Iron Powder and Spellcaster

[Maplestone City Directly Administered District]

[Mai Qiu]

Seb Carrington crouched in the wheat field, motionless, and the rye, which was half a man's height, engulfed him.

The green wheat leaves were billowing in the wind, and Seb was among them, like rocks appearing and disappearing in the waves.

In Seb's field of vision, the figure half a kilometer away was as small as an ant. Swarms of ants crawled slowly along the provincial road toward Green Valley.

While observing the smoke and dust rising on the road, Seb concentrated on counting the flags flying in the marching column.

The Red Rose troops that set out from Maple Stone City were equipped with too few light cavalry, and the quality was not good either.

Although they all wore high-quality military horses, their clothes were clean and tidy, and their chests were full of the energy of newborn calves who are not afraid of tigers, at first glance they looked like new recruits who had just joined the army.

In a small-scale chase, the light cavalry recruits were beaten to a pulp by Seb Carrington's veteran scouts riding short hud horses and wearing tattered clothes.

They are often energetically chasing the scurrying enemies one moment, and then suddenly find themselves being led into an ambush the next moment.

After fighting two small battles based on the terrain, Major Seb Carrington easily surrendered half of the enemy's troops and also stripped off a lot of new clothes.

On the other side, the light cavalry recruits who were lucky enough to escape were completely frightened and no longer had the courage to take the initiative to attack. They only dared to wander around their own marching column.

The enemy's light cavalry's activity space was thus compressed by Seber within one kilometer on both sides of the column.

For an army, with such a small reconnaissance range, it is almost indistinguishable from the blind or the deaf.

There were some daring scouts under Seber who even began to provoke and harass the enemy at close range.

They rode the fine horses they had just captured and carried two spring-loaded guns. They first led the horses and walked concealed to a position about one kilometer away from the enemy column. Once they saw the right opportunity, they suddenly mounted their horses and rushed within fifty meters of the enemy's column. They raised their hands and fired two "bang bang" shots. Regardless of whether they hit or not, they just pulled the reins and patted the horses and drove away.

The enemy light cavalry who arrived belatedly often only dared to chase for a short distance symbolically, and did not even have the guts to cross the dirt bags on both sides of the road.

As soon as the harassers disappeared behind the hillside, they would retreat and continue to wander beside the marching column.

It was precisely because the enemy's light cavalry had been completely suppressed that Seb Carrington had the opportunity to approach within half a kilometer of the enemy for reconnaissance without being detected by the enemy.

…

The marching column in the distance suddenly made some changes.

Seb noticed a rider who appeared to be wearing a school officer's uniform galloping from the front of the column.

The rider and several followers galloped against the direction of the "ant colony", stationed their horses, and then called out several "ants" from the "ant colony" as if to ask questions.

Seb unconsciously narrowed his eyes, and his intuition told him that the rider who seemed to be a school officer was probably the commander of this unit.

He secretly calculated: the opponent marched in units of hundreds, and the formation was deliberately kept very compact, obviously to prepare for a cavalry surprise attack.

But... fast in and out, there is always a chance.

The problem is that at this moment, behind the mound half a kilometer behind Seb, there are only twenty-four men on standby.

After returning from the surprise attack on the Red Training Division, Winters did not choose to disband the more than a thousand light cavalry he had transferred. Instead, he directly organized them into six light cavalry squadrons and gave four of them to Major Seber's command.

Currently, Seb Carrington's four cavalry squadrons are scattered on the roads and trails from Maplestone City to Green Valley, providing security, communications and reconnaissance for the entire army. Another part was sent to Wargne County to monitor the Sander Department.

For the vast newly cultivated land, spreading a few hundred cavalry is like salt thrown into the sea, and it will be diluted clean quickly. Therefore, the four tents and twenty-four cavalry are all the troops that Seb can temporarily control.

Although Seb is famous for being "fearless to the point of madness", he is not stupid and would not seek death.

Staring at the figure riding a bay-red horse under the mound, Seb thought with regret: "You are lucky today, my friend."

To be honest, Seb had an inexplicable feeling of sympathy for the enemy commander whose identity was still unknown at the foot of the hillside.

He admired the other person's ability to endure - not sarcastically.

In the face of all kinds of harassment and provocation, the other party did not lose any control or overreact, and remained calm and forbearing. Seb asked himself that he could not do it.

Therefore, Seb tried his best to compare the other person's figure and style with the classmates and colleagues in his memory, but he could never think of anyone who had this ability.

Suddenly, there was a rustling sound behind him.

Seb held the dagger warily and asked in a low voice: "Who?"

"It's me, Major." A lieutenant with clean shaven hair and a green scalp crawled next to Seb, raised his neck and saluted, and reported in a low voice: "The prisoner has been taken."

Seb put down the dagger and continued to observe the enemy's situation: "Speak."

"Those prisoners said they were members of the Sixth Legion."

Seb suddenly turned around and glared: "The Sixth Legion?"

The lieutenant hurriedly explained: "It's not our sixth legion, it's the sixth legion reorganized by the Great Council, also called the 'Kings'."

Seb snorted coldly and turned away.

"There are more interesting things." The lieutenant licked his lips and continued to report: "According to the prisoners, they were recruited and trained in Xilin Province. They had been stationed in Xilin Province before and had just arrived in Maple Stone City the day before yesterday. "

Seb asked without looking back: "The prisoner's words, are they reliable?"

"They were all interrogated individually, and the answers were similar. It shouldn't be collusion."

Seb said "hmm" and asked again: "How much do they know about the situation in Maplestone City?"

"They don't know anything." The lieutenant replied: "According to them, they never entered Maple Leaf Castle at all. They just rested for one night in Maple Stone City and hurriedly hit the road again. But according to them, Maple Leaf Castle gave them a supplement Brigade, plus their original five brigades, there are currently a total of six brigades going to Green Valley."

Seb did a mental calculation and found that there were approximately 3,000 people in the six brigades, which was basically in line with the information he had observed.

"In other words, these people are not members of the New Reclamation Corps - reinforcements from the Grand Council have arrived." Major Principal Seber sighed, and asked his subordinates: "Have you sent someone to Green Valley to report the latest enemy situation to Captain Montagne? ?”

The lieutenant replied softly: "No."

Seb turned his head and his eyes became sharp: "What do you mean?"

"There is another piece of information that was also given by the prisoner." The lieutenant said slowly: "You need to decide whether to inform Captain Montagne."

"Stop talking nonsense! Say it."

"This group of Grand Council troops who came to Maplestone City by land only consisted of five brigades of the so-called Sixth Army." The lieutenant licked his lips again and said hesitantly: "According to the prisoners, there are other members of the Sixth Army of the puppet government. The five brigades came by boat..."

Countless possibilities exploded in Seb's mind: "You came by boat? When did you come? Where are you now?"

"I don't know." The lieutenant replied honestly: "They only know that the other five brigades came by boat to cultivate new land."

Seb's head began to hurt. He cleared his mind of distracting thoughts, stared at his subordinates, and said coldly: "Give the prisoner the information... No, send the prisoner to Captain Montagne! Go now! You Go in person!”

The lieutenant felt guilty and quickly saluted and answered yes.

"Don't leave yet." Seb stopped his subordinates and pointed to the red horse commander at the foot of the hillside: "Has the prisoner revealed the identity of the enemy's reinforcements commander?"

"It is said that his surname is Felt, his name is Alder, and he is a major."

"Alder Felt." Seb frowned and chewed for a long time: "Why haven't you heard of it? It doesn't seem to be a name from Plato?"

"We are not from Plato, but from the United Provinces." The lieutenant explained: "Originally, we came to help the puppet government train new soldiers, but this time we also went on the expedition."

Seb chuckled lightly: "So that's it...have you brought your soldiers?"

"Yes." The lieutenant nodded heavily: "Twenty-four riders in four tents are waiting at the back."

"How many veterans there are."

"half."

"Then you can try it." Seb opened his mouth and moved his lower jaw vigorously, revealing two pointed teeth. He told his subordinates: "Leave your team to me. You can take the prisoners to Green Valley and report the latest military situation to Captain Montagne."

The wind blew through the wheat fields where the beasts were hiding, but it made their presence increasingly difficult to detect.

"Young man." Seb Carrington stared at the school officer riding a bay horse down the hillside and spat: "You are unlucky today."

…

Behind him is Maplestone City, in front is Maiqiu Town, on both sides are gently undulating earth bags, and under his feet is the dusty provincial road.

Faced with the situation of being frequently harassed and provoked, and with a dim view of the surrounding enemies, Major Alder Felt could only choose to swallow his anger and bury his head in the road.

After running forward with his men, he personally confirmed the losses of the light cavalry detachment: less than a day after setting off from Maple Stone City, half of the squadron of light cavalry assigned to him had been lost, and the remaining light cavalry had lost all fighting spirit. none.

The honorary officer in charge of commanding the light cavalry looked ashamed and stood in front of Major Alder Felt with his head bowed, not daring to say a word.

Major Felt sighed, but in the end did not say any harsh words. Because he knew very well that the current situation could not be entirely blamed on this honorary officer who had just been trained.

The harassment by small groups of enemy cavalry continued, and the sound of hooves and gunshots could be heard from time to time on both sides of the road.

Major Felt could only order to ignore it and continue on his way.

There was no way, if he was prepared or reacted violently, his marching speed would be slowed down, which would defeat the opponent's intention.

Major Felt participated in actual combat in Plato for the first time, and he immediately understood the difference between the art of war in the country of galloping horses and the densely populated and crisscrossed United Provinces.

Fortunately, the town of Maiqiu is ahead. Once they enter a strong fortified town, the harassment of a small group of light cavalry will be meaningless.

"Don't be lazy!" Major Felt stood on the side of the road and loudly encouraged the soldiers: "When you arrive at McCull Town, you can rest as much as you like."

The soldiers responded to the major's speech with silence.

Major Felt knew that he was not good at eloquence, so he waved his riding crop and hurried to the front of the queue.

Just as he turned a sharp bend at the bottom of the slope, he suddenly heard the sound of horse hooves like hail.

Major Felt raised his head, and a small group of cavalry jumped out from the reverse slope of the hillside and rushed towards him like arrows.

…

[Jinghu County]

[Green Valley Town]

The Tiefeng County troops did not stay overnight in Green Valley Town, but found an open space to camp outside the town.

The prisoners were also taken outside the town and interrogated and screened one by one.

In addition to the companies responsible for guarding the north and south gates, only Charles led the military police into Green Valley Town to seize the supplies and properties of the new reclamation army.

The frightened citizens of Green Valley Town discovered that the "rebels" were far more amiable than they imagined. Not only did they not loot, burn or loot, they did not even buy or sell by force.

The officers who went to the merchants in the town to purchase supplies were soft-spoken and had an amiable attitude. They settled with real money and silver—the officers and soldiers had never been so unreasonable when they were there.

The mayor of Green Valley Town consciously collected a batch of wine, meat and flour, and personally delivered them to the camp outside the town with several representatives of the townspeople.

After winning the battle and having extra meals, the new army's camp in Tiefeng County was filled with a joyful atmosphere both inside and outside - except for the Chinese army's tent.

The Chinese army's tent was silent.

The guards and clerks didn't even dare to breathe hard, because Winters Montagne was brooding over the map.

"Are you still hesitating?!" Andre couldn't stand the tormenting silence anymore. He stood up, pointed at the map, and cut through the mess with a quick knife:

"Now that the enemies of Maple Leaf Castle have crawled out of their turtle shells, we must not let them shrink back! Kill them, and Maple Stone City will be at your fingertips! Didn't the people of Leiqun County say, 'In the warehouse of Maple Stone City, there are mountains of food and supplies?' . The wealth accumulated by General Adams will not be taken for nothing. They can use it, and we can use it as well."

Winters is still weighing in.

On the map in front of him, an enemy force was heading towards Green Valley from Maplestone City.

On the other side of Yinque Mountain, the troops representing Baishan County, Leiqun County, and Bianjiang County are still staying in Changhu Town and have not moved their positions for six hours - because the latest communication cavalry arrived on the 6th. hours ago.

If you include the time spent by the communication cavalry on their way, then at least ten hours ago, the main force led by Colonel Bode had left Changhu Town and advanced towards Snake Lake.

According to the original idea, although the four-county coalition forces separated the Tiefeng County army to guard the back road, the troops from Baishan County, Leiqun County, and Bianjiang County would still have a strength advantage when facing the Saner Department.

if only……

Winters picked up a chess piece, rubbed it in his hand, and said to himself: "As long as Saner's department does not receive reinforcements."

Yes, if the Saner Department really received unexpected reinforcements, then the main force of the twelve brigades led by Colonel Bode will not face the Saner Department with "possibly ten brigades". .

It is the Saner Department that "has at least twelve brigades, and may even expand to fourteen brigades."

"If Sanel really gets reinforcements from the King's Castle." Winters raised his head, looked at Andre, and said coldly: "Colonel Bode may be in danger."

"Do you really believe that crying boy?" Andre said anxiously: "Didn't he just listen to what the messenger said casually? Who knows the truth? What if he lied to you? What if he died? what to do?!"

Winters repeated slowly: "If Saner really gets reinforcements from the Castles of the Kings, Colonel Bode may be in danger. If Colonel Bode's main force is defeated, the garrison of Wargne County will definitely be dispatched. At that time, we will have no way to retreat.”

Andre's face turned gray, and under the extreme pressure, he unconsciously became extremely irritable.

Andre showed an angry look on his face and gritted his teeth and said: "Since Colonel Bode has deployed like this, we can only believe in him! Just like he believes in us! Otherwise? Support the main force? What about Green Valley? The retreat of the army What should we do? Even if we really give up Green Valley and support Colonel Bode, it might be too late!"

He slammed the table: "There are ten thousand birds in the forest, it is better to have one bird in your hand! If you ask me, just attack Maple Stone City!"

Winters held the marching table, but under the extreme pressure, he became unusually quiet - as if the person who won the title of "Wolf Blood" was not Winters Montagne.

He stared at the map and said nothing.

[This "close-up reconnaissance" tactic is not something I made up or imagined. Let's just say that during the Peninsular War, the British staff officers would get close to a position that was within the French army's field of vision but out of reach of their guns. Blatantly detect and record the movements of the French army. When the French army came out to chase them, they ran away. It is said that the British army staff's riding skills were very good, so they often got rid of the French light cavalry in just a few obstacles.] [Before the popularity of rifles, many times the infantry had to watch and be beaten by the cavalry. Play like this...] [Thank you book friends for your collection, reading, subscription, recommendation tickets, monthly tickets, rewards and comments, thank you all]