Chapter 344: It looks fast but it’s not really fast
Pillars of smoke rose together with the morning sun, covering half of the sky.
On the top of the mountain, Metzger held up a pair of telescopes, counting the number of smoke plumes and judging their locations in his mind.
Hoffman also held up the telescope he bought to observe carefully. He was quite familiar with the terrain in this area. As he looked, he said: "The sentry towers on the other side of the road have been burned. It doesn't look like they are there." There will be scouts coming to our side."
Metzger said calmly: "It's better to be careful."
Hoffman thought so too, nodded in agreement, and asked curiously: "I heard that the original plan this time was to act quickly after the war started. Duke Wesson also often said that the speed of military operations should be prioritized. Why did it take so long this time? "
Frederick and the others eliminated the threat from the opponent's top combat power on the night of May 14th, and issued the militia mobilization order on the morning of the 15th, but they did not start taking action until the 19th. The window of days.
The military section of "Wesson Daily News" often contains military articles written by Frederick under the pseudonym "Peashooter", and from time to time he preaches that "soldiers are more valuable and faster".
Hoffman and the other bosses acted as "quill-pen military strategists" in their spare time. They all memorized Frederick's theories in the newspapers by heart and quoted the classics at their fingertips. I found that something seemed wrong.
Metzger just smiled. When he went home on vacation, he was often invited to brag by this group of "quill military strategists".
To be fair, these people can indeed scare ordinary people when they talk, but they are all empty dogma. For professional officers, just smile and nod.
Seeing that he didn't answer, Hoffman started to lie in order to suppress everyone when bragging to others in the future: "Well, we will be a family in more than ten years, and there is no need to keep anything secret. Just pick up some things that I can talk about so that I can brag.”
Metzger was speechless. After the two met, the wife didn’t know what happened. Not long ago, she arranged a baby wedding and an engagement party for the child. They even invited Tarot, the head maid of Duke Wesson, to be a witness.
"Okay." He looked at his pocket watch, "There are still ten minutes left for the break, I will talk to you."
Hoffman was secretly happy, and he had been worried about Mei from the beginning. Zige did not agree with the children's marriage, and now he has acquiesced.
If Hozenplotz is the representative of the settled disaster victims, and Hoffman is the representative of the migrant workers, then Metzger is the representative of the local old Wesson people.
Hoffman does not have much sense of security as a migrant. If his children can marry locals, it will be equivalent to having one more tie, firmly tied to this land.
Especially the marriage of Metzger, who is expected to become a noble officer. When the time comes, he will be rich and the other party will be powerful. No matter how you look at it, it will be a win-win situation.
Metzger also had his own plans in mind, otherwise he would not have agreed to the marriage in more than ten years. Otherwise, it would not be difficult to find an academic in-law based on his status and achievements.
“The most taboo thing for military commanders is to only endorse books.” He said, “When making plans, we should work backwards from the goals and solve the problems encountered in the process of completing the goals one by one.”
Hoffman nodded. He was illiterate a few years ago. Over the years, he relied on a little talent and hard work to achieve what he is today. Many of his experiences over the years have not been summed up. After a little digging, he suddenly became enlightened.
Metzger continued: "The most important purpose of fast military operations is to surprise the enemy and disrupt the enemy commander's thinking."
"At the same time, fast does not refer to the process. Faster, but faster results.”
“In order to prevent sneak attacks, the enemy has built many sentry towers and fortresses in peripheral strategic areas. If we ignore it and just rush towards the enemy camp along the road, First of all, it will take time to eliminate these strongholds on the road, and secondly, if the strongholds far away from the road are not eliminated, they may attack our supply lines. "In this way, even if we can quickly occupy the predetermined position, we will still have to focus on ensuring that the supply lines are smooth." Losing the ability to attack means occupying it in vain, and it will also give the enemy an opportunity to counterattack, which will deviate from the original goal. ”
"So now we spend a few days getting ready. Each team lurks near the watchtowers and fortresses, and launches attacks at the same time so that they cannot support each other, so as to eliminate them in the shortest time."
"In this way. Come on, a massive offensive operation can put huge psychological pressure on the enemy, causing them to hesitate and ignore our concealed and outflanking troops. The main force will move faster without interference along the way. It will still have the ability to attack when it reaches the predetermined location, and there is no need to Worrying about the supply line at the rear."
Hoffman nodded at the end, thinking that if he were the Archduke of Franken, he would definitely focus on the front if he attacked like this, and he would have no time to think about it. For matters in the rear, the troops at the rear may even be moved to the front.
There were more and more smoke plumes in the distance. Metzger looked at his pocket watch again, turned around and shouted: "The break will end in three minutes!"
A large group of people sitting on the ground He stood up immediately and put the backpack full of supplies on his back.
This team consisted of a platoon of 37 regular soldiers led by Metzger, a platoon of 50 militiamen led by Hozenplotz, and the guide Hoffman, a total of 88 people, each of whom was carrying heavy supplies. Part of it was used to blow up the valley.
This is their first break since their official departure. According to the Wesson Army regulations, they take a 20-minute break half an hour after starting the march. This is mainly to deal with some problems during the march, such as equipment and carrying gear that are not tied up properly. problems that can only be discovered.
The team will then rest for 10 minutes every 50 minutes of walking. When more than half of today's journey is completed, they will rest for two hours to eat and drink.
According to the combat plan, Metzger and the others will arrive at the scheduled location before dusk tomorrow and then start blasting operations.
The mountain road the team walked was not so much a road as a relatively gentle place in the mountain. Now the shrubs have grown to the height between thighs and knees, and the ears are filled with the buzzing sound of flying insects. The people in front used wooden sticks to beat the bushes, and from time to time, traces of snakes and other small animals escaping could be seen.
Metzger asked everyone to check trousers, cuffs, and collars one last time to ensure that blood-sucking bugs wouldn't get in after smelling sweat and get on the road.
There are more than a dozen such teams in the vast mountains and forests. Some of them also perform the task of cutting off supply lines, and some serve as advance teams to build roads and bridges to clear the way for the large troops that are about to intersect.
Just after twelve o'clock at noon, Metzger thought he could rest. Hoffman told him: "Cross this mountain. There are waterfalls and streams at the foot of the mountain. You can rest there."< br>
“If you walk along the creek, you can reach the village where I used to live before dark. There is a cave there where you can spend the night.”
Metzger nodded, how to walk this way in general The commander listened to him. If he got lost in an accident, the worst-case scenario would be to find a stream and walk downstream. In the commander's words, he could at least reach the beach.
He called Huo Zhenplozi from the rear. Two pheasants and a hare were hung on this guy's waist, as were several militiamen, all of whom were shot with slingshots along the way.
The food brought in this operation is limited. Although there are airdrops of supplies from hot air airships, we can still save a little.
The two discussed it and decided to rest for ten minutes first and then climb over the mountain to rest again.
The climb went smoothly. Just as I was about to go down, there was a sound of birds chirping at the foot of the mountain, indicating that there was a stranger ahead.
(End of this chapter)