It's raining outside the tent...
"Why did you think of first capturing Wickham Castle, transporting grain and supplies, then burning down those warehouses, and finally evacuating here to set up camp?" General Michelich looked at Crowe standing in front of him with a very happy mood. De asked.
Nearly 180,000 people from the three legions of the Kingdom of Hicks, namely Wickron, Sebok and Febot, put down their weapons in despair in front of the ruins of Wickham Castle and attacked the following Rangers. The officers and soldiers surrendered in order to find a way out.
This result made General Michelich breathe a sigh of relief. He solved these three standing legions without any blood, which meant that the five standing legions sent by the Kingdom of Hicks to the mainland of Nubisia to carry out this colonial war had been completely wiped out. , the Kingdom of Hicks once again suffered a shameful defeat. Not only did they lose more than 300,000 so-called elite standing troops, they even lost the famous Sea King fleet in the northern waters of Farea. This was another slap in the face...
As for the reaction of the Kingdom of Hicks after receiving the news of another defeat, General Michelic didn't care. He was a soldier of the Kingdom, and it was his bounden duty to destroy the enemies of the Kingdom. It was only then that he discovered that he had neglected a major thing, that is, he only thought of landing the enemy's three standing legions, but he forgot that the enemy who was tired, thirsty, hungry and cold needed the most supplies and rest, as well as the sick and wounded. Treatment. Now as soon as they surrender, the burden of food, clothing, and supplies for these 180,000 people will fall entirely on him.
It is the rainy season in March, and it is raining continuously. If there is no shelter from the rain and no food and drink to fill the bellies of these 180,000 prisoners, and then treat the soldiers who are sick and have fever, it is certain that a large number of prisoners will fall. If you go down and never get up again, the consequences are simply unimaginable.
They were enemies, so dying on the battlefield would be a justifiable act of heroism, but now that they were prisoners and died after surrendering to the Rangers, that would have a very negative impact on the reputation of the Kingdom of Ovelas. As long as rumors of killing and abusing prisoners spread, neither the Rangers nor General Michelchi can afford to take the blame...
At this time, General Michelchi regretted ordering Claude to burn down Wickham Castle so thoroughly that there was not even a place to shelter from the rain and light a fire. He could only order the officers and soldiers of the Ranger Regiment to take out the dry food they carried, and let each of the 180,000 prisoners eat a few mouthfuls to fill their stomachs in the rain. The rest could only pray to the goddess of fate, so that everyone could Can survive this.
Then, he saw Captain McJack, the adjutant sent by Claude to report.
McJack reported to General Michelich that Claude had set up a large camp on a hill ten miles away from Wickham Castle, which was enough for the Rangers and 180,000 prisoners to take shelter in the camp. The rain warms the fire and survives the rainy season in March. Moreover, they have already boiled water and prepared wheat porridge, and are waiting for the general to lead his people there.
General Michelich was overjoyed and immediately ordered the officers and soldiers of the Ranger Division to escort all the prisoners to the camp set up by Claude. After entering the camp, he washed up a little and then summoned Claude and asked him how he could set up camp here without knowing it.
Claude stood at attention and replied: "General, actually I was also forced..."
This is true. The main reason is the secret passage that exits in the moat. Claude and his men thought of many ways, and found that it was easy to sneak into the city through a secret passage, but it would be very dangerous to burn down the material warehouses and then come out of the secret passage.
Not to mention whether we will encounter unexpected situations in the process of executing orders, even if we set fire to several material warehouses, they will be discovered by the enemy soon. There are nearly a hundred material warehouses in Wickham Castle. It is simply not possible to rely on a small team of people to sneak in and set them all on fire. Moreover, when the enemy discovers that someone has sneaked into the city and set fire to it, they will definitely strengthen the security on the city wall. When the people entering the city come out of the secret passage, they will be immediately discovered and targeted by the enemy guards on the city wall. After all, the distance is too close, and the enemy is not blind...
Then Claude remembered what his subordinates said, that it would be a pity to burn so many military supplies stored in Wickham Castle. The enemy's garrison strength is only two regiments. We called the 131st Ranger Regiment to ensure that it can be captured. As long as we can defend Wickham Castle, so many military supplies in it will all belong to our Ranger Division.
Although Claude refuted the proposal of his subordinates, telling them that there was no need to sacrifice the lives of soldiers to defend Wickham Castle in exchange for these reserved military supplies. But then I thought about it, but it didn't make sense. The enemy's defense was not strong. Why would it be easier to send people to sneak into the city through a secret passage and come out through a secret passage? Wouldn't it be easier to open the gate and let the whole regiment of officers and soldiers enter and capture Wickham Castle? It will be easier to complete the mission then. You can burn as many material warehouses as you want without worrying about being discovered or blocked by the enemy.
Having made up his mind, Claude summoned the four direct field battalions distributed in the Beringana Direct Territory to monitor the enemy's logistics supply station towns through the falcon messenger. This is why Claude postponed until February 25th before personally leading a team into Wickham Castle to execute the order.
Because they did not set fire and run away, Claude and others, wearing the military uniforms of the Kingdom of Hicks, set fire to several grain and grass warehouses in the castle with ease. Then they created chaos in the castle in the name of putting out fires, and at the same time By conveying the order, he ordered several patrols near the castle gate to quickly put out the fire, and easily controlled the castle gate.
Then Claude and others went up to the city wall again, and quickly cleared the enemy sentries on alert on the city wall. After sending the signal, the officers and soldiers of the 131st Ranger Regiment who were ambushing outside the castle gate rushed into the castle. According to the prior plan, they rushed to the military camp and the enemy regiment headquarters respectively, killing the enemy commander and forcing the remaining enemy officers to Surrender and order the panicked enemy to lower their weapons and stop resisting. By morning, the entire Wickham Castle fell into the hands of the 131st Ranger Regiment, and more than 7,000 enemy officers and soldiers were captured.
Now more than a hundred supply warehouses have opened their doors to Claude and the officers and soldiers of the 131st Ranger Regiment, and they can burn whichever one they want. Since the logistics transportation channel was cut off by the 131st Ranger Regiment, the enemy was unable to deliver supplies to the three standing corps on the front line. As a result, at Wickham Castle, more than 600 four-wheeled freight carriages accumulated by the enemy in the square were discovered, as well as more than 2,000 pack horses in the stables.
What else is there to say now? Just one word: move, pick it up and take it. So the officers and soldiers of the 131st Ranger Regiment monitored more than 7,000 prisoners who had become coolies. They piled more than 600 four-wheeled freight wagons with supplies, and freed up more than 200 four-wheeled freight wagons from their own regiment. Cargo wagons were used to carry these logistical supplies. When they couldn't hold it anymore, more than 7,000 prisoners were asked to each carry a load, or carry large packages filled with daily necessities. Then they set fire to all the material warehouses and evacuated Wickham Castle.
Since what Claude and the others were carrying were military logistical support supplies such as grain, clothing, and therapeutic agents, ammunition, guns, and muskets were considered heavy and not compatible with the Kingdom's standard equipment, so they didn't take them. So after burning the supply warehouse, the ammunition exploded, leaving Wickham Castle in ruins.
After a few miles away from Wickham Castle, the captives who were being treated as coolies became tired and asked for a rest. The soldiers escorting them from the 131st Ranger Regiment felt that these prisoners were deliberately delaying their trip, and wanted to give these prisoners a severe lesson.
As a result, Claude happened to see them, stopped them, and asked them why they wanted to teach these prisoners a lesson. The soldiers replied that these prisoners were deliberately complaining of exhaustion in order to delay the entire regiment's journey and wait for the enemy's pursuers to come over and rescue them...
Claude suddenly figured out something and burst into laughter. Why did he lead the 131st Ranger Regiment to evacuate so quickly? No wonder he always felt something was wrong after leaving Wickham Castle. Only now did the answers of these soldiers make me understand that they were afraid of the enemy's pursuit. They brought nearly 800 carriages filled with supplies. Everyone felt guilty as thieves, fearing that the enemy's pursuers would catch up and take back these carriages filled with supplies...
The question is where did the enemy pursue them? The Kingdom of Hicks sent five standing legions to fight this colonial war this time. The Tanya legion and the Kuzoya legion have been annihilated, and the remaining three legions are Viklen, Sebok and Febot. It is said that after receiving the news of the defeat of the Sea King fleet, he immediately broke camp and rushed to Wickham Castle. He has already walked nearly half of the journey.
The scout cavalry of the Ranger Division have captured thousands of straggler soldiers from the Kingdom of Hicks. According to the confessions of these prisoners, the food supply of the three standing legions is already very tight. In addition to those officers, there is still more food. , soldiers like them only had one bowl of very thin wheat porridge a day, and even the pack horses were slaughtered to make broth and supplied to the main troops to ensure that they still had a certain fighting capacity...
Why should I lead the 131st Ranger Regiment so nervously towards the Ranger Regiment... In fact, after destroying two enemy regiments at Wickham Castle, it is impossible for any large enemy force to appear within a thousand miles. . On the contrary, the closer they get to the Ranger Division, the closer they get to the enemy's three standing legions.
The reason is very simple. The enemy's three standing legions are heading straight towards Wickham Castle. The large force of the Ranger Division is following them beside and behind them. The 131st Ranger Regiment is now approaching the large force of the division, which is equivalent to As we march towards the enemy's three standing legions, we get closer to the enemy as we go. Damn it, Claude woke up at this moment and took more than 800 four-wheeled freight carriages filled with supplies to the enemy. Isn't this a door-to-door delivery? It is simply an act of scheming against the enemy...
After thinking clearly about his mistake, Claude immediately ordered the troops, convoy and prisoners to stop and rest first, and then sent light cavalry to reconnoiter the nearby terrain. After receiving the report, he turned directly, avoiding the direction where the enemy's three standing legions were expected to go straight, and turned to a small hill behind the left side of Wickham Castle. After finding a clean water source, he ordered the soldiers and prisoners to set up camp and prepare. Waiting here for the final outcome of this war.
Claude predicted the enemy's itinerary while waiting, and found that by the time the enemy reached Wickham Castle, they had already run out of food. It was obvious, then, that the enemy would despair when they found Wickham Castle in ruins, and that they would have no other way out than to surrender.
Calculating the date, it happened to be the rainy season, which was simply adding insult to injury for the enemy. There is no need to guess, the outcome of this war has been decided, and the Rangers will soon capture nearly 200,000 enemies. Thinking of the 200,000 prisoners, Claude suddenly thought that the Rangers were lightly armed, tracking the enemies marching with the three standing legions, waiting for them to surrender in despair.
So the question is, what should the Rangers group feed them after taking in these 200,000 captives? Claude knew very well that the food and dry rations carried by each Ranger Regiment would not exceed seven days at most. Adding in their own consumption, it is likely that each soldier would only be able to provide one person with three days' worth of food. Four days of food.
A Ranger regiment now only has more than 30,000 people, and has captured nearly 200,000 enemies. The food they can provide can only feed these prisoners for a full meal at most, or save some for two days. Even if the logistics and baggage convoy arrived, there was nothing they could do, because the supplies transported by the logistics and baggage convoy were calculated based on the materials consumed by the Ranger Regiment. They certainly did not expect that there would be nearly 200,000 surrendered enemies, and it was impossible to prepare them in advance. The supplies needed for so many prisoners...
When Claude's eyes fell on the more than 800 fully loaded four-wheeled freight carriages in the military camp, he laughed, and immediately ordered the soldiers to escort more than 7,000 prisoners to start expanding the camp, and finally Before the rainy season in March, a simple camp was built that could accommodate 200,000 people to shelter from the rain and warm themselves by fire. At the same time, enough dry firewood was prepared for fuel.
Since the messenger hawk that had completed the task of burning the military supplies stored in Wickham Castle did not fly back to the Ranger Division headquarters, Claude was unable to inform General Michelchi of the 131st Ranger Regiment. The camp is set up here. He had no choice but to send out Michael Jack to lead a reconnaissance light cavalry team to wander around the area near Wickham Castle. Finally, he waited until the large force of the Ranger Division arrived. At the same time, he also solved the problem of how General Michelich would place these 180,000 prisoners and solve the problem. Their feeding and treatment problems…
After listening to Claude's story, General Michelich laughed. He was very happy. He walked up to Claude and patted him on the shoulder: "Your growth surprised me. Really, Claude." De, you are a born soldier, and the battlefield is where you can show your talents. In the past, you were just an outstanding general, but now, you have finally taken a solid step towards becoming a commander.
Being able to take into account long-term changes in plans and foresee the consequences of the evolution of the battle situation is the basis of the knowledge and skills that a good commander needs to master. You have done me a great favor this time, making up for my ill-considered omissions, and once again made great contributions to the kingdom and the Ranger Legion! Thank you, Claude, I have been thinking about how to forcefully land the enemy's three standing legions without a fight, but I forgot about the logistical supply pressure that I will bear after surrendering them. This is indeed my fault... "
Claude hurriedly said a few words of modesty and politeness, and seeing General Michelchi looking tired, he said goodbye and left.
Great victory in Beringana! Annihilate all five standing legions of the Hicks Kingdom and cripple its Sea King fleet!
When the news of the victory in this colonial war was transmitted back to the kingdom, the entire Kingdom of Ovilas was shocked. This was an unexpected victory. General Michelic, who planned the entire battle, was hailed as the military god of the kingdom. Even though General Michelic admitted in the battle summary report that he had made omissions in logistical supplies and almost starved all the prisoners of war to death, this was still The splendor and glory of leading a regiment of rangers to defeat the strong and annihilate an enemy of 300,000 people cannot be concealed...
This was a miraculous battle in the history of the Franco-Scottish world war, and General Michelchi's reputation as a military god was well-deserved - this was the unanimous assessment of later war history experts.