ps: I bought a small black room yesterday and used it to block 5,000 words for the first time. As a result I haven¡¯t finished it until now.
Chapter 14 Battle of Starling Town (3)
At around 8 o'clock on March 8, 1921, the rain over the village of Stubb slowly became lighter, and the drizzle fell from the sky, dripping on the shoulders, foreheads, and corners of the eyes of many Elant soldiers below the hillside.
On the top of the hillside, Lin Fenghan, Colander, Ramsay, Rana, Davout and others stood beside Lin Fenghan wearing bronze armor, holding iron swords and spears with serious expressions. On the grassland 1.2 kilometers wide, more than 10,000 troops were closely arranged.
Lin Fenghan looked at the army in front of him with great enthusiasm, looked at the pair of confused and complaining eyes and shouted loudly: "Brothers, do you know? In the city of Tamira, which is more than 50 kilometers to the west of us, there is already There are 20,000 to 30,000 people gathered. In the town of Starling in front of us, there are also many violent nobles gathered, and they are smaller, with less than 20,000 people."
"What?"
"Twenty thousand people?"
"There are only ten thousand of us!"
"this is too scary."
"Can we beat them?"
¡¡
Whispers rang out from the soldiers below. Many new soldiers and militiamen were talking in shock.
Lin Fenghan frowned and looked at the army below, quickly took a step forward, raised his arm and said coldly: "What's wrong?"
"Were you scared when you heard that there were 20,000 of them?"
"Do you know? Since the Battle of Haisha City, most of our enemies have far more troops than we do. But we still won. Do you know why?"
Lin Fenghan raised his head and looked at everyone seriously. He clenched his fists and shouted loudly:
"Because we have courage!"
"Because we have backbone!"
¡°Because we bear the dream of mankind and we bear the mission given to us by God, no matter how difficult the road ahead is, we will definitely win!¡±
"well said!"
Ma Youden walked out of the crowd excitedly, stretched out his fist and shouted: "We are great and free human beings, we have great dreams, we represent justice and justice, under the leadership of the great leader Yi Liuyun . No matter how powerful those evil nobles are, we will surely win the final victory because this is God¡¯s will.¡±
Ma Youdun shouted passionately: "Long live the great Yi Liuyun!"
¡°Long live the great Elantes government!¡±
¡°Long live the great people of Elantes!¡±
¡°Long live the great dream!¡±
¡¡
Everyone roared loudly together, and the voices of more than 13,000 people erupted together, shaking the entire village and town. Under the drizzle, the Elantes were excited and fearless. All cowardice and fear were abandoned thousands of miles away under the inspiration of dreams.
After a long time, Lin Fenghan stretched out his hand and looked at the excited crowd quietly. When everyone calmed down a little, he said: "Brothers, if we can overcome the bad weather, overcome the discomfort and fear in our hearts, we will surely be able to defeat the enemy. A great army. A great victory.¡±
"Here I finally tell you, the enemies in front of us bring huge wealth ranging from 5,000 to 8,000 carriages. As long as we win the war, I am willing to give you one-tenth of it." .As a reward for bravery.¡±
"ah!"
"Long live General Yiliuyun!"
"Long live General Yiliuyun!"
"Long live General Yiliuyun!"
¡¡
"The Elantra army sets off, all of them. Turn back!"
"Everyone is here, check the weapons and equipment, turn left!"
"Buckler Swordsmen, turn right and follow me."
The soldiers of Elant's army shouted excitedly and discussed the treasures brought by the nobles with excited expressions. They followed the command of the centurion and the centurion and walked happily towards the town of Starling in the misty spring rain.
"Your Excellency, the Viscount, is not good. According to the news from our scouts, the men of the Elante army have gathered. They seem to be making big moves."
At 8.30, just over 20 minutes after Viscount Lulinsen and others ordered the slaves to carry the goods, a young reconnaissance light cavalry ran into the city hall in panic and shouted in sweat.
"What?"
"impossible!"
¡°It¡¯s still raining outside and they actually dare to gather in the rain,¡±??Incredible. "
"Baron, maybe they are doing some kind of activity or religious prayer!"
¡¡
Many nobles expressed their opinions, and Viscount Lu Linsen frowned quickly.
Field Army General Tutus walked out of the crowd with a resolute look on his face and said seriously: "Your Majesty, your Excellency, when all the troops are gathered in this weather, it is absolutely impossible for them to pray to the sky for victory and perform a religious ceremony. In my personal opinion, This was definitely a prelude to their attack.¡±
"Without further delay." General Heifer said nervously to Tutus and Viscount Lulinson: "I will take the light cavalry to the front to investigate the news. Viscount, you will quickly prepare for battle."
"Um!"
Viscount Lulinsen stood up from his chair with a stern expression, stretched out his hand and said: "Tutus, you immediately summon all our city defense soldiers to prepare for battle, and order the soldiers in front to strengthen their vigilance and continue digging trenches."
"Lublin, you quickly summon the vassal knights and other noble knights to prepare for war. We take it seriously."
"yes!"
"yes!"
¡¡
¡°The town of Starlin is 1.5 kilometers long from north to south and 2 kilometers wide from east to west.¡±
Noni pointed to the small town one kilometer ahead and explained to Lin Fenghan in detail: "Currently, they have more than 20,000 people stationed here. The small town can only support less than half of the population. The rest of the people have left their camps. On the higher hills near the north. Currently, their camp front is 2.2 kilometers wide. Especially in the north, most of the militiamen and slaves are stationed here, and their carriages are parked in the town and Next to the road. Within one or two hundred meters in front, there are powerful knight troops stationed as a barrier."
"oh!"
Lin Fenghan picked up the telescope and wiped the outer lens. He looked at the town one kilometer away through the rain screen and observed closely: "They seem to have dug a trench around them on the outskirts of the town. I don't know how deep the trench is. , some of the trenches I saw have already been filled with water, we need to be careful soon.¡±
"Inside the trench, they used wooden frames and rocks to set up a protective wooden wall, but based on what I saw, this wooden wall is not enough evidence. A heavy chop from a bronze cavalry is enough to tear it open."
"ah!"
"They have a large group of cavalry coming out, retreat outside!"
Lin Fenghan saw a group of knights running out of the central road of the town and quickly mounted his horse and suggested.
"Um!"
¡°The basic situation has been determined clearly, now let¡¯s go back!¡±
"Yes!"
Everyone nodded, quickly mounted their horses and retreated towards the troops that had gathered in the rear. At the same time, Heifer and others also vaguely spotted hundreds of cavalry in front. Slowed down the pace of progress.
Lin Fenghan turned around, rode back and said to the generals around him: "In a moment, Rana, Davout, Corland and I will be responsible for the frontal attack."
"Ke Langde, now take your horse archers and attack from the left wing. Responsible for harassment and diverting the attention of the enemies in the town."
Kelande quickly said in embarrassment: "Baron, now that it's raining, my cavalry bows and bowstrings have become loose. On such rainy days, the feathers at the tail of the arrows are greatly reduced in accuracy when exposed to rain. Basically, the shooting accuracy is 100%." The enemy is meters away. My horse archers basically lost most of their combat effectiveness in this weather."
"Baron, my army of longbowmen is similar, but the materials of our bows and arrows are not afraid of moisture from rain. It's just that the accuracy is too low." Wagel took out the bow and arrow he carried with him and said to Lin Fenghan with a frown.
Lin Fenghan closed his eyes and touched his forehead, and said softly: "I understand what you mean. I have hunted before when I was a child, and I also know that bowstrings and arrow feathers are afraid of water. Indeed, in this kind of weather, a single bow and arrow is basically It has lost its power, but don¡¯t forget that this is war. Although one or two bows and arrows cannot hit, a small number of bows and arrows from a large group of thousands of people can always hit people~"
"Korande, what I ask of you is to get all your troops into formation and conduct a large-scale assault one to two hundred meters away from the opponent, so that the enemy mistakenly thinks that we are going to attack from the left wing, and attack them from the left. Disperse some of the energy and troops to the south, and my goal will be accomplished."
"I don't need your cavalry troops to charge or fight in close combat, nor do I need you to attack them from a distance. I only ask you to stick to them, attack their weaknesses, and harass them. Do you understand?"
"Hi!"
Ke Lang DexunSu nodded, rubbed his head and said: "Baron, you should have told me directly earlier! I understand very well now. Brothers, I'm leaving first, let's fight!"
Kelande and the two cavalry attendants clapped their horses and ran towards the cavalry archer group at the rear.
Lin Fenghan looked at Ramsay again, gestured seriously and said: "Ramus, you take 500 light cavalry and make a three-kilometer detour from the hills to the north. Take your men and dismount from the bottom of the hills to the north. They attack by camp on the edge, and we use the one-minute horn as a signal, and as soon as I hear the news of your attack, I will launch a general attack."
"Attention! According to my plan, under the pressure of our army, their main force has basically concentrated on the front line, the rear, and the flanks must be weak. If you see that the enemy has really relaxed their flank defenses after arriving, you can attack , otherwise we will focus on the security forces, using the bows and arrows on your body and the locks as weapons, and ride wildly to attract their attention."
Lin Fenghan stared into Ramsay's eyes sincerely and said: "The life of each of our brothers is precious, especially the elite main cavalry of our Elante army. These elites, mainly Elantes, are our most loyal force. .¡±
"yes!"
Ramsay nodded in understanding, looked at Lin Fenghan seriously, turned around and left quickly with his entourage.
At this time, Lin Fenghan and everyone had arrived at the area 700 meters away from Stubb Village, where the army was slowly advancing, and shouted loudly to the waiting centurions: "Let's go, whole family."
"yes!"
"Set off!"
¡¡
Everyone shouted together.
The huge army shouted slogans and braved raindrops. Move forward bravely. Wherever the army passed, they left earth-yellow footprints filled with water. The soldiers of Elantes' army wore straw sandals. Move forward firmly. But among the crowd, I heard complaints from some soldiers who were born in the towns from time to time.
"Oh no!"
"The Elantes are really coming."
"Your Excellency, Viscount, what should we do? It's still raining now?"
Many nobles stood on the rooftops, looking at the small town in front of them. They looked at the large-scale army with bright flags and neat ranks appearing below the small town built on the hillside. They all shouted in shock.
Lu Linsen waved his hand calmly, with a hint of gloom between his eyebrows, and said to Tutus: "General Tutus, I am not a soldier, and I am not good at sending troops to fight. Next, I will teach you the command rights. I hope you can Lead everyone to withstand this attack."
"Yes. Viscount!"
Tutus brows confidently said to Lu Linsen: "Your Excellency the Viscount and your Excellencies, our total number of soldiers in the town currently exceeds more than 15,000, but the area of ??this town is too small. Due to the woods and rain and fog in front, Due to the cover-up, we did not discover their actions in time, so it is already a step too late to assemble the army. But this does not matter. "
Tutus pointed to the slopes and woods of the town and said: "Our positions in the east have been dug one or two meters deep, with two-meter-long trenches and guardrails as cover. The slope of the town and the flat land below is twenty meters deep. Between five and thirty-five degrees, this 200-meter-long slope is enough to make them spend more effort and weaken the power of their bows and arrows."
"We are focusing on defense now. So there is no need to go out with the army to fight against them, not to mention that our combat effectiveness is about the same as theirs. We do not have an advantage. We only need to rely on town defense here."
"In this town, our frontal combat radius is only a little more than two kilometers. We cannot invest too many troops in this place. There are only 1,200 to 1,500 people in the field that can support frontal combat. As long as our elite soldiers can firmly hold on, They will never retreat, and they will not be able to engage in full combat power and fight us decisively."
"After the attack later, they will naturally retreat when they are exhausted at noon or in the afternoon. Everyone must know that there are so many of them standing in the rain, and the environment is far worse than ours. In terms of location, we are definitely much more comfortable than them.¡±
"That makes sense!"
"That makes sense!"
Lu Linsen also nodded in appreciation and said: "General Tutus is indeed an excellent general. Let us fully cooperate with General Tutus in the next war! As long as we can defend for two or three hours, the Elantes will naturally retreat. Retreat."
Tutus smiled slightly, quickly became serious, and commanded: "The 1,000-man team of spearmen is responsible for defending the right position, the 2,000-man team of buckler infantry is responsible for the middle defense, and the cavalry and long sword militia are responsible for the high ground on the left. The camp is defended and others are on standby in the town ready for battle.¡±
Numerous soldiers and militiamen walked towards their respective posts under the command of Tutus, and the chaotic crowd lined up in an orderly manner towards the front.
In front of the Elantra army, Lin Fenghan stood on horseback in the woods 900 meters away from the town of Starling. He observed the actions on the other side through the telescope and quickly ordered: "Mayodun, you take the round shield light infantry through the second one in the south. The hill is next to Coland's troops and they attack the enemy in the town on the hillside."
"Wagel, you lead the five longbow centurions to attack with Kelande."
"yes!"
"yes!"
Ma Youdun and Wagel respectively rode on horseback and shouted to the troops in the rear.
Lin Fenghan said quickly to Lana: "You and Lanska will lead the compound buckler heavy infantry regiment to attack from the center frontally. Julali, you will lead the 5 hundred-man longbow regiment to support the central army."
"yes!"
"yes!"
The two nodded and rode back.
Lin Fenghan turned to Pamixi, who looked slightly excited, and said, "Pamixi, you take five centurions of light infantry to attack the northern highland with a slightly higher slope and camp."
"Davout, Corland, we are waiting in the middle with our troops, waiting for the opportunity to attack their weak points."
"yes!"
"yes!"
The two men nodded in understanding and led the team back to their headquarters from the front.
Lin Fenghan looked at the last remaining generals on horseback. He asked Spit seriously: "Spit, will the rain have a big impact on the artillery? Can your machine operate normally?"
"big!"
¡°The impact is very big!¡±
Speedy nodded gloomily. He explained to Lin Fenghan in detail: "Our large trebuchets cannot move forward in the mud. The medium-sized trebuchets can move in the rain when pulled by donkeys and horses. The slightly lighter ballistae weighing more than 400 kilograms is no problem. It is expected that the 10 ballistae we carry will arrive at the scene in three minutes. However, due to the rain affecting the toughness of the rope, our ballistae can be fired up to ten times, and the accuracy will drop a lot every time it is fired, making it difficult to control .¡±
"good!"
"I see."
Lin Fenghan nodded. Looking seriously at Spit, who was wearing a dark yellow straw raincoat, he said: "Go back to the rear team and quickly urge the artillery troops to advance. Stop and ambush 500 meters away from the town and the highland camp north of Starling Town, and wait for my order. "
"yes!"
"Um!"
Lin Fenghan watched Spit riding away quickly, then turned and looked ahead. At this time, Kolander's 1,000 horse archers were in groups of three, and 33 squadrons of cavalry were bravely advancing forward with a huge war cry.
1,000 war horses rose and fell, limbs dancing, in the rain. It trampled on ripples one after another and advanced fiercely. To the north behind the Kolander cavalry, more than 2,000 mixed infantry based on the Centurion launched an attack on the noble soldiers in the small town of Starling from a width of more than 1,700 meters.
"quick!"
"Hurry up and inform the general. The main cavalry of Illantes has attacked from our south. We only have 400 people guarding here. Behind us are the knights. The knights have their houses and carriages and goods. The military situation is urgent!"
"Ah! Yes!" A communications soldier nodded quickly and anxiously went out and rode towards the central command headquarters.
On the southern front, the captain of the knights here looked at the shocking shouts of killing below and said urgently to the attendants: "Tell General Tutus quickly, no! We also need to inform the viscount, baron and other knights, tell them . The Elantra people are densely packed, thousands of people have come. We don¡¯t have many people here and it¡¯s difficult to withstand them. Behind us are the houses and warehouses of the nobles. There is absolutely no room for mistakes here. Let them quickly mobilize 4,000 people."
"yes!"
¡¡
"Brothers, line up! Give them some color." In the center of the front of the army formation, Lin Fenghan drew out the exquisite iron sword in his hand, pointed at the small town of Starling 700 meters away to the west, and shouted loudly.
The captains of each regiment nodded one after another, waved the flags in their hands, and issued orders to the centurions below.
The Elantra super long spear phalanx has 9 people in a horizontal row and 9 people in a vertical row, including a centurion, deputy captain, flag bearer, and trumpeter, a total of 81 people. On the battlefield, 81 people form a small phalanx as the most basic unit of the phalanx. Two small phalanxes are organized into 1 platoon with 162 people, 2 platoons with 324 people are organized into 1 regiment, and 2 phalanx with 648 people are organized into 1 battalion and 2 battalions were organized into a regiment with 1,296 people.
At this time, the centurions of the four teams came to?Inhale and shout: "Elantes phalanx, raise your guns! Hey!"
"Hey, hey!"
"Hey, hey!"
"Hey! Ha!"
"Hey! Ha!"
"Hey! Ha!"
¡¡
84 phalanxes of hundreds of people arranged 1.5 kilometers wide roared together, neatly raising their guns, raising their shields, and swaying. The huge explosion caused by the huge formation shook the entire town in an instant.
Through the sparse rain curtain, Lu Linsen and others who observed the surrounding troops were instantly shocked by the neat and sturdy troops below the slope in front, and they tightened the reins in their hands in fear.
"Report! Our left wing captain is asking for help."
"Report, Knight Starofel asked the general, viscount, baron and others for help. Our regiment has only more than 600 people in the south, and including the 400 people in the south, it will not exceed 1,000. But the Elantes rushed up There are at least 1,000 cavalry and several thousand infantry. Our people cannot stop us. Knight Commander Starofel asked me to tell all the knights that behind him is where you are stationed and important treasures are docked. He I sincerely ask you for help, hoping that the general can mobilize his 4,000 troops, otherwise he will not be able to stop Elantes' elite cavalry."
"4,000 troops?"
Tutus looked at the young communications soldier in surprise, quickly shook his head and said: "This is impossible. I can mobilize up to 1,000 men and horses from him. Now we have not yet determined the direction of the main attack of the Elantes army. If we rashly mobilize men and horses for them, it will be a waste of money." Our military strength.¡±
"ah!"
The messenger, who was in his twenties, pointed angrily in the direction of the southeast and said: "General, please open your eyes and take a look. In that place, they mobilized more than 1,000 knights. I can't even count them." How many there are, it is estimated that there are at least four to five thousand infantry. If the south direction is not the direction of the main attack of Elantes army, then how can we explain the situation on the scene."
"When Knight Starofel asked me to come over, he finally asked me to convey to you that he personally does not care about his own glory and safety, but behind him is the Viscount to whom he is loyal, as well as the treasures and residences of the nobles. If his If the defense line is lost, then he will blame himself very much. Sir Lublin, what do you think?" The young knight attendant in the communication looked at Lublin and others expectantly.
"yes!"
Lublin looked at the densely packed Elantes army whose numbers could not be seen in the rain curtain and worriedly said to Lu Linsen and Tutus: "Your Excellency, General, and Dad, our wealth must not be lost, it is better to be cautious."
"Um!"
Lu Linsen was convinced by the looks of the nobles and nodded worriedly to Tutus.
Tutus gritted his teeth, waved his hand and said: "Sir Lublin, I will give you 2,000 elite city defense infantry and 2,000 vassal militia troops. You go to the north to defend!"
"Great! I'm leaving."
Lubson and many nobles smiled happily and rode horses with their entourage towards the man.