After receiving news that the commoners leading the way had been lured into an ambush and were almost wiped out, the nobles of Canas and Askilin cautiously halted their advance and set up camp. They summoned the few commoners who managed to escape and quickly got a grasp of the situation.
The path from Askilin to Squirrel Village was different from the one to Canas. The one in Canas was a winding path, with cliffs on one side and valleys on the other. The path wound halfway up the mountain.
On the other hand, the Askilin Dukedom's mountain path was sandwiched between two mountains. Both sides were slopes and cliffs.
Apart from the mountain path leading to the fork in the road and passing under Squirrel Village, there were four other points on the mountain path that led up the slope to the back of Squirrel Village.
In terms of A, B, C, and D, Moriad would lead his men to Point A and lure the commoners to Point D where they would be ambushed.
Claude's defensive position was set up at Point D because it was the closest point to Squirrel Village.
Currently, the allied forces of the territorial nobles of the two duchies were camped in the woods on the hillside opposite Point A. They had sent several squadrons to scout the area, and they also found out that the enemy who was guarding Squirrel Village had set up a defensive position at Point D. Because of this, many territorial nobles had a dispute.
Some of the nobles believed that since the enemy had stationed more than a hundred men at the defensive position, it was obvious that they had come out empty-handed and Squirrel Village would be completely defenseless.
All they had to do was send a portion of their forces to keep the enemy at the defensive position busy while the rest advanced along the mountain path. As long as they took Squirrel Village, the enemy's retreat would be cut off and they wouldn't be able to escape even if they wanted to.
Some of the nobles believed that the enemy wouldn't leave such an opening for them given how cunning and treacherous they were.
There should be many traps set up along the path to Squirrel Village to delay our advance. Since the enemy set up a defensive position on the slope, it means that it's the main focus of their defense. It's not something that can be avoided through trickery.
We can rely on our superior military strength to take down the enemy's defensive position on the hillside, then capture Squirrel Village, and use our strength to flatten them …
This was actually a radical and steady viewpoint. Advancing along the mountain path and avoiding the enemy's defensive positions, one was fast, and the other was to avoid the enemy's strong points and strike at their weak points, which could avoid excessive casualties.
As for attacking the enemy's defensive position, although there were only about a hundred of them, they could still cause relatively large casualties to their own side.
In addition, it would also delay time and consume the small amount of food and ammunition that the troops carried, which was not a good choice for the territory nobles.
In the end, the nobles decided to try the idea of rushing to Squirrel Village along the mountain path first. This time, they sent out two battalions of troops. One battalion would go straight to Squirrel Village along the mountain path, while the other battalion would be responsible for delaying the enemy at the hillside defensive position. They would pretend to attack so that the enemy would not be able to send reinforcements to Squirrel Village.
Of course, the enemies on the mountain path did not forget to lead the two pack horses in front of them.
Unfortunately, when they reached the mountain road not far from Point D, a few enemy soldiers ran down from the hillside defensive position and killed the two pack horses in front of them with a flurry of gunfire …
This distance was a little awkward for the battalion that was marching on the mountain path and the battalion that was responsible for delaying the enemy at the defensive position.
This was because the few soldiers who killed the pack horses only needed to turn around and run a few dozen meters to return to the defensive position. On the other hand, if they sent people to chase after them, they would easily step into the enemy's firing range. If they failed to chase after them, they would be killed instead.
But without the pack horses, how were they going to find out if there were any traps on the mountain path ahead?
They couldn't let the soldiers scout the path, could they?
After receiving the report, the territory nobles quickly came up with an idea. They gathered all the pack horses in the camp in batches of two, stabbed them in the buttocks, and urged them to gallop along the mountain path.
As expected, the pack horses that were galloping weren't that easy to hit. Even if they were shot, the horses' vitality allowed them to continue running for a while longer.
Very soon, a rumbling sound was heard as a huge trap appeared on the mountain path. The two pack horses fell into the trap, and the miserable cries of the pack horses resounded from inside the trap. However, it didn't take long for the cries to stop …
Claude used three large canisters of gunpowder to blow up the mountain path to set up the trap. It took a squad of soldiers a whole day's worth of work to dig it out.
He didn't think that they would be discovered so soon after two of the pack horses fell into the trap. Claude could only shake his head with a bitter smile.
However, it didn't matter that many enemies fell into the trap. The real reason they spent so much effort to set up the trap was to stop the enemy from advancing.
However, he didn't know how many of their subordinates the territory nobles were willing to sacrifice to fill up the trap.
The trap was located at the intersection of two mountains. On the other side was a cliff that was tens of meters tall. The enemy wouldn't be able to climb up.
On the other side was a small rocky hill that was twenty to thirty meters tall. If the enemy wanted to climb up the hill, they would have to attack their defensive position first. Otherwise, they wouldn't be able to go around it.
Of course, the enemy had another option, which was to bury the huge trap on the mountain path.
However, Claude had set up a cannon on top of the hill. It was the spoil of war from the three southern prefectures that Ledefonk had given him. It was a light, live ammunition cannon produced by the duchy of Askilin.
It couldn't fire canister shells and its effective range was only 300 meters. It wasn't on the same level as the light infantry cannons used by Aueras and was considered obsolete.
But in Askilin, it was used as firepower for infantry in field battles.
If not for the fact that the top of the hill wasn't big enough to fit only one cannon, Claude would've placed two light infantry cannons on top of it.
But considering that the defensive position required the cannons to cover the area and repel the enemy, Claude had no choice but to move the trash cannon out from the warehouse. At the same time, he had Moriad lead a squad of soldiers to stand guard on top of the hill.
Their mission was to stop the enemy from filling up the trap.
The nobles were indeed thinking of filling in the big trap on the mountain path, so they ordered their subjects to cut down trees and dig up soil to fill in the big pit on the mountain path.
However, what they didn't expect was that the enemy in the defensive position had set up an ambush on a small stone hill on the side of the trap. They were in a position where they could hit but couldn't counterattack. The people who were carrying wood and dirt bags were knocked down one by one on the mountain path, unable to get close to the big trap at all.
By the time the nobles had built a few wooden carts to block the flintlocks, the cannons on top of the hill had already started firing. The path was narrow and could only fit one cart at a time, giving the cannons enough time to aim and fire.
Not to mention, the path was uneven and winding upwards. The enemy on top of the hill could easily hit the cart pushers who couldn't take cover.
If they had too few people, they wouldn't be able to push the cart up. If they had too many people, they would be hit by the flintlocks. Even if they were seventy to eighty meters away from the trap, the cannons on top of the hill would be enough to destroy the cart.
For the entire afternoon, the efforts of the nobles in the territory had all been in vain.
The Askilinian nobles were so infuriated that they pulled out the four light cannons they had brought with them and prepared to fight it out with the one on top of the hill.
While the one on top of the hill was of the same model as the four cannons, it was set up at a higher spot and had a much longer range, giving them a greater advantage.
The nobles had no choice but to have the cannoneers move the cannons forward, thinking that they would win with four cannons against one.
They didn't think that moving the cannons forward would fall into Claude's trap. He ordered the two light infantry cannons on the hill to fire diagonally and destroyed three of the cannons. The enemies who were watching the commotion were also bombarded into a frenzy, resulting in heavy casualties.
In the afternoon, the nobles suffered another two hundred casualties from filling up the hole and preparing to fire at the cannons. Including the commoner brigade that had been lured into the defensive formation, they had lost close to five hundred men.
The morale of the soldiers was extremely low. They weren't in the mood to raid the three southern prefectures at all.
After dinner, the nobles gathered in the tent to discuss their strategy. Their only choice now was to take down the enemy's defensive formation on the hill. That was the only option they had left.
However, they knew that taking down the enemy's defensive formation would cost them a lot.
While the enemy didn't have many people, the quality of their soldiers and their equipment far surpassed that of the allied army.
To the lowly commoners, the nobles could claim that their private guards were elites. But to the regular soldiers of Aueras, they knew just how much weight their private guards held.
Take firearms for example. Their private soldiers were equipped with obsolete weapons from the armies of the two duchies. After all, they had to deal with rebellious citizens, not foreign invaders.
Moreover, if one's family's private soldiers were equipped with the best weapons, it would arouse the suspicion of the Grand Duke. Another reason was that it would cost a lot of money to equip the best firearms. With the standard of living of the nobles in the two duchies, if they spent too much money on private soldiers, it would affect their quality of life and cause them to be unable to enjoy a better life.
So, some nobles couldn't afford better weapons because their territories were too poor and they couldn't plunder more wealth.
Other nobles, on the other hand, were reluctant to invest in armaments.
But no matter what, the armed forces of the two duchies were still there. Even if they lost some, it would only be a small portion.
Most of the casualties were commoners who were recruited. The nobles still had their strength, so there was no need to give up on the three southern prefectures.
But when they were discussing how to attack the enemy's defenses, most of the nobles didn't plan on mobilizing their private guards. Instead, they turned their attention to the commoners the Canasian nobles brought.
The nobles of Canas didn't know what to say. Though they sent out a line of four thousand men, they didn't even have a thousand men in total. More than three thousand of them were commoners who were conscripted.
But they were stuck at the bend in the mountain path for four days and suffered seven to eight hundred casualties.
They turned to the mountain path of Askilin. Two days ago, they gave out great rewards for the commoners to hunt down enemies who ambushed them.
They had killed more than ten enemies, but their side had lost nearly a hundred people.
Today, they had suffered another five hundred casualties. Since the start of the war, the number of conscripted subjects had reached around one thousand three hundred, more than a third of them. The remaining conscripted subjects who could still fight numbered around two thousand. Their morale was extremely low, and they all thought that the nobles were using them as cannon fodder.
If the commoners were forced to attack the enemy's defenses, the casualties would be too high and it might even incite a mutiny.
Some of the nobles suggested a night attack, but the others pointed at the defenses on the mountain slope in the distance. More than ten bonfires were lit from the slope to the side of the mountain path, enough to burn through the night.
Be it on the mountain path or the slope, they would be seen by the enemy and a night attack would be no different from daylight.
If they were to send people to extinguish the bonfires, they would be within the range of the enemy's muskets and would alert the enemy.
After a long discussion and bargaining, the nobles of the two duchies finally came to an agreement. They planned to let the soldiers and the conscripted subjects rest at night and attack the enemy's defensive position on the hillside the next morning.
As for the candidates for the attack, all the nobles in the territory would draw private soldiers from their respective families' armed forces and temporarily form two brigades. Then, they would be accompanied by a thousand conscripted subjects. They would strive to take down the enemy's position in one fell swoop with the advantage in military strength.
The night passed peacefully. In the morning, when Claude saw the majority of the enemy leaving the camp with a menacing aura through his binoculars, he knew that a bloody battle was inevitable.
At a distance of 500 meters, he had two light infantry cannons fire live ammunition.
However, the nobles' private soldiers and citizens didn't line up in a marching formation. Instead, after being bombarded by the cannons, they brandished their melee weapons and pounced on the defensive position on the hillside.
"Fire freely within 200 meters. Reload the cannons with grapeshot. Don't open fire until you're within 50 meters!" Claude ordered coldly.
In the morning, the nobles launched three assaults on Claude's defensive formation, but they were beaten back each time. The second time, a few dozen soldiers managed to charge in, but they were quickly wiped out by the guards' bayonets.
More than half of the attackers had died. The hillside was littered with corpses, and the blood had caused the soil on the hillside to become sticky. With every step, a large piece of the soil would be stained with the pungent smell of blood …