Iron Powder and Spellcasters

   Chapter 170 Excavation

  The rivers on the big wasteland belong to the dendritic water system, and the tributaries of the river and the main stream all intersect at an acute angle.

  The Hurds built a city on the narrow and long highlands where the two rivers meet. The city is surrounded by water on three sides, which is easy to defend and difficult to attack. Only the northwest side is solid ground.

   Although the two unnamed rivers are swift, they are not too wide and can be crossed smoothly by swimming or boating. The land around Bienli City was thus divided into three parts by two rivers.

   Therefore, the army of Palatu who was besieging the city was also divided into three, and the two armies were located in the south and northeast across the river to prevent the Hed people in the city from crossing the river and fleeing.

   Most of the main force crossed the river and set up camp in the northwest of Tucheng, building walls and trenches to block the way out on land. At the same time, there are temporary bridges erected by engineers over the two rivers to connect the three places.

  Palatu's army has been besieging the city for nearly two months, and these arrangements have been completed long before the arrival of Jesska's army.

Although    did not launch a direct attack on the city wall, the Paratus did not sit idle during this time.

  Under the instruction of Major General Arpad, the sappers never stopped digging into the tunnel under the city wall. Most of the wood pulled back by the Jesska brigade was used by the sappers to reinforce the tunnels.

   However, the progress of the tunnel is a secret, and the officers of the Jesska Brigade do not know.

  As auxiliary soldiers, they only need to be responsible for digging and guarding trenches.

   No one knows the decision-making process above, but at least the generals have agreed.

Two battalions of infantry and a squadron of cavalry from the    5th Corps left the main force and headed eastward. According to Brigadier General Sackler's order, they would return to the west bank of the Styx to re-build the pontoon bridge.

   In addition, the Palatine army had no further divisions, and attacked the city of Bianli with all their strength.

  …

  The attack of the Platoons began after noon, when the light was favorable.

   Several of the generals of Prato are senior professional officers, and they can tell at a glance the arrangement of the Hurds.

   The Tucheng "Bianli" is long and narrow in shape, roughly divided into three parts: west, middle and east.

   Among them, the main city is the highest, and the east and west sides of the main city are the acropolis built by the Hurds.

  Due to the cutting action of the river, the terrain on the north and south sides of Tucheng is steep, and the river acts as a barrier. Attacking from these two directions will only run into a bloodbath.

  The terrain in the west and east is relatively flat, but the East Acropolis is surrounded by water on three sides and is equally difficult to attack.

   Therefore, the west side is the most vulnerable position of Bianli, and the Hurds will definitely arrange their main force in the West Acropolis, and the battle for the western wall will determine the success or failure of this battle.

   The Hurds invited the battle in a dignified array, and there was no trick to use, so they could only bite the bone.

  When the sun was at its highest, Arpad sent for the last time to persuade him to surrender. The Hurds simply refused, but they were very graceful and did not attack the messenger.

   The drums of war were rumbling, which was the signal for the attack of the Paratus.

   The desolate horn sounded from a distance, and the figures on the city walls flickered. Several city gates also slammed open, and the Hurds began to enter the fortifications under the city walls.

  Under the guidance of the officer, the Palatine people behind the barrier roared in unison. The waves of voices were higher than waves, and everyone was excited to hear this battle cry.

  The battle cry echoed in the wasteland, and the Palatine army came out.

   Winters stuck his body out of the ditch used to resist the enemy breaking out of the city and watched the heavily armored Plato soldiers push dozens of chariots to cover the musketeers slowly approaching the city wall.

  Alaric's thousand-man team once pushed a cart to attack the Styx army camp, and now the Paratus people have come up with exactly the same tactics, and Winters can't help laughing.

  The time is tight, and the Hurds have weak long-range firepower. The superiors think that there is no need to dig trenches to advance. Brigadier General Sackler ordered a direct attack on the city wall.

   Winters' troops are not in the siege sequence, and the Jesska team is responsible for defending a blockade, so Winters can build trenches according to his own ideas.

   This kind of thing, he has done well in the archipelago.

   He arranged the trenches at six-meter intervals and did not run through them horizontally, thus saving man-hours.

   Scattering soldiers like salt was easy to break, and Winters widened every corner of the trench so that it could accommodate two ten-man teams, which he called the angle of attack.

  Beside Winters, the militiamen also stuck their heads out of the trench, watching nervously as the siege troops pressed against the city wall.

   A few puffs of white smoke rose from the city walls of the highlands, and Winters felt a little tight-Bello didn't lie, the Hurds really had artillery.

  The artillery shells flew towards the trench where Winters was located with the thunder, and the militiamen screamed and returned to the trench one after another.

  Winters didn't move at all, and the shells flew past four or five meters above the trench with a bang, and flew to somewhere.

What's the point of    shelling a trench? The gunner in the city must have aimed at the chariot, but it was too crooked.

   Winters couldn't help shaking his head. In his opinion, the siege ability of the Paratus was as poor as the defending ability of the Hurds, and they were both third-rate.

   A militiaman next to him got up from the ground and suddenly said, "Why are you shaking your head? Sir."

   Winters looked at the questioning militiaman: "What's your name?"

   A large number of militiamen have been recruited under his command, so that he still does not recognize all of them.

   "Ish, Ish of Ganshui Town." The militiamen were stared at by the blood wolf, so nervous that they were at a loss.

  The other militiamen in the attack corner also stiffened for a while.

   "I shook my head, because sieging the city like this is foolhardy." Winters tried to remember the appearance and names of the militia before him.

   He jumped back to the ditch and said while slapping the dirt on his hands, "Don't look at it, Bian Li can't get down today. Pick up the shovel and keep digging forward!"

  …

   The chariot approached the earth wall, the musketeers suppressed the archers on the wall, and the swordsmen and shields jumped over the wooden fences, low walls, and ditches under the city to fight the Hurds.

   In winter, the days are short, and the Palatine army fought hard all afternoon and even failed to clear the fortifications under the city.

   Seeing that the sky was dark, Brigadier General Sackler had to order the troops to return to the camp.

  After the sun went down, Andre and Mason reunited in Winters' tent. This time, not only the two of them, but also Lieutenant Veneta, who was in the frontline camp, also came to have a dinner.

   There were no less than ten people squeezed into the small military tent, and everyone could not stretch their legs, so they could only curl up in grievances.

  The atmosphere in the tent was very warm, and some people brought wine.

   The Veneta ensigns had gathered so many people for the first time since they were exiled in the country of galloping horses. In the same period, fellow villagers and comrades-in-arms reunited after a long absence, only to hug and cry on the spot.

  The bone-piercing cold wind screamed outside the tent, but the people sitting around the iron furnace didn't feel cold at all.

  Bud was not there because he was on the night shift on the first day, and he was still counting the stars in the trench.

   "Emotional rams are all useless?" There was only himself in the tent, and Andre recklessly commented: "On this level, I can go up to me too! It's just a matter of life."

"Actually, the barbarians are a bit disciplined. The triangular fort, the multiple trenches, and the cross-fire between the city and the city will give everyone a headache. Just because the artillery hasn't exploded in the afternoon, it's not an ordinary barbarian." Wine, pass the bottle to the right

   Vettel's right hand side is Winters, Winters took the bottle, but didn't drink it, and then passed to the right.

   He sighed and said, "I dug trenches all afternoon, and I don't even know who I am fighting. Who is the defender in the city?"

   "It seems to be called... Yasin." Vitol rubbed his temples and tried to recall: "The chief of the Chihe Department, the barbarians call him the White Lion."

  Andre's spirit suddenly came: "White lion? Winters hunted a giant lion! The head is as big as a wheel! It weighs hundreds of pounds!"

"yes?"

   "It wasn't me, it was a hunter." Winters didn't want to talk about this topic at all.

   Berian lifted the curtain and brought in an iron pot, which was filled with hot meatball soup.

  The weather was cold, and the food would cool down quickly. Berion put the pot on the iron stove in the middle of the tent and continued to cook. Winters added some wood to the stove.

  The food stopped chatting, everyone cleaned the meatballs first, and then boiled noodles with the soup in the pot to eat. In the wilderness on the edge of this "civilized world", several Veneta people actually tasted a touch of hometown.

   After a full meal, Lieutenant Sanu of the Cavalry Division licked his fingers and said, "I'm curious, where did the barbarians come from? They can make cannons? And gunpowder? Cannonballs? Gunners?"

  Andre picked his teeth and snorted coldly: "The Tanirians can get cannons, why can't the Hurds? The old horse said that the inscriptions on the heavy cannons on the Red Iwo Island have been filed away."

   Speaking of Marcello who was killed in action, everyone was a little sad for a while.

   Winters recalled the way Marcello walked towards him at the celebration dinner, as if it were just yesterday.

  Kona asked hesitantly: "What do you mean... Maybe someone deliberately provides artillery and technology to the barbarians?"

   "It's not possible, it is! The barbarians will be defending the city. I said no one will teach them, do you believe it? It must be the ghost of the Union Province muddy! Last year, we punished us, this year, the Palatine people!"

   "Can't be so arbitrary..." Kona was still struggling.

Andre stared and shouted: "A circle of forces that can cast heavy artillery around Palatu - the United Province, Veneta, and the oathbreakers in the north. If it is not us, if it is not the United Province, can it still be Oathbreaker? Stop thinking about it! It's the mud guy who is supporting the barbarian."

   Lieutenant Mason looked a little embarrassed. Bud was not there, and he was the only one in the tent.

  Andre hurriedly added: "Senior, the mud guy didn't mean you."

   Mason was even more embarrassed, his smile was bitter: "It's nothing, anyway, the Union province didn't treat me as a Union province person, and Palatu didn't regard me as a Palatonian. I'm not on the same page."

  The atmosphere was cold for a while.

"In Palatu, we are all strangers." Winters wanted to change the subject and bring the chat back to the military: "I think it is normal for the Palatu people to be bad at attacking cities, and they fight against the Hurds. The cavalry has always been vertical and horizontal, where does it need to attack? The cavalry is too important, and the infantry is suppressed. Isn't Arpad a level higher than Sackler?"

   In the Palatine Army, Major General Arpad was born in cavalry, while Sackler, who was born in the infantry division, was only a brigadier general, and the commander General Janos was also a cavalry commander in the Sovereign War.

   "I've said all the ugly things, so don't spit it out." Andre, who was sulking on the side, stubbornly pulled the topic back: "It happens that everyone is here, I have something I want to discuss with you."

   All eyes were on Andre.

  Andre cleared his throat and said in a deep voice, "I think, no matter whether the Paratus can win or not, we have to prepare early..."

  …

  …

   On the first day, the siege of the city was not smooth. On the second day, Brigadier General Sekler attacked the city wall very early in the morning, and the tunnel troops also stepped up digging overnight.

The walls of   Tucheng were not high, but the Palatine army lacked artillery—even if there were artillery, it would not be effective against the low walls constructed of civil engineering—they had to use chariots to cover and clear the city, and then dig the wall to blast it.

  The Hurds built two bastions on the western wall, excavated multi-layered trenches outside the city, erected wooden railings and low walls, and arranged shooters-mainly archers and a few muskets above and below the city.

The main direction of   Plato's army is two bastions, and there is no way to attack the city gate without first pulling out the two bastions.

   Sergeant Miller of the Chief Brigade of the Fifth Legion pushed his cart all the way up the hill, and when he finally reached the first parapet, he was sweating and panting.

  Because of the terrain, the parapets under the city are higher than each other, and they will not block the shooting range.

  The arrows from the upper and lower parts of the city hit the chariot, making a series of muffled sounds.

  Miller's men held up their shields and tried their best to hide behind the carriage. Many Hurds are still using bone arrowheads and stone arrowheads, but they can't help plate armor, but no one wants to gamble on luck.

   What's more, the sword and shield hand only has half body armor, and the Heard archer specially shoots their legs.

  The sound of arrows breaking through the air was occasionally mixed with the muffled sound of muskets, which was the most terrifying sound for sword and shield players.

   had reached ten paces in front of the wall, but everyone cowered, Sergeant Miller gritted his teeth and charged towards the parapet with a roar against his shield.

   An arrow hit Miller in the chest, and the arrow and sawdust splashed in the harsh crisp sound. Miller froze for a while, but continued to charge forward.

   The other Platoon soldiers saw the sergeant taking the lead, and they also followed. The musketeers mounted the barrels on the chariot and began to shoot at the archers on the city.

After a fight, the Hurds were defeated, and Miller led someone to clear this small section of the parapet.

  The city was still raining arrows. Miller was shot in the right leg, and his comrade-in-arms dragged him back to the other side of the parapet.

  The Platonic soldiers temporarily resisted the bullets of the Hurds against the Hurd's parapet.

   Next they need to fill the trench, then attack the next parapet, then fill the trench, and then attack the next parapet before finally touching the city wall.

While the   Platus soldiers were fighting fiercely with the Hurds under the city, Winters was still leading people to dig a Z-shaped trench that stretched toward the city wall.

   In his eyes, the soldiers of Paratus were brave enough, but the generals were too impatient and underestimated the enemy, always thinking of rushing down.

  It should be noted that foaming will not delay shaving beards. There is an uphill road of more than 600 meters between the Palatine army's attack position and the city wall.

  I can’t find a way to shorten this distance, how can I launch an effective impact on the city wall?

   And Plato's generals have yet to realize the importance of keeping the enemy within the walls.

   As an officer who had closely watched Antonio's command of the siege battle, Winters found that every time the elders attacked the city, the first thing to do was to find a way to lock the enemy in the city wall.

  In the middle of the attack and defense of the tower city, Veneta soldiers even sneaked into the city trenches in the middle of the night to recover the shells, but the Union Army was trapped behind the city wall and could not move, so they could only watch.

   Once the defenders can't get out of the city wall, the city will not be far from the fall.

   But now the Palatu army is attacking Bianli City. According to Bard, who was on the night watch last night, it was the Hurds who sneaked out of the city gate at night to recover arrows and repair the fortifications.

   In this way, the siege will turn into a complete war of human attrition, which is by no means what the siege party wants to see.

  So when the half-armored Palatus sword and shield slaughtered with the Hurds under the city walls, Winters was leading people to dig trenches.

   Lieutenant Colonel Jesska did not give such an order, but he did not stop it either.

Lieutenant Colonel    went to see Brigadier General Sackler, and soon more miners and militiamen were assigned to Winters - digging trenches.

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   (end of this chapter)