Chapter 136 Taking the initiative
There were many enemies and a great advantage, and Frederick couldn't help but become a little nervous.
After all, he had never commanded a real war in his previous life. Watching TV movies and playing games is one thing, but personally deciding the life and death of thousands of people is another.
After calming down, Frederick asked: "How will the staff judge the enemy's actions?"
During this time, little Franz led the staff to repeatedly study the enemy's actions and himself. With the countermeasures in mind, he used a wooden pole to draw a circle in the north, east, and south directions of Wesson, and said: "Our preliminary judgment is that the enemy will attack from these three directions first, mainly with mountain mercenaries. , the purpose is to disperse our troops.”
"The army led by Lot from the north will attack Ringen City. It is only 20 kilometers away from Weissenburg City. The road is almost flat and there is no danger to defend. It should be able to scare the commander."
"There is another possibility for them to take a boat directly to Weissenburg Castle, but it is unlikely, but it does not rule out that they will disembark in a deserted place."
"The Eichstadt Territory in the east The army’s goal is Langnar City in the south. There are many mountains there and the marching speed should not be very fast. It is judged that they will set off early.” They may only besiege the city, and when necessary, they will go north to Hausen City to profile the enemy's main force."
"The enemy's main force will attack Hausen City in a large scale after our army is dispersed, and occupy it in the shortest possible time. , and then the gate to the territory opened, allowing direct access to Weissenburg City.”
Frederick nodded, agreeing with his statement.
No matter when a war is fought, logistics is the focus. The enemy's offensive route is closely related to roads and water sources. From this, the marching route of large troops can be judged.
Although the geographical scope of this war is very small, crossing mountains and ridges is not a problem, but the attacking side must attack the city, and siege equipment cannot climb mountains.
Little Franz continued: "The traditional siege tactics of mountain mercenaries are to first attack the villages around the city, drive the farmers into the city to consume food, and at the same time loot the food on the spot to replenish themselves, and then carry out Siege."
At this time, Frederick suddenly asked: "When will the war begin?"
The answer was old Franz, who had fought countless battles.
"I will send a letter of war first." He replied, "The time is usually noon, which means an honorable war under the gaze of the God of Light."
Frederick narrowed his eyes slightly After a moment, he asked: "In other words, the enemy's envoy will arrive in advance?"
"That's right." Old Franz replied, "Generally, the envoy will arrive one day in advance and make an appointment for the next day. See you later."
A sneer appeared on Frederick's face. He looked at the sand table and studied it quietly for a long time, and then asked: "Is it possible for them to have someone privately send the letter of challenge in advance? Action?”
"You don't need to go too far in advance. It's the night when the envoy arrives at Weisenberg City. It's best to do it in the middle of the night, and even better if it's in the evening."
Everyone in the map room, look at me, I see Look at you, I don't know what the commander wants to do.
At this time, a staff officer said: "This is no problem. As long as someone gives you a few words of advice, there will always be someone bold enough to take action."
Frederick stepped out from under the sand table. He took a wooden pole from the shelf, clicked on a village among the mountains on the southern edge of the territory, and said: "We can easily infiltrate Reese's territory here. We can let some people come here to do something. As soon as we catch them, Launch a counterattack immediately!”
“There are too many enemies and we cannot wait for them to swarm us. We must take the initiative and concentrate our efforts to defeat them one by one.”
He then clicked on Fort Roth to the north, and rowed the wooden pole along the river. After stopping at Weisenburg Castle, he said: "The army led by Roth has two ways to go: water and land. The variables are too great. We We need to deal with them first.”
“There are swamps on both sides of this several-kilometer river, which cuts off the land passages on both sides of the river. If we can pass through, we can avoid the enemy and reach the foot of Fort Roth. When the time comes, give priority to destroying the enemy. If you act quickly, you can also capture the castle. "
A battle requires not only the arrival of people, but also the transportation of materials by packhorses and vehicles. It is good to transport them by ship, but there are few nights now. Navigation, accidentally stranded or hit the rocks.
Although it is okay to take the current main road, there are many villages and small towns along the way, and it is easy to be discovered when thousands of people pass by.
No one denied Frederick's plan to launch an active attack immediately. Multi-front operations were a taboo. It was best to deal with the enemy in one direction first.
Old Franz frowned and said: "This swamp is very deep near the river, but very shallow on the right bank of the mountain. It's just that there are too many vampire slimes in it. I don't recommend going there."< br>
“When I was young, our family planned to build a road along the foot of the mountain. Taking the riverside is much closer than the current road.”
“The old man was with us at that time. On the top of the mountain, I saw a deer being chased into the swamp by a wolf. It fell down before it could escape. Within a few breaths, it was covered with red blood-sucking slimes."
" Those slimes were only as big as a small fingernail at first, but when they were full, they were as big as a fist." Frederick shuddered when he heard it, and he could only say: "Then just give up and go there."
Old Franz thought for a moment, pointed to a long and narrow lake at roughly the midpoint of the straight line between Weisenberg City and Rothburg and said: "There used to be roads in the mountains here, and it was no problem for carriages to travel." "It's just that. Thirty years ago, the earthquake mountain collapsed and blocked a small river. The valley turned into a lake. It was quite deep and almost a hundred meters wide."
"The gentlemen thought. We used to build a stone bridge there, but due to arguments over who would pay for it, it was never completed and we decided to take the current route instead."
"We can build a pontoon bridge with wooden boards fixed on top of the empty wine barrels. If you get up, you can live with the current carriage."
After hearing this, Frederick immediately said: "Okay, let's do it! Send people to walk this road tomorrow, and let the Executive Yuan organize the preparation of the pontoon bridge. Materials.”
He then pointed a wooden pole at the leader of Eichstadt in the east and asked: "The army here needs to walk a long mountain road after setting off. We can ambush on the way. Can the two main regiments capture Rothburg?" Will there be another ambush battle later? Can time catch up?"
After discussing with the staff for a few minutes, Franz replied: "If the first battle can end before sunrise, the soldiers can We arrived at the mountain pass in a light carriage at noon."
"If we can find a way to reduce their marching speed on the road, we can conceal ourselves calmly."
Frederick headed to Ashish. The road in Tate's territory is still very familiar. He used to be a guest often, and he was often played with by his big sister.
He said: "Then set up some roadblocks to let them waste time and strive for an ambush. If that doesn't work, attack the camp at night."
"Count Eichstadt's castle is not easy to conquer."
The mountain where the castle is located is higher and steeper than Frederick's house. It takes a long time to walk on the mountain road, which is not good. sneak attack.
At this time, a staff officer said: "Heijiabao's whetstone can pretend to be a mountain mercenary to deceive the city gate."
Frederick shook his head and said: "It's difficult, Ai Xi Stetter is very thoughtful, and I'm afraid he won't let the mercenaries get close to him at that time."
Little Franz thought for a while and said, "If it doesn't work, just leave it alone, it's not like Fort Roth. , if we don’t take Nuremberg those people will most likely take it away”
Frederick could only nod, and then asked: "Next is the Lysland. Is there any way to eat them?"
After the first two battles, the enemy should also receive the news. , it is impossible for them not to respond.
Little Franz replied: "At this time, the army led by Reese should be besieging the city of Helm, and we can cooperate inside and outside."
Frederick nodded.
Little Franz continued: "At that time, the enemy's main force will definitely attack Hausen City, and the pressure will be great."
Hausen City is surrounded by a lake on one side and a mountain on the other side. It happens to be stuck on the main road entering Weisen Territory from the northwest, and the enemy's army cannot detour.
Frederick thought for a long time and finally said: "The city of Hausen must be defended. I will ask Professor Manuel and others to help."
At this time, old Franz said: " I'll go to Hausen City."
Frederick nodded. Old Franz had been fighting for the Wesson family for many years and was quite famous in the territory. He could stabilize the people's sentiments.
Frederick then drew a large circle in the southwest of the sand table, and said at the same time: "After the main force frees up, the road from Reese Territory to Ansbach Territory goes around their backs, surrounds them, and eliminates them. them.”
"I have a request. This war is different from the past. It is not just a defeat, but an encirclement war. We must physically eliminate the enemy. We must kill all the enemies in front of us and make potential enemies afraid. Only then will we be safe. . ”
Everyone in the map room felt a sense of fear. The current war is mainly about defeat. Except for the nobles who can exchange for ransom, the soldiers are ignored and run away.
Especially those staff officers who used to be mercenary officers. In the past, after they were defeated, they only needed to run faster than others. The worst they could do was throw away their weapons and armor, or at most, take off all their clothes. The pursuers would see that you had no money to gain. Just ignore it.
It’s okay now, this young master wants to surround people and cut them slowly like wheat.
But this is all that can be done now. There are too many enemies. If the defeated troops are left alone, they will assemble into a large army again.
Frederick estimated the time and then said: "This battle is basically going to be fought like this. Let's go have a drink and get some sleep, and start making detailed plans tomorrow morning."
Everyone present was stunned. They thought that Frederick's active attack plan was just one of several plans. They would discuss plans such as dividing the troops and defending them later. Unexpectedly, the first version turned out to be the final version.
Before anyone else could say anything, Frederick yawned, turned around and left the map room.
(End of this chapter)