In the Name of the Queen

The northern border of Hansa Province, Oro Town.

This is a military fortress and an important checkpoint to resist the invasion from the north.

After Roland took over the three overseas provinces, the garrison here changed twice, and now it is served by the new garrison.

The 29th Battalion of Reorganized Infantry is now stationed in Oro Town, and the personnel are mainly coal miners from Hansa Province.

These miners have received simple and strict military training to become qualified musketeers. Although their fighting skills are slightly poor, their discipline and morale are very high.

Compared with the coal mines that may be buried by landslides at any time, serving as a soldier under the governor is not only well paid, but also has a high social status, not to mention that the military uniform is particularly handsome.

Roland adheres to the design concept of a certain artist and invites professional fashion designers to design the military uniform to be particularly handsome. Young guys are reluctant to take it off when they wear it, and young girls are bright when they see it.

The battalion commander of the 29th Battalion, Jebacs, is a former Silver Knight of the Knights of the White Rose. While retaining the title of Silver Knight, he was promoted to the rank of Army Major.

Standing on the watchtower of Oro Town, Major Jebacs raised his telescope and stared at the mountain pass in the north with his sharp eyes like a hawk.

The Suwig Hills is the natural dividing line between the Kingdom of Oden and the Hansa Province. Patrolmen from both sides often meet here, occasionally say hello, and even exchange some specialties.

Although the high-level officials of the Kingdom of Oden are very hostile to the Sussex people who crushed the Kingdom’s navy a hundred years ago, the two sides have frequent exchanges among the people.

Hatred belongs to the high-level officials, what does it have to do with ordinary people.

The Kingdom of Oden is small in area, and many industrial products need to be imported from the Hansa Province. Caravans often sell goods through the Suwig Pass.

However, just a few days ago, Jebacs received a warning from the Hansa Province.

"Stay alert!"

This is a small note without a beginning or an end, and the handwriting is very sloppy. It can be seen that it was written casually with the left hand that is not very good at it.

But Jebacs did not dare to neglect it.

The paper of the small note is the office paper of the Knights. Although there are traces of covering, it is still obvious.

This warning note was to make him more alert, but he didn't want to expose anything.

Who else can he be alert to in Oro Town? Only the people of Oden.

However, after receiving the note, there was no movement for three consecutive days.

Every day, caravans came from the Kingdom of Oden.

For example, now, another large caravan is slowly coming.

Jebacs let out a long sigh, put down the telescope, and planned to inform his men to prepare for the reception.

This caravan has a large number of people and is moving too slowly. Perhaps the time to close the city gate will be delayed.

The caravan has at least seven or eight hundred people, even more than the garrison in the town. Caravans of this size often undertake important trade tasks and must be taken seriously.

Jebacs stopped vigilantly after just two steps.

Wait, the caravans that went to the Kingdom of Oden recently are all about a hundred people. How could a caravan of this size suddenly appear here? Is the trade demand of the Kingdom of Oden so great?

A story suddenly flashed through his mind. It is said that a super tough guy was robbed by someone pretending to be a caravan, which led to the failure of the battle.

This was a lesson given by Governor Roland, warning them to stay alert at all times and carefully identify any suspicious points.

It is a very despicable act for the army to pretend to be a merchant, but it is very effective.

Jebacs grabbed the telescope and continued to observe, and instantly took a breath of cold air.

Is this a merchant? How can a caravan have strong men per capita, not even a fat man?

As we all know, the living conditions of merchants are very good, and wine, meat and women are their main entertainment, so many merchants take the horizontal development route.

In this era when health science is not yet popular, there are at least three fat people among ten merchants.

In a caravan, excluding guards and people doing odd jobs, there is always a group of serious merchants, and the obesity rate of these people is very high.

For a caravan of six or seven hundred people, even if the ratio is lower, there should be at least a dozen fat people.

However, this caravan has no such thing.

Jebacs snapped his fingers and called the messenger to let his subordinates get ready.

Since we know that this caravan is a ghost, we can set up a pocket ambush, just like the governor's hunting operation.

Jebacs sneered.

Half an hour later, this "caravan" that moved faster than ordinary caravans approached the closed gate of Oro Town.

The leader of the caravan waved a small white flag to indicate the identity of a non-armed group, and shouted to the soldiers on the top of the city, asking to enter the city.

"The city gate is closed, please come back tomorrow morning, everyone from the Rusong Chamber of Commerce."

"Hey, man, this is the premium gin wine ordered by your governor for the celebration. It must be delivered as soon as possible. I have a letter of introduction from the governor's office. Please be accommodating."

The captain on the top of the city was a little unsure, so he asked the caravan under the city gate to deliver the letter of introduction to the door.

The people in the caravan didn't know that the "captain" was actually Jebacs of the garrison camp.

They didn't know that Jebacs had seen through the authenticity of the letter of introduction.

After a moment of silence, a weak voice came from the city gate, "The city's reception capacity is limited. Please enter the city in batches. The first batch can enter 200 people."

Rusong, the leader of the caravan under the city gate, couldn't help but lower the brim of his hat to hide his smile.

Two hundred people are enough.

The other side is not prepared, and two hundred people can easily cooperate to capture the city.

He smiled and said, "Yes, sir!"

He selected two hundred people, hid their weapons, and slowly entered through the open city gate.

Two hundred people entering the city were walking on the dark streets. There was no light around them, only the sound of footsteps coming from people walking on the streets.

The silence was a bit eerie.

The person in charge of the outpost looked around suspiciously, and suddenly felt a chill coming from behind.

Something's wrong! Although Oro Town is a border town, it is also an important trade node. How could there be no lights at night and an ambush!

He pulled out his pistol and was about to fire a warning shot into the sky when a flying knife flew over.

He screamed, his wrist was cut off, and the pistol and hand fell to the ground at the same time.

Along with his screams, neat gunshots rang out all around, followed by violent explosions.

The dull sound of the city gates closing pronounced the two hundred men to death.

Although they fought hard, it was useless under the defenders' superior firepower, favorable terrain and early ambush.

The ambush quickly turned into a massacre.

After several rounds of dense gunfire, only screams and begging for mercy came from the city.

Mr. Ru Song, the head of the Chamber of Commerce outside the city, had a pale face. He looked up at the head of Oro Town and shouted sternly: "We are transporting gin wine for the Governor, you..."

He was answered by violent gunfire.

Jay Bacchus looked at the furious Ru Song indifferently, with murderous intent.

If he hadn't been alert in time, if he hadn't been observing the mountain pass intensively every day, if there hadn't been that little piece of warning note, the situation would have been completely different.

The battle in the city was indeed one-sided, but the ambushed enemy had high fighting qualities and fought back despite a complete collapse, causing more than a dozen casualties among the defenders.

If they were allowed to sneak in, the 29th Battalion of the Guards would be massacred.

Thinking of this, he felt scared.

When President Ru Song saw what had happened, he didn't dare to talk nonsense. He was so angry that he fired a shot at the city wall and turned around and fled.

He gritted his teeth and cursed the garrison commander for his shamelessness.

He must leave quickly and wait for the arrival of the main force.

As long as the artillery troops arrive, the small town of Oro can naturally be breached, but he must face the wrath of His Majesty the King.

Thinking of this, he felt his scalp numb and regretful.

He shouldn't have thought up this bad idea of ​​a sneak attack, which not only cost more than 200 people, but also severely damaged the morale of the entire army, and put him in a dilemma.

Ru Song regretted it so much that he wanted to die, but he would regret it even more soon.

He had no eyes in the back of his head, and he didn't notice a rifle being raised and aimed at him.

Unlike the flintlock muskets of this era, which depended entirely on faith, Jay Bacchus held a handmade bolt-action rifle.

Roland provided the manufacturing drawings, Hansa's top blacksmiths hand-made the parts for assembly, and Norton corrected the shooting accuracy. The limited edition bolt-action rifle is shaped like the M1841.

The loading speed and shooting accuracy of this rifle are far worse than those of regular bolt-action rifles. The effective range is only four hundred meters, and it cannot be mass-produced, but it is enough.

Jay Bacchus raised the corners of his mouth slightly, prayed silently in his heart, and pulled the trigger.

The bullet flew nearly two hundred meters away and accurately hit Ru Song in the back of the head.

In an era before bulletproof helmets were developed, even crude rifle bullets were lethal enough.

"boom!"

The last thing Ru Song felt was a slap on the back of his head, and then his vision went black and he fell off his horse.

He stared blankly at the sky, unconscious. He is proficient in physical skills, good at using muskets, and proficient in military command. He is a leader among the young officers of the Kingdom of Oden, and is known as the Bear Hunter.

But it's all over.

At this moment, people did not realize what this bullet from two hundred meters away meant, they just felt that Ru Song was extremely unlucky.

Jay Bucks blew on the smoking muzzle and silently thanked Governor Roland for giving him the rifle.

He hugged the rifle like a lover and barked orders.

After repelling the enemy attack, the town of Oro lit a beacon fire to warn the rear. When the beacon was lit, two carrier pigeons and a messenger riding a horse reported to Hanseatic City at the same time.

After issuing all orders, Jay Bacchus convened an emergency military meeting with officers to study countermeasures.

Although he won the battle, he did not relax.

Obviously, the enemy who came to attack tonight is just the forward, and there must be a large force behind.

The Kingdom of Oden is indeed not a top power, but it is also a brave and capable little power with good combat power. Even if Oro Town is a city of steel, it cannot stop the enemy's large forces.

Enraged enemies may even massacre the city.

The Oden people were originally pirates. They often massacred a city after occupying it, and then chopped off their heads and placed them outside the next city to intimidate the defenders.

To hold on or to run away, that is the question

?

At the military meeting, almost all officers opposed abandoning the city and fleeing.

The youngest lieutenant, a young boy who was a hunter half a year ago, stood up and shouted loudly:

"Our army has strict military discipline. Abandoning a position without orders from superiors is a death sentence, and all family property will be confiscated. Children are not allowed to receive compulsory education, and immediate family members are not allowed to hold public office. If we fight to the end, the most we will die in battle is to die in battle. If we escape, our family will be harmed. "

Jay Bucks motioned to the young officer to sit down expressionlessly.

The handsome young man sitting next to the young officer smiled and teased: "Tom, you don't even have a girlfriend, but you actually care about your family?"

The boy named Tom blushed and refuted loudly: "Even if I don't have a girlfriend, I have parents and a younger brother. Who says I don't have a family?"

Jebucks raised his hand to stop the officers from laughing, and said in a deep voice:

"Tom's opinion is to hold on to the end, what about others?"

The young officer who had just mocked Tom stood up and saluted Jebucks first, and said loudly:

"Captain, we should be prepared for both situations. First of all, we must ensure that Oro Town is defended before the enemy artillery unit appears. Oro Town is the gateway to the Hansa Plain. If it is lost, the Governor will have to fight the defense of Hansa City."

After a pause, he continued: "Secondly, we must evacuate the residents in the city in advance, the elderly and children evacuate to the country, young and middle-aged men are urgently recruited, and adult women are responsible for logistics. This can not only supplement the defense of the city, but also prepare for subsequent evacuation."

"Evacuate?"

"Jerry, what are you talking about? You are shaking the morale of the army. How can we escape without a fight!"

This sentence quickly aroused the dissatisfaction of other officers. If Jebucks hadn't asked to continue, the others would have jumped up and hit him.

"We have asked the Governor for help. The reinforcements should arrive within three days, so we must hold out for at least three days. If there is no sign of reinforcements after three days, it is time to break out."

The conference hall fell into silence.

Jerry was right. If there were no reinforcements, they would not violate military regulations even if they abandoned the city and broke out. But by then, Oro Town would be surrounded. Would there be a chance to break out?

There were only more than a hundred war horses in the city. It would be a bit disrespectful to the enemy to want to break out without riding horses, so the number of people who could break out was basically equal to the number of war horses.

Jerry's implication was that they had to hold out until the casualties exceeded 60% before they could break out.

No one asked who could break out on horseback by then.

The guns will give the answer. Whoever is alive is qualified to leave.

Jebacs stood up and said coldly: "Evacuate the elderly, weak and children tomorrow morning. The war horses will be managed and mobilized uniformly. No one is allowed to use them without my order."

"I will fight side by side with you until the final victory. Dismissed! Tom, you stay for a while."

The crowd dispersed, leaving only the youngest officer.

Looking at the boy's hairy beard, Jebacs asked in a deep voice: "Tom, how old are you?"

"Captain, I'm eighteen!"

"Bullshit!" Jebacs interrupted his lie angrily.

"Seventeen. I'll be seventeen after my birthday this year!"

Tom's eyes widened in dissatisfaction, and he defended himself angrily, "Count Sif is only a few months older than me. She can fight for the empire, why can't I?"

"Do you have the confidence to complete any task?" Jebacs used a clumsy provocation.

"Of course!" Tom blushed and was successfully angered.

"You ride my warhorse and set off to find reinforcements overnight."

"Captain, you look down on me!" Tom is just young, not really stupid. He knows that Jebacs wants him to retreat safely.

Jebacs raised his right hand and said in a cold voice, "Colonel Jess's light cavalry is stationed in the north of the Hansa Plain, but they often change their stationing location. You must find Colonel Jess within one day and bring reinforcements to rescue us. Can you guarantee to complete the task?"

Tom hesitated for a second, stood up straight and saluted Jebacs.

Looking at the thin shoulders and tender back of the young captain, Jebacs's lips smiled a little more.

Although the others are young, they have all started families, but you are the only one who is not married yet.