The chieftain of the Konartakhtai tribe led his troops to the second line of defense on Mount Daraki, and he was still apprehensive about the heavy artillery fire of the Xia Empire, not to mention ordinary soldiers. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

After stabilizing the mood, the chief made a speech to the officers and soldiers, and it was necessary to stabilize the morale of the army first: "In front of us is our enemy, behind is our tribe, this is our homeland, where there are our parents, wives and children, and our cattle and sheep, what do you say we should do?" ”

"Fight the enemy!"

"Kill, kill, kill!"

The enthusiasm of the officers and soldiers of the army was mobilized, and they could not retreat at this time, if they retreated, the consequences would be unimaginable, and they had long heard of the ferocity of the Xia Empire's army.

The chief waved his hand, stopped everyone's cheers, and continued to encourage everyone: "Yes, kill, they must be killed, their blood is flowing like a river, and they will no longer dare to offend our tribe, relying on our favorable terrain and strong fortress, even tens of thousands of enemies are not afraid; Our tribe has lived here for hundreds of years, relying on the unity of everyone, how many times have we repelled the enemy? How many enemies peeped into our fertile meadows didn't all flee in ashes? This time will be no different. ”

Seeing that the officers and soldiers were no longer afraid, a smile appeared on the chief's face, but he hated bitterness in his heart, he understood that this time was different from the past, and the artillery fire of the Xia Empire impressed him too deeply, and even he did not have the slightest confidence in holding the position.

After returning to the tent, the chief immediately consulted with the military advisor: "Sir, it seems that we are more than lucky this time. ”

The military advisor also knew the seriousness of the matter, and he suggested: "Chief, we must immediately send someone to inform the Grand Chief of Kalenze for support, and at the same time, we must organize the people to evacuate to Kalenze or retreat in the direction of Shiraz as soon as possible tonight; But don't be too pessimistic, the chieftain will fight back sooner or later, the important thing is how to preserve the strength, otherwise the tribe will really be finished. ”

The chieftain understood that in this era of the jungle, wars between tribes often occur, in order to compete for the few arable land and pastures, all the tribes will fight desperately, if the tribe loses too much, they will lose their foothold in the future, and can only become slaves of other tribes, living a miserable life, and even their children and grandchildren have no chance to turn over.

The chief ordered: "Sir, you first lead the cavalry troops and their families to move immediately, taking only the men, cattle and sheep, food and money, and all other bulky things are abandoned, and the carriage can be carried as much as it can operate, and the speed must be guaranteed." ”

"Yes, Chief! But the infantry must also be evacuated, and there are too many people left here to do so, and if all the infantry are killed, we will not be able to gain a foothold even in Shiraz. The military advisor suggested again.

"I understand, evacuate in two steps, you organize the evacuation of the cavalry and family members first, and then the infantry will withdraw." Said the chief.

"Yes, Chief!" After the military advisor finished speaking, he came out of the chief's tent and led the guards to ride back to the tribe to organize the evacuation.

After thinking about it for some time, the chief ordered the mid-ranking officers to be summoned to his tent for a meeting.

When the men arrived, the chief said to the officers, "Ladies and gentlemen, have you seen the power of the enemy's artillery fire?" I don't have much confidence in holding my position, and in order to preserve the strength of the tribe, I have ordered the army division to organize the evacuation of the people and cavalry; I decided that only 300 defenders would be left here, and all the rest of the men would be evacuated from their positions. ”

The cavalry unit was the most powerful military force in the tribal war, but there was no room for cavalry to play in such battlefield conditions, and they protected the tribesmen's families to evacuate early, and no one raised objections.

"I'll stay and hold my ground!"

"Let's stay!"

"Chief, our battalion is responsible for the rear of the palace and ensures the safe evacuation of the tribe."

The heavy officers actively applied to stay in defense and stop the enemy's attack, but they all knew that the danger of staying behind was very great, and they had to do it for the sake of the tribe and their families.

The chief was very happy when he saw that everyone was actively seeking war, so he said: "I am not going to leave the army as a whole, but I can choose less than 300 people, and if there are two or more brothers, one person will be left, and those who are not married and have no children are not allowed to stay." ”

This is the tradition of the tribe, which is to leave seeds for the tribe, and the chief decides so, and everyone has no objections, and begins to return to the camp, announce the chief's order, and select those who remain behind.

After 1 hour, 540 people were selected and the list was reported to the chief.

The chieftain sensed that there were a lot of men, so he decided to divide the men into two parts, one to hold this position, and the other to hold the fortress position north of the tribe, to buy time for the tribe to move.

There happened to be 2 officers at the rank of deputy company commander in the list of selected candidates, so the chief ordered: "These 540 people are divided into two groups, the first batch of 200 people will be left to hold the position, and the second group of 340 people will hold the Beishan fortress position, and each position will leave a deputy company commander to lead the team, and the remaining personnel will be evacuated after half an hour." ”

"Chief, isn't that too few people?" Some officers asked.

"If you can rely on the fortress to hold it, these people will be enough, if the fortress can't withstand the enemy's artillery fire, it's useless to keep more personnel, we can't sacrifice too many brothers, we must preserve the strength of the tribe and carry out the order."

"Yes, Chief!" Although they did not understand why the chief had arranged this way, they still faithfully carried out the chief's orders.

Before leaving, the chief summoned the deputy company commander who stayed behind and explained to him: "If the enemy's artillery fire destroys the fortress, it will be difficult for you to block the enemy's attack with your flesh and blood, and you should immediately lead the living brothers to withdraw to the Beishan defense line." If the enemy does not attack, then you will also have to evacuate to the North Hill defense line by this time tomorrow. I hope you can survive with more brothers. “

"Yes, Chief, I'll lead my troops until this time tomorrow, no matter what." The deputy company commander assured.

"You need to know how to improvise!"

"Yes, Chief!"

When the Konar Takhtai tribe was evacuated, the brigade commander, chief of staff, and wing commanders of the 9th Mercenary Brigade all gathered in the brigade commander's tent, busy discussing tomorrow's war plan.

According to the report of the scouts, the enemy's position is difficult to defend and difficult to attack, and the losses of the troops will be very large in the event of a strong attack, which must be absolutely avoided, otherwise their commanders will not only be removed from their posts, but even sent to court-martial.

At present, there is no road that can be bypassed, or a detour road to the rear of the enemy, and this important place must be occupied.

If the surrounding peaks are too high and dangerous, it is difficult to transport the mountain artillery, and the distance is too far for the mountain artillery to reach the enemy's fortress.

The artillery company commander said: "Chief of Staff, if it doesn't work, let's apply for airship assistance in the war zone!" Airships can easily blow up enemies on the hill from a great height. ”

"No, we've just started the march, and we don't have any farts in battle, so apply for assistance now, so won't the other troops laugh off their big teeth? Besides, we don't know how many enemies will stop us when we get to Shiraz, so do we have to ask for assistance from the war zone every time? Without aid, wouldn't we be at war? "The chief of staff vetoed the proposal of the artillery company commander.

The artillery company commander also felt that the brigade of tens of thousands of people was blocked by thousands of indigenous troops and stopped, and he also applied for assistance from the war zone, which was really unreasonable.

The commander of the infantry wing said: "I have observed the enemy's artillery fire in the afternoon artillery battle, the power is very small, the range is very close, we have no need to be so afraid of their artillery, when we reach the range of their artillery fire, we can dig trenches, advance one by one, their artillery fire will be useless." “

After thinking about it for a while, the chief of staff said: "This method is feasible, but the workload is too great, and we have to dig thousands of kilometers before our artillery fire can hit the enemy." “

When the brigade commander heard the chief of staff say this, he asked the artillery company commander: "Is this method feasible?" “

The artillery company commander said: "Your Excellency the brigade commander, this method is not bad, that is, the workload is very large, the enemy's artillery is located on the mountain, condescending, even if the range is short, it can threaten the safety of our army, although the range of our artillery far exceeds the enemy, but to attack from the back, the range is greatly shortened, and it must be close to within 1,500 meters to destroy the enemy's fortress and cause damage to the enemy." “

"How far do you need to dig in?" The brigade commander continued.

"The straight-line distance is 1,000 meters, and with the twists and turns of the road, it may be even farther, and besides, this is a mountainous area, with a lot of rocks, and it is very difficult to excavate." The artillery company commander said.

The brigade commander also felt very embarrassed, he didn't care about the distance, tens of thousands of officers and soldiers could take turns to go forward to excavate, mainly because the geological conditions here were not suitable for this method.

At this time, a wing commander said: "Chief of Staff, I think it is better to place the artillery in the valley directly south of the enemy, the enemy cannot fight, we will send another scout to the east of the enemy to observe, according to the coordinates provided by the scouts to bombard the enemy's fortress." “

"Invisible enemy position, position, can artillery strike according to coordinates?" The brigade commander asked.

"Your Excellency, Brigade Commander, this method should be feasible, as long as the range of the artillery is sufficient, and the coordinates provided by the observer can be corrected a few more times, the enemy's fortress can be bombed." The artillery company commander had never experienced this kind of fighting, and did not dare to say it to death, so he replied cautiously.

The chief of staff said: "Your Excellency Brigade Commander, in this case, I suggest that this plan be tested tomorrow, and then adopt the excavation plan or other methods. “

The brigade commander felt that there was no better way at present, the infantry seized the ungarrisoned mountains in the east, which was always less difficult than transporting the artillery up, and much lower than the difficulty of tunneling, and the Xia Empire's logistics support capacity was very strong, wasting a few more shells was just a trivial matter, so he ordered. "Okay, just follow this plan, the troops have a good rest tonight, and tomorrow at 6 o'clock in the morning, the first wing will send 1 squadron with a radio station to assist the artillery observers to seize the eastern hills; The artillery set up artillery positions at the most advantageous sites in the river valley and prepared them for the bombardment of the enemy fortresses; The rest of the troops are ready to attack! “

"Yes, Your Excellency Brigade Commander!" The officers replied in unison that this might be the best solution.