"Huh!" Claude let out a long breath and looked at the majestic Wickham Castle in the distance.
On February 8, 587th year of the Holy Light Calendar, after a long journey of more than ten days, Claude led the light cavalry battalion of the 131st Regiment to the vicinity of Wickham Castle, the residence of Cromwell.
Hidden in a snowy mountain forest.
"Sir, according to our reconnaissance, two enemy regiments are currently stationed at Wickham Castle. One of them is the logistics battalion of the Sebok Standing Corps of the Kingdom of Hicks, responsible for the task of transporting supplies. The other is from the Hicks Kingdom.
The local garrison group transferred from the colony of the Kingdom of Kes is responsible for guarding Wickham Castle."
The battalion commander of the light cavalry battalion, Major Belklin, who had already arrived at the Cromwell Territory, reported the early reconnaissance results to Claude: "Due to the massacre in November last year, the slums around Wickham Castle have already been
There will be no existence of Nikancha people. This makes it impossible for us to pretend to be Nikancha people and sneak into the city, nor can we move around the castle.
Because the logistics transportation lines have been repeatedly attacked by us, Wickham Castle has now suspended the operation of transporting logistics supplies to the town of Hunter Bull in the Beringana Territory. However, the convoy transporting supplies from Vibato Port is still half a distance away.
I come here every month or so. I once pretended to be a lost adventurer and got into a convoy. I heard from the drivers that the supply reserves in Vibato Port were running low, and most of them were transported to Wickham Castle."
Claude tightened his leather robe tightly. The winter in Nubicia was really cold. Even when the ice melting period arrived in February, he still felt that the cold air was getting through the gaps in his clothes. Even if he wore a leather jacket and leather trousers,
He had leather gloves on his hands, leather boots on his feet, and a leather robe on the outside. But after standing for a while, his whole body felt stiff. Of course, maybe this was because Claude had been riding a horse for a long time and the wind blew here. In such weather
, traveling on horseback is simply a torture.
Stomping his feet, Claude cursed. It was really not the right time for a surprise attack on Wickham Castle in such weather and destroy the military supplies stored in the city. But the military order was like a mountain, and he had to carry it out even if he was reluctant. General Michelich
The order written by himself requires Claude to burn the enemy's military supplies stored in Wickham Castle before the end of February, so that the enemy will lose the last life-saving straw and end the war that has been going on for more than four months.
Since the war started in October last year, the 131st Ranger Regiment led by Claude has cut off the enemy's logistics supply transportation routes as planned, preventing the enemy's military supplies stored in the rear from being transported to the front line. Even if the enemy uses a regiment of troops to escort them
As for the supplies convoy, the result was that the escorting troops were defeated, either completely wiped out, or some quick ones escaped early. As for the supplies, they were either seized for personal use, or burned on the spot. On the contrary, the regiment headquarters again
There are more than two hundred brand-new four-wheeled freight carriages, all of which are carefully selected as the best trophies.
General Michelich led the Ranger Division and part of the First Overseas Field Army to encircle and annihilate the Tanya Army of the Kingdom of Hicks and raid the Kuzoa Army in two battles. Claude's 131st Ranger Regiment
Did not participate. At that time, Claude was busy leading troops to attack the logistics transport convoys of the Kingdom of Hicks. He seized countless grains, grass, and military supplies. They were sent to the rear and were enough for the Ranger Division and the Overseas Field Legion.
For half a year, this greatly reduced the burden of providing supplies across the river from the Robisto Territory, and won a major merit award from the legion.
In December, the enemy learned the lesson and no longer used a battalion to escort the logistics convoy. Instead, they assembled a security regiment. But in the same way, Claude directly summoned his four battalions.
, a single raid defeated the guard regiment escorting the convoy, and took advantage of the situation to capture the enemy's most forward logistics base in the Beringana Territory, Rockid Town, and set fire to this town that was famous for its bison leather products.
Towns were reduced to ashes.
Since then, the logistics bases of the Kingdom of Hicks have known that with their own strength, they cannot withstand the enemy's attacks on the logistics convoys. In addition to strengthening the defense of the towns that serve as various logistics supply stations,
, we can only hope that the standing corps on the front line will send troops back to escort. But unfortunately, the remaining three standing corps on the front line are also unable to protect themselves. They finally sent a division of troops to escort the supplies, but in the end they didn't even reach the destination.
When it arrived, it was swallowed up by the Rangers.
It snowed heavily in January of the New Year. The three legions of the Kingdom of Hicks, Viklen, Sebok and Febot, huddled together by the Dolinibara River to keep warm, forming a stronghold to protect themselves. Those few logisticians
The towns and cities where supplies were stationed were also discouraged, and were no longer prepared to find ways to deliver supplies to the front line. They just stayed in the towns to defend themselves. Therefore, the 131st Ranger Regiment could only suffer from the wind and cold in the wilderness of the Beringana Territory.
, so angry that Claude wanted to forcefully capture the next town to survive the cold weather...
However, in mid-January, Claude received an order written by General Michelci, requiring the 131st Ranger Regiment to raid Wickham Castle, the seat of Cromwell's territorial jurisdiction, and burn down Hick by the end of February.
The Kingdom of Sri Lanka stores military supplies there.
This is not some whimsical task that cannot be accomplished, but last year when the kingdom's residents were relocated to the Castle of Wickham, Claude was ordered to dig a secret passage outside the city in Wickham Castle to prepare for the future.
just in case.
At the beginning, the five standing legions of the Kingdom of Hicks placed their logistics base at Wickham Castle, stocking all military supplies from Vibato Port. Although the 131st Ranger Regiment led by Claude successfully cut off the enemy's
The logistics supply route prevents the enemy's logistics supplies from being transported to the front line, but General Michelich has to be prepared for the enemy's three standing legions to suddenly withdraw their troops back to Wickham Castle, in which case the war will be delayed again.
"Sir, in fact, if we gather the whole regiment, we can capture Wickham Castle. Why do we have to burn those reserve supplies? The military supplies needed by the five standing legions are a huge amount of wealth. If we can seize it,
Just make a fortune..." said Berklin.
Claude shook his head: "Burning these reserve supplies will cut off the enemy's hope. If we occupy Wickham Castle and seize these supplies, then we will lose the initiative on the battlefield and put ourselves in the open.
Being able to wait for the enemy's attack means that these wealth have caused us to lose our mobility and flexibility. In order to protect these wealth, we have to defend Wickham Castle and fight to the death against the attacking enemy.
For us, although the military supplies stored by the enemy in Wickham Castle are expensive, they are not what we urgently need. The previously captured enemies have already made it clear what the stored supplies are, which are nothing more than grain and grass, military uniforms and winter clothes, ammunition and guns.
, as well as some daily necessities and luxuries enjoyed by the enemy's senior officers. For us, those wines and high-end ingredients can be used immediately. It is not cost-effective to sacrifice the lives of soldiers for these things.
We have our own food and grass, and we have no use for the enemy's military uniforms and winter clothes. As for those ammunition and guns, they are not in line with the standard equipment of our kingdom. I believe you also despise these things. If you have to carry those daily necessities, it will only be a burden. If
We occupied Wickham Castle. These things can indeed be exchanged for a lot of money after the war. But for the enemy, they are the hope of survival. They will fight desperately to attack Wickham Castle before they run out of ammunition and food.
If you think about it, you will understand that if the enemy's three standing legions break camp and retreat, the Ranger Division will not be able to block their retreat. It will take a month to get here from the Dolinibara River. I believe that the enemy will lead them.
The food and fodder have been exhausted. Even if Wickham Castle is occupied by us, in the eyes of the enemy, it is the only way to survive. They will attack desperately. Do you think our regiment can withstand the attack of nearly 200,000 enemies?
On the contrary, we burned down the military supplies stored in Wickham Castle. Even if the enemies of the three standing legions immediately retreated, they could only feel despair when they saw the supply warehouse reduced to ashes. After breathing a sigh of relief, they
We no longer have any intention to fight. Without food and grass, we are hungry and have to surrender to us in order to survive. General Michelich asked us to burn the reserves here, just to destroy the enemy's three standing legions at the minimum cost.
.Do you all understand?”
Sometimes Claude has to break down some strategic details and reasons and teach them to his cronies, hoping that they can grow up as soon as possible. Sometimes it is not a good thing to be promoted too quickly after having too much credit, like Belk
After Lin was promoted to major and became the battalion commander of the light cavalry, he was relatively good at tactics, but his overall view was poor and he was easily blinded by what he saw on the surface. Otherwise, he would not have said that he wanted to capture Wickham.
Castle's words sounded like he was greedy for money. The fact is that the victory in the attack on the enemy's logistics transport convoy some time ago increased his arrogance and he did not take the enemy seriously...
"Sir, I understand." Belklin said with some shame. Next to him, Blovik, McJack and other close aide-de-camps also nodded.
"Okay, now we have to think of a way to get close to the castle." Claude smiled, then frowned: "If we had known better, we wouldn't have dug the exit in the moat. We would rather dig harder and dig deeper.
Farther away..."
The exit of the secret passage dug last year is in the moat outside the castle. It is camouflaged so that the enemy cannot easily discover that there is an entrance to the secret passage into the castle. But the problem is that it is winter now and the snow in the moat
It's a foot deep, and due to the melting period, it looks completely white on the surface. But in fact, once you step into the moat, you're guaranteed to be covered in mud. If there are enemies on the wall who come out to take a closer look, it's easy.
There are traces left by someone sneaking into the moat.
Just when Claude and others were thinking about how to sneak into the castle outside Wickham Castle to carry out the sinful act of murder and arson, the three legions of the Kingdom of Hicks, Wickron, Sebok and Febot, were expecting
The Sea King fleet finally arrived in the waters of Port Patres, the jurisdiction of Robidos, and without saying a word, directly attacked Port Patres.
The fierce artillery battle lasted for three days and three nights. Relying on the tactics of long-distance bombardment during the day and incoming attacks at night, the Sea King fleet almost destroyed the entire Port of Patres. This was the largest attack suffered by the Port of Patres since its founding.
The large-scale maritime attack and the bombardment of nearly a hundred warships of the Sea King Fleet turned the Port of Patres into almost a ruin. To use almost this adjective, the Sea King Fleet still did not win, and the ruined Port of Patres still had seven or eight people.
The artillery is counterattacking...
Forty-seven battleships were damaged and had to return to Vibato Port for repairs, and 21 battleships sank in the waters near Port Patres. But for the Sea King fleet, the entrance to the Dolinibara River
The destruction of the city defense artillery position was the greatest victory, which meant that the Dolinibara River could flow unimpeded. So the remaining thirty-two ships of the Sea King fleet carried nearly fifty ocean-going transport ships upstream, preparing to reach three
The garrison camp of the standing army.
But what the Sea King fleet did not expect was that General Michelich had already had people set up a river barricade on the Dolinibara River, blocking the fleet's way. Then three secret heavy field artillery positions set up along the coast suddenly opened fire.
In the first round, three ocean-going transport ships and a warship were sunk.
The unprepared Sea King fleet launched a counterattack after suffering heavy losses. At this time, the Ranger Corps mobilized almost all the light infantry field artillery and rushed to the battle site to join the artillery battle. Although the light infantry field artillery was
Projectiles as big as a fist could not cause direct damage to the warships of the Sea King Fleet, but the red-hot projectiles still ignited the sails when they fell on the deck, posing a great threat to the sailors and crew on board.
One by one, the ships began to catch fire, and the scale of the counterattack fire from the remaining warships of the Sea King fleet became smaller and smaller. The warships were hit one after another and slowly sank. The river was full of sailors jumping off the ships to survive. But in February
The weather was so bad that the river water was freezing cold. Many sailors and crew members suddenly sank while swimming in the river and could never resurface...
The ambush and artillery battle on the Dolinibara River on February 12th was the most tragic day in the history of the Hicks Kingdom's Sea King Fleet, because it was not defeated in a decisive battle between fleets at sea. Instead, it was defeated on the inside.
In the river, they were ambushed by the enemy's 6th Army. They used heavy field artillery and light infantry field artillery to sink and burn most of the battleships and ocean-going transport ships. Only the eight battleships and 11 ocean-going transport ships that were damaged were lucky.
He escaped destruction and returned to the port of Vibato.
It can be said that from the bombardment of Patres Port to the Dolinibara River and the ambush, the Hicks Kingdom's Sea King Fleet has suffered heavy losses. Although there are more than fifty warships that have withdrawn to Vibato Port, all of them were injured.
It will not even be possible to sail back to the mainland of the Hicks Kingdom until it is fully repaired. Within a year and a half, the flags and cruising battleships of the Hicks Kingdom's Sea King Fleet will no longer be seen at sea...
After learning of the tragic end of the Sea King fleet, the three standing legions no longer hesitated and immediately broke out of camp and embarked on the road back to Wickham Castle, which was directly under the jurisdiction of Cromwell. The Rangers did not block the retreat of the enemy who was eager to return, but
We captured three towns in front of the enemy that were used as logistical supply garrison points, and evacuated all supplies to ensure that the enemy could not get supplies.
On February 25th, Claude personally led a capable team, wearing the military uniforms of the Kingdom of Hicks, and took advantage of the negligence and carelessness of the enemy guards on the castle to enter Wickham Castle through a secret passage. Then at midnight,
Fires broke out in several warehouses storing grain and grass. Taking advantage of the enemy's panic when putting out the fire, Claude led his men to open the gate of the castle. The officers and soldiers of the 131st Ranger Regiment who had been prepared rushed into the castle and were quickly defeated.
defeated the enemy and captured the entire castle.
The next day, more supply warehouses were set on fire. Claude led the 131st Ranger Regiment to escort the prisoners and drove hundreds of carriages loaded with loot to evacuate Wickham Castle. The fire continued to burn.
Within two days, the entire Wickham Castle was burned to ashes.
On March 10th, the rainy season came. In the cold and humid continuous heavy rain, the three standing armies of the Hicks Kingdom finally arrived at Wickham Castle after twenty-eight days of long march. What awaited them was only a dark and gray landscape.
ruins.
The officers and soldiers of the three standing legions of the Hicks Kingdom who were suffering from hunger and cold finally despaired. They could no longer persist for half a month to return to Vibato Port. All the officers' mounts and the leather goods of the soldiers were eaten by them.
Already...
When the Ranger regiment's flag appeared in front of them, all Hicks soldiers laid down their weapons and raised their hands in surrender.