After learning the current battle situation from the messenger, Claude could only smile bitterly. Obviously, the commander-in-chief of the Hicks people had seen through his plot, so the Hicks troops on the eastern front would
Complete evacuation, abandoning all occupied eastern frontier mountainous areas. The three divisions of Hicks on the northern mountainous border have recalled reinforcements and must now be clinging to their camps.
Claude now faces two choices. One is to implement the original plan, join forces with General Albert, and attack the Hicks from the three divisions on the northern mountainous border. The other is to divide the troops and send a regiment.
The troops escorted more than 20,000 Hicks prisoners and continued to move forward. He led three regiments to turn eastward and attack the Hicks who were withdrawing from the eastern mountains.
Choosing one is safer, at least the fruits of victory won will not be discarded. Choosing two is very risky. No one knows whether the Hicks of the three divisions on the northern mountainous border will take the initiative to rescue the prisoners, using a
It is difficult for the regiment's troops to successfully escort the prisoners to join General Albert. In addition, even if Claude leads three regiments to attack the evacuated Hicks on the eastern front, there is a high possibility that they will not be able to block all the enemies.
Inside the mountains.
Since the commander-in-chief of the Hicks has seen through his plan, he should have been prepared. Claude suspected that even if he took his troops to the Eastern Front, he would not be able to gain anything. The northern mountainous border here is in the hands of General Albert.
With only one division of troops, it is difficult to suppress the Hicks who are holding on to the three divisions. If you lead your troops to the Eastern Front, maybe the Hicks of these three divisions can also spare their troops to cause trouble behind you.
, that would pose a greater threat to Claude who is cut off from logistical supplies...
Another unfavorable factor was that the more than 9,000 officers and soldiers of Murield's Second Regiment and Diaverde's Third Regiment went to ambush the enemy's reinforcements but failed to do so, and suffered five days in the wild in vain.
Although their morale has improved a lot after two days of rest, Claude doubts whether their bodies can survive if he takes them to fight on the Eastern Front...
Forget it, one bird in hand is worth less than a hundred birds in the forest. Claude gave up the idea of going to the Eastern Front and decided to attack the three divisions of Hicks in the northern mountainous area according to the original plan. As long as these three
The division's Hicks were annihilated, and together with the annihilated division's garrison strength at the General Logistics Base Camp, it meant that two enemy standing legions were eliminated, and it was also a heavy blow to the aggressive Hicks.
After making up his mind, Claude sent a hawk message to General Albert, asking him to command his troops to attack the Hicks' camp and involve the Hicks. At the same time, he could deploy the troops in various frontier areas in the northern coastal mountains.
More than a dozen Nikancha battalions in strategic locations were pulled over to build momentum, making the Hicks who were stuck in the camp think that a full-scale counterattack had been launched in the war zone.
However, three days later, Claude bypassed the Hicks camp from the dry river ditch to meet General Albert and discovered that the progress of the war was not ideal. General Albert commanded the second division of the Thunder Legion.
and sixteen Nikancha battalions once broke through the first line of defense of the Hicks' camp. However, the Hicks took advantage of their strength to launch hand-to-hand combat and drove away the attackers who had just occupied the first line of camp defense.
come out.
"The casualties of our offensive troops were somewhat heavy." General Albert said bitterly: "The Second Division invested four regiments in the attack in rotation, but after the withdrawal, only three regiments were left including the wounded. 16
We have also lost seven Nikancha battalions, and now those Nikanchas have refused to follow us in the attack. In addition, our grenade consumption is very large, and the current reserves can no longer support us in launching another major offensive.
.”
The failure of the attack was not the fault of General Albert. He commanded his troops to launch a night attack and used grenades to cover the Hicks' first line of defense. This caught the Hicks by surprise and captured the Hicks with very slight casualties.
The first line of defense for the Hicks camp. Both the command and tactical choices are remarkable and beyond reproach.
But General Albert underestimated the fighting toughness and revengeful mentality of the Hicks veterans, as well as the strategic advantage of the defensive camps set up by the Hicks over the first line of defense. From the periphery to the Hicks' third line of defense,
When a camp defense line launched an attack, nothing unusual could be seen. However, after occupying the first camp defense line, it was discovered that the enemy's second defense line was on average three meters higher than the first camp defense line, which limited the second defense line.
The attack path from one line of defense to the second line of defense, while being condescending, can cover the entire area of the first line of defense with artillery.
Generally, camps are set up in two types: permanent and temporary. Permanent camps, as the name suggests, refer to the place where troops are stationed for a long time and for a period of time, while temporary camps are basically camps for short periods of time during marches and wars. Permanent camps
Camps need to set up defensive facilities such as walls and trenches, as well as guard towers and sentries, while temporary camps are not so particular. They are basically just a simple trench, or a fence surrounded by wood...
.
The same thing between permanent camps and temporary camps is that defensive cordons are set up on the outside. Most tents are set up as dormitories for officers and soldiers, and areas are separated to distinguish the different establishments of each army. Defensive camps are actually permanent camps.
One, the only difference is that their area is several times larger than most permanent camps. They combine defensive positions and camps to garrison strategic locations, and assign troops to guard each area.
From the outside, the defensive camps stationed by the three divisions of the Hicks are no different from ordinary permanent camps except for their large area. The outer perimeter is also a log wall and an earthen fortress and sentry post built with soil piled behind the log wall.
One hundred meters apart from the guard tower, three trenches were dug outside the original wooden wall.
According to pre-war reconnaissance, it can be seen from a high place that the Hicks people built another protective wall combining civil engineering and wood at a distance of two to three hundred meters behind the previous log wall. The first log wall
Five trenches were also dug on the ground between this protective wall...
After Claude led the Thunder Division to attack, General Albert launched a sweeping attack on the security posts set up by the Hicks on the periphery, and used the one or three soldiers left by Claude who were equipped with new rifles.
The battalion of the 03rd Regiment successfully carried out several interceptions and ambushes against the attacking troops of the Hicks. The Hicks were forced to retreat to the camp and did not dare to send troops to attack or approach the northern mountainous border.
But since the Hicks sent reinforcements and hurriedly recalled them some time ago, they have been huddled in the camp. They don't even seem to be interested in dealing with the harassing attack launched by General Albert on the camp. No matter what the Thunder Legion soldiers outside are doing
To tease, they just didn't attack, as if they were preparing to defend the camp.
Then General Albert received a falcon message from Claude, asking him to launch an attack on the Hicks' camp in front of him, attracting the Hicks' attention, and waiting for Claude to lead the first division of the Thunder Legion.
If they came from behind, they could attack from both front and back, and win the battle. So General Albert carefully arranged an attack plan, and launched a night attack the next night after receiving the message from the Falcon, and captured the Hicks in one fell swoop.
The first line of defense for the camp.
It was only after occupying the first line of defense that General Albert realized that he had stung a hornet's nest. He launched a harassing attack on the outside of the first line of defense of the Hicks. At that time
The Hicks were like cowards, unwilling to attack and lazy to respond, and even seemed to pay no attention to them. But as soon as the first wall of defense fell, the Hicks suddenly woke up from a dream and became furious.
A counterattack began day and night.
Especially when the soldiers of the Second Division of the Thunder Legion entered the trenches behind the first wall of the Hicks camp, they discovered a big problem. There was a gap between the first trench and the second trench.
There is a height difference of about one and a half feet. In other words, if you lie down in the first trench and shoot outside the wall, it will be no problem. But if you want to shoot in the direction of the second trench, you will not be able to reach it. You need to stand on tiptoes or under your feet.
Just put a wooden stool or something.
Looking at the five trenches within a distance of two to three hundred meters between the first wall and the second protective wall of the Hicks from the outside, I really can’t see any problems. Even if I notice the small slope, I can’t see any problems.
No one thought it was a big deal. As a result, the soldiers and Nikancha people who entered these five trenches suffered a big loss. They couldn't hit the enemy, but the enemy easily carried out precise and condescending actions across a trench.
Aim and shoot.
For the well-trained officers and soldiers of the Thunder Legion, this was not a big difficulty. They quickly used their experience to counterattack by raising the soil layer and appeased the Nikancha people who followed them into the trenches.
They firmly occupied the first and second trenches and launched a counterattack against the third trench. But the reason why the Hicks set up these five trenches between the first wall defense line and the second protective wall is that
They want to turn the two to three hundred meters away into the main battlefield to fight the attackers. Only here can they take advantage of their military strength and turn passivity into initiative.
The Hicks placed most of their trebuchet-style throwers behind the second protective wall, covering the fourth and fifth trenches within the throwing range, and even divided them into sections, which section
Which thrower was responsible for throwing grenades in the trenches. The officers and soldiers of the Thunder Legion and the Nikancha people who did not know this suffered a big loss when entering the last two trenches. They were thrown by the Hicks.
The bomb killed and injured nearly a thousand people...
General Albert went to the front line to command the attack in person, but was bombarded by the concentrated fire of the Hicks defensive artillery. He almost died. The guard captain next to him was alert, grabbed him and jumped into the trench next to him, avoiding the five giants in the war zone.
However, General Albert's adjutant and two guards were not so lucky and were killed on the spot by more than a dozen solid projectiles the size of a fist.
It was also because of his personal experience that General Albert realized that the Hicks monitored all movements from the first wall to the second protective wall. When General Albert decided
After visiting the battlefield in person, his distinctive general uniform became the target of attention of all Hicks observers as soon as he appeared on the first line of defense. Fortunately, the first line of defense was only a few meters away from the second line of defense.
The wall is about three hundred meters away, and is not within the range of the iron pumpkin thrown by the Hicks, otherwise General Albert would have been welcomed with a more enthusiastic surprise from the sky...
However, the Hicks still mobilized more than a dozen light infantry field guns to launch a concentrated fire bombardment at General Albert. Fortunately, General Albert was lucky enough to escape. Only by visiting the battlefield in person, Ai
General Berendt discovered that the difficulties faced by the frontline war were very serious. The officers and soldiers of the Thunder Legion had no way to occupy the fourth and fifth trenches...
In terms of weapons and equipment, the soldiers of the Thunder Legion have the range advantage of the Chaobash III standard matchlock gun and the precision aiming shooting of the Sonya 591 new rifle. After overcoming the height gap between the trenches,
It posed a fatal threat to the Hicks veterans defending in the two trenches behind.
But the Hicks didn't want to engage in shooting exchanges with the soldiers of the Thunder Legion. They simply gave up the fourth and fifth trenches, and most of them retreated behind the second protective wall, not showing their heads at all.
The precise aim and shooting of the Thunder Legion soldiers are useless.
When the fourth and fifth trenches were covered by the iron pumpkins thrown by the Hicks, the soldiers of the Thunder Legion had to occupy the fifth trench first if they wanted to attack the second protective wall. Only by occupying the fifth trench
Only in this way can we use projectile bombs to blow up the Hicks projectiles placed behind the second protective wall and eliminate the threat to the fourth and fifth trenches.
The Hicks also know this very well. The fourth trench can be occupied by the soldiers of the Thunder Legion, and monitored by observers at high altitudes. Which trench has more Thunder Legion soldiers or Nikancha soldiers gathered in it?
Just send a signal and throw iron pumpkins, forcing the attackers occupying the fourth trench to disperse instead of gathering together...
After General Albert discovered this, he secretly used a trick to let the Nikancha people go up, hoping to use the Nikancha people to consume more of the Hicks' iron pumpkin reserves. But soon Hicks
The Si people understood that they no longer paid attention to the Nikancha people. Instead, if more than five Thunder Legion soldiers gathered together, they would inevitably be bombarded by iron pumpkins.
So General Albert wanted the Nikanchas to change into the uniforms of Thunder Legion soldiers, but the Nikanchas were not all fools. They simply didn’t believe what General Albert said that wearing military uniforms would show that our attackers were more capable.
With great power, he shocked the enemy with his lies and refused to change his military uniform.
This is only the fourth trench. In the fifth trench, the Hicks arranged light infantry field artillery that fired shotgun shells to block the entrance from the fourth trench to the fifth trench. Small people can be put in, but large numbers can be put in.
Use several artillery pieces to block the entrance, and throw iron pumpkins to bomb the surrounding assembly points, making it impossible for the soldiers of the Thunder Legion to get close to the fifth trench.
General Albert tried to have the soldiers of the Thunder Legion rush into the fifth trench one by one, and then regroup and directly use the projectiles they carried to blow up the projectiles behind the second protective wall. But he soon discovered that this road was impassable.
The Hicks people left a small number of veterans to guard the fifth trench, and soldiers from the Thunder Legion rushed in one after another to deliver food to the Hicks veterans.
From here, General Albert had to mention the fighting will of those Hicks veterans. He believed that these Hicks veterans were very tenacious in fighting, especially not afraid of death, and fought extremely ferociously. This ferocity was not only against the enemy
, even themselves. In the final battles and hand-to-hand combat, General Albert saw many times those Hicks veterans holding iron pumpkins with lit match ropes and attacking the Thunder Legion's defense line in order to die together, causing the left wing
The Nikanchas eventually collapsed and the position was captured by the Hicks...
It’s not that the Thunder Legion has captured the Hicks’ first wall of defense and entered the first three trenches, which means it has taken the initiative on the entire battlefield. The Hicks have been in passive defense. In fact, the Thunder Legion
The Legion's second division only occupies a small position in front of the Hicks' entire defensive camp. While continuing to attack the Hicks' second protective wall, it must also guard against the Hicks on the left and right flanks.
counterattack launched.
General Albert, commanding the Second Division of the Thunder Legion, only occupied the first defensive line of the front wall for three days. During these three days, fighting was going on all the time. In the first two days, grenades and new rifles were used to suppress Hick.
The Si people counterattacked, but on the third day the Hicks people gathered a large number of troops. After attacking on the left and right wings, which took away part of the energy of the Thunder Legion's defense force, they suddenly launched a wave-like assault from the front...
.
The Hicks veterans attacked from a high place. Not only did they advance along the connected trenches, they even put up planks on the trenches in advance, launched a charge directly on the ground, and then jumped into the first three trenches to fight with them.
The officers and soldiers of the Thunder Legion engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the Nikancha people.
At first, the Thunder Legion could withstand the enemy's onslaught, but as the casualties increased and there were more and more Hicks, the three regiments in front began to be unable to withstand it. When several Hicks
The veteran rushed into the crowd on his side holding the iron pumpkin that was lit with a match rope. After the explosion, the Nikancha people collapsed and the position was completely lost...
General Albert said that he still couldn't figure out why the Hicks were so crazy about retaking their position, even regardless of casualties. Only now that he saw Claude did he understand that it was the Hicks who already knew about Claude.
The German troops approached their camp. In order to avoid being attacked from both sides at the expense of one side, they must first regain the frontal position and inflict heavy losses on General Albert's troops, so that they could turn around and respond to the attack of Claude's troops from the rear.
"How many casualties are there?" Claude really didn't expect that the fight would end like this, nor did he expect that the enemy would set up such a targeted defensive position as the main battlefield for camp defense.
"The total number of light and heavy casualties is more than 10,000, which is almost one-third of the total strength of the Second Division. Nearly 6,000 of them died in battle, so I say that I lost a regiment." General Albert was a little frustrated.
It was the biggest defeat since the establishment of the Thunder Legion, and the position with such heavy casualties was still lost. Now the morale of the Second Division is somewhat low.
"The Nikancha casualties also exceeded 10,000, of which more than 7,000 were killed in the battle. This was mainly because they did not bring back the wounded who were left on the position when they finally collapsed and fled. As a result, they were all killed by the Hicks.
Execution." General Albert could only shake his head:
"Now they blame me for disorderly command, thinking that I deliberately ordered them to go to the battlefield to die, and think that attacking the enemy's camp is only the responsibility of our Thunder Legion. They are originally responsible for defending important areas in the mountains and should not participate in the attack. So now
The Nikancha people have refused to cooperate with our Thunder Legion and are unwilling to continue attacking..."