TF Amethyst

TFA1 5.13 - Cornered by Footbow

Apart from Lassac's men at Villa Hagel, the only person who knew that the incident on Berril Plains was planned by Baron Eslei was only Captain Ureg. On the surface, he was sent to the border post with his unit to carry out routine patrols. But all of that was just an excuse, because Baron Eslei secretly placed him as insurance if at the last second Lassac refused to finish off his men.

As Lassac's best friend, Captain Ureg did not expect that his friend at the last second would refuse Baron Eslei's orders. Moreover, not for the sake of his men but for the hostage he only knew for a matter of days.

'Lassac, why are you so stupid?'

Captain Ureg muttered while from the direction of Villa Hagel he saw four flashes, and then several of his men who fell from their horses, before a loud 'Bang!' was heard four times.

Captain Ureg instantly stuttered, but only for a moment. With a loud shout he then gave orders. "Retreat and set up a firing base at a distance of 1.5 km."

Initially, Captain Ureg only received orders to eliminate all trails that could link Baron Eslei to the incident on Berril Plain. However, just before he left to do his job, Baron Eslei's butler contacted him and told him that Viscount Olrig's personal bodyguard had just captured Baron Eslei. Also, there were rumors that a small number of Amethyst Merchant personnel had just occupied Villa Hagel.

So far Baron Eslei has managed to deny that he didn't know anything about what happened at Villa Hagel or the incident on Berril Plain. So Ureg was asked to immediately eliminate the hostages and all Amethyst Merchant personnel at Villa Hagel, and then go as far as possible from Liqua Region as originally planned.

From the previous conflict, it was known that the effective range of Amethyst Merchant's fire sticks was in the range of 500-600 meters. The Intel seemed to be inaccurate because currently, Ureg found that they hit his unit from a distance of 1.3 km. Fortunately, his unit brought 120 footbows with an effective range of 1.5 km.

In an instant the firing base was established, and Ureg grinned broadly. "Ambush Unit, take a circle position 2 km from the villa. Archer unit, use fire arrows to smoke them out."

Before long, more than a hundred fire arrows flew through the night sky and rained down on Villa Hagel. Even though flash after flash were seen from the roof of Villa Hagel, and accurately nailed down its targets. Ureg's men continued to effectively send a salvo of fire arrows.

---

"According to the FITA website on October 28, 2008, the farthest record in the world of modern archery is 1222.01 meters for men, 950.39 meters for women, 817.90 meters for male juniors, 738.66 meters for female juniors. The four records were recorded using a specially designed flight-bow. For the male class using the footbow, the record is 1410.87 meters. 

In the previous conflict with Northern Coalition, we got a lot of booty footbows. Most of it was absorbed by Tuscan Guard while some was sent to Weapon Research Center for internal studies. It seems Weapon Research Center didn't boast when they said that the footbow used by Northern Coalition had an effective range for area target up to 1.5 km."

Sergeant Liam looked at Sergeant Rodriguez with a complicated expression as he said, "Because we were cornered by hostile footbowmen, then you talked at length about a footbow."

"Yeah."

Sergeant Rodriguez replied before sipping his coffee. He and three other AWM 338 shooters were already taking out as many opponents as possible. However, due to limited ammunition the number of remaining opponents was still quite large.

Ten minutes after a salvo of fire arrows had rained down on Vila Hagel, the barracks next to the main building had now completely collapsed in fire. Meanwhile, several other buildings were burning violently and it was only a matter of time before they were leveled to the ground. The barricades around the villa were also blazing violently and the smell of burning human flesh filled the night air.

As for the main building, Green Raccoon personnel would take turns in extinguishing the fire arrows that hit the building, especially arrows that pierce tiles or enter through windows.

But over time, it got more and more difficult. The increasing temperature of the air would make the main building easier to catch fire. Moreover, even though the fire arrow was successfully extinguished, the splashes of fuel gel from the arrow would continue to accumulate.

Sergeant Rodriguez took another sip of his coffee before saying, "I feel so relieved after letting go of my feelings."

Sergeant Liam immediately pondered for a moment. He did not understand how talking about arrows and bows were a letting go of feeling in the heart. But from Sergeant Rodriguez's expression and manner of his speaking, he realized that his colleague had just decided to make a bold move.

"I'll lead the third sub-team to scrape them off with grenade launcher. I'm sure 2-3 salvos of four grenade launchers will neutralize more than half of their footbowmen."

Sergeant Liam instantly let out a deep sigh. "And after that, they will neutralize your lives along with the third sub-team."

Sergeant Rodriguez casually shrugged his shoulders. "It's much better than sitting here and getting roasted with you."

After pondering for a moment, Sergeant Liam said, "Good luck."

Sergeant Rodriguez smiled faintly. "If we fail, go to the basement with all hostages and burn the building. Hopefully, that will be enough for buying time until reinforcement arrives."

"Understood."

With casual steps, Sergeant Rodriguez then walked out of the room. Before long, he and third sub-team personnel sneak out from the main building's back door. Then, they used a few wooden planks to make a small gap between the fire barricades.

*****