Gastens sat on a protruding stone in the camp and nibbled on a hard, stone-like rye cake. In front of him, a small pot with pyroxene at the bottom was placed, and some salt and wild vegetable leaves were added to the boiling water, which was a pot of soup. His old men from the 19 death squad, Zink-Warren and Bimpo Bobruff sat on either side of Gastens, staring at the tiny pot.

"Zink, you're no longer a serf, when will you change your surname?"

Gastens himself was thinking about it, but his surname hadn't been thought of yet, so he kept dragging it out.

"I want to be like the Boss," Zink said without saying much, and he vigorously broke a piece of rye cake from the rye cake in his hand, put it in his mouth and moistened it with saliva, "I think the name of the Boss must be the best." ”

Gastens laughed a few times and threw the whole rye cake into the pot, hoping to cook it softer. This was not the first time he had eaten like this, and although the porridge looked like poop and tasted very average, it was better than just biting a stone with his teeth.

"Head! We've got some food from Fort Edfi, and we've got some leftovers after we've distributed them, so don't eat the tooth-knocking rye cakes, and try the bread of the Neglo Republic! ”

Caleb Warren came from a distance carrying a cloth bag. He turned out to be the captain of the 22nd death squad, and then the 22nd death squad almost died, and he survived and was assigned to the ranks of the Gastens. After a few battles with Gastens, and seeing that Gastens bullied the enemy with the improved Welsh II steam rifle, which greatly reduced the mortality rate of the company, Calaiber also put out the idea of fighting for power and profit, and followed this commander to do a good job.

Gastens took the sack, took out two loaves of bread and sniffed it, and could smell the aroma of wheat. It's been three weeks since entering the Republic of Negro, and Gastens is clearly feeling the logistical pressure. They were given food that went from black bread and bacon to brown bread and then to rye cakes, which were easier to store and smaller. The volume of supply is also decreasing. Gastens didn't know what the reason was, it was said that Anken Reinno was a big country, and it shouldn't be a big problem to supply 200,000 people on the front line.

However, the so-called backing on the mountain eats the mountain, and the reduction in logistical supply has not limited the combat effectiveness of the front-line troops. The Republic of Neglo is further south than Ankenrein and has a better climate, fertile land and abundant food. Gastens once led his troops to loot the grain of the two cities, seizing large quantities of bread, meat, and wine. In addition to most of the hand-in, his fifth company was always able to leave some food for himself. Gastens always gave it to his soldiers first, and then went to eat the rest of the food that everyone ate. Over time, everyone got used to keeping some for him.

"This was found from Fort Edphi?" , Zink pulled a loaf of bread from the bag in front of Gastens and asked as he ate.

"Well, we found a bread factory with a steam engine in it, but it's amazing, I've never seen anything so high-class. Their workers said that when these factories were producing, they could make two or three thousand loaves of bread a day. ”

"They have a higher level of industrialization than we do, not to mention that Edfiburg is still the capital of the province of Anta, and it is normal to have such bread factories", Gastens replied and began to eat as well.

"What does industrialization mean?" Zink asked curiously next to him.

"It's to replace the work of workers with machines, which don't need to eat and drink water toilets, and work faster than workers," says Bimpo Bobruff, who has recently listened to Gastens lectures, and his knowledge level has been rising. The dozen or so soldiers who sat around to eat with Gastens began to discuss this issue, and the atmosphere was enthusiastic. Gastens sat on the stone and looked at the city's bell tower in the distance, and fell silent.

Three days had passed since Gastens' Sixth Army captured Fort Edphi, but he still had no intention of moving his nest, even in order to strengthen his control over Fort Edphi, this delay did not fit Gastens' understanding of a quick attack. He suspected that it was because the combat attrition was too great, and the above was waiting for reinforcements from the rear. Along the way, the resistance of the Neglo Republic was stubborn and the weapons were advanced. Each time, Anken Rein's troops relied purely on numbers to press upward, breaking down the opponent's defenses. With this tactic, even if you win, the battle loss rate can reach 15%, or even 20%. After a few battles, a full-fledged division almost died three or four percent, and almost lost its combat effectiveness.

Along the way, the Fourth Division, where Gastens was located, was also replenished twice with troops, and once with a death squad. However, there were fewer death row prisoners in the death squad that came up this time, most of them were ordinary serfs, and after only two fights, they were almost scattered. Gastens gathered the serfs who had survived the charge three times without running from the regimental commander, and maintained the size of his company of nearly a hundred men.

After thinking about it for a while, Gastens didn't come up with a clue. After this period of fighting and training, he ate and lived with the soldiers of his company, never concealed tactical information, and everyone had a good relationship, and they all began to understand the class analysis that Gastens had always talked about. And with the deepening of understanding and education, Gastens's goal has now changed from surviving to keeping his team as much as possible. He hoped that when the war was over for a year, he would bring these people back to cultivate the seeds of the revolution in the future.

"Dingding-ding-"

The assembly bell of the regimental headquarters rang sharply before everyone had finished eating, and Gastens stood up, said hello to the soldiers, and walked towards the regimental headquarters. Judging from the urgency of the bell, the leisurely life of these three days is estimated to be over.

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"This is the news from the corps headquarters, it's very serious, I hope you pay attention to it", the regimental commander Charlotte Findley called his nine company commanders together to convey the order at the corps level, "Our scouts have discovered a large force of the enemy, which is moving towards the west side of Fort Edphi, and the preliminary estimate of the number of the enemy is about 50,000 men, which is the most enemy we have encountered, probably five or six divisions. The Sixth Army had only five divisions at Fort Edphi, and we could not carry out the battle alone. The legion side means that we need to hold out in Fort Edphi for three days, and after three days, the third legion will move over, and the fourth legion in the rear will take over the defense area of the third legion, and then our two legions will fight each other's legions, which should not be a big problem. ”

"Commander Yingming, what exactly do you need us to do?" The commander of the second company, Yannick Dimo, is Charlotte Findley's celebrity, and he does not hesitate to tout it.

"We can't control things at the corps level, the task of our regiment is very simple, to do regional defense with the second and third regiments at the foot of the green pine mountain. It is the northern high point of Fort Edelphid, and it is also the only way for the large army to enter Fort Edelphi, and if we hold Green Pine Mountain, we can hold Edelphi. ”

The other company commanders had no problem with the regimental commander's arrangement, and the regimental commander began to assign tasks to the companies. As Gastens expected, his fifth company was once again given the responsibility of organizing the first line of defense.

"Commander, even a third of us are newly collected serfs, and we are not accustomed to the tactics of platoon guns at all, and I still need time to train them. Isn't it a bit dangerous to put us in the first row? ”

Gastens had already sensed Charlotte Findley's prejudice against him. In the past few battles, seven out of ten, their fifth company stood in the first row, and even with the bonus of the improved Welsh II rifle, the high battle loss rate of the first row had already changed half of Gastens's company. Now that the regimental commander was going to kill his company, Gastens naturally had to try to resist.

"Aren't you from a death squad? Now the second batch of death squads has also died, and the third batch has not yet come, you are not in the way, who is in the way? ”

Charlotte Findley made no secret of his thoughts, he didn't even care about Gastens's emotions for the slightest, and after pressing the task on him, he turned around and went to assign tasks to the other companies. Before leaving, Yannick Dimo even ran over to shake Gastens' hand.

"I wish you all survived."

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In the evening of the same day, the 4th Division all entered the Green Pine Hill defense area, and the 1st Regiment of the 2nd Brigade, to which Gastens was located, also arrived at the designated position. In order to increase the company's survival rate in defensive battles, Gastens had to come up with a new means of defense.

Breastwork.

Unlike offensive warfare and engagement, defensive warfare focuses on positions and does not require much mobility, and Gastens' unit is infantry, which has a natural advantage in setting up a front. Gastens guided his soldiers to build a chest-high wall of stone out of gravel and dirt to defend against bullets. From Gastens' experience with the history of the Earth War and the Great War of the First Generation, this defense can effectively resist the enemy's platoon of guns and increase the survival rate.

Several other neighboring regiments saw Gastens doing this, and they also built a breastwork in the same way. Sections and layers of patchwork breastwork cut off the green pine mountain along the mountainside, like an ugly necklace.

The next day, the long-awaited enemy appeared in Gastens' field of vision. The battle began with cavalry battles. Anken Ruyin's light cavalry, which rushed out of the Green Pine Mountain line, and the Negru cavalry, also armed with steam rifles, fought several times in front of Green Pine Mountain, because the infantry of both sides did not intervene, and the two sides won and lost each other, but neither had a decisive impact on the outcome of the battle. By the third day, the enemy began to throw infantry corps, deciding to directly attack the Green Pine Hill defensive line.

Gastens stood on the edge of their new low wall, looking at the soldiers in the distance. The soldiers in blue uniforms lined up in a neat line and followed the beat of the drums. Tall flags fluttered in their ranks, sometimes swept up in the wind, revealing the symbol of the Negro Republic above. It was an abstract snow-capped mountain with stick figures.

"It is said that before the Second Great Tide, dragons were found on the snow-capped mountains of the Negro Republic, and the people of that time worshipped dragons, and even as gods for a time. That's why they have snow-capped mountains on their national flags......"

Gastens whispered a story to Zinke beside him as he pressed the inflator valve on his lower back with his elbow, feeling the slight vibration of the steam rifle in his hand. His old subordinate, Zinker Warren, moved the same as him, pressurizing and watching the troops in the distance.

"Boss, at that time, was the dragon an exploiting class?"

Gastens was amused by Zinck's words. He placed the steam rifle on the breastwork in front of him, trying to aim through the rudimentary crosshair. Behind him, his own command whistle sounded, and it was an order to have your weapons in place and be ready to shoot.

"The dragon may be, but at that time, the human race also had a magister, although there is still a gap in the individual combat power, but as a whole, it can also fight for a certain status for the race. The main contradiction at that time was the contradiction between humans and the dragons and other magical races, unlike now, when the main contradiction was between ordinary people and magisters, between the working class and the capitalist class......"

Gastens said as he completed the final preparations. A wind blew from the west side, blowing beside him, rattling the pine forest behind him.

The enemy's troops were closer.

Gastens went into combat readiness, he aimed at the enemy, gave the order.

"Brothers, shoot at my command!"

"Okay!"

The soldiers cheered in unison, and then fell silent. The Meteorite Banner of the Anken Rein Empire fluttered above each of them.

The enemy, dressed in blue, stopped about two hundred meters from the defensive line. The drumming of the conductors stopped, and then Gastens heard a sound that made his hair tighten.

It was the sound of an empty whistle he had heard on the banks of the Lufinin.

As the whistle sounded, the first and second rows of enemies changed from horizontal columns to columns, and out of the gap in their ranks, rows of soldiers in metallic armor appeared, wearing metal masks that covered half of their faces, and their bodies were covered with improvised plates made of iron plates in front and back, and the steam rifles in their hands were smoking.

That's armored gunners.

Armored spearmen all over the hills.

Scattered all over the hills, ready to attack, armored spearmen.

Gastens let out a soft moan. Sink Warren, who had experienced the battle, cursed something, and a soft chatter rang out among the soldiers around him.

"Head, what should I do?" , Shinke Warren shuddered a little.

"Fuck it!"

Gastens scolded fiercely and lowered his head. In his crosshairs, the armoured enemies were approaching. With just a rough estimate, he could see that the number of enemies was at least more than 10,000 people, which was definitely not the number that the current Sixth Army could withstand. At this moment, Gastens suddenly figured out why, when the offensive situation was good, his Sixth Army suddenly turned to the defensive, it must be that the troops on other offensive lines also encountered a large number of armored spearmen.

For the current Anken Rein troops, the appearance of soldiers of this scale, which cannot be broken by the Type 27 steam rifle, has basically decided the outcome of this battle.

The sound of the air flute was melodious, like the horn of death.

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Volume 2 Attack on Anken Rein, end.