At the fifth watch, it was still dark and most people were sleeping. A group of warriors from the Liang family set off quietly. There were ten people in total. The leader was still Liang Huihe, and the contestants were three people, Guo Song, Liang Wu and Liang Wu.
Ju'er and the other seven are logistics assistants.
The competition is still arranged in the military camp outside Beicheng. There are eight clan forts and fourteen martial arts schools in this competition. Each family is allowed three people to participate. The theoretical number of participants should be sixty-six, but the actual number of participants is only forty.
With six people, most martial arts schools cannot find three disciples who can ride and shoot.
"Little Fatty practiced pretty well yesterday. He was able to hit three out of ten arrows from thirty steps away. I found that a good bow can indeed greatly improve my performance."
Guo Song was still thinking about what happened yesterday, wondering what Duan Xiushi planned to do with him?
"You're a little absent-minded!" Liang Wu glanced at him and said.
Guo Song smiled and said, "Then have you found a good bow yourself?"
"My bow is very good. It took the most famous bowsmith of the Shuofang Army three years to make it. It is recognized as one of the three best bows in Lingzhou. Last year, I won the fourth place in the individual mounted archery group with it."
.”
Guo Song tried not to think about those things and put his thoughts back.
"Tell me the rules of the game!"
Guo Song pondered for a moment and said: "I still don't know anything about the rules of the game."
Liang Wu nodded, "The riding and shooting competition is divided into three groups, namely Group C with 30 steps, Group B with 50 steps, and Group A with 100 steps. The scores are also different. The maximum of Group C is only three points, and the maximum of Group B is
Five points, the highest in Group A is ten points, and then there are two bonus points, one for shooting the pigeon with an arrow from left and right, and one for shooting the flying pigeon with an arrow. Three points for shooting the pigeon with an arrow.
"Are there any restrictions on the distance and time you can run on horseback?" Guo Song asked again.
"Yes! One hundred and fifty steps must be completed within one drum. At least three arrows must be shot. The three arrows are accumulated to the individual's final score. Extra points will be calculated separately."
"Brother Guo, please pay attention to the target!"
Next to him, Liang Juer added with a smile: "The archery target is a wooden target. It is relatively hard and you have to shoot hard to nail it. There are also pigeons, which are usually released when they are at their peak. So far, only Guo Guo the year before last year has
Chongqing and Lin Tai have scored extra points, this year we are counting on you."
Guo Song smiled lightly, "I'll do my best!"
Not long after, everyone walked out of the North City Gate and arrived at the military camp. The sword competition tables in the military camp were all dismantled and turned into three large martial arts fields. These are the archery grounds for three groups, and various arrow targets have been installed.
In place, various boundary lines were drawn with quicklime, and nearly a thousand soldiers were on guard all around.
There will be grouping and drawing of lots today, so everyone must arrive early. However, even if you arrive early, you cannot enter the stadium to practice. The competition ground is heavily guarded and no one is allowed to enter.
This is obviously not good for players like Guo Song who are participating in the competition for the first time. Others have participated in it many times and are familiar with the arena, but Guo Song knows nothing about it.
Liang Huihe went to the group to draw lots, while everyone was sitting boredly in the big tent waiting. At this time, Liang Ling'er poked her head in and whispered: "Tell everyone the latest information."
"Ling'er, when did you come here?"
"Hehe! I've been here a long time ago, and I'm not with you."
Liang Ling'er ran in and said with a mysterious face: "Accurate news, Lin Tai will also play today, I saw him."
Liang Wu was startled, "Isn't he injured?"
"He has a leg injury, which does not affect riding. If he insists on participating, the Lin family's hope of winning will be greater."
Guo Song said from the side: "The Lin family's foot archers are already seven points ahead of us. Unless there is a major mistake, they will win without a doubt. Our goal is to try to defeat the Guo family and win second place."
………..
As the daylight gradually dawned, the grouping and drawing of lots were completed, and the eight family forts were all divided into Group A. After all, they all had their own backgrounds, so it was relatively easy to find three disciples who could ride and shoot.
Liang Wu took out a piece of paper with a wooden figure on it. He was explaining the specific scoring criteria to Guo Song.
"Perfectness is worth ten points. This is basically impossible, so I won't go into it. Secondly, the accuracy of the head is nine points, the accuracy of the neck is eight points, the accuracy of the chest is seven points, and the other parts are six points. No points will be counted for missing the target.
The maximum full score is thirty-eight points, including two bonus points.
But so far, the highest score is only 30 points. Lin Tai got it the year before last. He shot the pigeon. Han Chongqing's highest score was 29 points. He can shoot left and right. Both of them have very stable results. Don't expect them to make mistakes.
It just depends on whether you can compete with them for first place in the individual competition."
"It seems that you have never mentioned the Lin family's foreign aid?"
Guo Song thought of the tall and stern-looking general of the Tang Army. He looked different. An intuition told Guo Song that this foreign aid was more powerful than Han Chongqing and Wu Zheng.
"The Lin family's foreign aid is called Li Ji. He is a scout captain of the Shuofang Army. He is very strong in swordsmanship and cavalry archery. He became the Lin family's foreign aid last year, but he did not perform well in cavalry and archery last year. He ranked fifth, and I was fourth. In addition,
, The Lin family also has a son named Lin Yang, who is also good at riding and shooting, and will also play today."
"What about the Guo family?" Guo Song thought of Han Chongqing and asked casually.
"The Guo family is weaker, Han Chongqing is the strongest, Guo Jiang and Guo Qiang can make the top ten, but they are all behind."
Having said this, Liang Wu was really frustrated. Their footwork performance was so poor that they fell into a great passive position.
‘Boom! Boom! Boom!’ The first preparatory drum sounded outside.
Liang Huihe strode in and said loudly: "The result of the draw is that Liang Wu is the fourth player, Liang Ju'er is the seventh player, and Guo Song is the seventeenth player. Now we can enter the cavalry shooting range. Let's go!"
Today the weather is not beautiful, there is no sun, and the weather is overcast. Although the sky is bright, the visibility is not very good. There is always a gray mist floating in the air, which is a test for the contestants' eyesight.
This was the first time Guo Song saw an army riding range. There was a curved runway in the middle, about two hundred steps long. There were five wooden figures standing a hundred steps apart on both sides of the runway. They were about life-size and wore leather armor.
, wearing a helmet, the reason why there are wooden figures standing on both sides is mainly to test the player's ability to shoot left and right bows.
Generally speaking, it is difficult to shoot left and right bows without five to eight years of hard training. So far, only Guo Chongqing has shown the ability to shoot left and right bows. Maybe Lin Tai also has this ability, but he chose to shoot flying pigeons with arrows.
You must run one hundred and fifty steps in one drum, which requires the horse to be fast and shoot at least three arrows while running at a high speed. This is actually a points deduction. There will be no extra points if you exceed the limit. If you fail to finish, you will be
Points will be deducted.
For example, if you only have time to shoot two arrows, and both arrows hit the head accurately, you should get eighteen points. However, because you did not shoot the third arrow and did not complete the basic task, an additional five points will be deducted.
More than two dozen participating riders gathered in a corner waiting to start. Everyone was very nervous. After all, they only had one chance. At this time, Guo Song unexpectedly saw Duan Sanniang. He had not heard from her for a long time.
, she seemed to have disappeared in Lingzhou City.
Duan Sanniang is wearing a green tight-fitting warrior uniform, holding a thrush bow in her hand, and a majestic maroon horse on her crotch. She seems to be a little thinner than before, and her skin is slightly darker, but she is still heroic and has a pink face.
Evil.
"Whose family is Duan Sanniang fighting for?" Guo Song asked in a low voice.
Liang Wu pouted, "Xujiabao! She has always been Xujiabao's foreign aid. She is good at walking, bowing, riding, and shooting, but her sword skills are not good, so she is eliminated in the first round every time."
"Why would Xujiabao ask her to be a foreign aid?"
Guo Song didn't understand. Any brigade commander in the army would be better than her. No wonder Xujiabao always ranked at the bottom.
Liang Wu hesitated for a moment, then told the truth, "Her riding and archery skills are indeed pretty good. She tied for sixth last year. With her here, Xujiabao will not be at the bottom of the rankings in this riding and archery team competition."
"Boom! Boom! Boom!" The drum beat again, and a referee shouted: "The riding and archery competition is about to begin. The first one to take the stage is Meng Jian. Duan Sanniang and Zhao Wuchu are invited to get ready!"
"
The riding and shooting competition finally began. A young warrior on a white horse urged his horse to the starting line. Liang Juer introduced Guo Song in a low voice: "Meng Jian is the second warrior in Mengjiapu. Among the top ten
Beyond the name."
At this time, Guo Song suddenly remembered something and asked quickly: "Then Liang Wu has already prepared a general, right? We have to choose again this time."
Liang Ju'er grinned, "This is already the fourth time. The contestants here are either reserve generals or alternate reserve generals. They do not occupy the quota, and the quota is given to others."
"Then is there any hope for Fatty Shi?"
Liang Juer shook his head, "The threshold for a candidate general is not about thirty or fifty steps, but how many times you hit it. If you hit two out of three arrows, you are expected to become a candidate general. Yesterday, Shi Xiaopang only had ten arrows."
No. 3 Middle School, I think he is still quite weak."
At this time, the drums sounded rapidly, and the first participating warrior entered the battle. Guo Song was no longer distracted and stared at Meng Jian, who was the first to fight. However, he could see that his archery and horse riding were obviously uncoordinated. Guo Song could not help but shake his head.
Shaking his head, the heat was still far from enough.
After Meng Jian shot two arrows, perhaps because he was too nervous, he lost control of his body when he shot the third arrow and fell off his horse. This caused a cry of surprise and more than a dozen soldiers rushed to rescue him.
Meng Jian was carried out. Although he scored 12 points for hitting two arrows, he did not finish the race or shoot all three arrows, so he was deducted ten points, and finally only scored two points.
Guo Song suddenly discovered that the scores of cavalry and archery fluctuated greatly. Although there was a seven-point gap between them and the Lin family in footwork, it was really nothing. At this moment, Guo Song had a glimmer of confidence in defeating the Lin family.