Iron Powder and Spellcaster

[Kings' Castle]

[Outside Knight's Castle]

"What it is?"

In the trench, Winters asked, pointing to the fortress on the riverside.

"Which one?" Mason came over immediately.

"Those holes," Winters motioned to the senior.

Looking in the direction Winters pointed, Mason understood that the other party was asking about the shallow pit on the sloping embankment.

"I don't know what those pits are called," Mason explained with a wry smile and spoke quickly. "Originally there were not those pits around the enemy's fortress, but since Major Lauzon's cavalry rushed directly to the top of the slope, they Those pits were immediately dug on the embankment with a smaller slope, so I called them "horse traps." Alas, the enemy learned war in the war, but I was using the experience of the previous battle to direct the next battle. "

"No one is using the experience of the previous battle to prepare for the next battle." Winters cast his gaze towards the castle in the distance with a calm expression. "Isn't this learning war in war?"

After hearing the senior's words, he re-examined the sloping embankments around the fortress and confirmed that the steeper sloping embankments were still in the conventional style. Only on a few relatively flat slopes were additional shallow pits dug.

And he made some new discoveries: There are no more and no less shallow pits, with three rows in total, shaped like a honeycomb, and the total width is about two meters by visual inspection.

Two meters, a very subtle distance.

If it were on flat ground, Winters was fully confident that he could easily cross it on Changfeng.

Even war horses that are not as good as Changfeng can jump over ditches as long as they are properly trained and are not afraid of ditches.

In other words, a two-meter-wide open ditch is a terrain worth risking for the cavalry.

However, if the slope of the embankment is taken into account, the risk will become very uncontrollable.

Winters put himself in the position of the enemy commander. If he were in charge of the defense, he would dig another row or two of shallow trenches, increase the width to three meters, and simply stop the enemy cavalry from charging directly up the slope. .

But the opponent only dug two meters - considering that there was not a single extra trap outside the fortress, Winters was convinced that the commander who arranged these "traps" was deliberately using a risky but necessary trap. A trench worth exploring, luring his enemies into attacking.

This extremely calculated style makes Winters very annoying.

"On the other side," although he had already learned the identity of the enemy commander from the letter, Winters still felt a little unbelievable, "is it really Jason Cornelis?"

Mason replied without any confidence: "That's what the 'internal agent' who ran out of the city said.

"My chief - Commander-in-Chief of the Southern Front; Teacher Raymond Montecuccoli, Director of Artillery; and Major Fritz, Director of Munitions.

"It is said that the people of the King's Castle secretly call them the 'Three Mud Wagons'. Because although there is also Lieutenant Colonel William Lodwick, in fact, all matters big and small are decided by the three in front."

"Sounds like Minister Cornelius's style," Winters, who was counting the shots, commented casually.

Mason vaguely heard the smell of personal grudges and asked: "You... know the director?"

"What about you?" Winters asked noncommittally, "Do you know the director?"

"How could I know the minister?" Mason shook his head subconsciously, but he felt that his answer was not accurate enough, so he hurriedly changed his words, "Of course I know the minister, but the minister probably doesn't know me."

Winters said without looking back: "I am the same as you on this point. So do you think I 'know' Minister Cornelius?"

Mason understood what Winters meant, but this made him even more puzzled, "Then why does it feel like you have some objections to this minister?"

"Because he whipped me," Winters turned around with a half-smile, "and didn't apologize to me."

Mason was speechless. Corporal punishment was commonplace at the Army Academy. It would be a bit stingy to remember a whipping. But it seems very inappropriate to persuade people to let go of their "hatred" at this time, let alone to persuade Veneta people.

Mason changed the subject and asked about more important matters. He asked uneasily: "Knight's Castle... what do you think?"

What do you think?

Winters didn't answer immediately.

Compared with the last time he "entered and exited" the Kings' Castle, the city defense of the Kings' Castle had undergone earth-shaking changes.

If the original King's Castle New City was a leaky house, now not only have the gaps in the wall been blocked, new thorn fences have been built, drainage ditches have been dug, and at least two thousand dogs have been borrowed from next door.

As far as the Knight's Castle alone is concerned, the location of the Knight's Castle was originally the weakest link in the new city's defense.

John Jessica once taught Winters: "There is great learning at the seams of maps."

Winters’ own sentiment is: “There is also great learning at the junction of terrains.”

At the northernmost end of the new city, in the area between the river and the earth, the soil is soft and it is difficult to lay a solid foundation. Therefore, the wall of the new city turned a corner here and turned eastward along the direction of the river to give way. A large stretch of river bank.

Moreover, perhaps because the budget has been almost exhausted, this part of the city wall near the river was not built with stone, but with two wooden walls tamped with soil in the middle, and was finished hastily.

Therefore, if there were no fortifications built by the Federation Province, Winters would choose this wall as a breakthrough.

Even with the existence of Knight's Castle, it is not impossible to attack here.

However, the cost to be paid will be very high.

Yes, cost.

Once the "cost" begins to be considered, the siege party will naturally turn their attention to other areas of the new city, looking for locations with lower "cost" to break through.

For example, King's Castle, "Castle" Castle, Margit Island, Old Town...

This is a very rational line of thinking, but that's not the point.

The point is, this feeling of being led by the enemy makes Winters instinctively uncomfortable.

He couldn't tell what was causing the discomfort, but he just felt awkward.

It was as if I had entered a hut covered with cobwebs. Sticky cobwebs hung on my hands, face, and arms. The light was dim and my eyes could not see the existence of the cobwebs, but the annoying touch proved that they were real. The presence.

That's how Winters feels.

But he couldn't tell Senior Mason.

He looked at Mason - the senior's face was pale and gray, showing fatigue. He could tell that he had not gotten enough rest, as evidenced by the severe dark circles under his eyes.

But those bloodshot eyes had a kind of morbid excitement, even nervousness - this was due to excessive pressure.

Even if Mason didn't say anything, Winters could feel that because the battle situation in the Castle of Kings failed to make the expected progress, the senior had begun to fall into self-doubt.

Doubts about oneself lead to negative self-esteem, thus triggering a vicious cycle.

Winters understands the senior very well, because he has also fallen into this kind of self-doubt. In other words, he doubts himself all the time, doubts whether his own judgment is the optimal solution, and doubts whether he has failed others.

Language is very powerless in the face of this kind of emotion.

Faced with self-torture, everyone can only survive on their own.

Therefore, Winters has no way to enlighten the seniors, because it is meaningless and will only make matters worse.

There was no way for him to directly express his "cobweb-ridden" discomfort, because it was just a vague feeling, and it was also likely to make Senior Mason more painful.

"I agree with your judgment," Winters decided to discuss the matter as it happened, only talking about the objective situation and not subjective feelings. "

Although the Knights' Fort is not big, it is well-defended and not easy to chew. Go and see other places, first King's Castle and then Marget Island. "

Mason nodded and turned to lead the way.

"By the way," Winters followed, "the 'internal agent' who ran out of the city, although the King's Castle was not captured, I still want to see him before meeting Brigadier General Gesa."

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