lovenovelstory Chapter 42 The enemy wants to use the mountain gullies to offset the cavalry's advantage.
Chapter 42 The enemy wants to use the mountain gullies to offset the cavalry's advantage.
"Reporting, Commander, we've discovered traces of the bandits!"
As he was walking, two Cossacks suddenly ran towards him from a distance, and Chongluoke shouted loudly.
Seeing the two cavalrymen looking travel-worn, Rock nodded and quickly asked:
"So, where are those bandits? Which direction are they planning to attack from?"
"General, we encountered a bandit cavalry on the road. They had organized a cavalry of about a hundred men, about the same number as us, but their equipment didn't look very good. Their cavalry patrolled around the infantry and never strayed too far from them."
"Their infantry, on the other hand, marched along the Red Crotch Groin, seemingly intending to use the narrow terrain to fight us and avoid a surprise attack by our cavalry!"
Red Crotch Gap, what a strange name that is?
Rock was slightly taken aback. After questioning them carefully, he learned from the two cavalrymen that:
It is said that this small ravine was named this way because, on the one hand, the terrain of the ravine does resemble a crotch, and on the other hand, it is full of maple trees, which turn the ravine red every autumn.
After pondering for a moment about the bandits' arrangement, Rock stroked his chin and shook his head with a smile.
"Hahaha, it seems they know our cavalry is not to be trifled with, so they've been trying to prevent them from having any room to maneuver!"
"By creating this ravine terrain, our cavalry can no longer flank or harass them from the side. They can only launch an attack from the front. Moreover, it is difficult for cavalry to charge here unless they can form a dense formation."
After some deliberation, Rock realized that if he really sent cavalry to attack this area, he would have no choice but to have the Queen's Dragon Riders charge straight up.
While it's not impossible to charge, after all, the Queen's Dragoons were trained as charge cavalry. They ride heavy warhorses and know how to perform dense wall charges. With the help of their horses' speed, their cavalry heavy swords can cut people in two on the spot.
But there's no need. If they really charge forward like that, his Queen's Dragon Cavalry will suffer heavy losses, and the battle will be completely lost.
However, Rock's cavalry was indeed unable to perform effectively in this terrain.
But apart from the cavalry, his other troop types seem to be very well-suited for fighting in this kind of terrain!
Needless to say, in this kind of terrain, the enemy's forces will automatically become more concentrated, and for Hojo Shōtenryū, isn't this the best bombing target?
The same applies to the Young Guards. In this terrain, if they were to engage in a head-on confrontation, the enemy would have no choice but to exchange fire with the Young Guards.
If Roque's Young Guards ultimately couldn't defeat a bunch of bandits in a shootout, then they would truly be unworthy of the title of the French elite; even Italian soldiers weren't that bad.
Rock's spells, and the ability to blast large groups of bloated zombies, are equally effective in this terrain, easily inflicting tons of damage on the enemy.
Thinking of this, Rock couldn't help but laugh.
"General, should we launch our attack from the Red Pants Crotch area? If we choose to take the detour, it will add seven days to our journey..."
Seeing Rock laugh, the Cossacks were unsure what he was thinking, so they tentatively asked him.
"No need to take a detour, let's just launch our attack directly from this side. I want to see what kind of trouble these bandits can cause in this ravine."
Rock waved his hand and said with great interest. Then he looked at the Cossack cavalry, thought for a moment, and pointed in the direction of another road.
"As for you guys, from now on, you'll go around from this side. Utilize your speed advantage and don't worry about the main force!"
"And the Queen's dragoons too! Make them run with you and flank them from behind! Cavalry shouldn't be fighting in mountain ravines!"
"If you move quickly enough, perhaps when the bandits are defeated, you can then ambush them in the ravine on the other side. I think that the distance that would take infantry seven days to cover, you should be able to cover in two days if you hurry, right?"
Rock had once read that during Napoleon's time, the standard marching distance for a French infantry division was 40 kilometers per day, while light cavalry could run 120 kilometers per day in normal combat.
In this situation, if the Cossack cavalry were to increase their speed slightly, Rock felt that they could cover in two days the distance that infantry took seven days to cover without any problem.
Otherwise, since their attack from the valley wouldn't be very effective anyway, it would be better to make use of the advantages of these light cavalry and let them harass or pursue the fleeing enemy!
He had said before that the bandits would not leave a single survivor, and he always kept his word!
Meanwhile, in Hongkudanggou, a group of bandits stopped to rest and began to build some simple defenses and ambushes.
"Manager, we saw the Luo family's cavalry earlier, you saw them too. Those guys were really a bunch of foreigners riding tall horses and carrying foreign guns!"
Beside Hong Tong, the head manager of Lianyun Village, several bandits muttered to themselves:
"Damn it, I really envy those foreign devils. They're all tall and strong, carrying guns and riding BMWs, covered in the best stuff!"
"I'm wondering, how come these foreigners are all so amazing?"
Hong Tong snorted coldly and said somewhat displeased:
"Alright, stop thinking about it, you idiot. Get ready for battle and follow my orders!"
"First, we'll dig trenches in the ravines to prevent the Luo family's cavalry from charging. Then, we'll arrange for some nimble brothers to climb to the sides of the hillside and attack them from above!"
"Once you turn back, your cavalry should quickly circle around from the other side of the ravine. If you're fast enough, you might even be able to cut off the Luo family army's retreat after they enter the ravine!"
After saying this, Hong Tong said with some delight:
"Hahaha, if the Luo family army doesn't come, fine. But if they dare to come, I'll make sure they all die here, and not a single one of them will survive!"
Hong Tong had no idea that he and Rock had the same idea about cavalry. Of course, this was probably because the terrain was really not suitable for cavalry to perform well. Anyone who threw cavalry into such a place would be a fool.
After the cavalry had followed their orders and moved to flank the enemy from the other side, Hong Tong did not follow them but instead blocked the way.
In his view, the key to the decisive battle lies here, and he is fully confident that he can easily overwhelm the militia under Rock's command by virtue of his numerical advantage and the fact that he can wait in comfort.
That's right. Even now, he was unaware of the existence of the Young Guards under Rock's command. He thought Rock had almost no proper infantry units, only a group of militia temporarily recruited from the village.
As they were about to enter the valley, Rock glanced at the increasingly rugged road around him, pondered for a moment, and then recruited ten more Skaven Poison Wind Grenadiers from the system.
These grenadiers might be able to inflict significant damage on dense enemy formations at crucial moments, and these giant rats are particularly adept at navigating mountainous terrain; he felt that these giant rats might bring him some surprises.
The twelve Poison Wind Grenadiers gathered together and, following Rock's orders, immediately climbed up the hillside to begin their operation on the mountain path.
Meanwhile, Rock's main force continued forward, advancing along the increasingly deep valley.
"Reporting, Commander! We've spotted the bandits ahead! They seem to have been waiting for us for quite some time, just waiting for us to pass!"
As they walked, a young guardsman at the head of the group ran over and pointed into the distance for Rock.
"Good, I see them, but I think they should have some more ambushes on the hillside, right?"
Rock held a pair of binoculars and looked into the distance. Interestingly, these binoculars could be considered a perk provided to officers by the system.
At first, Rock thought that when his system recruited a whole squad of soldiers, it would only give him a price discount, just like the wholesale price is cheaper than the unit price.
However, when he later recruited and reorganized the cavalry, he suddenly discovered that these units, which were recruited based on companies, actually had their own officers; they had their own company commanders and platoon leaders.
These officers not only had different equipment and uniforms than ordinary soldiers, but they also had binoculars for observation.
Naturally, Rock also enjoyed this officer's perk, having a telescope to observe the battlefield.
Using his binoculars, Rock looked down at the hillsides on both sides and he did indeed spot some figures.
If you stand far enough away, it's almost impossible to spot the bandits with the naked eye, given that they're dressed in all white and lying in the surrounding snow.
But with his binoculars, Rock could easily see the white breath coming out of the bandits' mouths as they breathed, and from time to time he could see some of the bandits making small movements on the hillside, and immediately he could tell that there were people lying in ambush above.
Looking at the bandits lying in ambush on the hillside, and those who had already set up their positions in front, seemingly waiting for him to lead his troops to attack, he couldn't help but laugh.
"Hehehe, these bandits have a good plan. They expect me to rush forward with my troops in a hurry, only to be ambushed from the side by their troops, and then have to fight against the muskets that are already lined up in front of me."
"What a pity, they seem to have overlooked the fact that I have a range advantage in combat!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Rock waved his hand at Hojo Shontenrai, who was already prepared behind him, and ordered the mortar crew to fire two rounds at the enemy to test the waters.