Chapter 317 Overnight March
The United Kingdom on the East Coast joined the war and sent a legion to march towards the Dukedom of Hubble. The vanguard of this legion had just entered the Dukedom of Hubble, and their whereabouts had already been revealed.
After years of development, Harland Territory's reconnaissance force has become quite advanced. After five years of training, the domesticated griffons have expanded their population. Now Harland leads the reconnaissance brigade to have a complete squad of twelve griffons. In addition, there are twenty young griffons as a reserve force. In three years, the griffon cavalry can be expanded to three. ten people.
In addition to the Lion Cavalry, the Magic Hot Air Balloon Squadron has expanded to the eighth, and there are two Magic Hot Air Balloon Squadrons accompanying the army on this expedition.
In the huge occupied area, there are lion cavalry and magic hot air balloons in the air to detect the enemy's situation every day.
Although the soldiers of the United Kingdom on the East Coast were extremely fast, they completed their mobilization in just twelve days and marched 500 kilometers to the Dukedom of Hubble. But this army's whereabouts were easily exposed, and it lost its surprise when it appeared near the battlefield.
After all, the officers of the United Kingdom on the East Coast did not know that the Harland Territory had cultivated a large number of lion cavalry, and they did not know the working principle of magic props such as magic hot air balloons. They had never seen the telescope made by the Harland Territory. On the contrary, the orc troops who often fight against Harland's army will always keep an eye on the air and send harpies to suppress the aerial scouts in Harland's territory.
After entering the Kingdom of Delong, Richard dispersed the coalition of nobles from the four provinces and stationed them in the castles in the occupied area. Harland led the troops to gather and stationed in the Sac Castle.
The aerial reconnaissance force of Harland Territory is mainly centered on Sac Castle and operates within a radius of 200 kilometers.
As the intelligence came back piece by piece, the simple sand table of Sac Castle was filled with various flags, and the enemy's situation was basically clear.
"We have the advantage of air reconnaissance in this battle, and the enemy's situation is almost transparent to us in one direction. The enemy's forwards have three brigades, nearly 5,000 people. This force has already appeared in the Duke of Hubble, a distance away from the Duke of Guise's force. About one hundred and twenty kilometers away, about one hundred kilometers from Sac Castle.
After the enemy appeared, I ordered the Lion Knights to go deep into the enemy's territory and enter the United Kingdom on the east coast to detect the enemy's main army. The enemy's main force is about 80 kilometers away from the forward, which is roughly two days' journey.
Our aerial reconnaissance troops are still staring at the enemy, observing the enemy's next move. "
Richard held the pointer, pointed to the flag on the sand table, and introduced the general military situation to the officers.
Harland Leader has been making sand tables for more than ten years, and the staff at the headquarters also have good mathematics skills and are proficient in contour lines and scale and other knowledge.
The General Staff has trained qualified map drawing staff with a deep understanding of operational maps.
Drawing a relatively accurate sand table requires hundreds of various professionals, many of whom They all need to have a high school level of mathematics.
Judging from the situation in the Dawn Plane, there are not many talents who are proficient in mathematics. Most of the mathematics talents are still magicians. Although there are many magicians in the East Coast United Kingdom, it is impossible to arrange them in one legion. Hundreds of people.
The emergence of the sand table is a high-tech product for both warring parties. It can allow officers to intuitively understand the overall situation and improve their command level. "The enemy's current movements are unknown and may be waiting to join the main force
. They will attack the Duke of Guise from the south, and of course they may attack us from the west. In my opinion, you might as well wait and observe the enemy's movements before making the next decision. We should take advantage of this period to issue a rally order and first gather the coalition forces of the nobles from the four provinces to deal with emergencies. "
Sura broke the silence and was the first to put forward his opinion.
Sixteen years after joining the Harland Territory, Sulla is considered the oldest person in the group. After sixteen years of hard training, Sulla finally advanced to the fourth level after the goddess's birthday. Rank, he was appointed by Richard as the captain of the Thirteenth Brigade.
The captain of the legion was barely considered a high-ranking leader in Harland's command, and his voice in the army was greatly increased.
Sulla was a conservative person and was relatively prudent in his military use.
Although this kind of person who uses troops steadily does not look very impressive, it is difficult to achieve a big victory. But when used in key places, it can also achieve very good results.
This time when he led his troops south, Richard specially mobilized a group of key people from the Delong Kingdom. More than half of the officers under Sulla were from the Delong Kingdom.
Because the Delong Kingdom has implemented a serious class consolidation policy, these people generally have no good impression of this country, but have a deep hatred for the old aristocrats of the Delong Kingdom.
A large number of local people joined the army. Richard's troops were familiar with the local climate, geography, and people's sentiments, and they were not simply guest troops.
"I don't agree with Sulla's opinion. This is too conservative and too passive. The enemy's forward only has three brigades. We should take the initiative to eat this enemy. We have six thousand soldiers in Sac Castle, and the weapons and equipment are
also We have surpassed the enemy, and there are elite troops like the first group, and there are also 300 Warcraft cavalry to help. We will definitely win this battle by surprise. This enemy is about a hundred kilometers away from us, and the rush march is only a day and a half. I think we should be decisive Seize the opportunity and eat the enemy's forward first."
The person who raised the objection was Martin, captain of the First Battalion. Although Martin was old, he was very aggressive in his use of troops.
"After the urgent march, we need half a day to rest and recuperate. If the enemy does not give us time to rest and recuperate, and attacks us instead, we will be very passive, and the losses will be heavy by then." After hearing Martin's opinion, Sulla still objected. .
In fact, in the army led by Harland, most of the officers were radical in their military use because of their repeated victories. On the contrary, Sulla, who had a stable personality, was in the minority.
Having led troops in wars for many years, Richard's military style is also quite radical, but he has the advantage of being able to listen to different opinions. Military democracy is done well and it is good at making decisions and weighing decisions.
Richard stared at the sand table, suddenly turned around, and asked the logistics staff: "How many ships do we have in the grain transport fleet on the Querosa River? Can we transport 6,000 troops at a time?"
The Querosa River is a tributary of the Oram River, the main artery of the Grant Kingdom. It originates from the Dukedom of Isaac. Although the terrain in the southern part of the Grant Kingdom is higher in the south and lower in the north, the food transported by the Grant Kingdom to the front line is upstream. Compared with the land Water transportation still has lower costs.
"Your Excellency, the Duke, you mean that we take a section of the water transport?" The logistics staff measured the distance with a ruler and suddenly realized: "In this way, we first need to march twenty kilometers to the Querosa River, and then use water transport upstream. March eighty kilometers first, then continue marching thirty kilometers, and you will appear near the enemy's forward. By marching this way, your physical strength is better preserved and you don't need a long rest." Richard nodded and continued to ask:
" How deep is the Querosa River, and can ships pass through it at night?"
After flipping through some documents, the logistics staff replied with certainty: "We have 500 large and small grain transport ships on the Querosa River, in addition to cooperating transportation There are 20,000 serfs pulling fiber on grain ships, which can transport 6,000 troops at a time. The water in the upper reaches of Querosa River is not deep, the road along the river is relatively flat, and the width of the river is no more than 30 meters. If the team of trackers is organized, the ship can Night traffic." After hearing the logistics staff's affirmative answer, Richard weighed it for a while and decisively issued the order.
"Harland led all the troops to complete their assembly in the morning. They marched immediately after lunch and arrived near the Querosa River before evening. The headquarters staff immediately rode fast horses, prepared boats and trackers before evening, and marched into Hubble overnight. Duke, our army must appear near the enemy's forward tomorrow morning."
After Richard made his determination, all personnel immediately took action.
The six thousand soldiers quickly completed their assembly, started a rapid march after lunch, and easily covered the 20 kilometers in one afternoon.
The logistics staff also had very good organizational skills. They prepared the ships in advance, and before nightfall, six thousand soldiers boarded the transport ship with minimal equipment.
In order to mobilize the enthusiasm of the serf trackers, Richard promised them that as long as they completed the transportation task, they would be given land and pardoned to become free citizens.
As the night passed, the trackers completed the almost impossible task. More than 200 people died of exhaustion in one night, and they completed the 80-kilometer journey in more than ten hours.
In the early morning of the next day, Richard looked at the tracker who collapsed on the ground and couldn't help but sigh. The power of the human spirit can actually enable ordinary people to create military miracles and complete the eighty-kilometer waterway. Of course, the light load of the ship is also an important reason why the trackers can complete this miraculous work.
Time was urgent, and Richard didn't have much time to sigh. After getting off the boat, he quickly organized his formation. The soldiers took a few mouthfuls of dry food and immediately began a forced march.
After a day's rest on the ship at night, the soldiers had fully recovered their physical strength and looked more energetic in the morning.
At about ten o'clock in the morning, the soldiers from the United Kingdom on the east coast had just had breakfast, put away their tents, and were preparing to march south. Soldiers from the Haaland Territory had already appeared nearby.
The soldiers led by Harland were like magic soldiers descending from heaven, which greatly surprised the enemy.
The forward troops of the United Kingdom on the east coast had not yet released their scouts, and almost immediately they were caught in an encounter.
Harland led the first group of soldiers through a morning of forced march and went into battle without any rest. They formed a dense queue and rushed towards the enemy camp without hesitation.
Martin looked solemnly at the enemy 200 meters ahead. As the oldest and highest-ranking officer in Harland's command, he led three infantry brigades of 4,500 soldiers to attack the enemy formation. Headed by the First Brigade of his old army, this infantry brigade is also the core of Haaland's infantry.
The first brigade is well-equipped, and every soldier wears heavy armor. The number of enchanted armors exceeds 600. The number of professionals in this infantry brigade also exceeds 200. The first brigade is also equipped with 300 searing ray guns and more than 2,000 alchemy bombs. It is almost armed to the teeth, and its combat effectiveness is amazing.
Even the orc infantry brigade could not stop the charge of the first brigade led by Harland. With the first brigade as the core, it was like a tiger rushing into a flock of sheep, easily tearing apart the military formation of the Sixth Army of the United Kingdom on the east coast.
Seeing that Haaland led the soldiers to launch a charge, the forward brigade of the Sixth Army of the East Coast United Kingdom immediately formed a formation. Although the three forward brigades were also elite, they could not stop this enemy who was armed to the teeth.
Although the soldiers led by Haaland did not carry trebuchets in order to travel lightly, and did not carry out fire suppression or fire strikes before the battle, but after entering the 200-meter range, the volleys fired by the searing ray guns caused heavy losses to the enemy. .
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
With the explosions, the enemy soldiers suddenly lost more than a hundred people.
Seeing that the power of the searing ray gun was so amazing, it could easily penetrate the large shields equipped by soldiers. The soldiers of the Sixth Army of the United Kingdom on the East Coast turned pale and could only barely maintain their formation. They fired crossbow arrows one after another, hoping to suppress the searing heat. Raygun Lancer.
Rounds of feather arrows were fired, but they could not penetrate the magic shields equipped by the soldiers of the first group. I saw force field shields releasing magic force fields, locking arrows in the air.
Seeing that they could not penetrate the enemy's defense, the soldiers of the Sixth Army of the United Kingdom on the East Coast were full of fear. Seeing that their own side was constantly being massacred by the enemy's long-range attacks, they could only launch a desperate charge, hoping to defeat the enemy with close combat.
The soldiers in Harland's first brigade were all veterans who had been in the army for more than five years. Not only were there many professionals inside, they were also equipped with various magic shields to enhance their strength. They were also very proficient in hand-to-hand assassination techniques and tactics. Even in close combat, the orc infantry can be defeated.
The hand-to-hand combat capabilities of the soldiers of the Sixth Legion of the United Kingdom on the East Coast are far inferior to those of the orcs. Even if they are desperate and desperate, the gap in strength is too large and they cannot penetrate the military formation of the First Brigade.
The encounter lasted only half a quarter of an hour. The casualties of the enemy's forward brigade had exceeded one-third, and the remaining soldiers still rushed forward without fear of death, but their deaths were in vain, and they were shot dead by the archers of the first brigade during the charge.
There is extraordinary power in the plane of dawn. In this kind of large-scale military confrontation, the combat effectiveness of the army is clearly defined. Unless it relies on a special geographical environment, it is extremely difficult to defeat the strong with the weak. As long as the command is not too stupid, a weak army cannot defeat a strong army in a field battle.
The Sixth Army of the United Kingdom on the East China Sea Road is not a weak force, and its combat effectiveness is somewhat stronger than that of the Grant Kingdom's noble army. However, the soldiers led by Harland have been tempered by the orc war for many years, and they can already be called a strong army. The combat effectiveness of the first brigade is enough to compete with the same number of Warcraft cavalry.
The combat power of the two sides was unequal. Before Richard could invest in the reserve team, the first battalion had already penetrated the enemy's forward battalion in a very short period of time.
The soldiers of the first brigade rushed through the gap and led the thirteenth and fourteenth brigade to quickly defeat the enemy.
Seeing the enemy's overwhelming defeat, Richard immediately ordered the Warcraft Cavalry and the Scout Cavalry to flank the enemy.
The army led by Richard not only had three brigades of infantry, but also a large corps of reconnaissance cavalry. Scout cavalry are carefully selected and are proficient in a variety of wilderness survival skills. Generally speaking, Richard will not use scout cavalry to charge into battle.
But today the enemy army was defeated across the board. In order to expand the victory, Richard immediately ordered all the cavalry to dispatch across the board to capture the enemy's defeated troops.
The two armies fought for less than half an hour. Harland's soldiers relied on their superior strength to easily defeat this enemy. Because of the surprise, the casualties in this encounter were relatively light
(End of Chapter)