On September 3, the Hicks finally took action. They dispatched a legion of troops to launch an attack on the eastern mountain border. They also used the new weapon they had just delivered, a huge cantilever thrower. Just like the huge trebuchet in ancient times. It's just that this cantilever thrower can throw a projectile twice the size of an iron pumpkin to a distance of 350 meters, and the explosive power is extremely amazing.
Although the first defensive position in contact with the enemy in the forward mountainous area immediately concentrated three light infantry field artillery on the position to bombard this huge thrower and successfully destroyed one of them. But the Hicks people also reacted quickly. They used more than thirty wooden carts to surround the remaining four throwers tightly. As a result, the light infantry field artillery loses its effect, unless the solid projectile can hit the huge cantilever exactly, but that requires luck. At a distance of 600 meters, the cantilever is not much thicker than a chopstick in the eyes of the gunner.
Perhaps the only drawback of this huge cantilever thrower is that it is very bulky and moves very slowly. It took the Hicks a full day to move four hurlers to the front of the first defensive position and try throwing several huge hurlers.
The veterans of a battalion on the defensive position looked livid when the grenades fell on the mountainside and made huge craters. Everyone knew that when the Hicks moved the four grenades to their positions tomorrow, Then the defensive position will attract indiscriminate bombardment from the enemy. The most painful thing is that the defenders on the position have no way to fight back and can only passively withstand the bombing.
The veterans on the defensive position were originally preparing to carry out a night attack and took the initiative to destroy these four giant-like throwers. However, the Hicks had already been prepared, and the security circle was very tight. They were discovered by the Hicks just as they approached the outer defense zone. A fierce exchange of fire ensued, with both sides using their own projectiles. As Hicks reinforcements arrived, the veterans of the night attack returned in vain with half their casualties.
When at noon the next day, the first moved and adjusted throwing bomb hit the defensive position with the first huge throwing bomb, the officers on the defensive position had no choice but to give the order to retreat. The news was immediately passed to the defensive front headquarters, and Claude immediately set off for the frontier mountainous area, preparing to see with his own eyes the enemy's giant thrower.
After receiving the report of the attack by the Hopeks, Claude, General Beachlin, and General Albert Lund finally felt relieved. Then the news came that the Hicks had dispatched five huge cantilevered throwers. Claude and others agreed that the reason why the Hicks had not launched an attack was because they were waiting for the delivery of such throwers. arrival
Then the report of the loss of the first defensive position in the frontier mountainous area came in. When I saw it, it was said that the Hicks' giant thrower could throw a projectile twice that of an iron pumpkin more than 300 meters away. Lorde just wanted to scold her. It seems that the Hicks are focusing on the development and research of new weapons: grenades. According to the game, this means that the technology points of the grenades have been fully charged.
It could throw projectiles twice as large as the Iron Pumpkin more than 300 meters away, which made Claude hate his toothache. I have finally finished researching and deciding on a defensive thrower, and I can only throw the lightest projectile to a distance of three hundred meters. Compared with the giant thrower of the Hicks, the throwing distance is still far behind. It is conceivable that if the Hicks use this giant thrower to throw iron pumpkins, the throwing distance can be increased, and the defensive position can only be bombed unilaterally.
There is only one piece of good news that makes Claude feel slightly better, that is, the moving distance and speed of the Hicks' giant thrower are really long. It took Claude three days to rush to the frontier mountainous area and found that three days had passed since the Hicks captured the first defensive position and they had not yet reached the front of the second defensive position. It was estimated that it would take another day.
The reason is that these Hicks have to build roads first before they can move the four Big Mac throwers to the front of the position. Otherwise, the throwers cannot be moved up, and the Hicks will lose a weapon to attack the enemy, and the next attack will inevitably be in front of them. In front of a well-fortified defensive position, he was beaten to death. For the sake of their own lives, these Hicks soldiers devoted themselves to the road construction project.
Claude suddenly wanted to laugh when he saw this scene. It seemed that these Hicks soldiers were here to learn to do good deeds and help the territorial war zone build a national highway to the Rodex Bay Colony in the eastern mountainous area. According to their construction speed, it is estimated that it will take more than three months to reach the three defensive lines set up by General Beach Kerin in the central mountainous area. By then, this rugged mountain road will be able to pass four-wheel freight carriages. It will be a huge Facilitate logistics transportation and personnel travel
Or we can also use this time to build a road leading to the Vibato Port Direct Territory, and then connect the two roads together after the war is over. Claude thought this way in his mind, he pulled it A captain who accompanied him asked: "This is how the Hicks built the road honestly, and then dragged the four throwers over little by little. They did not make a surprise attack, lurked, and sent troops to launch attacks on the defensive positions." A small-scale exploratory attack?"
"Report to General, no." The captain replied: "In addition to building roads and moving those giant hurlers, the Hicks then deployed very tight security defenses around the road construction site. Circle. We have launched several night raids, but were unable to get close to its three hundred meter range. Because as long as our whereabouts are exposed, the Hicks will control those throwers to throw those kinds of missiles in the direction where we are lurking. Most of our brothers who were injured or killed were killed by projectiles with very powerful explosions.”
Claude once again picked up the monocular and carefully inspected the Hicks soldiers building roads in the distance. He found that their protective measures were indeed very complete. Throwers and road-building soldiers were surrounded inside. There were two light infantry field artillery on the hilltop not far away from me and they were firing at the throwers. But at a distance of more than 600 meters, the solid projectiles either landed on the wooden cart or passed by the cantilever.
"Is it useful?" Claude pointed to the two light infantry field artillery fires.
The second lieutenant was a little surprised and shook his head: "It's useless. It just adds a little trouble to the enemy and causes very few casualties. It's not as good as the grenades thrown at the enemy during night attacks. And destroying these wooden platoon trucks has no effect." , destroying ten wooden carts at night, and they would drag over twenty or thirty more during the next day.
We couldn't get close to those throwers. The enemy used these wooden platoon vehicles and shield vehicles as cover to deal with our night attack troops. It made it impossible for us to break through the outer security range and enter. When the battle was fierce, we used old-fashioned throwers to throw iron pumpkins to cover the attacked area, causing heavy casualties to our night attack personnel."
"Have you tried any other means?" Claude asked.
The second lieutenant nodded: "We used landmines. The enemy suffered some losses in the first two times. There were more than a dozen casualties and two wooden platoon trucks were blown up. But the enemy quickly came up with countermeasures. General, you Look over there, that's a minesweeper truck made by the enemy."
Claude raised his monocular out of curiosity and looked in the direction pointed by the ensign, and then saw the so-called minesweeper. This is actually a wooden cart with three-meter-long wooden arms extending out from both sides. A log section is clamped on the ground at the front of the wooden arms. As Hicks soldiers pushed forward behind the platoon cart, the log section in front of the platoon cart would roll on the ground first, detonating the buried mines. The debris generated by the mine explosion will be blocked by the raft truck.
This should be regarded as the ancestor of the minesweeper. It is very simple and primitive, but it is enough to deal with the first generation mines produced in the territorial theater. Although it is a one-time minesweeper, it will have to be replaced if it is destroyed by a mine. But now the Hicks are not pursuing offensive speed, and this thing suits their needs very well. Claude had to admire the wisdom of Soldier Hicks for coming up with a way to deal with landmines so easily.
Although these Hicks soldiers are here to build roads, Claude is not willing to let them continue doing good things like this. He issued an order for the various defensive positions in the forward mountainous area to carry out normal blocking. Only when the Hicks' giant throwers threatened the defensive positions could they evacuate to the rear positions. Claude would not let his officers and soldiers be bombed in vain on the defensive position, but he was also unwilling to let the Hicks' offensive troops smoothly break into the front of the defensive line in the central mountainous area.
Although the defensive positions in the forward mountainous areas cannot block the enemy's attack, they can delay the enemy's progress and time. The Hicks must use their huge throwers to threaten the defensive positions to force the defenders to evacuate, which will cost them more time and energy in building roads to pull out the defensive positions one by one.
Claude needs to find a more suitable location to eliminate the threat of the Hicks' giant cantilever throwers. The Hicks also know that the key to their victory lies in these new throwers. Therefore, they paid great attention to the hills along the way. Every time they removed a defensive position, they sent people to guard it. At the same time, they deployed old-fashioned throwers and iron pumpkins, as well as three or four light infantry field artillery pieces.
It's just that while Claude was looking for a suitable place to ambush the Hicks throwers, he couldn't help but feel a little confused. Didn't it mean that the newly appointed frontline commander of the Hicks Kingdom, the young Marquis Clario de Xirios, is known for being the best at attacking? Could this be his offensive method
Pinning our hopes on these new throwers, we can slowly and steadily attack forward. That's why we reserve three months' worth of food, grass and military supplies in the camp on the mountainous border. Fighting a war is time-consuming and costly. The war of attrition seems to be more like the work of the old man who was the previous frontline commander who was said to have been dismissed and returned to China. It is quite contradictory to the style of this so-called cutting-edge young general of the Kingdom of Hicks who is best at attacking.
"I think it's okay here." General Albert pointed to the surrounding terrain and said: "A valley surrounded by three mountains, with mountain roads bypassing the bottom of the valley. The tops of these three mountains are connected high and low, and a chain defense can be set up. positions. And we can dig trenches from the mountainside to the top of the mountain. Even the huge throwers of the Hicks will never be able to throw the grenades to the defensive positions on the top of the mountain. On the contrary, our grenades can use the height The gap covers the mountain roads in the entire valley. Unless the Hicks capture these three mountains in one fell swoop, they will never be able to pass through the defense line here."
The terrain is very good, easy to defend but difficult to attack. In the past, it was not taken seriously because it was too close to the defensive front in the central mountainous area. But now to deal with the Hicks' giant throwers, the valley here and the surrounding mountains are indeed the best choice.
Claude nodded: "Okay, then set up a defensive front here and have a good fight with the Hicks. I just don't know if the Hicks can build the road here within two or three months, and then start again." They have been struggling with us here for half a year, and I really don’t know if their food reserves are enough for their consumption.”
As long as there is no casualty due to the strength of the troops, Claude doesn't care much about the consumption of materials. He is definitely eager to fight a war with the Hicks that lasts for two or three years. It's very simple. The direct-administered territorial war zone is now a local battle. If the battlefield is controlled in this mountainous area ceded from the Nikancha people, it will not affect the economic stability and development of the other eight overseas direct-administered territories at all. It may even Because the needs of the war play a role in promoting the economy of the direct territory.
In comparison, the Hicks Kingdom's military strength is about three times that of the directly-administered territorial war zone. Just leasing Rodex Bay Colony paid a high price. The rest, whether it is food, drink, and various military supplies, All require higher prices to purchase sufficient supplies. The Kingdom of Hicks has spent an astronomical amount of money on this colonial war. Now it is riding a tiger and cannot get off, and it can only hold on.
If the seven standing legions of the Kingdom of Hicks were really entangled with the direct-administered war zone in this mountainous area for two or three years, it is guaranteed that Melchid III would directly eat all the officers on the front line alive. To provide supplies for more than 400,000 horses for two to three years, or to be thousands of miles away from the continent of Nubisia, separated by a silent ocean. If nothing else, the treasury of the Hicks Kingdom will soon be starved of rats.
This is also where Claude always felt that something was wrong with the attack method adopted by the Hicks. If he really wanted to follow the Hicks' method of attacking while repairing the roadside, wait until they get through this mountainous area and reach the colonial capital of Port Vibato. I don’t know if I have to go to the Year of the Monkey or the Horse. But the key is that Claude didn't find out what the problem was. The Hicks were not pretending to attack, but actually advancing step by step and occupying the frontline defensive positions.
General Beach Kerin came over. He brought a Falcon message from the theater command. The letter stated that the Hicks Kingdom's Sea King Fleet and the Combined Fleet did not return to the country, but arrived in the coastal waters of the territorial war zone. , launched harassing shelling on Vibato Port, but they did not cause much damage to the port facilities. After the city defense artillery in the dock area counterattacked, the enemy ships did not continue the bombardment, but turned around and left.
The head of the main field regiment of the Rock Corps stationed at Vibato Port reported that the enemy's two fleets were mostly warships, with few ocean-going transport ships seen. It was estimated that the purpose of this trip was to harass the coastal areas of the war zone directly under the jurisdiction. . In addition, the direction of their departure is to the south, perhaps to the Port of Patres in the direct jurisdiction of Robisto, to remind the defenders there to avoid being attacked by the Hicks Kingdom's Sea King Fleet and the United Fleet.
Since most of the Hicks Kingdom's two fleets are warships and do not have a few ocean-going transport ships, it must be a harassing attack. Claude, General Buechlin and General Albert didn't care much about the three deep-water ports under the direct territory of the territory, the Port of Vibato, the Port of Patres in the territory of Robisto, and There is a main field regiment of the Rock Legion and a local garrison regiment stationed at the Port of Copicius under the direct jurisdiction of Tiersim. Together with the city defense artillery, it can completely withstand the sneak attacks and attacks of the Sea King Fleet and the Combined Fleet.
In addition to these three deep-water ports, the coastal areas of the war zone's direct jurisdiction are shallow seas and reef areas. Warships cannot approach at all, unless they are stranded or use lifeboats to go ashore. However, the theater command has set up warning sentries in coastal areas. , if the enemy wants to land from coastal areas, it will attract nearby garrison troops, which is enough to eliminate the enemy on the beach.
Therefore, the Falcon message sent by the theater command stated that the three generals on the front line did not need to worry about this matter. The theater command had already prepared a plan for the harassment of enemy warships in the coastal areas, and would not allow the enemy warships to attack the coastal areas. What losses and injuries were caused in the territorial war zones.
On September 21, Claude received a report from a spy lurking in the Rodex Bay Colony. The Royal Knights Reserve Corps, which was originally on the eastern mountain border, suddenly returned to the general logistics base camp in the rear and merged into the camp for rest. It is said that it is normal training and I will go back in two days.
Three days later, I received another report from the spies. The light cavalry regiment in the general logistics base camp, that is, the Royal Knights Reserve Corps, disappeared at some point. The spies probably set off overnight to return to the camp on the eastern mountainous border. Because Rodex Bay City did not allow residents to leave the city at night, the spies did not see the whereabouts of the light cavalry.
Claude, who was full and full, thought so, but he still took out his notebook and wrote down a note about the light cavalry regiment. Those who can carry out long-distance training are troops with good combat effectiveness, especially when the entire regiment can complete the departure in one night. It is not easy to make preparations and leave quietly.
Two days later, on September 27, Claude received an urgent request for help from the theater command. The Hicks landed in the fishing port town of Amphiston and occupied the entire fishing port town.