The garrison camp in Jushi Town, less than two months after the last battle, has completely changed its appearance.
More than a month ago, the village wall that was only sparsely surrounded by sharpened fences has turned into a dense ring-shaped wooden fort. Deep ditches were dug in the corners of the wall and sharp spikes were buried in it. There are also barbs on the top of the wall to prevent climbing. There are walkway positions for soldiers to stand on the inside of the wall and simple wooden ladders up and down. The arrow tower in the camp has also been expanded and raised on the basis of the original arrow tower to provide a higher throwing angle for the crossbowmen.
Since all the wood was used to build and strengthen the camp, there was still only one small wooden house in the Jushi Town garrison for storing food and equipment. Next to the small wooden house was a kitchen built with weeds and dead branches. In addition, all the garrison troops lived in tents.
It is worth mentioning that Obote, the garrison commander of Boulder Town and the captain of the patrol team, was a rather particular person. He ordered a large pit to be dug in the corner of the camp. The soldiers had to pour their feces into the pit every day. There was a small hole in the pit connected to the trap pit outside the wall. The soldiers' excrement flowed along the small hole into the deep trench that blocked the enemy. Because there is this big pit for collecting feces, the Boulder Town residence does not have the stinky stench of feces and urine everywhere in other places.
Att was originally a person who paid more attention to cleanliness. In order to prevent the spread of diseases, he once ordered the Valley Knights to prohibit their citizens from defecating anywhere. This rule was resolutely implemented in the Valley Castle, but it had little effect in the valleys and other places. Now that he can see his will being carried out in Boulder Town, Art is quite pleased.
"Sir, yesterday I personally took people to the northern outpost to investigate. The outpost of the army led by Dean has been stationed at the edge of the northern birch forest. According to the last batch of news from Tyniec, Dean seems to be still gathering mercenaries. I estimate that they will continue to cross the wasteland and move south in the next few days. , but I can't tell whether they will go around to attack the Boulder Town. However, I have ordered the patrol to stop, leaving only a few guys who can ride horses to guard the north, and the rest of the soldiers have retreated to the Boulder Town to prepare for the enemy." In the military tent of the Boulder Town, Odo was reporting the military situation to Art.
Matt banged the hilt of his sword and thought for a while, then replied: "They will definitely attack Boulder Town first. Only by taking out the garrison in Boulder Town can they ensure that there are no threats behind them. However, their main target is the border outpost, so they will not waste too much force in Boulder Town. Even if they attack Boulder Town, it should only be a warning attack to prevent the defenders from coming out of camp to harass their rear. Road. "
"Sir, our forces are mainly concentrated at the border. There are two elite warrior squadrons, a crossbow squad, seven or eight stationed guards, and more than twenty caravan guards (most of whom have to leave the war zone). However, there are only two newly reorganized combat squadrons (squads) and ten patrol soldiers in Jushi Town. If the enemy really attacks Jushi Town~"
“I know what you are worried about, and I dare not say that the enemy will definitely not use Boulder Town as a target for a strong attack. Even the valley may become the target of the enemy’s attack. That’s why I asked Boulder Town and Beiguan Army Fort to support each other. Scott and Lawrence will send people to set up observation posts five miles south of Boulder Town. Once Boulder Town encounters an irresistible attack and needs support, you will set fire to the camp. Burn the smoke. When the observation post sees the smoke, the Beiguan Army Fort will bring reinforcements. On the other hand, if the sentry detects that the enemy is bypassing Jushi Town and attacking the valley, you can lead me to stab the enemy in the back. In addition, I will lead the recruit team and the sentry team to hide somewhere between the border post and Jushi Town. Once either of these two places is in crisis, I will rush to reinforce it."
"I have also thought about it carefully. Dean is not trying to plunder my territory. His main purpose of going south this time is to defeat my blockade at the border, so their first target should be the southern border. The border outposts are the main battlefield."
Odo felt a little more at ease after listening to Art's arrangement of "three points of defense, mutual dependence, and mobile support." "Sir, I will defend Boulder Town with all my strength."
"I believe you, remember, your first task is to defend Boulder Town, next time The main task is to protect the Beiguan Army Fort at the entrance to the valley, and the last step is to try to harass the enemy's back roads and cut off the enemy's supply lines. As a last resort, it should be used as a life-and-death force to support the border outposts."
At the junction of the birch forest and the wilderness in the north of Boulder Town, more than twenty tents of various colors were scattered in a random pile to form a temporary camp. Soldiers making fires, cooking, gambling and having fun can be seen everywhere in the camp. Some of them are wearing iron armor and carrying broad swords and heavy axes, some are wearing short armor and holding spears and hammers, but more of them are in tattered armor and carrying scimitars and short spears in their hands. It seems that there are at least eighty or ninety people with weapons in their hands.
There were not only vendors selling wine, bread and apple jerky in the camp, but also scantily clad women and slave traders.
This is the "Dean Army" that the Dean family spent a huge amount of money to put together.
A guy in tattered clothes and carrying a battle ax is facing off against another mercenary wearing leather armor and holding a broad sword. They are about to complete a gladiatorial battle. The winning side will have the right to invite the coquettish woman standing aside to have a fight with him in the woods.
Seeing that the two guys with bloody eyes were about to fight, a man who looked like a commander finally came out of the camp and cursed at the two of them. The two guys looked like fighting cocks before glaring at each other and retreating...
"Listen to me, if any of you dares to fight privately before beating down those black-robed dogs, I will make it impossible for him to hold a weapon for the rest of his life!" The guy who looked like a commander picked up the weapon and pointed it at the people gathered around to watch the fun.
The crowd sighed and dispersed...
In the birch forest, less than 300 steps away from the temporary camp, Lusignan and two sentries were lurking in the weeds to observe the camp not far away.
"Remember, there are ten cavalry, about thirty heavy infantry, more than forty light infantry, a dozen miscellaneous soldiers, seven or eight hawkers and prostitutes; there are more than a dozen crossbowmen in the light infantry; twenty-one tents, seven baggage vehicles, and no siege equipment."
"Vice-captain, do you want to kill their sentries?" the sentinel lying next to Lusignan asked quietly.
Lusignan glanced at the lazy enemy sentry in the birch forest, spat out the chewed grass in his mouth, and said: "Forget it, it's still early. If we get entangled and it's hard to get out, your Excellency just asked us to find out the number of enemy troops, and we don't want to take this risk."
“Withdraw~” Lusignan said and retreated backwards into a valley to the west of the birch forest, where their war horses were hidden.
In the center of the "Dean Legion" camp, a mercenary captain was reporting the military situation of the sentinel to the commander Sir Dean.
Dean was dressed in iron armor. Although the weather was hot, his armor was very heavy. This was understandable. After all, as a noble nobleman, his life was the most important. No matter how heavy he was, his horse would bear the burden.
"Do you think you are sure to capture that wooden box in one fell swoop?" Dean asked the several mercenary captains beside him.
A man with a thick beard and a bald head answered Dean's question: "Sir Dean, I don't think you need to pay attention to this wooden fort. Anyway, our goal is the border outpost. If the wooden fort at the boulder pile is very well defended, we will have to fill the hole with our brothers' lives. But even if we capture this place, who will we take to fight in the south."
"I don't agree with Rashid. If we don't capture this place, these bastards will jump out and stab us in the back. Besides, if we can't capture the south for a long time, we will still have to rely on this trade road to transport and supply food and baggage~" Another mercenary captain considered the issue of logistical supply lines from a "strategic" perspective.
Dean glanced at the mercenary captain who proposed to attack Boulder Town. He didn't think it would take long to capture a small border outpost. "I agree with Captain Rashid. A small outpost can be captured in two days at most. What supplies are needed? The food we carry is enough for half a month."
The mercenary captain who just spoke wanted to refute, but Dean interrupted directly: "That's it, our soldiers have been assembled and will cross the wasteland and march towards the border outpost early tomorrow morning, striving to destroy the dog cage in the south within a week." Dean is not willing to support such a large mercenary team every day. Ending the battle earlier can save a lot of money.
But Dean also had to consider the threat posed by Boulder Town to the "legion", so he ordered a mercenary captain beside him: "Rashid, to be on the safe side, tomorrow we will drag the army around the wooden box in the boulder pile to let those black-robed dogs know how sharp our swords are. I believe they will never dare to come out to harass us easily. When we reach the border area, there will be people to hold them back."
At noon on the second day, the "Dean Legion" showed off its power half a mile west of the garrison camp in Boulder Town. After roaring at the camp guards for a while, it left Boulder Town and continued southward.
Looking at the group of enemy soldiers leaving in a hurry, Odo stood on the arrow tower and was confused, "What do these bastards want to do? Just leave like this?"
Colin stood behind Odo with a heavy hammer, looked at the enemy soldiers who had disappeared at the end of the wasteland, and said with regret: "I still thought they could send a few The little bastards came to attack, but such a big movement turned out to be a bubble~"
Dean's carefully arranged parade to show off his force turned into a monkey parade in the eyes of the garrison...
"Colin, you send two soldiers who can ride horses to follow the group of bastards to look out, be careful of these bastards playing tricks."
"Yes!" Colin jumped down from the arrow tower in a few steps to arrange for the soldiers to follow the sentinels...
.........
"When it comes to conspiracy, I have never seen anyone better than us adults. When we were fighting the Swabian army in the east, conspiracy and tricks were used in every battle. I still remember the time we attacked a castle called Biltenberg..."
In a canyon five miles west of the trade road between Boulder Town and the border post, Red was telling the new recruits the story of the battle with the Swabians in the eastern border of Burgundy last autumn.
As a participant in that battle, Reid experienced almost every battle personally. In addition, this guy himself added some exaggerated heroic battle plots, and only described Art as an invincible god of war.
Felix listened to Red's wonderful story not far away and asked Art: "Brother-in-law, did you really beat the Swabians so hard that they didn't dare to take a step out of the castle?"
Art cut off a piece of roast pork with a dagger, put it in his mouth, chewed a few mouthfuls and swallowed, and replied with a smile: "We did beat the Swabians then. I don’t dare to leave the castle, but it’s not as powerful as that guy Red said. You have to know that there are huge risks in the implementation of any brilliant plan. If the disparity in strength is not too great, I would prefer to engage in an evenly matched battle with the enemy.”
“Will you use a strategy this time?”
Matt stopped chewing, "This conflict between us and our opponent will definitely not be supported by the palace. Even if I wipe out all the "Dean Army", I will not receive any reward, and it may cause unforeseen disasters. Therefore, I will not spend too much thought on killing many enemy soldiers, but if Dean does not know how to retreat when the situation is difficult, I will make him pay a heavy price." "
While the two were talking, Lusignan, who was in charge of the sentry, came back with two sentry cavalry. "Sir, the enemy did not attack Boulder Town. They just clamored in front of the Boulder Town camp for a while and then left. They are now on the trade road to the border, and they will pass the trade road east of here in five miles." Lusignan jumped off his horse before stopping and rushed to Art to report.
Matt threw the roast pork in his hand to Lusignan, "You guys quickly eat something and drink some water. We will rush to the border post in a moment."
Lusignan took two cavalrymen to rest for a while to give their horses water and grass.
Matt waved over three injured veterans who were temporarily in charge of the new recruits, and ordered: "I will lead the sentries to the border in a while to prepare for the final battle. You and the soldiers of the new recruits will be lurking in this canyon. I will let Felix and his entourage be with you, and the three cavalry will be in charge of the sentries. Detective, no matter if Jushi Town or the border outpost encounters a crisis, you must rush to the rescue and carry out harassment operations according to the tactics I have arranged for you. If there is no special warning, you must stay here and stand still. Remember, you are only the reserve force and final support for the entire battle, and you should not go out to fight unless it is a last resort!"
"Yes, my lord!"
"Yes, my lord!"
"Yes, my lord." On the commercial road that runs from north to south, an army of nearly a hundred people is slowly heading south. The leader of the army is riding on a tall black horse and marching forward with hooped hoofs. He turned his head and glanced at the long team behind him, and an uncontrollable excitement suddenly rose in his chest.
"Guys, speed up for me." As he said that, he kicked the horse under him with his spurs. The horse neighed and rushed forward. Several personal guards following Dean also kicked their horses to follow, leaving only a large group of soldiers on foot who rolled their eyes and looked at Dean and the others who were rushing around like fools...
Sigh~
“He’s a brainless aristocratic fool again.” A mouthful of thick phlegm spat out from the mercenary captain’s mouth.