The light infantry cannon under Mazik's command only fired three times in the entire afternoon. The soldiers only fired three rounds and killed about eighty to ninety enemies in total. The nobles from Canas were no longer willing to send their men to their deaths at the bend.
The terrain was too disadvantageous for an attacker. Such a short distance was just within the firing range of the cannons and muskets.
The bend was small too, less than four meters wide, just enough for a single carriage to make a turn.
Only five or six people could walk side by side. It wasn't possible to squeeze more people in even if they wanted to.
There was a steep valley on the side and a careless fall would be the end of them.
According to the original plan, the Canas nobles were to set off in the morning, arrive at Squirrel Village in the afternoon and set up camp there at night.
But the Aueran garrison stationed at Squirrel Village didn't retreat. Instead, they used the terrain to their advantage and stubbornly resisted. It was a huge blow to the Canas nobles' private army.
"Didn't you say that the platoon stationed at Squirrel Village retreated?
We can swagger all the way to the three southern prefectures! "
A frenzied Canas noble grabbed the collar of another noble and roared. He didn't think that his platoon would lose more than half of its men in a single turn.
If he had known this would happen, he would not have pushed his clan's platoon to the front to be the vanguard. If not for the fact that everyone flattered him that his clan's platoon was made up of retired soldiers and that they were the elites of the elites, he would have agreed to their request in a moment of impulsiveness. After all, this was also an honor, and there were more opportunities to rob from the vanguard …
Of course, he did suggest sending scouts to scout out the enemy to see if there were any enemies ahead.
But everyone thought that the enemies should've run away by now. That damned Baron Rinchupic even promised that there wouldn't be any enemies on the way. They had a full line of 4,000 men, while the enemy's three platoons didn't even have 200 men. They were just waiting to die if they didn't run.
As for the three southern prefectures, we've already scouted out the situation there. The enemy lacks manpower and won't send a large force to ambush us.
Now, he wanted to cry but had no tears. A platoon of soldiers, almost three squads, were gone. Fortunately, the remaining squad of soldiers did not turn around, or else he, the viscount, would be a commander without an army.
At this moment, he really wanted to fight to the death with Baron Rinchupic, who was caught by him. If it weren't for the fact that he couldn't beat this bastard, he would have done so.
Everyone knew that this squadron was the military force that the Priest Family relied on. They didn't expect that this squadron, which they had spent so much money to raise, would be crippled before they could even fire a single shot …
"Viscount Priest, please let go of Baron Rinchupic."
Another older noble came over and said, "We didn't want to see something like this happen either. We didn't think that the Aueran band would stay in Squirrel Village and use the terrain to stop us.
My condolences. Let's discuss how to break through the enemy's blockade and occupy Squirrel Village. "
The noble known as Viscount Priest had no choice but to let go of Rinchupic, who he had grabbed by the collar. However, he refused to participate in the discussion. "My apologies, but our family can no longer participate in the attack. My platoon has been crippled, so we can only go to the back of the formation to hold the line.
If we can make it to the three southern prefectures, I just hope that everyone will leave some scraps for us so that we can receive some compensation. "
None of the nobles present were willing to step forward to stop Viscount Priest from retreating. They all knew very well that losing more than half of the platoon would be a huge blow to the Priest Family.
Although they were able to gather more than 4,000 soldiers in one go, most of them were made up of the commoners who had come to make up the numbers.
The real armed forces of the family could only rely on less than a quarter of their fighting force.
It was rare for a noble to have one or two full squads of soldiers as their armed forces. In Canas, it was never easy to raise an army.
After a long discussion, the nobles decided to send some men to test out the enemy's firepower.
This time, they wouldn't send their own family's armed forces to their deaths. Instead, they would capture the citizens who were at the front of the line and temporarily form a few groups. Then, they would drive these unlucky people to charge through the bend in front of them and keep moving forward.
Soon enough, the firepower of the Aueran squadron defending Squirrel Village was detected by them.
There was a light infantry cannon and 30 to 40 muskets.
It didn't seem like much, but none of the unlucky fellows who charged through the bend were still alive. All of them were corpses on the mountain path.
An old noble with plenty of battle experience believed that the light infantry cannon wasn't that scary. What was scary was the accuracy of the enemy's muskets.
In the last test just now, more than twenty unlucky people were forced to rush through the bend. Only three were killed by the cannons, and the rest were killed by the muskets. The fastest one was only ten meters away from the bend.
That meant that the enemy was probably equipped with precisely aimed muskets.
On the other hand, the bend was within the effective range of the enemy's muskets.
Now that there was no way to send people to rush through the bend, the remaining temporary teams were unwilling to rush forward even if they were beaten to death.
The unlucky bastards who had rushed in the first three times were all dead. Some of the members of the teams who thought that it would be their turn soon had a fierce glint in their eyes. They glared at the nobles with bloodshot eyes, their hands already gripping their weapons tightly.
From the looks of it, if they were to continue forcing them, they would most likely suffer a calamity …
The nobles at the front weren't fools. They could only wait for the people behind to arrive.
As expected, Count Roykaid, the highest commander of the Canas operation, sent someone to check on the situation. He knew that the path ahead was blocked and that they would have to set up camp on the mountain path at night.
There wasn't even an open space in this godforsaken place. They would have to worry about rolling into the valley if they slept on the path at night.
When the nobles at the front explained the situation, the nobles at the back were dumbfounded.
None of them expected there to be such a dangerous bend in the mountain path. Everyone was stuck here.
It didn't matter how many people there were. There was only so much space, and a few dozen of them would only give merit to the defending enemy.
"Is there no other way to get past this bend?" Count Roykaid asked, "Can we go around it?"
So, the nobles found a few merchants and herb-gatherers who were familiar with the terrain, but they were greatly disappointed.
Because these guys who often ran on this mountain path said that there was no other way to go around. The mountain next to this mountain path could not be climbed up because it was more than ten meters high. Even if they wanted to climb up, they would have to climb down. There was no way up.
There was also no path down there, but there was a stream at the bottom of the valley that they could get water from.
An elderly peddler pointed out that there was a small path leading to the eastern part of the Askilin Duchy about fourteen to fifteen kilometers away. They could take a detour there, but in the end, they would still have to pass through the three-way intersection in front of Squirrel Village.
That was because the mountain path on the other side also led here. If they took a detour from there, the biggest advantage was that they could avoid the bend in front of them.
Count Leucaid waved his hand to dismiss them. He had no intention of going back. He would take the small path to the Askilinian Dukedom and avoid the bend in front of him.
Because if he did that, he would lose all his face.
His original plan with the Askilin nobles was to rendezvous at Squirrel Village and concentrate their forces before advancing to the three southern prefectures.
Both sides agreed to follow their respective paths to Squirrel Village. Now that Squirrel Village was right in front of them, the troops were stuck at the bend in front of them.
If he retreated and returned, turning into the Askilinian Duchy's mountain path a dozen miles away to go around the bend in front of him, how could Count Leucaid endure this? How would he be able to put his face?
If the bastards of Askilin found out about this, they would become a laughing stock.
It would be a humiliation for the Canas nobles to have more than four thousand men blocked by a small squadron.
"Do we have a way to charge through the bend and occupy Squirrel Village?" Count Roykaid asked the nobles with a dark expression.
Many territorial nobles put forward whimsical suggestions, only to be rejected one after another.
In the end, an experienced old noble stood up. "I believe that while the enemy has the advantage of the terrain, their greatest weakness is their lack of manpower.
They only have a few dozen muskets and a light infantry cannon. Their firepower is also greatly lacking.
If we can ignore the casualties and charge to the bottom of the defensive line, the enemy's defeat will be inevitable.
After all, we have the advantage in numbers. Even if we have to sacrifice a tenth of our men, the rest of us can easily wipe them out.
It's just that the bend is too narrow. We can't have our men charge in unison.
A small group of people charging forward would be sending themselves to their deaths. The enemy would have ample time to prepare and shoot down our warriors.
However, I noticed that it's daytime and the enemy can see very clearly.
If it was at night, it would have a huge impact on their aim and the firing of their cannons.
Perhaps we can launch a night attack tonight and have our warriors crawl through the bend before charging all the way to the enemy's defensive line. "
"Night attack?
That's right, we can launch a night attack, "Count Roykaid was overjoyed," Under the cover of night, the enemy's firepower will be greatly reduced.
We have the advantage in numbers. As long as we get close to the enemy's defensive line, we can easily wipe them out.
Baron Konrona is worthy of being a soldier. You're the most experienced. We'll do as you say.
Everyone, pick out your best men and prepare yourselves after eating and drinking.
As long as we make it through the few hundred metres and reach the enemy's defensive line, we can engage in hand-to-hand combat.
I believe that no matter what kind of enemy they are, they won't be able to withstand a single blow from our warriors! "
Tonight's night was very beautiful. The silver moon was often obscured by clouds.
More than two hundred warriors who had rested and rested had already made preparations for a night attack. They would crawl through the bend in front of them according to the plan. Then, when they heard the sharp whistle, they would jump up from the ground and run madly towards the enemy's defensive line.
All the attacking warriors understood that the faster they ran, the closer they got to the enemy's position, the safer they would be. In order to go into battle lightly, most of them only brought a single machete and prepared to engage in hand-to-hand combat.
They were the first group, and there was another group of suicide squads behind them. After they started their charge, they would continue to rush out from the bend. One reason was to cover the warriors in front, allowing them to quickly approach the enemy's defensive line.
The other was to attract the enemy's firepower and prevent the enemy from aiming their defensive firepower at the charging warriors.
In any case, a cannonball could cause a lot of casualties to the two hundred warriors launching a night attack.
The sharp sound of the copper whistle finally rang out, and a large group of people leapt up from the mountain path, running wildly along the mountain path.
The enemies in the defensive position of Squirrel Village screamed in fear. The cannons and muskets also opened fire.
A few figures who had just turned the corner fell to the ground and screamed in pain.
But a few territory nobles behind the bend still waved the weapons in their hands and commanded their family's armed forces to force the farmers and herdsmen to rush through the bend in front to attract the enemy's attention.
All the cannons and muskets were still fired in the direction of the bend. The enemies in the defensive position of Squirrel Village didn't seem to see the first group of two hundred warriors running wildly on the mountain path. Did they really not see it, or did they not react in time?
The two warriors running at the front suddenly felt the mountain path under their feet shake. Why was the ground so soft?
Before they could figure out what was going on, they stepped on nothing. The entire mountain path sank, and a huge pit appeared on the mountain path.
The warriors who were running too fast didn't have time to react at all. The whole team was like a long centipede that went straight into the big pit on the road.
Only the ten or so warriors at the back stopped and stopped at the edge of the pit.
The most despairing thing was that this huge pit had no bottom. The bottom of the pit led directly to the valley on the side. Those who fell into the pit would fall into the valley along the tunnel in the pit. Shrill screams could be heard continuously, and the sound of falling could be heard …
No one thought that the Aueran company stationed at Squirrel Village would be so crazy as to cut off the mountain path and set up a trap.
A night attack had wiped out more than two hundred elite warriors of the Canasian nobles. Many of the nobles were so heartbroken that they almost coughed up blood.
They believed that the night attack would definitely succeed and sent out their elites to get some spoils of war after wiping out the enemy.
For example, the muskets used by the Aueran army had always been famous.