How did the Sixth Legion lose this battle?

Gastens, who was on his horse and exhausted, couldn't stop thinking. At the beginning of the counterattack, everything went well, and they headed south along the enemy's iron shield line on the eastern flank, hoping to find a breakthrough. They also found such a breach on the northeast side of a hill as they wished. The enemy's iron shield line came to an abrupt halt there, and the vast expanse of the savannah plain was in sight, and as far as the eye could see, there was no enemy and no obstacles. As long as they keep an eye on the pressure of the Iron Shield Phalanx on the flanks, they can choose between turning to raid the Iron Shield Phalanx or retreating directly, everything looks so rosy.

But things soon changed. When the cavalry units that had explored the path had gathered the following infantry units and began to pass through the passage together, the enemy's iron shield line, approaching this side of the knoll, suddenly began to move slowly. It wasn't as fast as walking, but it was enough to stop them from retreating in front of the Sixth Legion, which was in a state of combat readiness. In order to be able to break through the road, the light cavalry of the 6th Army Corps acted as a cover, and the artillery cavalry of the 3rd Guards Division was the main force, and launched another assault on the enemy's iron shield line. However, this time the god of luck did not favor them. At some point, the ground had been dug by the enemy with dense pits, and the legs of countless artillery cavalrymen who rushed ahead stepped into the pits, and then their legs were broken by the heavy weight and high sprinting speed. In this wave of charges alone, the 3rd Guards Division lost more than a third of its artillery cavalry.

"Take a break – take a break!!"

The commander in front shouted a command, and Gastens tightened the reins and stopped with his companions. He looked around, the expressions of most of his companions were dejected, many of their steam cannons were missing or broken, and a few lone metal arms were gathered in the back of the horse, not without desolation.

"Rested."

"I'm tired."

"Rest, rest, rest."

The soldiers repeated the orders from the front, some dismounted, others still mounted. They walked into the sparse jungle next to the road almost unformed, hoping to find enough water to rest there. Gastens looked at these dejected companions, unable to imagine that they were from Anken Rein's ace unit, the 3rd Guards Division.

The hand artillery cavalry of the 3rd Guards Division is the enemy's nightmare, the grim reaper on the battlefield, when did it become so unbearable? This question Gastens could not answer. He took the kettle from his horse, drank it all, and then gently clamped his horse's belly to find the headquarters of the 3rd Guards Division.

“…… Here we are now, nearly fifty kilometers away from the intended route of passage to the south, so far no interception has been found in front, and the pursuers behind have also restrained themselves after being killed twice by us, and their light cavalry does not dare to rush directly to the decisive battle, but can only contain and harass us. We were able to get plenty of rest......"

Vincent Navre, chief of staff of the 3rd Guards Division, wrote and drew on the map with a serious face and explained at the same time. The Sixth Prince, Eliot Gibson, frowned and looked at the map. Dieter Schubert, the acting commander of the Sixth Legion, and his nephew stood aside and said nothing.

When did we decide to leave the Sixth Legion behind? Is it when the breakthrough is blocked and the enemy is about to pursue? Or was the next two counterattacks frustrated, and the attempt to further destroy the enemy's living forces failed, and they had to choose to flee? In what mood did the acting commander of the Sixth Army leave with the 8,000-strong cavalry team of the Sixth Army and the 3rd Guards Division, and lost the remaining 40,000 soldiers to the enemy?

Gastens was distracted again, and by the time he came back to his senses, the discussion of the escape route had ended, and although Prince Eliot was not reconciled, his third guards division suffered heavy losses, and the remaining warriors' steam hand cannons were broken, and the ammunition was exhausted, and the ability to fight in groups was almost gone. Moreover, without the cover of the large forces of the Sixth Legion, they could not win a battle, and could only delay the pursuers through the range advantage of their weapons. And this range advantage is also getting weaker and weaker with the increase in the damage rate of the steam hand cannon and the lack of ammunition.

"Well, Gastens, come over here."

Waving at Gastens was the sixth prince Elliot, who quietly glanced at Dieter and found that he didn't have any special expression, but his nephew Jensen, who looked a little unhappy. Ignoring them, Gastens followed His Royal Highness into his temporary tent.

"Gastens", as soon as he entered the military tent, Elliot didn't even rush a cup of tea first, and then speak slowly, as usual, but directly pressed Gastens's shoulder, completely ignoring the strong smell accumulated by Gastens who had not taken a bath for more than half a month and had been fighting for days.

"The modified rifle you told me last time, but really?"

"Of course it's true, I did it myself, I know it in my heart."

"Then you have to be sure, now that we have lost the battle, if I want to turn over, I can only rely on your design! I promised you the position of Major, and I will give it to you as soon as I return to the territory of Tulucas, and you must not drop the chain for me! ”

"Don't worry, Your Royal Highness, I won't lie to you, after all, it is also my own life, how can I not cherish my own life?"

"That's good, that's good."

Elliot repeated it a few times, then turned and pulled out two chocolates from his package and handed them to Gastens.

"No, this is a small reward for you, this kind of thing is not easy to find now, you just hide it and eat it, don't be seen by others."

"Okay, thank you, Your Royal Highness!"

Gastens nodded, took the chocolate, and turned to leave. The blueprints he handed over to His Royal Highness the Prince were indeed not hidden, as long as the weapons experts in the rear read it, they would definitely be able to draw conclusions that would look at him. Lower production costs, better compatibility with older equipment, and qualified power all allow Gastens to be recognized for its designs. When the time comes, if Elliot can make it back alive, maybe he can really make a comeback with his own designs.

Thinking so, Gastens rode into the woods. After a while, most of the remaining 5,000 soldiers of the 3rd Guards Division, and more than 6,000 light cavalry of the 6th Army Corps, were scattered in the woods. They brushed the horses on the trees to rest them, and they took out their own pyroxene stoves and the dry food they had brought with them, and began to cook. It's been a week since the disruption of logistical links, and even as the massive attrition of the fighting has enriched the survivors' stockpiles, many have almost bottomed out. Gastens had seen more than one fight over food along the way. Fortunately, their weapons were sharp enough, and although it was winter, the occasional hunting and raiding of villages along the way still ensured a minimum standard of living for these 10,000 people.

But just as Gastens was looking for his staff mate, he seemed to hear some familiar voice. He followed the sound deeper into the woods, and found that it came from a group of beggar-like deserters, their gray uniforms familiar to Gastens, the ones of Ankenrein's slave soldiers, the death squads. A group of artillery cavalrymen of the 3rd Guards Division was gathering this group of deserters together, with rude movements and tough attitudes.

"Soldiers! What are you doing? ”

Gastens rode forward, deliberately showing off his rank of captain. Although the captain is not big in the system of the Third Guards Division, he is also at the level of company commander, and he still has a deterrent effect on these soldiers.

When the soldiers saw Gastens coming, they looked at each other and elected one of them to answer.

"Sir, we found a group of deserters in the woods, deserters from the death squad! These damn escapes, if it weren't for them, we wouldn't have lost so badly! ”

The soldier was eloquent, and Gastens had encountered such things a few times along the way. He tried his best to stop them, but to little avail, and many times, the soldiers would still vent their anger on these deserters.

"What are you going to do?" Gastens didn't immediately make his attitude clear, he tried to keep his tone neutral, trying to get out of the way. ”

"What else can be done? According to military law, those who escape from the battle will die! ”

The soldier who replied didn't seem to value Gastens's rank very much, he looked up and answered Gastens's question, and didn't even wait for Gastens to reply, and turned around directly to greet the soldiers.

"Come on, come on, since there is a chief to come and see, let's all give it a nice look! You cowards, stand up for me! ”

The deserters were in rags, all of them were unarmed, and only a few still had machetes. Their faces and bodies were dirty, and they looked in poor condition. The soldier's order stirred up waves among them, and they hesitated for a moment before beginning to take sides as the soldier asked.

Gastens turned over and dismounted, and began to think about how to save these people, who were also serfs, and he had a natural sympathy for them. However, we must pay attention to ways and means to do things, and now the troops on the run, everyone is very emotionally unstable, and he doesn't want to stir up contradictions among his own people.

"Hurry up, I'm all ready to stand!!"

The soldier who answered glanced sideways at Gastens and saw that he had dismounted, and was standing by watching, a little more agitated. He shoved and shoved, kicked and pushed, trying to get the slave soldiers to stand in a line. But his movements were rough, and he soon angered several of the leading members of the group of slaves. They were more burly, and stood in the way of the soldier first, pushing and shoving him.

"Big Brother Cheka?!"

As Gastens listened to their arguments, he suddenly discovered that one of them was a familiar figure to him, Cheka Warren. When Gastens was a serf under Lord Bath, Brother Cheka was the strongest serf under Lord Bath, and he also helped Gastens repair the steam engine together, and he was a very good companion of Gastens.

Gastens' shouting interrupted the argument, and the soldiers, fearing that the officer would intervene, stopped to see how they reacted. On the slave's side, after hearing Gastens shout, a few seconds later, one of the current leaders looked sideways at the person who shouted, and replied in Gastens's familiar accent of Willow Shade.

"I'm the Cheka, who are you?"

"I'm Gastens, Gastens Warren! What's your lord's name? ”

"Little Gas?!" Cheka finally recognized the officer in front of him, he wiped his eyes with his hands, brushed his hair from the tangled hair, looked at Gass carefully, and walked up to Gastens in disbelief. The soldier hesitated, but did not stop.

"Yes, it's me, Brother Cheka!"

"Is it really you? Little Gas! ”

Only then did the Cheka confirm the identity of the person in front of him. That little serf half a year ago, who didn't know the height of the sky, turned into the current officer? He stepped forward and opened his arms to hug Garth as before, but hesitated and retracted.

The two couldn't be more different, and the Cheka didn't want to cause too much trouble for Gastens.

"What's your name, soldier?"

Gastens motioned with his eyes for Cheka to be calm and called the leading soldier.

"My lord, my name is Michael Cannon, and I am the company commander of the second company of the third regiment of the second brigade of the third guards division, with the rank of second lieutenant!"

Seeing that the two recognized each other, the soldier had already realized that it was estimated that it would be difficult for him to shoot these deserters as he wished, and he stood up to salute and respectfully manner.

"Hello Second Lieutenant Cannon, this Cheka Warren used to be a good friend of mine, and I hope to be able to bring him back to Tulucas and be court-martialed. And his companions, I want to be able to bring them back to a fair trial, I don't know if you want to? ”

"I-"

When the soldier heard this, he was a little anxious, why is this person so ignorant? Give him a face, let him save one person, he still wants to save so much?

"-Don't be in a hurry", Gastens knew that his decision would definitely upset the other party, and in order to avoid accidents, he took out the chocolate that Elliot had given him from his arms and put it in Cannon's hand.

"These are two large pieces of chocolate, and I only have so many, so you and your brothers should share them as my apologies."

The chocolate that Gastens took out was a rarity, and it was difficult to eat enough on the way to escape, so how could he eat this kind of food that was usually only eaten by nobles? When the soldiers behind Cannon heard that there was chocolate, they couldn't hold back their emotions and crowded around Cannon one by one. They dare not speak, but they express their thoughts with actions.

“…… Oh well, thank you, sir! ”

Cannon saluted Gastens again, turned and walked away. Gastens watched them go, and then led the Cheka and the dozen fugitive serfs into the depths of the forest.

"Listen, you guys, our large army is still marching towards Tulucas, and I don't think it's going to be able to protect you well. The Neglo Republic should not massacre you, you can find them and surrender. On the contrary, Tulucas, don't go back, as a result of your return, it is very likely that you will be reduced to hard labor, or directly executed. This meeting is due to our fate, I used to be a serf, I hope you can live well, understand? ”

The fugitive slave soldiers stood in a group, looking at Gastens, silent, not uttering a word. Gastens noticed that they were all looking at the Cheka beside him, and realized that he had forgotten something very important.

"That's it, I'm going to talk to my Cheka brother for a while, about half an hour, you guys take a rest first, and after half an hour, the Cheka will go with you."

The group of serfs nodded their heads in agreement. Gastens took Cheka a few steps away and chatted with him. He wanted to find out what was the reason why Lord Bass's favorite serf had become an insignificant cannon fodder in this war.