On the afternoon of the third Friday in July, the sky was covered with dark clouds and heavy rain was about to begin.
In the critical area between the province of Yona and the city of Besançon, on a gentle slope fifteen miles away from the city of Var, a temporary military camp was built.
Trenches and horse pits were dug around the military camp, and pickets and horse-repelling fences were inserted. There was a camp gate on the west and north sides, and each camp gate was guarded by a small team of soldiers. Thirty or forty military tents of different sizes in the camp were neatly arranged according to the military organization. There was a gap of one person's width between each military tent. Most of the soldiers were snoring loudly in the tents. A small squad of armored and armed flag squads on guard duty shuttled through the camp as a unit. The military law team wearing white feather half-helmets also roamed the camp in pairs with daggers on their backs to prevent civil strife among the soldiers; inside the military camp, the baggage team was distributing today's military rations to the baggage soldiers of each flag team, and then the baggage soldiers of each flag team were carrying the baggage. The soldiers made food and distributed it to the flag troops. Within half a mile of the military camp, four teams of crossbowmen were ambushed in the grass beside the road, the treetops in the forest and the boulders on the mountainside. The crossbowmen took turns to guard the perimeter of the military camp today.
At the Chinese Army Command Camp in the middle of the military camp, commanders above the flag captain of the Welsh Regiment gathered for a military meeting.
Angus, the adjutant of the Welsh Legion and the leader of the frontier army, was pointing in front of a spliced sheepskin topographic map laid out on a simple wooden board in the center of the military tent. All the officers in the tent were carefully surrounding the topographic map and listening to his introduction to the military situation on the field (military situation on the field is different from the intelligence network. The military situation on the field is handled by the adjutant Angus and is mainly carried out by the cavalry reconnaissance sentry. The scope is small but the effectiveness is strong).
Page "The city of Var is located on the edge of the mountainous area south of the critical line between the Yona Province and Besançon. It is a castle on the edge of the mountains and on the plains. It is also the gateway that controls the King's Road to the Yona Province. It is temporarily garrisoned by Baron Walter de Colville, commander of the first regiment of the Yona Army."
"The first regiment of the Jonah Army has a total of 450 people, including 300 infantry, 50 cavalry, and 100 crossbowmen. In addition, there are nearly a hundred people recruited to serve with the army. Although the first regiment of the Jonah Army has a large number of people, its combat power is not strong. This is not only because they have rushed into the army and lack training, but also because their weapons and armor are very crude. Their infantry equipment is about the same as our patrol team. A short spear is fine, but armor, shields and melee weapons are not enough. "
"Looking at the enemy, the Western Army besieging Vaal City has a total of about 1,400 people in four infantry regiments. At first glance, this is not a large scale. After all, it is not advantageous to conquer a strong city with three times the enemy. However, the origins of the three infantry regiments that are the main force in the siege are not ordinary."
"The main offensive force is two palace guard infantry regiments and a mixed infantry and cavalry regiment of the Western Border Army. These people are all elites of the Western Army. In addition, there are about three hundred peasant soldiers from the Western Border who are specially serving as auxiliary troops." He had witnessed the powerful combat effectiveness of the Palace Guards in the national war between Provence and the Principality of Lombardy. Viscount Geoffrey, the commander of the Eastern Army at the time, relied most on the Palace Guards that led south from Besançon. In fact, that team did play a huge role in the battle.
Hence the defection of the palace military ministers, the Guards Corps, which originally belonged to the Eastern Army, became the main force of the Western Army. This also greatly increased the pressure faced by the Eastern Border Faction.
Generally speaking, it is almost impossible for more than a thousand ordinary troops to capture a castle fortress defended by four to five hundred garrison, but it is not impossible for the Palace Guards Corps. They have sophisticated weapons and armor and strong combat effectiveness. In addition, the Guards Corps are commanded by a group of leading lords. These people may not have enough actual combat experience, but they have received systematic military training since childhood, and their command ability is definitely better than that of the Welsh Legion commander who is a half-time apprentice.
"Based on Jafar's sentry outside Waral City this afternoon and the military information obtained from the tongue torture of captured enemy soldiers, the enemy has already begun the fifth siege. They should have guessed the size of the reinforcements through our cavalry shielding the battlefield. This siege is more intense than the previous ones. The cavalry cannot get close to Waral City, so it is temporarily impossible to figure out the casualties of the defenders, but it is estimated that the battle losses are not small."
“Are there sufficient food reserves in Vaal City?” Art interjected.
"The defenders have stored food and supplies in the city for a year, so it should be fine."
Matt nodded and motioned for Angus to continue.
"Currently, Lusignan and Jafar are leading the cavalry to screen the battlefield within three miles of the legion, and the enemy's sentinels have not been able to get close. However, the enemy should have discovered the whereabouts of reinforcements. No surprise, they will send troops to intercept us in the next two days."
"Sir, everyone, the above is the military situation on the battlefield." After Angus finished speaking, he looked around and everyone handed a long thin wooden stick in their hands to Art.
Att took the thin stick and came to the sheepskin topographic map spread on the wooden board. This topographic map cost him a lot of energy. It was collected by the eagle eyes of the North, and was first proofread by Art. It was drawn by the architect Cooper and a group of subordinates who commanded the camp. It included hills, dense forests, roads and rivers. The rivers and castles and fortresses are very complete, and there are even simple illustrations. From the map, the border area of the Northland, which was the main battlefield in the first stage of the War of Succession, has many low mountains and hills that run east and west. The castles, fortresses and county settlements on the border are distributed in the narrow basins in the mountains.
There are various small wooden blocks in black and white on the sheepskin map. The black and white colors represent the east and west armies respectively. The various shapes represent different arms. The square represents the infantry, the circle represents the crossbowman, and the triangle represents the cavalry. Each wooden block represents a standard organizational unit. For example, a small black square represents an infantry company of about 260 people in the Western Army, a white triangle represents a cavalry team of fifty cavalry in the Eastern Army (including cavalry team members), and a dozen small wooden blocks with wolf heads painted on them represent the various teams of the Wells Army.
Such a map sandbox should be regarded as the most sophisticated and top-notch work in the world.
Judging from the topographic map, various black and white wooden blocks are facing each other on both sides of the long border line between the Yona Province and Besançon. The Vaal City that the Welsh Army is about to rescue is the only battlefield currently in a state of war.
"Ron, you are the bodyguard. You collect intelligence outside the battlefield. You tell everyone about the situation outside Val City." Art said and handed the thin stick into Ron's hand.
Ron coughed slightly and said: "Sir, commanders, the task force disguised as free mercenaries should have lurked in the enemy camp. They will collect the military information of each enemy's main force and send it back."
"However, time is too tight. The task force has not yet sent back the specific troop deployment and mobilization situation in the rear of the Western Army. We have collected a lot of enemy movements through the Northland Eagle Eye. Please take a look." Ron pointed at the small wooden map map placed on the border with a thin stick.
“As of early July, more than 4,800 troops have been assembled on the entire border front, including about 2,800 Western troops and about 2,000 Eastern troops. They are divided into northern and southern parts centered on Vaal City and Bomledam. According to Eagle Eye reports, although there are many enemy troops assembled on the border, But most of them are peasant soldiers, and less than half of the legion's professional soldiers are focused on attacking Vaal City. From the rough information we have received, the enemy's focus should be on the southern front with Vaal City as the gateway. They may want to occupy the King's Road and move east."
"However, although the enemy's main battle force is in the south, three Western Frontier Infantry Regiments and a Palace Guards Cavalry Regiment have also been assembled in the north. Facing the Western Army in the north is the First Eastern Army (Eastern Main Battle Army) led by Baron Charis and several temporarily recruited private soldiers of the lords of Yona Province. Earl Baldwin was worried about the enemy's conspiracy and did not dare to rush to the northern confrontation. The army was mobilized from the south for support, so the Welsh Army was urgently ordered to rush to Var City. "
"Beyond the border front, the private soldiers of the lords from all over the Saône Province in the west have gathered again. Already, 1,200 people have begun to rush to Besançon from all over Saône Province to gather. In addition, at the beginning of the month, a thousand Western troops were transferred to the border of Côte d'Or Province in the south of Saône Province to defend the Loncia Army."
Ron deliberately lowered his tone, "As for the friendly forces, according to the secret information conveyed by the Jonah court, Earl Flanders of Longxia has led a thousand elite Longxia legions and 500 servants to bypass the Principality of Burgundy, preparing to lead troops from the north to the south to raid the private houses of only a few hundred dignitaries. Besançon is guarded by soldiers, but the movement of the Longxia Army is currently unknown. The Jonah Court estimates that they have almost arrived in the north of Besançon. This top-secret military information is not allowed to be shared. "
Ron put down the thin stick and signaled the end of the explanation.
"Odo, the army has been marching for half a month, how effective is it? Can the soldiers join the battle immediately?" Art asked the adjutant Odo beside him.
Otto put down his hands that were wrapped around his chest, stared at the map sand table in front of him, and said: "The army's fighting spirit is still very high, but the army has been marching for more than ten days since the beginning of July. It was originally planned to repair in the city of Yona before rushing to the battlefield. But now that we have canceled our repairs with a transfer order, I am afraid that the physical strength of the soldiers has been seriously exhausted, and not only the people, but also the horses and livestock accompanying the army need to rest and adjust. My suggestion is to repair outside the battlefield for a day or two to regain their strength before continuing to fight."
"However, the time left for us to fight is also very tight. The military rations carried with the army are only enough for three days. Plus the two days of emergency rations carried by the soldiers themselves, we can stay in the war zone for up to five days."
Otto's brows furrowed. According to the deployment of Jonah's court, the Welsh Legion was originally stationed in a county fortress called St. Lyon near Bomleddam in the north. Therefore, Angus led the baggage team and temporarily stored dozens of carts of military provisions in a manor near the city of St. Lyon, waiting for the army to be stationed in the county before moving to St. Lyon.
Now the commander-in-chief of the Eastern Army, Earl Baldwin, has transferred them to the south and only temporarily. The baggage team is also inconvenient to move. If there are fewer people, they will be easily beaten. (North-South Road), the most troublesome thing is that the food in the villages near the military camp has long been requisitioned, and many local farmers and farmers have also evacuated to the east before the war...
The officers in the tent whispered that the most worrying thing during the march was the food problem.
Matt knocked on the wooden board in front of him to signal everyone to be quiet. "Since the army's food reserves are insufficient, we must strive for a quick victory. We must enter Vaal City within two days or evacuate the war zone to the north to replenish the supplies."
"Now I begin to deploy the Wells Army."
All the officers in the tent stood at attention.
Matt picked up a thin stick and pointed at a few rows of small wooden blocks on the east side of Vaal City, "This is where we are currently stationed. Fifteen miles west from here is the battlefield of Vaal City. The enemy should not have discovered our exact whereabouts for the time being. Let us repair on the spot for a day. After lunch tomorrow, the whole army will set off and advance towards Vaal City."
"Kazak, Tuba, you two flag soldiers seize the time to eat, and lead your troops from here after dark~" Art pointed the thin stick at a valley between two mountains leading to the back of Vaal City. The cavalry team had already scouted the valley road, and the valley road could allow a small army to go around the enemy's rear.
"~ Go around and hide behind the enemy's army. I will personally lead most of the legion to attack the front of the enemy's army to attract the enemy's attention. Once the enemy's army is contained, I will light up three plumes of smoke and issue an order. You will immediately attack the enemy's army from the rear and disrupt the enemy's formation."
< br/> "The enemy must have set up a sentry post on that valley passage. You must quietly eliminate the sentry and don't let the enemy discover your whereabouts. Once the enemy discovers your whereabouts, retreat immediately."
"Yes!" Kazak and Tuba responded to the order at the same time.
"Odo stayed behind, and the others went back to repair or prepare for the battle."
Everyone in the tent saluted and left the central command camp of Ater.
After everyone left, Art told Odo: "You still have to find a way to deal with the army's food and baggage. If it doesn't work, you can mobilize the baggage troops of each flag team to form a food collection team and go to the nearby areas to purchase it. An extra cart of food will give us a little more time, and we can also have half a chance of winning."
Otto was a little embarrassed, "Sir, don't He said that the food that can be collected nearby has been taken away by the armies of all parties. Even if the remaining farmers have some rations, they are unwilling to buy them for us..."
Art waved his hand to stop Odo, "Odo, I mean "requisition", "requisition" is the main thing and "purchase" is the supplement. The daggers distributed around the waists of the baggage soldiers are not used to peel apples. "
"Sir, this is not good~"
"Why is it not good? I think it's good. If our city of Vaal falls and the enemy troops rush in, I'm afraid it won't be as simple as handing over a little ration to these farmers. I think they should understand this. If they don't understand, let the food collection team teach them!"
Otto nodded, "Yes! I immediately asked each flag team to mobilize the troops."
Art stopped Odo who turned to go out, and whispered, "Try not to kill civilians~"
Otto's brows relaxed a little, "Yes! Sir, I understand!"