Iron Powder and Spellcasters

   Chapter 434 The great alliance moves forward (six)

  [Green Valley]

  [East side of Provincial Avenue]

   Fire snakes are dancing wildly, and the east wind is roaring.

  The winter wheat, which has not completely faded its green color, is like damp forage, but when it burns, it emits a thicker smoke than the hay.

   Fire, smoke and heat waves were wrapped into a wall by the wind, mixed with cries and roars, and swept across the Green Valley from east to west.

   Standing behind the blazing wall, Paco, a descendant of the 1st Battalion of the New Army in Tiefeng County, only felt his legs become weak, dizzy, and could not take a step.

   This hell-like scene in front of him also has a "credit" from Paco. It was he who poured pine oil on the ears of wheat, who carried the dry material to the farmland, or who… unleashed the fire of destruction with his own hands.

  The monkey saw Paco standing in the same place, stepped forward and patted the recruit's back, but found that the recruit's eyes were full of tears.

   "It's all burned, it's all burned..." Paco choked: "There's nothing left."

  Monkey's shoulders trembled, he rubbed his nose pretending not to care, and said hoarsely, "Yes, it's a pity, a pity."

   "Shut up!" Lu Xirong walked over with a short spear and scolded in a low voice, "You can also dictate the decision of the blood wolf?"

  The mouth and nostrils of the old sergeant were covered with wet cloth, and only a pair of eyes were exposed under the helmet: "Hurry up and put on the triangle scarf!"

  The monkey immediately fell silent, bent down and took out the triangular towel from the bucket prepared in advance with the grass and grey water, twisted it a few times, and covered his nostrils and mouth just like the old sergeant.

   Lu Xirong stood with a spear, his feet were just burnt black farmland, and behind him was the continuous fire and thick smoke.

   His eyes swept across the young faces. The old sergeant was expressionless and instructed in a succinct manner: "The fire scene is smoky and the wind direction is changeable. You must follow me closely, and don't get lost."

   "Yes!" The monkeys answered in unison along with the soldiers of the New Army of the Six Accounts.

  Lu Xirong turned around without saying a word, and led his subordinates into the attack position.

  While all the soldiers of the 1st Battalion were waiting behind the ridge for the order to sort out, the monkey quietly came to Roussillon.

   He half-squatted behind Roussillon, gritted his teeth, and in a voice so small that only the two of them could hear, he asked Roussillon tremblingly: "Sergeant, we will compensate them, right?"

  Old Roussillon stared at the burned golden field and said desolately: "I don't know either, monkey, I don't know either."

   The mournful bugle sound suddenly overwhelmed all the noises, and then all the war drums sounded together.

  Not far away, a short figure jumped out of the field again first: "Everyone has it! Impact-forward!"

  Monkey and Paco glanced at each other, followed by climbing over the ridge and rushing towards the Provincial Avenue between the farmlands.

  …

   Meanwhile, on Provincial Avenue.

   "The wind is from east to west! Fire and smoke come from the east!"

   "The enemy must also be in the east! Just behind the line of fire! They want the fire to be their vanguard. When our establishment is broken up, they will rely on the cavalry to attack and completely destroy us."

   In addition to the captain who led the team into the city, the remaining five officers of Felt’s command were all by his side at the moment. The expressions of the five people were tense, but they all held on to not show any fear or panic.

   "Two legs can't run on four legs, we can't escape. But don't be afraid! The enemy is behind the line of fire, so we still have time before the fire spreads!"

   Major Felt identified the enemy's situation in a few words, and ordered the following without being surprised:

"Since the fire is coming from the east, let's move to the west! Bring your troops to the west side of the road! Clear the roadside of combustibles! The green valley is high in the west and low in the east, so we will use the provincial road as a fire barrier. , on the west side of the main road, condescending! Form a formation to meet the enemy!"

At this moment, an honorary officer in a new uniform rushed towards Major Felt, and his cry could be heard from a distance: "Major! It's crazy! Crazy! Crazy rebels! Seeing the harvest! The wheat is also burning! How dare they? How dare? Let's retreat!"

"Shut up!" Major Felt pulled out his saber furiously, stabbed the horse's ribs and dashed down the mound, changing his manner of being a good gentleman in the past, and scolding fiercely: "You bastard! Where's your centurion? Immediately Get back to your soldiers! Otherwise, I will execute you with my own hands!"

  The honorary officer was dumbfounded with fright, his face pale, he wiped his tears, didn't dare to say a word, and ran back in despair.

"Everyone." Felt held his saber and turned to look at the 22nd class officers who graduated last year and just returned to China this year. He said earnestly: "I can only rely on you in this battle. I trust you with all my heart and hope You can also stick to your phalanx, don't let me down."

  The five officers raised their hands to salute solemnly, and each went to find his subordinates. Their figures sank into the smoke and soon disappeared.

   The snare drum played a rapid melody, and the scolding and shouting were endless.

  As the order passed step by step, Felt’s troops were like snakes awakening from hibernation. Although they were still slow, they were indeed recovering their mobility.

   Right next to Major Felt, the two centurions were driven down the main road by the whips and sticks of the officers and non-commissioned officers, and poured into the farmland on the west side of the road.

   He vaguely heard someone shouting: "Regroup! Regroup! Quickly pull up the surrounding wheat grass!"

   Regardless of his safety, Major Felt continued to stay on the mound and anxiously observed the movements of the various teams.

   "Time!" His heart was pumping violently, and he could even feel the blood vessels in his neck and forehead expanding and contracting with the pumping of his heart: "Time!"

   With just a little more time, his troops could regroup. Until then, no matter how many Plato cavalry there are, don't even think about destroying his phalanx.

   However, the smoke came faster than the flames, and in a blink of an eye, both sides of the Provincial Avenue were completely shrouded in thick smoke.

  The soldiers covered their mouths and noses, still coughing uncontrollably. The horses were nearly out of control, and some of the cavalry had to lead the horses on foot.

   Major Felt's line of sight was also blocked. Except for the few messengers beside him, no matter how far he was, he was completely invisible.

  Suddenly, gunshots erupted after the thick smoke, followed by a tsunami-like scream of killing.

   The terrifying shouts of killing were like huge waves, slapping the soldiers' hearts. There was also a scream in the vicinity of Felt, as well as the scolding and scolding that followed.

  The sound of gunshots came from the front, and Felt immediately realized that the troops at the front had already touched the enemy!

   He resisted the urge to go to check the battle situation in person, dragged a messenger from behind him, and ordered in a sharp voice: "Go to the sixth brigade immediately, ask Lieutenant Imre about the battle situation, and come back and tell me immediately!"

   "Yes!" The messenger raised his hand to salute with a sad face, pulled the reins timidly, and prepared to leave.

"Tell the troops along the road!" Major Felt gave another order to the back of the messenger: "Beware of attacks from the east side of the road! Beware of enemy cavalry raids! Once the fire spreads to the road, the enemy will coming!"

   "Yes!" The messenger beat the horse and left.

   A series of hurried hooves came, and Major Felt raised his saber alertly, but only one rider rushed out of the thick smoke - Lieutenant Kadar, the battalion captain under Felt's command.

   "Major! My brigade has been reorganized!" Lieutenant Kadar galloped all the way up the mound and asked eagerly, "Please take shelter in the phalanx of the ninth brigade."

   "No!" Major Felt refused flatly: "If I leave here, the other battalions will lose their command completely."

"If you are attacked and killed, the other battalions will lose their command!" Lieutenant Kadar stepped forward and grabbed the reins of Major Felt, almost begging: "Have you forgotten the rebel light cavalry before? Leave a few messengers on duty, but you must leave with me!"

   Felt struggled in pain for a long time, punched his thigh hard, and followed Lieutenant Kadar away from the mound beside the road.

  …

   On the other side of the battlefield, Winters Montagne, who was also observing the battlefield, was also blocked by smoke.

   But unlike Major Felt, the light cavalry under Winters kept reporting the latest battle situation to him, so that even if he could not see the battlefield, he could still "see" the whole picture of the battlefield.

Even because there are too many communication cavalry, the information obtained by the headquarters is too messy, and Charles has to lead a group of clerks to collect and sort out the contradictory reports. This work has always been in charge of Captain Mason. .

   The sky was getting dark, and Andre sighed and paced back and forth.

   "Your Excellency the Tribunal!" Ciel walked up to Winters - his name in public has always been formal - and he couldn't hide his excitement: "The enemy has completely retreated to the west side of the road! Trying to regroup!"

   Winters put down the Nurem Bell in his hand: "Let Bart Shalling strike."

   "Yes!" Ciel led the order and left.

  Andre sat down beside Winters and said, "It's going to be completely dark soon. Shouldn't it be my cavalry..."

   "No, I don't want to waste your cavalry's physical strength." Winters put away the map: "The enemy has not fully entered the ambush range, and we may not be able to wipe out the enemy today. Perhaps, we have to consider a backup plan."

   "Huh?" Andre's eyes widened.

  …

On the north side of the battlefield, Lieutenant Orsin of the Eighth Brigade of the "Sixth Army" was trying his best to keep the phalanx from collapsing.

   Contrary to the information provided by Major Felt, the enemy's troops were not light cavalry who wanted to fish in troubled waters, but well-equipped and fiercely fighting infantry.

   Although the number of opponents was small, they took advantage of the weakness of the recruits under Lieutenant Orsin's command that they were not good at hand-to-hand combat, and used the cover of smoke to turn a head-to-head battle on the scale of a thousand people into hand-to-hand combat on a scale of dozens of people.

Of the six centurions under Lieutenant Olsin, two were routed in the melee, and the remaining four centurions, together with the routed soldiers, were gathered by him to form a brigade-level phalanx, with their backs against the road. Hard to support.

  The enemy troops who attacked from the east side of the road saw the large-scale phalanx, and they took the initiative to retreat, and turned to chase the small groups of soldiers who had fled.

   However, it didn't take long before gunshots rang out around Lieutenant Orsin.

The musketeers of the    rebels fired cold shots at Lieutenant Orsin's phalanx through the smoke, but the musketeers under Orsin could only fight like headless flies.

   Desperate Orsin prayed frantically, praying for the fire to go out as soon as possible, for the smoke to dissipate quickly, for reinforcements to arrive soon, and for darkness to fall to give him a chance to evacuate in the chaos.

  …

   On the high ground on the west side of Green Valley, Bart Xialing is waiting for a sortie order.

   "Batch commander, I still don't understand." "Nine Fingers", a former sergeant who was recently promoted to company commander, asked in a low voice, "Why is the entire battalion working, and we have to wait and see?"

  Bart Xialing carefully observed the firelight in the distance, and asked casually, "Have you ever hunted with the tribune?"

   "No." Jiuzhi shook his head and said regretfully, "I joined the army after Lord Tribunal took Gervodin."

"If you have hunted with the tribune, you will understand. But it doesn't matter if you haven't hunted, you will understand as soon as I say it." Bart Shalling broke a branch and sketched on the ground: "Hunting—I mean In hunting, people are generally divided into two teams, one team is responsible for making noise, scaring the herd, and scare the deer and rabbits out;

   Jiuzhi nodded his head, seemingly incomprehensible.

Bart Shalling pointed at the smoky and blazing battlefield with a branch and said with a smile: "Don't look at the first shot of the first battalion, but they are just driving wild animals. If they really want to eat their prey, we have to rely on us. "

   Jiuzhi understood now, and asked excitedly, "What do you mean—this time we are the main attack?"

"Yes. This tactic is called..." Bart Xia Ling rubbed his forehead and found the answer in his memory: "This is called the anvil and hammer tactic! But this time, the chopping block is infantry, and the hammer is also infantry. And this time, it is a Camp as a chopping block…”

  Bart Xialing smiled: "We make hammers!"

When    was talking, the green-clad messenger galloped over, restrained his horse in front of Bart Xialing, and took out an iron arrow: "Captain Xialing! The tribune orders you to attack!"

  Bart Xialing took the iron arrow and stroked the familiar scratches and dents on the arrow.

   "Drumming!" Bart Shalling mounted his horse in stirrups, held an iron arrow high, and shouted at the battlefield, "Striking!"

  The thundering drums sounded from behind him, and the musicians used all their strength to blow out the marching melody.

  The three infantry battalions of the new army in Tiefeng County poured out of the woodland and farmland, and launched a full-scale attack on the enemy who had escaped to the west side of the road.

  …

   On the south side of the battlefield, Major Felt, who was doing his best to gather up the disintegrating troops in front, was horrified to find that a more deafening scream and the sound of war drums came from behind him.

   "What a **** lunatic! Lunatic!" Major Felt couldn't help but yelled, "Aren't the rebels afraid of getting their own troops into the fire? Lunatic!"

   But no matter how fierce the scolding, Felt knew very well: Although the soldiers formed a phalanx can deal with attacks from multiple directions at the same time, the appearance of the enemy behind them is a devastating blow to morale.

Major Felt tried his best to clear his mind and think calmly—the sixth, seventh, and eighth groups in front of the marching column had lost contact; the ninth brigade he was in was still organized, followed by the tenth brigade and Maplestone City Provided by a brigade.

   is to support the former army? Or continue to stay here to contain the broken soldiers?

   Or...a strong man broke his wrist?

Major    Alder Felt made a decision.

"The ninth brigade, keep the formation to the south! The combined phalanx with the tenth brigade and the Maplestone City brigade!" Major Felt in the ninth brigade phalanx pulled out his saber, pointed to the way he came, and ordered: "Second Lieutenant Kadar Let your men 'walk' to retreat!"

   Lieutenant Kadar was stunned: "Retreat?"

   Major Felt said with difficulty but firmness: "Retreat."

Lieutenant    Kadar's voice was barely audible: "What about the troops in front?"

   "Send someone to order them to retreat as well. If they are scattered, just wait for them to catch up!" Major Felt replied coldly: "If they can catch up, put them back into the phalanx."

   What if the troops in front cannot catch up? Major Felt said nothing.

   Lieutenant Kadar's throat twitched, and he answered with difficulty: "Yes."

   The drummer picked up the war drum that had fallen on the ground, and shivered and beat the slow beat.

   The phalanx of the ninth brigade moved, slowly crawling in the direction from which it came.

Major    Felt jumped out of the phalanx, galloped around his phalanx and shouted: "Gather up your courage! Remember your training! Just follow the way you trained! Fleeing will only kill you faster!"

   However, at this moment, thunderous hooves sounded from outside the valley.

   Hundreds of light cavalry rushed out of the thick fog.

The light cavalry headed by    is roaring: "That guy with a wound on his face! Never let him run away!"

[what! never mind! Send as much as you write! ]

   [However, for the last chapter of "The Great Alliance Goes Forward", the author will take a few days off to write slowly and well. So... today is even an early leave of absence. ]

   [Additional note: It is currently the monsoon season and the wind blows from the east. Therefore, although the terrain of Green Valley is high in the west and low in the east, Winters can only launch a fire attack from the west. However, because of the existence of the Provincial Avenue (which acted as a fire barrier to a certain extent), it was difficult to wipe out the 3,000 enemy troops by smoky fire alone. Therefore, the real heavy punches in this battle are the three infantry battalions on the west side of the valley. The purpose of the fire attack is to disrupt the enemy's formation, break up the enemy's establishment, and then use the three infantry battalions to completely defeat the enemy. (fog)]]

   [This tactic actually originates from hunting and is common among nomadic, fishing and hunting peoples. The essence is the same as the Anvil Hammer tactic, but Winters' cavalry is too precious to be replenished, and he doesn't want to waste it on such an enemy's partial division]

   [However, because the enemy failed to fully step into the ambush circle, Winters is pessimistic about the outcome]

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

   (end of this chapter)