One of the military commanders shook his head: "I don't understand this very well...... Commander, you also know that our supply lines are in trouble and cannot withstand a war of attrition.

Moreover, in the last attack, the strength of our allies, the Red Mountain Eagle Tribe, was severely weakened, and many indigenous tribes were working for the enemy, and the situation was getting worse and worse. If you want to fight, you have to fight quickly.

However, your plan will not force the opponent to fight a decisive battle with us, but will force them to retreat to a stronger position, and I must remind you that the enemy's deep area is a canyon terrain, which is easy to defend and difficult to attack. ”

"You mentioned the key, my plan is to use the terrain to turn the disadvantages in our favor!"

As he spoke, Dali picked up a colored pencil and drew a long red dotted line along the long curved river on the map: "Look, the next thing is the main thing!" Take advantage of the rushing river to march fast! ”

General Poigny waved his hand again and again: "No, this march route ...... With such a big circle from the river, we don't have so many boats and can't carry a large number of troops. ”

"This is a surprise attack force, it doesn't need a lot of troops, it only needs to carry more than a thousand people, including light infantry, artillery, engineers, boatmen, plus more than 20 cannons."

"Transporting valuable artillery resources so far? This is unreasonable, in that case, our firepower on the frontal battlefield should be insufficient!

And...... That's all there is to it...... What is enough? ”

Dali said: "Believe me, this little force is enough to give Prince Rudolph a headache to death!"

Gavin and Poigny, do you remember the new rifled rifle I showed you before you left? I equipped a unit with it. ”

The two reacted at the same time and said excitedly: "Of course I remember!" You mean the 1st Sniper Battalion! We've been hiding the secret force all along! ”

"That's right!" Dalí said: "The first few steps of the plan were to force the enemy into the valley and retreat.

Our Native Tribal allies have provided me with a detailed map of the valley, and I have found one of the canyon passes to be utilized, and thanks to the strong support of our allies, our Native interpreter 'Old Leather Boots' will be the guide for this covert operation.

Generals, look at where I'm pointing now! Our secret troops sailed down the river, landed in the shallows on the side of the valley, and marched from the mountain road above the gorge, where snipers formed positions on the ridges and took full advantage of the range to pour fire on enemy forces passing through the canyon.

Also involved in the operation was an ace unit, the mule-horse artillery trained by Field Marshal Leopold himself, a mobile artillery unit that could be deployed quickly, which was unique in the world.

Note that I marked with blue pencil the mule and horse artillerymen, some of whom will guard the valley ramps, and use light 6-pounder guns to block the narrow junctions to cover the snipers.

The rest of the artillery went to a higher position to build a position, and at the location marked with brown crayons, fired hownel and phosphating incendiary grenades from 12-pounder cannons into the valley, which could inflict heavy casualties on dense enemy columns. ”

General Jiawen looked at the map and suddenly slapped his thigh: "I understand, this is to block the back road of the enemy's retreat and force them to fight a decisive battle with our army!"

"Yes, but on the front of the battlefield, our forces are far inferior to the other side, and we have to fight against 50,000 with 36,000 men, and we have to guard against the opponent's aboriginal allies, and the total number of enemy troops is likely to exceed 60,000."

Dalí looked around, looked at the generals in the big tent, and said, "The enemy is outnumbered, and we are short of supplies, and the victory or defeat is here, gentlemen, do you have the confidence to win?" ”

Of course, there was no need to worry, all the generals showed extreme self-confidence, and one of the commanders said: "Don't worry, Commander, we are strong and strong, as long as we form a frontal confrontation, we will definitely be able to pack up these Sylvinian elders in a good place!" ”

Thanks to the full support of the generals and staff officers present, Dalí's battle plan was quickly executed.

Major Duwalt, the logistics quartermaster, was extremely efficient, and the logistics unit completed the deployment of materials on the night of the combat meeting.

The next day, the equipment and ships needed for the secret troops were ready, and the 1st Sniper Battalion and some mule and horse artillery were successfully boarded.

The rapidity of the river made them sail extremely fast, and they landed at the predetermined location in only two days, and under the guidance of the aboriginal interpreter "Old Leather Boots", the troops successfully entered the position above the gorge, and then sent a report to the command with carrier pigeons.

"The secret forces are in place! I declare, the start of combat operations! "With Dalí's order, the Valstad Imperial Expeditionary Force began to operate with great efficiency, an elite infantry division took the first stronghold with lightning speed, and as expected, the enemy command did not send reinforcements.

In the next week, the five divisions of the Valstad Expeditionary Force attacked separately, and the enemy's five forward positions were captured almost simultaneously.

At the mouth of a narrow valley, the retreating Sylvinian army would never have imagined that the Valstadians had already set up an ambush here.

On this day, the Sylvinian colonial army was marching in a dense column towards the depths of the canyon, when suddenly, a large green shadow appeared on the bare ridge, and 600 snipers in green uniforms suddenly appeared, each armed with a new rifled rifle, and fired freely at the enemy troops below.

The dense rain of bullets seemed to fall from the sky, and hundreds of soldiers were shot and fell to the ground. A colonel was shot and fell from his horse, lying on the ground and wailing in pain: "Be careful, there is an ambush!" ”

The division commander in charge of commanding the advance guard drew his sword, pointed to the position of the ambush soldiers, and shouted at his panicked subordinates: "Don't panic! There are not many enemy troops, line infantry, guns raised! Adjutant! Quickly bring up the artillery! ”

The poor soldiers raised their smoothbore guns and fired at their distant opponents on the cliff, but they were desperate to find that their weapons did not have enough range, and the projectiles were lethal halfway through, and the nearest artillery arrived at the scene to set up positions, but the elevation angle of the cannons was completely insufficient to attack the ambushes above.

With no threat of a counterattack, the Valsta snipers in green uniforms calmly loaded, aimed, and continued to pour fire downward.

At this time, Prince Rudolph also rushed to the scene, and he was extremely annoyed to see that his troops could only be beaten unilaterally but could not fight back:

"Damn it! What kind of guns are those Valstayans using? How can you hit so far? Hell yes! ”