Chereads / The King of German Mercenaries / Chapter 6 - CHAPTER 6 Horseback Archery is a Skill

Chapter 6 - CHAPTER 6 Horseback Archery is a Skill

CHAPTER 6 Horseback Archery is a Skill

The next morning, after washing up, Marin grabbed a piece of black bread without any dirt on it, gnawed on it to fill his stomach, and then went out to wander around the streets.

Last night, Marin thought things over for half the night and became even more determined to join Emperor Maximilian I of the Holy Roman Empire. Although Maximilian I was poor, as the emperor, he could offer Marin a high enough status.

As a time traveler who had read many time travel novels, Marin had plenty of ideas for making money. However, in this era where nobles ruled with an iron fist, even vast wealth couldn't be safeguarded without status.

Therefore, Marin needed to rely on the emperor to gain high enough social standing to deter others from coveting his wealth. And how could he obtain social status (i.e., a noble title)? Simple—military achievements!

As a history graduate who had read about Western history, Marin knew that during the Thirty Years' War of the 17th century, two military geniuses—Wallenstein and Tilly—rose from humble backgrounds to become great nobles through their military accomplishments.

Both of these figures came from ordinary, declining noble families and weren't from any major noble lineages. However, through their meritorious service in commanding mercenaries for the great nobles, these low-ranking noble "losers" managed to rise—one became a duke (Wallenstein) and the other an earl (Tilly).

Marin might not have Wallenstein's genius, but he was confident he could be on par with Tilly, who relied on the "Spanish Square" formation to dominate the battlefield. After all, Marin knew exactly how to utilize the Spanish Square. The formation's creator, General Cordoba, wouldn't even start developing this dominant tactic, which would reign for over a century, until 1503. Yet Marin was already very familiar with it.

Moreover, Marin also knew about even more powerful formations like the Dutch Maurice Square and Gustavus' line formations, which were closer to modern battle formations.

As for Napoleon's artillery tactics, there was no need to even mention them. But tactics from the mid-19th century and beyond were of no use—after all, the advanced weapons required weren't available. Marin, being a humanities major, although fairly proficient in the sciences, wasn't a specialist. The best he could manage might be a flintlock. As for creating a breech-loading rifle, he wouldn't be able to solve the technical issue of the primer. That required expertise from a chemist.

Of course, all of this was just Marin's daydreaming. To display his "talents," he first needed to join the mercenaries recruited by Maximilian I. Otherwise, none of this could ever be realized.

And to join Maximilian I's German mercenaries, he first needed to reach the Habsburg family stronghold—Vienna.

After recapturing Austria from the Kingdom of Hungary in 1490, Maximilian I moved his administrative center from the Duchy of Burgundy back to Vienna. Although the emperor often stayed in Innsbruck in western Austria, many major matters were still handled in Vienna. Recruitment of soldiers, such as for a large military campaign, would undoubtedly take place in Vienna.

Now, to enlist in the military, Marin had to go to Vienna. However, the journey from Bonn to Vienna was about 800 kilometers or over 1,600 Chinese miles.

Currently, Marin was dressed in heavy armor and carrying a large knight's lance. Although Karl was a fine warhorse, with such a heavy load, he could only manage to cover about 100 miles a day, moving in fits and starts; otherwise, it would be too much for him.

A typical knight in plate armor would usually have five attendants when going into battle. The attendants would carry the knight's armor and lance, and before battle, they would help the knight don the plate armor and assist him onto his horse. Luckily, Marin didn't have plate leg armor, or else he wouldn't have been able to mount his horse. After all, plate leg armor, being made entirely of metal, was cumbersome, making it very difficult for knights to mount their horses.

Marin calculated that it would take at least ten days to reach Vienna. However, with less than 1,000 pennies remaining, he was far from having enough money. Between lodging and meals, he was spending about 15 pennies a day (with 5 pennies typically spent on meals, which wasn't bad). But his warhorse, Karl, ate even more than he did, consuming 10 pennies' worth of feed a day.

Warhorses were very delicate. If a warhorse was fed only grass for a month without supplemental feed, it might not be able to carry a knight in heavy armor. The feed for warhorses primarily consisted of oats (soybeans weren't yet available in Europe at this time; they were still in East Asia and India and wouldn't be introduced to Europe until the 18th century). Occasionally, eggs were also added to the feed. In medieval Europe, where agriculture was underdeveloped, these items were relatively expensive.

Marin wasn't someone who would squander his wealth and then sit idly by, waiting for it to deplete. To ensure he reached Vienna safely, Marin decided to try hunting along the way to improve his situation.

After all, in his previous life, Marin often went hunting in the mountains behind his hometown during holidays, using a homemade English longbow. He had developed decent archery skills.

Having made up his mind, Marin began paying attention to stores selling bows and arrows as he wandered the streets of Bonn.

After walking down several streets, Marin quickly found a weapons shop that sold bows and arrows. However, when he saw the bows on display, he frowned.

Why? Because the shop didn't have the English longbow he was most familiar with. In his previous life, Marin had made his own English longbow and used it to hunt many times in the mountains near his hometown. Thus, when it came to archery, Marin had only ever used one type of bow and was only proficient with one type—the English longbow. Although Marin had made his English longbow from common willow wood rather than yew, he had become accustomed to using the English longbow.

The biggest difference between an English longbow and other bows is that other bows are forcibly bent into shape and fixed by heating them over a fire. This method is efficient, but it damages the bow's elasticity and reduces its range. To achieve a greater range, one would need to use a bow with a stronger draw weight.

The English longbow, on the other hand, is bent gradually through a process called "tillering." The wooden stave used for the bow is fixed to a frame, and the ends of the stave are tied with ropes. The bowyer then gradually increases the tension on the ropes, causing the stave to bend slightly. After some time, when the stave has adapted to the bend, the tension is increased further. This process is repeated until the stave reaches the desired curvature for the longbow.

In fact, the secrets of making English longbows remained a closely guarded secret of the English for a long time, as the English longbowmen were a key military asset. It wasn't until around 1596, during the late reign of Elizabeth I, that the English officially abandoned longbowmen, and the secrets of bow tillering spread. But by that time, Europe was already dominated by firearms.

However, the longbowmen were not rendered obsolete because of a lack of lethality, but because training longbowmen was too expensive. A skilled longbowman could take more than ten years to train, with a minimum training period of several years.

For example, in his previous life, it took Marin seven or eight years to become proficient at using an English longbow for hunting. When he first started, his archery skills were even worse than the notoriously unreliable shots of the Chinese national soccer team. After all, he had no master to guide him and had learned archery by following tips he found online. Even his English longbow had been made by following instructions from a forum post he came across around 2006.

Training a longbowman took so much time, but what about a musketeer? A musketeer could be trained in just one or two weeks. On the battlefield, it didn't matter how long you had trained—whether hit by an arrow or a bullet, the result was the same: injury or death.

Moreover, training longbowmen was very costly for the English. In fact, longbowmen became a privileged class in England, second only to knights. The death of each longbowman represented a significant loss for England.

Musketeers, on the other hand, were different. Any peasant could be conscripted and trained to use a musket in just a week or two. Even if they died, replacements could be easily recruited. If all the musketeers were killed, more peasants could be conscripted and trained in a matter of weeks. However, if an entire regiment of longbowmen was wiped out, it could take many years to recover.

Furthermore, the biggest difference between longbowmen and musketeers is that musketeers can deal with enemies wearing plate armor, while longbowmen struggle against it. For various reasons, the British eventually abandoned their once-proud longbowmen and turned to musketeers.

Nevertheless, the full potential of firearms wasn't realized until the appearance of the Spanish Square formation in 1503. The current year was 1494, and musketeers hadn't yet become prominent. Even the matchlock musket had only appeared around 1450.

Back then, technology did not spread as quickly as it did later. The matchlock musket had been around for over 40 years, but few people had noticed its excellent combat effectiveness. Similarly, the flintlock musket appeared in France at the end of the 16th century, but it didn't become widely adopted until the mid-17th century.

This isn't surprising, considering that the Middle Ages were still dominated by the Church, which suppressed all scientific knowledge, resulting in very slow technological dissemination. Additionally, new technological knowledge is needed to prove itself.

For example, the matchlock musket only gained fame after Gonzalo de Córdoba used a pike and musket formation to decisively defeat the French in the Battle of Cerignola. After that, it began to spread throughout Europe. Similarly, the flintlock musket only gained prominence after its success during the Thirty Years' War, leading European nations to take it seriously.

In present-day Europe, matchlock muskets are still a rare novelty. Even in a city like Bonn, there are few shops that sell firearms. However, several shops sell bows and arrows.

Moreover, Europe's steelmaking technology is currently inadequate, leading to frequent gun and cannon barrel explosions. For example, King James II of Scotland died in 1460 because a cannon exploded. It wasn't until the 16th century, with further advancements in steelmaking, that the frequency of such accidents greatly decreased.

Since Marin couldn't find the English longbow he was familiar with, he had to settle for a recurve bow with a draw weight of around 60 pounds and bought 30 arrows.

Whether in his past life or his current one, Marin was capable of drawing a strong bow with a draw weight of 100 pounds. In his past life, Marin was a robust young man from the countryside who did a lot of farm work, so he had great strength.

In this life, although Marin is only 16 years old, he has undergone knightly martial training from a young age and is quite strong. He can draw a 100-pound bow as well.

However, Marin knows that using a strong bow like the English longbow can be fine for adults, but if a young person draws such a bow frequently, it can lead to spinal deformities. For instance, in modern times, studies have shown that some medieval English longbowmen developed spinal deformities due to training with strong bows from a young age.

Marin's current body is still that of a growing 16-year-old. He doesn't want to risk spinal problems due to the overuse of a strong bow. Therefore, he chose a regular recurve bow with a draw weight of 60 pounds as his hunting weapon.

But Marin's previous self had no memory of how to use a bow, and the Marin from modern times was only familiar with the English longbow. So, Marin spent several days learning how to use the recurve bow.

After testing it, Marin found that the effective range of the recurve bow was within 100 meters, but the distance he could aim accurately was only about 50 meters. While it might not be powerful enough to kill enemies, it was sufficient for hunting.

Once he became familiar with using the recurve bow, Marin left Bonn, heading towards Vienna and hunting along the way...

But to Marin's great frustration, he didn't catch any game for a long time...

Why? It's simple—Marin wanted to emulate the Mongolian cavalry by shooting from horseback. And then... disaster struck.

To be honest, Marin's archery skills were quite good by modern standards. He could hit targets while hunting in the woods, which meant his aim was decent.

But that was on the ground...

Moreover, when Marin hunted in the past, he would usually sneak into the woods with his bow and arrows and ambush unsuspecting prey. This was basically like shooting at a stationary target, and his hit rate for fast-moving targets was actually quite low.

And shooting from horseback... oh, the less said, the better...

Riding a horse is completely different from sitting in a car. A car has shock absorbers, and the road is smooth. But on horseback, you're constantly bouncing up and down...

So, whenever Marin, trying to shoot from horseback, aimed at his prey, the horse's movement would cause his arrows to miss entirely...

Moreover, riding a horse made noise, which scared off the prey before Marin could get close enough to shoot. Marin was good at shooting stationary targets, but he struggled with hitting fast-moving animals.

For seven consecutive days, Marin failed to catch a single animal by shooting from horseback. Luckily, he had some savings from selling the red deer earlier; otherwise, he would have starved. It was also because he had a bit of savings that he dared to experiment like this.

"Archery on horseback really isn't easy!" Marin said, feeling disheartened.

It makes sense, too. The Huns and Mongols started riding sheep and playing with slingshots when they were five years old. By the time they grew up, they had been practicing horseback archery for over a decade. Even so, these "veteran drivers" with more than ten years of practice couldn't guarantee they'd hit fast-moving prey while riding a galloping horse, let alone a novice like Marin.

So, although horseback archery looks cool, mastering it requires many years of hard training and some talent. For a half-baked archer like Marin, horseback archery was basically a gamble, and any prey he managed to hit would be incredibly unlucky...