Chapter 6: Violent Sniper

  What a grand alliance! Another grand alliance! A shocking move! Five days after the book was released, I'm delighted to see the leader! Welcome Feng Qiu Tong Liu and Shi Wu Lang to join forces again in the Jianghu world.

  In the Chinese military tent, Gong Sun Zan sat high at the top, with four robust and sturdy followers on either side, as well as a military advisor. At the lower end stood two mid-to-low ranking officers: Cavalry General Zhao Yun and Team Leader Ma Han.

  This was Gongsun Zan summoning this young squad leader for the second time in just two days. Normally, such a low-ranking officer would not have been qualified to enter his great account, let alone continuously enter the account. But it is unknown whether this person was too lucky or really had skills, and he joined the family army for only two days, killing one high-level military general each from the Hebei province military, and thick rewards, promotions, and personal summons were not enough to explain.

  Gongsun Zan summoned him this time and brought Zhao Yun along, with a purpose in mind. As soon as he saw the two of them, his first question was to ask Zhao Yun: "How is it? Can you handle it?"

  "Ah... " Zhao Yun gave a military salute to Gongsun Zan, slightly tilting his head to glance at Ma Chao, wanting to speak but stopping himself.

  Ma Chao's eyes flashed with understanding as he realized Zhao Yun's true intention for dragging him to the training grounds today, which was actually entrusted by Gongsun Zan.

  Gongsun Zan's thick eyebrows furrowed like a iron broom, his eyes narrowed: "What? Is there something inconvenient?"

  "No, I was just thinking about how to put it into words..." Zhao Yun collected his thoughts and said, "The cavalry is indeed brave and fierce, truly one of the best I've ever seen. Unfortunately, their horsemanship still leaves something to be desired. Given time and effort to practice, they will surely meet the requirements of the Righteous Army."

  Gongsun Zan understood this, Zhao Yun thought that Ma Yan had bravery and could be called a fierce warrior, but his riding skills were not refined, and he did not meet the requirements of the White Horse Vanguard. This somewhat disappointed Gongsun Zan. Since yesterday's defeat, the White Horse Vanguard suffered heavy losses, severely affecting Gongsun Zan's escort defense. He urgently needed to replenish fresh blood, and Ma Yan, who had performed outstandingly, naturally entered his line of sight. Unfortunately...

  Gongsun Zan let out a sigh and had no choice but to change the reward for Ma Chao's killing of Ju Shou's general, Wei Yuanjin.

  "Dragon Horse."

  "Belonging to the lower class."

  "Listen and appreciate."

  At this time, the soldier Cao first bowed to Gongsun Zan and then opened the book, reading aloud: "Hou Qu Yu Tu Tun team leader Ma Hen, due to his merits, was promoted to Hou Qu Yu Tu Tun team leader. His rank was raised by two levels, he was awarded 10,000 coins, three pieces of cloth, twenty cows and sheep, ten mu of land, and a certain amount of wine and meat..."

  With the heavy reward of yesterday, today's reward is not in Ma Heng's eyes. The only thing that feels good is that he was promoted two levels to become a hundred generals and became equal to Zhao Yun. However, Zhao Yun, the cavalry general, is the captain of the direct guard team under the general, while Ma Heng's hundred generals are just ordinary patrol officers, not comparable.

  But Ma Xun didn't mind, having just arrived for two days and already becoming a hundred generals, isn't that enough? Hmm, since Gongsun Zan has the intention of letting himself join the White Horse Righteous Army, it seems like he can bring up this request.

  Ma Xun immediately made a fist and bowed, saying: "Ji Hou, I have something to ask of you."

  "What? What's going on?"

  "Lacking a suitable strong bow under his command."

  Baima Yicong was a renowned archer cavalryman during the Three Kingdoms period, with high requirements for riding and shooting skills. Originally, Zhao Yun's assessment of Ma Fan should have included his shooting skills, but since Ma Fan failed to pass the riding test, there was no need to assess his shooting skills - if one's riding skills are not up to par, having good shooting skills is useless.

  Gongsun Zan nodded, and General Zhao Yun highly praised this man's bravery, thinking that he must have great strength. So the standard-issue military bow would naturally not be suitable for him. At this time, he asked with interest: "Can Ma Biao draw a bow of several hundred jin?"

  Ma Hu:"The strongest bow in the army is which one? I will use that one."

  Not only Gong Sun Zan and Zhao Yun, but also the four guards inside the account, stared wide-eyed, and then suddenly lost their laughter. If it weren't in the military account, I'm afraid someone would have burst out laughing: This kid's tone is too big, isn't he afraid of getting his tongue blown away by the wind? Even if you want to attract the attention of Ji Hou, you don't have to use such a clumsy method! Doesn't he fear that things will backfire?

  "Good! I admire a brave warrior who has confidence in himself." Gong Sun Zan laughed loudly and ordered his attendants to bring over his horn bow, handing it to Ma Chao. "If you can draw this bow ten times within the span of ten breaths, then the bow is yours."

  Ma Wu said with a firm refusal: "The precious bow of the Duke of Ji is yours, I dare not accept it."

  Gongsun Zan was nonchalant and waved his hand: "I still have several good bows, if you can draw them open, I'll reward you with one."

  But Ma Yun's next sentence made Gongsun Zan furious.

  Ma Yuan said: "Those under me dare not damage the precious bow of General Ji."

  Gongsun Zan glared at the young man, saying word by word: "If the bow is damaged, I will pardon you. But if you can't draw the bow twenty times within ten breaths, all previous rewards and titles will be stripped away!"

  A robust attendant held out a large bow wrapped in a leather case with both hands and presented it to Ma Xun.

  Ma Huan said this, actually wanting to show off in front of Gongsun Zan, so as not to be looked down upon by the powerful White Horse General. In the military camp, the general attaches most importance to military strategy, and the soldiers attach most importance to bravery. If one doesn't show off a bit, they will only be belittled. Ma Huan, who has been fighting in the Western regions for many years, also holds values similar to those of Europe and America, never considering humility an honor, and believing that true strength is meant to be displayed.

  When Ma Huan's left hand grasped the bow arm, he couldn't pull it down with one grip. He looked up to see a playful and teasing look in the eyes of his attendants.

  Ma Xun immediately put his right hand on the bow arm, making a gesture of lowering his head in respect. His right arm moved, and he pulled the bow and person together. If the attendants hadn't suddenly realized something was wrong and let go in time, they would have almost made a fool of themselves.

  Under the gaze of Gong Sunzhan's anger, Zhao Yun's worry and the entourage's shock and uncertainty, Ma Yuan calmly bent his bow, adjusted the string, then held the bow handle with his left hand and pulled the string with two fingers of his right hand, slowly drawing it open, like a full moon.

  Gongsun Zan nodded slowly, his face looking a bit better, but in the next moment, his expression stiffened.

  Ma Chao drew his bow and nodded to Gongsun Zan and Zhao Yun. Then, with a burst of strength, he snapped the three-hundred-pound bow in two.

  Ma Xun's face was filled with "fear", and he presented the broken bow: "Your subordinate has committed a crime, damaging the precious bow of the Duke of Ji, and is willing to accept punishment."

  Gongsun Zan was shocked and exclaimed, "What great arm strength! He can be considered the best in the army. It seems that bows with a draw weight of less than 5 stones are not suitable for him. Gongxuan, you are in charge of distributing military equipment, do we have any strong bows with a draw weight of over 5 stones?"

  The military advisor smiled bitterly and saluted in return: "General Ji, I have never heard of anyone in our army who can use the five-stone crossbow horseback riding technique, so we haven't prepared such a device."

  Gongsun Zan let out a sigh, with a hint of regret, and looked at Ma Chao. He was about to speak when Zhao Yun stepped forward, cupping his fists: "Milord, I happen to know that there is a six-stone strong bow, but it's a footbow, used as a testing device to select candidates for the Zhang archers."

  "Step bow?" Gong Sun Zan looked up and down at Ma Jian, laughing loudly. "This young man is over eight feet tall, even if he uses a step bow, it won't affect his riding and shooting. That six-stone bow will be yours, I only hope you practice hard at the art of horseback archery and become one of my loyal followers soon."

  "Thank you, Marquis!"

  ……

  This is a six-liang recurve composite bow, with the best wood for making bows, the entire body is a clear yellow, and the handle is even more shiny due to sweat and palm rubbing. The force required to draw this bow once is equivalent to 360 jin now - and it's done with one hand. It's called a "step bow" because the length of the bow reaches 1.6 meters, almost as tall as a person. This length makes it very inconvenient for horseback shooting, more importantly, it's hard to borrow force from the horseback. The strength of the bow that cavalry usually opens is one-fourth less than standing on the ground. That is to say, on the ground, you can open a two-liang bow, but on horseback, you can only open a one-liang five-dou bow.

  For Ma Hu, opening a six-stone bow and opening a one-stone bow don't make much difference in terms of the strength consumed, but the range and penetration are quite different. If he had this six-stone bow in his hand yesterday, how could Xuanyuan rush to the front?

  This bow will be his first weapon for survival and combat from now on, he must test it well.

  There are several training grounds in the Youzhou army camp. In the morning, Ma Chao and Zhao Yun competed with each other on horseback, which is the cavalry training ground, located in the east and north. There are also infantry training grounds and crossbow training grounds.

  Xin Deqiang's new bow, Ma Xian directly came to the archery training ground, with a small stone behind him, carrying two bags of twenty-four arrows.

  The archery training ground is a long, flat area about 200 steps wide and over 300 steps long. The northwest side has a gentle semi-circular slope that can block strong winds, ensuring the stability and accuracy of shooting.

  This place can accommodate hundreds of people to practice shooting at the same time. Among Gongsun Zan's army, half were Han and half were non-Han, with many Wuhuan and Xianbei people. Therefore, there were not a few soldiers who excelled in horseback archery, but more who excelled in infantry archery. At this moment, it was just after the morning exercise had ended, which belonged to the personal shooting practice time. The bow and crossbow training ground was crowded with soldiers practicing their marksmanship. Due to the scarcity of targets, many of the waiting soldiers were scattered around in twos and threes.

  When Ma Huo entered the scene, no one paid attention to him at first, but soon a sharp-eyed soldier recognized the large bow in his hand as the "Leopard Bow" that had been used for selecting archers and crossbowmen. The name "Leopard Bow" was a private nickname given by the soldiers, who believed that only someone with the strength of a tiger or leopard could easily draw this powerful bow.

  This leopard bow wasn't always kept by the military officer, only taken out when testing its strength, how did it end up in this person's hands?

  One, two, three... more and more soldiers noticed the unusual large bow in Ma Chao's hand, gradually followed him, and finally formed a semi-encirclement. The scene was like a general leading his attendants and a large group of followers to the archery training ground.

  Ma Xun arrived at the middle shooting position, where archers were originally practicing, but as soon as they saw Ma Xun's momentum, they hastily retreated.

  Ma Huan ignored the growing murmurs behind him, focusing on the front, roughly estimating that the closest target was about thirty steps away, followed by fifty steps, then eighty steps, and a hundred steps. The maximum range of the bow was just this hundred steps, and exceeding this distance basically had no killing power. In fact, this hundred-step target was just for show, because strong archers in the army who could shoot a hundred steps away had long been transferred to the Yi Congying or promoted to Bai Jiangjun or Junhou, where there were specialized shooting ranges, and they didn't need to come here to compete with lower-level soldiers for shooting positions (Ma Huan was also a Bai Jiang, but he didn't know this when he first arrived). In addition, there were also 120 steps, 150 steps, and 200 steps, which were the range of crossbows. The crossbows used in Gong Sunzhan's army were mostly Zhengtiao crossbows, and 200 steps was the maximum range of the Zhengtiao crossbow.

  Ma Xun pondered for a moment and set his target at fifty paces, which was nearly seventy meters away, a relatively suitable distance for the first shot.

  "The arrow has arrived." Ma Xian stretched out his hand behind him. Xiao Shizi hastily drew out a feathered arrow and presented it with respect.

  The arrow is placed on the bowstring, and the bowstring is slowly drawn. The murmurs of the soldiers behind him suddenly stop, without turning his head, he knows that hundreds of eyes are staring at his bow.

  Creaking, as the bowstring is fully drawn, the bow forms a full moon. Behind him, there are waves of gasping sounds. Although no one dares to speak, the sound of hundreds of people catching their breath converges into a shocking airflow on the archery training ground.

  Ma Huo carefully experienced the difference between this bow and the military crossbow and pulley bow he had used before, slowly finding back that kind of capture and lock-in feeling for long-range targets... Hmm, yes, it's this feeling!

  As soon as the thought arises, the bowstring is released and the arrow flies.

  Plop! Splash!

  One arrow hit the target, and the strong arrow pierced the thick wooden board inside the grass rope-bound target, and then flew out more than 20 steps, almost slantingly inserted in front of the 80-step target.

  The surrounding soldiers exclaimed in unison, and a group of Wuhuan people and Xianbei people surrounded Ma Xun, chattering and gesticulating wildly, shouting something, but unfortunately Ma Xun couldn't understand a single word, and just smiled and nodded.

  Fifty paces to hit the target is not bad, but at least half of the soldiers on the field can do it. What these soldiers and the good archers of the Hu people admire is the power of Ma Xian's single arrow. Imagine if you were on the battlefield, when all the arrows shot by the soldiers were blocked by the enemy's shields, this fierce and overbearing arrow could pierce through the leather shield, break through the armor, and kill the enemy under the arrow.

  Being admired is delightful, but when these barbarians were no longer satisfied with verbal praise and instead used their hands and feet to touch his arms, shoulders, and even muscles, Ma Hu's skin crawled. He waved his hands, shook his bow, and shouted: "Little Stone, bring arrows!"

  "Yes, yes...... Master, I've come......" Xiaoshi struggled to squeeze through the dense crowd of legs and handed over the arrow.

  This arrow, Ma Jian wants to shoot eighty paces, that is one hundred meters, which is his highest record ever. With the first arrow as a foundation, Ma Jian was very confident, because his previous highest record was: one hundred and ten yards, flying disc rapid shooting. Even if he hadn't fully gotten used to the leopard bow in his hand, for now the target was just a fixed target, it shouldn't be a problem.

  Whoosh! The arrow leaves the bowstring and accurately hits the eighty-step grass target.

  Bang! The grass target shattered at the sound, and the feathered arrow flew out ten paces, falling obliquely to the ground.

  "Woohoo!" The Huns, who had a worshipful warrior complex, danced with joy, almost bursting.

  Ma Huan shot an arrow and immediately flashed out of the crowd, avoiding congestion in time. He walked towards the crossbow shooting range with big strides, shaking off the Hu people. The 100-step target on the archery range was no longer needed to be tested. The previous 80-step target had not hit the red heart, but was two inches off to the right. It seemed that more practice was needed in terms of accuracy. Now he most wanted to know what the maximum shooting distance and effective shooting distance of this bow were. This answer could only be known by testing on the crossbow's dedicated long-distance shooting range.

  But when Ma Xun drew his bow again, he realized that things weren't so simple: one hundred and twenty paces, equivalent to one hundred and fifty meters of long distance, what he held in his hand was not the familiar military crossbow, nor a sniper rifle, but an ancient compound bow that had just been delivered and hadn't even warmed up yet, having only shot two arrows. Whether it could hit the target, he really didn't have any confidence. If it were just him training alone, it wouldn't be so bad, if he missed, he could try again, no big deal. But under the watchful eyes of everyone, having just achieved a stunning score, and then shattering it with his own hands, this was too embarrassing.

  Should this arrow be shot or not?

  Ma Hu's heart was really hard to decide, but the bowstring could only be pulled open inch by inch, and there was only a 50% chance of hitting the target. No choice but to take a gamble.

  Just as the arrow was about to leave the string, a melodious short horn sounded from afar, accompanied by crisp cloud board beats, echoing throughout the camp.

  "Dinner is ready! Dinner is ready! Come quickly!"

  The soldiers dispersed with a shout.

  Ma Xun let out a long sigh, relaxed his bow and dropped the arrow - for the first time, he felt that the sound of the dinner bell was so moving.

  PS: The "stone" of the Han Dynasty was far less than that of the Tang and Song Dynasties, which was equivalent to only half of the latter. The six-stone bow in the text is equivalent to a three-stone bow in the Song Dynasty, which is the same level as the bow power opened by Yue Fei, Han Shizhong and others.