With a "boom", the black smoke and fire produced by the explosion of the grenade, as well as the debris of the bombed houses and human body parts, flew into the sky, showing a cruel battle scene in the monocular telescope. General Bolognik
With an indifferent expression on his face, he just coldly issued an order to his personal adjutant, asking a squadron of soldiers from the rear to reinforce the front line again to make up for the battle losses of the garrison soldiers on the defensive positions.
This was the sixteenth day that Lanhu City was besieged, and it was also the twenty-third day that the fishing port town was occupied by the Hicks. Even though General Bolognik was prepared to hold on to Lanhu City, he did not expect that he would face a
Such a cruel urban street battle. Of the more than 13,000 garrison troops, less than 6,000 can continue to fight, and more than half of them have been injured.
At first, the Hicks only used light cavalry to attack Lanhu City, but General Bolognik was able to handle it with ease. Even though Lanhu City has not yet built a city wall due to expansion, it turns out that light cavalry is indeed not suitable for siege warfare and street fighting. Arrogant
The Hicks light cavalry originally thought that Lanhu City would fall into their hands like a ripe fruit. However, when they broke into the streets and alleys as dense as spider webs, they encountered an ambush from the defenders and suffered heavy losses.
The Hicks light cavalry who had suffered heavy losses no longer dared to go deep into Lanhu City. They surrounded Lanhu City on three sides. To the east was Lanhu City. They had no choice but to watch the defenders in the city return those who had returned.
The residents and wounded who were stranded in the city were transported to the other side of Lan Lake by waterway and transferred to the mountainous area for evacuation.
However, starting from the eleventh day when Lanhu City was besieged, the two standing armies of the Hicks Kingdom finally landed in the fishing port town, and then rushed to the outside of Lanhu City. After only half a day of rest, they launched an attack on Lanhu City.
A fierce attack. In just four days, the garrison under General Bolognik suffered nearly a thousand casualties almost every day. Although the casualties of the Hicks' attacking troops were several times that of the defenders, they were strong in strength and lost 1,000 casualties.
rise.
"I don't know how many days it will take for the Thunder Legion to arrive..." General Bolonik can only place his hope on the Thunder Legion's return reinforcements. Sometimes when he thinks about it, General Bolonik really regrets how he ignored it.
The unusual thing about the shipbuilding workshop businessman in the fishing port town was that he actually believed the lies told by that businessman.
The defense of the coastal areas of the directly-governed territories has always been a focus of great concern to the theater headquarters. General Bolognik went to inspect it personally. He also visited the fishing port town, but no troops were stationed there. The main reason was that it was very far away from the theater headquarters.
It is close and is convenient for reinforcements. The other is that the shallow sea area there is densely covered with reefs. Not to mention ocean-going ships, even offshore transport ships have to wait for the high tide to pass, otherwise they will easily hit the rocks and damage the bottom of the ship.
The shipbuilding workshop in the fishing port town can only produce a small flat-bottomed fishing boat for four people with a very shallow draft, which is used for offshore fishing. Last time General Bolognik went to inspect, he saw that the shipbuilding workshop had built nearly a hundred boats.
Three or four small flat-bottomed fishing boats are connected together, with two large wooden boards nailed to the tops. There are heavy objects in the cabins to make the hulls of the small fishing boats sink in the water and be level with the water surface.
General Bolognik curiously asked what this was doing, and the businessman replied that it was testing the pressure and leakage resistance of small fishing boats. It would take up to half a month to find out whether these small fishing boats had hull deformations or leaks.
After all, they are small fishing boats with shallow drafts. Without such a test, they will not be able to withstand the wind and waves at sea. In ten days, these small fishing boats will be out of the water. After inspection, the qualified ones can be sold to Cromwell and Beringana.
The residents of these two demesne...
General Bolonik knew that the two direct territories of Cromwell and Beringana had immigrated a large number of military families and relatives of soldiers. Those residents assigned to the coastal areas would bring a benefit to their families by purchasing such a small fishing boat.
Extra seafood income. So he didn't wonder why the shipbuilding workshop had so many orders for small fishing boats. He also gave the businessman a few words of encouragement, encouraging him to ensure quality, expand production, get rich, and have a bright future.
It was not until it was confirmed that the fishing port town was occupied by the Hicks did General Bolognik realize that he had been deceived by the businessman. When the light cavalry team that went to conduct reconnaissance came back and reported back, they also mentioned that the Hicks used those small fishing boats
A floating trestle has been built to pass through the shallow reef area, allowing ocean-going transport ships in deep sea areas to directly connect to this trestle to board the shore...
Without the support of Agent Hicks, the Hicks people would have been wishful thinking to land from the fishing port town. Even if they built a pontoon bridge from the deep sea area to the shore, it would have taken at least a day. And at that time,
Before they could land on 6, they were already surrounded by incoming defensive troops. Because of this, the war zone ignored the coastal defense of this fishing port town and did not deploy any troops here. As a result, the Hicks people
Taking advantage of the loophole.
But now it's too late to regret. General Bolognik just hopes to wait for the Thunder Legion's return before Lanhu City is captured by the enemy. Claude's last Falcon letter sent him clearly stated that Lanhu City can be given up.
But we must keep the defense line of the Dolinibara River. General Bolognik did not take Claude's judgment seriously. After all, he also has a direct reinforcement battalion equipped with new rifles to defend Lanhu City from the enemy.
The Dolinibara River defense line should be able to do it...
The light cavalry army's attack on Lanhu City was easily crushed by the garrison, which greatly increased the confidence of General Bolonik and the morale of his men. However, when the two main field legions of the Hicks arrived and attacked, General Bolognik finally
I understand that what Claude said in the letter is that the Hicks' giant-style throwers are really powerful. They can throw them as far as more than three hundred meters, and the explosion force of a projectile twice the size of an iron pumpkin is even greater.
It's scary, a big hole will explode...
The first defensive line outside Lanhu City was quickly lost, but after entering the city, the Hicks also encountered a lot of trouble. The streets and alleys and broken walls made it impossible for the Hicks to use their shields.
The giant cantilever throwers were fully covered by trucks and wooden platoons. General Bolognik commanded the defensive forces to launch a counterattack and successfully destroyed the two Big Mac throwers.
The Hicks immediately changed their strategy. They deployed the remaining three giant cantilever throwers on the periphery and did not enter the city. Instead, they used old-fashioned throwers and iron pumpkins to clear the way. This played into General Bolognik's plan.
, he also commanded the defensive troops to retaliate in kind, using grenades produced by the military manufacturing industry in the war zone to counterattack, causing several times the casualties to the Hicks' attacking troops, forcing the Hicks to send troops to clear the ruined roads.
Then move the giant cantilever thrower forward to throw giant grenades and iron pumpkins to bombard the defensive positions.
In the street fighting in Lanhu City, landmines finally played their greatest role. Sometimes the garrison suffered serious battle losses and were forced to abandon their defensive positions. After the Hicks swarmed in and occupied the position, they would often step on the mines, and then explode into ten pieces.
Several casualties. Hitting too many landmines made the Hicks people suspicious, which indirectly affected the speed of the attack and gave the garrison more time to prepare for war.
It's just a pity that the military manufacturing industry workshop headed by Mr. Veblen was in the direction of the Hicks attack. When the Hicks light cavalry appeared on the outskirts of Lanhu Town, it was forced to evacuate.
We don't have many weapons and ammunition such as grenades and mines in reserve. Those produced in the past were immediately shipped to the front line on Claude's side. But this time, the emergency production after the fishing port town was occupied by the Hicks was handed over to
The garrison troops were used for urban street fighting, and now there are very few left. This is why General Bolognik is worried that Lanhu City will not be able to defend it.
After all, the Hicks have two standing legions of 120,000 to 30,000 people, plus the light cavalry legion that is blocked from the outside, with a strength of nearly 200,000. However, General Bolognik has only more than 13,000 troops, who can
The enemy held on to Lanhu City for twenty-three days with more than ten times the overwhelming force of the enemy, and the Hicks only occupied one-third of Lanhu City and a peripheral defense line. This is already a miraculous achievement.
.
Now, the defensive force is less than 7,000 people, but the enemy still has 150,000 to 60,000 people, which is still an overwhelming force advantage. In addition, the new weapons such as grenades and landmines in the hands of the defensive force are becoming less and less used, making it difficult to resist Hick.
The attack of the Sri Lankan people is also becoming more and more stressful, and the casualties they are paying are also increasing...
The pontoon crossing of the Dolinibara River.
General Albert's nose was almost crooked with anger: "Get me the steward in charge of this pontoon bridge. What is going on?"
General Albert, who finally arrived at the pontoon bridge of the Dolinibara River, found that both sides of the crossing were filled with black crowds. The north bank was filled with veterans of the local garrison who were bored waiting, and the south bank was filled with people dragging their families.
Refugees with large mouths and small bags pulling various vehicles.
One of the two pontoon bridges was carrying refugees and the other was carrying troops. On the pontoon bridge that was passing troops, a wheel of a baggage vehicle loaded with supplies fell off, and the vehicle was completely tilted on the pontoon bridge, with supplies packages wrapped in squares.
It also spilled on the bridge, blocking the pontoon and making it impossible to pass.
It took half an hour for the sweaty steward of the pontoon crossing management office to arrive in front of General Albert. The general cursed, pointed at the carriage on the bridge and asked what was going on. Now Albert
The general wanted to shoot the steward.
The steward was scared to death and replied that the carriage was loaded with the baggage supplies of the leader of the local garrison who passed through the pontoon bridge. It was loaded with a carriage. When crossing the bridge, the bridge deck was broken due to the heavy weight, and then the two sides got into a quarrel.
During the incident, the Floating Bridge Crossing Management Office requested compensation for the broken bridge deck, but the leader of the local garrison asked the Floating Bridge Crossing Management Office to compensate him for the loss of goods.
"Bring me that regiment commander!" General Albert was so angry that he directly ordered his guards: "Throw all the carriages and goods on the bridge into the river, and restore the pontoon bridge to traffic immediately.
.”
It seems that the senior officers who were transferred from the army to the local garrison regiment have a very prosperous life. They can collect specialties and souvenirs of such a carriage while stationed in the local area.
"Where are your officers? Call everyone here." General Albert looked at the veterans of the local garrison who were watching the excitement and ordered.
Soon two colonels appeared in front of General Albert.
"What is your organization?" General Albert asked.
"The 108th Regiment of the local garrison order in the theater was ordered to garrison Wickham Castle. The commander of the regiment is Colonel Lemandoc."
"The 114th Regiment of the local garrison order in the theater was ordered to garrison the coastal area of the Cromwell Territory. The commander of the regiment is Colonel Fareos."
"Where are your troops?"
"Our 108th Regiment arrived here just yesterday afternoon and are waiting to cross the river." Colonel Le Mando replied, pointing to the location of his troops.
"Our 114th Regiment just arrived this morning and is currently resting," Colonel Fareos replied.
General Albert pointed to the carriage on the pontoon: "What's going on? Do you know?"
The two colonels glanced at each other, and finally Colonel Lemandoc spoke: "Report to the general, this is the logistics supply unit of the 117th Regiment. Their regiment is stationed at the Baik Hill Castle in the Beringana Direct Territory. It is said that it is on the grassland.
They got a lot of hides and beef from hunting bison, and this time they planned to transport the hides and beef to Port Patres for trading. The wind on the river was strong last night and it was unsafe to drive across the river, so they did not cross the river.
We started to cross the river when the wind subsided in the morning, but we didn't expect that the carriage was too heavy and crushed a bridge plank, so we were stuck there."
"Humph..." General Albert sneered twice, looking at another pontoon bridge crowded with refugees, and asked the steward of the pontoon bridge management office: "What's going on with that pontoon bridge? Why isn't it evacuated?"
Those refugees let the troops pass first..."
The steward collapsed on the ground: "General, when we crossed the river in the morning, I also wanted the troops to cross the river first, but a group of people said they were some kind of congressman and directly pushed the people in our management office aside to rush to cross the river first.
The refugees swarmed up, and we couldn't stop them. They all said that their relatives were so-and-so from the legion, and the people below didn't dare to offend them, so they had to let them occupy a pontoon..."
These refugees are all from the Dominion of Amphiston, and many of them are military dependents. General Bolognik evacuated the residents of Lanhu City, and these people are preparing to go to the two territories of Cromwell and Beringana to seek refuge with relatives and friends. They said
That's right. Their relatives or nephews are either soldiers in the Thunder Corps or the Rock Corps. The Floating Bridge Crossing Management Office is a small organization that usually maintains floating bridges and collects river crossing fees. It really doesn't dare to offend these military families.
At this time, General Albert's guards came back carrying a fat colonel. The fat colonel's face was pale, and his pants were still a little wet, as if he had just peed.
General Albert laughed: "So it's you, Colonel Felix. I didn't expect that after I haven't seen you for more than a year, your figure would be so rich. You are twice as round as before in the army. Look.
You're having a great time here."
The big fat colonel was trembling: "General, for the sake of our previous friendship, please forgive me this time. I will never dare to do it again in the future."
General Albert shook his head gently: "Colonel Felix, I am very disappointed. You were a brave officer when you were under my command. I was very optimistic about your future. When you said that you were going to transfer to the local army,
I also feel sorry for you, thinking that if you continue to work in the legion, you may become a general of the kingdom in less than ten years.
But you refused, saying that you were tired of the battlefield and wanted to live a quiet life on a pasture with your old parents. I fulfilled your wish and made you the leader of the local garrison stationed at the castle on Baik Hill.
It's so close to your ranch that you can always go home to your elderly parents...
I really want to know why all the local garrison regiments contracted to garrison Wickham have arrived at the river, while your local garrison regiment, which is half the distance away than theirs, is only halfway across the river now. Can you give me an explanation?
Yes, the emergency order you received was to reinforce Lanhu City, so did you bring so much baggage and supplies along the way to Port Patres for business?"
The fat colonel couldn't answer a word, so he stood there with his head lowered and begged for mercy: "General, please spare me this time, I won't dare to do it again..."
General Albert sighed: "Although I really want to shoot you directly, it would be too easy for you. Take him down. He has to undergo a military trial and be detained first until the war is over.
Let’s settle accounts with him again…”
Colonel Le Mandoc and Colonel Fareos both looked a little pale, and they naturally knew what General Albert meant. If General Albert took out his revolver and shot the big fat man Felix,
Colonel, then this matter ends here. But General Albert wants him to undergo a military trial, which not only means that the fat Colonel Felix will still be convicted, but also means that all the preferential treatment given to his family will be
Taken back by the war zone.
"Okay, Colonel Lemandos, I will give you a task now. Lead your soldiers across the river, separate the refugees crossing the river on the pontoon over there, and let our troops cross the river first. As for Fareos
Colonel, you also have a mission. After leading your troops across the river, you will alert and disarm the 117th Regiment. All officers and soldiers involved with Colonel Felix will be arrested. Do you understand?" Albert Lundt
The general pointed his riding crop at the two colonels standing in front of him.
"Yes, General." Colonel Lemandoc and Colonel Fareos stood at attention and saluted.