This time, the exercise was naturally held in the nearby Sunset Mountain, and the entire Sixth Army, except for a few logistics personnel, almost all of the army was dispatched to seal ~ lock up a large area in the Sunset Mountain.

Sunset Mountains, as a majestic mountain range in the west of the continent, with an average altitude of thousands of grams, stretching for thousands of miles from north to south, the northernmost section is the origin of a barbarian branch in northern Xinjiang, to the south, almost into the territory of the Shang League, the three northwestern countries are headed by Madur in the south, and the land contains a part of the Sunset Mountain, and in the southernmost part of the mainland, in the territory of the three southwestern countries, you can still see the figure of Sunset Mountain.

With such a vast continental mountain range, it is natural that there are different scenery in different areas, and the territory of Kaman alone is completely different. The section near the Chester Manor has a completely alpine climate, and soon after entering the mountain, it is all dense jungle, and a short distance up the mountain, you can see the snow line, and at the top of the mountain, the snow is knee-thick and completely winter.

In the west of the royal capital, the environment of Sunset Mountain is much better. Ironwood is a stout tree that occupies most of the jungle, and because of the lack of foliage, especially the bare trunk at the bottom, the ironwood forest will have a special flavor.

The location chosen for this actual combat exercise was a valley full of ironwood, and the code name of the exercise was "Operation Ironwood."

After returning to the 13th regiment's station from the corps commander's headquarters, before Koster could speak, several battalion commanders had already told the commanders of the wings the news of the actual combat exercise, and the commanders of the wings also quickly conveyed the information downward. The soldiers who heard the news were also very excited, excited and worried.

I was excited because I could finally fight in real combat, which was much more interesting than walking in line every day, and I was worried because the wing commander said that this actual combat exercise, and the brigade commander Master Koster only said one sentence: "Whoever drops the chain will go to the pole in front of the camp gate and hang it for three days."

Griffitz and Otis had returned to their squad, and because of their humiliating behavior, they were disgraced in the squad, so they were placed to do the lowest soldier work when they returned, and they had to clean horse manure and latrines every day to atone for their sins.

In the stinking stables, Griffitz and Otis were burying their heads in shoveling horse manure, the quality of these horses pulling carts was so bad that Griffith, who was born as a groom, couldn't stand it at all, but he was no longer a servant of the earl's family, but an ordinary soldier of the Thirteenth Regiment, and he was still the kind who made a mistake and was being punished.

Griffiths, who was covering his nose, never thought that horse manure would be so unacceptable, "Hurry up, the co-captain will come to check in a while." Otis urged as he scooped up a large piece of horse manure and poured it into the bucket truck, which was almost full.

"Don't be in a daze, come and push it for me, this car is full. Otis shouted, and Griffitz came back to his senses, "Don't shovel yet, why is it so lively over there in the barracks, I don't know what's going on." ”

"Even if there is a good thing, it will not be our turn. Otis muttered.

It's true that good things don't come to them, but it's not bad. The captain suddenly came to the stable, startling the two of them, thinking that something had happened again.

"Griffiths, Otis, come here, I'll tell you something. "This squad leader is newly promoted, and the original squad leader was implicated by Griffitz and Otis and lost his position as squad leader.

"I can tell you, you two are really good leaders. I heard that at the officers' meeting, the regiment commander demanded that the deserters be dealt with seriously, and that the list submitted by each regiment would be directly sentenced to death by hanging after being examined by the regiment commander. The 12th and 14th regiments all reported a few, and as far as our regiment commander was concerned, he actually said that not a single deserter from the 13th regiment appeared. ”

"Ah, Commander, did he really say that?" exclaimed the two men.

"Of course, otherwise, you two rabbit cubs would have been hung on the gallows of the military headquarters, and you wouldn't even have to shovel horse manure. Okay, go clean up, starting tomorrow, the entire New Sixth Army will conduct actual combat exercises, you don't shovel horse manure anymore, listen to the battalion commander's meaning, since the regiment commander has not pursued it again, your business will be like this. ”

The squad leader left, Griffitz and Otis still patted their chests with palpitations, the two of them, taking advantage of the dinner time, went to the military headquarters, sure enough, they saw a row of gallows in the distance, a row of corpses were still shaking slightly, the two were so frightened that their hands and feet were cold, and they fled back to the camp as if flying.

Of course, the matter of Griffitz and Otis was only a small episode of the Thirteenth Regiment, and as soon as Kerst returned to the camp, he and the entire Thirteenth Regiment were in full swing of preparations.

First, tell Jon, Rober, and Rickon to mobilize all the soldiers as soon as possible, and prepare ten days' worth of food and equipment. The food of the Shang Alliance army during the battle was mainly wheat bread, supplemented by a small amount of broth and a large amount of longevity fruit soup, and the ordnance of the 13th Regiment instantly became extremely popular, and all the heavy equipment could be used to hold the cart.

For the other two regiments, due to the same lack of pack horses, they had to rely on the soldiers to carry them themselves, and the equipment that was too heavy had to be left in the camp.

For this actual combat exercise, Kerst arranged for Jon's battalion to take the lead, Robb followed, and Rickon's battalion pressed the formation. The Guards Battalion, the Scout Wing, and the Long-Range Support Wing were all tightly grouped around the Commander of the Koster Regiment.

In less than a day, the entire 13th Regiment had been cleaned up, and after the order to "go" from Koster, the 3,000 men in the regiment marched towards the predetermined exercise ground in Sunset Mountain.

This road is actually not unfamiliar, and every soldier of the 13th Regiment has set off from here countless times to start that hateful "five-kilometer run". Watching the rows of soldiers around him walk out of the camp in a neat queue, Feida secretly said behind Koster, "Regardless of the success or failure of the exercise, with the momentum of this departure, our regiment will overpower the others." ”

Koster responded with a smile, "Feida, you are also the home of the Thirteenth Regiment now." Feida blushed in embarrassment.

The five-kilometer journey was fleeting, and the soldiers of the 13th Regiment, who had been running this road for a long time, easily sang and entered the Sunset Mountain. Singing is also a new tradition of the 13th Regiment, and it has become a tradition of the 13th Regiment to hire a musician from the Kaman King to compose more than a dozen catchy military songs, which all soldiers are required to learn and sing during group activities.

In the words of Kerster, it can both boost morale and adjust the pace, and follow the rhythm of the song, and the team moves quite fast.

Kest and Ferda were on horseback, advancing with the large force. At this moment, a wave of smoke and dust rose in the distance, and Jon, who was in the lead, actually flew a horse towards here, and finally stopped the horse, and Jon, who was panting, reported to Kist, "Captain Kist, there is a problem ahead. ”

"Oh, what's the problem?" asked Koster, confused.

"Our rushing car can't go. ”

It turned out that the actual combat exercise was divided into two phases, and the content of the exercise in the first phase was to attack the mountainous area. In the area of the exercise demarcated by the military headquarters, there is a valley about five miles long and about one mile wide, on which several wooden pontoon bridges are suspended, and the three regiments participating in the exercise have to take turns to play the role of the attacking side and the defending side, focusing on fighting for the ownership of this canyon.

Seeing this exercise plan, all the officers knew in their hearts what this exercise was for, the same canyon and the same pontoon bridge.

The second stage, which is a field exercise on the plains, focuses on the army's ability to fight in the field.

Kester thought carefully about the plan of the exercise, the power of the rushing car will basically be exerted in the second stage, and in mountain warfare, those heavy weapons and armor, including a large number of "god arm crossbows", are not particularly useful.

"Well, it seems that the first stage is mainly to examine the quality of soldiers, while the second stage is mainly to examine the actual combat capability of all armies. Thinking of this, Koster made up his mind, "Jon, pass my order, all the rushing vehicles will leave the troops, and turn directly to the second exercise field, and the heavy equipment that cannot be carried will go together, and the logistics subordinates of each team will be responsible for escorting. ”

"Yes, Brigade Commander!" Jon gave a military salute and rode away.

Feida approached, "I don't bring any more rushing cars, and I don't bring any more crossbows?"

"Well, don't bring it, you don't need it in the mountains and forests, it's mainly a test of people, and in the second stage of the plain offensive and defensive battle, let's show your skills." Kerst replied.

The small episode did not affect the progress of the team, and under the command of the captains of the wings, dozens of rushing vehicles left the team and headed towards the second exercise ground to the north, and some soldiers began to panic when they looked at the armor and crossbows carried on the vehicles.

Their squad leader encouraged, "Don't look at it, there's nothing to worry about. In this kind of woodland, we can't wear armor, and no one else can wear it. We can't use the Divine Arm Crossbow, and they don't need too many longbows. If it's just a competition, our thirteenth regiment doesn't have to be afraid of them..."

Singing military songs all the way, the 3,000 soldiers of the 13th Regiment stepped into the Sunset Mountains, the red sun had just risen, the red light sprinkled all over the land, the breeze was slow, and the trees rustled.

Not far away, another long line was also entering the mountain, it was the 12th Brigade, the unsmiling commander Duncan, riding on a tall horse, several battalion commanders surrounded him.

A battalion commander hummed relentlessly, "These tricks can make so many tricks in a hurry." I saw that Captain Kerst was stupid in San Jose, and he came back with a lot of artistic atmosphere, and he was very sissy. ”

Several battalion commanders beside him also echoed, but Commander Duncan on the side didn't say anything. Compared with the officers under him, Commander Duncan is still slightly capable, and he has served in mercenaries for a long time, and he has experienced some real battles.

After squinting his eyes and looking at it for a long time, he took a deep breath, "Don't be too optimistic, just like them, they can arrange the queue so rigorously, if they really fight a battle, I'm afraid it won't be too bad." ”

"Commander, do you think so highly of them?" was the battalion commander who spoke first.

"It's not good-looking, and the training is also based on it. In short, don't despise them, in this exercise, our 12th Regiment must strive to go upstream, and prove to the corps commander that I am the best regiment commander of the New Sixth Army. ”

After speaking, he didn't wait for everyone to respond, and as soon as he knocked the horse's belly, he ran forward.

Note 1: The bucket truck is a kind of wheelbarrow commonly used by farmers, which can be pushed by one person and can carry a lot of weight, which is deeply loved by farmers. Here, Griffitz and Otis, mainly used it to hold horse manure.