Black Iron’s Glory

Chapter 251: Hostile Suddenness

Towards the end of April, Claude had just returned from the Witch Forest. Sheila's cabin has been roughly completed, and all that remains are details such as curtain cloth, door lock handles, kitchen utensils, and some furniture making and layout. By the time Claude came back, it was almost 9: 30 p.m., and he was wondering if he would let Michael and Big Grimes run by and go to the town of Rosa, where the battalion was located, to get what they needed.

It was just that when Claude returned to the two-storey wooden building at the cantonment camp, he was surprised to find Sergeant Markzi and two or three squad leaders sitting at the table, and at first sight he came back relieved, such as a heavily relieved rise salute.

“What's wrong with you people?” Claude replied with curiosity, “Did something happen at the camp? ”

“Sir, there's nothing wrong with the camp. Everything's fine.” But we caught an enemy agent... ”

Claude stunned: "Enemy agents? Are you kidding me? Don't do anything wrong...”

Claude wondered why the enemy in this shithole was sending agents, even though there was a mountain lane leading to the three counties of the south, but the path was not suitable for a large army march. Even if the anti-Olympic coalition wanted to attack the three counties in the south, it would be heartbreaking for the heavily assembled troops to abandon the eastern flat avenue without going through it. So Claude wondered if Marky had caught a passing dealer who said he was a spy...

“It's true, sir, he confessed.” Markie answered with a serious face.

“Tell me, what happened?” Claude pointed to McJackie: “Wash my face in a basin and go get the last bottle of blueberry fruit, I'll buy you a drink. ”

“Yes, sir. At noon today, a traveler from Kanas Prairie went to Squirrel Village, where the soldiers had no doubt, but instead of selling the goods he was carrying, he kept asking the villagers about our presence and the firepower configuration of the defensive positions. So much so that the village elder became suspicious and snuck up to tell me. So I took two people to spy on the dealer in secret.

Later, when I found out that the merchant was taking a break and walking up the hill next to Squirrel Village, spying on our cantonment camp at high altitudes and painting something on a piece of hide paper, I knew there was something wrong with him. He was caught and a map of the camp was searched on him. It has the trenches you have dug and the newly built infirmary, as well as this row of wooden sheds built as canteens... ”

Markie pointed to a brown beast leather paper on the finger table that outlined some lines with light yellow marks. A closer look reveals that the lines and geometry on this animal's leather paper correspond exactly to the layout of the cantonment site. Looks like Mark's right. This busted dealer is a spy sent by the enemy.

“Who sent the confession?” Claude twisted a towel in the basin from Mike's end, wiped a face, and asked seriously.

Markie nodded: "Sir, that's why we're here waiting for you. ”

If this agent hadn't revealed too much information, Markie, they would never have waited so seriously here until now.

Because this agent says that his owner is Roycade, the nobleman of the land that runs this way to the left and leads to the Kanas Plains. Count Ba Krillaus, for having received the territorial nobility of the highway exit to the eastern part of the Principality of Eskirin to the right, Soscubi of the Principality of Eskirin. Viscount Lo Pastor and Lord of Squirrel Village, Novi Rick. At the invitation of Baron F. Fringsland, it was decided to send troops to attack the forces guarding the Kingdom of Ovilas on this hillside. And this agent pretending to be a dealer, that's Roycade. Count Barclaus sent to scout the garrison…

“Wait, does this spy mean that the enemies we are about to face are only militias of a few territorial nobles, not regular armies of the Principality of Kanas and the Principality of Eskilin?” Claude didn't panic.

“Sir, although the agent said it was the private armies of several territorial nobles who were attacking us, there were a lot of troops. The noblemen of several territories on the Duchy of Eskilin said they had organized a battalion, demanding that the Bullshit Count of the Principality of Kanas bring a battalion too, and that they open up this highway and the soldiers come to the southern three counties for a fortune.” Markie said nervously.

It appears that the nobles of these territories already know that the two or three regiments of the Kingdom of Auvellas occupying the three southern counties are mainly located on the border between the three southern counties and the Principality of Rimodra, as well as on the border with the eastern part of the Principality of Eskirin, where the interior of the three southern counties is virtually empty. With the exception of a few large towns where guard battalions are stationed, the remaining traffic main roads are separated to guard squadrons and squadrons, as is the case here in Squirrel Village.

If the nobles of those territories succeed in their attempts, they can enter the southern three counties to take advantage of the shortage of guards in the southern three counties. Without touching a few large towns with guards, those villages and small towns are the fish in front of them. As for the residents of those small towns and villages in the southern three counties who are also inhabitants of the Principality of Eskirin, it is negligible to mention that in the end this pot can be dumped on the army of the Kingdom of Ovilas, because they are the aggressors, the best choice for a natural backup pot...

“Sir, when do we retreat?” Mackie urged.

Claude took a look at him and understood what it meant to wait for himself to come back at night. The veteran oil had to order his own evacuation in order to escape, otherwise he would be a deserter. I'm the officer in charge here, and if I don't run, then this squadron of Markzi will have to wait here with me to die.

“What do you think should be our best choice?” Claude asked faintly.

Markci and the other two team leaders looked at each other and did not hesitate to reply: "Retreat, preserve the strength, withdraw all the guard forces on the hill to the three southern counties, and then set up a defensive position at the entrance to the hill, sniping the enemy into the three southern counties. Because there, we can get strong support from battalions, while the enemy stretches the logistics supply line. It will take more than two days for this highway to walk from here to the three counties in the south. As long as we can hold on to the defensive position for a few days, the enemy will eventually have to retreat...”

Although Markci advocated retreat, it was not for nothing that the oil of the veterans had been mixed up in the brigade for so many years. His strategy of retreating the concentration of troops and defending the entrance to the mountain road is very operational. It seems that this guy has also considered it carefully before reaching such a conclusion. The reason for retreating sounds really bright and upright, so that no one can pick out what is wrong.

Claude shook his head: "We're not retreating. ”

“No retreat?” Mark's in a hurry: "Sir, the enemy has two battalions! More than 2,000 troops, even aristocratic militias, are not strong enough to fight, but there are only 64 of us here, we can't resist their attack even if we fight ten! ”

Claude shook his hand with a smile, telling Marky to sit down and relax: “Even if the enemy has two battalions, can they attack us together? ”

Taking over a bottle of blueberry fruit from McJackie, he handed Markzie and the two squad captains a glass: “Although the enemy has two battalions of troops, they are aristocratic militiamen with little combat power and a large but unanimous crowd. It is true that we are few, but we can turn to the battalions for help and, most importantly, we have the benefit of the terrain. If you think carefully about where we are stationed in the camp, you know that there is no way the enemy could have attacked us directly. ”

Claude poured a little fruit wine on the table, pointing his fingers straight out the location of the three highways, the triple fork, Squirrel Village and the cantonment camp.

“As you can see, this is the highway to the Kanas Prairie, which leads to the eastern part of the Principality of Eskirin, and the junction between the two highways and the turn-off is narrow and still within our fire cover. If enemies attack, then you should know that these two narrow highways can only emplace up to one squadron. Under the fire of artillery and guns, one squadron of their squadron can rush the remaining squadron to the crossroads, even if it's lucky...”

Claude had bamboo in his chest and said, "The most painful thing is that after they rush to the crossroads, they have to run another 30 meters to get to the mountain road that led to Squirrel Village, and they've been in our range for the entire time. And the mountain road that leads to Squirrel Village and our cantonment camp is not that easy to walk. This 100-metre mountain road is just below our cantonment camp, and we can hit them, but they can't hit us. If we set up a row of grilles on this mountain road to block the way, they'll have to wait to die if they can't climb up. ”

Markci didn't think otherwise: “Sir, you're all in the best shape. If I were a nobleman in those territories, I could have driven my farmers to die, consumed our ammunition, covered our camps with full fire in the distance, killed and wounded our soldiers, or moved artillery against us, slowly reducing our guard force by ants eating elephants. As long as we don't have enough men left to manoeuvre artillery and shoot guns, it's easy to take down our cantonment camp...”

Claude nodded, acknowledging Markci's point that understaffing was the biggest weakness, but the camp was not large enough. He needed another squadron from the battalion to help with the defense. He believed that the battalion should be able to support a squadron after receiving his own help.

Another squad leader also stood up: "Sir, if the enemy were to attack and cover himself with a wooden platoon, our artillery would not be enough to threaten the enemy. Even if we could destroy the wooden platoon, the enemy would be able to reduce casualties considerably, quickly passing through the triple fork. If you insist on defending here, then we'll need battalion units to support two more light infantry artillery so we can alternate fire to guard the two lanes. ”

This cadet captain is very knowledgeable and should have also been involved in the battle against Wolfgang. Everyone was very impressed by the surprise attack on a light cavalry regiment in the kingdom of Nasserli, which occupied the Wilfgang. Although the end result was the demise of the Light Cavalry Regiment, they created a great deal of trouble for the offensive forces commanded by Grand Prince Hansburg within 100 metres of the four light infantry artillery guns at the position after taking over the Wilf post. Four artillery rounds alternately fired shotguns, covering the entire forward position, 100 metres from which the attacking forces could not expect to reach, causing heavy casualties and widespread corpses. A disgruntled cavalry regiment, enough to block nearly two divisional troops for two days and one night of onslaught...

“I'll ask Battalion for reinforcements.” Claude promised: "There are three main reasons for not retreating. One is that now we have only one enemy agent, and we cannot escape as soon as we hear the enemy coming to attack us. After all, this is only the confession of enemy agents, and we do not even know whether he is intimidating us, because there are no specific enemy offensive dates, troop strength and equipment deployments, which require our own reconnaissance and determination.

The second is that we need to escalate this hostility to the battalion, which will decide whether we need to retreat or not, not to make our own claims. We are stationed here, and we have stockpiled a lot of food and ammunition, and if we retreat immediately, these will only be cheaper for the enemies who have committed them, because we will not be able to take them all in one go, and at the same time, with the current highway conditions, we will travel very slowly with artillery and stockpiles, which are likely to be chased by enemies who will enter immediately.

Third, I arranged for soldiers to build some defensive positions some time ago. I had estimated that there were more than enough enemies to deal with a large group or two of offenders, but I didn't expect to set a table for a banquet, but there were seven or eight guests. Fortunately, these Guests will only be queued in, so I think we'll have plenty of time to send them home if we hurry. At least let these uninvited guests know that this table is not so good... ”

Marky died, and Claude insisted he couldn't run without retreating. If Claude promises to retreat, then it's Claude's responsibility to escape without a fight, and he's fine. But if Claude doesn't retreat, if he's a sergeant, if the squadron leader runs first, it's all on him, under the laws of the kingdom of Orvilas, which is a dead end.

“Sir, let me remind you that enemies from this direction of the Kanas Prairie can only attack us from this hillside on the left. But the enemy on the right side of this highway is the Principality of Eskirin, among them the original lord of Squirrel Village, the bullshit baron. He should be well aware of the terrain here, and I think he's likely to take people up the hill and attack us from behind Squirrel Village..." Markci wants to retreat, which is also a very important reason for not being able to hold on to the terrain.