This was not the first time that the Lombards attacked Nanguan Fort. The painful lessons learned by the Lombards at Nanguan provided a lesson for Wadbury's attack.
Lombardy is said to have three thousand elite soldiers. Although it is said that only a thousand can really fight, Nanguan Army Fort has not received a full blow from the Lombards until now.
In the four attacks, the Lombards used a large number of siege equipment and kerosene arrows in front of the South Pass, but they did not use the tactic of filling the trenches with a sea of people.
…
Odo guessed the true direction of the Lombards' attack. The South Pass was impregnable, and the Lombards would definitely divide their troops and take detours through the mountain trails in an attempt to break through from the center.
Hence, he not only ordered almost all the peasant soldiers of the reserve regiment to form eight patrol teams of 20 to 40 people to patrol and control the mountain passes near Nanguan day and night, he also personally led an 80-man army composed of legion soldiers, crossbowmen and elite standing peasant soldiers to sit in the garrison camp in the lake area to guard against the Lombards' attack.
In addition, in the name of the front commander, he also mobilized farmers and soldiers from more than ten villages and villages from the lake area to the workshop area to guard against enemy spies and scattered soldiers sneaking into the rear.
Hyper, there will inevitably be gaps...
Hand southwest of the lake, there is a dense forest canyon, a day's journey from the lake.
This was originally a natural mine where the Christopher family once dug ore to make iron farm tools. After Art learned about this place, he took advantage of the opportunity of the iron workshop to move south and established a mining field here.
The mining site was under the jurisdiction of the Construction Department, and there happened to be many young men from mining slaves in the construction department's labor force, so Cooper assigned fifty miners and three stewards to open up the mines here.
In just one month, this place has begun to take shape, and what is even more gratifying is that the iron ore here is a coal-iron associated mine, with huge mineral reserves.
So Cooper once again sent more than thirty workers, and sent Spencer, the former baggage minister of the Welsh Army who was originally responsible for building the southern road, to the mine to take charge of mining matters.
The mine is built on a mountain and is not large in scale.
The outermost layer is a fence surrounded on three sides by wooden stakes and branches. This is a deserted mountain forest, with wild beasts and insects and snakes everywhere. This fence barely cuts off the danger from the mountains.
Of course, it is precisely because this place is dangerous that the government has deployed six soldiers from the guards belonging to the Construction Department to station here. In addition, most of the miners here are registered peasant soldiers of the garrison, so there are still more than a dozen sets of retired swords, short spears and other weapons here.
Within the fence, seven or eight dilapidated temporary tents and thatched shacks were gathered together, and bursts of smoke drifted from the shack area from time to time. Miners have always been hard-working, so these simple tents and shacks can also meet their survival needs.
Between the shack areas and the hillsides is the mining area. Since this is an open-pit mine, the miners directly use picks, shovels, hammers and other tools to crush the raw black coal and stone together, and then load it into two-wheeled carts and transport it to the smelting plant on the other side, where there are two "small blast furnaces" built by the iron workshop.
The ore dug out by the miners is itself an associated coal and iron ore, so when thrown into the blast furnace, it quickly turns into molten iron. After cooling, it becomes the raw material for making various iron tools and weapons.
The mine has just been built, and there is no carriage road leading to the outside world yet. Fortunately, Christopher once sent people here to mine, so there is already a trail for mules and horses to pass.
Every three to five days, the Huzhi Iron Works Workshop will send a team here to transport the pig iron raw materials and deliver some food supplies to the mine.
On another hillside to the west of the mining site, Spencer, wearing a fine linen shirt and knee-length shorts, was leading two mine workers to survey the terrain.
If it weren't for his blond hair, it would be easy to mistake him for an ordinary miner or a grassroots craftsman.
At this moment, Spencer no longer had the grace and dignity that he had when he was the baggage minister of the Welsh Army. The original fat belly and full face of happiness have turned into a little abdominal muscles and a dark face.
It has been a full year since he was sent to the south to explore the wilderness. From the beginning when he was complaining to now when his heart is calm, Spencer has suffered a lot this year and has calmed down his restless heart.
Him of his sweat was shed on the horse-drawn carriage road from Nanguan Army Fort to the workshop area of Wellsburg, and there were also traces of his hard work in the residential villages along the way.
Now that he has been personally appointed as the director of the southern mine by the old butler Cooper, Spencer has regained hope.
"Sir Spencer? Lord Spencer!" An official beside him gently woke up Spencer who was looking deep into the canyon in a trance.
Spencer suddenly came back to his senses, raised his hand to wipe the sweat rolling down his forehead, and pointed to the hillside at his feet, "Tomorrow you bring two people over to explore. I guess there is iron ore buried under this hillside."
The clerk nodded in agreement, but couldn't help but wonder: "Sir Spencer, this is already the fifth mining site we have surveyed. Now the first mining site alone is enough for us as a miner to mine for three to five years. Why do we need to open up new mineral deposits?"
Spencer loosened the cracked belt around his waist and looked around, "Man, you have to think about the long term."
"Now the Province of Wales is at war with the Lombards, so naturally there is no time to take care of it, but the war will eventually end, and our Lord Earl will not let this treasure given by the Holy Lord remain. Buried deep in the mountains. "
"Believe me, in less than two years, this place will be expanded several times or even ten times."
The officials just came out of the Government Affairs College and were originally assigned to work as craftsmen in the ironworks workshop. Now that they were suddenly assigned to this remote mountain and deserted valley, they naturally did not consider the future prosperity of this place.
He did not take Spencer's words, but stared at the figures that gradually became clearer on the other side of the canyon, and said excitedly: "Sir Spencer, the brothers who went to the mountain for hunting are back, and they can have a good meal of meat tonight. Just in time, there are still two barrels of beer sent the day before yesterday."
The official couldn't help but run down the hillside, but as the distance got closer, there was something obviously strange about the several mine guards who came out of the canyon.
When the four pale and panting hunting guards ran down the hillside, they opened their panicked eyes and shouted loudly: "Lord Spencer, there is an army on the other side of the canyon - an army!"
Spencer thought he had heard wrong, "Nonsense, have you encountered a White Walker? How can there be an army in the deep mountains and desolate valleys!"
The guard squad leader took a few deep breaths, tried hard to calm down, and then said word by word: "Sir, there is really an army with hundreds of people, all wearing light armor and carrying short soldiers. When we were tracking a few goats, we found them resting in a dense forest at the other end of the canyon."< br/>
hh The joking expression on Spencer's face disappeared, "How far are they from here?"
hh "If we walk quickly, it will be an hour at most." The guard squad leader swallowed, and then stared at Spencer nervously.
"Quick, go back to the mining area immediately." Spencer took long strides and ran towards the mining site that was busy in full swing...