Part 23 (2/2)
Pike practice caed by forty pikemen At the last possible instant, Sir Vladimir shouted ”Halt!” and they stopped with the sharp points a finger's breadth fro that I didn't move, neither Count Lambert nor Prince Henryk flinched, but most of the others had moved back quickly
”My lords, I'e I ask you to ied you in that manner”
”Emotional impact? I was more worried about the physical one!” Count Lambert said
”And 1, too,” Prince Henryk said ”But I see your point That an ene him”
”That would be ideal, my lord Once the enemy has broken, you usually lose very few ood turn for words, Baron Conrad,” Count Lambert said
Then the ht straw figures of men on horseback, with a real lance held in place They rolled down a long ra as fast as a horse can charge In single practice, the object was to skewer the horse with a grounded pike without being run over or hit by the lance When a single duroup of men, only the men in the center went for the horse The others went after the rider
”That's dastardly!” Prince Henryk said
”What is,to kill the horse!”
”Yes, my lord”
”That's unfair!”
”True, my lord But was a horseman ever known to be fair with a footman?”
”Fair to a footman? I doubt if it ever crossed anyone's ht 'fair' with a horseet off his horse, at which ti the aniht fair, my lord, they're trained to win!”
”Well, I don't like it,” Prince Henryk said
”Will you like it when the Mongols start butchering your women and children, my lord?”
”Be damned, Baron Conrad”
”I think I will be, n of the cross
Count Lareatest vassal and his future liege lord, and tried to change the subject
”Baron Conrad, this is all fine and hen practicing on du?”
”We've done it,live horses We've never tried going for the rider of such a horse, for lack of a volunteer, but I myself have ridden an old horse into a mass of pikers”
”What happened?”
”I came down hard, my lord”
”And your horse?” Prince Henryk said
”Dead, of course”
”You killed a dumb animal?” Prince Henryk asked
”My lord, we eat dumb ani What difference does a few anis to show you what our guns can do”
”At least you'll eat the pigs”
”My lord, we ate the dead horse, too”
The rest of the day went like that, half awestruck praise and half conde ht Daht! You are either out there to kill the bastard or you shouldn't be fighting at all!
On the other hand, the reaction of the commoners was unifor dead and their own fa that I wasn't going to getto have to beat the Mongols on our own
After the abbreviated day of training, the troops went back to the barracks to rest and we threw an afternoon party for our guests, with music and plenty of food, beer andabout what they'd seen, and the girls fro up and down, some of them, but the nobility was considerably hts who had coressive faction of Count Lahts, and if they had reservations about what I was doing, I hated to think about the hts I suppose that I should have expected their reaction, but I really hadn't
Most of theer to plant the new seeds and buy or make the new far in their ht industrial plants, with our help, to keep their peasants busy during the off-seasons But they seemed to look on the arhts, they were better than the coes because they protected the land It didn't take much in the way of brains for thehters than they were They felt they were being undercut, and I suppose they were
I began to realize that the open house was a big ain, at least not with the nobility there, but there was nothing I could do now but brazen it out
Chapter Twenty-three
It was getting dark when I called the crowd together and led them to a bowl in the hills that formed sort of an amphitheater Once they were settled in, the troops ues and winter cloaks An area in front, twelve yards to the side, was piled a yard deep with kindling wood, all carefully selected to be dry wood and free of knots
There was a small brick wall, about two yards square, in front of it, with a few torches around I stepped up to the front
”You have seen these men traverse various obstacles in full armor You have seen them prove their proficiency with various weapons, and today you have seen the first public deuns
These men have the finest arms and armor in the world, but weapons are uni them A true warrior is always deadly, even when he is alone and naked”
”Sir Vladimir, a demonstration, please”