Chapter 430 The Great Alliance Moves Forward (3)

[Jinghu County]

[Mountain Crossing]

The rammed earth road splits into two ahead: one leads to Changhu Town, and then to Bazenauer; the other leads to Qingyin Mountain Pass, and then to Maple Stone City.

The marching army also split into two groups at the intersection:

Troops from Baishan County, Leiqun County and Bianjiang County continued north along the Big Horn River, rushing to support Bazenauer who was still holding on.

The troops from Tiefeng County went east, crossed the Qingyin Mountain Pass, and marched towards Green Valley Town.

The trumpets were silent, the war drums were silenced, and the heavily armed soldiers plunged into the unknown fog with hurried steps. Only the morning bells of prayer floated from distant villages to see them off.

Two soldiers, one old and one young, stood side by side on horseback at the intersection, watching the soldiers who might have a completely different fate.

"The mission you shoulder is more important than the mission of the Styx Camp during the crusade against the Red River Tribe. The enemy's reinforcements may or may not come, but no matter whether they come or how many they come, you must ensure the retreat of the army. No worries."

Colonel Bode, an old soldier, turned to look at Winters, a young soldier, with a serious and sad tone: "Don't let us repeat the mistakes of the Great Wilderness War."

"I accept the order." Winters solemnly raised his hand in salute: "Wish you victory!"

Colonel Bode solemnly responded with his remaining right arm: "For peace."

…

[two days ago]

[Scene of the pre-war evaluation meeting]

Pre-war evaluation meetings always have no distinction between military ranks and have no taboos. The participating officers sat or stood around the map. A cavalry captain spoke first:

"If the intelligence is correct, Saner took away at least two-thirds of the troops in Maple Stone City and Maple Leaf Fort. The remaining troops huddled in Maple Leaf Fort, leaving the city to the city militia to defend themselves. As long as we can reach Maple Stone City It will not be difficult to reach an agreement with the city council. At that time, we will only have to deal with the enemies in Maple Leaf Castle. Whether it is a siege or a storm, the initiative will be in our hands."

"Legion Commander." The captain took the initiative to ask Colonel Bode: "I am willing to go to Maple Stone City as an envoy to persuade the city council to open the city anyway."

"Your idea is too optimistic! It is completely based on the premise that 'the enemy will act according to your plan.'" Another major present shook his head: "What if Maplestone City does not surrender?"

"If they don't surrender, then beat them until they surrender." The cavalry captain replied in a neither humble nor condescending manner.

The major asked coldly: "Where are Maplestone City and Maple Leaf Castle so easy to fight? Those are the headquarters of the legion! If we can't conquer it for a long time, then do we have to wait for Saner to send troops to come back and annihilate us all? Under Maple Stone City?”

The cavalry captain explained his strategy: "We don't need to actually launch a strong attack - we just need to appear to be launching a strong attack. Once he learns that Maplestone City is lost, Sanel will be anxious and return to the rescue at full speed, and we can choose On the battlefield, wait for work at leisure, and annihilate Saner under the Maple Stone City."

"Lozon." Colonel Scull, who was listening to the argument between the two, whispered the cavalry captain's name.

"yes."

Colonel Scull asked thoughtfully: "Have you ever thought about what situation we will face if Saner does not return reinforcements, or returns reinforcements steadily?"

"How could they not be in a hurry to return reinforcements?" Captain Luo Song was startled and asked doubtfully: "The traitors' baggage, ordnance, food and grass are all hoarded in Maple Stone City and Maple Leaf Castle. Once Maple Stone City is lost, they will be in the newly cultivated land. Withered grass without roots and roots will be wiped out in a fire. Not to mention the symbolic significance of Maple Stone City. How could they not be in a hurry to return help? "

"Withered grass without roots? Are you in a hurry to come back for help?" Colonel Scull repeated these two words, shook his head, and said in a deep voice: "That's not necessarily the case."

Skull stood up, used the scabbard of his sword to draw a line along the Jinliu River on the map, and looked around at the officers participating in the evaluation meeting: "Don't forget, there is a clear road here."

The wind made the map rattle. Colonel Skull held the hilt of his sword, a layer of gloom in his eyes: "The people from the United Provinces have reinforced the Grand Council's fleet, and the Ashliu River is now firmly controlled by the Grand Council." In my hand. Today, on the Jinliu River, ships flying red rose flags can sail unimpeded."

Skull pointed at the map with his scabbard: "If we choose to attack Maple Stone City, then Sanel can take Bazenauer first, obtain supplies directly from the King's Castle through the Ember River Channel, and then slowly deal with us. "

"What will happen then?" Scull asked Lauzon: "Have you ever thought about it?"

The simple stable became quiet, and before Captain Lauzon could speak, Colonel Scull asked and answered himself:

"Even if we can capture Maple Stone City and Maple Leaf Castle, we will lose the initiative. Our main force will be restrained by Sanel in Maple Stone City and unable to move; the Great Council Army of Beilu Province will attack Leiqun County We will launch an offensive with Bianjiang County to support Saner; seeing that we are in a dilemma and are attacked from both sides, Sandel from Wargne County may also end up. By then, it will only be a matter of time before we are strangled."

The lieutenants present looked at each other. If you are in the standing army, lieutenants do not have the opportunity to participate in military evaluation meetings. However, in newly cultivated lands where there is a shortage of officers, lieutenants also have to assume intermediate command positions.

However, the lieutenants who participated in the pre-war evaluation meeting for the first time did not expect that the colonel would describe the situation in such a serious manner. It was simply... simply trying to boost others' ambitions and destroy their own prestige.

"Okay! Don't scare the children!" Colonel Gesa laughed loudly and pointed at the lieutenants: "Look, one by one, their faces are all pale with fear from you!"

The lieutenants also laughed sheepishly, and the depressed and depressed atmosphere was temporarily relieved.

"No, I'm not an alarmist." Colonel Scull didn't appreciate it. He looked at the faces of each lieutenant: "Most of you were sent to serve in new lands right after leaving school and have never experienced a real war. So before you step into the battlefield, I want you to understand what you will face and what risks you will take."

Some lieutenants bravely faced Colonel Skull's scrutiny, while others lowered their heads in shame.

Skull's eyes finally rested on Winters Montagne. The latter neither looked at him nor had any shame on his face. He just sat upright with his eyes on his nose, his nose on his mouth, and his mouth on his heart.

Colonel Skull withdrew his gaze and told everyone present in a cold voice: "In fact, I think Maplestone City is basically a bait thrown by Sanel to lure us to send troops and attack. Once we swallow this bait, Sanel will They will take the initiative in turn.”

He paused for a moment and continued: "Even... I think that Saner and Chloe's eagerness to attack Bazenauer is actually luring the enemy. He wants to kill two birds with one stone, encircling and annihilating Arpad's troops at the same time. , lure us out and catch us all. At that time, he can wipe out the new land in one fell swoop and eliminate all those who oppose the Great Council and the traitor Grove Magnus."

It was clearly May, but the officers present felt a bit chilly.

Colonel Scull was silent for a long time. After the lieutenants present gradually accepted the reality, he finally spoke and asked: "Since we already know that the other party is deliberately luring us to send troops, why are we still here? Why do we step on it even if we know it may be a trap? "

The stable was silent.

The colonel took a deep breath and scolded the worried-looking lieutenants:

"You are going to learn the first lesson from actual combat today - there is never a sure-win strategy in war! Just like a duel between swordsmen, Saner revealed a flaw. Whether he did it intentionally or not is irrelevant to us. It’s important. The important thing is to seize the opportunity! A fake move may help you win, but it may also kill you! No matter what Saner’s plan is, the important thing is to implement our plan, it’s that simple!”

"Well said!" Colonel Gesa, who was on the side, put his hands on his hands and laughed: "What kind of tricks does he have? Let's stab him down with one sword! We will see him on the battlefield!"

Colonel Skull noticed that Winters Montagne, who had been silent all this time, also raised his eyes to look at him.

"Senior." Colonel Skull faced Colonel Bode and bowed slightly: "[Plans can rely on everyone, but decisions must be made by one person], Maplestone City or Bazenauer, please give me an order!"

Colonel Bode did not answer directly, but looked at Scull and said with a smile: "You should be in the standing corps and the army headquarters, how come you are thrust into the newly cultivated land?"

All the officers present were stunned.

"You have explained the truth clearly, so what else is there to say? If Saner is eliminated, Maple Stone City will be destroyed; if Saner is not solved, Maple Stone City will not be able to hold even if it is taken." Colonel Bode stood up. , give the command clearly:

"Detour to Changhu Town, go straight to Bazenauer, and look for an opportunity to fight with the main force of Saner's Department!"

All the other officers present stood at attention and saluted neatly: "Yes!"

However, Captain Lauzon was still unwilling. After much hesitation, he still asked:

"Maybe we can try to go to Maplestone City first. If Maplestone City doesn't surrender, we can also go to Bazenauer - just a little detour. The baggage in the Maplestone City warehouse is piled up, and it's all plundered by General Adams. It's been accumulated. Being able to get those supplies back will be of great help to the upcoming war."

"A little detour?" an officer retorted: "It takes at least two days to go around Maple Stone City. Bazenauer can't wait an extra day. Maybe just because we are delayed for one day, Bazenauer's troops will The entire army will be wiped out."

There was silence in the stable.

Suddenly an officer asked with a smile: "Isn't that better?"

Hearing this, many officers laughed. But several officers looked sullen and clearly didn't find the joke funny.

Winters didn't smile or get angry, he just silently observed the expressions of everyone present.

As luck would have it, Skull was also observing Winters.

Their eyes met, and Winters nodded slightly and turned around.

Colonel Skull patiently explained to Captain Lauzon, and it was obvious that he valued this subordinate: "Sooner or later, our whereabouts will be exposed - in fact, I think Saner may have already learned about our movements. So. Every day we waste is an extra day for Saner to recuperate."

Colonel Skull's brows tightened unconsciously: "What's more, since the day we captured Maplestone City and forced General Adams to death, Sanel has been asking for help from the Great Council. Every time we delay for a day, Sanel's reinforcements will leave. We are closer. Time is our helper—and our enemy."

"Okay, stop talking nonsense." Colonel Gesa laughed: "Beat Saner first. What happens after winning Saner will be discussed after we win Saner."

The commander directly under his command had spoken, and the lieutenants said nothing more.

Colonel Bode did not speak. He was not familiar with the lieutenants serving in the New Reclamation Corps, and those lieutenants did not know him either.

When the stables became quiet again and the officers swept the grass clippings off their trousers and prepared to leave the camp of the new army in Tiefeng County, Colonel Bode suddenly said: "Captain Montagne."

"exist."

"You don't need to follow the main force to Bazenauer. Colonel Gesa, Colonel Skull and I have other plans for you."

…

[Jinghu County]

[Green Valley Town]

Green Valley Town, located on the banks of the Achyranthes River, is a beautiful, quiet and peaceful town. Qingmeng Mountain and Yinque Mountain embrace it like two outstretched arms. The vegetation in the valley is lush and lush, so Named "Green Valley".

The Achyranthes River originating from the Qingmeng Mountains provides abundant irrigation water for agriculture, so the flat land along both sides of the river has long been reclaimed as farmland. It is one of the most densely populated areas in newly reclaimed land.

And because Green Valley Town has the only stone arch bridge across the Achyranthes River, most caravans coming and going choose to cross the river, making this town even more prosperous.

The newly cultivated land could only be conquered for another thirty years, and Green Valley Town had become one of the wealthiest towns in the province.

At a glance, the green walls and red tiles of the small town located in the middle of the valley are pleasing to the eye.

However, for Winters, who wanted to capture the town of Green Valley, the green walls and red tiles meant that most of the buildings in the town were made of stone - that was not a good thing.

Saner apparently left a garrison of troops at Green Valley. When Winters arrived for reconnaissance, he found that Green Valley Town was on alert: the gates were closed, there were no pedestrians, the walls were patrolled, and sentries were posted on the towers.

Going around the high walls of Green Valley, Winters counted fourteen centurions and regiment flags, that is, two regiments and a thousand men.

The high wall in Green Valley Town is not the wooden fence that was built in a rush like Shovel Harbor, but a solid earth and stone structure.

The wealth accumulated by the town allows it to enjoy a higher level of security. Coupled with the garrison of thousands of people, it is really a difficult nut to crack.

Fortunately, Winters also discovered another situation - the warning direction of Green Valley Town was mainly the south bank, not the north bank where the new Tiefeng County army was located.

Because Colonel Bode believes that when the army is less than fifty kilometers away from Maple Stone City, concealment loses its meaning, and speed is the key to victory.

So in the past two days, when the main force of the four-county coalition marched along the Dajiao River towards Qingmeng Town, the coalition's light cavalry troops conducted a large-scale feint on the outskirts of Maplestone City, creating the illusion that the coalition was about to attack Maplestone City.

The defenders of Green Valley Town were obviously deceived by the light cavalry's actions and thought the attack would come from the south. Little did they know that the enemy had already climbed over the Qingyin Mountain Pass and reached behind them.

Therefore, Winters chose the attack time at dusk. The offensive would be launched from the south bank by the 2nd Battalion, which secretly crossed the river from the upstream. However, the real main attack task was handed over to the 1st and 3rd Battalions hidden on the north bank. The remaining battalion was Winters remained in reserve.

…

[Twilight]

[Outside Green Valley Town]

All units of the new army in Tiefeng County have already entered the attack position, just waiting for the firing of the starting gun.

Winters set up the command post in a vineyard in the west of the town. From the roof of the vineyard owner's house, you can see the whole town at a glance.

While Winters was closely observing the situation in Green Valley Town, Andre kept sighing beside him.

"What's the matter?" Winters asked.

"What's wrong?" Andre was so angry that he drank a sip of wine and said angrily: "You bastard! Look down on us! They go to fight the big war themselves and let us wipe their butts. !”

After speaking, Andre took another sip of wine. He found this wine in the vineyard owner's wine cellar - the vineyard owner very consciously took out the key to the wine cellar.

"Drink less," Winters said.

"If I don't paralyze myself, what else can I do?" Andre sniffed: "You don't need me in this battle anyway, right?"

"Who said that?" Winters took out the Newlon Clock and looked at the time: "You are my last resort."

Andre sighed and stuck his head out from the eaves: "Tulin!"

Tulin, who was guarding outside the house, quickly responded.

"Go on!" Andre threw the bottle down.

Turin caught the bottle and shouted happily: "Thank you, sir! Alexander! Come quickly! The lieutenant is giving us wine!"

"Keep your voice down!" Andre scolded.

"yes."

After handling the bottle, Andre crawled back to Winters. He was still a little annoyed and asked: "Aren't you angry? They left us here. It's clear they don't trust us!"

"Then you trust them?" Winters asked back: "If we follow the large army to Bazenauer, aren't you worried that they will treat us as cannon fodder and let us be consumed together with Saner's troops?"

Andre stopped talking.

Winters said lightly: "They don't trust us, they're afraid that we won't do anything, they're afraid that we'll defect; we can't completely trust them either. So Colonel Bode's arrangement may not be the best method, but it is the most feasible method." — and took great care of us.”

After a while, Andre said coyly: "Actually, I'm worried that without us, Colonel Bode and the others will lose the battle..."

Winters burst into laughter: "Even if the troops are divided into two groups, they still have a strength advantage on the separate battlefields. You should have confidence in Colonel Bode."

…

After repeated discussions, Colonel Bode, Colonel Gesar and Colonel Skull decided to assign Winters' troops to be independently responsible for one direction. This would avoid confusion in the command system and give full play to the initiative of Winters' troops. .

Colonel Bode issued a progressive order to Winters:

First, the Tiefeng County garrison must clear out the enemy forces along the "Qingyin Pass-Green Valley Town" line to ensure that the army's retreat is not threatened;

On the premise of completing the previous duty, the Tiefeng County garrison needs to closely monitor every move of the Wargne County garrison.

Colonel Scull has always been deeply suspicious of Wargne County's attitude.

Both Skull and Bode were worried that Warne County was just pretending to be neutral, and was actually waiting for the coalition forces to attack Maple Stone City or cross the Qingyin Mountain Pass, and launch a surprise attack from behind the coalition forces.

If Colonel Scull is unlucky, then Tiefeng County must hold on to Green Valley Town until reinforcements arrive, and must not allow any soldier from Warne County to cross the Qingyin Pass.

In addition to the above two responsibilities, Colonel Bode's order to Winters also had a third part:

When the defenders of Maplestone City learned that Saner's retreat had been cut off, they could not rule out that they might take the initiative to support Saner.

If the defenders of Maplestone City take the initiative to attack, the Tiefeng County garrison "must look for opportunities to annihilate them" and should "explore all possibilities to recover Maplestone City."

…

At this moment, Winters was executing the first part of this order - clearing out the enemies from Qingyin Mountain Pass to Green Valley Town.

Andre couldn't refute Winters' words. He reached for the wine bottle and found that the bottle had been thrown to Turin. Then he unhappily pulled out his dagger and scratched it on the tiles... as if carving curse words. .

Winters quipped: "I thought you were going to say, 'Fight! Let them fight! The more blood they bleed, the better'?"

Andre was a little irritated. He raised his upper body and asked unhappily: "Who do you think I am? When did I betray my comrades? Have I ever betrayed a friendly army?"

"I apologize."

Andre snorted, curled his lips, lay down again, and continued to play with the dagger boredly.

Winters took out the Newlon Clock and narrowed his eyes: "It's time."

…

On the south bank of the Achyranthes River, the commander of the second battalion, Bart Schalling, drew his sword: "The tribunes think that we are inferior to the first battalion, so they let us feign attack! Today we must prove that the blood wolves can be wrong sometimes!"

"Drum roll!" Bart Schalling yelled, "Forward!"

The snare drums on all sides beat at the same time, and the rapid drum beats echoed in the valley, like rumbling thunder.

The soldiers of the second battalion carried crude ladders and supports over the embankment, shouting and rushing towards the high wall of Green Valley Town.

…

On the north bank of the Achyranthes River, the monkey hiding behind the field ridge grasped the hilt of his sword with both hands and repeated nervously: "It's about to reach us! It's about to reach us!"

Lu Xirong inspected the helmets and armor of the soldiers under his command one by one. When he got to the monkey, he subconsciously wanted to scold him, but he still couldn't bear it. He raised his hand towards the monkey, and the monkey subconsciously shrank its neck to avoid it.

But Lu Xirong just knocked on the monkey's plate breastplate: "You are the boss. You have to set an example for your brothers in the same account. They are all counting on you."

Monkey turned to look at his comrades in the tent and found that everyone else was looking at him, especially Paco. The big and thick man's eyes were full of fear. The memory of the last battle was obviously still torturing him.

The monkey gritted his teeth and nodded.

"boom!"

The cannon sounded.

A short figure jumped out of the field: "That... that..."

The short acting company commander held it in for a long time, and finally roared like a beast: "Follow me!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he was the first to rush towards the north gate of Green Valley Town.

Behind him, soldiers poured out of the fields like a tide and rushed toward the small town with green walls and red tiles in the center of the valley.

The cannon, which was also held back uncomfortably, finally let out a hearty roar and tore the towers of Green Valley Town into pieces.

…

The battle in Green Valley Town was over before it was completely dark.

When Peter Bunier led his men to blow open the north gate and invade South Town, they were surprised to find that the friendly forces had cleared away the defenders on the high wall and were catching prisoners all over the city.

The "honorary officers" who stayed in Green Valley Town were immediately escorted to Winters' command post.

After a brief interrogation, Winters and Mason looked at each other, dumbfounded.

It turns out that Green Valley Town is actually only guarded by two centurions. Long before the troops were sent out, Saner and Chloe had made a plan to use rivers to transport supplies, so the importance of land supply lines was greatly reduced.

The "honorary officers" who defended Green Valley Town also knew that they had too few troops and that the position they were defending was particularly dangerous.

He was a little clever, so he quickly made a dozen flags and pretended that two brigades of troops were stationed in Green Valley Town, hoping to scare off his opponents.

Then came Winters Montagne.

"Spare my life! Sir! Mercy!" The honorary officer knelt on the ground in embarrassment, begging for mercy with tears streaming down his face: "I don't want to die! I don't want to die! Please show kindness! Sir!"

The more Andre looked at the captured honorary officer, the angrier he became. He stepped forward and kicked him: "Cry, cry, cry! Are you worthy of being called a soldier?"

The captured honorary officer cried even harder: "I just spent money to buy the status of an officer. I never thought about actually going to war! Ahhhh!"

Andre yelled angrily, threw his hands and walked away - to find Major Seber to change his shift.

Mason was also helpless. He picked up the captured honorary officer and wiped the dust off his clothes: "Oh, you... If you don't do these tricks, I can save some cannonballs."

Winters sighed, but still praised his opponent objectively: "Even if you just wasted our time, you performed your duties to the best of your ability. You did a good job, don't cry."

The captured honorary officer wiped away his tears and revealed a childish face. He sobbed and asked: "My lord, who are you?"

Mason cleared his throat, got ahead of Winters, and introduced with a smile: "This is Winters Montagne - Blood of the Wolf."

It didn't matter. The captured honorary officer cried "Wow" again.

Senior Mason couldn't help laughing.

Winters signaled Heinrich to keep an eye on the prisoners, summoned Charles and the clerk Jacob Green, dictated some orders about receiving supplies and entering the city for defense, and asked Charles to personally deliver them to Tamas and Bart Charles. Mausoleum.

While Winters was dictating the order, Jacob had been secretly observing the wailing honorary officer.

He waited for the crying to subside before returning to the captured honorary officer.

Winters simply patted the honorary officer on the shoulder: "Since you know who I am, I don't need to say anything more. I ask and you answer. Lie and die; don't lie and live."

The captured honorary officer nodded like a chicken pecking at rice.

"name."

"Daniel."

"Last name."

"Moses."

"Hometown."

"Maplestone City."

The sound of horse hooves was heard in the distance, and it was getting closer and closer. Winters raised his eyes and looked in the direction from which the sound of hooves came, and casually asked the captured honorary officer: "Tell me something I don't know."

The captured honorary officer was stunned.

Winters was relieved when he saw that it was Pierre. He turned back and glanced at the captured honorary officer.

The captured honorary officer Mercer Daniel trembled and hurriedly replied: "I have a sister! She is as beautiful as a fairy!"

The guards around him couldn't help laughing.

Winters resisted the urge to slap the kid in front of him and said coldly: "Military situation!"

Messer Daniel thought for a long time and suddenly shouted: "Reinforcements are coming!"

While Mercer Daniel was thinking hard, Pierre arrived at the command post.

He rolled off his saddle and dismounted, strode to Winters' side, and reported in his ear: "Centurion, reinforcements are coming!"

"Where are the reinforcements?" Winters frowned.

Pierre calmly replied: "Maplestone City."

"Kings' Castle!" Mercer Daniel shouted hurriedly.

[Convening a military evaluation meeting before a war is regarded as an excellent military tradition of Plato. It is essentially a custom left over from the nomadic era. Military assessment is actually military democracy, which exists in many nomadic tribal societies that rely on their fists to speak.]

[During the Battle of the Great Wasteland, the Plato Expeditionary Force held several pre-war military meetings to discuss how to face the enemy. But at that time, the lowest officer involved was a colonel. The situation in newly cultivated land is special. After nearly two years of army expansion, lieutenants often have actually commanded more than one brigade of troops, so lieutenants are also qualified to attend meetings]

[Captain Lauzon is a new character, Skull’s beloved general]

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