"... The intelligence reported by our scouts is that the Clyde Army and the Jessica Army are coordinating with the local garrison forces in Fedkansi County and Benguela County on the southern coast, as well as territorial nobles and local officials, Taking his family to move to Colwalk County in the west..." Colonel Bockal drew the red route of his transfer on the map hanging on the wall.
"How many people do they have in total?" asked Avitley I of the Kingdom of Breault.
Colonel Bockal glanced at the folder in his hand: "The two standing corps have more than 136,000 troops, plus the local garrison, there are about four garrison regiments with about 20,000 troops. There are also those who left together The local officials and relatives of the territorial nobles, as well as the southern residents who left with them, totaled nearly 200,000 people. We estimate that their destination should be the four counties of the Northwest Highlands, where the Grand Duke of the North of the Kingdom of Hicks The territory of Duke Piraghi Ferriott..."
"Duke Pyrag Xi Ferriot? This name sounds a bit familiar..." Claude asked thoughtfully: "The four counties of the Northwest Highlands are all the territory of this duke? Then his power lies in Xi?" The Kingdom of Kes should be considered second to none..."
"Your Excellency, Marshal, this Duke Piraghi Ferriot is indeed an acquaintance of yours." Colonel Bockaar smiled: "During the Second Eastern War, he served as the supreme commander-in-chief and commander-in-chief of the alliance army. Officer. At the end of the Battle of Polivisia, he saw that the situation was not good and forcibly captured more than 80,000 war horses placed in the camp by the three divisions of the Principality of Karnas Light Cavalry. Together with all the four-wheeled carriages, he took away ten More than ten thousand Hicks wounded and remnant soldiers fled back to the Kingdom of Hicks. Because he fled without fighting, he was deprived of the rank of marshal by King Melchid III after his return...
Duke Pyrag Heath Ferriot has a high prestige in the military circles of the Hicks Kingdom. Except for Wilmouth County, which is his family's territory, the four northwest highland counties were acquired by him from the highland barbarians. Seize it. Since these three counties were often attacked by highland barbarians, the Royal Court of Hicks was unable to directly administer these three counties or grant them to other territorial nobles. In desperation, they had no choice but to hand them over to Duke Pyrag Heath Ferriott. Trusteeship, so that the four counties of the northwest highlands have become the sphere of influence of the Ferriot family.
The commanders of the Clyde Army and the Jessica Army, General Homes and General Torimoc, were both subordinates of Duke Pyrag Syferriot during the Second Eastern War and served under his command. . When Duke Pyrag Heath Ferriott led the team to evacuate back to the country, one of the two generals was injured, and the other was responsible for escorting the logistics and supplies. They both followed Duke Ferriott back to the Kingdom of Hicks.
Because Duke Piraghi Ferriott alone took the blame for fleeing without fighting, the subordinates who followed him back home and the two generals were not punished for their involvement. They are very grateful to Duke Ferriot, which is the main reason why our Military Intelligence Department has judged that the destination of the Clyde Army and the Jessica Army is the four counties of the Northwest Highlands... "
"Can we intercept them?" Avitelli asked.
Colonel Bockal looked at Avitley I, a little embarrassed: "It can be intercepted. If the Thunder Legion is allowed to chase them, it can delay their journey and force them to find a place to hold on, and then wait for the three Breault Mountains The legions came to surround them and then launched an attack. We had to pay a certain price of casualties to encircle and annihilate these two legions and those who followed them westward.
But the problem is that if we all go after them, it will give Hicks's other four standing armies an opportunity to take advantage of it. If these four standing armies learn that we are going after the Clyde Army and the Jessica Army, then it will definitely Will send troops to attack Wang Jing..."
"Let them go." Claude looked at the map and said, "Since they are out of the battlefield, we can leave this team alone. Their departure actually helps us reduce the number of enemies we face. Colonel Boquear, tell me. Check out the movement of the remaining four Hicks standing legions.”
"Yes, Your Majesty Marshal." Colonel Boquear opened a new page in the folder. Now that Claude has made his decision, there is no need to worry about the whereabouts of the two Hicks regiments. I have to admit that the commanders of the Clyde Army and the Jessica Army, General Homes and General Torimock, were very smart. They chose a way out.
"Buckler's Corps and Bruce's Corps are currently stationed in Scuvia County adjacent to Dartmouth County. They are two days behind Solem's Standing Corps. It is speculated that the two Hicks' Standing Corps should have received Wang Jing sent a message for help and rushed back. However, when they arrived in Skvia County, they received the news that the Solem Standing Army had been completely wiped out and that Wang Jing had been captured and that Melchid III had died in battle. As a result, they were in a dilemma.
The commander of the Balak Legion is the third son of Melchid III, His Highness Mondo Carlo da Hicks, the Kingdom's Lieutenant General. He is said to be the most talented prince among the 19 children of Melchid III. He once participated in the war to suppress the rebellion of the territorial nobles. He is cruel and murderous by nature. His favorite thing is to pour kerosene on prisoners and burn them alive. . Because of this, he had a very bad reputation in the Hicks Kingdom army, and many officers thought he did not have the bearing and demeanor of a king.
The commander of the Bruce Army is the Marquis of Wissinbad, a major general of the kingdom. He is a relative of the Hicks royal family, and his aunt married Prince Therihem, the younger brother of Melchid III, and became a princess. Relying on this relationship, the Marquis of Wissinbad rose to prominence in Hicks's army, and was soon promoted to major general and became the commander of Bruce's standing army. This man's performance in the military was unremarkable. His only advantage was that he was obedient and acted in accordance with the orders of his superiors.
At present, Buckler's Army and Bruce's Army are stationed in Skervia County and are recruiting reserve armies from surrounding local counties. At the same time, they are collecting grain, grass and other supplies on the spot. Now three reserve legions have arrived at their camp, and the gathered strength is estimated to be about 350,000. According to the confession of the messenger we captured, His Highness Mondo Carlo da Hicks also requested the Clyde Army and the Jessica Army, as well as the two standing armies stationed in the Manoli Plain to come and assemble... . ”
Colonel Bockal pointed with his finger on the westward route of the Clyde Army and the Jessica Army: "Obviously, these two armies refused to obey His Highness Mondo Carlo da Hicks. Instead, he found a way out for himself and avoided fighting with us. As for the two standing armies stationed in the Manoli Plain, the Dahli Army and the Faklin Army, they did not listen to the call of His Highness the Prince. Instead, they built a defensive position at the entrance to the mountain outside Patkara Port, as if they were going to hold on..."
Avitley I interjected: "The Dahli Standing Army is a local army in the three counties of the Manoli Plain. Most of the officers and soldiers were recruited locally. Seriously speaking, they should be from our Breout Kingdom. Only However, the three counties of Manoli have been forcibly occupied by the Kingdom of Hicks for more than thirty years, and I don’t know if the people here still recognize that they are our people..."
Claude looked at the somewhat disappointed King Avitley I and comforted him: "I believe those older people will remember the Hicks Kingdom's forcible occupation of the three counties of Manoli. You said that at that time the Manoli Plain The resistance activities were very fierce. The occupying forces of the Kingdom of Hicks killed many people here. This hatred will not be easily forgotten.
You can see that the Dahli Army did not obey the prince's recruitment order, but built defensive positions at the mountain pass. It can be seen that they do not want to fight for the Kingdom of Hicks, but are preparing to defend their hometown. Maybe you can send an envoy to contact them, and maybe they will happily return to the embrace of their motherland. "
King Avitley I thought for a while and nodded slowly: "Okay, I will send someone to discuss it with them. If they are willing to accept peace anyway, that would be the best."
"Then now we only need to deal with the army assembled by that prince from the Hicks Kingdom in Skvia County, with 350,000 troops, two standing legions and three reserve legions." Claude stood He stood up and looked at the map: "Colonel Boker, tell me about the situation in this local county."
"Yes, Your Excellency Marshal." Colonel Bockaar motioned to his men to hang a detailed map of Skvia County on the wall: "Skvia County has hilly and plain terrain, with two main rivers, and a total of three cities and eight The town has sixty-eight villages and is the direct jurisdiction of the Hicks royal family, with a total population of about 740,000. The capital, Scannamo City, is located on the banks of the Glow River and is the home of the current prince Mondo Carlo da Hicks. His Highness's headquarters.
Currently, His Royal Highness Prince Mondo Carlo da Hicks' Barak Legion is deployed in the capital city of Scananamo City, and has set up a defensive front based on the Glowing River. The Bruce Army of Marquis Wissinbad was deployed in the mountain city of Hidpath in Turner's Changlin Mountain, in line with the Glowing River. Between these two points, there is the town of Cheber, where the reserve regiment from Codames County is stationed.
There are four towns in front of this defensive line. The Ridley County Reserve Corps was split up and stationed in these four towns. It is estimated that His Royal Highness Prince Mondo Carlo da Hicks used the Ridley County Reserve Corps Serve as a forward cordon and advance base. It's just that the other four standing legions did not respond to his summons, so he could only switch from offense to defense and did not dare to march towards Dartmouth County where our Thunder Legion was guarding...
Behind the defense line set up by His Royal Highness Prince Mondo Carlo da Hicks, there is also the city of Langris, which has now become the general logistics base for these more than 300,000 troops. The reserve corps from Sudekber County was responsible for guarding the city and collecting food, grass and other supplies on the spot. According to the confessions of enemy soldiers captured by the Thunder Legion, it is likely that in the next half month, two reserve legions will come for reinforcements, one from Renwall Yorkshire and the other from Drinsink County. "
After Colonel Bokoar introduced the simple situation, he asked his men to label the towns on the map with the garrison strength confessed by the prisoners. Claude looked at the map, shook his head with a smile, turned to the senior officers sitting in the tent and said: "Judging from the deployment of defense forces in Skvia County, we can draw the conclusion that that prince His Highness is not an experienced and outstanding military general..."
Claude pointed at Scananamo City, the capital of Skvia County on the map: "General Belklin, if you were a defender, how would you arrange this route from Scananamo City to Cheber Town? Then to the defensive line of Hidpath Mountain City?”
Lieutenant General Belklin, the chief of staff of the Thunder Legion, was General Baker, who led the 1st and 2nd Thunder Division to pretend to be the 1st Mountain Legion of the Breault Kingdom. He successfully fooled the Hicks Kingdom officials who came to escort him, and brought a division of the Breault Kingdom's 1st Mountain Corps and the 1st and 2nd Divisions of the Thunder Corps to Dartmouth County, and then collected grain and grass on the spot. supplies, hanged the escorting officer Hicks, and made Dartmouth County restless.
Because of his outstanding performance, the senior officials of the Hicks Kingdom did not realize that there was anything unusual. They only thought that the Breault Mountain Legion raised the flag of rebellion due to the harsh supply of logistics supplies, so they focused on forcing Solai to The Mu Legion comes quickly to put down the rebellion and kill the Mountain Monkey Legion who dares to rob the surrounding counties of King Hicks...
So the Sollem Legion, which was marching in a hurry, did not bother to conduct pre-war reconnaissance or anything else, and directly ran into the defensive iron plate that had been prepared and waiting for work. After the collision, it suffered a bloody head and heavy casualties before it felt something was wrong. However, it had no chance to regret it. The next morning, General Belklin commanded the 1st and 2nd Thunder Division to carry out outflank and counterattack from both sides. In one battle, it annihilated Hicks's standing army, which had not even had time to build camp protection. group.
General Belklin naturally knew that Claude was testing his vision and military knowledge by asking him this question. He walked to the map and carefully inspected the layout of the defensive line, and answered confidently: "If I were the commander of the garrison, If so, I will place the focus of defense in the town of Cheber, which is the centerpiece of this defensive front. I really don’t understand why His Royal Highness the Prince deployed his standing army in the capital of Scananamo City. If Cheber If the town is captured, unless he retreats from the Glowing River, his Balak Army will be trapped in a dead end..."
"The Glow River has an average width of fifty or sixty meters, with a maximum width of more than two hundred meters, and a basic water depth of seven to twelve meters. It is the largest river in Skvia County. The Glow River surrounds the capital city of Skanamo It is its widest river surface, with a width of more than 100 meters to more than 200 meters, and is also called the Glow Lake. The river surface is calm and waveless, like a mirror. Every time the sun rises in the east and the sun sets in the west, the lake glows. The river of light reflects the morning glow and sunset, which is known as the beautiful scenery of glow and shadow."
Colonel Bokoal had already turned the folder in his hand to the page about the information about the Glow River: "Basically, the Glow River is operated by ferry and there are no bridges. There are only two ferry terminals in the capital city of Scandinavia, each with its own ferry terminal. The two flat-boat ferries take about an hour and a half to go back and forth by pole and rowing methods. Each flat-boat ferry can carry more than fifty people across the river at a time. There are also thirty-two small fishing boats for fishing. , each fishing boat can carry up to five to eight people... "
General Belklin nodded to Colonel Boker: "The Barak Army is deployed in the capital city of Scandinavia, and there is no pontoon bridge built on the Glow River. Then we only need to capture the town of Cheber and seal the capital city of Scandinavia. Motown's land passage, and then deploying a regiment of troops on the other side of the Glowing River, then this bullshit prince would have no chance of escaping.
If I were to lay out this line of defense, the focus of the defense would be in the town of Cheber. It would be enough to arrange a reserve corps to defend the capital Scananamo City and the mountain town of Hidpath. The two standing legions are deployed in Cheber Town, one in front and one in the back, to facilitate quick reinforcements, so that they can withstand our attack for at least a month... "
"Then how will you arrange the defense of the first four towns?" Claude asked.
"No arrangements are needed." General Belklin replied: "Just withdraw all the town residents and defensive forces, and clear the country. Even the villagers in the front villages should be moved to the rear. It is best to burn all the towns and villages in front. Once it is empty, the enemy cannot take any advantage, and can only get a resting place by setting up camps in the wild... "
Claude laughed: "That's a good answer, but the reason why the enemy didn't hold on to the wall and clear the country is because they still have the illusion of regaining the city of Saint Cyprian in the King's Palace, so they deployed garrison troops in the towns in front of the defense line to wait for the strength of the troops. If it is sufficient and well timed, it can be used as a supply base for advancing when launching a counterattack. Now that you have understood the weaknesses of the enemy's defense line, it is up to you, the Thunder Legion, to attack the enemy.
You and Diavid will lead the four divisions of the Thunder Legion, and combine the Reed Leeds County Reserve Army stationed in the four towns in front, the Kerdames County Reserve Army stationed in Cheber Town, and the Lanzhou Army in the rear. The Sudakub County Reserve Corps in Grace City were cleaned up by me. As for the Bruce Army in the mountain city of Hidpath and the Barak Army in the capital city of Scandinavia, you only need to trap them in the two cities. They are not allowed to attack the city without authorization to avoid unnecessary casualties. Got it. ? "
General Belklin and General Diavid stood up and saluted together: "Follow your order, Your Majesty Marshal, we understand what to do."
Seeing Generals Belklin and Diavid, together with the senior officers of the four divisions of the Thunder Legion, happily exiting the camp and preparing to carry out Claude's orders, Avitele I became anxious and said: " Marshal Claude, you have to arrange some tasks for the three mountain legions of our Breault Kingdom. You can’t let them just watch your Thunder Legion perform meritorious service, right?”
Claude smiled and waved his hand: "My friend, you don't have to worry, there is a chance for you Breault Kingdom warriors to show off their talents. The Thunder Legion is a light cavalry army, fast maneuvering, and interspersed raids are their specialty. You see , the mountain city of Hidpath guarded by the Bruce Army is located in the hilly area, which is the right terrain for your mountain army to attack. I leave this mountain city for you to attack. I believe you will be able to capture it quickly... "