Iron Powder and Spellcaster

[Kings' Castle]

[Jiang'an Fort]

Warrant Officer Chris Marlowe of the Federal Provincial Army walked carefully on the path between the sloping embankment and the trench. He bent down, held on to his sword belt, and held on to his helmet, trying not to make any noise as much as possible.

To his left was a long slope that gently connected to the open space around the fort.

To his right was a terrifying trench, which was nearly four meters deep and wide. Wooden sticks were inserted into the bottom of the trench and caltrops were sprinkled there.

Warrant Officer Marlowe stopped and watched, looking at the completely different scenes on the left and right sides, and felt a sense of humor in his heart.

Because beyond this slope that a cripple can easily walk up is the enemy's controlled area.

But the safe fortress was separated from him by an insurmountable trench.

…

After the Sovereignty War, by summarizing the gains and losses of a large number of urban offensive and defensive battles during the war, the Army Academy gradually formed a new theory that was different from the traditional fortress defense theory.

Compared with the traditional defense theory that studies "how not to be breached", the new theory is very deviant. Academics firmly believe that "there is no fortress that will never fall" and use this as the premise for all discussions.

While traditional defense theory viewed a fort as a durable good, the Army Academy's new theory viewed a fortified camp as a consumable.

After giving up the obsession of "must defend", the focus of defense shifted from defense itself to "slowing the enemy's siege progress" and "killing the enemy's effective force".

In terms of tactics, the new theory emphasizes that "to defend a fort, you must defend the trench, and to defend the trench, you must defend the road." That is, if the enemy is allowed to occupy one side of the trench, the lethality of firepower on the wall will be greatly reduced, and it is only a matter of time before the fortress falls.

The point of defense is not to hold the trenches, but to prevent the enemy from approaching the trenches.

Therefore, unlike the trenches that were just a trench during the Sovereignty War, the fortifications of the Kings Castle, which were personally operated by Lieutenant Colonel Raymond Montecuccoli, former director of the Artillery Science and Research Office of the Army Academy, added a lower trench in front of the trenches. Sunken causeway.

Lieutenant Colonel Montecuccoli called it the hidden road, the shooting road.

Because through clever design, the slope of the dike was just right. As long as the defending soldiers squatted in the causeway, the attackers on the dike could not see them.

Conversely, by standing up, the defender's musketeer can shoot at the climbing enemy from a small position.

…

At this moment, Warrant Officer Chris Marlowe was standing on the "hidden road" of the Jiang'an Fort.

Rather than using its scientific name, Warrant Officer Marlowe was more accustomed to using the nickname given by veterans to call the causeway under his feet - the Path of the Dead.

The reason why the veterans gave this nickname is simple: the enemy only needs to climb a gentle slope to reach the hidden road, but the soldiers guarding the hidden road have to cross a trench if they want to return to the fortress.

Although the officers assured that if the battle situation becomes critical, the soldiers guarding the hidden road can retreat to the main fort through the drawbridge.

But a suspension bridge?

Veterans who hear this word will smile.

So the "hidden road" became the "dead road".

The nickname was so catchy that even lower-ranking officers started calling him it, which made Lieutenant Colonel Raymond Montecuccoli furious.

If he hadn't been unlucky enough to draw the short lottery, Chris Marleau would never have taken the initiative to embark on the path of death.

He raised his head slightly and peered at the causeway submerged in the invisible midnight. He always felt that something was ready to move in the darkness, which sent shivers down his spine.

The war was different from what he had imagined, and it was even different from the heroic stories he had heard growing up.

There are no spectacular military formations, no heart-pounding war drums, and no earth-shattering cheers—at least not yet, just digging, digging, and digging.

The enemy also appeared on the scene in an unremarkable way. First, a few soldiers who went out for reconnaissance returned. Then, occasionally, some strange riders appeared on the horizon. Finally, General Cornelius declared martial law in the city. The whole process was uneventful. , disappointing.

Chris Marlowe couldn't help lamenting in his heart that the dramatic scenes he expected could only be seen in storybooks.

Thinking of this, Warrant Officer Marlowe just wanted to finish tonight's inspection as soon as possible, go back to the barracks as soon as possible, sip some wine, get into bed, and continue reading that wonderful tragedy.

…

If it hadn't been for this war, Chris Marlowe would still be at the "Swan" Theater Company in Guitu City, continuing to write his scripts.

On the other hand, without this war, Chris Marlowe would not have had the chance to become an officer.

Like most Army Academy losers, after graduating from the preparatory school at Heringburg, Chris Marlowe first entered the National Guard and worked as a clerk for several years.

After finally becoming a sergeant, he began to feel tired of the unchanging paperwork, so he voluntarily retired. After several twists and turns, he finally joined the Swan Theater Company.

After the coup on April 1, the federal provincial army intensively began to expand its military and prepare for war.

Retired personnel like Chris Marlowe, who had a military school education and obtained the rank of non-commissioned officer, were approached by recruiters from the Federal Provincial Army.

Chris Marlowe accepted the invitation without hesitation, not only to make up for the regret of being rejected from the Army Academy, but also because he naturally longed for the unknown and had begun to feel bored with the life of a playwright again.

So the playwright Chris Marlowe became an ordinary warrant officer in the Union Provincial Army National Guard, responsible for commanding a centurion.

Afterwards, like a dandelion in the wind, someone in the office wrote a big stroke and he was stuffed into the so-called Southern Front. Finally, by chance, he was selected by Jason Cornelius and came to the Kingdom of Galloping Horses with the brigadier general.

...

Thinking of his experience since his second military service, Marlowe couldn't help but sigh.

"Compared to this dull war," he said, looking at the dead at his feet, thinking, "maybe my experience is even more interesting."

He couldn't help but think, "Would the soldiers of the old marshal's era give the fortifications such a nickname?"

"No," Marlowe shook his head firmly, "People in the era of the Sovereignty War would only call this path the Hero's Road."

Where is the problem? Marlowe didn't want to think about it.

Out of the dignity of a federal province, he didn't want to admit that he didn't know why he came to the Castle of the Kings.

The negative mood of not knowing why to fight permeated the soldiers and lower-level officers of the entire army-as for what the top leaders were like, Chris Marlowe didn't know.

Marlowe didn't want to think about it anymore. "It's almost done," he said to himself. "I'll go back after the patrol."

Just as Marlowe was regaining his spirits, he suddenly smelled a faint smell of tobacco.

He turned to look at the soldier behind him and asked reproachfully: "Did you bring a pipe out?"

"Pipe?" The musketeer stared at by the warrant officer looked confused, "What pipe?"

"Who is smoking then?" Marlowe turned his head to look at the main fort on the other side of the trench and shouted, "Hey! No pipes allowed on night duty!"

The musketeer's stumbling voice sounded behind Marlowe, "Warrant officer! The smoke is coming from outside!"

Marlowe was startled and looked towards the diagonal embankment. He saw that the night seemed to have a shape, rolling towards him.

The choking smell reminded him that this was not night, but smoke.

"Enemy attack!" Marlowe hurriedly took out a whistle from his clothes and blew it with all his strength, "Enemy attack!"

The shrill whistle pierced the night sky. After a short delay, the riverside artillery position exploded in an instant. The shrill whistles sounded one after another, and the shouts of "enemy attack" came one after another. The awakened federal soldiers carried their weapons and stumbled to the firing position.

Hearing the movement from the artillery position, the enemy under the dike was no longer hiding.

Marlowe only heard a loud shout from outside the embankment: "Everyone - get on the horse!"

Then came the sound of fabric friction and metal scraping outside the night.

"Charge -" a loud voice sounded, "Forward!"

The strange and familiar war cry made all the federal people tremble:

"Uukhai!

"Uukhai! !

"Uukhai!!!"

The next moment, the rolling hoof sound pushed the smoke screen towards the artillery position.

Marlowe realized that something was wrong—if a lame human could walk on the dike, then there was no reason why a warhorse with four intact hooves could not.

"Retreat!" Marlowe turned and pushed the soldiers behind him, "Retreat!"

The Dead Road was a circular road, and their only hope was to return the same way.

However, the accompanying musketeer was a little confused. He widened his eyes and kept asking, "Drawbridge? Where is the drawbridge?"

Marlowe was sweating anxiously: "At this time, who would care about putting up a drawbridge for us?!"

At this moment, a series of sharp sounds came from behind the artillery.

With each sound, a red meteor was launched into the air.

However, the meteor neither broke nor annihilated, but after rising to the highest point, it slowly descended, while emitting a red light like a hot furnace fire.

"The stars fell!" The musketeer was scared.

"Why are you panicking?" Marlowe was furious. "It's a flare rocket!"

The causeway in front of the fort was barely illuminated by the light from the red star hanging in the sky. The smoke screen like a gauze had completely enveloped the fort, and many hazy figures could be seen under the causeway.

At the same time, the sound of horse hooves had reached the trench.

A jet-black horse jumped out of the smoke screen, and the cavalry on horseback saw the federal officer on the causeway and the pale-faced musketeer beside the officer at a glance.

He pulled the reins and rushed straight towards the two.

Everything happened in a flash. Marlowe wanted to move, but his body didn't obey. He stared at the Plato cavalry galloping towards him, his mind blank.

Seeing the bookish face of the federal officer, the Plato cavalry hesitated for a moment, but still gritted his teeth and swung his saber.

When his head and body were separated, Marlowe suddenly thought of a line for himself:

"I shed the first drop of blood, in a place where no one knows."

Then, the consciousness of "Chris Marlowe", the first victim of the Senas Union Civil War in the true sense, completely dissipated in this world.

The musketeer who followed the warrant officer out of the fort for inspection just blinked his eyes, and the warrant officer, who was just intact, was left with only a headless corpse, which fell limply into his arms.

The spirit of this honest tenant farmer in the front of the mountain was on the verge of collapse. He screamed and pushed away the warrant officer's body, and crawled to the artillery platform, but stepped into the trench and fell heavily on the caltrops and bamboo sticks.

Luckily, he died soon.

The federal soldiers on the artillery platform finally reacted, and with the light from the illumination rockets, they began to "ping-pong-pong" at the Palatine cavalry at the front of the trench.

On the other side, the Palatine cavalry who had cleared the sentries on the causeway quickly withdrew, and the Palatine infantry carrying ladders rushed up the causeway with shouts.

"Go and ask for help!" Captain Daly Brand, who was in charge of defending the Jiangan artillery, grabbed the collar of the messenger tightly, his eyes red, and shouted, "Go and ask for help!"

...

At the same time, at the command post in Xincheng, Major Fritz, who was on night duty, was sorting out the situation.

The command post was in a panic, and the messengers who went to inquire about the situation and the messengers who came to inquire about the situation were running around in the yard.

No matter how high the self-expectations of the federal soldiers were, tonight was the first actual combat for many of them.

Many officers in the command center were in a state where they felt they should do something but didn't know what to do.

Fortunately, Major Fritz was on duty tonight. As the maker of the combat plan, no one was more familiar with the plan than him.

"Have the fifth and sixth hundred teams assembled?" Fritz looked at the map on the table and asked with a frown.

"Get ready." Someone answered loudly.

Fritz did not immediately issue a support order, but asked again, "Has the messenger who went to other artillery positions to inquire about the situation returned?"

After a moment of silence, someone whispered, "Probably not yet."

Frittz was so angry that he slammed the table: "Send someone else!"

"Yes!" A lieutenant ran out of the war room in disgrace.

"Is General Cornelius not here yet?" Fritz unconsciously became impatient, "Send someone to wake up the general."

"Do I still need to call him?" Jason Cornelius, who was dressed neatly, strode into the war room with several entourages and said in a loud voice, "I'm afraid the entire Castle of the Kings has already woken up-"

Frittz immediately gave up his position in front of the map table, and Cornelius stood in the spotlight of everyone's attention without hesitation.

Cornelius looked around the war room and smiled, "The people of Palat are watching how we fight!"

A low laugh rang out in the war room, and the tense atmosphere was relieved invisibly.

"The Knight's Castle is exchanging fire; two centurions are ready and can be deployed at any time," Fritz reported the situation concisely, "and two more centurions are gathering."

"Just send a centurion over to show your intention," Cornelius ordered calmly, "Let Lieutenant Colonel Lodewijk's troops gather and stand by, and prepare the barge!"

The lieutenants in the operations room were a little confused when they heard the head of the department's words.

Frittz was stunned for a moment, and immediately came to his senses: "Do you think the Knight's Castle is just a feint? The rebels are actually going to attack Margit Island?"

"Don't think I don't know how you arranged me," Cornelius looked at the young faces in the operations room, imitated the tone of the students, and said:

"The tactics class of the 'Infantry Department only teaches four things: deploying reserves on the reverse slope, outflanking from the flank if the front can't penetrate, the backup plan will come in handy sooner or later, and..."

Cornelius used his eyes and gestures to signal the lieutenants to continue his words.

The officers who were trained in the military looked at each other. No one had ever seen the commander so happy and so friendly, so no one dared to speak.

It was Fritz who asked tentatively: "Before launching the real attack, we must make a feint in other directions?"

"Yes," Cornelius nodded and snorted, "It seems that only you have learned it well."

Frittz didn't know how to respond.

"Don't worry about the Knight's Castle. Gesar Adonis is not stupid enough to hit our cannons with his head," Cornelius sneered, "If he is really so stupid, this battle will be easier to fight."

The lieutenants present could not refute, nor did they dare to refute.

"Send a signal to Margit Island to warn," Cornelius ordered, "Let Lodewijk get ready as soon as possible-if he is slow, we can only collect the body of Lieutenant Colonel Montacuccoli. And..."

Cornelius glanced at the operations room, "Who is in charge of the barge tonight?"

"Report, me," a lieutenant raised his hand timidly.

"Then why are you still here?" Cornelius asked coldly.

The lieutenant woke up as if from a dream, stamped his feet, stood at attention, raised his hand to salute, and ran out in a flash.

"Tell me about the situation," Cornelius looked at Fritz, "I don't know."

Fritz suddenly felt a lot of pressure, but inexplicably relieved.

As Jason Cornelius issued orders one after another, the machine of the city defense command center began to operate little by little.

...

At the same time, upstream of Margit Island, about a hundred naked Baishan County soldiers were pushing rafts full of weapons and ammunition, trying to walk into the river as quietly as possible.

Compared with the extremely lively riverside artillery, the direction of Margit Island was particularly quiet.

On the river bank, Woods pulled a capable young man and patiently reminded him, "After landing, send someone to send the raft back immediately, don't forget! We only have these rafts now. You can only send them back so that I can send you reinforcements."

"Don't worry," the young man agreed with a smile. He was painted black all over his body, with only a mouthful of white teeth showing.

Woods originally wanted to lead the team in person for this landing battle, but General Geza strictly ordered him not to go to the island, so he could only suppress his uneasiness and entrust this mission to others.

Looking at the younger brother's still somewhat immature face, Woods suddenly felt a little reluctant.

"Take care," Woods held the younger brother's hand tightly.

The young man nodded, smiled and said goodbye to the senior, and then resolutely walked towards the Ten Arrow River.

[Thanks to the book friend [hessdong] for the leader, thank you very much]

[Thank you to all the book friends for your collection, reading, subscription, recommendation, monthly ticket, reward and comments. Thank you all]

[The map is being made, but because it is very difficult to maintain daily updates recently, the progress of the map is very slow. For the time being, I will use a simple map to take up space. I am very sorry]