It was nearing the end of April when Claude returned from Witch Forest.
Sheila's wooden hut was more or less complete. All that was left was to consider the finer details, such as curtains, door handles, kitchen utensils and furniture.
By the time Claude returned, it was already half past nine at night. He was still wondering if he should have Myjack and Gum make a trip to Rosa town to buy what he needed.
But when he returned to the two-storey wooden building, he was surprised to see Chief Petty Officer Mazik and a few other squad leaders sitting at the dining table. They breathed a sigh of relief when they saw him return and saluted him as if a heavy burden had been lifted from their shoulders.
"What's wrong?" Claude returned the salute and asked curiously, "Did something happen at the camp?"
"Sir, nothing happened at the camp. Everything's normal," Mazik said, "But we caught an enemy spy."
Claude was taken aback. "An enemy spy?
Are you kidding me? Don't accuse me wrongly. "
Why would the enemy send a spy here? Even though there was a mountain path leading to the three southern prefectures, it wasn't suitable for a large army.
Even if the anti-Auerian alliance wanted to attack the three prefectures, they would have to be crazy to abandon the main road in the east and go through the mountain path instead.
So, Claude suspected that Mazik and the others had caught a passing merchant and forced him to confess.
"It's true, Sir. He confessed," Mazik replied solemnly.
"Tell me, what happened?"
Claude pointed at Myjack. "Get me a basin of water to wash my face and a bottle of blueberry wine I bought last time. I'll treat everyone to a drink."
"It's like this, Sir.
A merchant from the Canasian Plains came to Squirrel Village at noon. The soldiers didn't suspect anything at first, but he didn't only focus on selling his goods. Instead, he kept asking the villagers about the number of people we had stationed here and the firepower of our defenses.
The Village Elder became suspicious and secretly came to tell me about it.
So, I brought two men with me to keep an eye on the merchant.
But when I found that the pedlar, on the pretext of taking a rest, went up the hillside next to Squirrel Village, and peeped into our camp, and drew something on a piece of hide, I knew there was something wrong with him.
Thus, he brought some people to capture him and found a map of the camp layout on his body.
Up there are the trenches you dug and the newly built infirmary, as well as this row of large wooden sheds for the canteen … "
Makci pointed to a brown animal skin paper on the table, on which some lines were outlined with pale yellow marks.
Upon closer inspection, one would find that the lines and geometric figures on this piece of animal skin corresponded to the layout of the camp.
It seemed that Ma Keqi was right, the captured peddler was indeed a spy sent by the enemy.
"Did he confess who sent him?"
Claude asked sternly, wiping his face with a towel from the basin Myjack brought him.
Mazik nodded. "Sir, that's why we're waiting here for your return."
Had it not been for the shocking news the spy revealed, Mazik and the others wouldn't have waited there so solemnly.
According to the spy, his master was Count Leucaide ba Krylaus, a noble who lived in the Great Plains of Canas on the left. He received an invitation from Viscount Soshkupi Lo Pasdol of Askilin and Baron Noverik Vye Flinsland of Squirrel Village to attack the Aueran troops stationed there.
And this spy, who was disguised as a merchant, was sent by Count Leucide Ba Krylaus to spy on the garrison forces …
"Wait, does the spy mean that the enemy we're facing is the private army of a few nobles and not the official army of Canas and Askilin?" Claude didn't seem to panic at all.
"Sir, even though the spy said that the private army of a few nobles is coming to attack us, there's quite a number of them.
A few nobles from Askilin said that they've already formed a battalion and requested that Count Canas to bring a battalion with him. They're going to open up the mountain path and attack the three southern prefectures, "Mazik said nervously.
It seemed that the nobles already knew that the two or three corps that Aueras sent to attack the three southern prefectures were mainly stationed at the border of Rimodra and the eastern part of Askilin. The three southern prefectures were actually quite empty.
Apart from a few of the larger towns that still had their garrison, the rest of the checkpoints were split up into small groups and companies, just like Squirrel Village.
If the nobles had their way, they would be able to take advantage of the fact that the three southern prefectures weren't heavily guarded and pillaged them.
As long as they didn't touch any of the larger towns, the smaller towns and villages would be nothing more than fish on the chopping block.
As for the fact that the residents of the towns and villages in the three southern prefectures were also citizens of Askilin, that was something that could be ignored. In the end, they could just push the blame onto the Aueran army because they were the invaders and the best choice to be the scapegoat.
"Sir, when are we retreating?" Mazik asked.
Claude glanced at him and understood why he had been waiting for him all night.
If the veteran wanted to run, he would have to give the order to retreat or he would become a deserter.
He was the officer in charge here. If he didn't run, Mazik's company would have to die with him.
"What do you think our best choice should be?" Claude asked calmly.
Mazik and the other two jarls looked at each other and replied without hesitation, "Retreat and preserve our forces. We'll withdraw all the troops on the mountain path to the three southern prefectures and set up defensive positions at the entrance to prevent the enemy from entering the three southern prefectures.
We'll be able to get support from our battalion there while the enemy extends their supply line.
It'll take about two days to walk from here to the three southern prefectures. As long as we can hold out there for a few days, the enemy will have no choice but to retreat. "
Even though Mazik wanted to retreat, the veteran's years in the army weren't for naught.
His strategy of retreating and concentrating his forces to defend the entrance of the mountain path was very practical. It seemed that this guy had thought about it carefully before coming to such a conclusion. It sounded like the reason for retreating was really fair and just, and no one could find any fault with it.
Claude shook his head. "We're not retreating."
"We're not retreating?" Mazik said anxiously, "Sir, the enemy has two battalions!
Even if they're private soldiers of the nobles, they're not that strong. We only have 64 people here. Even if we take on ten of them, we won't be able to stop them! "
Claude waved with a smile and gestured for Mazik to sit down. "Even if the enemy has two battalions, they won't be able to launch an attack. Will they be able to attack us together?"
He took a bottle of blueberry wine from Myjack and poured a glass for Mazik and the two jarls. "Even though the enemy has two battalions, they're all private soldiers of the nobles and aren't that strong. Even though they have a lot of people, they're just a ragtag bunch.
It's true that we're outnumbered, but we can ask for reinforcements from our battalion. More importantly, we have the terrain to our advantage.
If you think about where our camp is, you'll know that the enemy won't be able to reach us directly. "
Claude poured some wine on the table and used his finger to draw the outline of the three mountain paths, the three crossroads, Squirrel Village and the camp.
"Look, this is the path to the Great Plains of Canas. This is the path to the east of Askilin. The intersection between the two paths and the fork in the path is very narrow and they are both within our firing range.
If the enemy were to attack, you should know that these two narrow mountain paths can only accommodate one platoon of soldiers at most. Under the fire of the cannons and muskets, it would be lucky if they could make it to the fork in the road with only one platoon of soldiers left … "
Claude said confidently, "The worst part is that after they reach the crossroads, they'll have to run another 30 metres to reach Squirrel Village. During that time, they'll still be within our firing range.
The path to Squirrel Village and our camp isn't that easy to traverse either. The 100-metre path is right below our camp. We can hit them, but they won't be able to hit us.
If we set up a row of wooden fences along the path, they won't be able to climb up until they die. "
Mazik retorted nonchalantly, "Sir, that's the most ideal scenario.
If I were one of those nobles, I could have sent my soldiers to their deaths to waste our ammunition. At the same time, they could have fired from afar to cover our camp and kill our soldiers. Or they could have brought over cannons to attack us, using the method of ants gnawing on an elephant to slowly whittle down our defensive forces.
As long as we don't have enough men to operate the cannons and fire, it'll be easy for them to take down our camp. "
Claude nodded and admitted that Mazik's words made sense. Not having enough manpower was their biggest weakness, but the camp wasn't that big either. He only needed to send a company to help defend it. He believed that the battalion would be able to send a company when they received his request.
Another jarl stood up and said, "Sir, if the enemy attacks with wooden carriages, our cannons won't be able to threaten them.
Even if we can destroy the wooden carriages, the enemy will be able to reduce casualties and quickly pass through the crossroads.
If you insist on defending here, we'll need two more light infantry cannons. That way, we can take turns to defend the two paths. "
The jarl was rather knowledgeable. It seemed that he had participated in the attack on Wilfgang.
The light cavalry division of Nasri that had taken over Wilfgang had left a deep impression on everyone.
Although the light cavalry regiment was annihilated in the end, they managed to use the four light infantry cannons to create a lot of trouble for Prince Hansbach's troops within a hundred meters after they took over Wilf Hill.
The four cannons took turns to fire their cannons, covering the entire front line. The hundred meters became an insurmountable distance for the attacking troops. They suffered heavy casualties and corpses littered the ground.
An unorganized light cavalry regiment had managed to block two divisions' attacks for two days and one night at Wilf Hill.
"I'll ask for reinforcements from the battalion," Claude promised.
"There are three main reasons for not retreating. First, we've only caught one enemy spy. We can't run away the moment we hear that the enemy is attacking.
After all, this is only the confession of the enemy spy. We don't even know if he's trying to scare us. We don't have the exact date of the enemy's attack, manpower, and equipment. We have to investigate and confirm it ourselves.
Secondly, we need to report this information to the battalion headquarters. The battalion headquarters will decide if we need to retreat or not, and not act on our own.
Since we are stationed here, we have already stored a lot of food and ammunition. If we retreat now, these resources will only benefit the invading enemies. This is because we can't take all these resources in one go. At the same time, with the current condition of the mountain road, it will be very slow for us to move with cannons and resources. It is very likely that the invading enemies will soon catch up to us.
Third, I had the soldiers build some defensive positions. I thought it would be more than enough to deal with one or two companies of enemies, but I didn't expect to have seven or eight tables full of guests.
Fortunately, these guests can only enter through the door. I think if we act quickly, we'll have enough time to send them home.
At the very least, we have to let these uninvited guests know that the feast we set up isn't all that delicious. "
Maqki gave up. If Claude insisted on not retreating, he wouldn't be able to escape on his own.
If Claude agreed to retreat, all the blame would fall on him and he wouldn't be blamed at all.
But if Claude didn't retreat and Maqki ran away first, all the blame would fall on him. According to Aueran military law, he would be sentenced to death.
"Sir, let me remind you to be careful. The enemies coming from the Great Plains of Canas can only attack us from the mountain path on the left.
However, the enemies coming from the right are from Askilin. Among them is the original lord of Squirrel Village, that bullshit baron.
He should be familiar with the terrain here. I believe he'll lead his men up the mountain and attack us from the back of Squirrel Village, "Maqki said. He believed that the terrain wasn't enough to defend the village.