King of The Wall

2021-10-15

Chapter 674 Highgarden Defense (3)

Boom long long long...

The synchronization rate of the second round shelling is slightly reduced, resulting in a thunderous sound with an echo-like trailing texture even though it has no reflections. The firelight and thick smoke first entered the eye, the sound wave arrived a little slower, and finally the cannonball came in response - Mathis Rowan shook his shoulders and couldn't help holding his breath, as if he was afraid that oneself's breath would summon the cannonball.

There was a time interval between the two shellings, and the half-deployed formation was successfully dispersed into a more sparse horizontal formation-in addition to the reduction in the density, I witnessed with my own eyes the soldiers in the formation evaded and rolled after being psychologically prepared. Cases of artillery shells also appeared sporadically... Combining the two, the casualties were significantly lower than when they were unprepared just now.

But it's just "some". Dozens of shells smashed the shields hurriedly erected by the soldiers in the front row without any suspense, stabbed one after another in the crowd, and easily gave Rowan The casualties of the cannon fodder strikers were added to a heavy sum of nearly 100 people. Although the number was lower than that of the first round, the shock to the commander was even greater: for no other reason, this time the shell fell closer to him - the most thrilling one even hit Rowan Under the gentle slope where the headquarters is located, he tore apart the rows of soldiers who were lined up in front of one's eyes, and then bounced twice, until he was twenty or thirty meters in front of him, before he was on the gentle slope. Under the action of the inclined plane, they plunged into the mud in advance to stop the "floating water", so that the Rowan family almost dragged the lord's few Knights to relax.

The sound of the cannons dissipated, and the white fog-like gunpowder was blowing in the direction of the Reach Army forward like a huge scarf under the blowing of the southeast wind. The attrition rate is approaching 2% before the war begins! At the same time as trembling in fear, the command layer finally reacted and began to judge the battlefield situation.

"My lord, after two more rounds of this kind of artillery bombardment, our army will collapse without a fight!" Knight Osgrey of the firm tower swallowed heavily, and was persuaded, "Fight or retreat. , please hurry up and order. Every second of hesitation, there will be more Reach people who can no longer return home to reunite with their loved ones!"

Fight or retreat?

Reunited with loved ones?
It's all bullshit.

More important than the life of the general "Reach people" is that the current situation makes it impossible to guarantee that the next round of shelling will not hit oneself! As a retainer, you can't leave your master and run away, so all you can do... Naturally, you can only persuade.

Although they say devotion to righteousness that inspires reverence, the Knights as staff and personal guards of course know that their mission today is to feign defeat and lure the enemy, and it is impossible for this striker to turn Come and defeat the unstoppable black clothed devil on the opposite side. Based on what they knew about their own monarch, Earl Rowan, when he found that the enemy's firepower exceeded expectations, he categorically ordered the charge to kill him. It is false to urge Earl Rowan to order quickly, but it is true to urge him to quickly agree to retreat.

"My lord, I have noticed a detail." Compared with Knight, the firm tower, who had panicked, Viber Ser from Coldmoat was obviously more calm, "The projectile fired by the opponent's artillery wanted to Continuous bouncing on the ground requires an extremely harsh angle. As long as there is a slight slope to block, its lethality will be greatly reduced! We only need to move the command headquarters from the top of the slope to the back of the slope, and the risk will be greatly reduced!"

Mathis Rowan must be excited about evacuating from danger, but after all, he's not afraid of death to the point of forgetting the duty of oneself commander once he's swayed.

"Move to the back of the slope, what about the observation and command of the battlefield?"

"The observation post and the standard-bearer are ordered to stand by, and we go to the back of the slope for a little dodge, so that It will not lose control of the battlefield, but also ensure safety!"

"That's right!" Osgrey Ser immediately echoed, "Sir, the three armies must be handsome, even if you can't for a while. The decision is whether to fight or retreat, and at least you should ensure your own safety!"

The anti-slope can defend against artillery fire, and Viber Ser is probably the first indigenous person in the entire Ice and Fire world to realize this. Mathis Rowan, who was already terrified, heard the persuasion of his retainers so much that they were not talk nonsense. How could he think more? He borrowed the donkey and hid behind the gentle slope with the flag surrounded by the bodyguards. The slope was really gentle—so gentle that even the sun rays of light, which were not far from the horizon at the beginning of the rise, could not be blocked. However, as the formation of the Queen's army and the smoke of artillery guns disappeared from sight, the threat of ricochet damage was basically eliminated, and the reason that was scared away by the sound of cannons and bloodshed suddenly returned to the Goldengrove count's head.

Initiating a charge is sure to kill you, but where did oneself hide and let the soldiers stand there waiting to die, and where did the brilliant go?
The Reach Plain is endless as far as the eye can see, but the flat macro terrain is still covered with slight undulations ranging from less than one person high to several meters high, just like the gentle slope back that oneself is hiding at the moment - if The entire army can find bunkers, and the situation of passive bombing can be greatly alleviated!
He proposed this idea to several aides, but he did not get a positive response—a few of them may not be famous generals, but basic military common sense and deduction ability are still available: the undulating terrain on the plain is by no means regular Distribution, if the entire army is forced to find the soil slope to hide, the front line will definitely wither into pieces, and the enemy will cross as soon as they charge.

apart from this, there is another hidden danger: in this era without radios and walkie-talkies, the commander's control of the army formation is mainly accomplished through semaphore, musical instruments and messengers, and occasionally When the chain of command is interrupted, a certain degree of self-judgment is carried out by the junior officers... And these operations all require a certain short distance between the two ends of the information transmission - after all, even if you judge by yourself, at least there must be a nearby The trend and status of friendly forces are observed and used as a basis for judgment. No!
Therefore, the most likely trouble is: the oneself "distributed and concealed" order may barely be passed on, but once this order is executed in place, the troops will disappear in the headquarters like clay ox entering the sea. In control - easy to pour out, but impossible to take back!
What to do?
Time passed second after second, cold sweat slowly oozes out on Earl Rowan's forehead, and a frightening and lingering thought gave him huge psychological pressure: foolishly trying to make peace with oneself. While people were discussing coping strategies, the enemy artillery in the Queen's army was rushing to reload, ready to launch the third round of direct harvesting!

The strong sense of urgency finally squeezed out a bit of quick wit, and he suddenly recalled: since the purpose of leading the striker was not to defeat the Queen's army, why should he care whether the formation is continuous and complete?
Don't be ashamed, now I can only give medicine to a dead horse!

The sober Mathis Rowan's eyes suddenly became sharp: "The order goes on - order the whole army to find the gentle slope on the spot, leave the flag-bearer at the top of the slope, and the large army will re-arrange behind the slope! "

"But my lord...if the enemy forces attack..."

"It's not over yet! The battle flag fell before the enemy launched an attack, military law!" He paused slightly, then added, "Once the enemy launches an infantry and cavalry attack, without waiting for an order, the entire army retreats directly, and the flag and baggage can be discarded. Run as fast as you can!"

As a bait, the striker carried enough flags to build momentum that the West Expedition Force could not move forward as long as the flags were still up; and the logic underlying the latter order It's even simpler - if "scatter to find cover" may be the last order that oneself successfully issued today, then after this order... directly bring the follow-up orders that may be needed!

Neither fighting nor retreating, what's the point of being so stalemate?

Seeing the expressions of obvious doubts surrounding people trying to carry out orders, Rowan explained confidently: "If the enemy keeps firing, we can hide behind gentle slopes for a very small price. Consuming the opponent's gunpowder is a great achievement; and if they dare to send troops to attack, the cavalry main force that we have already circled behind them will become their nightmare!"

——

(end of chapter)