooden stake followed by the handle of the knife - the thin little Hurd hunter did not run away, but picked up a stone from somewhere and looked at Pierre in horror while helping.

The skinny hunter would jump up every time he knocked on the wooden stake, solidifying the soil around the wooden stake again. During the brief interval when the incoming cavalry slaughtered the Herd hunters, Pierre and the skinny hunter fixed the wooden stake again.

Seeing Pierre's gloomy expression, the skinny hunter turned around and was about to run away, but Pierre grabbed him by the collar and pulled him down.

Regardless of the opponent's struggles and shouts, Pierre dragged the skinny hunter back into the felt wall.

The incoming cavalry did not pursue those who fled too far, nor did they collect trophies. After scattering the tribe of thin hunters, they quickly gathered again.

Pierre threw the skinny hunter aside and asked with a heavy breath: "How many knights are there?"

"Half a squadron, less than a hundred." A musketeer stared: "Why can their horses be ridden?"

Pierre sneered: "It's just their fault!"

There were two groups of Hurd hunters near the Tiefeng County Mission. The smaller group bore the brunt and received the first blow.

Another group of hunters, the Badlands, reacted decisively. As soon as the incoming cavalry appeared, they immediately abandoned their unrideable horses, shared the rides on their barely rideable horses, and fled the place quickly.

The incoming cavalry had noticed that someone was escaping, but they did not choose to pursue them. Instead, they turned their attention to the Tiefeng County envoy who was standing still.

They mobilized their horses and galloped around the circular formation of the Tiefeng County envoy at a short distance.

Recruits who saw such a formation for the first time might be intimidated, but the warriors Winters selected were already familiar with the Hurd's tactics.

"Put away the musket." Pierre didn't want to expose the truth: "Be careful with the arrow clusters."
To be continued...