June was a peaceful and peaceful day for Claude. The 1st Ranger Battalion was stationed in this forgotten area and no trace of the enemy was found. Even if the scout cavalry went deep into the Karnas Prairie for three days and three nights, there would be no trace of the enemy.
It is impossible to detect and detect signs of enemy troop movements.
The three leading troops, the 2nd Battalion, the 3rd Battalion and the 4th Battalion, which entered the Karnas Prairie from the northeastern border of the Eskiline Principality, also found nothing. The three battalions have now penetrated one-third of the prairie.
Apart from sweeping away some scattered herdsmen's tents in this area, they didn't even encounter any larger nomadic tribes.
After this news was passed on, everyone in the frontline command breathed a sigh of relief. Judging from this situation, the Principality of Karnas is very likely to concentrate all its forces in the Beibu Gulf in order to protect their principality's most important and most developed economy.
The most lucrative areas.
The Beibu Gulf is the principality of Karnas and the largest natural bay in the eastern part of the mainland. It is a natural excellent military port and rich in fishery products. The principality of Karnas has four large cities along the coast of the Beibu Gulf, and the capital of the principality, Canpaste City, is also located.
There, it can be said that it is the essence of the Principality of Karrnath. From this aspect, the possibility of the Principality of Karrnath concentrating its forces on the Gulf of Tonkin to prepare for defensive operations is very high.
Ever since the last time Major Skerry got drunk and took Claude's hand to express his feelings, Claude always felt a little embarrassed when he saw Major Skerry. On the contrary, Major Skerry looked calm and seemed to have forgotten what he did that night.
But this time Major Skerry came to Landes Castle to bring good news to Claude and the others. The Grand Duke of the Eskiline Principality surrendered, and the Eskiline Principality became the second one here.
The second country to be destroyed in a great war.
Speaking of which, the war has progressed so far. Grand Duke Eskiline has become the most important prisoner captured by the Kingdom of Overas and the biggest unlucky guy among the anti-Austrian alliance countries. Several temporary legions were formed to counterattack the south.
After the three counties were unable to break through the defensive position of the second-line army in the Kingdom of Ovelas, Grand Duke Eskilin felt that the situation was not good, but he had a delusional idea and decided to go to the front line in person to boost morale and arouse the soldiers.
The heart of serving the country.
It was only when they arrived at the front line that they discovered that these temporarily formed legionnaires had no fighting spirit, and even the officers who served as nobles had not practiced battle formations for a long time. Although they relied on the superiority of their troops to lay down two or three enemy defense lines, the casualties were extremely heavy.
, the soldiers were no longer able to break through the enemy's last defensive position.
Then the temporary passage in the Picklet Mountains was completed, and more and more enemy troops rushed to the three southern counties for reinforcements. Seeing this, Grand Duke Eskilin could only order to switch from offense to defense, and let the few temporarily formed
The legion set up a defensive front to prepare for a protracted defensive battle with the enemy, and he returned to the Grand Duke Castle of Braviso, the capital of the principality, to take charge of the overall situation.
What Grand Duke Eskiline didn't expect was that just two days after he left the front line, the army of the Kingdom of Ovelas launched a counterattack. Several temporary legions on the front line soon collapsed. The enemy marched straight in, and in Eskiline
The day after the Grand Duke returned to the capital, the reconnaissance cavalry of the Kingdom of Ovelas had appeared below the Grand Duke's Castle in Braviso. In this way, Grand Duke Eskiline was trapped in the city, and even the Grand Duke Eskiline could not help him pack up his belongings and run away.
There is no time for the journey.
With the arrival of the two second-line armies of the Kingdom of Ovelas and the complete siege of the Grand Duke's Fort of Braviso, Grand Duke Eskiline had no choice but to give up on his desire to break out. In fact, it was not that he had no chance to escape, but he still had no chance to escape.
He has a big family and a few warehouses of property. It would be very simple for him to run out alone, but the problem is that after abandoning his family and property, he will have to live in the begging life of relying on others. So, love
Archduke Skilling gave up and prepared to carry out a stubborn resistance with the strong walls and defensive facilities of the Grand Duke's Fort of Braviso.
But to his surprise, the two second-line armies of the Kingdom of Ovelas did not launch an attack immediately, but stationed themselves and trapped the entire Grand Duke Fort of Braviso. Grand Duke Eskiline thought that the enemy
He wanted to be trapped until he had no food before surrendering. He did not panic about this, because there was enough food stored in the city for everyone to eat for two years, and he was not afraid of the enemy's siege.
It was not until the end of June that Archduke Eskiline finally understood what the enemy was up to. Two huge and heavy siege guns were dragged by countless civilians, oxen and horses and moved to the gate of the Grand Duke Castle of Braviso. Let Eskilin
What pained Grand Duke Lin was that these two huge siege cannons were masterpieces of his principality. After the war broke out, the three southern counties, which were famous for their military industry, gathered a large number of craftsmen to cast these two siege cannons to show the power and strength of the principality.
The invincibility of the anti-Austrian alliance.
Then these two huge siege artillery were thrown into the three southern counties for display. Because they were too big and heavy to move, everyone regarded these two huge siege artillery as sculptures and left them alone.
They were beaten by wind and rain. After the Blue Feather Army raided the three southern counties, these two siege cannons became the trophies of the Overas Kingdom army.
After Prince Hansback arrived in the three southern counties, he quickly became interested in these two huge siege artillery. He once again recruited mechanics to overhaul the two giant siege artillery. The report he received was that the two siege artillery pieces were
The giant cannon can still be used, exerting unparalleled power.
In this way, the Grand Duke's Castle of Braviso, the capital of the Eskiline Principality, became the target of these two siege cannons designated by the Grand Prince. Moving these two cannons there was indeed a huge manpower consumption.
and material projects. But the army of the Kingdom of Overas does not care about these. This is an enemy country. There are a large number of free civilians who can be forcibly requisitioned, and a large number of cattle, horses, and livestock that can be requisitioned. Even if the prince orders compensation, the cost will not be much. At the same time,
When moving these two giant cannons, the roads leading from the three southern counties to the Grand Duke Castle of Braviso can also be strengthened. This is a good thing that kills two birds with one stone.
In fact, Grand Duke Eskilin almost collapsed when he saw the shadow of these two huge siege artillery. He knew very well the power of these two huge cannons. For example, they fired solid iron pellet shells as big as a washbasin.
Weighing more than a hundred kilograms, no matter how strong the walls of this castle are, they cannot withstand the bombardment of these two giant cannons. The Grand Duke Castle of Braviso will be in ruins in a few days.
Therefore, after sending personnel to contact and obtain a letter of guarantee written by the Grand Prince Hansback, guaranteeing the immediate protection of Grand Duke Eskilin, his family and private property from infringement, Grand Duke Eskilin simply started
The city surrendered, and the Eskiline Principality was destroyed.
The demise of the Eskiline Principality greatly eased the somewhat nervous military strength of the Kingdom of Ovelas. At present, the balance of the war situation in the entire eastern region of the continent has tilted significantly towards the Kingdom of Ovelas. With the destruction of the two principalities,
The destruction of the Principality of Rimodra, which was hit from two sides, is also imminent. In particular, the largest reinforcements in the Principality of Rimodra are the four armed regiments from the Principality of Eskiline. Now that the Principality of Eskiline is destroyed,
These four legions have become the biggest unrest factor in the coalition forces of the Principality of Rimodra.
The high-ranking officials of the anti-Austrian alliance naturally wanted to maintain the four legions of the Eskiline Principality in the coalition. They gave money and women to the high-ranking noble officers of the legions, and talked a lot about defeating the Kingdom of Ovelas and rebuilding the Ais.
Regarding the topic of the Principality of Keeling, to be honest, the noble officers of these regiments are many enthusiastic people, and they also agree with the matter of rebuilding the Principality of Eskilne.
The problem is that the surrendered Grand Duke Eskiline cooperated very well with the instructions of Prince Hansback. He immediately ordered his cronies to go to the camps where the four principalities’ armed regiments were located, and loudly announced that the Grand Duke had surrendered and the war was over.
You can go home and don’t have to fight anymore. These remarks instructed these legionnaires to lay down their weapons and surrender to the army of the Kingdom of Ovelas. So when the noble officers of the legion were undecided, most of the soldiers of the four legions ran away and finally gathered together.
It's less than a legion.
The soldiers ran away, but the position they defended was also lost to the Army of the Kingdom of Ovelas, so the relatively solid defensive line was suddenly broken through two large holes, and the enemy came to the city. The Principality of Rimodra
The senior officials of the Alliance and the senior officers of the Allied Forces Command understood that the situation was over, and urgently ordered the anti-Austrian Alliance's combined fleet to come to help and protect the three seaport cities of the Principality of Rimodra, which were the three sea lanes for the Alliance's coalition forces to escape the desperate situation.
The front line was progressing smoothly, and good news came frequently, but the 1st Ranger Battalion encountered an embarrassing reality. That is, the cross-mountain road in the southern mountainous area hindered the transportation of logistical supplies. The mountain road from the three southern counties to Squirrel Village passed by
After being repaired by the prisoners sent by Claude, it could barely pass a four-wheeled freight carriage, and supplies could still be received. However, on the mountain road from Squirrel Village to Karnas Prairie, only pack horses could be used to transport supplies.
After careful calculations, the logistics staff of the frontline headquarters came to the conclusion that they could no longer send troops into the area abandoned by the nobles of the Principality of Karnas because there was no way to requisition materials on the spot and no manpower to requisition. As long as
If an extra battalion of troops goes to this area, the result will be that supplies cannot keep up, so this area can only rely on a battalion of rangers to defend the area.
However, the staff at the frontline headquarters are not worried about this, because the Second Ranger Battalion on the other side only needs to go one-third further into the prairie to be in contact with the First Ranger Battalion. As for Kannas
There is no need to worry about the remaining troops of the principality. The enemy should have concentrated all its troops to protect the Beibu Gulf area, so the enemy cannot be found on the prairie.
At present, the logistics and supplies of the 1st Ranger Battalion are completely dependent on transportation from the rear. A local security battalion that takes over the defense of the 1st Ranger Battalion is also responsible for providing logistical support to the Ranger Battalion. However, soon, this local security battalion began to complain incessantly. They all
During the month, seven soldiers and 11 pack horses were lost on the mountain road leading to the Karnas Prairie from Squirrel Village, as well as a large amount of food and other supplies. The reason was that the pack horses rolled down into the valley, taking the soldiers leading them with them.
Go down.
There are many reasons for the accident, but it also has a lot to do with the First Ranger Battalion urging them to transport supplies as soon as possible. Fortunately, the supply transportation three times a month has initially met the material needs of the First Ranger Battalion.
Logistics supply transportation can be reduced to twice a month and once a month.
The most important thing lacking is food. This area has been abandoned by the territorial nobles for nearly more than a year. The fields are covered with weeds and there is no harvest. The first ranger battalion has a total of 1,356 people.
, plus the more than 1,000 old, weak, women and children gathered here, and the more than 400 young and strong prisoners brought later, there are nearly 3,000 people. Without the ability to collect food on the spot, the only way to fill their stomachs is to rely on
Materials from the rear were transported.
A pack horse can only transport more than 400 kilograms of grain on a mountain road, and 3,000 people need at least 5,000 kilograms of grain a day. The soldiers cannot fill their stomachs... More than a hundred pack horses are responsible for transportation at a time
Although 50,000 kilograms of grain can be transported, even if we save more, it will only be enough for half a month at most.
Major Skerry asked the prisoners and the gathered young men to open up wasteland and plant potatoes and melons, hoping that these short-growing crops would be of great help. Claude organized soldiers to hunt for fish in the rivers and ponds in this area.
Fish, taking people to the mountains to hunt, plus the sheep collected from the homes of the captured herdsmen a few days ago, finally managed to accumulate a food reserve that could last for half a month.
There was no shortage of ammunition. The one battalion of rangers brought it by themselves could last for more than a month. However, Claude was still not satisfied. He discussed with Major Skerry that at least three months' worth of ammunition should be stored.
Food and other military supplies. If the local guard battalion over there cannot maintain long-term transportation of supply lines, Claude is ready to let the ranger battalion organize its own troops to transport supplies.
Major Skerry was also troubled by the shortage of supplies. The main reason was that there were nearly a thousand old, weak, women and children who could not be fed or worked. This added a heavy burden to the first ranger battalion. But he could not put these
The old, weak, women and children were driven away. After all, after guarding this area, these people were considered citizens of the kingdom and could not ignore death.
"Do you think the enemy will come?" Major Skerry looked at Claude in surprise: "Didn't the staff at the frontline headquarters say that the enemy is likely to be huddled in the Beibu Gulf area and prepare for defensive operations?"
"I don't know." Claude shook his head: "I also hope that the staff at the frontline headquarters are telling the truth, but I always have an intuition that the enemy will definitely come. I feel that the current situation is very strange.
, I don’t know why the enemy is huddled in the Beibu Gulf area. You must know that defensive operations also require sending reconnaissance cavalry to detect the enemy’s situation, but now almost all the reconnaissance cavalry that penetrates deep into the prairie have not found any trace of the enemy. This situation is too suspicious.
I always feel that the enemy seems to be holding back some big move, otherwise they would not let us drive straight into the prairie. This is their territory. They send out light cavalry to destroy our reconnaissance cavalry and cover our eyes and ears, whether it is offensive or defensive.
This is all military common sense, but they didn’t do it... So I suggest you take advantage of these quiet days to stock up on more food, grass, ammunition and supplies, so that you can be prepared."
"You're right, we need to be well prepared so as not to regret it when something happens." Captain Skerry nodded.