The Lake Land garrison camp, the central army command camp, and the staff meeting. In addition to the army commanders fighting south, all the officers of the Welsh Army at company level and above gathered here.
...According to time estimates, the advance company estimates that they should take action in the next few days. Regardless of whether they can successfully capture the Yamakou Fort, the Wells Army will have to march to the South Pass. The cost of maintaining the war is too high. We need to fight to support the war."
The speaker was Angus, the deputy commander of the Wells Army and the commander of the Southern Xinjiang garrison. In recent months, Odo has gone south to command the Battle of Nanguan. Angus not only has to control the command of the first division, but also has to take charge of all the military affairs of the Welsh Army.
Although Spencer has been reinstated as baggage minister, he has a broken leg and will not be able to perform his duties for a while. The experienced Odo was able to support himself with the assistance of Bob, the secretary of the Chinese Army, and two deputy ministers of baggage, but it was Angus's turn and he seemed to be unable to do what he wanted.
Less than a month after the war started, Angus was frightened by the daily consumption of military pay, money and food for the three divisions of the Welsh Army. The material and financial statements reported daily by the Baggage Department and the Operations Department made his head hurt.
The most important thing is that this time it is almost a domestic battle. Under wartime conditions, the entire Province of Wales is in a state of mobilization and has made concessions for the war. Therefore, the production of the government has also been greatly affected. If this continues, if profits cannot be obtained through the war early, it will be difficult for the Province of Wales to support the continuation of the war with financial and material resources.
"Lord Balian's eight hundred private soldiers have begun to be provided with supplies by the Province of Wales. According to your plan, in order to boost the morale of the friendly forces, we will also pay these eight hundred friendly soldiers in the form of military rewards according to the treatment of new recruits. This is another huge expense. Not to mention the royal guards sent by the palace. They enjoy treatment like knights in Besançon. If we neglect it, not only will we not be able to help, but we may cause chaos."
Hearing this, Weitz, the captain of the second company of the First Division of the Welsh Army, who was sitting in the front position, turned his eyes to Art, who was sitting at the top of the barracks in deep thought, "Sir, can we place this palace guard in Tyniec, or simply send it back as a gift? What role can a mere two hundred infantry play?"
Angus chuckled after hearing this.
“Weitz, do you really think that the Palace Guards are just here to help us in the war? You think too simply. Assisting in the war may be one of them, but the second and third is to monitor the Wells Army, and by the way, you can gain peace of mind from this southward campaign. Get a benefit. Our Lord Marquis is not just a mediocre man who just sits on an iron throne and gives orders." The person who answered was Kazak, who was sitting next to Angus. His iconic red hair was still bright and he spoke very directly.
There was a burst of low-pitched discussion in the barracks.
"Okay, let's continue discussing the use of troops." Art interrupted the commotion.
While everyone was discussing, the Chinese army messenger under the secretary came around behind Bob, the Chinese army secretary, who was sitting in the back, and handed him a small roll of paper.
Bob took a look at the paint seal on the roll. It was Ron's coat of arms.
"Sir, there is a letter from Lord Ron!" Bob immediately stood up, raised the roll of paper, walked around everyone and hurried to Art.
At grabbed the roll of paper, took off the sealing paint, unfolded the roll, and wrote: "The enemy fort has been successfully captured, and the defense has been solidified. The army should fight quickly."
At put down the note, a look of excitement suddenly appeared on Art's face, "Everyone, the advance company has captured the Yamaguchi Fort, and the main force of Lombardy has become a rat in the pipe. It's our turn to move out."
Everyone was surprised.
Soon, Art stood up and ordered that all units of the Welsh Army march south to fight as planned...
...
Late at night, Nanguan Army Fort.
This canyon has welcomed so many people for the first time in hundreds of years. The entire first division of the Welsh Army, the crossbow corps directly under the Central Army, the heavy armored infantry, the Earl's Guard, and the newly formed grenadier company were all wearing armor and fighting with a stone wall as the boundary, waiting for the most brutal fight.
The fire is still burning. Since the Lombard army started its fire attack the day before yesterday, it seems that both sides have been fighting against the fire.
At first, the wealthy Lombards used hundreds of clay pots filled with kerosene to turn the entire Nanguan Wall into a furnace, forcing the defenders on the wall to withdraw the wall; then, the defenders behind the wall also used stones to throw The machine fired dozens of clay pots of kerosene, turning the hundred steps south of the pass into a sea of fire. It also ignited the mountains and forests on both sides of Nanguan. The fire burned all night, and seven or eight hillsides near Nanguan were left bare.
Then, the Nanguan garrison, who had received emergency supplies, retaliated in kind. When the Lombards were preparing for a tentative attack, they once again launched dozens of fire oil cans and burned the siege equipment they had built. However, this time the fire failed to spread to the surrounding mountains and forests, because there was really nothing to burn on the bare mountains.
It is worth mentioning that setting fire to the mountains was not the original intention of the Nanguan defenders, but the fire burned away the nearby mountains and forests, which also brought considerable difficulties to the Lombards who were preparing to build siege equipment. After all, there were no trees that could be cut down around the camp, so their craftsmen had to climb several mountains to cut down the wood.
But the Lombard craftsmen probably shouldn't be frustrated because they no longer had to build siege engines.
In fact, before the mountain fire had time to extinguish naturally, the central army of the Lombardy "Northern Expeditionary Army" exploded. They learned from the sentry that the Rock Castle behind them had been captured by the Burgundians.
So the panicked commander of the Lombard "Northern Expedition" Wadbury hurriedly left two hundred elite soldiers to monitor and guard against the enemy, and then turned around and returned to Rock Castle with more than 300 soldiers and all the craftsmen and laborers under him. He had already foreseen the enemy's conspiracy.
In fact, there is no need for premonition, the situation on the battlefield is too obvious, and the Welsh Army is already ready to leave.
Because of the strict blockade of the border by the Wells Army, the remaining Lombard troops stationed in the temporary camp two miles south of Nanguan Pass did not yet know that the open space not far behind the Nanguan Pass wall was already full of military tents. These Lombards, who had been roasting for two days under the fire, vigilantly monitored the movements of Nanguan Pass with their bodies full of heat, and fell asleep with half-closed eyes.
The sky was slightly bright, and the gate of Nanguan Military Fort, an important town on the border of Wales in the southern province of Burgundy, was slowly opened amidst a sharp and harsh sound.
Because it was burned too fiercely by kerosene, most of the first giant oak door in Nanguan had been burned away. After the iron gate was raised on its hinges, seven or eight soldiers used their spears to push open the wooden door that was almost falling apart.
I have to say that the Lombards were very accurate in throwing their kerosene jars. There were probably twenty or thirty clay kerosene jars at the gate alone.
The loud sound of the Nanguan gate opening awakened the Lombards who had been watching outside the Nanguan for a long time and a night.
Immediately, fifty elite infantrymen wearing heavy armor and holding sharp swords arrived more than 200 steps outside Nanguan. They were on guard against the Nanguan garrison taking advantage of the chaos to make a sneak attack. Behind these people, more soldiers came from the temporary camp two miles away.
They were prepared for the attack by the Nanguan garrison.
At the gate of Nanguan Pass, the first person to come out was a group of cavalry, less than thirty. Except for the leader, who was wearing full-body plate mail armor, the rest were basically in light armor such as chainmail or half-body plate armor. They also had spears, long-handled hammers, flails and other weapons in their hands.
After thirty light cavalry blocked and guarded more than a hundred steps outside Nanguan, a group of about a hundred heavy armored infantry wearing full-face helmets, plate armor (thin and light), holding heavy hammers and battle axes, and carrying shields on their backs walked slowly out of the Nanguan Gate in a long line of five people in a row, roughly forming an infantry shield wall behind the light cavalry cordon.
Two hundred steps away, the Lombard soldiers began to panic. The news they learned was that there were no more than a hundred defenders in the fort in front of them, most of them were crossbowmen. When did dozens of cavalry and hundreds of heavy armored soldiers appear?
However, what shocked those Lombard soldiers was yet to come.
Just as the heavy armored infantry were finishing their formation, groups of infantry wearing light armor (mail armor, leather armor, half plate armor) and holding short spears, halberds, long swords, war hammers and other weapons walked out of the city gate hole one after another. After they walked out of the door hole, they turned into five arrays and lined up in the open space a hundred steps in front of the South Pass, with a total of seven or eight hundred people.
At this point, all fools know what to do.
Him The Lombards tried to send scouts to explore what was behind the city wall at Nanguan, but the defenders had no choice but to adopt an inhumane blockade near the wall.
Leave aside the patrolling soldiers and the ambush sentinels, the Lombard spies suffered a lot just from the ubiquitous traps and pits in the fields.
What's more, in the first battle, both sides burned the mountain forests near Nanguan to a bare head. Without the cover of the woods, it was difficult to reach the hillsides on both sides and take a peek from a distance.
So, although the Lombards guessed that those guys in the north would definitely come out to fight while the army returned to support the Rock Castle, it was hard for them to imagine that so many troops would emerge from the not-wide gate of the South Pass...
< br/> The Lombard commander who stayed at the temporary camp and the thirty or forty loyal soldiers around him chose to stay and resist desperately. However, most of the remaining Lombard soldiers made the right choice at the first time. They all agreed that they should turn around quickly to help the large army attack the Rock Castle.
The killing without suspense lasted only half an hour. When the first ray of sunlight shone on the temporary camp of the Lombard "Northern Expeditionary Army", Claus, the commander of the heavy armored infantry of the Wells Corps, was already sitting in the Lombard camp enjoying the first breakfast of the expedition south.
When the news that the temporary camp in the north was breached and the remaining army was annihilated reached Wadbury's ears, he was leading his soldiers to try to pressure the enemy forces in Rock Castle to surrender.
Wadbury knew the importance of Rock Castle, so he handed Rock Castle to Paul, Viscount of the Palace, who had fought against the Burgundians. At least this former defeated general knew the enemy's insidiousness. At least he was afraid of fighting and would hold on to the castle and would not go into battle easily.
However, the Rock Fort was occupied by the enemy. He could not figure out why the impregnable Rock Fort was suddenly occupied by the enemy.
And misfortunes never come singly. Before his craftsmen and laborers had time to build the equipment to retake the Rock Castle, bad news came from behind that the Burgundians were sending out troops.
"Thousands of elite Burgundian soldiers!!" Wadbury's mind was buzzing. After more than ten years of fighting, he felt the fear of despair for the first time.