"We have to retreat." Claude said to the officers around him.
"Can't we hold on to the defense here for a few more days?" Markchi's face looked a little ashamed. It should be his fault that dozens of people rushed to the position during the second charge launched by the enemy in the morning. They failed to control the firing rhythm of the two artillery pieces. They were so nervous that the two artillery pieces fired shotshells almost at the same time. This gave the enemy who followed up an opportunity to take advantage of the short two minutes while the artillery clearing the barrels and loading the ammunition. Within a few seconds, he rushed to the position and engaged in a brief hand-to-hand battle with the guards, causing more than 20 casualties to the guards.
Now there are only about 80 soldiers under Claude who can still fight. Adding the three artillery crew members and himself, Mike Jack and the big man Germi, there are only about 100 soldiers. Although the three attacks launched by the territorial nobles coalition forces of the two principalities in the morning suffered heavy losses, there were still more than 3,000 people left. If they continued to attack in the afternoon, it would be difficult for Claude to guarantee whether the defensive position would be captured by the enemy. The difference in strength was really too big.
Another morning of defensive operations made the soldiers on the position exhausted. Fortunately, those who rushed into the position in the morning were the brave conscripts and not well-trained elite veterans. Coupled with the fact that Markchi's side once again let two light infantry artillery fire shotguns to cover the forward position and cut off the enemy's subsequent reinforcements, Claude and others had time to eliminate the enemies who rushed to the position.
Claude shook his head: "Let's see in the afternoon whether the enemy will launch a desperate attack like in the morning. Our defense here does not necessarily resist the enemy, but only relies on the favorable terrain to reduce the enemy's effective strength. If the enemy continues If we attack, we need to maintain our defensive strength and not cause too many casualties here. If we really cannot resist the enemy's attack, we must retreat. There is no need to fight with the enemy here."
In fact, Claude only saw the huge difference in strength between the enemy and ours. He did not know that the heavy casualties caused by the three attacks in the morning almost frightened the territorial nobles of the two countries. There were only three attacks launched by more than 1,500 people. Only more than 600 people were still standing after retreating, and they were still lost and frightened. There were very few noble private soldiers who were temporarily organized into two brigades. The main reason for this was that the defenders on the position gave priority to shooting the attackers with muskets in their hands and wearing military uniforms. As a result, after three attacks, more than 500 enlisted citizens who retreated lacked the supervision of the nobles' private soldiers and refused to attack again.
The territorial nobles had no choice but to withdraw their troops and return to camp. They no longer launched an attack in the afternoon. Instead, they gathered in the big tent to renegotiate ways to deal with the current situation. Some people even proposed to withdraw their troops and go home. However, the suggestion of retreat was quickly abandoned by the territorial nobles. After all, the enemy was less than two hundred, and there were more than three thousand on our side. If we go back like this, it will immediately become a shame for the nobles. The two grand dukes are likely to use this Use war as an excuse to deprive them of their titles and take back their territories.
It was related to the survival of the territorial nobles' families and the bottom line of their territorial titles. The territorial nobles present finally became ruthless and deliberated for a long time. They decided to eliminate the enemies guarding Squirrel Village regardless of the cost of casualties. They once again drew their private soldiers in proportion, reorganized them into three brigades of more than 700 people, and then added all the remaining conscripted citizens to form a two-man army with one private soldier leading two people. An attacking force of more than a thousand people.
In order to reduce casualties, the territorial nobles decided not to attack in the afternoon and let the attacking team have a good rest before taking action at night. At the same time, it was decided to separate a temporary private soldier brigade and lead a conscripted civilian brigade up the hillside at point A after dinner, and then detour to the side of the enemy's defensive position. After launching an attack here, they would suddenly attack, leaving the enemy with no choice but to deal with both sides. Attack from a pincer, taking advantage of the strength of troops to capture the position and eliminate the enemy in one go.
"Boss, we touched the enemy's camp and found that the enemy's defense was very tight. I observed with a monocular telescope and saw that the enemies in the camp were all resting. Most of them were lying on the ground sleeping, and few people were moving around." He took a few soldiers with him. Murield, who went to conduct reconnaissance and wanted to make a sneak attack, came back to report to Claude.
Claude touched his chin: "It seems that the enemy doesn't want to attack in the afternoon. Letting the soldiers rest now shows that they want to attack at night. In this case, let's go over and join in the fun. Don't let them sleep too deep and wake them up to pee. Pee.Makchi