Chapter 144: Chapter 64: Shooting the Halberd at the Camp Gate! Duncan wasn’t seeking a decision from the Frankish envoy.
He wanted the Frankish leader Molov to make the decision through a contest of skill at the camp gate!
There was even a hint of flaunting his martial prowess, hoping to make him lower his stance.
Duncan’s ultimate goal was to ensure that the Franks followed his command in the upcoming Battle of Sharon, or at least cooperated with him in combat, thus allowing Duncan to indirectly command a force of five to six thousand elite troops.
In this era, the Barbarian Race revered personal valor, and if Duncan hit the mark with this arrow, whether it was Divine Protection or supernatural archery, it would make Molov seriously consider his capabilities.
Encountering such archery on the battlefield meant that by the time he spotted Duncan, it might already be too late as Duncan could have already taken him out.
Of course, the prerequisite of all this planning was that he must hit the target now!
If he missed, it would only bring disgrace to Duncan.
This is the boldness of the skillful!
The Frankish envoy was skeptical, unable to make a decision, but Duncan didn’t care, as long as he relayed everything he had witnessed back to Molov.
The entire tent was dead silent.
Everyone knew Duncan’s archery was unparalleled in Great Britain, but in this weather and at such a distance, hitting an axe handle only two fingers wide was beyond anyone’s imagination.
In fact, Duncan was being very conservative.
To him, standing and shooting with a crosshair that unwavering meant he only had to consider the wind. The Nord Bow’s hidden capabilities made the wind almost negligible, and the strong bow hardly deviated from its trajectory. In truth, his foot shooting could have been even more audacious.
The soldiers were quickly ready.
Crow Queen Triss moved to Duncan’s right side, glanced at him, her lips slightly moved, and a second later, Duncan noticed a new buff in his God’s Eye view.
——Eagle’s Eye (Temporary State).
Duncan suddenly found his vision could zoom in and out like that of an eagle, likely a blessing from Crow Queen Triss, who worried he might miss, giving him a buff from Diana or Artemis.
But it was unnecessary; Duncan felt quite confident.
Whoosh!
The Nord Bow was drawn like a full moon, without much hesitation, Duncan released an arrow, the string humming as the arrow pierced the axe handle of the Frankish flying axe.
The entire tent erupted in thunderous cheers.
The Frankish envoy was dumbfounded, glancing at Duncan, then stepping forward to inspect the flying axe at the camp’s entrance.
But Duncan didn’t stop there.
He nocked another arrow, aiming at the arrow he just shot. Amidst the awed and slightly dazed gazes of others, the second arrow shot forth, splitting the first arrow almost in two, with the arrowhead of the first arrow breaking off, while the second remained lodged in its place.
The cheers abruptly halted!
In the next second.
A nearly frenzied shout echoed to the heavens.
Duncan put away the Nord Bow, handed it to the equally stunned Crow Queen Triss beside him, and patted the Frankish envoy’s shoulder, laughing, "Looks like Odin favors me."
"He indeed assures me of victory in this battle!"
The stage is set for you.
If Molov is a smart man, he should know what to do next since they are still allies for the time being.
The bewildered Frankish envoy was sent off.
Duncan began assembling the army, dispatching over a dozen scouts to monitor the movements of the Hun raiders.
This battle saw both infantry and cavalry mobilized, with the Hun raiders bringing a large vassal army. After the heavy rain, the crucial battles still required infantry to fight, with the cavalry serving as the mobile flanks. Duncan also had dozens of Welsh archers mixed with two to three hundred British Auxiliary Archers and Saxon archers, reducing concerns even in foot archer duels.
Duncan was also training the archers in melee combat, selecting some of the elite for training.
His ideal infantry have the shooting capabilities of English longbowmen and can still wield a two-handed sword to scatter enemies in close combat.
That’s right.
He wanted a force equivalent to the elite Fianna Warriors of Badania.
For now, they hadn’t been trained yet.
But if they were, likely they’d be a small army of foot archer-Zhang Feis.
After all, they were dubbed the Badanian two-handed Sword Saints.
Duncan’s goals weren’t that large; having a hundred or two, capable of deciding the outcome of a local skirmish at a pinch, would suffice. For now, he was still investing in the English longbowmen’s tech tree.
The storm abated.
Duncan called his troops to move towards Paris, as scouts had already spotted the movements of the Hun forces. The reconnaissance capability of the Huns was also formidable, with their scouts likewise spotting Duncan’s troops. The scouts clashed briefly in the wild, with Clegane not engaging them head-on as the elite Hun archers were somewhat challenging.
Meanwhile.
Towards Balrog’s direction, a rugged man with a scar on his stern cheek gazed towards the distant mountains, beside him a Hun elite rider just returned.
"The enemy has around two thousand men, mostly infantry with poor equipment."
The scout recalled, "They might be reinforcements from Britain."
"I saw a black dragon head banner."