Chapter 7: The King of Sniping from Afar

  Thank you for the generous reward! I'm a bit excited. Thanks to "Bai Si Bu De Qi Jie Wei Yi You Yi Si Jie Tuo" book friend for the reward, this ID is slightly familiar, huh, it's the helm of the previous book, haha, welcome back.

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  After breakfast, most of the soldiers returned to their respective teams to perform tasks, and the archery training ground finally quieted down. Ma Hong did not receive a task, reportedly because his team beheaded the enemy general and captured the flag yesterday, making great achievements, and was allowed to rest for one day.

  Just right, Ma Hong can monopolize the training ground and practice freely. The effect is not very satisfactory: 120 steps, a total of 10 arrows were shot, the first three arrows did not hit the target, from the fourth arrow onwards, the bow was familiar, and every arrow hit the mark. Although less than half of the arrows hit the red heart, at least they didn't miss the target. The battlefield is not a competition, you don't need to hit ten rings with every arrow, as long as you hit your target and destroy it. Whether it's the head, throat, heart, or limbs - as long as you hit it, that's good.

  This time, the straw man target was still penetrated, but after the arrow passed through, it immediately fell off on the back of the target, and its momentum had been exhausted. From this, we can know that the effective armor-piercing (shield) force of the 6-stone bow is one hundred and twenty steps. To put it bluntly, this is the ultimate distance for sniping enemy generals.

  One hundred and fifty paces, the arrow pierced the wood, but it was already unable to penetrate. This is the ultimate distance for killing without armor. It's just that the accuracy... Ma Xun could completely forgive himself. After all, a super long distance of two hundred meters, he had never tried shooting with a bow before, and hitting ten or twelve out of ten was not bad.

  Within two hundred steps, yet so far away!

  Ma Hu's heart was dejected, but he didn't know that the only spectator, a small stone, had eyes shining with reverence, as if worshiping a god - using an extraordinary strength comparable to drawing a powerful crossbow, taking aim for a long time and firing twenty arrows in succession, as if it were nothing. Such divine power, let alone seeing it with one's own eyes, was something he had never even heard of!

  Xiao Shizi happily picked up the arrows one by one, smacking his lips: "A total of eight arrows were damaged. If I go to the army supplies department to claim compensation, I'm afraid I'll be blamed. It's better to buy them myself with my own money. After all, Master has received so many rewards..."

  "How much does an arrow cost?"

  "Twelve coins. But I'm familiar with a section chief at the military equipment office, so I can get the price down to ten coins." Xiaoshi proudly showed off his connections.

  Ma Xun smiled: "Alright, I'll leave this matter to you. Put down your quiver and go have some fun, I want to be alone for a while."

  Xiao Shizi nodded, slowly turned around, his footsteps hesitant, clearly reluctant to leave.

  Ma Xiang smiled and shook his head, thinking for a moment, then reached into his pocket and pulled out something. He was about to call out to Xiaoshi and give it to him as a toy. Suddenly, he thought of something and froze, his eyes gleaming with an unusual light, staring fixedly at the thing in his hand.

  Infrared signal emitter! Some assault rifles, even sniper rifles have this device, its function is very clear, it's to assist aiming. What I lack now is not the range, but accuracy, aiming. If I install this auxiliary aiming device on the bow handle...

  Talk is cheap. Ma Xun first fixed the aiming position at the bow handle, then took out a spare bowstring, cut off a section, and tied the pen-shaped infrared signal transmitter. After that, he held the bow in a shooting posture, repeatedly observed and adjusted the distance. After everything was correct, his left hand held the bow handle firmly, and his thumb pressed the switch to conduct actual measurements.

  At 120 paces, a bright red dot the size of a fingernail appeared clearly at the center of the straw man's chest. Unlike the general infrared aiming device on assault rifles which has a bean-sized aiming point, the infrared signal transmitter had an aiming point as large as a US dime, three times larger than usual, because its purpose was to make it easier for the search party to see. Therefore, even at 120 paces, with eyes as sharp as those of a hawk, one could still vaguely make out this red dot.

  Ma Hu's heart was racing with excitement, but of course, this didn't mean that aiming at the red dot and firing would definitely hit the target. He still needed to calculate the angle, because long-range shooting wasn't a straight line, but an arc. Medium and short-range shooting were straight lines, but two parallel lines couldn't intersect. So the arrow he shot out wouldn't hit the red dot directly, it would only hit above the red dot. Whether it was one inch or two inches above the red dot depended on the angle of the arrowhead.

  After repeated calculations, Ma Hong moved the infrared emission point down by about an inch and then loosened the string.

  Hum, the bowstring vibrates violently, and the arrow shoots out like lightning.

  Bullseye! Right on target, hitting the grass man's heart and mouth.

  Then, on the desolate and uninhabited Youzhou army's archery and crossbow training ground, a shocking scene was unfolding:

  A soldier holding a large bow and carrying a quiver on his back keeps running, shooting arrows at the straw man target as he runs: hitting the 80-step target and shattering it, flipping over the 100-step target, hitting the red heart of the 120-step target multiple times, having no misses for the 150-step target, and...

  "All on target! Master, all on target!" Xiaoshi was overjoyed and ran all the way back, dropping the arrows he was holding in his arms.

  "It's just not off the mark." Ma Xun narrowed his eyes, gazing at the small grass target about 200 steps away, and softly sighed, "Unfortunately, although the infrared aiming point can accurately aim, when one's eyesight is limited, it's hard to see clearly! However, before a battle array, with thousands of soldiers and horses, you really don't need to aim, as long as the range is far enough. Hmm, if only I had a 10-stone bow... Heh heh..."

  ……

  It was another morning, the first ray of sunlight shining through the gap in the curtain into the tent. Ma Han had already dressed and came out, taking a deep breath of the air with a faint smell of blood. This was the fourth day since Ma Han arrived in the Three Kingdoms era. He didn't know what this day meant for him, for this local war, or even for the entire history of the Three Kingdoms. All he knew was that from this moment on, he would not let anyone threaten his life again.

  Any danger should be eliminated from a hundred paces away.

  In front of the tent, Xiaoshi was concentrating on helping his master put on armor, while Mahan was inspecting the forty broken armor-piercing arrows that Xiaoshi had bought for him from the military equipment depot.

  Each of the Ji Hou soldiers is equipped with two quivers containing 24 arrows, mostly ordinary flat-blade arrows with average armor-piercing power. Ma Jian's 24 arrows were nearly halved after yesterday's training and need to be replenished. Considering that his main weapon in the future will be the bow and arrow, Ma Jian has requirements for the arrows that not only exceed the usual quantity but also have a unique quality.

  Anyway, there is the money and goods rewarded by Gongsun Zan, worth tens of thousands of dollars. There's not much use for it in the military camp, no need to spend it on improving equipment or increasing life insurance, so where else can it be used?

  Ma Hu bought forty three-edged broken armor arrows and two quiver bags at a high price of fifty coins per branch. In this way, others only hang two quiver arrow bags on both sides of the horse saddle, while he hangs four.

  The inspection results made Ma Yun quite satisfied: the arrow rod was straight and had no joints, the lacquer was applied very brightly; the tail feathers were new, the feathers were smooth and did not split; the three-edged arrowhead was polished to shine, the edges were parallel, and the naked eye could hardly see any errors. Such a good arrow is worth fifty cents.

  Just as he was about to take a closer look, Xiaoshi suddenly chuckled and said, "Master, those two female slaves have arrived."

  Ma Xun's gaze lifted, and he saw dozens of steps away, two women wearing pointed felt hats and single-layer robes were bowing to him from a distance, occasionally stealing glances over.

  As soon as he saw the two women, Ma Xun couldn't help but sigh. The two Wuwan women were given to him as slaves by Gongsun Zan. Gongsun Zan only gave them away, and what Ma Xun did with them was his own business.

  Ma Xun, as one of the leaders of the American Empire's gang, had many women around him, with various skin tones, identities, and charms. After experiencing countless faces, his taste and standards naturally improved, and ordinary beauties could hardly catch his eye. However, when he first heard that the two Uighur women were coming, Ma Xun was somewhat excited and even had a hint of expectation, wanting to see what kind of woman this ancient ethnic group, which had long since disappeared in later generations, would be like.

  The truth is heartbreaking. Ma Hong can tolerate some inferior looks, can tolerate women's various strange hairstyles, such as messy buns, short hair, flat heads, and even bald heads are okay, but, but you're a good woman, what's the point of having a shaved head?

  What is meant by "shaved head" is a hairstyle unique to the Hu people, where the middle of the forehead is shaved clean and a circle of hair is left around it, either tied up in a queue or let loose. The Wūlán, Xiānbēi, and other northern nomadic tribes all have this hairstyle for both men and women. For men to have this hairstyle isn't so bad, but for women to have it as well... just thinking about it is enough to make one feel sick.

  Ma Huan immediately drove them out of his tent as soon as he saw them. Although the military officer who brought the female slaves explained repeatedly, once the Wuhuan women got married, they would grow their hair, in other words, these two female slaves were unmarried and were favors from the Duke of Ji. But how could a stomach that had already turned upside down possibly feel better? In the end, the two female slaves had to set up another tent on the side, doing miscellaneous chores such as herding sheep, milking, washing clothes for Ma Huan, being used as ordinary servants.

  Ma Xun avoided the passionate and provocative glances from the two female slaves with dark skin and robust bodies, mounted his horse, and galloped towards the Western Camp.

  In the western camp, on the left corner, there is a region that is shrouded in smoke and fire all day long. This is indeed the military equipment repair depot of the Youzhou army. Hundreds of craftsmen are stationed here, responsible for repairing armor, fixing saddles, sharpening blades, mending shields, and so on for the soldiers.

  Ma Xun walked through the camp, his ears filled with the clanging sound of ironwork, and had to raise his voice, shouting at one of the tents: "Old Yu! Old Yu! Is what I want ready?"

  A burly, swarthy man with a thick beard emerged from the tent, his face creased in a wide grin that revealed a set of tobacco-stained teeth. "Ah, Marshal Ma! The thing you wanted is ready. I, Old Yu, had to put off several armor repair jobs just to make this for you. I'm afraid those soldiers will be making a ruckus..."

  Ma Huan dismounted and took out three strings of five copper coins from the horse's saddle bag, tossing them to Old Yu: "Not a single coin will be deducted, quickly take out the goods."

  Old Yu deliberately made a difficult case, but in fact, he also wanted to get some more money. The three thousand yuan plus the five hundred yuan deposit from yesterday was five hundred yuan more than the originally agreed price, which could be considered as an unexpected windfall. At this time, he happily entered the account tent and soon brought out a heavy package.

  Ma Huan took over the package, opened it and looked at it, nodded, put the package on the horse's back, got on the horse, patted the horse and left. As he passed by Old Yu's forge, he picked up a small iron hammer beside the furnace, waved it at Old Yu: "Borrow your hammer for a use."

  Lao Yu stretched out his hands and shouted at Ma Xian's back: "Taking my tools will delay my work, you must pay at least ten pieces of silver for the labor fee!"

  Ma Xun turned his head and waved his hand, riding his horse far away.

  On the cavalry training ground, Ma Hu rode his horse swiftly, occasionally performing some astonishing movements: such as hiding behind the stirrups, lifting his buttocks off the saddle, and leaning against the horse's neck, just like a modern-day equestrian master, with half of his body raised high, riding and galloping freely, letting the horse run wild.

  The reason he was able to make such a move is very simple, he wore stirrups - real stirrups, not two strips of leather or rope for a girth.

  After fighting with Zhao Yun yesterday, Ma Chao realized this important issue. Without stirrups, it would take at least half a year to ride as freely as Xiahou Dun's soldiers, and to achieve the level of Bai Ma Yi Cong, it might not be possible even in a year or two. So he immediately found the military equipment repair department, drew out the shape of two stirrups, and asked if they could be made as soon as possible.

  Horseshoes are not that technical, Old Yu is a bit greedy but his craftsmanship is quite good, he guarantees it can be taken the next day. Ma Yan then asked for horseshoe nails, as a result, Old Yu stared at him in surprise.

  Ma Huan was greatly surprised: "In this era, there are no horse shoes?"

  In fact, there wasn't! According to the historical development of horse riding equipment, the earliest was the bridle, followed by the saddle, and during the Three Kingdoms period, the saddle had already developed into a relatively sophisticated form, with high-level forms such as the high-bridge saddle already appearing. Next came the stirrup, which was invented around the Two Jin dynasties, while the horse hoof appeared the latest, with some believing it was during the Sui and Tang dynasties, and others believing it was during the Yuan dynasty... Regardless of the viewpoint, it is acknowledged that the horse hoof appeared after the stirrup, and at this time in the Three Kingdoms era, there wasn't even a shadow of the stirrup.

  Then Ma Huan ordered six horseshoes (two spare, just like a car's spare tire). Old Yu was puzzled for a while and couldn't understand what these strange iron pieces were used for, nor did he know the significance of these two things. Anyway, since there was money, let them do their job, why bother with others?

  With the stirrup, the effect is remarkable. Ma Xiu estimates that with his own riding skills and two or three months of intensive training, he can't compare to Zhao Yun, but at least joining the White Horse Righteousness won't be a problem.

  And the horse's hoof is also crucial, once a warhorse cracks its hoof, it basically says goodbye to the battlefield, and not even qualified as a pack horse. And warhorses are absolutely one of the most important war resources, a small hoof can save countless warhorses and pack horses.

  Ma Huan had experience in shoeing his own beloved racing horse, and he intended to do it himself for his mount. But just as he took out the small knife, hammer, long nails and other tools, suddenly, a urgent assembly bugle call spread throughout the military camp, and the Youzhou military camp was instantly stirred up.

  After a brief silence of only two days, the Jizhou army broke the stalemate and launched an attack, starting the second phase of the Battle of Jieqiao.

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  (The earliest archaeological finds of the high saddle, currently discovered, appeared in the Three Kingdoms period of Sun Wu, and already had all the characteristics of a high saddle. Even the war horses with the least number of Sun Wu were equipped with such things, let alone the northern vassals who took cavalry as their main force.)