I'm not really suited for office work. It's much more comfortable on the battlefield. I don't have to deal with all those trivial matters all day, Claude thought as he galloped his horse across the vast plains.
The sky was high and the clouds were light. The Great Plains of Albatol that stretched as far as the eye could see made him feel refreshed and relaxed.
A few wisps of smoke billowed over from afar. Myjack, who was at the front, raised his hand. Most of the men behind him reined in their horses and slowed down.
It was one of the scouts sent by Thundercrash. They would only report back if they found something.
As expected, the four riders pulled on their reins when they weren't too far away. They dismounted and led their mounts over to Myjack.
Myjack asked them a few questions and brought the bearded soldier to Claude.
"General, I'm Sergeant Linkmatt of Line 1301's scouts. I'm here to report on Lieutenant Colonel Berklin's orders.
We've discovered the bison migration route and are currently scouting the area. We haven't found any traces of the enemy yet, "the soldier saluted and reported loudly.
The migration of nearly a million bison was a grand sight, but the plains of Albatol was even larger.
Even though the direction the bison migrated in remained the same from the northern highlands to the southern plains, that didn't mean they would always travel the same route.
Most of the time, the bison would change their route in order to chase after the lush vegetation.
So, in order to find the enemy that was coming to hunt the bison, they had to first find the bison herds on the plains.
Those who hadn't seen the bison migration before would never be able to imagine how huge a herd of a million bison was. It was like a boundless shadow that covered the entire plains.
From afar, it looked like a dark cloud that stretched as far as the eye could see. Wherever they passed, the lush greenery would disappear, leaving behind a patch of red and brown soil.
"General, we can't get any closer," said Sergeant Linkmatt.
Staff Sergeant Linkmatt, who was leading the way, said that he was from the colonies and had been selected to join the Thundercrash Regiment. He had several years of experience hunting bison.
"It's a safe distance of about 500 meters from the bison herd. Within 500 meters is the hunting range of those carnivores that hunt bison. If you enter rashly, you'll easily be attacked by them.
A hundred meters away from the bison herd was the bison's warning zone, which would raise the vigilance of the bison.
If you let the bison think you are their enemy, they will chase you in groups until they drive you away to a place they think is safe.
General, our horses will not be able to withstand the impact of the buffalo.
Sometimes, in short sprints, bison can run faster than warhorses … "Staff Sergeant Linkmatt explained.
That should be true. He had already seen quite a few famous carnivorous beasts on Nubissia.
Among them were prides of fanged lions, agile Nubisian scorpion-tailed lions, spotted cheetahs, ferocious red-furred wolves, and green-furred grassland wolves.
Almost all the carnivorous beasts recorded on Nubissia appeared around the migrating buffalo herds, waiting for an opportunity to capture their prey. But most of the time, they were fighting over the carcass of the buffalo that had been hunted. Roars and roars could be heard all over the place.
"Staff Sergeant Linkmatt, can you tell us how you used to hunt the bison?" asked Claude curiously.
"Of course, General."
Linkmatt pointed at the bison herd in the distance and explained, "We can't hunt bison in front of them because the bison at the front are the strongest and most aggressive.
That's because the bison at the front are the strongest and most aggressive. They are equivalent to the vanguard of our army and bear the task of opening the way.
Any enemy that stands in their way will easily trigger them into a frenzy. They don't care how strong the enemy is, they'll just charge at them and crush them to pieces.
Similarly, it's not a good choice to hunt in front of the bison herd either. Killing the bison there will easily cause the bison herd to go on a rampage.
I once heard from an old bison hunter that a group of nobles came to Nubissia for a vacation. When they heard about the migration of the bison, they wanted to join in the fun.
They avoided the front and started hunting the bison at the periphery of the herd.
In the beginning, the hunting of more than a dozen bison went smoothly, but they forgot that they were too close to the bison herd. The bison herd that rushed over from behind had already surrounded them in the inner circle.
At the same time, they attracted the attention of the bison herd and started chasing them.
In the end, they were trapped in the middle of tens of thousands of wild buffaloes. When their mounts could no longer run, the group of nobles and their horses were trampled into a pile of mud by the herd of wild buffaloes …
Generally speaking, the rear of the bison herd was a better hunting ground. However, they had to leave the area first and let the carnivorous beasts know that this was a human hunting ground. That way, the bison hunters would have time to collect their kills.
However, most of the bison behind the bison herd were old and weak, so they were the prey of the carnivorous beasts.
For the bison hunters, the bison they killed at the rear of the herd weren't worth much. The quality of the hide was poor, and the taste of the beef wasn't good either. They were usually sold as beef jerky.
At the same time, they had to be careful of the attacks of the carnivorous beasts.
Small groups of bison hunters often couldn't maintain their own hunting grounds. If they were ambushed by the beasts, they could get hurt if they weren't careful.
So basically, the bison hunters would give up the hunting area during the day in the evening and retreat to the campsite thousands of meters away with the prey to prevent the attack of the beasts at night.
The next day, they would take advantage of their numbers to snatch a hunting area from the carnivorous beasts.
If a hunting team of more than a hundred people could be organized, then the best hunting ground for bison was at the rear of the moving bison herd.
Many of the bison there were old and weak who couldn't catch up with the big herd, but at the same time, there were also many young and strong bison who had just reached adulthood and started to live alone.
For the bison hunters, this was the best prey.
The advantage of hunting bison from the rear of the herd was that they didn't need to worry about the bison group's counterattack, but they also had to pay attention to the sudden attack of the bison group.
Bison as big as this were often very aggressive. They didn't care about the number of people, hunters or beasts. As long as they annoyed these bison, they would chase them until they died.
When hunting bison at the rear of the herd, they needed to be wary of the wolves.
Whether it was the red-haired wolves or the grassland wolves, they were the most hated enemies of the bison hunters.
These wolves had enough numbers and were very vengeful.
Every time the bison herd migrated, these wolves would combine from small groups to large groups and follow behind the bison herd. On the one hand, they hunted the old and weak bison for food, and on the other hand, they snatched the prey of other carnivorous beasts.
Even the most ferocious scorpion-tailed brown lion could only give up food and leave when it encountered a wolf pack.
Once, there were bison hunters who relied on their numbers to kill more than a dozen red-haired wolves that followed behind the bison herd and competed with them for prey.
As a result, at night, their campsite was surrounded by thousands of wolves.
Then, the war between humans and wolves lasted for three days and three nights. The bison hunters only managed to defend the campsite after many casualties, killing hundreds of red-haired wolves.
In the end, the bison herd left and the red-haired wolves withdrew. They had to go back to the camp to rest. It could be said that they had suffered a great loss.
Now, experienced bison hunters would form teams to hunt bison at the rear of the bison herd. They would leave the old and weak bison to the wolves and take the young and strong bison carcasses. This way, humans and wolves would not attack each other and draw a clear line.
Our previous experience was that we had to keep at least one of the three bison hunted. Otherwise, we would take them all away at once. The next time there were bison hunted, the wolves would rush up to fight for the carcass … "
Everyone gathered around Staff Sergeant Linkmatt, listening to his story of the bison hunt with great interest.
Myjack asked, "Staff Sergeant Linkmatt, what do you think is the most important thing in hunting bison?"
Staff Sergeant Linkmatt thought for a moment and replied, "The most important thing is a well-defended campsite and sufficient support staff.
Hunting bison is what we, the bison hunters, should do. However, after we get a good prey, we must have support personnel to transport the bison carcass to the campsite and immediately deal with it. We need to skin it, drain its blood, smoke the beef, and do preliminary treatment on the horns and hide to prevent it from rotting. These are all things that we urgently need manpower to do. It's related to the profit of our bison hunting activity this time …
In addition, since there are a lot of carnivorous beasts in the wild, they pose a great threat to us bison hunters at night. Therefore, it is very important to have a campsite with good defense so that we can rest safely for a night to recover our energy.
In a bison hunting team, only one-third of the bison hunters make up the rest of the team.
We find a suitable place to build a campsite a thousand meters away from the bison herd. Basically, the construction materials are transported from the rear, and we dig trenches to ensure our safety. "
Gum suddenly asked, "Are the half-collapsed campsites that we saw on our way here the ones you guys built before?"
Staff Sergeant Linkmatt nodded. "Yes, the first one was built ten years ago. But now that the bison herds are moving more and more towards the east, these built camps are basically abandoned every one or two years.
After all, it's not safe to transport the carcass too far away from the bison herd. Not only will the carcass harden, it'll also affect the quality of the meat. "
Claude looked at the sky and gave the order to set up camp. At the same time, he told Staff Sergeant Linkmatt to bring some men to hunt a few bison for dinner. He wanted to see if the bison hunter of old was still as glamorous as before.
Without any hesitation, Staff Sergeant Linkmatt called over a small group of soldiers who were once hunters and drove three carriages towards the bison herd in the distance.
Claude brought Myjack and the rest to a small mound and watched through a telescope from afar to see how they hunted the bison.
First, Staff Sergeant Linkmatt and his men shouted and waved their whips to create a ruckus near the herd of bison, scaring away the three spotted cheetahs hiding in the grass. Then, he stopped the three carriages and continued to lead the small group of soldiers towards the bison herd.
They did not charge straight into the herd. Instead, under Linkmatt's lead, they brushed past the edge of the herd, separating the four or five bison from the herd. Then, they used their horses and whips to drive the bison out of the herd's range of attention.
One of the bison had a fiery temper. As it ran, it suddenly stopped and turned around. It lowered its head and aimed its sharp horns at the soldier who was driving it from behind and charged forward without any regard for the consequences.
However, the soldier had already been warned by Staff Sergeant Linkmatt and was prepared. He reined in his horse to the left and avoided the bison's charge, causing it to miss its target.
The bison, on the other hand, didn't hit its target. After charging for a while, it realized that it was very close to the bison herd.
It seemed to be wondering what had just happened. It looked left and right and took a few steps towards the bison herd. Soon, it stopped and lowered its head to continue munching on the weeds on the ground.
At this time, Staff Sergeant Linkemat and the others had already driven the remaining four bison about 100 meters away from the herd. They changed their formation so that two men and two horses were running with a bison between them, making it impossible for the bison to change direction.
On the other hand, Staff Sergeant Linkmatt, who was sitting on his horse, had already lit the match with one hand and was pointing the muzzle at the back of the running bison's neck.
With a bang, white smoke billowed out.
Through his binoculars, he could clearly see the splatter of blood on the bison's head.
The running bison continued to run forward for a few more steps before it suddenly stumbled and stumbled forward for about ten steps before falling head first onto the grass, its hooves twitching.
The remaining three bison were also shot. One of them quickly fell to the ground just like the one Staff Sergeant Linkmatt had killed.
The other two bison, however, were different. One of them jumped up violently after being shot as if it had gone mad.
However, another soldier next to it reacted quickly and shot it again, knocking it to the ground.
After the last bison was shot by the soldier on the right, it rammed into the left side, forcing the soldier on the left who hadn't fired to pull the reins and turn the horse's head to avoid the bison's attack. Then, the bison crashed out of the encirclement and ran straight to the left.
The soldiers following behind opened fire at the bison, but even though the bison was bleeding profusely, it didn't seem to be injured at all. It ran faster and faster, running further and further away.
Staff Sergeant Linkmatt and his men couldn't do anything about the running bison. They had already fired one round of muskets, so there was no point in chasing after it.
They could only stop where they were and call the three carriages over to transport the three bison that they had hunted. At the same time, they reloaded their muskets and reloaded them to guard against the carnivorous beasts that were eyeing them covetously.
When the carriages arrived, apart from four or five soldiers on horseback who were on guard, the rest dismounted and used all their strength to move the three bison carcasses onto the carriages. Only then did they get back on their horses and follow behind the carriages.
Claude only understood how the bison were hunted after witnessing the performance with his own eyes.
It was different from what he had imagined. The muzzle of the gun was pressed against the back of the bison's head in order to kill it in one shot. It wasn't like shooting from a distance of a hundred meters like he had expected.
He could conclude from the last bison that if he shot it from a hundred meters away, it would only anger the bison and attack the hunter. That would be even more dangerous.
According to Staff Sergeant Linkemat, the three bison hunted this time should be the weak kind, because they only weighed about 500 pounds. Generally speaking, strong bison weighed more than 500 pounds.
A few years ago, the Bison Trading Company had lost two or three bison hunters to kill a bison king. Its carcass weighed more than 2,700 kilograms. It was said that when it was still alive, it stood nearly two meters tall. It was a terrifying monster.
The buffaloes they hunted became an extra meal for the night. Claude ordered Thundercrash not to hunt for buffaloes for the next two days. The most important task at hand was to find traces of the enemy.
Had the light cavalry unit formed by retired soldiers from Canas entered the Albatol Plains in Balingana to hunt the migrating bison herds?