Chapter 297
After further discussion, everyone agreed that issuing war bonds was a good idea, so Paul gave the job to Ford and Hansel.
At the end of the meeting, a young officer hurried in and handed Paul a latest battle report from the front line.
"Oh..."
Paul shook his head as he looked, "We have encountered a tough battle."
With a sad look on his face, he handed one of the reports to the people present for circulation.
This report written by Schroeder described in detail the battle that took place on the border of the duchy. Although the Arda army won the battle, killing and capturing more than a thousand enemies, they themselves also suffered Suffered nearly three hundred casualties. Schroeder speculated that the attrition due to deaths or serious injuries would eventually exceed a hundred people.
This was the first time that Paul encountered a situation where his army would lose so many men in a single battle.
“This kind of thing... is inevitable after all.”
“The enemy will not give up victory.”
"My lord, you should pay more attention to the significance of this victory than the casualties."
"As a lord, you will get used to this kind of thing sooner or later."
Everyone meets Paul The look on his face suggested that he was frightened by the number of casualties, so they all started to express relief. After all, the lord was still so young.
Paul took a deep breath and said seriously: "I hope the army can do a good job in providing pensions, and we must not chill the hearts of the families of the sacrificed soldiers."
Ron and Kelly stayed behind. The senior officers of Huxin Town quickly wrote down the lord's words.
The report also mentioned that because of the heavy casualties in this battle, Schroeder had to suspend the offensive for a period of time, allowing the troops to stay in the border area where they are now for repairs, and to recruit more locals to supplement their combat strength. , of course, if the Duke's army takes the initiative to attack again, they will never give in.
Paul has no objection to this. He is not someone who is eager to win. Information from the direction of Bidoburg showed that Jaais seemed to have made a desperate move to attack the castle regardless of casualties. Apparently, the pressure from Emden and the upper reaches of the Vis River had made him feel burned.
Haha, this son of a duke would never have imagined that the owner of Bido Castle, Sir Bright Sean, took the initiative to tell the story of his family in order to prevent the Kent family from finding him responsible for surrendering to the coalition after their victory. A secret that has been kept for generations - there is an underground tunnel in the castle, and the exit is located in a hidden river to the west of the castle.
As for why he didn't sneak away quietly during the last battle, firstly, it was because he was unwilling to leave behind the wealth accumulated by his family for generations - to escape quietly, he must travel lightly.
The second reason is that because the exit is located to the west of the castle, Bido Castle is embedded like a nail between Portree and Arad. Both territories are important members of the anti-Kent alliance. Xiao If Sir En wants to run, the enemy's territory will be to the north, west, and south. The shortest route out of danger is to quietly bypass Fort Bido and go east. However, in order to block the Duke's army from rescuing Bido Castle, the coalition forces stationed heavy troops in the castle. In the East, running like this is like a sheep entering a tiger's mouth. In short, escaping from here is not a good idea. In order to prevent being discovered by the coalition patrol team, Sir Sean also sent people to block the tunnel near the exit for a long distance.
Third, the order given to him by Maltz Kent at that time was to guard this important transportation area, and there was even a slight hint that he would commit suicide and apologize if he could not guard it. In this case, it was absolutely impossible for Sir Sean to sneak away quietly. There is no good fruit to eat. Damn Maltz, damn the Duke of the North West, after the first rescue attempt by Jaais failed, Sir Sean immediately sent an envoy to negotiate with the coalition forces on how to surrender decently.
After Jais led the troops here for the second time and began to siege Fort Bido, in order to avoid being settled by the Duke for the surrender, Brett Sean decisively provided the underground tunnel. So the coalition forces cleared the exit, and this narrow tunnel became the lifeline of the garrison in the castle. Weapons and equipment, medicines, supplementary soldiers, and even gunpowder, shells, and grenades from Huxin Town were continuously delivered to the castle. .
Paul is very happy. Biduobao is just a flesh and blood millstone, let Jais enjoy it slowly. Arda would gradually build up strength in the upper reaches of the Vis River and attack from their rear towards Cente, the capital of the North-West Duchy.
If this fortress finally falls... Of course, this is indeed a very bad thing. As long as Jaais works harder and hits the west coast, he can isolate the entire alliance into the north and the south. However, according to the analysis of the staff, the pressure from Emden and the upper reaches of the Vis River was enough to stop the Duke's army. Jaais was so anxious to attack Bido Castle, not so much because he wanted to occupy it as a forward base to continue the attack. , rather, he wanted to use it as a western barrier to prevent enemy counterattacks, so that he could free up his troops to deal with the Arda army in other directions.
If the fortress does fall and Jais is more reckless than expected, Arda's road to the south will be cut off. At this time, whether it is transporting goods or aiding allies isolated in the south, the only option is It is hoped that the maritime fleet has begun to take shape.
The loss of an important transportation hub will not cause the alliance to collapse immediately. The lords and generals stationed in Bido Castle will not coexist with the castle, but will escape through the tunnels and return to their own territories to continue organizing military operations.
What happens next...who can say for sure? War is a huge gamble. Perhaps the two sides could shake hands and make peace after a stalemate.
But as long as it is not the worst ending - the alliance is completely defeated and allowed to be slaughtered - Alda will occupy a place in the northwest bay and become an important force, and Graiman will also get rid of the previous The image of the unknown exiled family has gained a status that matches the high-ranking noble title of earl.
“I’m a little excited just thinking about it!”
Paul said something that everyone found baffling.
Then the Count received another news that deeply surprised him - the surveying team in Emden invented a method of quickly measuring distances for the artillery, based on the principles he taught in school Trigonometric functions.
Two different emotions mixed in his heart...
One is the joy of being a lord and a teacher: My God, the long-term investment in education has finally blossomed. ? At that time, he only talked about the application of trigonometric functions in surveying and mapping. He did not expect that anyone would take the initiative to apply it in military aspects.
The other is an inexplicable feeling of loss: Damn, I never thought I could do this. I lost a good opportunity to show off in front of the big soldiers.
Of course, the former mood is mainly the main one. This is a good phenomenon after all. Scientific and technological progress and industrialization cannot rely solely on what he has in his head. There must be more people to guess, think, prove, and application. Paul believes that similar things will happen more and more in the future.
It didn’t take long for the meeting to end. After everyone dispersed, Paul paused for a long time looking outside the office window. Finally, he could not suppress an impulse and came to sit down at the table.
While muttering "The halo of the prophet is still quite necessary at this stage..."
While writing down "Some ideas about using lens equipment for long-distance measurements..." ”
(End of this chapter)