At the southern end of the mountain town of Slien, on the edge of a steep cliff, there is a historic Victory Square. It was large enough to accommodate three top-of-the-line flying battleships, and the square was surrounded by twenty-four round stone pillars, hence the name "Sacred Pillar Square". It was once an ideal venue for rallies or extravaganzas for the inhabitants of Slane and the surrounding area, and after the advent of flying ships, it became a natural airport for Union troops on the western frontier. At the beginning of the last war, it was attacked by artillery fire and collapsed more than half, and in this war, the mountain city of Slien once again became the battlefield of the two sides, the square collapsed due to the shelling, and the remaining area was less than one-third of the original area, and only seven of the 24 stone pillars remained, and the mottled bullet marks on the stone pillars faithfully recorded the ruthlessness of the war......

Under the bright sunshine and the noisy military music, a Norman light cruiser slowly landed on the dilapidated but still functional Victory Square. Except for the side of the cliff, there are Norman soldiers in full costume in all three directions of the square, and they are neat and energetic, making the scene look very grand.

After the battleship stopped, a team of brightly dressed cavalry came out of the side hatch, stepped to the ground, and divided into two teams to welcome the protagonist. Then he landed on horseback, dressed in a splendid military uniform, wearing a shining badge, with an arrogant demeanor, fluffy braids, and a handful of golden goatees.

At this time, typical Norman nobles, real royal nobles!

In a house about 5,500 feet from Victory Square, Weiss and Walder-Stein hid behind a window and peered through binoculars at the grand welcome ceremony taking place in the square. Little did they know at the moment that the full name of the man who was showing off his might in broad daylight was Freel Yokadehi Arcona, the military governor of Lorraine appointed by the Norman Empire. If you count the two military governors of Lorraine in the previous war, he was the third military governor of this occupied zone. Compared with his predecessors, the Marquis of Arcona is a well-deserved military governor, because in addition to the flat areas of the basin and river valleys, the mountains of Lorraine are also under the occupation and control of the Norman army, and it is said that the export of resources in the occupied areas can bring rich benefits to the occupiers, but the Marquis has been a little annoyed recently, the garrison has been ambushed one after another, and what is worse, the black telegram declaring war on the Norman Empire was also sent from the mountains of Lorraine - although this is only the speculative conclusion of the Imperial Radio Monitoring Department, There was no conclusive proof, but the news of the Norman royal family's wrath through private channels made the Marquis of Arcona, who had a distinguished background and a rich resume, who could count the number of times he had actually been on the battlefield on one hand, feel a lot of pressure.

"How many inhabitants are there in Slane?" Weiss asked in a low voice.

The former major of the Union Army, who retired from the army due to disability, replied: "If you count the urban areas, it should be less than 20,000 people." ”

"If we take action in the city and get lucky enough to kill this big man, with the Normans' temperament, I fear that they will go on a killing spree in Slien and cause more than 10,000 innocent people. Therefore, it is better for us to do it outside the city, as far away as possible. ”

"You've thought it all over for us." On the surface, Walder-Stein was thanking, but the tone of his words was clearly teasing.

Weiss, of course, understands the truth of doing big things without being informal, and he also knows how to weigh the pros and cons, but he really can't bear to affect so many innocent people. Moreover, if guerrilla warfare is to succeed, it cannot be achieved without the support of the local people.

"I know what you're worried about." Wei Si said, "Once this guy leaves the city, not only is it difficult to determine his whereabouts, but he will stay on the flying battleship all the time, and it is impossible to ambush him." ”

Wad-Stein was noncommittal, but asked rhetorically: "Do you have a solution?" ”

"Not yet." Weiss replied truthfully.

Walder-Stein turned his head to look at him and said solemnly: "Okay! Captain Clumber Haysen, your ability to think for the survival of Slien - for the safety of the inhabitants of Slien shows that you are a sincere and kind person and a trustworthy companion. If we kill the Normans, or if they are wounded, the Normans will be furious, and we can't rule out the extreme of cleansing the town, but I would say that in the current situation, the likelihood of such a thing happening is very low. First, the Normans felt that they had won the battle, and the next thing they had to worry about was how to get the people of the occupied territories to accept their rule, even if they could not willingly be subsumed into the territory of the Norman Empire, and to carry out productive labor obediently, so that the resources of the occupied areas could be continuously supplied to the Norman Empire, so they would only punish them in small ways, rather than kill them on a large scale. ”

After listening to this analysis, Weiss also had a bottom in his heart.

Walderstein continued: "The biggest problem at the moment is how to take out that striking man under the watchful guard of thousands of Norman soldiers. From the square of the sacred pillar to the garrison headquarters, as long as the buildings along the road were within the range of rifle fire, the inhabitants were relocated to the north of the city two days ago, and we tried to enter this restricted area at night, hoping to find an opportunity to plant explosives, but this plan was not carried out because the enemy was very heavily guarded. ”

"It's not that hard." Wei Sidao, "The mortars we brought have a maximum range of 4,500 feet. As I mentioned earlier, the trajectory of this artillery is a longitudinal curve, which can bypass buildings and trees to bombard targets, and its power is equivalent to two spinball bullets. If the target comes into range on horseback and uses two mortars to strike rapid-fire, there is a 90% chance that he will be killed! ”

"4,500 feet, ninety percent sure?" Walder-Stein nodded thoughtfully. After a while, the big man in his field of vision, escorted by the cavalry, went in the direction of the center of the town, that is, the headquarters of the garrison, and then he left the window, led Weiss to the table in the room, and took out of his pocket a piece of brown paper, which was covered with hand-drawn graphic lines.

When Weiss saw it, it turned out to be a topographic map of the city made by the Resistance.

Drawing the map, Walderstein speculated: "If I were a high-ranking figure of the enemy and came to Slien to inspect military affairs, in addition to the garrison headquarters, I would choose to inspect the barracks and cheer up the soldiers by the way, but our target looked like a Norman nobleman, who valued their noble blood very much, and were not very willing to get too close to ordinary soldiers, so it was possible that the garrison headquarters would be his only place to stay in Slien, and after the end of the trip, he would return to the Holy Pillar Square and leave on a flying battleship. Go to the next inspection site. In this case, at the maximum range of 4,500 feet, we can find several ambush points, here...... Over here...... Over here...... And here! Captain, if it weren't for the warp artillery you brought, we would have been able to watch this big fish swim and swim away in front of our eyes, and there was nothing we could do! ”

"Don't get too excited, it's an uphill battle that can't afford any negligence." After reminding him of his own lessons, Weiss quickly stepped into the role, plotting several feasible options for the city ambush with the hosts, and then selecting an execution plan and a backup plan. In general, because of the presence of mortars, it is not the problem to hunt the target, but how to retreat after the ambush - even if the resisters need to be determined to die against a strong enemy, as long as there is a way to live, why die here with the enemy?

After finalizing the plan, Weiss and Walder-Stein went their separate ways. Had the enemy magnified arrived at the garrison headquarters and had simply taken a sip of tea and left, their decision had been in vain, but the swaggering Norman governor had not returned to the square before the two groups of resisters, risking that they would be discovered at any time, had cautiously and swiftly transported mortars and ammunition to their intended positions.

The fact that the big fish did not go meant that there was still a feasible opportunity for a sure rejection of the plan, which made the resisters feel excited, but to their surprise, from noon to afternoon, and from afternoon to night, the big man who visited Slane never appeared, and the Norman cruiser anchored in Victory Square did not leave, and the Norman garrison was still heavily guarded throughout the city, and everything seemed so strange, as if the Normans had dug a trap and waited for the resisters to throw themselves into the net.

Unable to get close to the Norman garrison headquarters here, Weiss's "human radar" could hardly play a reconnaissance and screening role for targets that had no obvious characteristics in terms of combat readings, and in this case, all that could be done was the word "wait". On this night, neither he nor Walder-Stein closed their eyes, and while staring at the enemy's movements, they were thinking about how to perfect the retreat route, and the Norman soldiers on the street did not search the houses and buildings outside the range of rifle fire after all, the positions where the two mortars were laid were safe and sound, and the fire points and blasting points that had been deployed in advance to cover the retreat were also intact.

As the weather grew cooler, groups of Norman soldiers left the station, and the loud sound of leather boots resounded through the main streets of Slien, awakening both the inhabitants and the resisters alike. They converged again on Victory Square, and shortly after breakfast, the brightly dressed cavalrymen set out from the garrison headquarters and marched along the route of the previous day towards Victory Square......

After the target entered the ambush area, the Lorraine guerrillas who followed Weiss to the mountain city of Slien did not hesitate to drop the mortar shell into the barrel. With the sound of a thump, the cannonballs drew a graceful arc and fell on the spirited and high-spirited Norman cavalry.

Encountering a strange artillery attack, the Norman soldiers on the street, although confused, quickly ran towards the location where the smoke of the projectile appeared. After three rapid fires, the target area was completely covered by the explosion, and the target was either dead or half-maimed, Weiss hurriedly asked Wader-Stein to blow the horn to retreat. Although Slane's armed resistance was less than a tenth of the size of the Norman garrison, it was their homeland, and no one was more familiar with the terrain than they were. As soon as the order to retreat was issued, they quickly hid mortars and remaining shells in the sewers, and led the resistors from Somsonas to gallop through the winding houses and lanes to the retreat rendezvous, using preset positions and explosives to prepare to stop the enemy. For a while, the mountain city of Slane became a battlefield full of war again, but this time, the Norman army, which had an absolute advantage in strength and firepower, had no force, but it seemed to be fighting against a ghost without a body.

Taking advantage of the complexity of street fighting, it is not difficult to get rid of the enemy's ground pursuers, but whether they can get rid of the pursuit of enemy flying warships is the real key, Weisweiss and Walderstein together consume a lot of brain cells, using their existing experience to come up with a lot of ways to adapt to local conditions. As soon as the ambush began, the resisters set fire to the town and exploded near the Norman camp to distract the enemy. Even if the Norman warships were to chase at full speed, they would be able to withdraw from the city through those tunnels that had existed since ancient times, escape into the mountains and forests, and move separately. As a result, after the battle began, the Norman cruiser first scrambled into the air and shelled suspicious targets, but instead of engaging in pursuit, it hovered over the square for a long time, during which the hanging frame was put down several times, but no Norman marines were seen on the ground......