Chapter 317: Night March
After the East Coast United Kingdom joined the war, it sent a legion to the Duke of Hubble. The vanguard of this legion had just entered the Duke of Hubble and had already leaked its whereabouts.
After years of development, the reconnaissance force of Harland has reached a high level. After five years of training, the domesticated lion ducks have expanded their population. Now, in the Harland Reconnaissance Brigade, a complete 12-man Lion Duck Cavalry Squadron has been trained, and there are also 20 young Lion Ducks as reserve forces. In another three years, the Lion Duck Cavalry can be expanded to 30 people.
In addition to the Lion Duck Cavalry, the Magic Hot Air Balloon Squadron has been expanded to the eighth, and two Magic Hot Air Balloon Squadrons will accompany the army on this expedition.
In the huge occupied area, there are Lion Duck Cavalry every day, and magic hot air balloons are scouting the enemy in the air.
Although the soldiers of the East Coast United Kingdom can be said to be fast, they completed the mobilization in just twelve days and marched 500 kilometers to the Duke of Hubble. However, this army easily exposed its whereabouts, and when it appeared near the battlefield, it had lost its surprise.
After all, the officers of the East Coast United Kingdom did not know that Harland had cultivated a large number of lion cavalry, and they did not know the working principle of magic props such as magic hot air balloons, nor had they seen the telescopes made by Harland. On the contrary, the orc troops that often fought with Harland’s army would always pay attention to the sky and send eagles to suppress Harland’s aerial scouts.
Since entering the Kingdom of Delong, Richard has dispersed the noble coalition forces of the four provinces in the castles in the occupied areas, and Harland’s troops have gathered and stationed in Sack Castle.
Harland’s aerial scouts mainly operate within a radius of 200 kilometers with Sack Castle as the center.
As intelligence was transmitted back one by one, the simple sand table of Sack Castle was filled with various flags, and the enemy’s situation had basically been figured out.
"We have the advantage of air reconnaissance in this battle, and the enemy's situation is almost transparent to us in one direction. The enemy's vanguard has three battalions, nearly 5,000 people. This force has appeared in the Duke of Hubble, about 120 kilometers away from the Duke of Guise's troops and about 100 kilometers away from Sack Castle.
After the enemy appeared, I ordered the Lion Knights to go deep into the enemy's territory and enter the East Coast United Kingdom to scout the enemy's main force. The enemy's main force is about 80 kilometers away from the vanguard, which is roughly two days' journey.
Our air scouts are still staring at the enemy and observing the enemy's next move."
Richard held a pointer, pointed to the flag on the sand table, and introduced the general military situation to the officers.
Harland has a history of making sand tables for more than ten years, and the staff of the headquarters also has a good level of mathematics, proficient in contour lines, scales and other knowledge.
The General Staff has trained qualified map drawing staff, who have a deep understanding of combat maps.
To draw a relatively accurate sand table, hundreds of various professional talents are needed behind it, many of whom need to have a high school mathematics level.
Judging from the situation in the Dawn Plane, there are not many people who are proficient in mathematics, and most of the mathematical talents are magicians. Although there are many magicians in the East Coast United Kingdom, it is impossible to arrange hundreds of people in one legion.
The appearance of the sand table is a high-tech product for both sides of the war, which can enable officers to intuitively understand the overall situation and improve their command level.
"The enemy's current movements are unclear. They may wait to join the main force, may attack the Duke of Guise to the south, and of course may attack us to the west. My opinion is to wait and observe the enemy's movements before making the next decision. During this period of time, we should issue an assembly order to gather the noble coalition forces of the four provinces to deal with emergencies."
Sura broke the silence and was the first to put forward an opinion.
After entering Harland Territory for sixteen years, Sura is considered the oldest one. After sixteen years of hard training, Sura finally advanced to the fourth level after the Goddess' Birthday Festival and was appointed as the captain of the 13th Battalion by Richard.
The captain of the legion is barely considered a senior official in Harland Territory, and his voice in the army has greatly increased.
Sulla is a conservative person and is more stable in using troops.
Although such a stable person may not look amazing and is unlikely to achieve a big victory, he can also achieve very good results when used in key places.
This time, Richard specially mobilized a group of backbones from the Kingdom of Delong when he led his troops south. More than half of the officers under Sulla were from the Kingdom of Delong.
Because the Kingdom of Delong implemented a serious class solidification policy, these people generally had no good feelings towards this country, and instead had a deep hatred for the old nobles of the Kingdom of Delong.
There were a large number of local people joining the army, and Richard's troops were familiar with the local climate, geography, and customs, and were not simply guest troops.
"I don't agree with Sulla's opinion. It's too conservative and passive. The enemy's vanguard has only three battalions. We should take the initiative to attack and eat up this enemy.
We have 6,000 soldiers in Sack Castle, and our weapons and equipment are superior to the enemy. We also have elite soldiers like the First Battalion, and another 300 Warcraft cavalry to help. We will definitely win this battle by surprise. This enemy is about 100 kilometers away from us, and it only takes a day and a half to march quickly. I think we should seize the opportunity decisively and eat up the enemy's vanguard first."
The one who raised the objection was Martin, the captain of the First Battalion. Although Martin was old, he was very radical in using troops.
"After the forced march, we need half a day to rest. If the enemy does not give us time to rest and attacks us, we will be in a very passive position and suffer heavy losses." After listening to Martin's opinion, Sura still objected.
In fact, in the army led by Harland, because of repeated victories, most officers are radical in their use of troops. On the contrary, Sura, who has a stable character, is a minority.
Having led troops in battle for many years, Richard's style of using troops is also relatively radical, but he has an advantage, which is that he can listen to different opinions. He is good at military democracy and is good at making decisions and weighing.
Richard stared at the sand table, suddenly turned his head, and asked the logistics staff: "How many ships do we have in the grain transport fleet of the Querosa River? Can we transport 6,000 troops at a time?"
The Querosa River is a tributary of the Oram River, the main artery of the Grant Kingdom. It originates from the Duke of Isaac. Although the terrain in the southern part of the Grant Kingdom is high in the south and low in the north, the grain transported from the Grant Kingdom to the front line is upstream, and the cost of water transportation is still lower than that of land transportation.
"Your Excellency the Duke means that we should take a section of water transport?" The logistics staff measured the distance with a ruler and suddenly realized: "In this way, we need to march 20 kilometers to the riverside of the Quirosa River, then march upstream 80 kilometers by water transport, and then continue to march 30 kilometers to appear near the enemy's vanguard. This way of marching can preserve physical strength better and does not require long rest."
Richard nodded and continued to ask: "How deep is the Quirosa River, can ships pass at night?"
After reading some documents, the logistics staff replied with certainty: "We have 500 grain ships of various sizes on the Quirosa River, and there are also 20,000 serfs who cooperate with the grain ships to pull the boats, which can transport 6,000 troops at a time. The water in the upper reaches of the Quirosa River is not deep, the road along the river is relatively flat, and the river width does not exceed 30 meters. Organize the boat team and the boats can pass at night."
Hearing the affirmative answer of the logistics staff, Richard weighed the pros and cons and decisively issued an order.
"Harland led all the troops to complete the assembly in the morning, and march immediately after lunch, and rush to the vicinity of the Quirosa River before dusk. The headquarters personnel immediately rode fast horses, prepared the boats and trackers before dusk, and marched into the Duke of Hubble overnight. Tomorrow morning, our army must appear near the enemy's vanguard."
After Richard made the decision, the personnel of each department immediately took action.
Six thousand soldiers quickly completed the assembly, and began to march after lunch, and easily completed the 20-kilometer journey in one afternoon.
The logistics personnel's organizational ability was also very good. They prepared the boats in advance. Before nightfall, six thousand soldiers boarded the transport ship with light equipment.
In order to mobilize the enthusiasm of the serf trackers, Richard promised them that as long as they completed the transportation task, they would be given land and pardoned as free people.
After one night, the trackers completed an almost impossible task, and more than 200 people died of exhaustion overnight, and they walked 80 kilometers in more than ten hours.
On the morning of the second day, Richard looked at the trackers who collapsed on the ground and couldn't help but sigh. The power of human spirit could make ordinary people create a military miracle and walk 80 kilometers of water. Of course, the light load of the boat was also an important reason why the trackers could complete this miracle.
Time was urgent, and Richard didn't have much time to sigh. After getting off the boat, he quickly organized the formation. The soldiers ate a few bites of dry food casually and started a forced march immediately.
After a day of rest on the boat at night, the soldiers had fully recovered their physical strength and looked more energetic in the morning.
At about ten o'clock in the morning, the soldiers of the East Coast United Kingdom had just eaten breakfast, put away the tents, and were preparing to march south. The soldiers of Harland had appeared nearby.
The soldiers of Harland seemed to be descended from the sky, which surprised the enemy.
The vanguard troops of the East Coast United Kingdom had not yet released the scouts, and they were almost blinded and fell into an encounter.
After a morning of forced march, the soldiers of the first brigade of Harland were thrown into the battle without any rest. They lined up in a dense formation and rushed to the enemy camp without hesitation.
Martin looked solemnly at the enemy 200 meters ahead. As the most senior and highest-ranking officer in Harland, he led three infantry battalions of 4,500 soldiers to attack the enemy. The leader was his old unit, the First Battalion, which was also the core of Harland's infantry.
The First Battalion was well-equipped. Every soldier wore heavy armor. The number of enchanted armor exceeded 600, and there were more than 200 professionals in this infantry battalion. The First Battalion was also equipped with 300 scorching ray guns and more than 2,000 alchemical bombs. It was almost armed to the teeth, and its combat effectiveness was amazing.
Even the Orc Infantry Battalion could not stop the charge of the First Battalion of Harland. With the First Battalion as the core, it was like a tiger pouncing on a flock of sheep, easily tearing open the military formation of the Sixth Legion of the East Coast United Kingdom.
Seeing Harland's soldiers charging, the vanguard battalion of the Sixth Legion of the East Coast United Kingdom immediately formed a battle line. Although the three vanguard battalions were also elite, they could not stop this well-armed enemy.
Although Harland's soldiers did not carry catapults in order to travel light, and did not conduct fire suppression and fire strikes before the battle, after entering the 200-meter range, the volleys fired by the scorching ray guns caused heavy losses to the enemy.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
With the sound of explosions, the enemy soldiers lost more than a hundred people.
Seeing that the power of the scorching ray gun was so amazing that it could easily penetrate the large shields equipped by the soldiers, the soldiers of the Sixth Legion of the East Coast United Kingdom turned pale and could only barely maintain the formation. They shot crossbows one after another, hoping to suppress the scorching ray gun soldiers.
Rounds of feather arrows shot in, but they could not penetrate the magic shields equipped by the soldiers of the First Battalion. I saw force field shields releasing magic force fields, fixing arrows in the air.
Seeing that they could not penetrate the enemy's defense, the soldiers of the Sixth Legion of the East Coast United Kingdom were full of fear. Seeing that they were constantly being slaughtered by the enemy's long-range attacks, they could only desperately launch a charge, hoping to defeat the enemy by melee.
The soldiers of the First Battalion led by Harland are all veterans who have been in the army for more than five years. There are not only many professionals inside, but also equipped with various magic shields that enhance power. They are also very proficient in the tactics of melee assassination. Even in close combat, they can defeat the orc infantry.
The hand-to-hand combat ability of the soldiers of the Sixth Legion of the East Coast United Kingdom is far inferior to that of the orcs. Even if they are desperate, the gap in strength is too large and they can't break through the army formation of the First Battalion.
The encounter lasted only half a quarter of an hour. The casualties of the enemy's vanguard battalion have exceeded one-third. The remaining soldiers are still fearlessly rushing forward, but they are just sending themselves to death in vain, and are shot and killed by the archers of the First Battalion during the charge.
There are extraordinary powers in the Dawn Plane. In such a large-scale confrontation, the combat effectiveness of the army is clearly divided. Unless it relies on a special geographical environment, it is extremely difficult to defeat the strong with the weak. As long as the commander is not too stupid, a weak brigade can never defeat a strong army in a field battle.
The Sixth Legion of the East Sea Road United Kingdom is not a weak brigade. Its combat effectiveness is a few points stronger than the noble legion of the Grant Kingdom, but the soldiers led by Harland have been tempered in the orc war for many years and can be called a strong army. Among them, the combat effectiveness of the First Battalion is enough to compete with the same number of Warcraft cavalry.
The combat power of both sides was not equal. Before Richard could deploy the reserve troops, the first battalion had already broken through the enemy's vanguard battalion in a very short time.
The soldiers of the first battalion rushed through the gap and quickly defeated the enemy with the 13th and 14th battalions.
Seeing that the enemy army was in a situation of overwhelming defeat, Richard immediately ordered the Warcraft cavalry and the reconnaissance cavalry to attack the enemy from the side.
The army led by Richard not only had three battalions of infantry, but also a battalion of reconnaissance cavalry. The reconnaissance cavalry were carefully selected and proficient in a variety of wilderness survival skills. Generally speaking, Richard would not use the reconnaissance cavalry to charge the battle.
But today the enemy army was defeated on all fronts. In order to expand the results of the battle, Richard immediately ordered all cavalry to go out on all fronts to capture the enemy's defeated soldiers.
The two armies fought for less than half an hour. Harland led the soldiers to easily eat up this enemy with superior forces. Because of the unexpectedness, the casualties of this encounter were relatively light.