"Sir, the Shiksan garrison stationed in Ferro is a full regiment. Their discipline is terrible and the officers don't live in the barracks. Instead, they live in the residences next to the town hall. The same goes for the colonel. He lives in his mistress's house in the west of the town.
Even though the soldiers stay in the barracks, they can come and go as they please. The security is practically non-existent, "Moriad reported.
Feru Town in the Balingana Colony was the southernmost colonial town. It was about two hundred kilometres away from Anfiston and had a population of seventeen thousand. Most of them worked in agriculture.
After the war broke out and Ferro fell, a third of the kingdom's citizens fled. Only about 12,000 of them remained in the town.
The remaining citizens of Feru were the ones who couldn't bear to give up their properties. Fortunately, the Shiksan colonial army followed the unwritten rules of Nubissia. Even if the two sides were at war, they wouldn't harm the citizens of Freia.
Naturally, robbery and extortion were unavoidable. For the citizens who fell into the enemy's hands, they had no choice but to pay for it.
Claude's first target was Ferro. He had to find a suitable temporary base for Tribe 131 and there was no better place than Ferro.
As long as he took the town, Tribe 131 could launch an attack from there to disrupt the enemy's rear.
Once the enemy's main army arrived, Claude could use his mobility to retreat to Anfiston.
Unless the main army was stationed there, Tribe 131 would be able to make a comeback.
"Let's move out according to the plan. Capture the officers first and force the soldiers to lay down their weapons.
Captain Berklin, your mission is the most important. Light cavalry brigade must seal off all entrances and exits of Ferro. Don't let a single enemy escape, "Claude instructed.
"Yes, Sir." The officers of the brigade saluted.
Even if they had a reinforced battalion on their side and the enemy was an unorganized field regiment, the enemy would still outnumber Tribe 131 by more than twice as many soldiers as they had.
However, to the soldiers of Tribe 131, it was an easy battle. The reason was simple. They were elites while the enemy was a motley crew.
Berklin changed into a Shiksan uniform. There were plenty of enemy uniforms that were taken from the captives anyway.
They had disguised themselves as a squadron of enemy scouts and were passing by Ferro on the pretext that they were on a mission and were planning to rest for the night.
The enemy guards at the entrance didn't suspect anything and the town fell into Tribe 131's hands soon after.
Following that, small teams of patrolling soldiers set off one by one. It only took them an hour to take over all the entrances and exits of the town.
The artillery brigade immediately took the stage. They placed four light infantry cannons at each entrance, and the muzzles were all pointed inwards.
It was already around ten o 'clock at night. Except for the candles in the barracks, taverns, and the homes of a few residents, most of the townspeople had already fallen asleep.
This made it very convenient for the soldiers of Tribe 131 to carry out their operations.
News of their success was delivered to Claude one after another. Most of the officers of the enemy regiment stationed in the town had been captured. Their next focus was on the enemy barracks.
Nothing was perfect. A few gunshots could be heard from the tavern. Something must have gone wrong.
Claude made up his mind and led the remaining two companies to the barracks in town.
Soon, gunshots filled the air and the town of Ferro became like a pot of boiling oil. The most boisterous place was the barracks.
Claude arrived just in time and ordered the cannons to load the cannons to lock down the gates.
Two shots later, blood flowed like a river at the previously crowded gates. Cries and wails filled the air. No more enemies tried to charge out of the barracks.
"I'm sorry, Sir. When we went to the tavern to capture the enemy officers, a few drunken officers resisted us with all their might. We had no choice but to shoot them to save our men," Dyavid said as he rushed over to report the reason for the shooting.
Claude didn't know whether to laugh or cry. The drunken officers weren't afraid of death at all. What could they do? Most people would raise their hands in surrender if they had a gun pointed at their chests. Yet, the drunken officers weren't afraid in the slightest. Instead, they grabbed their guns and engaged Dyavid's men in hand-to-hand combat, even gaining the upper hand.
In the end, Dyavid had no choice but to shoot them dead. Otherwise, his men would either be strangled to death or crushed to death by something.
Claude waved. Those incidents were within his expectations. Fortunately, most of the enemy troops were trapped in the barracks and most of the officers were captured. They were in a state of chaos without a leader. "Bring the captured officer and the regimental commander here. Have them order the soldiers to put down their weapons and raise their hands in surrender.
If any officer refuses to do so, shoot them on the spot. If the soldiers don't surrender, fire at the barracks. Also, have our men guard the walls of the barracks. Fire at any enemy that pokes their heads out. "
The enemy in the barracks remained in a stalemate for more than two hours before they finally put down their weapons and raised their hands in surrender.
Because they didn't know how many enemies surrounded them, and the enemy's ruthlessness scared the soldiers.
One of the captured officers tried to encourage the soldiers to resist, but a gun was pointed at his head and fired, blowing off half of his head. The remaining officers were all frightened, shouting at the top of their lungs for their subordinates to come out and surrender.
The soldiers in the barracks still wanted to check out the situation around them from the four walls, but all the soldiers who stuck their heads out to look were either shot in the head or injured. It was completely dark outside, and no one knew how many enemies were surrounding the barracks.
The sound of cannons could be heard from time to time. There were at least eight cannons being fired at the barracks.
Occasionally, a fist-sized cannonball would hit a few unlucky fellows and the barracks would be filled with screams and cries for help.
The soldiers in the barracks finally gave up after two hours and put down their weapons and walked out with their hands in the air.
Tribe 133 captured the town of Ferro and captured more than 3,300 enemies. More than 500 of them were killed or injured, with only 17 casualties on their side.
The citizens of Ferro didn't expect to see the kingdom's army again, let alone wipe out an entire line of enemies in the town.
They happily sent all sorts of rewards to Tribe 131 and the youths of the town all volunteered to join the army.
Claude then ordered Schnake to form the garrison in Feru to relieve himself of his worries. At the same time, he ordered Moriad to escort all the captives back to Anfiston.
As none of the enemies managed to escape from Ferro, Claude next set his sights on the town of Jinke. It was around 270 kilometres away from Ferro and only around 90 kilometres away from Brikaman.
The Shiksan colony, Krado, had been besieging Brikaman for three months and the supply depot was located in Jinke.
Claude entered Jinke disguised as a Shiksan officer and found that the enemy in charge of the garrison was heavily guarded. There were at least two lines stationed there.
At the same time, they drove the citizens of the kingdom to the south of the town, and the north of the town was requisitioned as a warehouse for military supplies.
Large numbers of carriages would transport supplies to the besieging Krado in Brikaman every day. Countless more would come from the north to transport supplies to Jinke.
After leaving the town, Claude headed north again to scout. This time, he brought a small group of light cavalry to disguise themselves as enemy patrols and followed the ruts on the road to the north.
They discovered that the enemy had built two pontoon bridges on the bank of the largest river on Nubissia, the Dorinibla River, about 15 kilometers away from Jinke Town. They had also set up a sentry camp at the riverbank.
What delighted Claude was that the sentry camp wasn't that big. It didn't seem to have more than a single battalion.
At that moment, Claude hated the fact that he had too few troops. If he had another battalion, he could definitely lure the enemy out of their hole and surround them.
If he attacked the sentry camp on the pontoon bridges first, the enemy in Jinke would definitely come to their aid. They wouldn't just abandon the two bridges.
The enemy in Jinke had two lines of troops and it was very likely that they would send one to the pontoon bridges.
Claude could use Tribe 131 to hold them off or even defeat them.
If he had another battalion, he would be able to take Jinke by force, even if he had to suffer some casualties.
As long as he took over Jinke, the besieging Krado would be in deep trouble. Without supplies, they wouldn't be able to protect themselves and might even collapse.
By then, the siege on Brikaman would be over.
As for the Krado Corps besieging Brikaman, Claude didn't really care.
The reason was simple. Krado Corps was an infantry corps. They couldn't catch up to Tribe 131's four.
Even though Krado Corps also had two light cavalry lines, the scouts Claude's tribe wiped out and captured were all from those two lines. The total number of captives amounted to around two thousand. Coupled with the ones that were killed, it could be said that one of the two light cavalry lines had been crippled. The enemy scouts were rarely seen out anymore.
Naturally, Krado Corps also knew that Aueran reinforcements had arrived in Balingana. Everyone knew that something wasn't right after they lost so many scouts.
But the problem was that they didn't know how many Aueran reinforcements had entered Balingana.
The scouts they sent out never came back. Occasionally, a few of them would return, but they didn't see the enemy's main force at all. They just encountered the same kind of scout team, and they were beaten into a sorry state and had to retreat.
Krado Corps besieging Brikaman City could only strengthen the defenses of their supply convoys. At the same time, they warned the garrisons to be on guard against the Aueran reinforcements. The rest was up to fate.
After all, they were faced with the reality that Aueran light cavalry was much stronger than theirs. Sending them out to scout was no different from sending them to their deaths. Nobody knew if they would be able to return.
Claude set his sights on the two bridges. The officers of Tribe 131 also felt that it would be best to get rid of them as it would cut off Krado's path of retreat.
After some consideration, Claude decided to attack the sentry camp on the other side of the pontoons and burn them down.
Then, he would ambush the reinforcements from Giinke and see if he could find a chance to attack the town and burn down the enemy's supply depot.
Four days later, Tribe 131 attacked the sentry camp on the other side of the pontoons at night.
While the enemy put up a strong resistance, they were quickly breached and suffered heavy casualties. In the end, only three hundred or so surrendered.
Claude had the soldiers pour kerosene and lamp oil on the bridges and set them ablaze. Flames soared into the sky.
Claude believed that the enemy in Giinke would send reinforcements immediately.
Claude wanted to use the sentry camp to defend for a while and deal heavy blows to the reinforcements before riding away.
The first to reach the sentry camp was a horse-riding battalion. Their mounts were pack horses and behind them were dozens of four-wheeled carriages filled with soldiers.
Perhaps because they were too concerned about the two burning pontoons, the enemies charged headlong into the sentry camp and were quickly surrounded by Tribe 131.
The enemy reacted quickly despite being ambushed. It was obvious that they were well-trained and could even be considered elites.
They nimbly dismounted from their horses and dismounted. Under the guidance of the officer's whistle, they lined up and began to counterattack by firing in unison.
Unfortunately, they only managed to fire two rounds before collapsing. They couldn't see where the enemy was and only heard gunshots from all directions. Their comrades fell to the ground and the officer commanding them was killed.
Without the whistle-blowing officers leading the way, the enemy soldiers actually performed better. They learned to hide behind the carriages and lay with the corpses of their mounts, firing their muskets at the spot where the muzzles lit up in the darkness. This resulted in some casualties among the careless soldiers of Tribe 131.
However, all of this ended after the artillery brigade used the canister shells to clear the battlefield. After only four canister shells were used, the remaining enemy soldiers obediently raised their hands and surrendered.
The ambush lasted for about half an hour and left Tribe 131 with fifty to sixty casualties.
The enemy, on the other hand, suffered around 300 casualties and around 600 captives. They also seized a large number of pack horses and four-wheeled carriages.
Claude learned from the captives that there was a line of reinforcements from Giinke coming from behind.
As they were on foot, it would take them some time.
After learning that the infantry line didn't bring any cannons, Claude decided to ambush them again. He believed that he could use the cannons as a source of firepower to defend the sentry camp.
What surprised Claude was that the enemy didn't show up even after an hour.
Only when he sent out scouts did he realize that the enemy had retreated back into Giinke and weren't coming out.
Claude was rather disappointed. He believed that the cannons fired their cannons to arouse their suspicions. Knowing that they wouldn't be able to save the pontoons even if they got there, they might even lose their lives. So, he retreated back to Giinke.
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