Black Iron’s Glory

Chapter 464: Calculation and Response

“... how exactly did the Hicks land in Fishing Harbor Town...” General Albert jumped like Ray.

Claude's pale face: “Guys, we've got the Hicks, and their offensive in the eastern frontier mountains is just to get our attention and get us back together, so that the defensive force in the immediate battlefield is so empty..."

Claude also finally understood where his anxiety came from, and the Hicks' offensive in the eastern frontier mountains was so bizarre that Claude always felt something was wrong, but he carefully checked the defensive layout of the front lines several times to determine whether the Hicks were inorganic in the eastern mountains or the northern coastal mountains.

What Claude just didn't expect was that the Hicks didn't intend to keep the guards in this mountainous and theatrical area haunted. Instead, the focus of the breakthrough was on the heart of the theatre, under the direct authority of Amphiston, where the entire overseas territorial command zone, particularly Lake Lang City, is located, equivalent to the administrative centre of eight overseas territorial administrations, with kings in the same position. Once it is captured by the Hicks, the impact and damage will be immeasurable.

General Bitchklin felt very confused: "Where did the Hicks land the troops? Haven't all seven of his standing legions been in the Rodex Bay colony? The port of Vibato reports that they are all battleships with few ocean carriers..."

Claude sighed: "Dude, don't forget two fleets of Marines. ”

Each naval fleet has a Marine Corps strength, which, taken together with almost one regiment, is primarily used for landing operations or for docking in naval warfare.

A few days ago, rumours were received from the Hawk that the King's fleet of the Kingdom of Hicks had entered the waters of the zone of direct jurisdiction and had carried out brief shelling of the port of Vibato. Reporting that the enemy were warships and did not carry ocean-going marine vessels, the Guard Force assumed that the two fleets had come to harass and raid, forgetting that they had their own marines.

General Bitchklin was relieved and comforted General Albert: "Don't worry, the Hicks landed with only two regiments of Marines, even if they occupied the fishing port town. The direct units of the Rock Regiment stationed in Langhu City also have the strength of a regiment, as well as the local guard regiment of the veteran, which the Hicks can't afford..."

“You're wrong, man.” Claude found a report from the Rodex Bay City Agents: "Look at the report on the whereabouts of this Royal Cavalier Reserve...”

“Do you suspect that this Light Rider Corps has sailed south?” General Beechlin was very surprised that he naturally knew what Claude was trying to find out about this information: "But where did they get the ship? ”

“Here...” Claude pointed to another hawk transmission in his fingers, which was also sent by Rodex Bay City Detective, stating that offshore carriers carrying food and armaments from the colonies of the West Coast countries were docked in the bay. Many shipowners complained that the Hicks settled too slowly, checking every ship's shipment repeatedly, otherwise they would have gone back to the west coast with the money and shipping costs.

“The Hicks deliberately left these offshore carriers from the colonies of the West Coast countries in the bay, and chose from them the right boat to form a mercenary fleet, waiting for the Light Rider Regiment to arrive and sail south at night, hiding the eyes and ears of the undercover Rodex Bay City in our theatre.

And the Neptune fleet and the United Fleet, which entered our immediate battle zone, did not bring ocean carriers to our attention, so that they landed unexpectedly to occupy the fishing port town. And then they just have to hold on for a dozen days until the fleet of ships carrying this corps arrives to complete their mission. And our battlefield command, the enemy facing is a Light Rider Corps, or the arrival of a follow-on corps... "

Claude's analysis made General Beechlin and General Albert look different at the same time, and General Albert punched the table with his fists: “The fishing harbor town is shallow, the reefs are dense, ocean ships can't land at all. How did the Hicks land? ”

“I don't know about that either, but I think it's pretty much the same as Prince Hansburg landing the Blue Feather Corps in the shallow waters near the Plains of Ibnister. If there's a Hicks agent in the fishing port town, build a temporary stack bridge to the deep sea with a small fishing boat to land the Hicks Marines on the battleship, that solves the problem..."

Claude's assumptions were not unfounded, as the shallow sea near the fishing port town, though dense, was close to the deep sea area, which was only five or six hundred metres past it. The theatre command, concerned with the shallow Haitian belts of the respective jurisdictions, built guard towers to prevent the Hicks from landing in clandestine attacks. But the lights went down and forgot about the nearest fishing port town, which was captured by the Hicks as the only vacant spot and captured the fishing port town.

“Report, emergency communications from theatre command.” The Lieutenant General Staff of the Ministry of Communications sent another hawk message less than half a day after the last letter of call.

This was from General Skerry, who gave a more detailed account of the capture of the fishing port town. Two nights ago, a businessman in Fishing Harbor Town with a repair and shipbuilding workshop had been identified as a potential Hicks spy. Using small fishing boats built and offshore transport boats repaired in the workshop, he built a floating bridge to catch the Hicks' Marine Corps landing and control the entire fishing port town.

It was not until the next morning that people in the fishing port town found themselves in the hands of the Hicks that riots erupted, but were brutally repressed by the Hicks Marines. The town managed to escape a few people and they found that the Hicks Marines had begun to force the townspeople to build defensive facilities for them and to dig around the town trenches...

It took a day's journey from Fishing Port Town to Lanhu City, and the escapees were fortunate enough to encounter a delivery wagon on the way and then catch a wagon to Lanhu City to report. After receiving the report, General Bolognick was alarmed and rushed to the fishing port town for reconnaissance, which took a day to confirm the news that the fishing port town had been occupied by the Hicks.

General Skerry sent the Eagle message because General Bolonik was mobilizing his troops to reclaim the fishing port town, and Langhu City was already staffed by veterans of a local guard corps, as well as the regimental units of the Rock Corps, which together had two regiments.

General Bolognick intends to redeploy back a local guard regiment under the direct authority of Robisto to defend the Dolinibara River Line and a local guard regiment in the port of Patres, so that there will be a division of troops sufficient to recover the fishing port town.

“No, you can't do that.” General Bitchicklin was shocked, and General Bolonik was unaware that the Hicks would be landing in a few moments. If it is not possible to recover the fishing port town before the arrival of the enemy's Light Rider Regiment, there is a danger that all four regiments will be overrun.

The fishing port town is vast, and it is precisely where the light cavalry jumps and floats. And the men and women of these four regiments are the main forces of Robisto and Amphiston's defense, which, once eliminated, means that Robisto and Amphiston will fall into the hands of the Hicks, and the battlefield will remain undefeated...

“Immediately send the hawk to the battlefield command to inform the enemy of the imminent landing of the Light Rider Regiment and stop General Bolognick's move to reclaim the fishing port town. Tell Ward Command that our Legion of Thunder will return immediately from the front line, hoping that Ward Command will hold on for half a month and ensure unimpeded access to the floating bridge on the Dolinibara River..." Claude is on standstill.

Time, the Thunder Regiment's backup needs time most. But the Hicks' Light Rider Corps boarded the ship three days ago south, and based on a voyage from the Buffalo Shop to the Rodex Bay colony, it would take only 15 days to sail from the Rodex Bay colony to the fishing port town, which means that in another 10 to 12 days, the Hicks' Royal Cavalier Reserve Corps would land in the fishing port town.

And the Legion of Thunder is now in this mountainous area, from this mountainous area to the city of Monknade, under the direct authority of Port Vibato, which will take at least ten days. Since the sea routes have been blocked by two major Hicks fleets, it will no longer be possible to transport troops offshore, but to return from the city of Monknard, and it will take a minimum of fifteen or six days to reach Amphiston by day and night. I don't know if Lan Lake City will be able to hold on to the arrival of the Legion of Thunder under the attack of the enemy Riders...

Claude is making intense calculations in front of the map: "The six local guard regiments we have drawn are from Monknard City, Port Vibato, Cromwell, Bering Ghana, Amphiston, Mormary and Arturas. There are now twelve local guard regiments, formed by veterans, under the direct authority of the theatre, the only reliable and well-combated force in our theatre, apart from two regiments.

The main field regiment and a local guard regiment of a rock regiment in Port Vibato, Port Patres and Port Cobichous are inoperable, with a local guard regiment in each of the five capitals of Cromwell, Beringana, Amphiston, Mormarie and Arturas, and a local guard regiment on the Dolinibara River Line. The remaining three local guard regiments were stationed in battalions along the coasts of the respective jurisdictions in case the enemy landed.

Now that the enemy has landed in the fishing port town, the presence of additional coastal areas in the respective jurisdictions has lost its meaning. A letter was sent to the theatre command recommending that the guards of the two directly administered capitals, Mormary and Arturas, be relinquished, that the forces be assembled under the direct authority of Tyrussim and that the direct authority of Tyrussim be preserved, at the very least, in the port of Cobichous and not in the hands of the Hicks.

Reserves in theatre are concentrated in Port Vibato, Cromwell and Beringana, with two regiments in the local guard corps stationed along the coast, and a divisional reserve corps in the Castle of Wickham, which, while remaining integrated, has some combat capability and, in any case, six months of military training.

Our current situation is that the distribution of forces is somewhat light-headed, with a Dolinibara in the middle. If the Hicks seize the two direct territories of Amphiston and Robidos and stop us at this end by the Dolinibara River, then our war zone will be completely destroyed, because our war zone's wealth and material reserves are concentrated in the five direct territories south of the river.

Once the Hicks succeed, we will never recover the five direct administrations south of the Dolinibara River. Needless to say, the Hicks have two fleets, and he is perfectly capable of splitting up a light cruise fleet to strengthen the defence of the Dolinibara River. By then, we won't even be able to get near the riverbank, let alone cross the river.

That is why we must first step up the guarding of the Dolinibara River until we come back and cross the river smoothly. In fact, we can give up Langhu City and move people and supplies to the mountains first. I remember setting up a defensive front on the border between Ansfiton and Robisto, as if it were still named after me.

Major Mason Hughes, take note of what I have just said and send a message to the battlefield command with a recommendation to strengthen the Dollinibala River defense line, abandon Langhu City and retreat from the Mountain Defense Front. Tell General Bolognick that I suspect that the enemy will have one or two more standing regiments to sail south in addition to this Light Rider Regiment, and ask him to be careful and stick with us until we get back. ”

“Yes, General.” Lieutenant Colonel Mason Hughes saluted a gift and went out with his notebook.

“Shall we send the reserves from Castle Wickham down south first? The strength of one division can also buy us a few days...” General Bitchcline proposed.

Claude shook his head: "Let the two local guard regiments in charge of the coastal zone advance south, both veterans and more combatant. Also south are the two local guard corps stationed in the two direct jurisdictions of Cromwell and Bering Ghana, where the force strength of one division is responsible for taking over the defence areas of the four local guard corps.

The Reserve Corps, a division of infantry, takes more time to hike from Castle Wickham to the Dolinibara River than our light cavalry. In addition, we must prevent the Hicks from returning to horse guns after emptying the forces of these two territories, a division with a reserve corps, and believe that they will be able to block small raids from the Hicks.

Alan, you leave immediately. Our second division of the Thunder Legion is still stationed under the direct authority of Port Vibato, and when you arrive, you take them directly to the battlefield headquarters for the night, or if Lake Lang City has fallen, keep the Dolinibara River Defense Line and wait for my reinforcements. I've got the first division of the Thunder Legion on my side, and I'll be leaving soon... "

“Okay.” General Albert took a salute and turned around and walked out.

Claude looked at General Bitchcline and said, "Here you are, I'm taking a local guard corps, and I'm going to reinforce the Black Stone Gun Workshop. If my fears materialize, the Hicks really occupy the five direct jurisdictions south of the Dolinibara River, then the Black Stone Firearms Manufacturing Workshop is our only armament replenishment base. ”

General Bitchklin nodded: "It's all right, after you leave, I have five more local guard regiments here, one division of the Rock Corps plus one regiment's immediate unit, which can be called an regiment's strength. It's perfectly capable of dealing with the Hicks on this side of the mountain, so don't worry, I'm here waiting for your triumphant return to defeat the Hicks who attacked our battlefield headquarters. ”

Two days later, Claude gathered forces of the Legion of Thunder scattered across the frontier mountains and prepared to return to the Zone Command Centre. Fortunately for Claude, General Bolognick decided not to attack Fishing Harbor Town after receiving his Hawk message and to transfer the inhabitants and supplies of Langhu Town to the mountains, while he decided to lead the two regiments in a brutal urban alley battle against the Hicks in Langhu Town.

General Bolognick's argument is simple: if we abandon Lake Lang, the Hicks' Light Rider Corps will have unhindered access all the way to the Dolinibara Line of Defense under Robidos. And the Dollinibala River Defense Line is not inside the river, General Bolognick needs to give the troops stationed on the Dollinibala River Defense Line time to set up a defensive front...

It's just that when Claude left, he again received information from a latent undercover agent in Rodex Bay City, and this time the Hicks didn't have to cover up or keep a secret. During the day, two standing regiments came back from the front line and didn't go into the General Logistics Base camp for respite. Instead, they arrived directly in the bay and went all the way south on those offshore freighters that were waiting in the bay...