Facts have proved that after all three siege towers were destroyed, the Eskiline infantry regiment no longer had the courage to launch a fierce attack. Only at the end of the month, perhaps under the pressure of the nobles of the Principality of Karrnath, did they
They reluctantly launched two attacks, and were beaten to shame by the defenders on the city wall without even touching the edge of the city wall. They retreated to the camp after losing three to four hundred people.
From then on, the enemy could only watch the castle from across the open space in the village until the first snowflakes fell in winter. To the surprise of Claude and everyone in the first ranger battalion, the enemy did not arrive in winter.
Instead of evacuating, they strengthened their camp and cut firewood. At the same time, a large amount of materials were transported. It seemed that they were preparing to spend the winter here...
When Claude entered Major Skerry's office, he saw Lieutenant Mister, who was in charge of logistics at the battalion, holding a large stack of documents and preparing to leave. After he left, Major Skerry sighed and told Claude straightforwardly that the castle
The material reserves inside can only last for two and a half months. Ammunition is still sufficient, and the most important thing is food and grass. Two and a half months is already a very optimistic estimate.
It is early December now, and it will be mid-February two and a half months later, followed immediately by the rainy season in March. In other words, the 1st Ranger Battalion must obtain supplies from the rear again before mid-February, otherwise everyone will be in the castle.
I was hungry. I originally thought that the enemy would evacuate when winter came, but I didn’t expect that the enemy did not attack now, but adopted a siege strategy. There is a high possibility that this is because the original secret letter carried by the falcon fell into the enemy’s possession.
In his hands, the enemy knew that the material reserves in the castle could only last three months...
Major Skerry should have understood that the flaw lay in his secret letter, but he had no other way to think of it. Standing on the city wall, he could use a telescope to see that the enemy had built complete defense facilities for his camp.
, trenches were dug in front of the log fence, and guard towers were densely covered. At the same time, guard posts were set up in the village to monitor the movements of the castle and to prevent a surprise attack by the first battalion of Rangers.
"Our enemy has a cunning commander." Major Skerry said distressedly: "That is a very difficult guy to deal with. Perhaps the enemy's only bright spot in the offensive is the three siege towers, but in the
Defensively, I can't find any omissions on his part..."
Claude nodded to express his agreement with Major Skerry. He had carefully checked the enemy's security and defense arrangements in the village on the city wall. It was indeed very complete, and it felt like there was no way to start. Take the guard post in the village as an example.
, basically echoing back and forth, and coupled with the wooden carts dragged back from the open space, the ruined village has turned into a big maze. If the first battalion of Rangers wants to make a sneak attack, it may just be the enemy's.
Note that when entering a village, it is easy to be divided, surrounded and annihilated by the enemy.
"You're right, sir." Claude echoed Major Skerry's opinion: "But it's very clear when you think about their origins. After all, they resisted the attack of the Kingdom's army in the Principality of Rimodra for a year.
Half, so defensive warfare is their specialty. But I think they are making a fuss by engaging in defensive warfare with us as if they are facing a powerful enemy. With our current strength, even if we want to attack them in the castle, it will be too much.
There is nothing I can do…”
There are now two and a half brigades left in the castle. The second brigades have been disabled, and the back area of the castle is full of wounded. It can be said that the current situation of the 1st Ranger Battalion is that it is over-defended and under-progressive. It is good to be able to defend the castle.
I have no intention of sneak attack on the enemy. What's more, winter has arrived. If I go to sneak attack on the enemy on a snowy night, I'm afraid I won't be able to come back, and it's easy to lose my way.
"But our biggest problem now is that we are short of food and grass, and at the same time we are unable to contact the rear. A few days ago, there was gunfire from the entrance of the mountain road, which made me very worried whether the enemy would capture the position at the entrance of the mountain road and completely defeat us.
Trapped here. I sent a few veterans to scout, but they haven't come back yet..." Major Skerry is under a lot of pressure. As the commander of a battalion, he has to maintain a confident look in front of the soldiers.
To prevent morale from falling, he could only discuss these real difficulties with Claude.
Claude didn't have any good ideas. His suggestion of raising lambs, chickens and ducks on the rooftop to attract the enemies didn't work. Maybe the two prairie golden eagles were initially fooled, but then the enemies started to act.
The sound of gunfire during the siege alerted the two prairie golden eagles. They hovered far away from the castle and refused to approach the castle. As a result, the carrier pigeons in the castle were unable to be released, and they were unable to contact the rear.
"Kill all those pack horses. The saved fodder can be used to feed the sheep. This may allow us to hold on for a while." Claude could only think of an impossible solution. There are nearly a hundred pack horses in the castle.
They were all purchased by the First Ranger Battalion for the purpose of transporting grain and grass.
Major Skerry nodded and shook his head: "Lieutenant Mister and I calculated just now that if we kill the pack horses, we can only hold on for half a month longer. If we cannot get food and grass supplies from the rear before the rainy season, our rangers will
The battalion has until March to abandon the castle and retreat to Squirrel Village."
There was a knock on the door, and Major Skerry's adjutant came in to report that the veterans had returned from reconnaissance. They brought back two pieces of news, one good and one bad. The good news was that the entrance to the mountain pass was still in the possession of Second Lieutenant Murray Ed.
In the hands of the squadron, the enemy had launched several attacks in the past two days, but they were all repulsed. The casualties were estimated to be about two hundred people. Because the entrance to the mountain road was narrow, the offensive force could not be deployed, and the enemy gave up after the attack was ineffective.
The bad news is that the enemy has set up a peripheral defensive position around the entrance of the mountain road. It is estimated that there are two brigades of enemies in this defensive position. These veterans said that they saw the mountain road from a distance.
The flag of the 1st Ranger Battalion was still flying on the entrance position, but they were unable to bypass the enemy's position and contact Second Lieutenant Murray Ed. They searched for a long time and could not find another way. In the end, they could only come back to report what they found.
.
This news made Major Skerry even more worried. It was indeed good news that the enemy did not capture the entrance to the mountain road, but the enemy deployed a defensive line around the entrance of the mountain road, which also made the mountain road useless. Even if the 1st Battalion of Rangers abandoned the castle and evacuated
You have to break through the enemy's defensive line before you can return to the rear. If you are pursued by the enemy behind during the attack, the result will still be annihilation of the entire army, and at most only a few fish will escape the net.
Claude didn't have anything to make a fuss about. If he were the enemy's commander, he would also arrange it in this way. However, if Major Skerry decided to retreat, he would not have to worry about having no retreat. The Daqing Mountains were very large and could be entered from other places.
Mountain, and find a path leading to the mountain road. This is not a difficult task for the 1st Ranger Battalion, which has experience in finding routes to the three southern counties in the Picklet Mountains. Major Skerry came later, and
I have never experienced the process of finding a way in the mountains in winter, so it is understandable that I am worried...
Soon there will be heavy snow that lasts for several days and nights. In such weather, there is no need to worry about the enemy coming to attack us. Because the snow has already accumulated a thick layer, more than a foot deep, and is very soft. If you step on it, you will sink.
to the knees. During the day, the sky is a little brighter, and you can vaguely see 20 to 30 meters away. At night, you can't see your fingers. Even if you light a bonfire, it can only illuminate a distance of three or four meters around...
If the enemy comes to attack at this time, let alone rushing to the bottom of the castle, even if you just leave the camp, you may be scattered and lost. After trudging in the snow for half a day, you are actually still wandering in a radius of less than three feet. In the end, you will lose your physical strength and be killed alive.
They froze to death. So in December, both the enemies and the defenders consciously stayed in the camps and castles, and stayed peacefully in Maodong.
Claude suddenly realized that he had been in the army for more than four years, and this was the fourth orientation night he had spent in the army. But this time it was not bad, at least it was better than the orientation night he spent in the Picklet Mountains last year.
Although he was besieged by the enemy in the castle and was short of supplies, Major Skerry instructed the logistics department of the battalion headquarters to provide a sumptuous dinner for all the soldiers in the battalion to celebrate this welcoming night. For this reason, all the sheep and
All the chickens and ducks were slaughtered, and officers like Claude were given a bottle of the last remaining fruit wine...
After the arrival of January, the weather started to become a little clearer. Even if it snowed, it would not be as dark and dark as last December. Although it is still difficult to walk on the land covered with thick snow, the snow has been pressed down.
Some porcelain solids no longer sink half of the body with one foot, but can barely allow people to walk on them. The enemy's scouts also began to move out of the camp. Their main range of activities is in the area around the castle. This is also
In order to monitor the castle defenders for any abnormal conditions.
Claude asked Diaverde to lead his squadron to attack and ambush the enemy's scouts around the castle. Clear gunshots could be heard from time to time in the snowy wilderness. Since the performance of the muskets was not as good as that of the Ranger Battalion,
The enemy scouts without mounts for transportation suffered heavy casualties and had to expand the surveillance scope of the castle, which gave Claude an opportunity to take advantage of.
On a night with heavy snow falling, Claude and a small group of elite veterans silently walked out of the side door of the castle and disappeared on the white snow. The falling snow at night would perfectly cover the traces of their walking.
The traces will not be noticed by enemy scouts.
The cold wind cut across the face like an ice knife, and soon a thin layer of frost condensed on the scarf covering the face. Then it was melted by the hot breath exhaled from the mouth and nose, turning into cold water droplets and falling on the animal skin cover.
The robe once again condensed into tiny ice particles.
Claude didn't feel the cold at all. He had already tasted this feeling in the Pikelet Mountains last winter and was used to it. He pulled on the thin hemp rope held by his left hand, and the response that followed made him let out a sigh of relief.
Changqi, there are fifteen people, and no one is left behind, which is good.
This time the path was planned by Claude himself. This time they were going to take a diagonal route, enter the mountain from another part of the Daqingshan Mountains, and then find a passage leading to the entrance of the mountain road in preparation for the first ranger battalion.
Evacuating the castle after running out of food will provide you with a safe escape route back to the rear.
After entering the mountainous area, we first found a sheltered place to camp. These veterans were very experienced. They quickly piled snow and built several igloos, and then set up the tents inside the igloos. This way, they were warm and safe, and there was no need to worry about the tent being damaged.
If the snow is too heavy or too thin to freeze to death, the only thing to pay attention to is to maintain good ventilation.
After more than an hour of busy work, the sky was getting slightly brighter, but the snowflakes were still falling. Claude asked each soldier to drink a bowl of hot soup, and then arranged for the light and dark sentry to have a good sleep first, and then start searching again in the afternoon.
Route to the entrance of the mountain trail.
After lunch, we packed up and started moving. The snow had stopped falling and the sky was clear. Because the light was very good, the field of vision was wide. This was a good condition for Claude and the others who were looking for a passable mountain road. Fifteen people
A group of five people divided into three groups and marched in the direction of the entrance of the mountain road. When they encountered a situation where they could not move forward, they turned back. Claude took Michael Jack, the big man Germi and two veterans to provide support in the center, and at the same time drew a route map.
Make good marks along the way.
Although the Daqingshan Mountains are not as steep and steep as the Picklate Mountains and appear to be very gentle, they are not much less dangerous than the Picklate Mountains. Many seemingly flat snowfields are actually big traps. Step on them."
With a "click", he fell into a deep snow nest. If he acted alone, he would not be able to climb out. He had no other choice but to wait for death.
Claude and others still used the old method, directly cutting down huge logs to build bridges in places where they were not sure whether they were safe. Besides, they didn't really want to lay a road in the mountains, they just wanted to pass it temporarily.
So it saved a lot of effort and time, and it took me five days to reach the entrance of the mountain trail.
Muriel was pleasantly surprised by the arrival of Claude and others. He was stationed here to defend the entrance to the mountain pass and did not have to worry about the transportation of logistical supplies. While ordering people to entertain Claude and others, he told Claude that something big was coming.
information.
"What did you say? The war is going to end?" Claude thought he heard wrongly.
"It's true. Captain Durrioro who is stationed in Squirrel Village told me. Isn't his family related to the 6th Army? This was revealed to him by his relatives. Just let him stay here for a few more months.
It’s a blessing to return to the capital. He said that now the kingdom has started truce negotiations with the Kingdom of Nasseri and the Principality of Karnas, and even Prince Hansback has returned to the capital..."
Claude did know Captain Durrioro. He served as the battalion commander of this local security battalion because his relatives had exerted their influence in the Army Headquarters. The purpose of stationing in Squirrel Village was to give him a resume of serving on the front line, so that in the future
You can find a better future in the 6th Army Headquarters. If it was what Captain Durioro said, Claude would actually believe it.
"I have to go back to Squirrel Village as soon as possible and ask about this matter clearly. It is related to the life and death of all the officers and soldiers of our first ranger battalion. Prepare my horses and I will go out immediately." Claude said without hesitation.