Chapter 553 Military Discussion and Advance
After having a temporary working meal in the conference room, these military and political leaders did not even leave the Uffizi Palace and returned to the conference room to continue the military discussion.
Now that the war situation is critical, it is obviously not the time to delay, so the military meeting has to be held overnight.
The city of Zhishuiwu was broken, and Hotam County opened its arms.
But the army doesn't just go out, all things have to be arranged.
The first thing to solve is why to fight, what to fight and how to fight.
On the black iron candlestick stands on both sides of the pointed arch window, white beeswax candles were lit, mixed with the bright fluorescent lamps on the ceiling, illuminating the entire room.
Although it was still dim in Horn's eyes, it was already quite bright in the eyes of others.
Different from the previous news, except for the imperial cardinals, the only ones left in the conference room were the various legion commanders and leading officers.
"I have urgently ordered Jeshka to send two additional legions to support Zhishuiwu, and ordered the front line of Lujiao Township to suspend the attack and retreat slowly."
Horn, who had changed into a Salvation Army uniform, crossed his hands on the sheepskin map in front of him: "Our battle is to expel the Church of the Thousand Valleys and to encircle and annihilate the devil's representative Prince Condai. How about we discuss it? .”
At the beginning of the meeting, Horn set the tone and answered the question of why he was playing.
This is no ordinary war, it is the decisive battle of Qianhe River Valley.
If this battle is won, it will be the victory in the first stage of the Qianhe River Valley War, and the Qianhe River Valley people will initially seize the power of the Qianhe River Valley.
As for the second stage, it is the battle for the founding of the country.
But that’s too far away, so I won’t care about it for now.
What these officers and cardinals have to solve is how to fight and what to fight.
"I think we should pass through the stagnation dock, get behind Prince Condai, and attack him with Meliyati." The first person to speak was Murat.
Many legion commanders and secret party members nodded loudly, and even Jeanne expressed her approval.
This is the most intuitive strategy. They originally wanted to attack Prince Kong Dai together, but were blocked by Lujiao Township and Zhishuiwu.
Now that the detention dock has been breached, implementing the original plan by bypassing the detention dock is almost a problem that goes without discussion.
But Horn did not comment, but looked at the frowning Hakuto, Catherine and others on the other side.
"Hakuto, tell me?"
"Your Majesty, I think we should take a boat and go south to attack Feiliu Castle."
"Why?"
"If we attack Prince Kong Dai, victory is victory, and defeat is defeat. But if we attack Feiliu Castle, no matter we win or lose, we will win."
Hakuto's reasoning is simple.
The gate of the detention dock is open and has been captured by the Salvation Army. It only takes three to five days to reach Feiliu Castle from the detention dock.
From a tactical perspective, the optimal solution should be to bypass Lujiao Township from Zhishuiwu and cut into Prince Kongdai's back path.
This is also the plan unanimously agreed upon by the Black Snake Bay Secret Party and the legion commanders - to attack Prince Condai first, and then to take Feiliu Castle.
But in Hakuto's opinion, the strategically optimal solution is to attack Feiliu Castle first, and then go back and attack Prince Condai.
Because once Feiliu Castle is occupied by the Salvation Army, it will cut off the Qianhe River Valley’s access to the outside world, and Prince Kong Dai will no longer have a foothold.
When the time comes, we will fight Prince Condai again. If we lose, we can retreat calmly. If we win, we can annihilate him in one fell swoop.
If we fight Prince Kong Dai first and win, it will be fine. If we lose, it will be equivalent to taking Zhishuiwu in vain, and the nobles will revolt in vain.
Why does The Salvation Army want to gamble on this probability?
Taking Feiliu Castle determines the overall victory, while Prince Kong Dai's battlefield only determines temporary success or failure.
And he didn't believe it. When he saw the Salvation Army going to attack Feiliubao, would Prince Condai not rush over to intercept him?
"Then what if Prince Condai grits his teeth and annihilates Meliati?" As soon as Hakuto finished speaking, the legion commander immediately raised objections.
Catherine, who agreed with Hakuto's side, objected: "Even if Prince Condai can annihilate Meliati, can he still have Upper River County as a foothold? Can Mountain County provide his army? Can the knights of Mountain County Accept him? ”
"In my opinion, after capturing the detention dock, we should ambush Prince Kong Dai by the roadside!" "Since we want to fight, why not cut off their food road?"
"What if our attack on Feiliu Castle fails and Prince Condai attacks Rapid City from behind?"
Then, the various legion commanders and cardinals came and went, and soon they were noisy and red-faced.
Cardinal Madeleine, who was presiding over the meeting, was forced to shout at the top of his lungs "Order! Pay attention to order!"
During heated arguments and speeches, some people even began to disregard the rules and frequently interrupt others' speeches or make personal attacks.
According to the rules of procedure, many people were banned or kicked out to cool down outside.
The meeting even had to be adjourned for twenty minutes at one point.
The meeting was held from the rising of the moon to the middle of the month, and as each proposal was adopted, each proposal was rejected.
Everyone's opinions gradually became unified, the noise became less and less, and two marching routes gradually emerged on the map.
The first one is to start from Rapid City, go down the river to capture Feiliu Castle, and then turn back to meet Prince Condai who comes to rescue.
The second one is to seize the detention dock, first cut off Prince Kongdai's food route, and then attack from both sides with Meliati.
Everyone was exhausted and thirsty at this time. They no longer spoke, but looked at the young pope who was frowning and tracing the map.
But no matter what the central decision is, the final decision is made by Horn himself.
In the calm atmosphere, Horn's words were not about military strategy, but about something unrelated.
"It has been exactly one and a half years since I received the mandate from the Holy Lord and the incarnation of the Holy Father in September 1444.
During the initial military discussions, I was often the only one speaking, while the other cardinals were listening.
Today, not only can everyone speak it, but they can also speak it meaningfully, which is very different from that time. ”
In fact, when Horn scanned the audience today, there were already many new faces that he didn't recognize.
Times were different, and apart from those old faces, only the dog head on the wall could give him a hint of the old Gulag.
I just don’t know, after this battle is over, how many familiar faces will there be among the remaining people?
Taking a deep breath, Horn's eyes were intense: "As for these two routes, they are both good strategies, but I want to make some modifications."
Everyone held their breath and listened to Horn's instructions.
"We left the detention dock and went down the river without entering Feiliu Fort. After landing at Suomi Town, we first attacked the camp of Prince Kong Dai's imperial company.
Without the headquarters of the Imperial Order Company, Feiliu Bao's own defense force, not to mention us, is invulnerable even in the eyes of the revolting nobles.
At present, it is impossible for the Kingdom of Leia to send reinforcements to Feiliu Castle. Feiliu Castle is fat but it is not in a hurry to eat it. It can only send a partial force to unite with the local nobles to collect it.
If Prince Condai attacks Rapids City, we will go up the river and fight Prince Condai in the familiar environment of Rapids City.
If Prince Kong Dai rushes to support Feiliu Bao, we can rely on Feiliu Bao's baggage and advantageous terrain to wait for work and fight Prince Kong Dai near the river. ”
This is not Horn's random talk, but the result of thinking by him and his two staff officers, Bernardo and Pettier.
"Why don't we take back Feiliu Bao ourselves?" A legion commander couldn't help but ask.
"The siege of the city wall must leave a side for the enemy to escape, but it can also be interpreted to mean to leave hope for the enemy.
If we capture Feiliu Castle, Prince Condai will give up completely and will flee to the gravel plains if he has no choice but to do so. Horn looked at the red route marked on the map, "But our goal is to annihilate, not expel." ”
It is better to cut off one of his fingers than to hurt ten of them.
Only by wiping out the empire's core armed forces in the Qianhe River Valley can we gain peace for three to five years.
If Prince Condai uses the gravel plain as his base and continues to invade southward with his remnants, the Thousand River Valley will not be able to recuperate for a long time.
"As long as we don't capture Feiliu Castle, Prince Condai will definitely come to seize it. Let alone Racunio, the Holy Lord can't stop him, I said so."
(End of chapter)