The next afternoon, Claude received a carrier pigeon message from the battalion headquarters. Major Ledfunk, the commander of the 1st Ranger Battalion, did not make any decision on the situation reported by Claude. He just handed over the enemy situation encountered by Squirrel Village to Claude. Whether it was retreat or defense, it was up to Claude. At the same time, he told Claude in the letter some of the situation in the three southern counties and the current difficulties faced by the 1st Ranger Battalion. Claude easily came to the conclusion that what Major Leedfunk hoped was that he could defend Squirrel Village. An important frontline checkpoint, don't let the private soldiers of the territorial nobles enter the three southern counties and cause chaos.
Before the arrival of March, the army of the Kingdom of Overas raced against time to build a temporary mountain road in the Picklet Mountains that could pass heavy artillery and transport logistical supplies. As planned, the Blue Feather Army and the two second-line armies were deployed in Eski. The three southern counties of Lin Duchy passed through the rainy season safely. When April arrived, the Blue Feather Army and a second-line army set up a defense line at the border between the three southern counties and the Principality of Rimodra, blocking the retreat of the hundreds of thousands of anti-Austrian alliance troops deployed in the Principality of Rimodra.
The other second-line army was deployed in the area bordering the east of the Eskiline Principality to guard against the counterattack of the remaining troops of the Eskiline Principality against the three southern counties. Originally, according to the plan of the frontline headquarters, after the rainy season, more than ten local security battalions would be dispatched to the three southern counties through the temporary mountain road in the Picklate Mountains to be responsible for guarding, maintaining public order, and raising supplies. But unfortunately, the heavy rains in the rainy season washed away the temporary road in the Picklet Mountains. Neither people nor materials can enter the three southern counties. It is estimated that it will take one and a half months to repair and restore the traffic of this temporary mountain road. .
Therefore, all the troops of the Kingdom of Overas currently deployed in the three southern counties have become de facto lone troops. The rear cannot provide them with supplies and reserve troops unless they can persist for two months. time, or the destruction of all the anti-Austrian alliance forces in the Principality of Rimodra. But the current situation is that the anti-Austrian coalition forces in the Principality of Rimodra are ready to move. Recently, they have been conducting fire reconnaissance on the front line and conducting exploratory attacks on the Blue Feather Army's defensive front.
The Principality of Eskiline in the east did not sit still and wait for death. They knew very well that once the hundreds of thousands of coalition troops deployed in the Principality of Rimodra were surrounded by the army of the Kingdom of Ovelas and the entire army was annihilated, the Principality of Eskiline would be destroyed. It's imminent. Therefore, they also gathered all the local garrison troops, vigorously recruited new soldiers, and formed two temporary legions to prepare for the counterattack against the three southern counties. The second-line army deployed in the east has been fighting fiercely with the rushing enemies. The current battle situation is that the defensive front can still be maintained.
Since the Blue Feather Army and the two second-line armies are deployed on the front line, the three southern counties have insufficient internal defense forces and lack the armed forces to suppress and maintain law and order. Before the rainy season in March, young people from the three southern counties were vigorously recruited to build temporary mountain roads in the Picklet Mountains, which caused some casualties. The people of the three southern counties were extremely dissatisfied with the occupying forces of the Kingdom of Ovelas.
After the arrival of April, the Eskiline Principality sent a large number of spies to sneak into the three southern counties, inciting and organizing many people to secretly resist the occupation and material collection operations of the Ovelas Kingdom Army. The current situation of public security in the three southern counties was chaotic. Local riots occurred frequently. The garrison forces in several large towns were exhausted. The suppression was still unable to quell the resistance incidents in various places.
The same is true for the 1st Ranger Battalion stationed in Rosa Town. Thanks to the elimination of some less important outposts by Major Leedfunk in advance, the battalion headquarters still has three squadrons of reserve troops to deal with the endless resistance and local riots. . Major Leedfunk told Claude in his letter that the current strength of less than one squadron simply cannot go out to suppress local resistance. To put it simply, the three southern counties are currently like a volcano that is accumulating eruptive power, but we don’t know when it will erupt.
Although Major Lederfunk left it up to Claude to decide on the enemy situation in Squirrel Village, the words in the letter still showed that he did not want Claude to retreat and adopted Sergeant Major Markey's suggestion to concentrate his troops to guard the entrance to the mountain road. The strategy is to set up defensive positions there and hold on until the enemy's logistical supplies are no longer available and the enemy has no choice but to retreat.
Major Leedfunk pointed out the fact in his letter that the 1st Ranger Battalion deployed a total of three squadrons to guard this mountain road. The one at the front is Claude, followed by the squadron stationed at Blackstone Village by Murray Ed, and finally the squadron deployed at the entrance to the mountain road. If Claude decided to retreat, then there would be no need to defend this mountain road.
If Claude decides to retreat, the squadron of Murray Ed in Blackstone Village will not be able to defend, because the terrain there is not suitable for defense and is not as dangerous as that of Squirrel Village. It is easy for the attacking enemy to bypass the hillside and launch an attack. You must know that the squadron of Murray Ed is mainly responsible for supporting the Black Rock Village. After the enemy attacked Claude, the mountain road was cut off to prevent the enemy from quickly passing through Squirrel. The mountain road in front of the village was surrounded from the rear, leaving Claude's troops alone.
As for the entrance to the mountain road in the three southern counties, although a squadron was deployed to guard it, the terrain at the entrance of the mountain road was not suitable for setting up defensive positions. Because the terrain at the entrance of the mountain road is not dangerous, even if the enemy's attack is blocked from the front, the enemy can open a new road from the side to bypass the defensive position and enter the three southern counties. The entrance to the mountain road is filled with sparse woods and small mounds. Even if Claude concentrated three squadrons of troops, he would not be able to defend such a long defensive front.
If you want to block the entrance to the mountain road, you will need a battalion of troops to allocate it. But at present, the Ranger Battalion is divided into pieces and assigned to guard various important checkpoints. Major Leedfunk is powerless. He doesn't have many men on hand, and he still needs to be responsible for the defense of Luosha Town.
Therefore, Major Leedfunk hoped that Claude could resist the incoming invasion of the private soldiers of the territorial nobles in Squirrel Village. Of course, he also did not want Claude's troops to die in vain. He let Claude make his own decision, whether to fight or retreat. It would be best if he could hold on. He could squeeze out a squadron of troops and deliver a batch of ammunition, food and other logistical supplies to Claude. The only regret is that the battalion headquarters can only provide Claude with one more light infantry artillery, and it is really impossible to make two.
The carrier pigeon message sent by the battalion headquarters was placed on the table. Claude knocked on the table and said: "I have decided to conduct a defensive battle here to block the enemy's invasion. The signal corps immediately sent the carrier pigeon to the battalion headquarters to inform me of my decision and request The battalion headquarters will dispatch support as soon as possible. Sergeant Markchi, you are in charge of the first team and send personnel to conduct reconnaissance to find out the strength and equipment of the two enemies and determine the date of their attack.
The second team and the third team are responsible for the construction and reinforcement of defensive positions. I ask you to dig out the mountain road in front and temporarily lay wooden rafts to facilitate passage. In this way, even if the enemy comes to attack, they can still be delayed. Even if they can fill in the big holes on these mountain roads, they will still be within the range of our firepower. I would like to see how much casualties the enemy can pay to build the road.
The fourth team is responsible for building wooden barriers and digging trenches between the camp and Squirrel Village to prevent the enemy from going up the mountain to attack us from behind Squirrel Village. The artillery team is responsible for arranging artillery positions and protecting and concealing artillery. McJack, go to Blackstone Village in the afternoon and ask Master Sergeant Murray to come over immediately. I need to discuss the support and garrison issues with him. If we really cannot withstand the enemy's attack, then I need his squadron to provide security for our retreat route."
Markchi stayed at the end. He looked at Claude desperately: "Sir, you really don't decide to retreat?"
After all, there are more than 2,000 enemies, and even if the squadron supported by the battalion headquarters is included, there are less than 120 people. This is almost a 20-to-1 strength comparison. From the perspective of Mark Qi, a veteran, Claude's decision to insist on defending here is setting himself up for death. The countdown to everyone's lives has begun.
Claude smiled and patted him on the shoulder: "Even if we retreat, there is no place with more dangerous terrain than here on the mountain road until the entrance of the mountain road. Since a battle is unavoidable, let's stay here, at least for us We also took advantage of the terrain. Although there are many enemies, they are all private soldiers of the territorial nobles and their combat effectiveness is not strong. I think there is a high possibility that we can withstand the enemy's attack. Maybe after victory, your epaulettes will be like mine. ”
Veterans like Mark Qi were simply frightened by the enemy's strength. Judging from his experience, the side with ten to one man would definitely win. And now the ratio between us and the enemy has reached twenty to one, so he believes that this is definitely an outcome of death or life. He wanted to retreat just to make more money if he could survive for a while longer. In fact, even if he retreated, he could not avoid the outcome of a defensive battle. Claude made up his mind to conduct a defensive battle in Squirrel Village because of the terrain here. Even if he retreated in the end, he would give the enemy a hard blow first and kill as many enemies as possible.
Markchi gritted his teeth: "Forget it, I'll just go crazy with you. If I really die here, it's my destiny to meet a fool like you, the second lieutenant, as my immediate boss."
Markchi took the horse and led the first team on a reconnaissance mission.
Claude smiled, shook his head and said to the big man Gemie: "Let's go to Squirrel Village and meet the village elder."
The war was imminent, and Claude would not let the villagers of Squirrel Village stay in the village anymore. He decided to let the village elders take the villagers to move to Blackstone Village first, and then come back after the battle was over. The village elder was reasonable. He agreed to Claude's request to relocate, but also offered to use the village's labor force to help Claude build defensive positions. Claude was very happy and decided to provide these villagers with a batch of food supplies as compensation.
Everything was going on in a tense, hectic and orderly manner, but as time passed, no sign of the so-called private soldiers of the territorial nobles coming to invade was found. Enraged, Markitch went to the cave that served as a temporary prison and interrogated the spy again and beat him severely. The secret agent swore that what he said was all true. Before he set off, the lord said that he would send troops as soon as he came back. The fact that there was no movement now must be that something happened.
Four days later, the squadron supported by the battalion arrived at Squirrel Village. What surprised Claude was that the squadron leader was Diavid. Diavid said that after receiving the news at the battalion headquarters, Diavid volunteered to lead the squadron to come for support.
Now Claude has two squadrons with nearly a hundred people under his command. The squadron brought by Diaverde is not fully staffed, with only forty-five people. His squadron suffered nine casualties during the suppression of local riots in the three southern counties, and six more are currently staying in the treatment center at the battalion headquarters. Markchi's squadron is full of fifty-four men, plus three artillery crews of fifteen men, Claude, McJack, the big man Germi, and a signal corpsman from the battalion headquarters, for a total of one hundred and eighteen men. . This gave Claude more confidence in resisting the enemy's attack.
However, after all the defense preparations were completed, it was discovered that the enemy had not yet come. After Markchi gave up the idea of retreating, he was no longer afraid of death, and took the initiative to sneak into the territory of Count Locade Barclaus to spy on the enemy, but was almost discovered. When he came back, he brought Claude two pieces of news, one good and one bad.
The good news is that the private soldiers assembled by Count Leucade Barclaus are indeed a mob, except that the armed configuration of the two squadrons is about the same as that of the local garrison, and their combat effectiveness is about the same. Most of the rest are troops composed of farmers and herdsmen. Their weapons are uneven. The good ones have shotguns, old-fashioned firecrackers, etc., while the worse ones just have machetes, spears, and even dung forks. Going into battle
The bad news is that Count Loycades' men are not just a battalion, but nearly a regiment of about 4,000 men. This is mainly because some other territorial nobles of the Principality of Karrnus heard that Count Loikade was going to send troops to the three southern counties of the Principality of Eskilen to make a fortune, so they all came to prepare to join in the fun, and also for Make some extra money for yourself. Therefore, the reason why the enemy has not attacked yet is that the men and horses of some territorial nobles have not yet arrived, and it is estimated that they will have to wait for a while.
As for the Eskiline Principality, the territorial nobles were arguing with the Principality's military, which delayed the attack. It is said that the Grand Duke and the military department of the Eskiline Principality asked the territorial nobles to hand over all their private soldiers to the Eastern Front, striving to counterattack and retake the three southern counties as soon as possible. However, the territorial nobles were unwilling to devote their private armed forces to the Eastern Front battlefield and be wasted in vain, so they requested to organize their own organization to invade the three southern counties from the mountain road to achieve the purpose of involving the Orvelas Kingdom's army.
Well, the enemies on both sides have delayed the original attack date, and Claude and the others can only continue to wait anxiously for their arrival.
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