The woods on a rainy night are exceptionally cold and damp.

The cadets of the 3rd Provisional Battalion of the Baston Student Corps, each wearing a poncho, waited quietly in the deep woodland.

At the edge of the woods, several people, led by Dio, crawled among the bushes, quietly observing the enemy situation outside.

More than 100 meters away, there is a bridge more than 20 meters long and more than 3 meters wide. There were several tents at each of the bridges, which were lit up, and two sentries walked back and forth on the bridge deck with rifles on their backs.

Judging by the exterior styling of the bridge, it should have been built at least half a century ago. It crosses the valley and turns the winding road into a thoroughfare.

When the roar of the engine could be heard in the distance, Dio shielded himself from the light with a poncho, turned on the flashlight, looked at his watch, and whispered, "There is still an hour before dawn." ”

Pairs of bright lights appeared in the dark fields. Based on two lights per vehicle, this should be a fleet of more than a dozen trucks.

"Don't act rashly and act according to the original plan." Dio admonished his captains.

This was the first night they approached their target, and according to Theo's battle plan, they should attack in the middle of the night on the second night, and flee in a car in the second half of the night. If they had attacked earlier, even if they were lucky, they would not have had time to withdraw before dawn. After daybreak, the moving vehicles were nowhere to be found, hiding in the nearby woods, where they would soon be found by the enemy.

Moreover, they have little understanding of the current enemy's situation, and rash action is a taboo on the battlefield.

After about ten minutes, the cars that came with a rumbling roar came closer. By the light of the headlights of the cars and the horse lanterns on the bridge, the students of the Baston Student Corps, who were hiding not far away, squinted their eyes one by one, trying to identify their appearance and observe the movement of the enemy. The convoy consisted of a total of 15 vehicles, with the exception of a two-row car at the lead and a two-seater car at the rear, and the rest were wagons with compartments. Based on the size of these vans and the technical level of the current engines, Weiss speculated that they had a carrying capacity of less than 2 tons, which in his time belonged to minivans.

The wagons were covered with canvas carports, and one drove over the stone bridge one after the other.

Weiss noticed that the sentries did not stop the cars as they passed over the stone bridge.

The convoy drove across the stone bridge without stopping, the roar faded away, and everything returned to normal.

At Dio's signal, the group retreated into the depths of the woods and gathered around to discuss strategy.

"Each car has a driver and three or four soldiers with the car, and their combat effectiveness is something we have to take into account." Weiss reminded.

"I only saw two or three people in the cab, and it looks like there are one or two soldiers hiding in the compartment?" Squad 2 Commander Hawkes voiced his doubts in a roundabout way.

The vehicle itself is lifeless, and the number of people on board is relatively small, so Weiss can accurately calculate the number of people on board the truck through the readings of the "identification system of friend or foe", which is definitely more accurate than the naked eye observation of ordinary people at night.

Weiss pretended to be mysterious and said: "I have my skills, which are very accurate, but they are related to military secrets, and I forgive you for not being able to pass them on to you." ”

As soon as these words came out, although everyone was curious, they no longer continued to dwell on this topic.

"I don't quite understand why they would take a long detour to the front line to replenish supplies, I think the real purpose of their opening and using this transport line is very suspicious!" Dio raised another doubt.

With a few men shielded from the ponchos, Dio unfurled the waterproof map, turned on the flashlight, and checked the path of the road again: it led west to the city of Garrigas, which was one of the current points of contention between the two sides of the exercise; Heading westwards through vast grasslands and forests to the attacker's hinterland.

On the map, there is a railway line and several roads to go from the attacker's hinterland to Garrigas, and any road is closer than the one in front of you.

Its biggest advantage is that it is not easy to attract the attention of its opponents.

Following this line of thought, Dio leads the group to explore the enemy's underlying motives, focusing on the possibility of the enemy forces gathering elite forces, opening a breakthrough from Garrigas, and quickly detouring to the defender's flank to annihilate their living forces in one fell swoop...... One by one, the perspective seems to have risen to the level of the general staff of the defenders.

"Everyone, don't forget our original intention!" Weiss reminded, "Undefeated is victory, and as for the big picture, we can't intervene with our current strength." ”

A basin of cold water was poured on their heads, and everyone was speechless.

Seeing that there were still those who were not convinced, Weiss asked rhetorically: "We don't even have a transmitter, even if we capture the enemy's situation, how can we contact the command?" ”

Former Squad 1 Commander Kunison, who was promoted to first deputy battalion commander, jumped out and said, "Didn't you guys make up a flying machine?" If a major enemy situation is discovered, why can't it be used to bring intelligence back? ”

Wei Si rolled his eyes at this guy: "The most practical use of this improvised aircraft we tried to produce is aerial reconnaissance. As long as it avoids enemy flying warships and anti-aircraft guns, there is generally no risk of being shot down by the enemy, but if it is allowed to pass through the combat zone where both sides have deployed a large number of troops, the probability of 'surviving' is probably very low. ”

"Speaking of which, it's not a toss!" Kunison muttered discontentedly.

Weiss didn't bother to argue with the reckless man, he turned to Dio: "In my opinion, it is better to carry out the original plan - to attack the enemy's convoy and withdraw overnight. ”

Dio pondered for a moment: "Okay, now unify your thinking and arrange the division of labor according to the original plan." Dragon, you lead the 1st squad to be responsible for the main attack; Hawkes, you take the 2nd squad to outflank; Matt, you take Team 3 to pick up. Next, each of you will have a daytime to observe the enemy's movements, plan a specific offensive route and personnel arrangements, and come to me before dark to summarize the plan. ”

The battalion commander made a decision, and the captains stopped arguing and left with their own orders.

Dio sat down against the roots, took out the field rations from his backpack, and chewed on the cold water. Kunison crouched down next to him, handed him a small metal flask, and whispered, "Why should we do what we say to that second-grade kid?" This time last year, we were honestly following the butts of the third-graders, and they did whatever we were told to do. Of course, last year's results were not bad, and I got a collective third-class meritorious service. This year, I think it's hanging. ”

Dio took the flask and took a sip and frowned, "I don't have Johns's resourcefulness, nor Ronson's skill, nor Sipayne's decisiveness, so it may not be a good idea to let me command a battalion alone." Lu An, think about it, who among us can negotiate supplies from the enemy's patrol commander and promise not to pursue for three days? If it were me, I couldn't even think about it! Besides, he has a very strong relationship with that Leibald, with the status and energy of the Leibold family, he will definitely be promoted faster than us in the future, maybe one day we will all become his subordinates, and we will have to rely on him to carry him? ”

These words made Kunison's face even more gloomy, thinking of the fact that he had been quick to speak for a while, and said the words "back the pot" that should not be put on the table, he felt both remorse and unwillingness, so he gritted his teeth and said: "We are third-graders, and we have studied for a whole year more than them, if we used their strategy to get the drill score, and even got the drill merit, wouldn't we be even more looked down on by them?" ”

Dio handed him back the flask, then raised his head and let the rain wash his fleshy face, "Unless you have a better idea, huh?" ”

Kunison took a sip of wine: "My idea is...... The first step is to seize the transport vehicles, the second step is to attack the town of Epoleonye, and the third step is to defend the town of Epoleonye. The final result of this route is that we are 'all killed', but as long as we inflict enough casualties on the enemy and delay their offensive operations on this flank, we can also get a high score in the exercise, and maybe even get a third-class collective merit. ”

Dio shook his head and said, "I have considered this plan, and its biggest problem at the moment is ...... We are not at all sure about the exact deployment of the enemy in the town of Epholon Leaves, nor do we know whether the enemy has a rapid mobile unit nearby. If the sneak attack fails and the attack fails, we can only wait to be annihilated by the enemy. In that case, not only will we not get points for the exercise, but we will also get bad reviews, so what's the point? ”

"At least we tried, tried, and fought!" "If you follow the ideas of the sophomores, you will still get a very unsatisfactory result, you will not get points for the exercise, you may get bad reviews, and you will have to bear the notoriety of having no thoughts and ideas." ”

Dio couldn't help but shake his head and sighed: "I am now beginning to understand what Sipeen often said, in order to become a qualified commander, the most important thing you need to cultivate is judgment, because one of your decisions is not only related to your own life and death, but also may be related to the fate of hundreds of soldiers." Reason tells me that the sophomore is right and that it is the plan with the best probability of winning, but my gut tells me that the road is long and dangerous......"

Coulson raised his head, drank the spirits from the jug, and asked Dio, "Fortunately, we have one more day to correct the mistake." If you agree, I can take two or three men and quietly approach the town of Ebolon to reconnoitre, hoping to get something out of it. ”

"You?" Dio looked at his reckless classmate with disapprehension.

Facing Dio's concerns, Kunison patted his chest and said: "Don't worry, it will only be more than thirty miles from here to the town of Epoleonye, and it will not take a few hours to go back and forth, we will pay attention to concealment and try to walk from the woods." Even if we don't get any useful information, we have nothing to lose. ”

Dio hesitated: "Okay! Since you insist, I will give you two horses, and you will take Karens or Elgot to spy on the enemy's disposition in and around the town of Epolon Leaves. Remember, no matter what happens, we can't reveal our location, understand? ”

Coulson grinned: "Don't worry, this is just a drill after all, we would rather be 'killed' than 'captured', they can't pry any information out of our mouths!" ”

Dio nodded and stretched out his right hand to Coulson: "For the honor of the Barston Military Academy......"

Coulson folded his right hand on the other's hand, and the two said in unison, "Fight!" ”