Iron Powder and Spellcaster

In the final analysis, the gist of the Tempest Plan was just one sentence: to force the Tertons into a battlefield where cavalry could hardly exert its power.

How do i do this?

Winters’ strategy was simple and straightforward—block all other routes.

Defense must rely on the dangers of mountains and rivers. What about the Pangtuo River where there is no danger to defend?

Then mountains and rivers can only rise from the flat ground.

A wall is a man-made mountain.

Among the two sections of fortifications, the [Shield Wall] was built under the coordination of Bard, and the ground had already been broken when Winters mobilized to evacuate the people of [Lower Tiefeng County].

The manpower used by Bader was the refugee civilians from Blackwater Town and Five Mastiff Town.

Recruiting refugees to build walls was not only to meet military needs, but also a way of management and relief.

The total length of the [Shield Wall] is about 18 kilometers. It is mostly located in areas where the terrain is uneven and difficult for large armies to pass. The wall construction method is the traditional "digging earth into trenches and ramming earth into walls."

The road leading to Oxhoof Valley and to Little Rock was deliberately left vacant by Bud - at Winters' request.

So Taichi actually wronged his subordinates.

That Qing Lingyu didn't lie. He crossed the river to explore the two roads, and indeed saw nothing. Not to mention walls and trenches, the road is flat and there is not even a ditch.

On the night of the second attack on Tushe Field by the Teltown Division, Winters led a large force to the battlefield and built a nearly 4-kilometer-long [Dagger Wall] overnight using wooden piles, baskets, soil, and brand-new soil work methods. .

When the Terdun army crossed the river the next day, the scene before Taichi appeared: a low wall that was not very high blocked his way, and the two ends of the wall extended to the end of the field of vision.

The subjects and slaves may be afraid of the rumor that "the demon helped the two-legged people build the city overnight", but Zhu Keta and Nayan are not surprised.

Although the Teldun nobles still didn't know how the two-legged people built a wall more than ten kilometers long in one night, after years of fighting, the Teldun nobles had also seen stronger city defense buildings.

The question is, how to defeat it?

…

The Terton riders carried sheepskin bags filled with soil and took turns rushing to the ditch and dropping the bags.

The Tiefeng County militiamen fought back with bows and arrows, and also threw fire clay pots filled with lamp oil, but they still could not stop the soil bags from piling up.

This fence is so short that an adult can climb over it with all his strength.

Of course the Telton barbarians would not fail to see this.

When the riders attacked the city from the front, other soldiers quietly approached the wall in a roundabout way, and climbed up the wall in cooperation with each other.

When the sentry tower on the wall saw this scene, it immediately sounded a bell and waved a flag to indicate the location.

A Terdun soldier had just climbed up the wall when he heard the sound of wind in his ears. The next moment, his skull was crushed by a flail from Dou Tou, and he fell down with a bloody head.

On the other side of the wall, an honest militiaman shouted with uncontrollable excitement: "I killed one!"

Most of the militiamen were just ordinary farmers half a month ago. They were more courageous than engaging in brutal hand-to-hand combat and beating "thieves" over the wall with flails.

Before the honest militiamen could be happy for too long, one after another Telton soldiers jumped over the wall.

Having just "gained the first level", the honest militiamen became bolder and shouted, raising their flails to hit the barbarians.

However, the Terton soldier calmly raised his shield and met the flail at a slight angle.

The flail head only left a scratch on the shield. The Terdun warrior strode forward, raised the scimitar in his hand and slashed fiercely.

The honest militiaman who was stunned on the spot was unable to react in time. His neck was almost split into two pieces and he died on the spot.

Seeing the tragic death of their companions, the other militiamen dispersed.

Soldier Telton laughed ferociously, but his personal slave knelt down and retched uncontrollably.

But Soldier Turton soon stopped laughing, and his slave could no longer vomit, for they were both dead.

It was a spear that killed the soldier of Terdun, and the person holding the spear was Bart Shalling.

Bart Shilling did not stay by the body for long. He wanted to hunt down the other Terton soldiers.

Ancient military strategists described the Heds this way: "The lower limbs of these barbarians are short and weak, atrophied from years of riding horses, so that they cannot walk for a long time at all, let alone dismount and fight on foot."

This is of course a completely untrue misunderstanding, and the Hurds could certainly fight on foot if necessary.

The misunderstanding arose, however, because the Hurds went to great lengths to avoid dismounting and fighting on foot, so that their enemies were barely visible.

Once the Huds lost their horses, they lost their most powerful weapon.

For example, these elite Telton armored men who first arrived never imagined that one day they would become Two-Legged Men, and Two-Legged Men would charge towards them on horseback with guns under their arms.

Bart Xialing led three troops of the Ten Cavalry and defeated a dozen Terton soldiers who climbed over the wall in one charge.

So the Teltun warriors spread their legs and ran for their lives, while the Palatine cavalry raised their bones high and smashed them into the back of the Teltun man's head.

This scene not only occurred in Bart Schalling's defense area, but also occurred in three other defense areas with flat terrain suitable for cavalry attacks.

…

Although it is just a low wall, Winters and Bud also made careful planning:

On the one hand, the amount of work should be reduced as much as possible according to the shape of the land; on the other hand, according to the mountain's situation, the wall should be built at a location that is difficult for cavalry to pass.

Just looking at a map, it’s easy to think of Tiefeng County as a plain.

In fact, Tiefeng County is located at the northern foot of the Jinding Mountains. She is the last ripple of the mountains. The terrain is undulating, and there is limited space suitable for large-scale cavalry troops to pass.

Based on this, Winters deployed the main company in three "throat areas", and he himself sat in the [Dagger Wall].

The defense areas of the second company, the fourth company and the militia auxiliary detachment are the most suitable key points for the cavalry to deploy - because the main road of Tiefeng County passes through this place.

…

Tai Chi and the other Teldu Nayan couldn't see what was happening on the other side of the wall.

This wall not only blocked the horses, but also blocked the line of sight of the Teltun people, preventing them from knowing the defender's deployment.

Under the horse-tail banner, several Teldun Qinglingyu could only see that the soldiers who climbed over the wall either crawled out with their heads broken and bleeding, or they never came back.

Taichi looked around, and all the faces looked uglier than the last.

Even if Zhu Nayan didn't speak, Taichi knew what Zhu Nayan was thinking.

In the battles at Perian and Styx in winter and spring, the Teldu tribe lost many members, and many leaders have not recovered from their injuries until now.

At the end of the month, the horses were fat enough, and the Terdun tribe wanted to join forces with the Suzi tribe to plunder.

The results of it? Nothing good was gained.

Then again this time when the troops were sent out, the fire-warmers clearly said they were here to thresh grass and slaughter fat sheep, so why did they start risking their lives?

Quanquan Yue's robbery was barely a profit or a loss; Shasheng Yue's robbery, if he gnawed down one bone after another, he would still lose money no matter how much he robbed.

[Note: The perfect month is in the eighth lunar month; the animal-killing month is in the tenth lunar month]

Just like a thief who suddenly realizes that stealing has turned into robbery, and like a robber who suddenly realizes that he has a difficult idea, many Telton leaders also began to think about quitting.

To understand this mentality, one must keep in mind the fact that for the Hurd tribes with low levels of productivity, the motivation for war was more economic than political.

All in all, the Turdun nobles were very reluctant to turn the grass clearing into trench filling.

Let’s not say whether we win or not, so what if we win? Make money? Compensate!

The right-wing army of Terdun Department can basically be divided into two groups.

One group is the leaders who have gained something. They are already full and just want to return the loot to the tribe as soon as possible, so they do not work hard and have no interest in filling the trenches;

The other faction is a leader who has nothing to gain and has sold many war horses, cattle and sheep. Naturally, they want to cross the river and grab a special plunder.

However, the resistance of the two-legged people is too fierce and determined. If they continue to fight like this, they will worry that they will lose everything but lose.

As far as Taichi knew, the leaders of the latter faction were colluding with each other, hoping that the roasters would come forward to redistribute the plunder of the former faction.

Take a look. Under Winters' rule, Iron Peak County was divided between the north and the south, and the Teltown people were also full of internal conflicts.

Things are so absurd and bizarre. Rather than saying that this war is a game between two chess players, it is more like a skinny nursing dog fighting to the death with a lame wolf.

Taichi didn't know what the fighting situation was like on the other side of the wall, but the siege of the city by the sacks went smoothly, and the gentle slope made of sheepskin sacks could easily be used for horse racing.

"Who wants to climb first?" Taichi turned around and asked the Yans.

Not only will you be rewarded for being the first to log in, you can also be the first to pick out the loot according to the rules. But in this situation, it might be difficult for Tai Chi to chew on the bones, so no one paid any attention to Tai Chi.

When Tai Chi's eldest son saw his father being humiliated, he became angry, pulled up his horsetail flag, and shouted: "Are you mice or birds? Are you so cowardly? Father! I'm going!"

Some of the faces were annoyed, some sneered, but all remained silent.

Taichi glanced at his eldest son and nodded at the other person who was usually at odds with him: "Wu Lianghe, go and kill him."

Qing Lingyu named Wu Lianghe knew that Tai Chi was provoking, so he didn't say anything, so he pressed his chest and saluted, and returned to his tribe with his banner.

Wu Liang and Xunsi didn't know how many two-legged people there were on the other side of the wall. Wouldn't it be a gamble to rush there?

So he called one of his subordinates, Tulukota [Subiechi], who he didn't like very much, and asked the latter to take his troops over to test the depth of the water.

Wu Lianghe specifically told Su Biechi to withdraw if the situation was not right.

Subiechi was overjoyed. Shooting the first arrow before the battle was not only a great honor for the Hed nobleman, but also an extremely generous reward.

Subiechi didn't take it seriously for Na Yan's worries.

In his opinion, the bows and arrows of the two-legged people were weak and weak. It was obvious that the people holding the bows were peasants and the like, and they could only hold on to this point by relying on a low wall.

Once the Telton cavalry leaps over the low wall and is trampled by the horse's hooves, how can the two-legged man not flee?

With this kind of confidence, Subie Chi held his bow in his hand, galloped his horse, and roared up to the wall.

Then he tried to halt his horse in terror, for at last he saw something clearly ahead of him.

Inertia did not allow Subiechi to do this, and his horse leapt down from the wall with a neighing sound.

With the height of the wall close to two meters, Subiechi's war horse can still stand firmly. It is a rare horse.

Some Terdun riders couldn't dodge and jumped off the wall, breaking their horses' legs.

The Terdun riders who reacted quickly turned their horses around, or simply gave up their horses and jumped down the slope. The hundred cavalrymen who rushed up the ramp suddenly fell on their backs.

Taichi's expression was calm, as if he had known this would happen.

Subiechi jumped over one wall, and in despair saw another wall - three walls to be exact.

Wu Liang and Chi came to Tai Chi and cursed: "Tai Chi! The two-legged man built a wall! You already knew that, right?!"

The sandwich wall that Hurd refers to is the "multi-layered city wall" in common language, which is also the "barbican city".

Bard on the second fence gave the musket firing order for the first time: "Fire!"

The musketeers in the first row did not hesitate to pull the firing rod, then the second row and the third row.

After three rounds of gunfire, Subechi had been beaten to a bloody pulp, and there were not many other Terdun people left alive in Wengcheng.

Zhu Nayan was not surprised that Wu Lianghe lost men and horses. On the contrary, the sound of muskets rang out one after another startled everyone under the Mawei Banner.

The number of muskets was limited and they were used intensively by Winters. Therefore, this was the first time that the Tiefeng County side used the musketeers.

Taichi listened to the sound of volley fire and suddenly opened his eyes: "The two-legged musketeers, they fought so neatly!"

What was heard in the air was not the sound of scattered beans popping, but the sound of uniform volleys, like drums.

Tai Chi tried his best to recall where was the last time he heard this kind of gunfire?

He remembered that it was on a small fortress northwest of Bianli. Last time, the Terdun Department also suffered a bloody head injury from the wall trench.

"After all, anyone with two legs knows this kind of shooting." Tai Chi thought hard: "Or have we met an enemy?"

"A two-legged man with a musket? He's not an ordinary two-legged man. He must be an elite guard." Another Qing Lingyu asked: "You want to fill in the trench again? Tai Chi? Why don't you and I retreat first and then make a decision? ."

Tai Chi said solemnly: "Wait a little longer."

All the Qing Lingyu looked at each other, no one knew what Tai Chi was waiting for.

On the other side of the wall, Bud waited until Winters.

"My judgment was wrong and I should not have used the musketeers." Bud said tiredly to Winters: "As soon as the gun is fired, the Teltown people will retreat. They should wait."

"It's okay." Winters took off his helmet, took a deep breath of fresh air, and motioned to the other riders behind him to remove their saddle bags: "They have to retreat anyway... pick these up and show them."

Qing Lingyu, Hong Lingyu and the ordinary Teldun tribesmen were shocked to see the long poles with heads inserted one after another from the other side of the low wall.

The long pole not only carried the head, but also carried the bloody armor and horsetail flag.

The other faces looked back at Taichi, but Taichi's face was ashen, he was holding the reins tightly, and his teeth were clenching.

The west bank of Zhongtiefeng County is about 80 kilometers wide, and the Dagger Wall and Shield Wall together are about 22 miles wide.

After the Teltowns changed the direction of their main attack, Winters shortened the width that needed to be defended.

But 22 kilometers is still too wide. To some extent, this line of defense is full of holes.

The Teltown people's advantage lies in mobility, while the Tiefeng County's advantage lies in terrain.

Therefore, Winters focused on defending a few chokepoints and used cavalry against cavalry in other places.

The Tertons could send small groups of fine cavalry to make circuitous routes across the mountains, and Winters could also send out cavalry to counter-cleanse.

Qi Bing was destroyed and Tai Chi chose to retreat.

Several other attacks and feint attacks by the Telduans also returned without success.

Winters ordered the militiamen to collect all the soil bags that Telton had discarded outside. After all, sheepskins are good things.

Daytime battles take place at the Shield Wall, while nighttime battles take place at the Dagger Wall.

"Why did the enemy general not guard the river bank, but instead gave up the river bank and deployed defenses inland?" Taichi was puzzled by this question.

That night he figured it out—or at least, he thought he figured it out.

The terrain determines that the Shield Wall and the Dagger Wall have a roughly L-shaped structure.

If the size of [L] is smaller, small enough to be within the range of muskets and artillery, then the open space between the two walls has a term called "killing zone", also called "killing field".

Although the dimensions of the Dagger Wall and Shield Wall were measured in kilometers, the relative positions of the two walls still meant a pincer attack.

The wall is not only a shield to defend against the enemy, but also a launching position for launching an attack - the content of the siege tactics course.

That night, Tai Chi learned that a large group of troops were attacking from the "Long Wall". Not only was he not surprised, but he shouted "Okay" three times.

[Note: "Long Wall" and "Short Wall" are the Teltun people's names for "Shield Wall" and "Dagger Wall\