Black Iron’s Glory

Chapter 343: Enemies to Me

The river is cold and bitter, at this time it is impossible to cross the river...

As the largest river in the continent, the Dolinibara is vast.

It took two days for Berlin to find a section of the river about 30 miles upstream of the enemy's security camp, which seemed smooth and should be easy to cross. It's just that the two shores are close to a kilometre apart. I don't know how long it will take to get to the other shore. In addition, there are no ferries, no fishermen, and boats crossing the river need to have their own...

Claude questioned the inhabitants of the town of Fallu, and some of the old inhabitants who had come from the town of Jiinko told Claude that the two floating bridges guarded by the enemy's security camp were not self-built, but were already in place and were the only way to connect the territories on both sides of the Dolinibara River under the direct authority of Bering Ghana. The buoyancy bridge was built because it was the narrowest part of the river, just over 600 metres long, and the river was very smooth and did not adversely affect the buoyancy bridge.

Originally, that was where the ferry was located, but the ferry took at least an hour to get there. So some businessmen in the buffalo trade built such a floating bridge at their own expense, bringing the bodies of the buffaloes to and from both sides of the bank. Soon after the build-up of the pontoon bridge, the enemy arrived. It crossed the pontoon bridge very smoothly and captured the town of Ginko. Soldiers approached the capital city of Brickaman...

It is no wonder that, on the printed map issued by the Kingdom, the direct authority of Bering Ghana did not bear the inscription of the floating bridge here on the Dolinibara River, but only marked one ferry, which Claude had always thought was built by the enemy himself. It's good to know where the pontoon bridge came from, but the question now is what to do when you ride the Battalion 113.

An old man from the town of Ginko recommended a raft of sheepskin, not wrapped in sheepskin, but made of sheepskin to provide buoyancy, just the size of a basketball, tied to the bottom of the raft. A raft of about five or six squares requires 25 or six sheepskin floats, enough to allow more than a dozen adults to stand on top of the river.

The old man said that when the first immigrants arrived, they used sheepskin rafts across the river to hunt for bison herds in the Albato plains, opening the famous trade in bison under the direct authority of Bering Ghana. With the expansion of the bison trade, the Kingdom finally decided to establish the direct jurisdiction of Bering Ghana…

Later, however, with the ferry boat, the sheepskin raft withdrew from the historical stage. Now that the ferry is in the hands of the enemy, Claude had to pick up the raft again if he wanted to cross the river. Making sheepskin rafts is easy, materials are ready, but the old man also told Claude that the disadvantage of sheepskin rafts is that they are slow and not very stable...

The logistics squadron of the 1131 Battalion was immediately put to use, and carpenters and leather artisans quickly made physical gains, according to the old man, while making improvements. Claude himself took a man to the banks of the Dolinibara river to test the sheepskin raft and found it feasible, ordering the construction of additional sheepskin rafts to complete the attack across the river at once.

On December 9, 584, the Holy Light, Claude crossed the Dolinibara River with a raft of sheepskin lined with two direct field battalions.

Only two battalions were taken to the enemy's camp because Berkelin, the first to cross the river for reconnaissance, had returned the news that the enemy's camp on the other side, which was constructing a floating bridge, was very loose and had no more than one guard battalion. The camp was full of logistical heavy goods to be transported to the other bank and timber for the construction of the floating bridge, and Claude might not have been able to guarantee that he would take down the camp, but he was 100 per cent confident that burning the camp would suffice with two battalions.

In addition, the remaining two battalions of horses riding the 131st battalion needed to set up a defensive front at the crossing in case the enemy on their side discovered that the opposite camp was on fire and sent a condemning force to search along the riverbank, occupying the crossing by Claude and others. That way, Claude and the others across the river are doomed, and there's no way back. And they didn't even take the ride with them. They lost their power and supply base. On the other side of the river, they were waiting to die...

The river crosses the river upstream, some thirty-five miles from the enemy's camp where the pontoon bridge was built. Claude, it took them a morning to cross the river, rest for a short while, march quickly, arrive at about 6 p.m. a thousand meters from the enemy camp, find a leeward and start resting. By around 10 p.m., the operation began, approaching the enemy's camp silently.

As reported by Berlin, the security of the enemy is very lax. Sentinels at the barracks door snoring at the gate with guns. The guard guard guard guard at night was not seen at all on the guard tower next to him, and the campfire pile, which had been arranged more than 20 metres in front of the camp to prevent the enemy from attacking at night, did not burn slightly, allowing Claude to get close to the camp with his men.

Claude pointed down the battalion door, lit a few sentries, and made a throat-cutting move. McJackie nodded to show himself that he understood, walking fast with a big grammy. Soon, with the bleak moonlight and the burning fire in the camp, several soldiers sleeping next to the camp door could be seen falling to the ground. McJackie pushed down the camp door, the probe went in and watched for a while and waved to Claude's side, which meant he could go into the camp.

The first was silent killings, and many of the enemy soldiers who fell asleep in the tents could never wake up. Soon, however, the enemy discovered that there was an attack on the camp, gunfire, crying and screaming, and the whole camp was noisy...

“Arson.” Claude ordered.

A burning torch was still in tents, warehouses, stables, grass piles, and the fire was in the air. The enemy officers rushed out of the tent, whistled or yelled: “Don't panic, gather here with me...”

Then a gunshot from the dark quickly knocked these brave and responsible officers to the ground, and the gathered soldiers again shouted like headless flies, adding to the atmosphere of panic.

For those who fled the camp, Claude ordered the soldiers to ignore and chase, and their mission was to destroy all enemies in the camp who dared to resist and burn everything that burned. In fact, the night raid progressed faster than Claude had expected, with little organized resistance on the part of the enemy. The only thing that was more alarming was that an enemy officer commanded a dozen of his men from somewhere to launch a light artillery ready to build a simple line of defense.

Unfortunately, the light artillery had not been loaded and their intentions had been discovered by the attackers while the enemy was searching for tools. Needless to say, the officer and the soldiers next to him immediately fell to the ground in a loud gunshot and lost the opportunity to salvage it.

Claude came to the riverside of the camp, two long floating bridges stretching across the bank, and four ferries loaded with wood and rope were parked on the pier. The gunfire in the back camp is no longer ringing, and the escapees have fled the burning camp. The fire grew bigger and bigger, and it was certain, Claude, that they could no longer evacuate the camp along the original offensive route.

“Separate forces and count the numbers. Mike took people to the pontoon bridge and the wood stack over there and set it on fire. Captain Muried, Captain Andrews, take your men aboard the ferry, throw the wood on the float bridge or ashore, and we'll take the ferry out of here.” Claude immediately gave the order.

The light has been found on the other bank. Many people on the bank of the river look at this side. With the light of the burning bears in the camp, they can clearly see Claude these attackers throwing torches around, the floating bridge and the wood pile on the shore lit flames, and quickly expanded the range of burning...

The four ferries slowly left the banks of the river and headed up the river while the flaming camp served as a backdrop. From time to time, Mars and sparks flying from the camp circled over the water surrounding the four ferries, making a "squeaky” sound. From time to time, there was an explosion in the camp, which must have been some kind of ammunition explosion.

“Push harder!” Big Gummy roared, commanding soldiers with poles to keep the ferry boat away from the fire camp as soon as possible. This is not a good time to open a sail and can easily be ignited by a flame: “Grab a plank next to the boat to help row the boat. Find a barrel without a plank. Spoon water on the deck and cabin wall. He's all numb! ”

The camp across the shore was windy with a stealthy cry of curse.

McJackie sneaks up to Claude: "Sir, we're going straight upstream like this, and the enemy over there will easily spot our crossing...”

“It doesn't matter, we've burned down the camp over here, sabotaged the enemy's attempts to build a floating bridge, even if they find our crossing site to be no big deal. Don't forget, the enemy guard regiment on the other side is an infantry, and it takes them about four hours to get there. And our Major Schneck set up a defensive position with two battalions at the crossing point, and the enemy was less likely to break through their defensive lines. ”

Claude pointed upstream: “We're going to burn those sheepskin rafts at the disembarkation point, cross the river directly by ferry, save energy and time much faster than the enemy hikes, and when we get ashore, the enemy won't be able to do anything about it. Next, I'd like to see how the enemy survives this cold winter after heavy snow...”

The enemies of the cross-shore security camp did send two battalions of troops to search upstream for the crossing point of the 131th Battalion, but they did not approach the crossing until dawn, when they were ambushed by two brigades led by Major Schneck. Under the cover of shotguns fired by eighteen light infantry field artillery, the enemy abandoned the body and wounded of nearly a large group and ran back with a head mouse without firing a shot...

Major Schneck was pleased to report the results of the ambush operation after Claude led the night raid troops ashore. Claude lamented: "The enemy fled back. You should have ordered the horses to chase. Imagine that the enemy camp is 35 miles from here. The men and horses dispatched are infantry soldiers. They have been walking all night and have been ambushed again. Even if they turn around and run away, they are tired and panicked. If you let the soldiers chase them on horseback, I don't think any enemy can escape back to their camp. ”

Major Schneck regretted it, but Claude just said it. He knew Major Schneck well and told him to do his job properly, but he didn't have the ability to react randomly. The on-site commander was rigid, and it would be nice to be able to accomplish the task of guarding the crossing site.

On 15 December, Claude set up an ambush circle, dispatched a convoy of light cavalry troops led by Berkelin to raid a convoy from the town of Ginko to the Caravan camp of the Caravan of Lower Brickaman City, successfully burning the ammunition and grass transported by the convoy and luring the only remaining light cavalry regiment of the Caravan into pursuit.

More than an hour later, the enemy's group of light cavalry was lured into the ambush circle and fought for more than two hours before a small enemy broke out. As a result, the enemy lost its manoeuvrability to rival the Range One, Three and One battalions and was forced to retreat inside the cantonment camp and the defensive position in the town of Jiinko, watching the Range One, Three and One battalions of Claude roam the wild.

The day before the snow struck, the Krado regiment that besieged Brickaman City was unable to replenish grass and ammunition and was unable to continue its attack on Brickaman City, forcing the entire army to withdraw to the town of Ginkoman and lift the siege on the city of Brickaman, the capital of Bailingana, as the road from Ginkoman Town to Brickaman Town was cut off by the 131th Battalion!

It was a miracle in the history of war that the siege of Brickaman City had been lifted as if it had given a dose of strength to the Mounted One, Three and One battalions, entering the Bailinganese territory with a reinforced battalion, singling out an army of enemies, and forcing them to withdraw from the besieged capital, Brickaman City, under the command of Claude.

Even the Governor and Governor of Bering Ghanaian territory could not believe that the reinforcements were only available for one battalion, the 131th Battalion. But Claude didn't have time to argue with them, just hoping that they would seize this propitious opportunity to evacuate the wounded and the inhabitants of the kingdom of Brickaman first and replenish the guard force and ammunition grass from behind...

By then it had started to snow, and the temperatures had plummeted, and indeed, as the inhabitants of the Kingdom had said, the snowfall in the Nubian continent, although shorter than in the Farea continent, was much colder.

Claude hopes to annihilate the battle will of the enemy Claudeau Corps officers and soldiers with cold and lack of protective clothing, and until this winter, most of the Rangers arrive, perhaps launching a full-scale offensive against the Claudeau Corps, completely wiping out the enemy corps.

Only that neither Claude nor the officers and soldiers riding the 131st battalion thought that, on 26 December, a flotilla leaned against the ferry pier of the security camp. The enemy fleet consisted of three Class I Trimast Windsurfers and six pelagic carriers. After they leaned on the ferry pier, they unloaded countless logistical items from the transport vessel…

Claude could only shake his head and smile. Without the ferry and pontoon bridge enemies, as well as the battleships and transporters to help transport logistics, his own vision to wipe out the Corps of Claudeau failed once again.

The enemy fleet transported not only heavy logistical items, but also the escort of a regiment that came with it. As Claude was unable to attack their convoy, he watched as they swung and escorted a convoy full of supplies into the town of Ginko.

After unloading supplies and soldiers, the three battleships of the flotilla headed towards the river segment where Brickaman City was located, carrying out a heavy daytime shelling of Brickaman City, killing the walls of the river into rubble, which led the flotilla to the sea exit.