King of The Wall

2021-10-15

Chapter 681 Highgarden Defense (6)

In the rumbling sound, the West Expedition Force started artillery strikes.

With the existence of the one-person high bunker, flat fire became unnecessary. The artillery fired directly under Igor's order, lasting a short wave - after simply proving that he could still fire and be strong. After building up the momentum and courage of the entire army, the script began to develop according to Jon Connington's prediction: the trapezoidal formation that had stopped began to operate again, slowly and cautiously but skillfully carried out two more times, that is, half-wheel rolling, and the front line was moved to Reach again. The direction of the army pushed forward half of the "stature" of the trapezoidal formation, which was close to several hundred meters. Although it was almost riding on the face in the senses, it was still at a distance outside the arrow's range before stopping again and re-deployed the artillery position.

There are many purposes to shorten the distance, in addition to creating a larger psychological oppression, improving the shooting accuracy and confirming the results more easily... The most important core benefit is: after the distance gets closer, Artillery can now bully the enemy with less charge.

Ammunition is one of the most in-demand resources in the West Expedition Force after food and grass.

The earth trembled, the sky was torn... The smoke of gunpowder spread across the battlefield under the gentle east wind, as if a white veil hung between Heaven and Earth.

The shelling went on round after round. From Skinchanger, who was conducting aerial reconnaissance, it can be known that, except for the first second round strikes that did not control the range and deviates slightly from the target, the subsequent shells were almost all accurate. Fall into the Reach infantry formation. The Reach army is too large. As long as the charge and shooting angle are correct, it is impossible to shoot with closed eyes. On average, every 2-3 shells can add a casualty. Although the killing efficiency is far less than that of flat shooting, but Still a strong deterrent.

However, even though hundreds of shells, alternating from east to west and south to north, struck every single unit on the Reach line, the attacked side only silently succumbed to the attack. The logistics took away the wounded and the dead, and the rest still stick to the bunker, so that the entire front does not show any slack, really Motionless As Mountains!

If yesterday's battle was a lump of food that had been swallowed but turned upside down in the stomach of the Reach people;

Then the situation today is reversed, It turned into an eagle and was enveloped in a steel cage - let it flap its wings fiercely, peck with its beak and scratch with its claws, it could only shake the cage and could not escape.

The opponent found Igor's most feared countermeasure-to defend instead of attack, beating somebody at their own game to force the West Expedition Force to make a choice: either confront them here until they run out of food and grass ammunition, or give up the defensive superiority of the trapezoid and take the initiative, exposing weak flanks to the cavalry.

This kind of conspiracy is inexplicable. It can be seen that the Reach people have completely abandoned their fantasy and decided to meet force with force. Igor took a deep breath, waved his hand and gave an order, as if the command was firm, he would start without a clue... a strange move specially tailored for this situation.

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To the infantrymen carrying gunfire strikes, today's Reach Plain is undoubtedly a personal Hell.

Continuing to use the lens to observe the exchange of fire on the front line, Garlan Tyrell secretly swallowed, fortunately oneself is the cavalry commander.

From a distance of several li, he could imagine the powerlessness and panic of the infantrymen holding their positions against the artillery strikes, dazed by the shock and whistling of the shells, but unable to take any countermeasures, The front line with the bunker as the front seems to be... no, at least so far it is completely motionless. In fact, there is a hidden health bar called "morale". I was dissatisfied with the withdrawal, and every round of artillery bombardment was bound to lose a little more, and the strategy adopted by the command was: let the noble lords and soldiers stand together, and use their own existence to motivate the army to stand firm.

In the past wars, the higher the lords and nobles, the better the armor and equipment, and the more Knight guards they had around them—no matter how brutal the battle, their casualty rate would be much lower than that of peasants and soldiers. But this time, the armor and escorts were nothing compared to the gunpowder and cannonballs of the West Expedition Force. For the first time since splitting heaven and earth apart: Reach people on the battlefield did All living things are equal!
It is conceivable that when the battle is over, oneself will definitely be able to hear the news that many unfortunate princes and lords have been injured or even killed by shells.

The strategy of besieging but not attacking is a good idea, but it is based on a gamble—the command is gambled: after the internal gunpowder detonation desensitization training, the Reach people are already strong enough to withstand artillery strikes psychological shock. Under the leadership of the noble lords, the morale of your own infantry can be stronger than the amount of ammunition of the enemy!
Can you win?
Garland didn't dare to make judgments casually, but he knew that, no matter as a son, a courtier or a general, all he could do at the moment was: implement the new plan sent by the command and watch from a distance Their own infantry units were bombarded indiscriminately, and they did not even half step until the West Expedition Force made any moves to unlock the Defensive Array.

It's very frustrating to do this, but if you can't bear it, the sacrifice will only be more.

There will be many Reach people's blood spilled on this field today, but for future generations not to be oppressed and bullied, everything is worth it!
While thinking about it, the continuous artillery sound suddenly stopped, and the field fell into a strange and inexplicable silence. Garland was wondering if the enemy's gunpowder reserves should not be so small, and the earth-shattering salvo suddenly erupted again... … This round of strikes was much more violent than any previous wave, and the ground tremors were so strong that the horse beside Garland, who was clearly accustomed to the sound of explosions, was uneasy and agitated, trying to break free from the reins, and it took two squires to pull it. live.

Along with the inexplicably upgraded artillery strikes, thicker gunpowder smoke than before also rolled out from the Queen's army's position... The quality and quantity are so amazing. , as if a Heavenly God poured a large bucket of pure white milk and rice porridge mixture into a glass water tank called "Reach Plain", instantly blurring Heaven and Earth at the forefront of the entire line of fire, if there is any substance The Smoking Sea made Garland, who was watching from a distance, subconsciously have difficulty breathing, and at an inopportune moment, he began to worry about the breathing condition of the opponent's artillery.

The circular field of view of the lens is blurred, Garland put down the observation tool, ready to rest his right eye after working for a long time, but the next moment, the mutation starts again: the real chaos has become a battlefield of porridge In the most forward direction, there was a sudden scream of killing. Garland heart shivered with cold, immediately raised the lens again, and observed the direction of the source of the sound.

In the smoke of gunpowder and gunpowder that filled the sky, he vaguely saw the bottom edge of the Queen's army trapezoidal formation—that is, the area where the infantry formations of both sides were closest to each other. The prelude to today's bloody battle was kicked off. Look carefully at the coat of arms of the flag, and there is an army of Tyrell's family in it!

What's going on?

Shock and doubt are intertwined in an instant.

Didn’t the command guarantee in the order—it will never take the initiative to attack today, but wait for Igor to take the lead in losing his temper. At this moment, the change of mind is because they judge that the enemy’s firepower can’t bear it. Or have they discovered some great fighter jets temporarily, so that they have to act first even if they break the agreement?

Without too much time to think about it, instinct reminded Garland of what he should do as a commander at this moment: when the infantry on both sides are fighting together, it is the best time for the cavalry to play its role. It takes time to get to the battlefield from outside the range of the artillery. No matter what reason the headquarters ordered to launch the charge first, it is the right choice to cooperate immediately instead of sticking to the combat plan!

"Send orders! All troops attack!"

——

(end of this chapter)