Chapter 286 Fighter

One stone stirred up a thousand waves, shocking three counties and nineteen states.

Messengers traveled night and day to Jevaudan, Shovel Harbor, Wargne County and Baishan County to deliver the latest military information.

Within Zhongtiefeng County, cavalry messengers traveled frequently between towns, and the number of patrol troops on the road also increased sharply.

The blockade of the war made the people increasingly hungry for news from the outside world. Therefore, starting from the day Niuti Valley was placed under military control, the Provisional Military Command posted announcements in the town square every morning to inform them of the enemy's situation, battle status, captures, and the list of those killed in action.

In an extremely depressing atmosphere, the men listened to the war news to relieve their boredom, while the women anxiously checked the death list.

The announcement originally had no name, and the public called it a "war communication."

Since the birth of war communications, crowds have always gathered in the town square, and requests to "read it again" can be heard from time to time.

Everyone "read" the war communications eagerly, eagerly waiting for tomorrow's after reading today's.

Today's war communications were posted later than usual, which made the people who had been waiting at the bulletin board very dissatisfied.

As soon as the announcement was posted, a crowd gathered.

Although it came late, it was also longer. In the past, it was only one and a half sheets of paper, but today it was three full sheets of paper.

[The whereabouts of the enemy chief and his troops are unknown]—The first article caused panic among everyone.

Like a solid cannon ball plowing into the column, the crowd exploded like a boiling kettle. The people in the front were shouting and screaming, and the people in the back were trying their best to find out what was going on.

After careful consideration, Winters decided to inform the people of the true enemy situation.

Because bad news is like baldness, no matter how thick the wig is, one day it will show. Instead of sitting helplessly and watching rumors spread, it is better to inform the military and civilians openly.

"Stop making noise!" shouted an old man with white hair and a cane in front of the announcement: "The announcement hasn't been finished yet! If you don't want to hear it, I'll leave!"

The old man is a well-known doctor and gentleman in Niuti Valley. He enthusiastically reads letters and announcements to the illiterate people every day, and he is quite prestigious among the townspeople.

After hearing the old doctor's scolding, the crowd gradually became quiet.

The old doctor narrowed his eyes and looked at the bulletin board, his upper body leaning back unconsciously.

"What are you writing about? Good old man?" You asked impatiently and couldn't help but ask.

The old doctor held his cane tightly, with a light flashing in his eyes: "The next communication is a personal letter from Tribune Montagne."

…

Tiefeng County, Shovel Harbor, Church.

Alpha leaned on the bench and recited word by word: "...If you ask us what our goal is, I can answer with one word, that is victory! To win at all costs! To win without fear of all terrors Victory! No matter how difficult and dangerous the road ahead is, win the victory! Because without victory, there is only destruction..."

The old doctor from Cow-Hoof Hollow was inaccurate. This was not the only article written by Winters Montagne.

In fact, all the words in "War Correspondence" were written by Winters, who carefully considered the words and chewed up countless quills.

It's just that other communications are issued in the name of the Provisional Military Command. Only this open letter was signed by Winters.

This open letter is also the first "emotional" article published by War Letter.

The previous contents were all mechanical battle reports, without emotion or warmth, just like a steel doll spitting out cold numbers.

But this open letter is different. You can feel the author's generosity and intensity in every word.

Mayor Potal listened to the entire text silently and asked, "Is that all?"

"There is also a title." Alpha flipped through the first few pages of the announcement, with a faint smile on his lips: "A letter to all the soldiers and civilians of Tiefeng County - my rhyming ability has improved a lot, but my naming ability is as poor as ever. .”

"Inform all the soldiers and civilians of Tiefeng County?" Mayor Potal noticed something strange: "Does that mean all villages and towns can receive this announcement?"

"It should be." Alpha dusted off the notice and said, "We can all receive it, and of course other villages and towns can receive it too."

Mayor Potal's guess was correct. This was the first "War Communication" sent to the entire Tiefeng County.

Previously limited by printing capacity, the War Letter had only limited posting in the Val d'Eau and Gévaudan.

It was all thanks to Senior Mason who came up with a plan: Winters wrote the content the night before and sent it to Gevaudan as quickly as possible. The printing equipment of Gévaudin was used to print overnight, and then sent to the whole county and even neighboring counties.

Mayor Potal smacked his lips: "In addition to these notices, the rebels also sent us fifty horses and three hundred iron-tipped sticks..."

"That's called a stabbing hammer." Alpha corrected the other person, and he smiled: "But the term 'big stick with an iron tip' is also appropriate."

"Okay, thorn awl...thorn hammer." Potal's expression was a little subtle: "I didn't give them weapons before, but I didn't give them weapons. Now they are so generous all of a sudden. I really don't know what they want to do..."

"I didn't give it before because he could send troops to support Shovel Port at any time. Now giving weapons and horses tells us that Shovel Port can only rely on itself from now on." Alpha let out an imperceptible sigh: "Winters... Montagne is going to risk his life."

…

late at night.

Winters Montagne stood on the bank of the Bighorn River with his helmet on his head and his sword in hand, a blood-red military flag flapping behind him.

Not the east coast, but the west coast.

A pontoon bridge across the Bighorn River lay quietly in front of him. Hundreds of soldiers and war horses were reaching the west bank through the pontoon bridge.

Everyone who walked across the pontoon bridge saluted the military tribune waiting at the bridge.

This fleet has been hidden by Winters for a long time...

The focus of guarding Tiefeng County is to guard the river. The focus of guarding the river should be to guard the river channel, not the river bank.

The ability of the sheepskin rafts to fight against water was pathetic. To avoid capsizing, the Teltun people would even kneel when riding the sheepskin rafts.

The small raft capsized upon impact. The big raft is stable, but it is difficult to move, and the biggest fear is to set the boat on fire.

To put it bluntly, the galley [Good Luck] during the Goldgan pirates was a well-deserved overlord on the Big Horn River.

Does Winters have a boat?

No, because Tiefeng County's ships were all in Shovel Harbor and were all detained by Mayor Potal.

But when he learned that Terdun's troops were going to take advantage of the warm winter to launch a second round of attacks, he immediately ordered Samkin to start building rafts and boats.

The navy was also of great use in Plato - this was a painful lesson learned by the Fifth and Sixth Legions in the Battle of the River Styx, and he had never forgotten it.

But Winters never used this fleet once.

He deliberately used rafts instead of idle boats to storm Tartai.

After Turton's troops arrived at the Bighorn River, he set up defenses on the river bank and gave way to the river.

The Tertun people used the tactics of exhausting the enemy and disturbed the west bank more than twenty times in one night. Everyone's spirit was about to break. The command to "put the boat into the water" came to his lips several times, but Winters gritted his teeth and swallowed it.

This fleet has been hidden in our hands, and it has been very difficult to hide it.

Tonight, I can finally show it to the people of Teltown.

Once again confirming that the green nine-horse-tailed banner was just a bluff and that the fire-warming pro-army had already set off, Winters immediately ordered the companies in Tiefeng County to withdraw from the fortress along the river. Samkin's "Volunteer Brigade" and "Adult Soldiers" succeed.

The city defense of Niuti Valley, which was originally responsible for Samukin's "Volunteer Brigade", was taken over by "young soldiers" temporarily recruited from Niuti Valley.

By substituting things with others, Winters moved a mobile force.

The size of this force was not large, with a total of 647 people including him.

There is only one selection criterion - riding on horseback without falling off.

Nearly a thousand Herd horses were seized from Tartai, and equestrian skills were added to the expedited training of each company.

This improvised "cavalry regiment" looks very strange:

A small number of people used the long saddles of the Platons, which were convenient for fighting;

Another group of people used the short saddles of the Huds, which were good for riding and shooting;

Some people simply don't have a saddle, just tie a layer of soft padding on the horse's back, and use simple iron rings and wooden rings as stirrups.

Among these people were Dusak, a grown man on horseback, soldiers from the infantry regiment who were driving ducks to the shelves, and adult men who could ride horses recruited from townspeople and villagers.

André and Don Juan made Tiefeng County's predicament worse by arbitrarily taking away the cavalry squadron.

But Winters has never complained, and he has never fought a battle where everything went well and everything went smoothly.

Making do with the shabby, it is normal to sharpen both ends of a spear.

If there is no horse, capture the horse. If there is no cavalry, train the cavalry. If there is no saddle, use a blanket.

All members of the "Cavalry Regiment" had crossed the river, and Samukin and his men began to dismantle the pontoon bridge.

Winters stepped on the stirrup and held the pommel with his other hand, looking back at the men's faces that were either resolute, calm, frightened or tired.

Without rhetoric, he got straight to the point: "As you all know, the barbarian chief's pro-army forces have already moved. They may be moving north to attack Shouzi Port and Warne County. If that is the case, Zhongtiefeng County is safe for the time being. "

The winter night is very quiet, not even the chirping of insects, only the heavy breathing of people and horses can be heard.

"But the Teltown people are more likely to go south, because the further north you go, the harder it is to cross the river." Winters calmly analyzed the predicament of Tiefeng County: "Go south and cross the river from Lower Tiefeng County. Then take the overland route around to the back of the Cow Hoof Valley - a large detour that the Hed people are good at.

At that time, what awaits us will be a flanking attack from both front and back. The Tertun people on the west bank held us back, and the troops who detoured back to the east bank smashed us into pieces like hammers. The noose is getting tighter and tighter, and our only way to survive is to defeat the Teltuns on the west bank first.

Although there are many people in Terdun, they are scattered for hundreds of miles along the river; although the generals are vast, they are very different in appearance and intrigues; although the coming force is fierce, we still have the strength to fight. "

"Some of you are soldiers who have recently been granted land, some are Dusak who have served for generations, some are civilians who have been drafted, and some of you were prisoners a few days ago. It doesn't matter who you were before. From now on, you, me, and him , we are all warriors fighting for our survival and our homes.”

Winters pointed to a small boat on the river bank: "Whoever doesn't have the courage to fight this battle, just get on the boat and go back to the east bank - there will be no accountability. Because I don't want to die with such a person - He is afraid to die with us."

As soon as these words came out, there was a deathly silence in the crowd, and even the sound of breathing gradually became lower.

The tall, thin public opinion representative and the short, fat public opinion representative who had quarreled outside the town hall were also among them. Because they could ride horses, they were both recruited as "young soldiers".

When he heard that he could go back by boat, the tall and thin public opinion representative began to sweat uncontrollably on his forehead.

He once laughed in public at the "kid's fight" report in the announcement that "killed nine enemies and injured several enemies."

But when it was his turn to go to the battlefield, what flowed in his heart was no longer blood, but liquid fear.

Really realizing that you will die and watching someone die in the announcement are completely different things.

He tried to move, but his heels felt like they were frozen to the ground. He couldn't explain why he couldn't move. Honor? dignity? Don't want to be laughed at by Humpty Dumpty? The smiles of his daughter and son appeared in his mind, and the cry of his infant granddaughter echoed in his ears.

A hand grabbed the shoulder of the tall and thin representative, squeezed, and then let go - it turned out to be the short and fat representative.

The short and fat representative also looked pale, but nodded slightly to the tall and thin representative.

The tall and thin representative's eyes were a little moist, and he nodded. The old enemies of more than 20 years developed a certain empathy silently.

"From tonight until the end of the world, our bravery will be remembered forever." Seeing no one coming out, Winters mounted the stirrup and said, "Let's go!"

The tall ebony-black horse swayed slightly, and Winters sat firmly on the saddle, as if he was growing on it, and rode north.

The riders mounted their horses and followed closely.

"Follow me closely and I will take care of you." The short and fat representative said urgently to the tall and thin representative.

After saying that, he deftly put his heavy body on the saddle, carefully adjusted the pleats of his coat, then stabbed the horse in the ribs and rushed out. The saber scabbard swayed with the rhythm of running, reflecting a dim luster in the moonlight.

The tall and thin representative wiped his tears and put his horse to follow.

…

The rumble of horse hooves was like muffled thunder, which could not be hidden at all.

The cavalry rode quickly on the west bank, and the beacon towers, watchtowers, and fortresses on the east bank lit up fires in sequence, which was both a tribute and a mark of distance.

Winters galloped at the front, and his flag-bearer Heinrich followed behind holding the military flag high.

Many people who had just learned to ride a horse did not dare to straighten up at all. They leaned tightly on the horse's neck, and sometimes someone fell off the horse's back.

Riders not only have to be wary of potholes, but also beware of trampling on fellow riders who have fallen off their horses.

Some horses carry two people - one who can ride and one who cannot ride, and there are also several slave horses on the saddle.

There was only one thought in everyone's mind: follow that flag.

At their most ferocious, the Teltons raided twenty-three times a day and night. The two farthest river crossing points were nearly 60 kilometers apart, and several times they even sent small groups of light cavalry ashore.

The defenders of Tiefeng County were exhausted, but at the same time, the Telton people's camp was also torn apart.

For the attacker, the wider the battlefield, the better. However, the situation is unpredictable, and once the relationship between offense and defense is reversed, a once-in-a-lifetime and fleeting opportunity will be revealed.

It's Winters Montagne's job to catch it.

The number of fires on the watchtower on the other side changed from one to two.

"Disperse!" The agreed signal has appeared, and Winters drew his saber: "This is it!"

Over the hillside, a small Teltown camp came into view.

Winters dismounted.

The cavalry shouted and followed.

Those warriors who had just learned how to ride a horse dismounted, drew their weapons, stretched out their stiff legs, and killed the fleeing Telton people.

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