As Weiss left the tunnel again and climbed onto the treetops of an ordinary snow fir, the massive, lead-gray painted Wessex assaultship hovered steadily over the woods, ignoring the snowstorm, and several shuttle-shaped aircraft the size of a train car left the assault ship and flew towards the place where the smoke and dust were billowing up in the snowy forest. This kind of scene faintly reminded him of the scene he saw in science fiction movies back then, but the all-metal aircraft in front of him had rough outlines, rigid lines, and rivets in every part, showing not the technological beauty of the interstellar era, but pure Victorian steampunk style.

Weiss went up the tree and watched for a while, and the mortars of the resistance also opened fire in the woods. Propelled by the recoil of gunpowder, the shells were thrown into the air, creating high-angle arcs before smashing at the Norman battleships. Because of the short distance, and the considerable cross-sectional area of the target, nearly half of the mortar shells hit the enemy ships, and the sound of explosions was like thunder in a summer rainstorm. However, the power of these mortar shells was really itching for a Wessex assault ship designed to charge into battle, and the smoke of the explosion dissipated with the wind, and the elite battleship under the control and use of the Normans neither caught fire nor deflected, and its surface did not even leave obvious signs of damage, as if a heavily armored knight had been attacked by a child with gravel, and reacted with pride.

Knowing that this would be the result, when he saw this scene with his own eyes, Weiss's heart was still filled with feelings of frustration and loss. Through unremitting efforts, the scope of its influence has expanded from a trench and a battlefield to a region and a province, but in the face of the general trend of war, this influence is still too small and powerless. However, even in a high position like President Leiboyd, if the old military and political system is not broken, the efforts of the federal military and civilians will inevitably be half the effort. What can we do with our personal efforts and dedication?

The eyes return to this cold winter season, back to this vast snow forest. The Mortar Fire of the Resistance did not threaten the Normans' improved Wessex assault ships, but as Weiss had planned, they diverted the enemy's attention in the first place. The sound of the mortar firing like a drum was still in my ears, and the Norman battleship suddenly heard the rumbling sound of cannons, and the gray-white gunpowder smoke rose and spread in the wind and snow, and the shells broke through the air with a sharp whistling sound and landed in the position where the smoke drifted through the forest - but it was not where the mortar group was, but the resistance fighters used prefabricated smoke bombs to use the blinding method, so the Norman round of secondary artillery fire bombardment seemed to be rapid, but it did not hit the point, and the real mortar group had been dispersed from the tunnel with guns to other preset firing points.

The mountain forest, covered with thick snow, was visually a whole with a single color, and after a rumbling cannon sound, blackened craters appeared on the white curtain, and the trees that had been shaken off by the snow also showed their primary colors of yellow or brown, but there was no trace of human activity. Above the woods, the Wessex assault ship was slow and clumsy, but when it adjusted its stance and fired directly at its main guns from side to side, the unstoppable power of the landslide was enough to make most people frightened and even lose their fighting spirit. The tremor caused by the violent explosion almost caused Weiss to fall from the branch where he was hiding, but he was willing to risk being injured by the impact of the explosion and the fragments of the shells at any time, and he also had to closely observe the enemy's movements here, so as to complete the evacuation and transfer of personnel from secret camp No. 4 as possible in this extremely difficult situation.

The Wessex assault ship's attention was indeed drawn, but the crisis facing Camp 4 was far from over. Higher in the sky, four more Norman ships - two cruisers and two transports - were waiting for an opportunity. After a short time, they flew down in a diamond-shaped formation, and the cruisers continued to maintain a maneuverable flight state at a position of three or four hundred feet above the ground, and the transports forcibly landed in the woods as if they had made a sudden landing on the battlefield, and the fighters on board the ships quickly plunged into ground combat......

It was already very difficult to lure away the enemy's powerful assault ships, and seeing that the Normans were familiar with the tactics of sudden landing in the air, Weiss's face became more and more solemn, and there was more to it than that, and within two minutes, the shouts of his companions came from under the trees:

"Colonel, news is coming from the camp that the Normans have blown up the hidden passage, and our people are almost overwhelmed!"

The extraordinary efficiency of the Normans was clearly not the result of luck. The few ultra-small ships that had previously flown away from the assault ship were capable of carrying two or three hundred marines at best, and they seemed to be carrying more than just surface reconnaissance missions, and were likely to break into the mines where Camp 4 was located - having repeatedly learned the techniques and tactics of the Lorraine Resistance, the Normans tried to avoid going deep alone during both sweeps and daily patrols, and today the Normans did the opposite, showing their determination and confidence in their determination and confidence. The reason why they have such a firm determination and confidence should have a lot to do with the fact that they have key information.

Weiss quickly got off the tree: "How is the retreat in the camp?" ”

This person is his old subordinate brought out from the Somsonas reserve, although the physique is thin and weak, but except for the long-distance march to test physical fitness and hand-to-hand combat to test strength, the rest of the military skills are not bad, and the mental and spiritual aspects are comparable to those of the front-line soldiers, and they are also familiar enough with the combat methods and support system of the "Lorraine guerrilla fighters". I saw him hesitate for a moment: "It seems that a third of the people have already withdrawn from the camp, and the brothers in the camp are not sure about the exact situation." ”

Camp 4 has three tunnels that can be safely accessed, but due to the length of the tunnels and the limited manpower of the resistance group, their width is only for single people and cannot be staggered. In the current situation, in order to enter the camp, the guerrilla fighters from outside must occupy at least one tunnel, which will correspondingly slow down the retreat of the camp personnel. No matter what the choice is, it seems that it will be difficult to get out of the precarious situation at present.

This saltpeter mine, which has been abandoned for many years, has a mining history of more than 200 years, and its heyday is more than 80 years ago, when the technical conditions were limited and the mining methods were relatively primitive, which meant that the structure of the mine was relatively fragile, and the direct bombardment of the mine was likely to cause the collapse of the surface mine, and of course, there was a certain probability of causing the collapse of the mine at a deep level. Weiss pondered for a moment and ordered: "Mobilize two mortar groups and fire indiscriminately at the mine!" ”

The guerrilla fighter in front of him pondered: "In this case, let the 3rd detachment take the mortar to the No. 9 firing position!" That position was within range. Do you want them to bring more ammunition? ”

Bring more ammo? Joke! It would be nice to be able to get a few rounds right under the nose of an enemy assault ship. Weiss said decisively: "Let them withdraw after three rapid fires, at this time, don't fall in love." ”

"Got it!" After the guerrilla fighters finished speaking, they slipped back into the tunnel.

Weiss turned his head to look at the Norman assault ship moving slowly above the trees, although it was thousands of meters away, the oppression caused by its huge body and strong armament was like a pair of invisible hands stuck in the neck, and even made it difficult to breathe. In a matter of moments, a barrage of machine shells came from the air, rattling on the trunks of nearby trees, and broken branches and bursting debris mixed with the snow on the trees fell in a chaotic manner. At that time, Weiss was dressed in a white winter camouflage suit, and there was neither ostentatious movement nor being in an open area, so it was said that it was not easy to be detected by the enemy crew, and it was probably caused by the enemy's indiscriminate strafing, but it was not clear what the actual situation was. So Weiss quickly returned to the tunnel, and when he came to the fork in the tunnel, he was relieved to see the old and the young, the young and the old, the men and women moving from the north to the south, but when he thought about it, he could not help but worry about the situation of his sister Bella.

Seeing a familiar face, he hurriedly stepped forward and asked, "Have you seen Bella?" ”

The man panicked, and when he saw Weiss, he quickly shook his head.

Weiss let him go, and continued to look for familiar and reliable faces in the crowd. After a while, a slightly chubby and bald middle-aged man with glasses appeared in his sight, and before he could take the initiative to step forward, this man saw Weiss and hurriedly squeezed over: "Sir, it's too bad, Mana evacuated first with a team, Bella was also among them, they should go south, but I just asked Prent, and I didn't see them from beginning to end." ”

Evacuate from Camp 4 with three tunnels to choose from: south, west, and east, each leading to different hidden areas. The enemy comes from the air, and in such a stormy and snowy weather, it is actually feasible to go either way. Therefore, Weiss did not panic, but calmly speculated: "Maybe they went west?" ”

The middle-aged man said worriedly, "I hope they don't have any accidents on the road." ”

Although Weiss was very worried about Bella's safety, he could only pretend to be calm at this time, and asked the middle-aged man about the transfer and retreat of the personnel in Camp 4, and got good news - the good news was that the retreat was faster than expected, and more than half of the people had entered the tunnel, and the bad news was that the camp guards had suffered heavy casualties in resisting the attack of the Norman army, and the last line of defense could be broken through at any time, once this happened, not only would the people who had not had time to evacuate be captured by the enemy, The tunnels evacuated from the camp are also inevitably discovered by the enemy, and if the enemy pursues them along the tunnels, it will not only endanger the retreating personnel, but also threaten other hidden strongholds, thus triggering a bad chain reaction.

After that, the resistance continued to use tunnels and preset firing ports to try to pin down the enemy, desperately interfering with the Norman raid. During this time, they used mortars to bombard the mine, causing the collapse of part of the mine near the surface, forcing the Norman forces entering the mine to slow down the attack. When they crossed the winding mine and entered the Resistance's secret camp, they were left with only equipment and supplies, but the Normans not only deployed a frontal raid, but also launched an all-round blockade and hunt around the mine, bombarding and blasting everywhere, and soon found a tunnel used by the Resistance to retreat and transfer, thus intercepting and capturing many of the resistance.

Bella's team lost contact with the main army under such circumstances.