After learning about the current battle situation from the messenger, Claude could only smile bitterly. Obviously, the commander-in-chief of the Hicks, whose name is that, has seen through his plot, so the Hicks troops on the eastern front will completely withdraw and abandon all occupied eastern frontier mountainous areas. The three divisions of Hicks on the northern mountainous border have called in reinforcements and must now be holding on to their camps.
Claude now faces two choices. One is to implement the original plan, join forces with General Albert, and attack the Hicks from the three divisions on the northern mountainous border. The second is to divide the troops and send a regiment of troops to escort more than 20,000 Hicks prisoners to move forward. He leads three regiments to turn east and attack the Hicks who are withdrawing from the eastern mountains.
Choose a safer point, at least the fruits of victory won will not be discarded. Option two is very risky. No one knows whether the Hicks of the three divisions on the northern mountainous border will take the initiative to rescue the prisoners. It will be difficult for a regiment of troops to successfully escort the prisoners to join General Albert. In addition, even if Claude leads three regiments to attack the Hicks who are evacuating on the eastern front, there is a high possibility that they will not be able to block all the enemies in the mountainous area.
Since the commander-in-chief of the Hicks had seen through his plan, he should have been prepared. Claude suspected that even if he took his troops to the Eastern Front, he would not be able to gain anything. At the northern mountainous border, General Albert had only one division in his hands, and it was difficult to suppress the Hicks who were holding on to three divisions. If he leads his troops to the Eastern Front, perhaps the Hicks from these three divisions can draw out troops to cause trouble behind him, which will pose a greater threat to Claude who is cut off from logistical supplies.
Another unfavorable factor was that more than 9,000 officers and soldiers of Muriel's Second Regiment and Diaverde's Third Regiment went to ambush the enemy's reinforcements but failed to do so, and suffered five days in the wild in vain. Although their morale has improved a lot after two days of rest, Claude doubted whether their bodies could survive if he took them to fight on the Eastern Front.
Forget it, one bird in hand is worth less than a hundred birds in the forest. Claude gave up the idea of going to the eastern front and decided to attack the three divisions of Hicks in the northern mountainous area according to the original plan. As long as the Hicks of these three divisions are annihilated, plus the garrison strength of the annihilated General Logistics Base Camp, it means that two enemy standing legions have been eliminated. It was also a heavy blow.
After making up his mind, Claude sent a falcon message to General Albert, asking him to command the troops to attack the Hicks' camp and involve the Hicks. At the same time, more than a dozen Nikancha battalions deployed at various strategic locations in the northern coastal mountainous areas can be pulled over to build momentum, making the Hicks who stick to the camp think that a comprehensive counterattack has been launched in the war zone.
However, three days later, Claude bypassed the Hicks camp from the dry river ditch to meet General Albert and discovered that the progress of the war was not ideal. General Albert commanded the Thunder Legion's second division and sixteen Nikancha battalions to once break through the Hicks' first line of defense. However, the Hicks took advantage of their strength to launch hand-to-hand combat, and still managed to defeat the Hicks just now. The attackers who occupied the first line of camp defense were driven out.
"The casualties of our offensive troops were somewhat heavy." General Albert said bitterly, "The Second Division invested four regiments in the attack in rotation, but after the withdrawal, only three regiments were left including the wounded. Sixteen The Nikancha battalion also lost seven, and now those Nikanchas have refused to follow us in the attack. In addition, our grenade consumption is very large, and the current reserves can no longer support us in launching another major offensive. "
The failure of the attack was not the fault of General Albert. He commanded his troops to launch a night attack and used projectiles to cover the Hicks' first line of defense. He caught the Hicks by surprise and captured the Hicks with very slight casualties. The first line of defense for the Hicks camp. Both the command and tactical choices are remarkable and beyond reproach.
However, General Albert underestimated the combat resilience and revengeful mentality of the Hicks veterans, as well as the condescending geographical advantage of the defensive camps set up by the Hicks over the first line of defense. When attacking the Hicks' first camp defense line from the outside, nothing unusual was seen. However, after occupying the first camp defense line, it was discovered that the enemy's second defense line was stronger than the first camp defense line. The average height is three meters higher, which limits the attack path from the first line of defense to the second line of defense. At the same time, it is condescending and can cover the entire area of the first line of defense with artillery.
General camps are divided into permanent and temporary camps. As the name suggests, permanent camps refer to the places where troops are stationed for a long time and for a period of time, while temporary camps are basically camps for short periods of time during marches and wars. Permanent camps need to set up defensive facilities such as walls and trenches, as well as guard towers and sentries, while temporary camps are not so particular. They are basically just a simple trench, or a fence surrounded by wood.
Both permanent camps and temporary camps have defensive cordons set up on the outside. Most tents are set up inside as dormitories for officers and soldiers, and areas are separated to distinguish the different establishments of each unit. Defensive camps are actually a type of permanent camps. The only difference is that their area is several times larger than most permanent camps. This is a combination of defensive positions and camps to garrison strategic locations and assign troops to take charge. Defense of various areas.
From the outside, the defensive camps stationed by the three divisions of the Hicks are no different from ordinary permanent camps except for their large area. The outer perimeter is also a log wall and an earth fortress and sentry post built with soil piled behind the log wall. One hundred meters away from the guard tower, three trenches were dug outside the original wooden wall.
According to pre-war reconnaissance, it can be seen from a high place that the Hicks people built another protective wall combining civil engineering and wood at a distance of two to three hundred meters behind the previous log wall. The first log wall Five trenches were dug on the ground between the protective wall and
After Claude led the Thunder Division to attack, General Albert launched a sweeping attack on the security posts set up by the Hicks on the periphery, and used the one or three soldiers left behind by Claude who were equipped with new rifles. The battalion of the Zero 3rd Regiment successfully carried out several interceptions and ambushes against the Hicks troops. The Hicks were forced to retreat to their camps and did not dare to send troops to attack or approach the northern mountainous border.
But since the Hicks sent reinforcements and hurriedly recalled them some time ago, they have been huddled in the camp, and they don't even seem to be interested in dealing with the harassing attack launched by General Albert on the camp. No matter how provocative the Thunder Legion soldiers outside were, they just refused to attack, as if they were preparing to defend the camp.
Then General Albert received a falcon message from Claude, asking him to launch an attack on the Hicks' camp in front of him, attracting the attention of the Hicks, and waiting for Claude to lead the first division of the Thunder Legion. If you come from behind, you can attack from both front and back and win the battle. So General Albert carefully arranged an attack plan, and launched a night attack the next night after receiving the message from the Falcon Eagle, capturing the Hicks' first line of defense in one fell swoop.
It was only after occupying the first line of defense that General Albert realized that he seemed to have stung a hornet's nest. They launched a harassing attack on the first wall of the Hicks from the outside. At that time, the Hicks were like a coward, unwilling to attack and too lazy to respond, and even seemed uninterested. But as soon as the first defensive line of the stronghold wall fell, the Hicks people suddenly woke up from a dream, became furious and began to counterattack day and night.
Especially when the soldiers of the Second Division of the Thunder Legion entered the trenches behind the first defensive line of the Hicks camp, they discovered a big problem. There is a height difference of about one and a half feet between the first trench and the second trench. In other words, it is no problem to lie down in the first trench and shoot outside the wall. But if you want to shoot in the direction of the second trench, you can't reach it. You need to stand on tiptoes or put a wooden stool or something under your feet.
Looking at the five trenches within a distance of two to three hundred meters between the first wall and the second protective wall of the Hicks from the outside, I really can’t see any problems. Even if I notice the small slope, I can’t see any problems. No one took it as a big deal. As a result, the soldiers and Nikancha people who entered these five trenches suffered a big loss. They couldn't hit the enemy, but the enemy could easily carry out precise aiming and shooting from a high position across a trench.
For the well-trained officers and soldiers of the Thunder Legion, this was not a big difficulty. They quickly used their experience to counterattack by raising the soil layer and appeased the Nikancha people who followed them into the trenches. They firmly occupied the first and second trenches and launched a counterattack towards the third trench. But the reason why the Hicks set up these five trenches between the first defensive wall and the second protective wall is that they want to turn the two to three hundred meters away into the main battlefield to fight the attackers. Only here can they take advantage of their military strength and turn passivity into initiative.
The Hicks placed most of their trebuchet-style hurlers behind the second protective wall, covering the fourth and fifth trenches within hurling range, and even sectioned off, which section Which hurler is responsible for throwing grenades in the trenches. The officers and soldiers of the Thunder Legion and the Nikancha people who did not know this suffered a big loss when they entered the last two trenches. They were killed and injured nearly a thousand people by the grenades thrown by the Hicks.
General Albert went to the front line to direct the attack in person, but was bombarded by concentrated fire from the Hicks defensive artillery and almost died. It was the guard captain next to him who was alert, grabbed him and jumped into the nearby trench, avoiding the fate of one of the five giants in the war zone dying on the battlefield. But General Albert's adjutant and two guards were not so lucky, and were killed on the spot by more than a dozen solid projectiles the size of a fist.
It was also because of his personal experience that General Albert realized that the Hicks monitored all movements from the first wall to the second protective wall. When General Albert decided to go to the battlefield in person, his distinctive general uniform became the focus of all Hicks observers as soon as he appeared on the first wall defense line. Fortunately, the first wall The wall defense line is about three hundred meters away from the second protective wall and is not within the range of the iron pumpkin thrown by the Hicks. Otherwise, General Albert will receive a warmer welcome from the sky.
However, the Hicks still mobilized more than a dozen light infantry field guns to launch a concentrated fire bombardment at General Albert. Fortunately, General Albert was lucky and escaped. Only when he visited the battlefield in person did General Albert discover that the difficulties faced by the front line were very serious. The officers and soldiers of the Thunder Legion had no way to occupy the fourth and fifth trenches.
In terms of weapons and equipment, the soldiers of the Thunder Legion have the range advantage of the Chaobash III standard matchlock gun and the precision aiming shooting of the Sonya 591 new rifle. After overcoming the height gap between the trenches, It posed a fatal threat to the Hicks veterans defending in the two trenches behind.
But the Hicks didn't want to engage in shooting exchanges with the soldiers of the Thunder Legion. They simply gave up on the fourth and fifth trenches, and most of them retreated behind the second protective wall, not showing their heads at all. The precise aim and shooting of the Thunder Legion soldiers were useless.
With the fourth and fifth trenches covered by the iron pumpkins thrown by the Hicks, the soldiers of the Thunder Legion had to occupy the fifth trench first if they wanted to attack the second protective wall. Only by occupying the fifth trench can we use projectile bombs to blow up the Hicks' projectile placed behind the second protective wall and eliminate its threat to the fourth and fifth trenches.
The Hicks also know this very well. The fourth trench can be occupied by the soldiers of the Thunder Legion. There are observers at high altitudes to monitor. Which trench has more Thunder Legion soldiers or Nikancha soldiers gathered in it? Just send a signal to throw the iron pumpkin, forcing the attackers occupying the fourth trench to disperse instead of gathering together.
After General Albert discovered this, he secretly used a trick to let the Nikancha people go up, hoping to use the Nikancha people to consume more of the Hicks' iron pumpkin reserves. But soon the Hicks understood that they no longer paid attention to the Nikanchas. Instead, if more than five Thunder Legion soldiers gathered together, they would inevitably be bombarded by Iron Pumpkins.
So General Albert wanted the Nikanchas to change into the uniforms of Thunder Legion soldiers, but the Nikanchas were not all fools. They didn’t believe what General Albert said that wearing military uniforms would show that our attackers were more capable. With great power, he shocked the enemy with his lies and refused to change his military uniform.
This was only the fourth trench. In the fifth trench, the Hicks arranged light infantry field artillery that fired shotgun shells to block the entrance from the fourth trench to the fifth trench. If there are a small number of people, they can be put in. If there are a large number of people, they will use several artillery to block the entrance, and throw iron pumpkins to bombard the surrounding assembly points, so that the soldiers of the Thunder Legion cannot get close to the fifth trench.
General Albert tried to let the soldiers of the Thunder Legion rush into the fifth trench alone, and then reunited to directly use the thrown bombs they carried to blow up the throwers behind the second protective wall. But it soon became apparent that this was a dead end. The Hicks people left a small number of veterans in the fifth trench to guard, and soldiers from the Thunder Legion rushed in one after another to deliver food to the Hicks veterans.
From here, General Albert had to mention the fighting will of those Hicks veterans. He believed that these Hicks veterans were very tenacious in fighting, especially not afraid of death, and fought extremely fiercely. This ferocity is not only for the enemy, but also for themselves. In the final battles and hand-to-hand combat, General Albert saw many times those Hicks veterans holding iron pumpkins with lit match ropes and charging into the Thunder Legion's defense line in an attempt to die together, causing the Nikancha people on the left to finally collapse. Thus the position was captured by the Hicks
It's not that the Thunder Legion captured the Hicks' first wall of defense and entered the first three trenches, which means that it took the initiative on the entire battlefield. The Hicks have been in passive defense. In fact, the second division of the Thunder Legion only occupies a small position in front of the entire defensive camp of the Hicks. While continuing to attack the second protective wall of the Hicks, it must also guard against the Hicks. Counterattacks launched on the left and right wings.
General Albert, commanding the Second Division of the Thunder Legion, only occupied the first defensive line of the front wall for three days. During these three days, fighting was going on all the time. In the first two days, they could still use grenades and new rifles to suppress the Hicks' counterattack. However, on the third day, the Hicks gathered a large number of troops and launched attacks on the left and right wings, which occupied part of the Thunder Legion's defense force. Suddenly, a wave-like assault was launched from the front
The Hicks veterans attacked from high places. Not only did they advance along the connected trenches, they even put up planks on the trenches in advance, launched a charge directly on the ground, and then jumped into the first three trenches to fight with them. The officers and soldiers of the Thunder Legion engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the Nikancha people.
At first, the Thunder Legion could withstand the enemy's onslaught, but as the casualties increased and there were more and more Hicks, the three regiments in front began to be unable to withstand it. When several Hicks veterans rushed into the crowd on their side holding the iron pumpkins that had been lit with match ropes and exploded, the Nikancha people collapsed and their position was completely lost.
General Albert said that he still couldn't figure out why the Hicks were so crazy about retaking their position, even regardless of casualties. Now that I saw Claude, I realized that it was the Hicks who already knew that Claude's troops were approaching their camp. In order to avoid being attacked from both sides and losing sight of the other, they must first regain the frontal position and inflict heavy damage to General Albert's troops, so that they can turn around and deal with the attack of Claude's troops from the rear.
"How many casualties are there?" Claude really didn't expect that the fight would end like this, nor did he expect that the enemy would set up such a targeted defensive position as the main battlefield for camp defense.
"The total number of light and heavy casualties is more than 10,000, which is almost one-third of the total strength of the Second Division. Nearly 6,000 of them died in battle. That's why I say I lost a regiment." General Albert was a little frustrated. It was the biggest defeat since the establishment of the Thunder Legion, and the position with such heavy casualties was still lost. Now the morale of the Second Division is somewhat low.
"The Nikancha casualties also exceeded 10,000, and more than 7,000 of them died in the battle. This was mainly because they did not bring back the wounded who were left on the position when they finally collapsed and fled. As a result, they were all killed by the Hicks. Execution." General Albert could only shake his head.
"Now they blame me for indiscriminate command, thinking that I deliberately commanded them to go to the battlefield to die, and believe that attacking the enemy's camp is only the responsibility of our Thunder Legion. They are originally responsible for defending important areas in the mountains and should not participate in the attack. So now The Nikancha people have refused to cooperate with our Thunder Legion and are unwilling to continue the attack."