Iron Powder and Spellcasters

   Chapter 296 Death

The gist of the    Tempest plan boiled down to only one sentence: to force the Terdens into battles where the cavalry could hardly exert their power.

How do i do this?

   Winters' strategy is simple and straightforward—block all other routes.

   Defense must rely on the dangers of mountains, rivers and rivers. What about the Pangtuo River who has no danger to defend?

  Then there are only mountains and rivers rising from the ground.

  Walls are man-made mountains.

   Among the two fortifications, the construction of the [Shield Wall] was coordinated by Bard, which had already broken ground when Winters mobilized the people to evacuate [Lower Iron Peak].

   And the manpower used by Bard was the refugee civilians in Blackwater Town and Wumastiff Town.

   Recruiting refugees to build the wall is not only to meet military needs, but also a way of management and relief.

The total length of   [Shield Wall] is about 18 kilometers. Most of them are located in areas where the terrain is uneven and it is difficult for the army to pass through.

  The road to Oxhoof Valley and to Little Rock, Bud deliberately left open—as Winters requested.

   So Tai Chi actually wronged his subordinates.

   That Qingling Yu didn't lie, he crossed the river to investigate two roads, and indeed he didn't see anything. Not to mention walls and trenches, the road is flat, and there is not even a ditch.

On the night of Teltown's second attack on the field, Winters led a large army to the battlefield and used wooden stakes, baskets, soil and a new way of soil work to build a nearly 4-kilometer-long [Dagger Wall] overnight. .

   On the second day, when the army of Teltown's army crossed the river, the scene in front of Tai Chi 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.

   Dependents and slaves may be afraid because of the rumor that "demon helps two-legged people build a city overnight", but Zhu Keta and Nayan are not surprised.

  Although it is still unclear how the two-legged man built the ten-kilometer-long wall in one night, after many years of fighting, the Turdun nobles have also seen stronger city defense buildings.

   The question is, how to break it?

  …

  Telltown riders, carrying sheepskin sacks full of soil, took turns rushing to the ditch and dropping the sacks.

   The Tiefeng County militiamen returned fire with bows and arrows, and at the same time threw fiery clay pots filled with lamp oil, but they still could not stop the soil sacs from getting higher and higher.

  This fence is really too short, so short that an adult can climb over it with effort.

Of course   Teltown Barbarians could not fail to see this.

When the    riders attacked the city from the front, another armored soldier quietly approached the wall and climbed up the wall in cooperation with each other.

  The sentry tower on the wall saw this scene, and immediately rang the bell to warn and waved the flag to indicate the location.

   A Terdun armored man had just climbed up the wall, only to hear the sound of wind in his ears, and the next moment he was shattered by a flail from his head, and his head fell with blood.

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

  Most of the militiamen were just ordinary farmers half a month ago. Compared with brutal melee combat, they were more courageous than the "thieves" who knocked over the wall with flails.

   The honest militiamen did not wait too long to be happy, and one after another, the Tordun soldiers jumped over the wall.

   Just "captured the first level", the honest militia became courageous, and shouted and raised the flail to hit the barbarian.

   However, the Turdun Armor raised his shield unhurriedly and met the flail at a slight angle.

   The head of the flail only left a scratch on the shield, and the Teldun armored men strode forward, raising the machete in their hands and slashing fiercely.

   The honest militiamen who were stunned in place couldn't react quickly, their necks were almost split in two, and they died on the spot.

   Seeing the tragic death of his companion, the other militiamen scattered in a hurry.

  The Tordon Armor laughed viciously, while his personal slave knelt uncontrollably and retched.

   But the Turdun Armor soon stopped laughing, and neither did his slaves, because they were both dead.

  It was a cavalry spear who killed the Tordun armor, and the man holding the cavalry spear was Bart Shalling.

  Bart Shalling didn't stay beside the corpse for much longer, and he wanted to hunt down the other Teldun armorers.

  The ancient military strategists described the Hurds as follows: "The lower limbs of these barbarians are short and weak, and they have shrunk because of the years of riding, so that they can't walk for a long time, let alone dismounting to fight on foot."

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

   However, the reason why the misunderstanding occurs is that the Hurds will try their best to avoid dismounting and fighting, so that their enemies are almost invisible.

   Once the Hurds lost their horses, they left their most powerful weapons.

   For example, these first-class elites in Teltown armor, they never imagined that one day they would become two-legged men, and the two-legged men charged at them on horses and with guns in between.

  Bart Haring led three ten cavalry teams, and with a single charge, he defeated the dozen or so Teldun soldiers who had come over the wall.

  Therefore, the Teldun armor spread out on two legs to escape, while the Platoon cavalry raised the bone high and smashed it at the back of the Teldun man's head.

   This scene not only happened in the defense area of ​​Bart Shalling, but also occurred in three other defense areas with flat terrain and suitable for cavalry attack.

  …

  Although it is only a low wall, Winters and Budd have also done careful planning:

   On the one hand, the shape of the site was adapted to reduce the amount of engineering as much as possible;

   Just looking at the map, it is easy to see Iron Peak 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 the places suitable for large-scale cavalry troops are limited.

  Based on this, Winters deployed the main company in three "throat spots", while he himself sat on the [Wall of Daggers].

   The 2nd, 4th, and Auxiliary Militia's defense areas were the most suitable key points for the cavalry to deploy - because the main road of Tiefeng County passed from here.

  …

  Tai Chi and the rest of Telton could not see what was happening on the other side of the wall.

   This wall not only blocked the warhorse, but also blocked the view of the Terdun people, preventing them from knowing the deployment of the defenders.

Under the banner of the    horsetail banner, a few terdun blue feathers could only see the armored soldiers who climbed over the wall, either crawled out with blood on their heads, or never came back.

  Tai Chi looked around, and Zhu Nayan's face became more ugly.

   Even if Zhu Nayan did not speak, Tai Chi knew what Zhu Nayan was thinking.

   In the battles between Bianli and Styx in winter and spring, the Terdun Department lost a lot of their troops, and many leaders have not recovered until now.

  On the full moon, the horses were full, and the Terdun Department wanted to join forces with the Suzi Department to loot.

The results of it? Didn't get any benefit.

   When it comes to dispatching troops this time, the fire roaster clearly said that he is here to slaughter the grass and slaughter the fat sheep, so why did he start to fight for his life?

   The robbery in Quanliyue was barely profitable; in this robbery in Shasheyue, if one bone and one bone were gnawed like this, no matter how many things were robbed, they would lose money.

  [Note: Complete month, August of the lunar calendar; Killing animals, October of the lunar calendar]

   Just as a thief suddenly realizes that stealing has turned into a robbery, and like a robber who is surprised to have an idea, many Teltown leaders also have the intention of quitting.

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

   All in all, it was very reluctant for the nobles of Teltown to turn grassy valleys into trenches.

  Let's not say whether you win or not, what if you win? earn? Lose it!

   The right-wing army of the Teltown Department can basically be divided into two factions.

The    faction is the leader of the harvest. They have already had enough to eat, and they just want to return the harvest to the tribe as soon as possible, so they do not work hard and are not interested in filling the trenches;

  The other faction is the leader who has nothing to gain, and has posted a lot of war horses and cattle and sheep.

   But the resistance of the two-legged people was too fierce and resolute. If they continued to fight like this, the Yan people were worried that they would not lose the rice by stealing chickens.

  According to Tai Chi's knowledge, the leaders of the latter faction are colluding with each other, and they want the fire-boilers to come forward and redistribute the loot of the former faction.

  Look at it, Iron Peak County under Winters was divided into north and south, and the people of Teltown were equally conflicted.

  Things are so absurd and bizarre, this war is not so much a game of two chess players as it is a skinny hospital dog fighting to the death with a lame wolf.

   What was the situation on the other side of the wall, Tai Chi didn't know, but the siege of the land went smoothly, and the gentle **** made of sheepskin sacks could be used for horse racing.

   "Who wants to go first?" Tai Chi turned back and asked the Yans.

  The first boarding is not only rewarding, but also can be the first to choose the spoils according to the rules. But in this situation, I am afraid that the bones are not easy to chew, so no one pays attention to Tai Chi.

  Tai Chi's eldest son, seeing his father's humiliation, was furious, pulled up his horse-tailed flag, and shouted, "Are you mice or birds? Such cowardice? Father! I'm coming!"

  Zhu Nayan some annoyed, some sneered, all kept silent.

  Tai Chi glanced at the eldest son, and pointed at another face that was usually at odds with him: "Wu Lianghe, go and kill him."

  Qingling Yu, named [Wu Lianghe], knew that Tai Chi was trying to provoke him, and without speaking, he pressed his chest and saluted, and returned to his house with his flag.

  Wu Liang and how many two-legged people on the other side of the Wall of Thought do not know, is it a risk of life to rush over there?

   So he summoned one of his subordinates, Turukota [Subechi], who he didn’t like very much, and asked the latter to bring his troops over to test the depth of the water.

   Wu Lianghe specially told him not to go red, if the situation was not right, he would withdraw.

   Speed ​​Biechi was ecstatic, and shooting the first arrow in front of the battle was not only a great honor, but also a very rich reward.

   For Nayan's worries, Su Biechi didn't take it seriously.

   In his opinion, the bows and arrows of the two-legged people are weak and weak, and it is obvious that the bowers are all farmers and Qianshou, and they can only hold on to this point by relying on the low wall.

  Once the Terdun iron cavalry jumped over the low wall and was trampled by the horse's hoofs, how could a two-legged man not escape?

   With this kind of confidence, don't hold the bow in hand, gallop on the horse, roaring towards the wall.

   Then he tried to stop the horse in horror, because he finally saw what was ahead.

  Inertia didn't allow Subei to do this, and his warhorse leaped off the wall with a neigh.

   With the height of the wall close to two meters, the horse of Subiechi can stand stably, which is a rare horse.

  Some Terdun riders could not dodge in time, and also jumped off the wall, breaking the horse's leg.

  The quick-response Turdun riders turned their horses to steer, or simply jumped off the dirt **** with their horses abandoned.

  Tai Chi's expression was calm, as if he knew this would happen for a long time.

   Don’t jump over one wall, desperate to see another wall—three to be exact.

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

  The clip wall in Heard's mouth is the "multi-layered city wall" in the common language, that is, "urn city".

   Bud on the second fence gave the first order to fire a musket: "Fire!"

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

After    three rounds of platoons, Subiechi had been beaten to pieces, and there were not many survivors left in the other Teltown people in the city.

   Wuliang and the broken people, Zhu Nayan was not surprised. On the contrary, the sound of muskets that sounded one after another surprised everyone under the Mawei Banner.

The   muskets are limited in number and are used intensively by Winters. Therefore, this is the first time that the Iron Peak County side has used the musket team.

  Tai Chi listened to the sound of the platoon of gunfire, and opened his eyes suddenly: "The two-legged musketeer, fighting neatly!"

  What came from the air was not the sound of scattered popping beans, but the sound of a uniform salvo, like a drum.

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

   He remembered that it was on a small fort to the northwest of Bianli. The last time, the Teltown Department was also smashed into the wall.

   "Are two-legged people know how to shoot like this?" Tai Chi thought hard: "Or did he meet an enemy?"

"A two-legged man with a musket? Not an ordinary two-legged man, he must be an elite like Su Wei." Another Qing Lingyu asked: "Do you want to fill the trenches again? Tai Chi? You and I might as well retreat first and then decide. ."

  Tai Chi sullenly said, "Wait."

   Zhu Qingling Yu looked at each other, no one knew what Tai Chi was waiting for.

On the other side of the    wall, Bud waited for Winters instead.

   "I was wrong in my judgment. The muskets should not be used." Bud said to Winters wearily: "When the guns go off, the Teltown people will retreat, and they should wait."

   "It's fine." Winters took off his helmet, took a deep breath of fresh air, and motioned the other riders behind him to remove the saddlebags: "They're going to retreat anyway... Pick these up and show them."

  Blue Feather, Red Feather, and the ordinary Teltown members were shocked to see long poles with heads inserted one by one from the other side of the low wall.

The    long pole carried not only the head, but also the **** armor and the flag of the horse tail.

   The other faces looked back at Tai Chi, but Tai Chi was ashen, clutching the reins tightly, his teeth rattling.

  The west bank of Tiefeng County is about 80 kilometers wide, and the dagger wall and shield wall together are about 22 miles wide.

After the   Telltowns turned the main attack, Winters shortened the width of the defense.

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

The advantage of the   Telden people lies in mobility, and the advantage of the Iron Peaks lies in the terrain.

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

  Telden can send a small group of fine cavalry to detour over the mountains and mountains, and Winters can also dispatch cavalry to counter-sweep.

The    soldiers were destroyed, and Tai Chi chose to retreat.

   The other Teltown people who attacked and feinted from several routes also returned without success.

   Winters ordered the militia to take away all the earthbags that Torton had left outside. After all, sheepskins are good things.

   Daytime battles take place in the wall of shields, and nighttime battles take place in the wall of daggers.

   "Why didn't the enemy generals guard the river bank, but instead gave up the river bank and deployed defenses inland?" Tai Chi was puzzled by this question.

   That night he understood—or at least, he thought he understood.

  The terrain determines that the shield wall and the dagger wall are roughly L-shaped.

  If the [L] were smaller in size, within the range of muskets and artillery, then the clearing between the two walls had a term called "Killing Zone", also known as "Killing Field".

  Although the dimensions of the Dagger Wall and the Shield Wall are measured in kilometers, the relative position of the two walls still implies a flanking situation.

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

   That night, Tai Chi learned that there was a large group attacking from the "long wall", not only was not surprised, but shouted "OK" three times.

   [Note: "Long Wall" and "Short Wall" are Terdon terms for "Shield Wall" and "Dagger Wall"]

   He had long predicted that the opponent would make a surprise attack at night, and it must be attacking from the short wall, and the loud attack of the long wall must be to lure the enemy.

   In any case, as long as the opponent chooses to leave the fortifications to fight in the field, it is to give the Teltown people a chance.

  According to Tai Chi's arrangement, the leaders who were scattered and camped gradually contracted, attracting two-legged people to go deeper.

  Tai Chi's elite troops were guarding near the low wall, waiting for the raiding troops dispatched to ambush the low wall.

   Sure enough, after the long wall made a noise, the low wall also moved.

  The torches were lit one after another, people shouted and neighed, and Tai Chi waited patiently.

   It wasn't until the thunder-like hooves came from behind that Tai Chi realized that something was wrong.

   Winters was neither attacking from the wall of daggers nor from the wall of shields.

   He set up a pontoon at the location where the Turtleton Raiders once swam upstream, led the cavalry through the mountains, and stabbed the barbarian in the back.

   After a night of scuffles, all the people of Teldun withdrew to the south bank of the Pangtuo River, and Taichi only kept a small number of elite soldiers on the north bank to control the Tuishu field.

   Iron Peak County finally controlled the battlefield. From this point of view, it was the Teltown people who lost.

   But the Teltowns lost for a short time, and at dawn they re-entered the North Shore.

   And the troops of Tiefeng County have shrunk back to the two walls again.

  The offensive on the second day was even more ferocious than on the first day. If the first day was just a sack and a detour, the Terdun people began to use brute force to break the wall on the second day.

   Winters also no longer reserved his spare strength, and threw himself into the reserve team to defend the shield wall, and at the same time used cavalry to attack the flank of the Teldun people.

  The lead bullets were flying, and the war horses were running horizontally. In the afternoon of the same day, the Terdun people who were still fiercely attacking the moment before suddenly retreated like a tide.

  At dusk, the pale-faced messenger brought Winters bad news.

   "Your Excellency, barbarians... barbarians demolished the horse-blocking wall on the north bank of the Pangtuo River." The young messenger could barely stand still, and said in a weeping voice, "Go west along the canyon trail!"

Winters was being treated at the infirmary when the   heralds found Winters. Both members of the cavalry team were also injured. The tall and thin representatives and the short and fat representatives of Niu Hoof Valley were also present.

"Fuck!" The chunky representative—his name was ["Fatty" Nandol]—suddenly dizzy, grabbed the messenger's collar and asked in a trembling voice, "How would the barbarians know about the canyon trails? Only the locals know! Someone betrayed us. !Who?!"

   The commander shook his head desperately with tears in his eyes.

   "That trail?" Fat Nandol's emotions were on the verge of losing control: "That trail is so narrow! How can the army pass through?"

The    tall and thin representative—his name was [Jacob Green]—was also pale and shaky.

   Winters said slowly: "When the water is shallow, more dry banks will naturally be exposed, and more soldiers and horses can walk."

"No way! That path will never be exposed in summer! No matter how shallow the water is in winter, one person and one horse can walk! How is it possible to allow the army to pass through?! Your Excellency!" Living in the corner of Winters' clothes: "Heard Barbarians must have passed a few people! It's too late! It's too late to go now!"

   "I'm afraid it's too late." Winters leaned against the tree trunk and shook his head gently: "If even the main force of the Teltown people can't get through, why am I still building a dam upstream to block the water?"

   "Then... Was it in vain?" Fatty Nandore was completely absent-minded and cried out sadly: "The blood we fought and shed here is all in vain? Or did we not stop..."

  The tall and thin Jacob Green came back to his senses, grabbed his old enemy, and respectfully asked Winters: "Your Excellency, what do you mean by... dam?"

   "The dam." Winters breathed a sigh of relief and slowly lay down among the pine branches and dead leaves, as if a heavy load had been lifted from his shoulders: "It's the dam."

  …

  80 kilometers upstream of the Pantuo River, within the territory of Xiaoshi Town.

Between the    canyons, the simple dams made of wooden piles, gabions and mud have been filled with water, and the river has been raised several meters.

  From the dam, walk ten kilometers downstream along the river, and the river will meet another river.

   Going further down, it is called Pantuo River.

   And this river blocked by the dam is a tributary of the Pangtuo River [Huiqing River].

   That is, the amount of water in the lower reaches of the Pantuo River comes from the tributaries [Huiqing River] and the main stream [Pangtuo River]

   Winter is a dry season, and Winters cut off the [Huiqing River] again. Unconsciously, the water volume of the Pantuo River has reached the lowest point in 30 years.

   Downstream Teltown people know nothing about it.

  …

   Niu Hoof Valley, southwest, wilderness.

   All people in the Niu Hoof Valley, men and women, young and old, were mobilized. Led by Battalion Commander Tamas, another wall was built throughout the night.

  This is the place where Winters chose to die for the people of Teltown.

   [The thank you list for these days will be added tomorrow]

   [There is a map, but today is too late, I will draw it tomorrow. This chapter requires many, many maps to be comfortable to read, such as the last river, which has been there for a long time...]

   [Modified a plot bug, that is, "Winters didn't build all the walls overnight"]

   [First, his efficiency is not that high. I actually calculated that this wall is not more than ten kilometers, but more than twenty kilometers.

   Caesar has a record of "30,000 people, seven days, and a twenty-kilometer siege wall". Although the quality of Winters' wall is not as good as that of Caesar's, it is impossible to build it overnight, both in terms of manpower and efficiency]

   [Second, Winters doesn't need to be in a hurry. He did have the idea of ​​​​inducing the Teltown people to take the initiative to attack, but for some inconspicuous places and places that are not easy to pass, it is a more reasonable strategy to build walls in advance.

   If it is purely to show weakness, the one-meter wall will not be built, and the construction will only be started when the people from Teltown come over, which obviously does not conform to the actual situation]

   [It's been updated every two days recently, see you on April 8th (Thursday), everyone]

   [Thanks to book lovers for their collection, reading, subscription, recommendation tickets, monthly tickets, rewards and comments, thank you all]

   (end of this chapter)