Lord of Industrialization

Pillars of smoke rose together with the rising sun, covering half of the sky.

On the top of the mountain, Metzger held up a pair of binoculars, counting the number of smoke plumes and determining their location.

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 seems that no scouts will come to us." It’s over.”

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? Just take action?"

Frederick and the others eliminated the threat to the opponent's top combat power on the night of May 14th, and issued a militia mobilization order on the morning of the 15th. However, they did not start taking action until today, the 19th, with a few days' window in between.

The military section of "Wesson Daily" often contained military articles written by Frederick under the pseudonym "Peashooter", and from time to time he advocated "the speed of war".

Bosses like Hoffman and others acted as "quill military strategists" in their spare time. They all memorized Frederick's theories in the newspapers by heart and quoted the classics at their fingertips. However, as soon as they arrived on the battlefield, they discovered 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.

When Hoffman saw that he didn't answer, in order to be able to suppress everyone when bragging to others in the future, Hoffman started to cheat: "Well, we will be a family in more than ten years. There is no need to say anything confidential, just pick up some that can be used." It’s something I can brag about.”

Metzger was speechless. After the two met, the wife somehow arranged for the child to be married not long ago. At the engagement banquet, Tarot, the head maid of Duke Wesson, was even invited to be a witness.

"Okay." He looked at his pocket watch, "There are still ten minutes left for the break, so I'll talk to you."

Hoffman was secretly happy. He had been worried from the beginning that Metzger would not agree to the children's marriage, but now he 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.

As a migrant, Hoffman doesn't have much sense of security. If his children can marry locals, it will be equivalent to having an extra 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 from a book." He said, "When formulating a plan, you 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 rapid military operations is to surprise the enemy and disrupt the enemy's commander's thinking."

"At the same time, fast does not mean fast process, but fast results."

"This time, in order to prevent sneak attacks, the enemy has built many sentry towers and fortresses in the outer 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, the strongholds farther away from the road If not eliminated, they may attack our supply lines."

"In this way, even if we can quickly occupy the predetermined position, we will lose our offensive ability because we will focus on ensuring smooth supply lines. If we occupy it, it will be in vain. It will also give the enemy a chance to counterattack, which will deviate from the original goal."

"So now we spend a few days preparing. Each team will lurk near those watchtowers and fortresses, launch attacks at the same time so that they cannot support each other, and eliminate them in the shortest possible time."

"In this way, a massive offensive operation can put huge psychological pressure on the enemy, causing them to hesitate and ignore our covert and outflanking troops. The main force will move faster without interference along the way, and still have the ability to attack when it reaches the predetermined location. , and there is no need to worry about the rear supply lines.”

Hoffman nodded when he heard the last thing, and thought to himself, if he were the Franken Archduke, he would definitely focus his attention on the front if he was attacked like this, and would have no time to think about the things at the rear. He would even think about the troops behind him. Move 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 ends in three minutes!"

A large group of people sitting on the ground immediately stood up and put their backpacks full of supplies on their backs.

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 Wesson Army regulations, they take a 20-minute break half an hour after starting the march. This is mainly to deal with some problems that can only be discovered during the march, such as equipment and carrying gear not being tied up properly.

Next, the team will rest for 10 minutes every 50 minutes of walking. After walking more than half of today's journey, they will rest for two hours, eating and drinking during this period.

According to the battle plan, Metzger and the others will arrive at the scheduled location before dusk tomorrow and then start blasting operations.

The mountain road the team was walking on was not so much a road as it was a relatively gentle place in the mountain. Now the bushes had grown to the height between thighs and knees. The ears were filled with the buzzing sound of flying insects. The people walking in front used wooden Beating the bushes with a stick, you can often see traces of snakes and other small animals escaping.

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 estimated that he could rest. Hoffman told him: "Cross this mountain. There are waterfalls and streams at the foot of the mountain. You can rest there."

"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. Generally speaking, it was up to him how to walk this way. If there was an accident and we got lost, the worst-case scenario would be to find a stream and walk downstream. In the words of the commander, we could at least walk to the seaside.

He called Huo Zhenplozi from the rear. This guy had two pheasants and a hare hanging on his waist, as did several militiamen, who were all shot with slingshots along the way.

The food brought during this operation is limited. Although there are supplies airdropped by hot air airships, we can still save a little.

The two discussed it and decided to rest for ten minutes before climbing over the mountain.

The climb went smoothly, but when we were about to go down, there was a sound of birds chirping at the foot of the mountain, indicating that there was a stranger ahead.