Iron Powder and Spellcasters: Chapter 311 sunny
Chapter 311 Sunny Day
When the light of morning dawned, the soldiers began to pray.
Anglo carefully scrubbed Redmane's back, and whispered the incantation passed down from generation to generation by the Dusa people:
"... At the top of the iron pillar stood an iron man, leaning on an iron rod, and commanding iron tools, steel knives, sharp swords, and all kinds of weapons: 'Go, go back to your mother earth, and avoid the Lord My servant and my companion, avoid my war-horse. The arrow shaft returns to the forest, the feather returns to the bird, the swim bladder returns to the fish'..."
The militiamen who had endured all night by the campfire gathered around the priest for the last communion.
The chanting echoed low and drifted in the purple mist, and people's faces were reflected in a blurry blue light.
…
At the same time, on the other side of Iron Peak, on the banks of the Big Horn.
The dam, where some of its stakes were removed, has become shaky and could collapse at any moment.
The masked Captain Morrow was the last man left at the dam, laying out the explosives.
On the shore, naked men worked together, roaring and pushing the huge triangular raft down the river.
Other villagers pushed the carts and loaded the rafts with stones in an orderly manner.
Out of everyone’s sight, a group of fierce warriors riding Hedma were galloping towards the dam.
…
Golden Crow leaped out of the horizon, and the blurred outline of the earth gradually became distinct in color.
Standing on the hill controlled by the Telton people, the formation of the Tiefeng County Army can be seen in full view.
"[Hede] Oh, if the leader of the two-legged man thinks that he can protect his wings, he can fight in the field." The fire roaster who climbed the mountain to watch the enemy dismissed: "[Hede] Then I think he ate carrion and went crazy. "
The nobles of the Telton tribe who were pierced in armor joined in and laughed wildly.
Overlooking from a high place, the ant-like villain at the foot of the mountain posed a huge array of arrows.
The west side of the Arrow Cluster is the foothills of Tiefeng Mountain, which is full of conifers and shrubs; the east side of the Arrow Cluster is dense virgin forest.
The little people spread out on the road and the farmland on both sides, guarding the plain between the mountains and the forest.
The opponent's flanks seemed to be safe, but in reality, neither the mountains nor the forests could completely prevent the cavalry from flanking.
The flat and empty farmland is even more safe to defend—except for the temporary trenches dug by the opponent in front of the position.
Terdun Khan Court moved quickly, and several capable hundred cavalry teams left the camp with all their flags down, and each found a way to go around the rear of the arrow cluster.
The old translator looked at the enemy formation at the foot of the mountain, his brows furrowed.
From the striker's encounter to the confrontation between the Chinese army, the opponent obviously had plenty of time to occupy the hill where he was - the terrain was higher and easier to defend.
However, the opponent still chose to form a formation on the flat ground. Why?
The old interpreter couldn't figure it out, but he didn't speak. He was a little tired, a feeling that had grown stronger since crossing the Big Horn.
From the point of view of the Terden people, the formation of the Tiefeng County Army is like a cluster of arrows; and from the perspective of the Tiefeng County Army, their formation is more similar to the upside-down letter T.
Winters arranged the front in battalion units. A total of 27 battalions were divided into three parts: the left wing, the center army and the right wing.
Among them, the Central Army is the most powerful column. Each battalion is arranged in a fish-scale pattern and covers each other.
The left and right flanks are composed of [Youth Militia] and [Men’s Militia]. The overall position is retreated, and the two-line formation is formed - the young soldiers are in the front, and the mature soldiers are in the back.
In order to avoid being detoured by the enemy as much as possible, Winters carefully selected this place as the battlefield.
"To form a formation on the mountain is equivalent to letting the enemy surround our army. If the Teldun people choose to besiege instead of attacking, our army's supplies will be difficult to maintain, and they will inevitably collapse."
When explained the formation to his subordinates, Winters explained why the formation was formed on the ground:
"At the foot of the mountain, although the terrain is unfavorable for our army, the centaurs on the enemy's right flank were either defeated by our army or were trapped in Xiatiefeng County. The enemy chief's strength was limited, and it was difficult to launch a strong detour."
Looking around his subordinates, eager to try, or dodging uneasy eyes, Winters inserted the dagger into the center of the map: "This narrow space between the mountains and the forest is the most suitable battlefield to defeat the Telton people in a dignified manner."
…
Messen stood at the top of the bell tower of the Cathedral of Gervoudin, trying his best to look into the distance.
The siege of Gevodan has been lifted, and the streets and alleys are full of festive crowds.
The only bridge connecting the two sides of the strait was demolished by Mason at the beginning of the siege battle. Fortunately, the wood was well preserved.
Mason had built a makeshift pontoon over the river with boats, lumber, and surviving bridge piles, and horses, weapons, and militiamen were flowing through the pontoon to the south bank.
The artillery captain has always been calm and calm, but at this moment his anxiety almost solidified.
"When will the remaining two teams arrive?!" Mason asked through gritted teeth.
The commander of the mounted infantry brigade swallowed a mouthful of saliva: "It shouldn't be too long."
The total number of Winters' mounted infantry brigade was nearly five hundred, organized into four divisions.
Because the battle situation in Revodan was not in a hurry before, the horse-mounted infantry brigade did not come to Revodan immediately, but went to clean up the small group of Teltown looters that had penetrated into Upper Iron Peak County. Mason also supported this. .
However, it is easy to disperse the troops, but it is difficult to gather them again.
Suddenly, the church bell rang.
The bells were ringing one after another, and the monks were celebrating the victory of the siege.
Mason yelled at the commander of the mounted infantry brigade: "No wait!"
"Yes!" The other party yelled and answered.
The gendarmerie took to the streets to disperse the citizens, Gervoudan quickly returned to the state of martial law, and the militiamen defending the city regrouped in the square.
Mason told the crowd bluntly: "I need volunteers."
As Mason's eyes swept over, the Gervodin militiamen bowed their heads. They finally managed to escape, and no one was willing to take risks again.
"Your Excellency, I can't ride a horse or lift a knife." Old Priskin dragged his grandson to Mason: "Let him go with you."
"Count him in."
After a fierce ideological struggle, Ivan also raised his hand.
…
horns blared, cavalry silhouettes danced at the edge of the field of vision—the Teltowners began to march.
Like a shepherd separating a mixed flock, the nobles of Terdun led their subordinates down the hillside and slowly approached the people of Tiefeng County.
Looking at the barbarians all over the mountains, [Monkey] and [Doug] on the left flank of the front line had dry mouth, cold hands and feet, and the blood vessels in their temples were pulsing "thumping".
The greed for cutting the leader's reward was extinguished by a bucket of ice water poured over the head.
Monkey and Doug looked at each other, and both saw death in each other's eyes.
The Teldens stayed out of the range of the artillery and spread out into a wide horizontal formation.
A Terdun light cavalry galloped to the front with a spear and a helmet, signaling for negotiation.
…
The center of the battlefield.
"Pay tribute." The old interpreter repeated the conditions that were obviously not accepted by the other party: "The Great Khan Paul will not die, so he will stop the army."
The fire roaster was not present, and a green feather came on his behalf.
Of course, the real purpose of negotiation is to explore the truth of the other side, and the actual leader is the humble old interpreter.
The fire roaster did not expect his opponent to surrender. But if the opponent really agrees to pay tribute, it is better.
Plundering is the collection of spoils from the bottom up, and tribute is the distribution of spoils from top to bottom. Whenever possible, the leaders of the various ministries are more willing to receive tribute.
The old interpreter looked at the strange combination in front of him: a tall, thin, polite middle-aged man, and his two fully armed guards.
The former looked nervous, and the left hand holding the reins was so hard that the joints turned white, but the right hand did not know where to put it.
On the contrary, the posture of the two guards is more comfortable and relaxed.
The old interpreter noticed: The tall and thin man sneaked a glance at the guard on the left from time to time, but he held back and did not dare to make a big move.
He said a few words to Qing Lingyu, and Qing Lingyu immediately scolded loudly and pretended to be.
"Master Tuman asked you." The old interpreter observed carefully: "Since the negotiation, why not meet each other? Instead, use the sneaky trick of a substitute?"
Tall, thin middle-aged man-Jacob Green was surprised when he heard this.
"Don't be honest, I'm afraid to scare you." Winters took off his helmet slowly: "Aren't you all using the same trick? Mr. Interpreter."
Just hearing the other party's voice, the old translator's back suddenly burst into a chill, and he looked at the other party's face under the helmet with a stiff expression.
When he completely confirmed the identity of the other party, he felt nothing and became numb.
Qing Lingyu on the side of is not sure why: "[Hede] Who is this person?"
"[Herde] that Platonic champion." The old interpreter replied simply.
Needless to say, for the people of Teltown, there is one and only one Palatine Champion.
Qing Lingyu subconsciously took a breath, and the warhorse felt the panic of the rider, and raised its front hooves to neigh.
"So it is, so it is!" For a moment, the old translator figured out all the joints, and he laughed uncontrollably: "You think you can win?"
"Whoever wins." Winters was unmoved and replied coldly: "You die first."
The enemies meet, no need to say more.
Winters tugged at the reins and rode away.
Another guard on a black horse took out a horrible head with only one ear from the saddlebag, threw it in front of the old interpreter horse, and left after Winters.
The old interpreter didn't need to count his ears—he didn't even have to look—to know who the heads on the ground belonged to.
The red dog is dead, and the other party came here not because of Geraldine, nor because of countermeasures.
The other party came here to end everything completely.
…
On the way back to the Central Army, another soldier riding a dark horse who participated in the negotiation asked Winters: "Can you see how many knives the barbarian has?"
"If you can see it, it should be around four thousand." Winters pondered: "There may be people and horses hidden on the reverse slope."
"I think it's the same." The black vest was wearing a helmet, and his voice was dull: "15,000 infantry - half of them are farmers who have just taken up arms, and the remaining half have only fought with you for one battle - and at least 4,000. Hurd Barbarian field battle, are you really sure of winning?"
"Isn't there still you?" Winters asked rhetorically.
The black vest snorted coldly.
…
The war did not break out immediately.
The Telltowns stopped out of range of the artillery and didn't go any further—in fact, they were overthinking it, since Winters didn't have a single cannon.
Most of the people of Teltown were in a state of dismounting and resting, and many people even took off their saddles and faced off against the Iron Peak Army in this way.
If the fire roaster overwhelmed the entire army in a fit of rage, this battle might be able to end happily.
The Fireboiler's patience has clearly grown, but Winters is no longer the reckless centurion he once was.
"The order goes on." Winters was not in a hurry: "The battalions take turns to move their companies to continue digging the trenches."
The monkey and Doug, who were sitting and resting, got the tools, followed the company commander into the trench, and resumed the work of digging the soil.
"What the **** is this fighting!" The monkey's nervousness had long since vanished, and he waved his pickaxe cursingly: "The barbarians of the dog days, don't come to fight, and don't leave. So are the gentlemen! If the barbarians don't come to fight us, we will just Go beat the barbarians! Dig a pit! Dig a pit! Dig a pit! Endless digging!"
After a few tries, the monkey was too lazy to move. Doug, as always, doesn't like to talk, he just works hard.
The surrounding "strong-aged soldiers" simply didn't bother to pay attention to this complaining brat. In the company of strong-aged soldiers, the two poor boys who were stuffed in were complete outsiders.
No matter what the fire roaster's purpose is, Winters' coping strategy can be explained in one sentence: If you don't come to attack, I will continue to fortify the position.
The action of the people of Iron Peak County to dig trenches quickly triggered a chain reaction.
Hundreds of Teltown cavalrymen rushed out of the formation like arrows from the string, and charged straight towards the Central Army of Tiefeng County.
The Terdun people who were not dispatched also mounted their horses one after another, and the originally loose Terdun army suddenly gathered strength and creaked, and could shoot a fatal blow at any time.
"Yellow flag," Winters ordered calmly.
A yellow pennant was quickly raised on the flagpole to warn the entire army.
The huge infantry formation was like an awakened giant, coming to life in an instant.
"Yellow flag!" The battalion commanders shouted with all their might: "Yellow flag!"
The militiamen looked at each other, but Winters' battalion and company commanders knew what to do.
"Take up arms!" The commander of the first front waved his cane: "Hurry up!"
In the roar and scolding, the young soldiers on the first front hurriedly stood up, ready to meet the enemy.
"Come on! The barbarians are here!" The monkey in the trench threw away the pickaxe and shouted and crawled out of the trench.
A black figure came on the face, and with a "pop", the monkey was beaten back to the trench by a cane whip.
The company with the vine whip roared: "Continue digging ditches! No orders, don't move! Don't make a sound!"
The monkey rolled around in pain, blood, tears and snot running everywhere, screaming incessantly.
"Shut up!" The company commander was furious, and immediately drew his saber: "Want to die? Shut up for me!"
Monkey could hear what the company commander was saying, and was still crying.
Seeing that the company commander's eyes were obviously genuine, Doug grabbed a handful of soil and stuffed it into his friend's mouth in a hurry, causing the monkey to cough violently.
Similar things are happening all over the battlefield.
Thanks to the execution of the commanders at all levels, the Tiefeng County army did not fall into disorder and chaos.
Therefore, when the young soldiers of the first front entered the fighting state, the young soldiers of the second front were still sitting on the ground and resting, and the work of digging the trenches did not stop.
And every commander was repeating one word—quiet.
No battle cry, no cheering, no shouting, this is the way of fighting in the army formation.
"Long spear!" The command sounded from all over the central army: "Let it flat!"
Thousands of warriors neatly lay their super-long spears straight, and point their spears straight at the enemy. From a distance, it looks like a wave of wheat rolling over.
The Telltown cavalry bisected at the tip of the central wedge formation, like a stream of water spread by a sharp blade.
They swept past the formation, used their horse and archery skills, and galloped towards the left and right flanks of the Tiefeng County Army against the edge of the trench.
"Fire!"
The musketeers of the Iron Peak County Army responded, and one after another, the Turdun cavalry were shot and fell off their horses.
"Green flag! Left and right!" Winters saw the enemy turn to both sides, and ordered: "Let the light soldiers come out!"
Winters not only had no artillery, but not many muskets.
Compared with the salt-sprinkling configuration, he prefers to use musketeers intensively, so only the central army has a complete musketeer company.
The melee troops on the flanks could only rely on light soldiers using bows, javelins, and slings to provide cover.
Facing the might of the Turdun cavalry charge, the young soldiers on both flanks were shaken. If not for a trench in front of them as a barrier, many of the militiamen might have thrown away their weapons and fled.
Relying on the control of company commanders and sergeants, the first front did not collapse on the spot.
The green square flag was raised on the flagpole, and the snare drums sounded.
Hundreds of light infantry rushed out of the channel of the trench in front of the first front, struggling to throw javelins and stones at the Turdun cavalry.
Another group of adults who could handle longbows stayed behind the trenches, drawing their bows and shooting arrows.
The light soldiers specially selected sixteen- and seven-and-a-half-year-old adults to serve. Although their strength has not yet grown, they are the bravest and most reckless age.
The daring light soldiers even wanted to drag the corpse of the Telton people directly, perhaps because they forgot that only the head was needed in a hurry.
The was entangled by the light soldiers, and the Turdun cavalry could not shoot the militiamen behind the trench in a leisurely manner. Their troops are too few to dare to rush directly into the formation, so they can only test a little.
Looking at the unmoved second front of the Tiefeng County Army, the old interpreter on the hill was expressionless.
Grit will be easily blown away by the wind, but if you put it in your pocket, even artillery shells can't do anything about it.
The old interpreter looked into the distance, and the sun had already risen over the treetops—it was a nice sunny day.
[This chapter needs a map, I'll draw it now]
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(end of this chapter)