On the vast grassland, a small team of centaurs galloped towards the Alps.
Huge iron hooves trampled the grass, causing the earth to groan in pain. Countless mice and hares were frightened and crawled into caves in search of a sense of security.
The slanting sun was in front of them, piercing their eyes with its rays.
Occasionally, a kind-hearted white cloud floats above their heads, bringing them a little coolness.
The wolves followed at a short distance, keeping vigilance against the centaurs that broke into their territory, or planning to teach them a lesson after the blood moon rose.
Unfortunately, they no longer have this opportunity.
With a whistle, twenty centaur archers happily rushed out of the team and killed many wolves that had no time to run away for food. Driving on the vast grassland, the unchanging scenery will make people feel that time is boring, while hunting is
It's the only activity that brings fun.
These centaurs are the escorts that escort Atwood to the tauren territory.
There were twenty warriors and twenty archers each, and they had been setting off for eighteen days under the Khan's command.
Centaur warriors can be divided into three types.
One type is heavy cavalry wearing heavy armor. They are the strongest and strongest warriors from each tribe.
The whole body is wrapped in airtight steel armor. Once it runs, it is an invincible flow of steel. Perhaps only the Snake Tribe, who also has an extremely powerful body, can contain it.
However, the number of these heavy cavalry is now only three hundred, and they are all the Khan's golden tent guards.
The reason is not only that it is difficult to find a centaur that can carry hundreds of kilograms of weight and run for an hour without getting tired, but also because the iron ore on the grassland is pitifully scarce.
The other is the ordinary centaur knight.
Every centaur can become one of them when they reach adulthood, usually holding spears, maces, machetes, maces and other weapons that are heavy enough, accounting for three-quarters of the centaur army.
The last type is the centaur archer.
They are the fastest centaurs, with lean and slender bodies and slightly longer arms than other tribesmen. They are also the core of the Centaur tribe in war.
The Centaur's fighting pattern follows the tactics of the wolf pack.
First, the endless harassment of the archers exhausted the enemy, then they used heavy cavalry to break the formation, and finally, the centaur warriors chased and defeated the enemy.
But in many cases, only centaur archers are needed.
Because in the open terrain, they rely on the speed of coming and going and the range that is twice that of humans, they can easily kill the human army alive.
The setting sun is like fire, and dusk is approaching.
The centaur, who had been on the road since early morning, lit a fire by the lakeside and cleaned the wolf meat to prepare for dinner.
The only human in the team, Atwood Teutonic, squatted by the lake with some difficulty, holding water to wash away the dust from his face. The continuous rush made his inner thighs constantly scab and bleed.
But fortunately, there has been very little bleeding these days.
But it still made him a little sad.
The Teutonic Knights, who once dominated the north, were the only cavalry in the north that could compete head-on with the centaurs. However, after wandering in the south for many years, they actually deteriorated to the point where they could no longer bear the pain of galloping for days.
Alas, things change and people change.
Be fair, fearless, and never give up.
I am the last Teutonic, and I shoulder the hope of Teutonic revival.
Atwood recited the family's motto in his heart, looked at the outline of the Alps that came into his eyes, and silently strengthened his faith.
As the tauren territory got closer and closer, his sorrow became more and more anxious.
Because the test given by Centaur Khan Julius is not an easy thing to complete.
Let’s start with the hatred between centaurs and tauren.
After the establishment of the Holy Empire, the Mills royal family kept their promise and sent the Griffin Legion northward to build the northern defense line with the Teutonic Dukes. This caused the centaurs to return miserably every time they headed south, and gave them nowhere to vent their plundering genes.
.
At that time, the demihuman tribe was also expelled to the northern Blood Rock by the Holy Empire, and the place where the tauren thrived was at the eastern end of the northern Blood Rock, next to the hilly area of the grassland.
This is an area where trees and mountains coexist, with a harsh climate, little cultivated land, and rocky ravines almost everywhere.
The tauren who were forced to migrate also had a very difficult life within the tribe. Not only were they short of supplies, but they also had to survive almost every winter half-starved and half-full.
But even so, they could not stop the plundering from the centaurs.
For the centaur race, plundering is a kind of fun and a survival instinct.
They enjoy this process, but how much materials or food they can plunder is secondary.
For example, people in the north describe the customs of centaurs by saying, "Even a mouse passing in front of the centaurs will have a few tufts of fur plucked off." This describes the cruelty of centaurs.
Therefore, one day two hundred years ago, the centaurs suddenly attacked a gathering place on the outskirts of the tauren territory. They killed all the resisting tauren and stole everything they could use. Moreover,
When they set fire to the village and left, they also sharpened the wooden fences of the village one by one, and wore them on all the young, old and children who had no fighting ability and left them to die, in order to have fun and show off their strength.
This is a conflict of historic proportions.
Being attacked for no reason made Niu Rentou filled with righteous indignation, and the tragic death of women and children turned them into relentless messengers of revenge.
Blood and war broke out between the two races and continue to this day.
When every tauren sees a centaur, it will launch a relentless attack; when every centaur sees a tauren, it will prepare for battle or run away.
The centaur's powerful mobility cannot be matched by the bulky tauren.
It is precisely for this reason that the tauren suffered a lot in the war when facing the centaurs that came and went like the wind.
They have all migrated to Blood Rock in the north for more than two hundred years. Relying on the trade of the Eaton family, they no longer have to worry about food. However, the number of the race is still very rare, with only more than 5,000 people now.
However, the centaurs also received their retribution.
Tauren are members of the demihuman tribal alliance, and they have a docile character. During wars, they often take responsibility for the aftermath without any regrets. They have always been respected as "elders" in the alliance.
Not surprisingly, after learning what happened to them, all the demi-humans from the northern Blood Rock came to join the battle!
When the Tyrannosaurus spread their wings and drink the long wind, soaring high in the sky and constantly monitoring the Centaur's whereabouts; when the Deinosuchus with sharp bone spurs and the Minotaur line up side by side, forming a line of defense that the Centaur cannot shake; when
The werewolves rode wargs and lurked in the mountain col to cut off the centaur's return, and the centaur faced an unbearable burden.
In that battle, more than four thousand centaurs were killed on the edge of the tauren territory.
That year the entire hills turned red, and because of the irrigation of Centaur flesh and blood, even the barren ravines grew lush and prosperous flowers and plants. Even today, in some Centaur tribes,
There are still people singing sad songs about this war.
After this battle, the centaurs rarely approached the tauren territory.
Because not only can they not rob anything, but they are also in danger of losing their lives.
And the tauren almost never entered the grassland to attack the centaurs.
There is no way. The top priority of all the demihuman tribes in the Northern Blood Rock is to restore the number of tribesmen and accumulate strength for returning to their hometown in the future, rather than going deep into the grasslands to start endless wars.
The war between the two races came to a standstill.
But the hatred did not subside.
As long as both sides have a chance, they will never live to see the sun tomorrow.
This is the reason for Atwood's trip.
Centaur Khan Julius needs him to convince the tauren to put aside their hatred and make a non-aggression pact with the centaurs.
After all, if it wants to swallow the great gift brought by the Teutons and calmly enter the northern part of the empire, then it must first ensure that the women and children left on the grassland will not be attacked by the demihuman tribe before heading south.
There is no need to question whether the demihuman tribe has this strength.
In front of the violent eagle tribe that can fly hundreds of miles in a day, the centaurs on the grassland have no place to hide.
Don't even question whether the demihumans will send troops to retaliate. The tauren, who are extremely stubborn and only accept death, will not let go of such an opportunity, and the demihuman tribes in the northern Blood Rock will not refuse the request of the tauren to fight side by side.
As for whether the tauren and other demihuman tribes will pretend to promise reconciliation between the two parties, and then go back on their word after the centaurs move south~~
Julius needn't worry.
The demihuman tribe does not believe in gods like the humans, but instead worships the ancestors of their own race.
In contrast to humans who regard faith as a means of governance and can change their faith when necessary, the demihuman tribe will not break the oath they made in the name of their ancestors even if they die.
Because the same is true for the Centaurs, once they swear an oath in the name of their ancestors, they will not break it.
In other words, pure faith that has not been corrupted by excessive wealth and has not been mixed with power is the most pious, and can be trusted even if we are enemies of each other.
"If the tauren and other northern Blood Rock demihuman tribes swear an oath in the name of their ancestors that they will no longer be enemies of the centaurs, I, Julius Saxon, the youngest and greatest centaur in history
The Khan also swore in the name of his ancestors that from now on the Centaurs would no longer wage war against the oxen! They would never come closer than two hundred miles outside their territory! He also gave them 3,000 horses and 30,000 sheep as gifts!
"
This was the condition Julius made when the Teutons set off to the Tauren territory.
Three thousand horses and thirty thousand sheep are a considerable amount of wealth for any demihuman tribe in the Northern Blood Rock. They can be exchanged for countless materials and goods through the Eaton family, but the Teutons cannot be convinced
Tauren.
How can it be so easy to let go of a war that has lasted for two hundred years and a blood feud that has lasted for several generations?
In particular, the tauren race is known for their stubbornness!
Perhaps, the hatred for centaurs has long been engraved in their bones and has become an obsession, even a belief...
But Atwood has to do it.
In order to avenge the Mills royal family and let the Teutonic flag fly in the north again, he had no choice.
The sun slowly approached the grassland skyline, and the afterglow covered Atwood with golden armor, but it could not erase the sadness lingering in his heart.