It took half a day for the 4th Division of the Sixth Army to destroy the resistance of Tulucas's army outside Lorraine, but it took even longer to complete the control of the city. The nobles of Tulucas and Negro, who occupied the city, had already begun to pack up and prepare to retreat when Ankenrein's army captured the border town. Civilians who were unable to retreat had to hide in their homes and pray that bad luck would not befall them. The unscrupulous elements, who were afraid that the world would not be chaotic, took advantage of the opportunity of the two armies to transfer control of the city and stirred up trouble, causing a lot of trouble for the Fourth Division. On the third day after the Battle of Lorraine, the commander of the 4th Division, Danny ? Carey finally made up his mind to hand over the city to the troops that would follow him in the rear, and he was going to continue his march.

At this time, in the open field near the division headquarters on the outskirts of Lorraine, the platoon gun tactics practiced according to the method of Gastens were being reviewed by the main officers of the 4th Division.

Standing on the field were two rows of soldiers in Ankenrein's red uniform, from Charlotte? Findley's 1st Division. They were carrying steam backpacks, and the steam rifles in their hands had been pressurized, and they were waiting for Gastens's orders. Gastens enlisted the division commander Danny? Carey agreed, and blew the whistle in his mouth.

The two teams of soldiers standing in the field heard the whistle and began to move briskly, and as they advanced, Gastens controlled the distribution with a small drum, keeping the basic formation in order. After the team had crossed about a third of the way through the field, he blew the whistle again. The soldiers immediately stopped where they were, the soldiers in the first row raised their rifles and began to aim, while the soldiers in the second row stood diagonally behind the soldiers in the first row, their rifles pointing diagonally downward, in a standby position.

Gastens' whistle sounded again, and this time, the soldiers in the first platoon pulled the trigger almost simultaneously, and the guns rang out with almost the same synchronization. Then, before the shots fell, the whistle sounded again. This time, the soldiers of the first row crouched down together, pulled out lead bullets from their ammunition bags and began to reload, while the soldiers of the second row leveled their guns and pulled the trigger in the direction where the soldiers of the first row had just shot.

"Bang bang—"

After a dense burst of gunfire, the whistle sounded again. The soldiers in the first row, who had finished loading and pressurizing, got up, leveled their guns, and began to shoot in the direction they had previously fired, barely aim. The soldiers in the second row crouched down in unison and began to reload. Although the movements of the whole team were not particularly neat, they were also orderly, and the gunfire in the open space continued with the ups and downs of the whistle, as if a torrential rain had been followed one after another.

Leaning slightly, the display ended after three short whistles, and a soldier brought a wooden target placed on the other side of the clearing, on which there were already scattered bullet holes. Take Danny? The officers, led by Division Commander Carey, carefully looked at the state of the target and called Gastens over.

"This tactic is really effective, basically in these rounds, the number of shots on each target is no less than five, and the kill can be basically determined. Our officers have some questions they would like to consult, Gastens, you can explain them to you. ”

Although he could only stand, although the sun above his head was still a little scorching, Gastens still nodded humbly. He didn't have much time to train, and it was already good to be able to train the two teams of the first regiment who had never cooperated with him in two days.

"How long will it take to train troops to the point where they can fight?" , the first to ask was Charlotte, the commander of the first regiment? Findley, he is familiar with Gastens, and he has no scruples.

"If you can train for about three hours a day, you can almost master the rhythm and footwork in a week. However, the most important thing in this tactic is courage, because the range and accuracy of the Type 27 steam rifle are limited, and the platoon gun method must wait until the opponent is close to a very close range before firing. In the middle of this, in the face of the enemy's impact, whether the soldiers can withstand the psychology and whether they can control themselves not to shoot is the most crucial. ”

"And how did you do that?" , the commander of the 3rd Regiment of the 1st Brigade Bayram? Bilbia was a little curious.

"I charged with them every time, standing at the front of the line."

Gastens raised his hand, his left hand still wrapped and unhealed.

"How does this tactic deal with cavalry?" , Someone asked again, the commander of the Second Brigade? Aspel thought further, "This tactic is very advantageous against infantry, especially against infantry that is defensive or offensive and has a relatively dense formation. But what do we do against the fast cavalry? We may only have time to fire one or two shots before the other person rushes in front of us. ”

"Cavalry is not a factor to be considered in this formation", Gastens is very frank admitting the shortcomings of the platoon gun tactics, even in this age on earth, there is no good way to take cavalry with smoothbore guns and front-loading infantry columns. It was not until rifled and breech-loading guns became widespread that the advantage of cavalry over infantry gradually weakened. "The best way to deal with cavalry is cavalry, and if you have to let the infantry array deal with cavalry, then add a long row of bayonets in front of two rows of gunners, and line up to deal with the onslaught of cavalry. However, the cavalry had good mobility, and if they went around to the flanks, now this long line of guns could not cope with it, and it would have to be made into a phalanx. In the case of a phalanx, the number of soldiers must be four or five times the number of cavalry in order to achieve equilibrium. ”

"This kid is right, our Anken Rein's cavalry has never been afraid of anyone, so the cavalry will be handed over to our cavalry."

It was the commander of the 3rd Brigade who spoke, Lott? Carey, who had the only cavalry regiment of the Fourth Division under his command, was the division commander Danny? Carey's younger brother. His words caused a burst of laughter among the officers, and Llüt was right, eight or nine hundred years ago, Ankenrein's cavalry had swept half of the central continent and was unmatched. Cavalry is the pride of Ankenrein's army, and it is also the elite. What the infantry can't handle to let the cavalry get on has always been the practice of Anken Rein's army.

"Very good", division commander Danny? Carey saw that there was no problem with everyone, and began to set up the work, "I have decided to set off in the afternoon, the target is Strongwood, the capital of Tulucas, those fugitive nobles should have sent our news by this time, and there must be a mess on the other side." Let's take the opportunity to kill the past, take down Strongwood, and then let the Emperor give us the title and knighthood! ”

Danny? Carey's words were met with an enthusiastic response from the crowd. Wherever they are, the soldiers fight with their lives, nothing more than for honor and status. As the heroes of Ankenrein's first invasion of the Empire's capital after the Kingdom of Solou in more than a hundred years, it was easy for these officers to imagine the rewards they could receive. They responded to Danny in unison? Kerry's order, with the staff officers of the respective regiments and the Gastens who were studying together, left the venue. Danny? Carey waited until everyone was almost gone before calling Gastens to his side.

"Boy, let me ask you one last time, you really don't come to the staff? Looking at your performance today, not only do you have in-depth research on the tactics of queuing up to shoot, but you also have your own judgment on each branch of the army and the overall situation, which is very good, and I appreciate you very much. It's too risky for you to work in the death squad, maybe the next charge will be your death date, come to the staff, this is more suitable for you. ”

"Sir," Gastens straightened up, clenched his right hand into a fist, and placed his forearm on his chest, "I am a prisoner on death row, and the army has given me the opportunity to become a free citizen. I've charged twice now, and once more I can take my brothers out of death row and become freedmen, as an honorable Ankenrein soldier. I want to win all this on my own, and I want to be able to enjoy everything we have won with my brothers who trust me. Maybe I'll die, maybe a lot of people will die, but I'm a lowly captain of a death squad, and Anken Rein's army didn't leave its own soldiers and fled, don't you say? ”

Gastens had thought about Commander Carey's invitation repeatedly. From a utilitarian point of view, the brothers of these death squads are his descendants, and they are his team wherever they go. If he joined the staff alone, his status as a condemned prisoner and serf would have made him very ostracized. Plus the division commander Danny? Carey has a blue eye for him, which worsens his work environment. Moreover, from the perspective of his own longer-term goal, the death squad, the brothers who also crawled out of the bottom of society, were born and died with him, and who had been secretly screened by him for a round, were also good teams to promote the revolution. And from a non-utilitarian point of view, he can't do anything to leave these fifty-five brothers who trust him and go to the staff headquarters to eat and drink spicy food. Therefore, even if he would die, Gastens decided to die with his soldiers, and then crawl out of hell and earn his own life.

"Anken Rein's army did not leave the soldiers on their own, commander, well said!"

Danny? Carey thumped Gastens' chest hard, "Since you think so, I can't be a villain, I'll be waiting for you at the staff after the next charge!" Give me a good life, and I won't die! ”

"Yes sir!"

Gastens replied loudly, without saying a word. Danny? Carey looked at him, was silent for two seconds, patted him on the shoulder again, and turned to leave.

——————

Back in the dilapidated camp of the 1st Regiment of the 2nd Brigade, the brothers had already heard about Gastens from the soldiers sent by the regimental commander. They surrounded Gastens and gossiped.

"Captain, you should go! What a fucking chance of surviving! We'll do it ourselves, there's no need to die with us! ”

"Yes, Captain. You're our captain, we recognize you! But half of the brothers have died by now, and everyone may die next time! Wouldn't you go to the staff headquarters first to help us find our way? ”

"Captain, you're so stupid! No one will refuse this kind of thing when it is their turn! You've been helping the brothers for so long, and we've been lucky! Brothers, we can't drag you down! ”

Gastens looked at his soldiers, a little surprised and a little warm. They come from the bottom of society, many of them have serious crimes, and some of them are the dregs of society. But no matter what, after charging on the battlefield together, living and dying together, the feelings between people become more pure. He raised his hands and pressed down in vain. The daredevils surrounding him fell silent in an instant.

"I've already told my teacher, I won't leave you behind! There is still the last one left in the three charges! When the next battle is over, I will take each of you with me to become official soldiers! ”

"Good !!!!"

The team shouted in unison, looking at Gastens with admiration. Gastens knew that he had basically won the hearts of these people. He chatted with his teammates a few more times and gave new orders.

"According to the latest battle plan, we will leave in the afternoon! You've all packed up for me, and the goal is the capital of Tulucas, the fragrant city of Strongwood! ”

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The Duchy of Tulucas, located between the Negro Republic and the Ankenrein Empire, produces perfumes, and its capital, Strongwood, has a perfume industry that has lasted for nearly 400 years and is known as the City of Fragrances. The country is not big, with only five cities. Three are close to the borders of the Republic of Negro, including the capital city of Strongwood. The two Duchy of Ryrin, which bordered it, had been taken by Ankenrein's army. In the middle of these two urban agglomerations is a river that flows diagonally from Stralongwood and flows through Rennes into the Duchy of Ryrin.

The Lufen River, the river of fragrance.

The plains where the Duchy of Tulucas and the Duchy of Ryrin are located is the most suitable type of land for the Legion on the border between the Negro Republic and the Ankenriin Empire. The Lufinin River is arguably the only defensible terrain on the plain, but perhaps intimidated by Ankenrein's bold military actions, Tulukas's army did not organize sniping on the banks of the Lufinin. Gastens' 4th Division crossed the Lufinin River with ease and headed straight for the capital of the Duchy of Tulucas.

Along the way, they did not encounter large-scale sniping, most of the residents of the villages and towns passing by had already run away, and the rest were old people who were guarding their property at home. As for the army, it disappeared without a trace. Gastens didn't know if the men were frightened by their own troops, or if there was some conspiracy. His position is too low-level, and the information he can get is extremely limited, so he has no worries about the conditions for grand strategy. Among his goals, winning the next charge is the most important thing for him.

In the course of the march, Gastens's platoon gun tactics had already begun to be pushed throughout the division. Whether it's on the road or on a short break, you can always hear frequent drums and whistles. The demonstration on the outskirts of Lorraine had thoroughly convinced these officers. Although they may look down on Gastens from the bottom of their hearts, they have always refused to come to things that can save their lives and increase their chances of victory. By the time Gastens could smell the faint scent in the air, the troops, who had mastered the tactics of platoon guns, could already see the famous clock tower in Stralongwood in the distance.

The battle is about to begin.