It was nearing the end of April, and Claude had just returned from the Witch Wood. The cabin of the young mage Sheila has been roughly completed, and all that remains is the consideration of some details, such as the production and arrangement of curtains, door lock handles, kitchen utensils and tableware, and some furniture. It was almost nine-thirty in the evening when Claude came back, and he was still thinking about whether to let Michael Jack and the big man Gimi make a trip to Rosa Town, where the battalion headquarters is located, to purchase the items he needed.
But when Claude returned to the double-story wooden building where he was stationed in the camp, he unexpectedly found Sergeant Markey and two or three team captains sitting at the dining table. When he saw that he was back, he breathed a sigh of relief and stood up to salute with relief.
"What's wrong with you?" Claude returned the greeting and asked curiously: "Did something happen in the camp?"
"Sir, nothing happened in the camp. Everything is normal." Markchi said, "But we caught an enemy spy."
Claude was stunned: "The enemy's spies are not mistaken, right? Don't accuse people randomly."
Claude thought to himself, why did the enemy send spies here in this damn place? Although there is a mountain road leading to the three southern counties, this small road is not suitable for large troops to march. Even if the anti-Austrian alliance wanted to counterattack the three southern counties, it would be crazy to think that the heavily assembled troops would abandon the flat road to the east and insist on passing through this mountain road. So Claude wondered if Marki and the others had caught a passing merchant and said he was a secret agent.
"It's true, sir, he confessed." Markchi replied seriously.
"Tell me, what's going on?" Claude pointed at McJack: "Get me a basin of water to wash your face, and then go get the bottle of blueberry fruit wine you bought last time. I'll treat everyone to a drink."
"That's right, sir. Today at noon, a trader from the Karnas Prairie arrived in Squirrel Village. The soldiers didn't have any suspicion at first, but he didn't just sell the goods he carried in Squirrel Village. Instead, he kept selling goods to the villagers. They asked about our number of people stationed here and the firepower configuration of our defensive positions. The village elder became suspicious and secretly came to tell me. I took two people to secretly monitor the merchant.
Later, I found out that the trader walked up the hillside next to Squirrel Village on the pretext of taking a rest. When he peeked at our camp from a high place and drew something on a piece of animal skin paper, I knew there must be something wrong with him. So they captured him and found a layout plan of the camp on him. Above are the trenches you dug and the newly built infirmary, as well as this row of large wooden sheds built as canteens."
Markchi pointed to a piece of brown animal skin paper on the table, with some lines outlined in light yellow traces. If you look closely, you will find that the lines and geometric figures on this piece of animal skin paper correspond exactly to the layout of the camp. It seemed that Markchi was right. The arrested merchant was indeed a spy sent by the enemy.
"Did he confess who sent him?" Claude twisted a towel from the basin brought by Mike, wiped his face, and asked seriously.
Markchi nodded: "Sir, this is why we are here waiting for you to come back."
If the information revealed by this secret agent was not so shocking, Marki and the others would never have waited here so seriously.
Because this spy said that his master is the territorial aristocrat Earl Loicade Bar Crelaus who leads the mountain road to the Karnars Prairie on the left. Because he received the road to the right on the The territorial nobles at the exit of the mountain road to the eastern part of the Eskiline Principality, Viscount Soscubi Lo Pasdor of the Eskiline Principality and the lord of Squirrel Village Novilik Wei Flinslan At the invitation of the baron, he decided to send troops to attack the troops of the Kingdom of Ovilas guarding this mountain road. And this spy pretending to be a merchant was the one sent by Count Loycade Barclaus to scout the garrison.
"Wait a minute, what this spy means is that the enemies we are about to face are just the private armies of a few territorial nobles, not the formal armies of the Principality of Karnas and the Principality of Eskiline." Claude did not feel panic.
"Sir, although the spy said that the private armed forces of several territorial nobles were coming to attack us, there are quite a lot of troops. Several territorial nobles in the Eskiline Principality said that they had organized a battalion of troops and asked Canna That bullshit earl from Si Principality is also going to bring a battalion over. They want to open up this mountain road and invade the three southern counties to make a lot of money." Mark Qi said nervously.
It seems that these territorial nobles already know that the two or three legions of the Overas Kingdom that captured the three southern counties are mainly deployed at the borders of the three southern counties and the Principality of Rimodra, as well as the eastern area of the Eskiline Principality. The interior of the county is actually extremely empty. Except for a few large towns where garrison battalions are stationed, the remaining traffic arterial checkpoints are separated from the ranger battalions and guarded by squads and squadrons, just like here in Squirrel Village.
If the plot of these territorial nobles succeeds, then they can take advantage of the insufficient garrison strength of the three southern counties to enter the three southern counties and rob them to gain full benefits. As long as they don't touch a few large towns with garrison troops, those villages and small towns are meat in front of them. As for the fact that the residents of the small towns and villages in the three southern counties are also the people of the Eskiline Principality, this point can be ignored. Anyway, in the end, this blame can be dumped on the army of the Kingdom of Ovilas, because they He is an aggressor, the best choice to take the blame.
"Sir, when are we going to retreat?" Markchi urged.
Claude glanced at him and understood what he meant by waiting for him to come back all night. If this old veteran wants to escape, he must order a retreat himself, otherwise he will become a deserter. He is the commander in charge here. If he doesn't run away, Markchi's squadron will have to wait for death with him here.
"What do you think our best choice should be?" Claude asked calmly.
Markchi and the other two team captains looked at each other and replied without hesitation: "Retreat, conserve troops, withdraw all the garrison troops on this mountain road to the three southern counties, and then set up defensive positions at the entrance of the mountain road. Snipe the enemy into the three southern counties. Because there, we can get strong support from the battalion headquarters, while the enemy has stretched the logistics supply line. It will take more than two days to walk on this mountain road from here to the three southern counties. As long as we can Hold on to the defensive position for several days, and the enemy will eventually have no choice but to retreat.”
Although Markchi advocated retreat, veteran Youzi's so many years in the military were not in vain. The strategy he mentioned of retreating, concentrating his forces, and then defending the entrance to the mountain road is very practical. It seems that this guy also thought deeply before coming to such a conclusion. It sounds like the reason for the retreat is really fair and honest, and it is hard to fault. Something wrong.
Claude shook his head: "We will not retreat."
"Don't retreat." Mark Qi became anxious: "Sir, the enemy has two battalions and more than 2,000 troops. Even if they are private soldiers of the nobles, their combat effectiveness is not strong. But we only have sixty-four people here. Even if we fight ten of them one by one, we can't retreat." I can’t resist their attack.”
Claude smiled and waved his hand, motioning for Marki to sit down first and stop getting excited: "Even if the enemy has two battalions of troops, they can set up an offensive formation. Can they attack us together?"
He took a bottle of blueberry fruit wine from Mike and poured a glass for Markchi and the two team captains: "Although the enemy has two battalions of troops, they are all private soldiers of the nobles and their combat effectiveness is not strong. Although their number is A large number is a mob. It is true that we have few people, but we can ask for help from the battalion headquarters. And most importantly, we have the advantage of terrain. If you think carefully about the location of our camp, you will know that it is impossible for the enemy to attack directly. Come to us.”
Claude poured some fruit wine on the dining table and directly used his fingers to outline the locations of the three mountain roads, the three forks, the squirrel village and the camp.
"Look, this is the mountain road leading to the Karnas Prairie. This is the mountain road leading to the eastern part of the Eskiline Principality. The intersection of these two mountain roads and the mountain forks are very narrow, and they are both in Our fire coverage. If the enemy comes to attack, you should know that these two narrow mountain roads can only separate the strength of one squadron at most. Under the fire of artillery and muskets, one of their squadrons can only leave one squadron. If the troops rush to the intersection of the three forks, you will be lucky."
Claude said confidently: "The most painful thing is that after they rushed to the three-way intersection, they had to run another thirty meters to reach the uphill road that turns to Squirrel Village. During this period, they were still under our shooting Within the range. And the mountain road leading to Squirrel Village and our camp is not that easy to walk. This mountain road of more than 100 meters is just below our camp. We can hit them, but they can't hit us. If we set up a row of wooden fences to block the way up the mountain, they will have no choice but to die if they cannot climb up."
Markchi retorted disapprovingly: "Sir, what you said is the most ideal situation. If I were one of those territorial nobles, I could definitely send my peasants and soldiers to die, consume our ammunition, and at the same time use all the weapons in the distance. Cover our camp with fire, killing our soldiers, or you can bring in artillery to attack us, using the method of ants eating elephants to slowly reduce our garrison strength. As long as our remaining manpower is not enough to control the artillery and With musketry shooting, it will be a simple matter to capture our camp.”
Claude nodded and admitted that what Markchi said made sense. The lack of manpower was the biggest weakness, but the area of the camp was not large. He needed the battalion headquarters to send another squadron to help with the defense. It was enough. He believed that the battalion headquarters would take over. I should be able to support a squadron after I call for help.
Another squad leader also stood up: "Sir, if the enemy attacks with a wooden platoon truck to cover it, then our artillery will not be enough to threaten the enemy. Even if we can destroy the wooden platoon truck, the enemy will be relieved to a great extent. The casualties will be quickly passed through the three-way intersection. If you insist on defending here, then we need the battalion to support two more light infantry artillery, so that we can take turns to fire alternately to guard these two mountain roads."
This noncommissioned officer squad leader is very knowledgeable. It seems that he must have participated in the battle against Wilf Hill. The surprise attack on a light cavalry regiment of the Nasseri Kingdom that captured Wilf Hill left a very deep impression on everyone. Although the final outcome was that the light cavalry regiment was completely annihilated, after capturing Wilf Hill, they used the four light infantry artillery on the position to cause a lot of trouble to the attacking troops commanded by Prince Hansback within a range of 100 meters. . The four artillery pieces took turns firing shotgun shells, covering the entire forward position. The distance of 100 meters became a chasm that was out of reach for the attacking troops. Casualties were heavy and corpses littered the fields. A dissatisfied light cavalry regiment was able to hold off nearly two divisions' violent attack at Wilf Hill for two days and one night.
"I will request reinforcements from the battalion headquarters." Claude promised: "There are three main reasons for not retreating. First, we have only captured one enemy spy. We cannot run away as soon as we hear that the enemy is coming to attack us. After all, this is just a confession from the enemy's spy. We don't even know if he is intimidating us, because there is no specific attack date, troop and equipment deployment by the enemy. These situations require our own reconnaissance and determination.
The second is that we need to report this enemy situation to the battalion headquarters, and the battalion headquarters will decide whether we need to retreat instead of making our own decisions. We are stationed here and have stored a lot of food and ammunition here. If we retreat immediately, these will only be cheaper for the invading enemies, because we cannot take away all these reserves at once. At the same time, with the current mountain road Due to the road conditions, we will move very slowly with artillery and reserve supplies, and we will probably be overtaken by the enemy who is about to attack.
The third thing is that some time ago I arranged for the soldiers to build some defensive positions. I originally estimated that they would be more than enough to deal with one or two groups of invading enemies, but I didn't expect that after setting up a banquet, seven or eight tables of guests came. Fortunately, these guests were only allowed to line up to get in, so I figured if we were quick, there would still be enough time to send them home. At least let these uninvited guests understand that the banquet we set up is not that delicious."
Markchi gave up, but Claude insisted that he couldn't escape on his own without retreating. If Claude agrees to retreat, then all the responsibility for escaping without a fight will be on Claude, and he will have nothing to do. But if Claude does not retreat, if he, the sergeant major, and the squadron leader run away first, then all the responsibility will be on him. According to the military law of the Kingdom of Ovelas, this is a dead end.
"Sir, I would like to remind you that the enemies coming from the direction of the Karnas Prairie can only attack us from the mountain road on the left. But the enemies coming up the mountain road on the right are from the Eskilin Principality, and there are also There is the original lord of Squirrel Village, that bullshit Baron. He should know the terrain here very well. I think he will probably lead people to climb up the mountain and attack us from the back of Squirrel Village." Mark Qi wanted to retreat but thought he couldn't defend it by relying on the terrain. This is also a very important reason.
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