"Bang" a stream of white gunpowder smoke came out from the muzzle. The last light cavalryman from the Principality of Karrnath turned his horse and prepared to escape. A stream of blood spurted out from the back of his blue military uniform, and he slowly fell to the ground from under his horse. The war horse under the seat also whined and raised its legs in the air, kicking its two front hooves in mid-air, and then lay on the ground struggling.
The big man Gemi couldn't help but ran over to take a look out of curiosity, and quickly ran back: "Sir, that shot you just made was really amazing. It penetrated the enemy's body and hit the back of the horse's head, knocking down one person with one shot." One horse.”
This was probably just a coincidence. Claude didn't expect to hit the enemy's horse. However, at a distance of forty or fifty meters, it is natural for the power of the Obash Type III musket to penetrate the enemy's body.
All the soldiers were nervously loading their muskets, while McJack took charge of Claude's musket. The three of them brought five muskets. The big man, Germi, usually carried three muskets on his back, which allowed Claude to shoot three times in a row.
After the soldiers reloaded their muskets, Claude ordered the battlefield to be cleaned. They had just ambushed a small group of reconnaissance cavalry scouts from the Principality of Karnas, and one of their own teams was unscathed. This was a rare achievement for the first ranger battalion. In the past half month, the First Ranger Battalion had suffered a lot of casualties in order to ambush these light cavalry scouts from the Principality of Karnas.
This is actually not Claude's fault. The main casualties occurred in the second, third, and fourth brigades. The reason is very simple. Most of the soldiers who make up these three brigades are new recruits, and the officers have also been reassigned. None of them have experienced the battle of ambushing enemy reconnaissance cavalry when the ranger battalion was first formed. From the Ranger Battalion in that period to the present, there are only six people who are still in the Ranger Battalion: Claude, Michael Jack, big man Germi, Murray Ed, Diaverde and Markchi.
The only thing to blame is the battle to capture Wilf Hill. Almost all the soldiers who followed Claude and participated in the battle to ambush the enemy's reconnaissance cavalry were forced by that damn Lieutenant Colonel Rosler to form a neat first row, and then Go towards the enemy's position. There were heavy casualties, and only a small half survived. After the war, Hansback ordered the formation of the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Ranger Battalions and were dispatched. If Murray Ed, Diavid and Makchi were not all injured and in the treatment center, they would not be able to stay in the 1st Ranger Battalion.
There were also several soldiers who had followed Claude and stayed in the 1st Ranger Battalion due to injuries. However, last time the frontline command dispatched a group of grassroots officers and veterans to the Blue Feather Legion, these soldiers were all transferred away. So now Claude is the only one in the first ranger battalion who can lead the soldiers to set up an ambush to snipe the enemy's reconnaissance cavalry, and Markchi is not qualified yet. This veteran oil man did not follow Claude to ambush the enemy in the ranger camp. He just relied on luck to kill two lone enemy scouts on the battlefield.
There was no other way, so Claude could only assign Muired and Diaverde to serve as ambush instructors for the Second and Third Battalions. As for the Fourth Battalion, they could only wait. Because after the Second and Third Battalions received Major Skerry's request to take the initiative and ambush the enemy's reconnaissance cavalry, the two brigades obeyed the order and sent out soldiers. It's just that the effect of the ambush was not very good. The enemy did not kill a few, but he suffered a lot of casualties. The Second Battalion made four sorties, but was ambushed by enemy reconnaissance cavalry. The casualties were close to one squadron.
Claude could only shake his head and lament that Captain Heimkling, the captain of the second brigade, had a wooden head and didn't know how to adapt. He thought that an ambush meant finding a place for soldiers to hide and wait for the enemy to appear before shooting. If it were that simple, then the former ranger camp would not continue to recruit soldiers into the camp. Now those who come out to perform reconnaissance missions in the Principality of Karnas are veterans who have been fighting for several years and have very rich battlefield experience. As a reconnaissance horse, if something goes a little bit wrong, they will easily be discovered and ambushed. Not to mention the army of the Kingdom of Overas, which is wearing a bright red military uniform. The enemy can easily detect it from a long distance when ambushing in the grass...
For Claude, every time he goes out to ambush the enemy, he needs to make a very detailed plan. Where will the enemy be interested, where is the terrain suitable for ambush, how to disguise the enemy so that the enemy cannot detect the hidden soldiers, and how to deal with it. Unexpected situations on the battlefield. After the enemy appears, it matters who fires first. If the enemy's reconnaissance cavalry reinforcements are encountered in battle, whether there are any countermeasures, how to ensure the safety of himself and his soldiers, etc. are all issues that a commander should consider.
To Claude's surprise, the more they were ambushed by a battalion of rangers on the border between this area and the prairie, the more interested the reconnaissance cavalry from the Principality of Karrnass became in this area. More and more enemy light cavalry came for reconnaissance, from the initial group of three or four to a small group of reconnaissance cavalry at the end. After being ambushed several times by Claude and others and losing two or three squadrons of reconnaissance cavalry, the Principality of Karnas finally sent a light cavalry brigade to conduct reconnaissance. They were divided into four light cavalry squadrons and entered from four directions. area.
Under such circumstances, Claude had no way to go out and ambush the enemy. He could only let the two to three hundred enemy light cavalry explore the area. If the terrain here is difficult, Claude may have a field battle with these enemies. However, the terrain in this area is flat and the light cavalry can come and go freely. The Ranger Battalion can only occupy the castle to defend itself.
It only took two days. The light cavalry brigade of the Principality of Karnas should have found out that the garrison force in this area only had one battalion. They sent a light cavalry squad to monitor Claude from a distance. Randers Castle, Viscount Victor's Castle where the second brigade was located, and Baron Kraft's Castle where the third brigade was located, and the rest of the brigade turned to sweep the castle of Count Crelaus where the battalion headquarters was located.
Then Claude saw black smoke rising into the sky from a distance, and fierce gunshots and the roar of artillery were heard from time to time. I am not worried about whether the enemy can capture the castle where the battalion is located, Claude. After all, the fourth battalion is stationed in the castle, and it would be really weird to let the enemy with less than one battalion attack the strong castle with light cavalry. As long as the enemy is not so stupid, he will not ask for trouble to attack the castle, but what is the sound of muskets and artillery coming now
In September, Claude led his soldiers out to ambush the enemy's reconnaissance cavalry, but captured about thirty war horses. With all the original war horses, he could barely organize a squadron of cavalry. It's just that the enemy currently dispatches a small team of light cavalry to monitor the movements of Landes Castle from a distance. If Claude takes action, he will be discovered by the enemy. If he encounters a large group of enemy light cavalry on the way to the battalion headquarters for reinforcements, Claude is not sure that he can escape. After all, these are field infantry under his command, and horse warfare is no match for the light cavalry of the Principality of Karnas.
Only then did Claude realize that he had made a mistake in advocating that the four brigades be stationed in four castles in a diamond shape to defend the area. First, the rangers and the first battalion were field infantry and did not have strong maneuverability. There is no way that when the enemy attacks one of the castles, the other three castles can provide effective reinforcements. This is mainly due to insufficient strength. Without gathering together to form a powerful fist, there is no way to pose a threat to the enemy.
Second, the four brigades stationed in four castles seemed to control a large area of territory, but they also dispersed their own strength. In fact, he and the second and third brigades were stationed in deserted territories, and there was no need to guard these castles. At that time, Claude was thinking that the four castles were stationed separately. When the enemy came to attack, he would need to disperse his forces to attack the four castles. However, he forgot that the enemies were not fools. They could ignore the three castles here and only need to attack them. The castle of Count Crelaus, where the battalion headquarters was located, was sufficient.
Now the enemy only has two to three hundred light cavalry, and they only use good mobility to limit the reinforcements on their side, so that they have no way to figure out what happened at the battalion headquarters. If something unexpected happened to the battalion headquarters, losing the castle of Count Crelaus would mean cutting off the retreat of the three brigades, and the only thing waiting for them would be surrender and destruction.
The more Claude thought about it on the city wall, the more annoyed he became, wishing he could give himself a slap in the face. It's just that he has nothing to do now. He stares at the place where the enemy's small group of light cavalry is moving, waiting anxiously for darkness.
As expected by Claude, the enemy's small group of light cavalry did not leave even after dark. They just lit a bonfire in the distance. Every half an hour, two or three cavalry came on horseback and circled from a distance. He ran around the small hill where Randers Castle was located, obviously to check what was going on in the castle. Claude knew that the enemy's main focus was on the log suspension bridge on the moat. The people in the castle had to pass through the suspension bridge, and lowering the suspension bridge would make a lot of noise, and they could spot it from a distance.
However, this small group of enemy scouts would not have expected that the river they regarded as a natural chasm was actually the path Claude had prepared for a long time ago. Seven or eight selected soldiers were already ready. Each man held a fully inflated sheepskin bag and placed it gently in the moat. They lay down on it and then quietly followed the direction of the river along the bank. and drifted towards the bonfire lit by the enemy.
It is best to camp on the grassland next to a water source, so as to facilitate the drinking water needs of herders and livestock. This small group of light cavalry from the Principality of Karnas also found a place to camp next to the river five or six hundred meters away from Randers Castle. They were veterans and acted very cautiously. Half of them rested and the other half stayed on duty at night. Every twenty or thirty minutes, they would send two people on horseback to approach the castle to check for movement. The people on duty next to the bonfire had also been paying attention to the suspension bridge on the moat, but they didn't expect to pay attention to the river on the other side. For these light cavalry on the grassland, who have little water ability, rivers are their natural defense barrier.
Claude led this small group of people to land about forty or fifty meters away from the bonfire lit by the enemy. Any noise made any closer might be detected by the enemy. However, everyone consciously remained silent. With the help of the cover of weeds on the shore, they slowly checked the muskets wrapped in oilcloth on their backs, lit the match ropes, and were ready to fire.
The sound of galloping horse hooves could be heard in the distance. Two light cavalrymen who rode in a circle came back. They came to the campfire and laughed loudly. The general idea was that there was no movement. The enemy was huddled in the castle obediently. The suspension bridge on the opposite side There's no one around...
A light cavalryman who was still riding on his mount accidentally looked at where Claude and the others were: "It's strange, why are there still fireflies on the shore at this time..."
He mistook the matchsticks lit by Claude and others as the light of fireflies.
"Fire!" said Claude.
Gunshots rang out, and six enemy light cavalry standing, sitting, and riding on horses were shot and fell down almost at the same time, while the other six enemy light cavalry who were sleeping woke up and got up one after another. Time to get your own weapons around. It's just that they were a step slower. The soldiers who had fired had already jumped up and rushed towards the bonfire with their bayonet-mounted muskets. The distance of forty to fifty meters only lasted a few seconds, and several enemies were stabbed to the ground before they understood what was going on.
"Bang!" Claude fired again. The last enemy who jumped on his horse and tried to run fell to the ground. All the enemy light cavalry in this small group had been wiped out.
"Clean up the battlefield and dry the clothes. Let's go back to the castle and have an early rest. We will go to the battalion headquarters for reinforcements tomorrow morning." Claude breathed a sigh of relief and eliminated the enemy light cavalry team responsible for monitoring him. He will send troops to reinforce the battalion headquarters tomorrow. Can achieve unexpected results.
This is indeed the case. In the afternoon of the next day, Claude led two squadrons and four large carts and suddenly appeared under the castle of Count Crelaus, catching the light cavalry of the Principality of Karrnas by surprise as they were burning and killing the village. , the enemy organized two waves of raids, intending to use the speed of light cavalry to quickly defeat this group of reinforcements.
But Claude used four large carts to protect his flanks, then launched two light infantry artillery, and fired two shotguns to make the enemy's light cavalry surprise, leaving about thirty dead bodies in front of his formation.
Seeing that there was no benefit to be gained, Claude launched two more unfired light infantry artillery pieces, and the two artillery pieces that had been fired were also nervously loading shotgun shells. The enemy wisely blew the horn to retreat, and in a blink of an eye they gathered into a large group and left quickly.
Claude found the injured Major Skerry in the village. He was hanging by one arm and said he was scratched by a stray bullet and was nothing serious.
"Why not defend in the castle?" Claude was very angry.
Major Skerry shook his head, shed tears, and said sadly and angrily: "I can't stand it..."
The thing is very simple. When the enemy's large group of light cavalry attacked, Major Skerry gathered the men and young prisoners of the fourth group of the 1st Ranger Battalion into the castle. However, the old, weak, women and children who were gathered were all in the village. . Major Skerry thought that these were all citizens of the Principality of Karnas and should be fine. Unexpectedly, this group of light cavalry actually raised their butcher knives at these old, weak, women and children, killing them indiscriminately.
They also pushed some female refugees on the ground in front of the castle and publicly humiliated them. You must know that some old and weak women and children were gathered by the young and strong family members. Those young and strong people who entered the castle knelt down and begged Major Skerry to send troops to rescue them. His own relatives, and the soldiers who could not stand these atrocities were also very angry and asked to go to war, so Major Skerry impulsively started a fierce battle with these light cavalry in the village. See more! Prestige official account: hhxs665