Three days later, at dawn, the scouts returned, and after three days of searching, they found three camp camps in the vicinity, which they claimed were numerous and well-armed. Two of the three camps are located deep in the mountains, which is a great advantage of the terrain, and the other camp is located on flat land at the bottom of the valley.

The gang included many deserters who had served in the armies of the Duchy and the Noble Alliance, and they still had the equipment they had when they fled, and the largest camp in the mountains even had a six-pounder cannon that blocked the way to the camp.

The situation is far more dire than imagined, and who would have thought that the bandits would be able to pull artillery up such a steep mountainous terrain? On the contrary, the training battalion of the new army, which had come to suppress the bandits, had an advantage in firepower and had no combat experience.

Fortunately, the new army was led by the famous military strategist Simon Gallieni, and the trainee officers and recruits relied on this experienced veteran to be able to handle any situation as long as he was in the army.

In order to prevent the bandits from scattering and fleeing when they heard the news, Lieutenant Colonel Simon quickly devised various strategies to break through, and the new army training battalion generals attacked three camps at the same time in three ways, and he personally led a grenadier company, two private companies, and a covenant of 300 men, attacking the largest and most heavily defended bandit camp, and handing over the other two camps to his most proud students.

Major Sarantos, the deputy battalion commander, led her company of hussars, a mobile force of about 100 men, who were to follow the mountain road and attack the bandit camp on flat ground.

Captain Dali Ainfurt led a company of light infantry, about 100 men, to attack the smallest camp and the closest bandit camp to Nanshan Town.

By noon, the three teams had all been assembled, Lieutenant Colonel Simon ordered his attendant military attache to blow the trumpet, and everyone in the battalion ran to the open field outside the town to assemble to receive a lecture from the battalion commander.

"Soldiers! The time has come to test your mettle! My request is simple, trust your superiors and obey orders unconditionally! Take note of what you've learned on the training ground.

We are about to face a small law and order battle in the mountains, which is completely different from the big army battle on the plains, your opponents will not line up, they will hide in the grass, hide in the trees, crouch behind the stones, they will spread out and shoot at you from all sides, so you have to be patient and annihilate the enemy one by one.

You are facing cowards who have fled from the glorious battlefield and left behind their compatriots who are fighting bloodily! They didn't dare to go back to their hometowns, so they hid in the mountains and did some dirty things! They loot the money of decent people, kill civilians, mutilate women, and orphan children!

Don't show any mercy to these beasts! Look! The parchment I am holding in my hand is the latest decree of the Chancellor! These gang members are all death row criminals!

Take up arms! Protect our people! Crush these scoundrels with our courage, discipline and morale! Glory will be ours! ”

More than 500 soldiers in the battalion shouted in unison: "Long live the Duchy of Valsta!" Long live Duke Midknight! ”

Dali noticed that the sharp gray eyes of the princess in uniform shone more brightly, and he felt it, the unusual aura became agitated, originally he had doubted that Her Majesty the princess would be afraid of blood, or could not bear to kill, but now, after a long time together, he understood that the lady of noble blood in front of him would never show mercy to the enemy, and the killing intent contained in her powerful aura beyond human beings made him chill.

The fighters of the whole battalion were in high spirits, and they were ready to fight. Even the emotions of the townspeople who were watching were ignited, and the people threw flower petals and the priests recited words of blessing.

Several local girls stepped forward, and in the past few days, they had met several recruits in the army, and established a relationship, these lovers were inseparable, the girls kissed their lovers goodbye, they cried and couldn't bear to let go, and one of the blondes sang an old song of the local mountain people:

“

On that little hill

I cry for you

Until the tears dry up and dry up

Go ahead! Go ahead! My dear!

Fight for your country!

Warriors of Valstad!

You'd better walk silently

Otherwise, I will be unable to suppress it

Run to the arms of the people I love the most

I'm going to sell the necklace

Sell the ring

Even if I sell my only spinning wheel

I would only like to buy a steel sword for my lover

Go ahead! Go ahead! My dear!

Fight for your country!

Warriors of Valstad!

I'll dye the petticoat red

Begging for heaven's protection

Until the end of my life!

You will always be my heart

Go ahead! Go ahead! My dear!

I will look into the distance from this small hill

Waiting for my lover to return.

”

Lieutenant Colonel Simon stepped onto his horse, he raised his hand and waved his whip, and commanded in a loud voice: "The whole battalion is leaving!" ”

For a while, smoke and dust billowed and the three teams marched in different directions to the accompaniment of magnificent military music, leaving only the weeping girls and the empty barracks.

Captain Dalí maintained his affable image, and he still chose not to ride a horse, but to walk with the soldiers of the light infantry company.

His deputy company commander, Second Lieutenant Garvin was his classmate at the military academy, his full name was Garvin Malcolm, the second son of a prominent prince of the Duchy of Valstad, he was an independent and individual young man, who did not rely on family connections, but relied on his own strength to pass the examination and entered the Valstad State Military Academy, and was selected for the class personally supervised by the dean because of his excellent grades.

Ensign Gavin did not like the circle of the great nobles, but had a good impression of Dalí, who was from the most ordinary background in the class, and they often sat next to each other during class, and he liked to listen to Dalí tell some anecdotes about the city of Tagarvi, and also helped Dalí learn a lot about the local culture of the Duchy of Valsta.

With such a friend and right-hand man to talk about, Dali felt a lot lighter on his shoulders.

Dali and Gavin were at the forefront of the company, studying tactics as they went, and according to fellow scouts, their camp was located on a wooded ridge where trees and rocks could be used as shelter, and they faced a chaotic battle.

In order to win a war, you must know your troops well, and the light infantry company is made up of short, agile soldiers who are good at moving around, and people also call this branch of the "leaping soldiers". They are good at spreading out to form a skirmish line, harassing and fighting guerrillas at a distance from the enemy, and are not good at close-range gun duels and white-knuckle combat.

Lieutenant Colonel Simon has repeatedly emphasized that the worst-case scenario is that the bandits are not completely annihilated, and after they are dispersed, they will be broken up into countless small groups to continue to do evil, in which case the follow-up anti-bandit operation will become more complicated and difficult, so the focus of this operation is to try not to leave any fish that slip through the net, and do everything possible to wipe out the bandits in the camp.

After consulting with Gavin, Captain Dally finally settled on a simple and practical strategy, which was to surround and annihilate the enemy in three lines of skirmishers.

The three platoons of the light infantry company were to outflank the entire camp in the center and on the left and right flanks. In order to ensure that no one gets lost on the march, the soldiers of each platoon must be gathered during the march, and then dispersed to form a skirmish line after the battle, and the subsequent tasks require patience, and the straggler line needs to cover and advance layer by layer, gradually squeezing the enemy's living space until they are all annihilated.

Garvin jokingly described their troops as hammers, and the ridge behind the enemy camp was the iron felt, and the bandits in the camp were the hammers waiting to be flattened between the hammers.

Commanding an army is an art, and the battlefield is constantly changing, and the simplest plan is often the best plan, and the real complexity is the inconspicuous details.

Dalí wanted his team to enter the battle in a prepared manner, and he took the trouble to tell his men to pay attention to all the details:

"Everybody put a new flint on the bolt, check your load, and try to make sure your first shot doesn't mute!

Put your bayonet on now, and remember not to back off when you see someone rushing out, and to block it in place! I'll lead you in battle at the front, don't worry, I'll take care of everything! ”

As soon as he finished speaking, and was thinking about what he could add, a corporal ran to the front row out of breath and shouted:

"Sir, there's a situation! Look, it's at the foot of the mountain! ”

Dalí turned his head to see a fire rising in a village at the foot of the mountain, and he took out his binoculars and saw several houses in the village set on fire, sending up a few wisps of black smoke, followed by the dull sound of flintlock pistols.

Jiawen took a sip and said, "I said, why can't you even meet a sentry?" Looks like the bandits in the camp have gone to work! Let's hurry over there! ”

Dali retracted the telescope into his leather bag and commanded loudly: "Light infantry company! Towards the village, hurry! ”