On the afternoon of the third Friday in July, the sky was covered with dark clouds and it was about to rain heavily.

In the critical area between the province of Yona and the city of Besançon, on a gentle slope fifteen miles away from the city of Var, a temporary military camp was built.

Trenches and horse traps were dug around the military camp, and pickets and horse-repelling fences were installed. There was a camp gate on the west and north sides, and each gate was guarded by a small team of soldiers. There were thirty or forty towers of various sizes in the camp.

The military tents are neatly arranged according to the military organization. There is a gap of one person's width between each military tent. Most of the soldiers are snoring loudly in the tents. A flag team on duty is on duty and is wearing armor and armed with a small team as a unit to patrol the camp.

In the middle; the military law team wearing white feather half-helmets also roamed the camp in pairs with daggers on their backs to prevent civil strife among the soldiers; inside the military camp, the baggage team was distributing today's military rations to the baggage soldiers of each flag team, and then

The heavy troops of each flag team make food and distribute it to the soldiers of the flag team. Within half a mile of the military camp, there are four teams of gongnu soldiers lying in ambush in the grass beside the road, the treetops in the forest and the boulders on the mountainside. The gongnu team is on duty to guard the military camp today.

Sentinel.

In the central command tent of the military camp, commanders above the Captain of the Welsh Regiment gathered for a military meeting.

Angus, the adjutant of the Welsh Legion and the leader of the frontier army, was pointing at a spliced ​​sheepskin topographic map laid out on a simple wooden board in the center of the military tent. All the officers in the tent were carefully surrounding the topographic map to listen.

Let him introduce the military situation on the battlefield.

"The city of Var is located on the southern edge of the mountainous area of ​​the critical line between the Province of Yona and Besançon. It is a castle on the edge of the mountains and a flat ground. It is also the gateway to the King's Road that controls the Province of Yona. It is temporarily commanded by the commander of the newly built First Regiment of the Yona Army.

Baron Ted Colville led the garrison."

"The first regiment of the Jonah Army has a total of 450 people, including 300 infantry, 50 cavalry, and 100 gunmen. In addition, there are nearly a hundred people recruited to serve with the army. Although the first regiment of the Jonah Army has a large number of people,

The combat power is not strong, not only because they rushed into the army and lacked training, but also because their weapons and armor are very crude. Their infantry armament is about the same as that of our patrol team. A short spear in each hand is no problem, but the armor, shield and

Melee weapons are not enough."

"Looking at the enemy, the Western Army besieging Vaal City has four infantry regiments with about 1,400 people. At first glance, this is not a large scale. After all, it is not an advantage to capture a strong city with three times the enemy. But among them

The origins of the three infantry regiments that serve as the main force in the siege are extraordinary."

"The main offensive force is two palace guard infantry regiments and a mixed infantry and cavalry regiment of the Western Border Army. These people are all elites of the Western Army. In addition, there are about 300 peasant soldiers from the Western Border who are specially serving as auxiliary troops."

The tent suddenly started to be noisy. The officers of the Welsh Army had witnessed the powerful combat effectiveness of the Palace Guards in the national war between Provence and the Principality of Lombardy. The commander of the Eastern Army at the time, Viscount Geoffrey, relied on the most powerful weapon.

It was the Palace Guards that led south from Besançon. In fact, that team did play a huge role in the battle.

Due to the defection of the palace military ministers, most of the Guards Corps, which originally belonged to the Eastern Army, became the main force of the Western Army. This also increased the pressure faced by the Eastern Border Faction.

Generally speaking, it is almost impossible for more than a thousand ordinary troops to capture a castle fortress defended by four to five hundred garrison, but it is not impossible for the Palace Guards. They have sophisticated weapons and armor and strong combat effectiveness.

The Guards Corps is composed of a group of leading lords. These people may not have enough actual combat experience, but they have received systematic military training since they were young. Compared with the commanders of the Welsh Corps who are half-way through the journey, their command capabilities are definitely stronger.

Some.

"According to Jafar's sentry in War City this afternoon and the military information obtained from the captured enemy tongue torture, the enemy has begun the fifth siege. They should be guessing through our cavalry shielding the battlefield.

With the size of the reinforcements, the siege this time is more intense than the previous ones. The cavalry cannot get close to the city of Vaal, so it is not possible to know the casualties of the defenders for the time being, but the battle damage is estimated to be considerable."

"Are there sufficient food reserves in Val City?" Art interjected.

"The defenders have stored food and supplies in the city for a year, so there should be no problem."

Matt nodded and motioned for Angus to continue.

"Currently, Lusignan and Jafar are leading the cavalry to shield the battlefield within three miles of the legion. The enemy's sentinels have not been able to get close. However, the enemy should have discovered the whereabouts of reinforcements. Not surprisingly, they have been nearly two miles away.

They will send troops to stop us."

"Sir, everyone, the above is the military situation on the battlefield." After Angus finished speaking, he looked around the crowd and handed a long thin wooden stick in his hand to Art.

Art took the thin stick and came to the sheepskin topographic map spread on the wooden board. This topographic map cost him a lot of energy. It was collected by the eagle eyes of the North. Art made the first proof and was proofread by the architect Cooper.

It was drawn by a group of subordinates who commanded the camp. The mountains, dense forests, roads, rivers, and castles and fortresses are all very complete, and there are even simple illustrations. From the map, it can be seen from the map that the border of the Northland is the main battlefield in the first stage of the War of Succession.

The region has many low mountains and hills that run east and west, and the border castles, fortresses and county settlements are distributed in the narrow basins between the mountains.

Various small wooden blocks in black and white are placed on the sheepskin map. The black and white colors represent the east and west armies respectively. The various shapes represent different arms. The square represents the infantry, the circle represents the gunmen, the triangle represents the cavalry, and each

The wooden blocks represent a standard organizational unit. For example, a small black square represents an infantry company of about 260 people in the Western Army, a white triangular block represents a cavalry team of fifty cavalry in the Eastern Army, and a dozen painted blocks

The small wooden blocks with wolf heads represent the various units of the Welsh Regiment.

Such a map sandbox should be regarded as the most sophisticated and top-notch work in the world.

Judging from the topographic map, various black and white wooden blocks are facing each other on both sides of the long border line between the Yona Province and Besançon. The Vaal City that the Welsh Army is about to rescue is the only one at present.

A battlefield in a state of war.

"Ron, you are the guard officer. You collect intelligence outside the battlefield. You can tell everyone about the situation outside Val City." Art said and handed the thin stick into Ron's hand.

Ron coughed slightly and said: "Sir, commanders, the task force disguised as free mercenaries should have lurked in the enemy's camp. They will collect and report back the military information of each enemy's main force.

"

"However, time is too tight. At present, the task force has not sent back the specific army deployment and mobilization situation in the rear of the Western Army. We have collected a lot of enemy movements through the Northland Eagle Eye. Please take a look." Ron

Use a thin stick to point to the small wooden map blocks placed in advance on the boundary line.

“As of early July, more than 4,800 troops had been assembled on the entire border front, including about 2,800 in the Western Army and about 2,000 in the Eastern Army. They were divided into two parts, the north and the south, centered around the city of Var and Bomledam.

Gather for confrontation; according to Hawkeye's reports, although there are many enemy troops gathered on the border, most of them are peasant soldiers who are subject to recruitment, and less than half of the legion's professional soldiers. Nearly half of the elite professional soldiers are concentrated to attack Vaal City. From the rough information we got

According to analysis, the enemy's focus should be on the southern front with Vaal City as the gateway. They may want to occupy the King's Road and move eastwards."

"However, although the enemy's main battle force is in the south, there are also three Western Frontier Infantry Regiments and a Palace Guards Cavalry Regiment in the north. Facing the Western Army in the north is the First Eastern Legion led by Baron Charis.

and several temporarily recruited private armies of the lords of Yona Province. Earl Baldwin was worried about the enemy's conspiracy and did not dare to rush to transfer the opposing troops in the north to the south for support, so he urgently ordered the Welsh Army to rush to the aid of Vaal City."

"Beyond the border front, the private soldiers of the lords from various parts of Saône Province in the west have gathered again. Already, 1,200 people have begun to rush to Besançon from all over Saône Province to gather. In addition, at the beginning of the month, a thousand Western troops were transferred to the southern part of Saône Province.

Dole Province border defense Longxia Army."

Ron deliberately lowered his tone, "As for the friendly forces, according to the secret information conveyed by Jonah's court, Count Flanders of Longxia has led a thousand elite Longxia legions and five hundred servants to bypass the Principality of Burgundy, preparing to lead the army from the north.

The soldiers went south to raid Besançon, which was only guarded by hundreds of powerful private soldiers. However, the movements of the Longxia Army are currently unknown. The Jonah Court estimates that they have almost arrived in the north of Besançon. This top-secret military information is not allowed to be shared. "

Ron put down the thin stick, signaling the end of the explanation.

"Odo, the army has been marching for half a month. How is its combat effectiveness? Can the soldiers go into battle immediately?" Art asked the adjutant Odo beside him.

Otto put down the hands that were wrapped around his chest, stared at the map sand table in front of him, and said: "The army's fighting spirit is still very high, but the army has been marching for more than ten days since the beginning of July. It was originally planned to be about

After repairing the city, we went to the battlefield, but now our repairs have been canceled with a transfer order. I am afraid that the soldiers' physical strength has been seriously damaged, and not only the people, but also the horses and livestock accompanying the army need to rest and adjust. My suggestion is to do it on the battlefield.

Recuperate outside for a day or two to regain your strength before moving forward to engage in battle."

"However, the time left for us to fight is also very tight. The military rations we carry with the army are only enough for three days. Plus the two days of emergency rations carried by the soldiers themselves, we can stay in the war zone for up to five days."

Odo's brows furrowed. Originally, according to the deployment of Jonah's court, the Welsh Army was stationed in a county fortress called St Lyon near Bomleddam in the north, so Angus took several trains with him.

Ten carts of military rations were temporarily stored in a manor near the city of St. Rayon, and would be transferred to St. Rayon after the army entered the county.

Now the commander-in-chief of the Eastern Army, Earl Baldwin, has transferred them to the south and only temporarily. The baggage team is also inconvenient to move. If there are fewer people, they will be easily beaten.

The most troublesome thing about the detour is that the food in the villages near the military camp has long been requisitioned, and many local farmers have also evacuated to the east for refuge before the war...

The officers in the tent all whispered that the biggest concern during the march was the food problem.

Art knocked on the wooden board in front of him to signal everyone to be quiet, "Since the army's food reserves are insufficient, we must strive for a quick victory. We must enter Vaal City within two days or evacuate the war zone and gather in the north to replenish supplies."

"I now begin the deployment of the Legion of Wales."

All the officers in the tent stood at attention and stood ready.

Art picked up a thin stick and pointed at the rows of small wooden blocks on the east side of Vaal City, "This is where our current station is. Fifteen miles west from here is the battlefield of Vaal City. The enemy should not have discovered our exact whereabouts for the time being. We

We will repair on site for a day first, and then the whole army will set off after lunch tomorrow and head towards Vaal City."

"Kazak, Tuba, you two flag soldiers hurry up and eat. After dark, lead your troops from here~" Art pointed the thin stick at the valley between the two mountains leading to the back of Vaal City.

The cavalry had already scouted out the valley road, which would allow a small force to bypass the enemy's rear.

"~Go around to the enemy's rear and hide. I will personally lead most of the legion to attack the enemy's front to attract the enemy's attention. Once the enemy is contained, I will light up three plumes of smoke and issue an order. You will immediately attack the enemy from the rear and disrupt the enemy's formation.

"

"The enemy must have set up sentries on that valley passage. You must quietly wipe out the sentries and don't let the enemy discover your whereabouts. Once the enemy discovers your whereabouts, retreat immediately."

"Yes!" Kazak and Tuba responded at the same time.

"Odo stayed, and the others went back to repair or prepare for the war."

Everyone in the tent saluted and left the Chinese army command camp at Yate.

After everyone left, Art told Odo: "You still have to find a way to deal with the army's food supplies. If it doesn't work, you can mobilize the supply troops from each flag team to form a food requisition team and go to the nearby areas to purchase. If you have more food, we will have more."

Time can also increase your chance of winning by half."

Otto was a little embarrassed, "Sir, not to mention that the food that can be collected nearby has been confiscated by the armies of all parties. Even if the remaining farmers have some rations, they are afraid to buy them for us..."

Art waved his hand to stop Otto, "Odo, I mean "requisition", "requisition" is the main thing, and "purchase" is the supplement. The daggers distributed around the waists of the baggage soldiers are not used to peel apples.

"

"Sir, this is not good~"

"Why is it bad? I think it's good. If our city of Vaal falls and the enemy troops rush in, I'm afraid it won't be as simple as handing over a little ration to these farmers. I think they should understand this truth. If they don't understand, let them requisition the food.

Team, teach them well!"

Otto nodded, "Yes! I will immediately ask each flag team to mobilize the supply troops."

Art stopped Odo, who was turning to go out, and whispered, "Try not to kill civilians~"
Chapter completed!