On the third day of leaving Strongwood, Elliot? The 3rd Guards Division and the 6th Army Corps, led by His Highness Gibson, arrived at the front line in Anta province.

At this time, the front line of Anta Province had retreated almost a hundred kilometers from when Gastens left, and Fort Edphi, the capital of Anta Province that they had once occupied, had been recaptured by the enemy. The forces of the Negru Republic forced Ankenrein's forces to the Evergreen Plains, west of Fort Edphi. To the north of Ankenrein's army was the Lufen River, which flowed from the territory of the Republic of Negro into the Duchy of Tulucas, and then meandered south through two other minor principalities into Ankenrein. The 1st Corps, now responsible for the defense of the Anta Line, established a defensive position south of the Lufinin River with a depth of more than two kilometers. On the way, Gastens even saw brick-burning earthen kilns and brick buildings, and it seemed that the First Army was planning to fight a long-term defensive battle here.

The First Legion had known about Elliot for a long time? News that His Highness Gibson and the Sixth Legion are coming, and the Commander of the First Legion, Jon? Wright led his troops to wait on the east side of the Eternal Green Plain early, and met Prince Eliot as soon as possible.

"How's the battle going?" , Prince Eliot is also a resolute character, and he didn't talk for three words when they met, so he went straight to the topic.

"It's hard to fight", Jon? Wright also knew the temperament of His Royal Highness the Prince, "The enemy's armored spearmen have an overwhelming advantage over us, and although the platoon gun tactics passed from the Sixth Army are effective, but when fighting with the enemy, our 27-type firing range is too close, and the unnecessary casualties caused are too great." So far, we have fought three legion-level battles with the emperors, and there are nearly 70,000 men in six divisions, and less than 90,000 slave soldiers, so now there are only 60,000 people left, and the number of dead and escaped is nearly 30,000. If you don't come again, we won't be able to hold on. ”

"So serious? What about the other side? ”

"Their casualty figures are not easy to count, and the newspaper from the spies said that the casualties were less than 5,000, which we think is an exaggeration. The estimate of the General Staff is 10,000 to 20,000 people, after all, their weapons and armor are more advanced than ours, and the survival rate of the soldiers is also high. ”

"Okay, I know, you have worked hard, I will have a good word with my father when I go back", Elliot perfunctorily comforted two sentences and put forward his own request, "Now that we are here, we have recently found time to meet the enemy, and we will strive to thwart their spirit!" ”

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On the third day of arrival on the Eternal Green Plain, the 1st Army, which had been largely crippled, retreated and assumed defensive duties. The Sixth Army completed the change of defense of the First Army Corps, and launched the Fourth Battle of Eternal Green with Prince Eliot's Third Guards Division as the core.

Gastens was already familiar with the atmosphere of the battlefield by this time. Such corps-level battles are often carried out in divisional units. The Eternal Green Plain is very large, and the terrain is also very suitable for legion combat. Ankenrein took out the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 5th divisions of the Sixth Army for the battle, a total of four divisions, plus more than 50,000 slave soldiers. The enemy threw two corps, the 17th and 19th armies, also four divisions and about 40,000 men, on this plain. Of these 40,000 people, 20,000 were armored cavalry with war experience, and of the remaining 20,000, more than 10,000 were recently replenished soldiers, mainly small townspeople and some workers, who did not have much combat experience.

"Where did they get so much armor and guns?"

Gastens, who operated with the staff of the 3rd Guards Division, was also assigned a set of steam hand cannons. It took him half a day to master the use of skills, and he probably understood the idea of this set of weapons. Through a simple and crude double-row enlarged cylinder, pyroxene, thickened ventilation pipes, and reinforced connectors, Anken Rein found a shortcut to increase the power of the weapon. However, the characteristic of such a transformation is that the whole set of equipment is very heavy, even if it is placed on the horse, it will greatly limit the mobility of the cavalry.

"I've heard that their factories are more efficient. Moreover, according to our spies, they gave priority to the veterans in those tin cans, and most of the unarmored ones standing in the back were recruits. ”

The answer was Erica, the captain and staff officer of the 3rd Guards Division? Baron Russell, he's been fine with Gastens for a while.

"It's cunning," Gastens nodded, looking at the enemy formation in front of him. Prince Eliot placed the 3rd Guards Division on the south side of the battlefield, intending to sweep across the battlefield once the battle began, destroying the enemy's armored spearmen in the front row, and tearing a gap for his own follow-up shots.

"However, this also created one of the biggest weaknesses in their formation, as the armoured spearmen of the two divisions were scattered across the front of the four divisions, and the depth of the battle was limited. As long as we can tear through the defense line of the armored spearmen, the recruits in the back are easy to deal with. They are like an egg with a hard shell, and when the shell is broken, there is nothing to be afraid of. ”

Erica? What Russell said was the overall judgment of the Third Guards Division and even the Sixth Army Corps, and it was also their purpose in launching this campaign. Tear through the enemy's lines with pistolmen, then use your numerical superiority to crush the enemy, destroy the enemy's main force, retake Fort Anderfi, and restore the Line of Actual Control to the provinces of Anta and Scat.

In this era when there was no radio, the battle strategy at the corps level was formulated before the start of the battle, and after the battle began, the corps command could only convey orders through limited drums and flags, and the division commanders of each division had great tactical autonomy on the basis of adhering to the corps strategy. Just in Gastens and Erica? As Russell chatted about the strategy, the drums from the headquarters of the Sixth Army were already rumbling. The four divisions lined up at the front received orders, and the drums of the divisions began to sound one after another, and the soldiers standing in the front row began to advance to the beat of the drums.

The people of this world also have a wealth of military wisdom, and the gun platoon tactics proposed by Gastens are only the most basic double-row line tactics, and many details are not perfected. But now these soldiers have formed a complete tactical system based on the tactical ideas put forward by Gastens. The soldiers marched to the beat of the drums from the start, and the steam packs were kept under high pressure at all times, and once they entered the queue, any enemy standing in front of this queue was subjected to a storm of buckshot.

"It's time for us to go, too."

Unlike the other four forward divisions of the Sixth Army, the 3rd Guards Division had greater tactical autonomy. Prince Eliot, who led the 3rd Guards Division, took the lead and gave the order to set off. The cavalry, which had been assembled on the south side of the battlefield, rushed to the enemy's line along with the light cavalry that rushed out from the north side of the battlefield.

Ankenrein is a large cavalry country, and the cavalry of the Neglo Republic troops suffered heavy losses in the previous engagement, so in the face of the two-sided attack of the Ankenrein cavalry, the Negru Republic chose to respond with a phalanx of armored spearmen. On the outside of the phalanx, near the north and south sides, they joined the spearmen between the spearmen and the spearmen, erecting a spear formation, which provided the armored spearmen with protection from the cavalry onslaught.

At a time when the tactic of lining up to shoot has become widespread in both forces, the deterrent power of light cavalry on the battlefield is declining. They were unable to break through the spear formation with a dense platoon of guns and exert the power of their close-range impact. If you stop to use steam rifles, you lose the meaning of cavalry mobility again. If you shoot on the move, the hit rate of the bullet is not guaranteed. Whether the cavalry themselves want it or not, they are gradually losing their place in the battlefield.

But the hand cannon cavalry is different, although their movement speed is slow, but the maximum range of more than 200 meters makes them the demons on this battlefield. In the same way that the Ankenrein soldiers move to the sound of a drum, the soldiers of the Negru Republic rely on the sound of the air whistle to adjust their steps. They lined up, their armor glittering in the sunlight.

The corps on both sides were advancing, and the distance was getting closer. But when there was still a gap of 500 meters between the two sides, Eliot's 3rd Guards Division cut into this gap like a sharp long knife. The 3rd Division's nearly 10,000 hand artillery cavalry, four people in a platoon, marched forward and entered between the two armies from the south side of the battlefield, blocking the view of the warring parties looking at each other.

The drumming of Ankenrein's army stopped, and only the sound of empty whistles remained on the battlefield.

"Turn !!"

Orders came from the front and rear, and the artillery cavalry, which had been facing the enemy, turned their horses and faced the enemy. The steam hand cannon in their hands had been pressurized, and from time to time overpressurized steam came out of the pressure relief valve and hissed.

"Ready!!"

Everyone raised their hand cannons. Because of the four support arms, the seemingly heavy hand cannon became lighter in the hands of these soldiers.

The enemy is still advancing to the sound of empty whistles. The armor on their bodies glistened in the sun.

"Put!!"

When the distance between the two sides was close to about one hundred and fifty meters, and there were still a hundred meters from the firing distance of the Negru Republic, the artillery cavalry opened fire. The characteristic roar of the steam cannon resounded on the battlefield like a dull thunderbolt. The large lead bullets flying at high speed easily broke through the enemy's armor, effectively killing the armored gunners who had just moved silently.

There was a slight commotion in the enemy's formation. For the first time, the defenses of armored gunners were breached. But the sound of their air whistles did not stop, and the well-trained soldiers quickened their pace. Their enemies have also encountered such a situation, and when they encounter an enemy with an advantage in weapon range than their own, the royal way to solve the problem is to close the distance between the two sides to their own effective distance as soon as possible despite casualties.

"Put!!"

Their own orders continued, and the silent sound of hand cannons rang out continuously, harvesting the lives of the enemy. But the enemy was also speeding up, and the sound of the air whistle became a little agitated.

The distance between the two sides is rapidly closing. But at this moment, the 3rd Guards Division, which had already been well-trained, manipulated its war horse and began to retreat. If it is the soldiers of other units who start to retreat, it is likely to lose control and turn the retreat into a rout. But now it was the well-trained war horses that retreated. Many of these horses have deliberately damaged their eardrums and cannot hear the sound of the battlefield. They are able to effectively follow the knight's commands to back down and control the distance between the two sides.

The sound of hand cannons continued, and the enemy's armored gunners fell. Although they had quickened the pace of their march, the 3rd Guards Division, which had been fighting and retreating, had disrupted their pace. Gastens could clearly see that in some parts of the enemy camp, ordinary soldiers behind the armored gunners could already be seen.

Victory is in sight.

But the distance between the two sides is still close. In order to maintain the stability of the shooting, the 3rd Guards Division retreated slower than the enemy's advance. With less than ninety meters left between the two sides and soon within range of enemy fire, Elliot gave a new order.

"Go !!"

So the soldiers turned their horses around and began to move forward. They no longer fought and rode out of the gap between the two sides. He then withdrew from the battlefield between his two phalanxes. Enraged by the smooth passage of these men, some of the armoured spearmen broke out of formation and tried to catch up with them. And more armored gunners had to face the enemy who was ready to attack on the opposite side.

It was the unit of the Sixth Legion, which was also proficient in lining up to shoot.

By this time, two and a half divisions of the enemy's four divisions were interfered with by the 3rd Guards Division, and the losses of armored gunmen were significant. On this part, the soldiers of the Sixth Army basically won the parity. As the distance between the two sides narrowed closer, the sound of thumping gunfire and hissing inflatable began to sound on the battlefield, one after another, like ocean waves.

The Fourth Battle of the Eternal Green Plains entered its climax.

At the same time as the two sides began to clash, the 3rd Guards Division pulled its troops apart and continued to attack the enemy's phalanx from the flank. This trick hit the pain point of the Negru army. They were unable to deal with the Ankenrein army in front and the more threatening and counter-capable artillery cavalry on the flank. As the 3rd Guards Division extended its participation in the battle, the enemy's troops showed signs of rout.

"To win!"

Gastens roared excitedly, the barrel of his steam hand cannon had begun to burn, and the gas cylinder could not be touched. But even so, he continued to shoot. After all, this kind of killing, which the enemy can't fight back, is addicted to everyone.

"Bang! ——”

With a crisp sound, Gastens' steam pipe exploded. His hand cannon lost its functionality. But the previous attack of the 3rd Guards Division worked, and the enemy sounded the horn of retreat. This was the first time that Ankenrein's army had won a Legion-level battle since the formation of armored spearmen in the Neglo Republic was put on the battlefield.

"Will we pursue?"

Erica? Russell muttered to himself. Gastens put the cannon beside him and nodded.

"Definitely, this is a hard-earned opportunity!"

Gastens guessed correctly, and only a few minutes later, the order to pursue was given, and the 3rd Guards Division took the lead, and the cavalry of the 6th Army began to pursue.

However, the army of the Neglo Republic seems to be somewhat more qualified. They still maintain the most basic formation when retreating, and can even organize counterattacks in stages. Although it did not change the overall situation, it also caused some casualties to the pursuing force. Some of the steam hand guns of the 3rd Guards Division also malfunctioned due to overuse, and as a last resort, Anken Rein's pursuing troops gradually stopped.

In front of them, Fort Edfi, the capital of the province of Anta, was already in sight.