Chapter 294 Weakened

Twenty-six years ago, it was a sultry afternoon.

In the auditorium of the Army Officer Academy, an old soldier was teaching.

The auditorium, which could theoretically accommodate all officers, cadets and faculty, was packed to the brim. Not only the whole Lu Yuan family gathered together, but many commissioned officers also came to listen to the lecture.

The identity of the veteran soldier is self-evident, it is Ned Smith - Union Field Marshal, founder of the Union Army, and President of the Army Officers Academy.

"...Today people think that killing at eleven is a barbaric military law. But in the ancient empire, killing was only harsh, not barbaric." Principal Ned paused for a moment: "In different eras and different societies, the moral standards of war are also different. Don’t use today’s standards to judge past events, let alone use past moral standards to excuse today’s behavior.”

It may disappoint some people who meet him for the first time, but Ned Smith does not have the so-called "general style".

On the contrary, he looked more like an old blacksmith in a dark little shop: his knuckles were thick, his palms were rough and black, and he was a little hunched over. Because his eyes were a little blurry, he always tilted his head slightly backwards unconsciously.

Principal Ned looked at the young faces: "War is moral, but war is unfair. It seeks to use the strong to bully the weak, to use the masses to defeat the weak, to defeat the few with the more..."

In the silent auditorium, a young man stood up abruptly, with the rebelliousness and stubbornness unique to his age in his eyes, and asked loudly and unconvincingly: "What should I do if the strong cannot bully the weak?"

The faculty and staff sitting in the front row turned around to see who had the audacity.

The questioner's friend, another tall, thin young man with big eyes, pulled him hard, trying to get him to sit down.

But he refused to sit down, stiffened his neck, and stared directly at the alliance marshal on the stage.

"If the enemy is strong and we are weak." Principal Ned signaled to the staff not to be nervous and replied sincerely: "Then we must weaken the enemy, accumulate strength, and wait until the strong can bully the weak before fighting again."

Years later, some people still remember this scene in the auditorium, some people forget it, and some people mistakenly remember the questioner as another person.

We mention this incident because twenty-six years later, the young man's son happened to be faced with the crisis situation of "the enemy is strong and we are weak, but we have to fight."

…

What strategy should we adopt when the enemy is strong and we are weak? Winters didn't know because the Army Academy doesn't teach strategy.

When Marshal Ned set up the curriculum at the Union Army Officers Academy, he divided all courses into two categories: "military studies" and "general studies."

If there are [ten] hours of general education such as mathematics and grammar, [six] hours of tactics courses, only [one] hours of war history content, and [zero] hours of strategy-related courses.

In fact, Lu Academy originally had a "strategy" class, but it was held in the form of a "principal's lecture." After Marshal Ned died of illness, this "course" was naturally removed from the curriculum.

To be precise, because of the limited scale of the war, no one has been able to clearly define "strategy", "tactics" and "grand tactics" so far.

When a single battle can determine the outcome of a war, it is difficult to distinguish the subtle differences between strategy, tactics and grand tactics.

Winters' understanding of strategy is imperfect, and naturally he has no strategy at all.

But faced with the Teltons, who were all cavalry, Winters formulated basic principles of warfare.

He distilled it into three words: [weaken, limit, eliminate]—that is, "tempest."

Turn the clock hand and go back in time to when Winters just learned that the Turton Department was coming to thresh the grass valley.

"I recalled all the battle cases I know." He explained storm warfare to his company commanders: "Fighting the masses with a few, defeating the many with a small number, there is no way that does not rely on the terrain."

"We also have terrain advantages. The Dajiao River is a natural city wall, and the rivers in Lower Tiefeng County are like screens. Dajiao River, Langzhen River, Heishui River, Baishui River, and Pangtuo River. Every time we cross a river, the Terdun Department Their combat power will be weakened once. Every kilometer traveled, the Terdun tribe will have to divide its troops to plunder the land."

"Whether we can defend Tiefeng County or even annihilate the main force of the Terdun tribe depends on whether we can force the Terdun people to change the direction of their attack, force the Terdun people to follow the route we have drawn for them, and force the Terdun people to People enter the battlefield chosen by us."

"Weaken, restrict, and annihilate. This is Operation Storm."

…

The hourglass turned over for the twenty-sixth time, and Ciel woke Winters by the fire.

"The seventh company has arrived too." Ciel said softly.

"time."

"A quarter past one in the morning."

…

Time, time, every second is extremely precious.

If the road conditions are suitable, the infantry can cover 24 kilometers per day. A forced march can double this distance by abandoning all baggage.

At first glance, 24 kilometers sounds very close, and 48 kilometers is not far either.

However, countless victorious generals in the world have died on this short one-day journey, resulting in the loss of their troops, humiliation of the country, and ruin of their reputation.

The battle that took place in Zhongtiefeng County was basically a battle for time.

The great detour strategy of Teltown's department was to take advantage of the defenders being attracted along the Big Horn River to go around Winters' back and attack from both sides.

This is where fighter jets appear.

Winters seized the time difference and pierced the opponent's chest with his sword when the fire-warmer fired his right hook, knocking back the scattered Teltons, who numbered about twenty hundred knights in total.

Although it was not a defeat, let alone an annihilation, it temporarily removed the threat from the west wing and gave the troops a chance to form a fist again.

At noon the day after Winters repulsed the diversionary enemy, the Teltown vanguard attacked Tushe Field for the first time.

At that point in time, eight of the twelve companies of the Tiefeng County Infantry Regiment were deployed along the Bighorn River. These eight companies were generally short of men, exhausted, and were gathering together.

One company is stationed in Xiaoshi Town, and its combat strength is relatively complete.

The remaining three companies serve as the general reserve team. They were originally stationed in Shengke Town and are rushing to Xiaoshi Town and Tushechang.

There are also musketeers organized into a separate company, under the direct control of Winters.

The Terdun people are like an arrow, the tip of the arrow has already touched the heart of Zhongtiefeng County, and the follow-up troops are rushing over.

If the fording field was breached, Winters' two attempts to cross the Bighorn River would be in vain.

His scattered companies would be broken down one by one by the Teltuns, just as he drove back the scattered Teltuns.

The difference was that the Tertons could escape on horseback, but Winters' men had no chance of escape.

It was Bud who led the refugee camp to withstand the first and second wave of enemy attacks, buying Winters another day.

Twelve companies of the Tiefeng County Regiment and all the militiamen from Niuti Valley, Xiaoshi Town, and Shengke Town are gathering towards Tushechang.

…

The soldiers of the fifth company marched in silence, one column, without drumbeats or slogans, and even the military flag was rolled up.

Riding in front was the fifth company commander [Lannis].

The moon phase is perfect tonight, which is a good day for both parties to fight.

There was a faint sound of hoofbeats ahead, and it seemed that cavalry was approaching the column of the fifth company.

Lannis raised his hand, and the flag bearer unfolded the military flag. The military policeman immediately took out an arrow and turned around to hand it to his comrades behind him.

After each soldier receives the arrow, he will immediately pass it on to the person behind him. At the same time, he will throw away all unnecessary items and move towards the military flag with only his weapons and armor.

Without any command, the fifth company formed a square formation in silence.

Lannis listened carefully, and the sound of hoofbeats became closer and closer. From this, he was sure that the other party was coming for the fifth company.

"Drum roll!" Lannis broke the silence.

The sound of a snare drum sounded like a shower, indicating to the soldiers of the fifth company that their position had been exposed and they were immediately ready to fight.

The visitors stationed their horses in front of the phalanx, and there were only a dozen of them.

"Who?" Lannis asked.

"It's me," Winters replied.

Lannis galloped out of the square and saluted Winters calmly.

"Can we still fight?" Winters asked.

"It's best to rest for two hours." Lannis replied truthfully.

"Turn around and go to Cow Hoof Valley." Winters didn't need to be polite about his old troops: "Tamas is building a third line of defense, and you will be under his command for the time being."

"Yes." Lannis raised his hand and saluted again.

Assigning a guide to Lannis, Winters took one last look at his old men and rode away.

The fifth company returned to marching formation again and headed southwest.

…

If it were a head-on battle, an open space of five kilometers by five kilometers would be enough to accommodate a grand battle involving 100,000 people.

The difficulty with the Teltun people and indeed all nomadic tribes is that they can use their mobility to turn five kilometers into fifty kilometers or even one hundred and fifty kilometers.

Advance when the situation is favorable, retreat when the situation is unfavorable, not be shy about escaping, and be sure to win before attacking. This is the great tactical advantage brought by high mobility.

For example, the straight-line distance on the map alone during the great detour of the Terdun people was more than 150 kilometers.

If we were to walk two thousand kilometers, humans might still be able to compete with horses for endurance; but if we were to run two hundred kilometers, they would not be faster than horses anyway.

Winters chose Zhongtiefeng County as the battlefield from the beginning because Zhongtiefeng County was small enough.

The Terdun people had to make a detour of 150 kilometers, while the Tiefeng County troops fighting on the inside only had to walk 50 kilometers, making up for the speed disadvantage with their travel advantage.

To this end, Winters abandoned Wolf Town, Blackwater Town, and Five Mastiff Town.

This decision sounds easy, but in fact it is heavier than tens of millions of tons of rocks.

Now, as the Terdun people traveled a hundred and fifty kilometers and crossed five rivers, they trekked to Zhongtiefeng County.

The first step of Operation Tempest, "weakening", has been achieved.

…

It was different from the previous situation where the Hittites avoided war and the Platons sought war. At this moment, the people of Teltown are most eager to fight openly and honestly.

Taichi went crazy thinking about fighting the two-legged man knife-on-knife and gun-on-gun.

A wall stopped him - two walls to be precise.

A shorter wall blocks the mountain road between Tushechang and Xiaoshi Town.

The other wall was very long and prevented the Tertons from entering the Oxhoof Valley.

Both walls are very short, almost as tall as a person, and an adult man can climb over them without much effort.

The problem is, people can climb over, but what about horses?

The people of Tiefeng County call the long wall [Shield Wall] and the short wall [Dagger Wall].

The Terdun people all call them horse-blocking walls, because these two walls are not used to block people at all, but to block horses.

The leaders of the Terdun tribe gathered for a military discussion and decided that there were only three ways: breaking the wall, packing soil, and taking a detour.

The detour was immediately rejected, and any further detour could only continue southward and cross the river via Xiaoshi Town.

Not to mention the delay, the bridge in Xiaoshi Town has also been demolished. Will there be another bridge built there?

"You guys, stop hiding your secrets and hand over your armor and sheepskin bag." Taichi spat viciously: "If you don't break the bones, how can you get the marrow to eat?"

[Thanks to book friends for their collection, reading, subscription, recommendation votes, monthly votes, rewards and comments, thank you all]

[Currently, I will post as much as I can write before twelve o'clock in the evening, without staying up late. So this chapter is only 3,000 words, sorry]

[In addition, as mentioned in the previous leave request, the two-day update mode will be temporarily implemented from today, see you on April 5 (Tuesday)]