Chapter 68: Reaching the Enemy
At dawn on September 3rd, when the first ray of sunshine in the morning shone on the earth, the Arda army, which had been gathering near the border for two days, began to march toward Butu, the capital of Bailding. Go ahead.
According to intelligence, the four rebels gathered all their forces in Butua. They planned to spend 3 to 4 days preparing the ordnance and supplies for combat before attacking Arda. This kind of logistical efficiency allowed Paul complained for a while, "You don't need to go all the way, I'll go there myself."
Since this was the first collision between the new military system established by Paul and the more "regular" military forces in the world, he attached great importance to it and led a group of staff officers to take personal command. Chief of Staff Schroeder then He led the remaining staff to sit in Huxin Town and command the militia forces to respond to emergencies.
There were Bairdin's sentries on the border. The news that Arda's army had crossed the border was quickly sent back to Butua. While shocked by the speed of the other party, Abt wanted to lead his troops and set off immediately. intercepted Paul, but the wily Angelo persuaded them to wait for work in the city of Butua, and finally everyone agreed to Angelo's plan.
At about 4 o'clock in the afternoon, the small town of Butua appeared in Paul's sight. Through the telescope, he found that Angelo and others had already set up a formation in front of the city gate.
When they got close enough, the opponent's deployment gradually became clear in the telescope.
The rebels are mainly composed of 4 infantry phalanxes lined up. Each phalanx has about 500 people. They are commanded by a knight standing in front. Each phalanx contains More than half of the people were armed with uniform spears, while the others had a variety of weapons. Some were even armed with pitchforks, hoes and other agricultural tools. Behind the four square formations, about 30 archers formed a horizontal team.
In the middle of the four square formations, there are four people riding on horses wearing very gorgeous armor. They are probably the four rebels of the Ganard family.
Surrounding them are teams composed of their respective family knights and knights' retinue, about 30 people.
The high mobility of these 30 or so people worried Paul the most. The knights were all wearing armor. Although it was not as gorgeous as their master's armor, it was still well made and tightly protected all vital parts of the body.
In comparison, the equipment of the followers was much simpler. Some were wearing chain armor, while others had no protection at all.
As the Arda army drew closer to Butua, they finally appeared in the sight of the rebels.
Angelo showed a look of disdain and said disdainfully: "Haha, how stupid! After all, you are still too young. You have just wiped out a few third-rate pirate groups and you are so arrogant."
Baron Amos beside him asked curiously: "Why did the steward say that?"
Angelo explained: "They set out at dawn and have traveled nearly a full day's journey now. Paul Grayman may feel okay riding on the horse, but his soldiers are probably exhausted. "How much energy can be left for fighting?"
Although he knew nothing about military affairs, Baron Amos still felt his face heat up, and he didn't realize such a simple truth.
When the distance between the two sides was 300 meters, the Alda army stopped advancing. Paul ordered the artillery company to build a firing position on a nearby high ground, and sent a platoon of spearmen to assist the artillery and provide protection.
At this time, a knight holding a white flag ran over from the rebels. The battle had not started yet, so naturally he was holding a white flag to negotiate.
As expected, the knight came to the front of Arda's army and shouted loudly: "Count Grayman, Lord Angelo asked me to send a message to you. If you release Count Canard and give ten thousand Silver coins, Bailding will no longer pursue the crimes you committed. If you continue to persist, we will defeat your army, occupy your territory, and take you to the Duke of the Northwest for trial."
"Yoha!" Paul was amused by what the knight shouted. He pointed his riding crop at the knight and said loudly: "Go back and tell those traitors to wash their necks and wait to be slaughtered! I will use their heads to make chamber pots."
The knight estimated Looking at the size of Arda's army, there were probably more than a thousand people. The queues are quite neat, and they wear clothes of the same color and style, which makes people feel eye-catching, but what's the use of it? They faced enemies twice their size.
And what’s even more fatal is that except for a few mounted officers, there is no other cavalry force in Arda’s army. The outcome of this battle has been determined. "Stupid!" After hearing Paul's reply, the knight sighed in his heart, then turned his horse and ran towards his people. Soon he came to Angelo and others and relayed Paul's reply to them. and gave an outline of the army of Arda.
“Hahaha!” Angelo and others couldn’t help laughing after hearing the knight’s description. There was no suspense about the outcome.
Angelo looked around at the crowd and said: "Everyone! We have the advantage in numbers, we have the advantage in physical strength, and we also have the advantage in location. If we stand here and wait for the poor army on the opposite side to attack us, the news will be It will be laughed at. I suggest that we launch the attack."
...
Just when Paul was hesitating whether to continue to move forward and initiate the attack, or to stimulate the opponent to attack him, He found that the rebel phalanx was beginning to move towards him, so he immediately ordered preparations to engage the enemy.
As the order was issued, two battalions of spearmen and one company of musketeers quickly changed from marching columns to linear combat formations, while the two battalions of directly affiliated mortar platoons were deployed in among the gaps between the various teams.
In order to test the actual combat effectiveness of large-scale equipment of muskets, Paul ordered the artillerymen not to fire when receiving clear instructions. He authorized the muskete company commander Dempsey to direct the firing of the musketeers.
"Check the equipment...light the match rope..."
With the loud order of the company commander Demps, the soldiers of the musket company took off the match ropes on their bodies, took out the fire barrel and lit it.
“Load the ammunition!”
Thanks to the rigorous daily training and paper-cased fixed ammunition, the soldiers took less than a day from taking off their muskets to loading the ammunition. minutes.
While the musketeers were loading ammunition, the mortar platoons deployed in the gaps between the teams also fixed the barrels, loaded the shotguns, and were ready to fire at any time.
On the rebel side, as the four square formations moved, the originally neat formation began to become chaotic. After walking more than 100 meters, the square formation could no longer be seen, just like when Paul reviewed it for the first time in the square of Huxin Town. Scenes from the military.
Watching the enemy getting closer and closer, company commander Demps once again emphasized to his soldiers that they were not allowed to fire before receiving orders. In order to achieve a better hit rate, they must wait until they are close enough to the enemy. Then fire again.
Until the rebels were only more than 100 meters away from Alda's army, Captain Demps gave the order: "Get ready to shoot!" The soldiers fixed the match rope on the snake-shaped pole, the butt of the gun to the shoulder, and the gun The flat end of the mouth is aimed at the moving enemy.
“First row, fire!”
Finally, the moment Paul had been waiting for had arrived.
Thanks to "MD Samsara" for the reward.
(End of this chapter)