Chapter 311 Breaking the Formation

Bighorn River, dam.

The signal flag goes up.

"Enemy attack!" The observation post rushed down the hillside like crazy, shouting with all his strength: "Cavalry!"

After extending to the west bank, the dam was attacked from two sides.

Therefore, Tamas built a small fort on the beach on the west coast and personally took charge of it.

Flood discharge is imminent, and most of the defense forces on the west bank have been withdrawn. Amidst the urgent sound of the alarm bell, the soldiers who stayed behind hurriedly ran up the wall with their weapons in hand.

"Send a signal to the east bank." Tamas spat on the west bank fortress: "If the situation is not right, destroy the dam in advance."

Cavalrymen jumped out one after another from the horizon at the edge of the river valley. The riders did not reorganize their formation, but rushed straight towards the dam.

The leading cavalryman was tall and burly, sitting on the short Hurd horse like a bear riding a rabbit.

At the top of the wall of Batou Fort, a childlike young man skillfully hung up the match rope, steadied the gun, and took aim with bated breath.

The enemy is getting closer and closer, and it seems that they have already broken into a hundred steps.

Just as the boy was about to press the firing rod, the match rope was ripped off by the sergeant major beside him - Peter Shorty Bunier.

Battalion Commander Tamas exclaimed in my ears: "Don't shoot! It's one of our own!"

However, several musketeers were frightened by the sudden sound and directly pulled the firing rod.

The dull sound of gunfire echoed across the river, and several streams of white gunpowder smoke spewed out from the wall.

"[Extremely angry vulgar words]!" Lieutenant Andrea Cellini's roar penetrated the smoke and spread throughout the fortress: "Which bastard shot at me!"

…

At the foot of Tiefeng Mountain, there is a battlefield where the two armies are arrayed.

After repeated trials, the Telton people have roughly figured out the opponent's true and false intentions.

Although the opponent's left, center, and right wings looked similar in terms of flags and number of people, the center wing's troops were more organized and did not waver in the face of cavalry charges.

Looking down from the top of Telduun's main formation, one can see a wall of white smoke escaping from the arrow cluster array in the center of the formation.

"[Hede] There." A Qing Lingyu looked solemn: "[Hede] How can there be so many Xiao Lei?"

Another Qing Lingyu answered in a low voice: "[Hede language] And the fight was very neat."

Regarding Xiaolei, all the leaders of the ministries changed their expressions. The warriors who could have braved the arrow feathers and charged into battle repeatedly by virtue of their strong armor were now only beaten to death by lead bullets flying indiscriminately.

Compared with the past, today's leaders rarely charge into battle in person.

The elites in the center of the opponent's formation should not be underestimated, but the combat power of the two wings was obviously not enough.

After just a hundred cavalry skimming formation, the battle lines on both wings became loose, and no white smoke was seen.

According to the original intention of the Teldun nobles, they were not willing to confront the two-legged people head-on.

However, wherever the army passed, all the villages were burned down and the population moved away in advance. The other party would rather turn their home into scorched earth than let the Telduans take anything away.

The Khan Court was on the verge of running out of food, and the morale of the army was unstable - rumors of an attack on the old camp spread like wildfire, and the more repression they spread, the more they spread.

The tribesmen were whispering where the leader could not see them. Some said it was Haidong who did it, some said it was the Suzi tribe who attacked in a sneak attack, and some said it was the Chihe tribe who took action.

People disagree as to which tribe is on the other side. But one thing is clear: Something big must have happened in the winter pasture, otherwise the Khan Court would not be secretive.

In this case, Gévaudan failed to break through in one fell swoop, and he wanted to fight decisively but was unable to do so. The winter raid had actually failed.

There is only one way left in front of the Teldu Department - retreat. As long as you have a life left, there is always a chance to come back.

But I am really unwilling to do so! I’m so unwilling!

Everyone from the person who was roasting himself in the fire at Teldun Khan knew it was time to run away, but no one was willing to spit out the meat that was already in their mouths.

On the other hand, Winters can continue to wait. As long as the dam is completed and filled with water, the Teltown people whose back roads are threatened will have to retreat.

At a delicate moment, Winters decided to take the initiative.

When he pushed down all the chips, he was also forcing the roaster to make a choice: cut off his wrists to survive? Or... also use all the chips to win a complete comeback.

No matter what reasons they were driven by and what kind of game they went through, the two sides had arrived at this battlefield less than one kilometer wide.

This is how the decisive battle begins.

…

Terdun's light cavalry, armed with bows and arrows, galloped in groups in front of the ditch.

Sometimes they draw their bows and shoot quickly, sometimes they attack fiercely, sometimes far and sometimes close, sometimes gathering and sometimes scattering, like crows circling over the corpses.

In addition to the light cavalry of the "Crow Spreading Stars", there were also several groups of armored cavalry who took turns attacking the two wings of the Tiefeng County Army.

The tactics of the heavy armored cavalry were very different from those of the unarmored light cavalry. They formed a dense formation and hit the Tiefeng County people's military formation like huge waves.

Many of the first-time militiamen were so frightened that they almost peed their pants on the spot. Fortunately, Winters already had a group of veterans under his command who had seen the barbarian tactics.

"What are you afraid of? You're just trying to scare people! The barbarians don't dare to rush in directly!" the sergeant scolded him, but he didn't know that it was them who were so frightened that their knees weakened last time.

Relying on the restraint of grassroots commanders and sergeants, the two flanks of the front did not directly collapse.

Seeing that the two-legged men could not be shaken, the front team's Terdun armored cavalry immediately swept across the formation, and the second team charged again. If they can't enter again, the rear team will continue to repeat.

Winters, who was watching the battle, suddenly said: "Give food and drink to each battalion."

The clerks and guards around looked at each other, not knowing how to execute this sentence. Seeing no one move, Winters turned around and looked around, but no one was moving.

Winters then remembered that Bud was staying in Shenk Town to organize logistics and was not at the scene.

During this period of time, Winters had been dictating the arrangements, and Budd had translated the oral content into written orders or instructions.

The tacit understanding between the two greatly improved the operational efficiency of the command headquarters. But with Bader currently out, Winters has had to readjust.

"Go to the person in charge of the logistics convoy and ask him to distribute food and drinking water to each battalion." Winters found Charles next to him and added thoughtfully: "Priority is given to the second line of the two wings, then to the center, and finally to the two wings. The front line.”

"Starting at this time?" someone asked doubtfully.

"The Teltown people's main formation is still resting, and they obviously do not plan to launch a general attack now." Winters explained: "The rotation of the formation may seem menacing, but in fact the purpose is to tire out the enemy."

"Then what are they waiting for?"

"A surprise soldier." Winters squinted his eyes and looked at the sun: "It might also be time."

…

The Terton people's pontoon bridge on the Bighorn River.

As early as a few days ago, the Teldun leader [Wisdom Falcon] stationed on the pontoon had noticed that the water level was changing.

Wisdom Falcon sent Qingqi to trace all the way upstream, and soon found the source of the anomaly - a dam.

If the pontoon bridge built in one day was still within the scope of Zhi Falcon's understanding, then the dam that appeared out of thin air completely surpassed his wildest imagination.

No matter what, the problem needs to be solved.

Not only impact objects floating downstream can cause damage to the pontoon, but so can large changes in water level.

The essence of a pontoon is a fixed pontoon box connected by wooden boards. If the water level changes, the structure connecting the pontoon boxes will be damaged.

Zhi Falcon, who was left behind on the pontoon bridge, did not understand the principles of the bridge, but he could see that the beams of the pontoon bridge were twisted and broken one after another.

Unfortunately, Wise Falcon was unable to fix neither the bridge's structural problems nor the people who caused them.

Several attacks on the dam ended in failure. The fire-warmers first sent reinforcements and then hurriedly transferred the reinforcements away.

At the same time, almost all the Terdun troops who stayed on the west bank were rushing to the Khan tent to join forces. According to their words: "The fire-warmers caught the cunning Two-Legged Man."

There were fewer and fewer men and horses on hand, and the water level became shallower and shallower. Wisdom Falcon made a difficult decision-to demolish the bridge.

He thought about it and considered the pros and cons very clearly: the pontoon bridge would be destroyed sooner or later, and he was powerless to stop it; instead of waiting for the two-legged people to destroy the bridge, it was better to demolish it himself; as long as the materials for building the bridge were still there, it would not be difficult to build another pontoon bridge in the future. of.

The work of dismantling the pontoon bridge is in full swing. Because many Plato slaves were lost in previous rebellions, the progress of the demolition of the bridge is very slow.

Suddenly, the servants at the door rushed over happily and told Zhi Falcon the good news: "[Hede language] Na Yan! The river has risen again! No need to demolish the bridge!"

Zhi Falcon's heart stopped for a beat, and he gave his personal slave a hard slap in the face with his backhand: "[Hedian] Idiot!"

Wise Falcon rushed to the pontoon and saw that the originally clear river water had become turbid - the undercurrent stirred up the silt at the bottom of the river, and fish kept jumping out of the water.

The calm Bighorn River suddenly became manic and ferocious. The speed of the river water was almost visible to the naked eye, and a series of large and small whirlpools appeared in the middle of the river.

On the river bank, a Turdun sentinel was running toward the pontoon in a panic.

The sentry rider tore off his outer robe, rolled it up in his hands and waved a warning with all his strength, shouting at the top of his lungs: "[Herdish] ship! Big ship..."

The sentry rider didn't need to shout anymore, because the wise falcon could already see it with his own eyes.

A gift from Captain Moreau - a giant triangular raft loaded with earth and rocks rushed out of the river bend, spinning and drifting along the water, getting faster and faster.

Moreau deliberately designed the impact raft to be triangular because there would always be a corner where it would hit the pontoon.

The Tertuns screamed and ran, watching the triangular raft spin toward them.

The blocking rope was caught and torn, and the blocking piles arranged in front of the pontoon were also knocked to pieces.

"[Hudian] Wooden pole!" Zhi Falcon's eyes were red, and he fiercely woke up the slaves and Guizhou heads who were standing still, shouting until his voice was hoarse: "[Hudian] Push it out!"

Zhi Falcon personally went into battle and led more than a dozen of his men to pick up a log and try to resist the terrifying triangular raft.

He subconsciously closed his eyes, waiting for the moment he turned into flesh.

The triangular raft went down the river, broke through all the obstacles, and hit the Telton people's "raft hammer" straight up.

The mouth of the wise falcon was cracked, blood was flowing, and its breathing was stagnant.

The four Terdun men were thrown into the roiling river, shouting in terror, and soon lost their voices.

Because a considerable part of the speed was lost when breaking through the barrage rope, the triangular raft, which received the same magnitude of reaction force, was also pushed away. The triangular raft washed up on the river beach and eventually ran aground.

Zhi Falcon fell to the ground, gasping for air.

For the rest of his life, his tribe was shouting and laughing, some were crying with joy, and some were crying in their arms.

But almost instantly, the floating bridge returned to deathly silence.

Wisdom Falcon followed the line of sight of his followers - the second triangular raft rushed out of the river bend, and then the third.

Immediately after the two triangular rafts appeared in the Teltun people's field of vision... a windmill.

No matter how much the people of Teltown wipe their eyes or slap their faces, what floats on the water is a real windmill.

Facing the giant triangular raft, the Teltown people still had the fighting spirit to fight to the death of the pontoon bridge.

However, facing the water mill and windmill, which was more than three stories high and looked like a ferocious giant, the courage of the Teltown people was completely crushed.

Samutin held a torch and took a small boat to personally escort the "windmill" to prevent it from getting stuck on a certain beach or river bend.

Fighting does require a bit of imagination, and Samkin had more than all the others combined.

He dismantled the wind wheel of a water mill upstream, removed the stone base, covered it with asphalt, pushed it directly into the river, and carried it in four small boats.

The giant ship-like windmill was brought in front of the pontoon bridge, and the barrage ropes and blocking piles looked like dwarf toys in front of it.

“Go!” Samujin lit the torch and threw it towards the windmill with a wild laugh: “Go say hello to the fucking monkey-ass face!

In an instant, the asphalt-covered windmill turned into a ball of fire.

The soldiers driving the boat cut the rope, and the windmill completely broke free and crashed into the pontoon downstream.

The Teltun people watched helplessly as the burning castle got closer and closer, getting bigger and bigger, swaying but not sinking.

Nothing can stop this behemoth, nothing can prevent the destruction of the floating bridge.

The Teltown people who had no time to get off the bridge jumped into the river in a panic, but were swept back by the huge waves caused by the collision between the pontoon bridge and the windmill, and were shattered to pieces.

There were Teltons who were stuck to the hot asphalt, screaming and turned into burning men.

The tight cables broke one after another, and the bridge connecting the pontoons turned into pieces in the blink of an eye.

There was a loud rumble, and the bridge trembled, and it was cut in half without causing any hindrance to the windmill.

The windmill continued to drift downstream, while the two bridge bodies swayed with the river water, and the fire spread to the cables and the bridge deck.

Wisdom Falcon was dragged back to the east coast by his personal slaves at the last moment, but in front of him was a scene like a natural disaster.

The slaves who had narrowly escaped death and suffered a mental breakdown frantically kowtowed to the wreckage of the pontoon.

"[Herdese] Put out the fire!" Zhi Falcon pointed at the two remaining parts of the pontoon and spoke with difficulty: "[Herdese] Put out the fire! It's not finished yet!"

Suddenly, the thunderous sound of horse hooves sounded on the west bank of the river valley.

The wise falcon was horrified and straightened up instantly, looking in the direction where the hoofbeats were coming from.

I saw a group of fierce warriors riding horses and wearing robes galloping towards them. The leading warrior was so burly that he looked like a bear riding a rabbit.

Zhi Falcon breathed a sigh of relief, and his body went limp, as if all his strength had been drained away.

He gathered his thoughts, grabbed the arm of his personal slave, and quickly ordered: "[Hud] Cross the river quickly! Go and deliver a message to the Khan! Tell the Khan! The bridge has been destroyed, and I will do my best to repair it! Go quickly... …”

However, Wise Falcon did not notice that the warriors headed by the group of "Teltons" who rushed towards them were wearing serious hussar hats.

…

The main battlefield.

The sun slowly climbed up the treetops, climbed to the top of the sky, and was now sliding towards the west.

The Terdun people had seen through that the Tiefeng County Army had no artillery.

So hundreds of light cavalry stayed a stone's throw away in a sparse formation, shooting arrows from time to time, and using various means to prevent the Tiefeng County militia from resting.

Only then did the old interpreter roughly understand why the opponent did not occupy the hill and form a formation.

If they occupy the hills and form a formation, the Tiefeng County army will be immersed in continuous fatigue from all directions, and they will really not be able to rest for a moment.

The current situation is: Tiefeng County Army controls the passage less than one kilometer wide between the mountains and the forest. It is difficult for Teldun Qingqi to detour to the side and can only repeatedly raid the front.

The enemy-tiring tactic of "circling and sparse sentinels" has been changed to "half-circle and sparse sentinels", and the effect is really limited.

He even vaguely saw that Tiefeng County's troops seemed to be taking turns retreating to the rear of the battle line to rest.

However, these are all trails, and the people of Teltown have no intention of letting go, and the people of Tiefeng County will not be easily intimidated.

The outcome of this battle will ultimately have to be decided with real swords and guns.

The weather was gradually changing in favor of the Tertons—the morning light was in the wrong direction, and so was the wind.

But now, the time has changed hands.

Winters, who was in the middle army, was also vaguely aware of the subtle changes in the atmosphere: the wind direction was changing, from southwest to northwest; the sun was setting in the west, and the Teltons would no longer face the sun when they charged.

The most critical thing is that the continuous tactics of exhausting the enemy made the nervous young soldiers on the left and right wings become numb and sleepy.

There was a faint smoke rising from the Tertun people's lines - although it was very inconspicuous.

"We are about to charge into the formation!" Winters threw away his cane and stood up suddenly: "Let the second line on both wings prepare! Bring back the light troops! Inform the Xishan ambush troops to mount their horses!"

The sleepy monkey and Doug were kicked awake by the sergeant, and the battle line of the young soldiers suddenly tightened.

From the seemingly chaotic and irregular formation of Terdun's light cavalry, a group of armored cavalry rushed out diagonally.

"Are you coming?" The young militiamen on the first front line were already a little impatient. The other side repeatedly charged and raided the formation to scare people, but they never dared to take a step beyond the trench.

After the fear gradually subsided, many young soldiers developed a sense of slackness.

However, the Terdun people did not cross the formation again this time. The leading soldier roared and jumped on his horse. He flew directly over the horse and the trench, rushed into the dodging militiamen amidst the screams, and waved his spear to challenge Fly several people.

The other Terdunjia cavalry did not have such equestrian skills or such war horses. They dragged Juma and Luzhai down honestly, passed through the gaps between the trenches, and followed the leader to charge.

At the same time, the main formation of Terdun Department also suddenly came to life.

Tired enemy? Mounted shooting? Crows?

Cavalry assault is the special skill of the Terdun Department! [Once one point is broken, no matter how small the number is, the whole army will advance straight in. Even if there are hundreds of thousands of people, they will not be able to defeat it].

A gap has been opened in the left-wing battle line. Next, the Telduans will expand the gap at all costs and invest a decisive assault force to sweep the entire front.

At the same time, in the forest on the west side of the military formation, Angelou stepped on his horse after seeing the flag signal.

Behind Angelou, Dussac, the Platons, the Protestant immigrants... Winters' cavalry had gathered momentum, waiting for the horn of a decisive countercharge.

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[The use of "triangular rafts" and "windmills" to attack pontoon bridges was a bridge-destroying tactic used by the Austrian army in the Battle of Aspern-Essling described in "The Battle". However, because there is no mention of "triangular raft" and "windmill" in other materials, I am not very sure whether this part is the original work of Mr. "Patrick Lambeau"... But hitting the pontoon with a windmill is really interesting. Romantic, with a sense of wonder that works wonders with great force]

[Tactics such as crow soldiers scattering stars and surrounding cavalry and sparse sentinels come from the "Tatar History". As for the use of heavy cavalry, it is obviously suicide to attack the infantry front, so repeated testing and charging are very common arrangements. At this point, East and West are similar. After all, everyone carries a head on their shoulders, there is no "who is less afraid of death than anyone else"]

[As for the long-circulated tactic of rushing into battle blindfolded, it is basically a fiction. First of all, the situation of blindfolding exists. In jousting competitions and bullfights, there are blindfolding or semi-blindfolding situations. In horse racing, there are also cases where horses do not enter the stalls and are blindfolded]

[But the author has not seen any record of blindfolding the horses and charging. Before 2007, there was not even any discussion on this issue on the Chinese Internet, and it was obviously an original creation of the certificate. Because the battlefield is not flat, there are many situations with complex terrain]

[Compared to war horses, people are more unwilling to die. Compared to the cavalry rushing into the phalanx desperately, there are probably more records of the rider dying and the frightened horse crashing into the phalanx]