As the largest river on Nubissia, the Dorinibla River was incredibly wide.
After two days, Berklin finally found a stretch of the river about 15 kilometres upstream from the enemy camp. The water seemed gentle and it should be easy to cross.
However, the two banks were separated by nearly a thousand metres. Who knew how long it would take to row from one bank to the other. Also, there were no ferries or fishermen there, so they had to prepare their own boats to cross the river.
Claude asked the residents of Feru and some of the older ones from Giinke told him that the two bridges guarding the enemy camp weren't built by them. Instead, they were already there and were the only way for Balingana to connect the two sides of Dorinibla River.
The reason they built the bridges there was because that part of the river was the narrowest, only 600 metres wide. The river was also gentle and wouldn't affect the bridges too much.
That was where the ferries were supposed to be, but it would take at least an hour to get there.
So, some merchants in the buffalo trade pooled together nearly a thousand crowns to build the bridges to make it easier for the carcasses to travel between the two banks.
Not long after the bridges were built, the enemy arrived and successfully crossed the bridge, took over Giinke and reached the capital, Brikaman.
It was no wonder Balingana didn't have any floating bridges on the Dorinibla River on the map issued by the kingdom. Instead, there was only a crossing. Claude had always thought that the two bridges were built by the enemy.
It was good that he knew the origin of the bridges, but the problem now was how Tribe 131 should cross the river.
An old man from Jinke Town recommended the sheepskin raft. The sheepskin raft was not a raft wrapped in sheepskin, but a floating ball the size of a basketball. It was tied to the bottom of the raft to provide buoyancy.
Each raft was around five to six square metres in size and required around 25 balls. It was enough for more than ten adults to cross the river on.
The old man said that when the first batch of settlers arrived, they used sheepskin rafts to cross the river to hunt the buffalo of the Albatol Plains and started the famous buffalo trade in Balingana.
As the bison trade expanded, the kingdom decided to establish Balingana as a colony.
However, with the advent of ferries, sheepskin rafts were no longer a part of history.
Now that the ferry was in the enemy's hands, he would have to pick up the sheepskin raft if he wanted to cross the river.
Making a sheepskin raft was rather simple. The materials were readily available, but the old man also told him that it was slow and not very stable.
The logisticians of Tribe 131 were immediately put to use. The carpenters and cobblers quickly created the real thing based on the old man's description and made some improvements.
Claude personally led some men to Dorinibara River to test out the sheepskin rafts and found them to be feasible. So, he ordered for more sheepskin rafts to be built so that they could cross the river in one go.
On the 9th of the 12th month, Year 584, Claude crossed the Dorinibla River with two of his corps on sheepskin rafts.
The reason he only brought two clans to attack the enemy camp was because Berklin, who had crossed the river first, reported back that the enemy camp on the other side of the river where they were building the pontoon bridge was rather lax and they only had one garrison clan.
The camp was filled with logistical supplies and wood for the bridge construction. While Claude wasn't confident that he could take down the camp, he was confident that he could burn it down. All he had to do was bring two brigades with him.
Apart from that, the two remaining clans of Tribe 131 had to set up a defensive line at the crossing point in case the enemy found out that the camp on the other side of the river was on fire and sent a search party to occupy the crossing point.
If that happened, Claude and his men would be doomed after crossing the river and wouldn't be able to return.
Not to mention, they didn't even bring their mounts over. Without mobility and a supply base, they would only be waiting for death on the other side of the river.
The crossing point was upstream, about thirty-five li from the enemy's pontoon camp.
Claude and his men spent the entire morning crossing the river and rested for a while before continuing their march. By six in the evening, they were a kilometer away from the enemy camp and found a place to rest.
At around ten in the evening, they started moving and silently approached the enemy camp.
Just as Berklin had reported, the enemy's security was rather lax.
The sentinel at the gate hugged his musket and leaned against the gate, snoring away.
There weren't any soldiers on night watch at all. The campfire set up 20 meters away from the camp to prevent enemy ambushes wasn't lit, allowing Claude and his men to approach the camp without any problems.
Claude pointed at the gate and the sentinel and made a throat-slitting gesture.
Myjack nodded to indicate that he understood, and quickly scurried over with Gum in tow.
Soon, with the help of the faint moonlight and the light from the campfire, they could see that the soldiers sleeping by the gate had been knocked out.
Myjack pushed the gate open and poked his head in for a look before waving at Claude, indicating that he could enter.
First, there was a soundless slaughter. Many of the sleeping soldiers would never wake up again.
However, the enemy soon discovered that someone was attacking the camp. Gunshots, cries, and screams were heard, and the entire camp was in an uproar …
"Set fire," Claude ordered.
Burning torches were thrown into the tents, storehouses, stables, and haystacks. The flames soared into the sky.
The enemy officers rushed out of their tents, whistling and yelling, "Don't panic! Gather here!"
Then, a gunshot rang out from the darkness and the brave officers fell to the ground. The soldiers that were gathered started running around like headless flies, adding to the atmosphere of panic.
Claude ordered the soldiers to ignore or chase the enemies that escaped the camp. Their mission was to wipe out all resistance in the camp and burn everything that was combustible.
In fact, the night attack progressed much faster than Claude had expected. The enemy didn't seem to put up any resistance at all.
The only time they had a close shave was when one of the enemy officers ordered a dozen of his men to push out a light cannon out of nowhere to set up a simple defensive line.
It was a pity that the light cannon was not loaded yet, and the attackers discovered their intentions while the enemy was looking for their tools.
Needless to say, this officer and the soldier next to him immediately fell to the ground amidst the sounds of gunfire. They lost the chance to turn the tide.
Claude arrived at the riverside of the camp. There were two pontoon bridges leading to the other side and four ferries loaded with wood and ropes were docked at the pier.
The gunshots in the camp were no longer heard. Those who should have escaped had already left the burning camp.
The fire was getting bigger and bigger. Claude was certain that they wouldn't be able to retreat along their original route.
"Gather your men and do a headcount.
Myjack and his men pour oil on the pontoon bridges and the piles of wood on the other side and set them on fire.
Captain Moriad, Captain Andruk, take your men to the ferries and throw the wood on the pontoon bridge or on the shore. We'll take the ferry and leave this place, "Claude ordered.
The people on the other side of the river had already noticed the fire and many of them were looking in their direction. With the help of the fire in the camp, they could clearly see Claude's men tossing torches all over the place. The pontoon bridge and the piles of wood on the shore were lit ablaze and the fire quickly spread.
With the burning campsite as a backdrop, the four ferries slowly left the riverbank and headed upstream.
Sparks and small sparks flew out from the campsite and circled around the four ferries from time to time before landing on the water surface around the four ferries, making sizzling sounds.
Explosions could also be heard in the camp from time to time. It had to be some kind of ammunition going off.
"Hold on!"
Gum roared, commanding the soldiers with poles to steer the ferry away from the burning campsite as soon as possible.
It wasn't a good time to raise the sails as they could easily be set on fire. "Those beside the boats, get a wooden plank to help row the boats. Those who don't have a wooden plank, get a bucket of water and pour it on the deck and walls.
Curses could be heard from the camp on the other side of the river.
Myjack snuck to Claude's side. "Sir, if we head upstream like this, the enemy will easily discover our crossing point."
"It's fine. We've already burned down the camp here and foiled their plans to build a pontoon bridge. Even if they discover our crossing point, it won't be a big deal.
Don't forget that the enemy's garrison line is made up of infantry. It'll take them around four hours to get there from a distance of 35 kilometers.
Also, our Major Schnake has set up a defensive line with two companies at the crossing point. The enemy won't be able to break through that easily. "
Claude pointed upstream. "We'll burn down the sheepskin rafts and use the ferry to cross the river. It'll save us a lot more time and energy than the enemy marching on foot. By the time we reach the shore, the enemy won't be able to do anything to us.
Next, I'd like to see how the enemy survives this winter after the arrival of the snow … "
The enemy in the sentry camp on the opposite bank had indeed sent two battalions up the river to search for the crossing point for 131, but they were slow and did not approach the crossing until dawn, when they were ambushed by two companies under Major Schnake.
Under the barrage of cannonballs from 18 light infantry cannons, the enemy left behind a company of corpses and wounded and fled without firing a single shot.
After Claude led the Night Raid troops ashore, Major Schnake happily reported the results of the ambush to him.
Claude lamented, "You should've given the order to chase after the enemy when they turned back.
Think about it, the enemy camp is 35 kilometers away from here and the people they sent out are infantry. They've been on the move for a whole night and were ambushed by you. Even if they turned back to run, they'd be exhausted and panicking.
If you had your men chase after them, I don't think a single one of them would've been able to make it back to their camp. "
Schnake was filled with regret. However, Claude was just saying it for fun. He knew Schnake well and knew that he would carry out his orders well. However, he didn't have the ability to improvise and was rather inflexible when it came to giving orders. It was already good enough that he managed to guard the crossing point.
On the 15th of the 12th month, Claude set up an ambush and sent Berklin to lead a light cavalry brigade to ambush the convoy heading from Jinke to Brikaman. They successfully burned down the ammunition and rations they were transporting and lured out the only light cavalry division of Krado to give chase.
About an hour later, the enemy light cavalry line was lured into the ambush. After fighting for two hours, a small portion of the enemy managed to break through.
At that point, the enemy had lost the ability to fight Tribe 131 in mobile warfare and could only hole up in their camp and Giinke, watching Claude's tribe rampage through the wilderness.
As the transport route from Giinke to Brikaman had been cut off by Tribe 131, the Krados that were attacking Brikaman lost their ammunition and rations and were unable to continue attacking Brikaman. They were forced to retreat to Giinke and Brikaman, the capital of Balingana, was finally freed!
The relief of Brikaman City was like a shot in the arm for Tribe 131. They entered Balingana with the strength of a reinforced tribe and faced an entire enemy corps on their own. Under Claude's command, they managed to force the enemy corps to retreat from Brikaman City, which had been under siege for five months. It was a miracle in the annals of war.
Even the viceroy and admiral of Balingana couldn't believe that Tribe 131 was the only reinforcement they had.
However, Claude didn't have the time to waste on them. He only hoped that they could make use of the opportunity to evacuate the injured and the kingdom's citizens from Brikaman and replenish their troops and rations from the rear.
It started snowing by then and the temperature plummeted. Just as the citizens said, while it snowed less on Nubissia than it did on Freia, it was much colder.
Claude hoped to use the cold and the lack of clothing to wear down the morale of Krado's soldiers. Once the winter passed, the rest of Ranger's men would arrive and launch an all-out attack on Krado's army and wipe them out.
What Claude and Tribe 131 didn't expect was that on the 26th of the 12th month, a fleet of ships docked at the port of the sentry camp.
This enemy fleet consisted of three first-rate three-masted warships and six ocean-going transport ships.
After they docked at the port, they unloaded countless supplies from the transport ships.
Claude could only shake his head with a bitter smile. Without the ferry and bridge, the enemy still had warships and transport ships to help transport supplies. His plan to wipe out Krados had failed once more.
The enemy's fleet not only transported the logistical supplies, but also a regiment of guards that came along with the ship.
As a result, Claude was unable to attack their convoy. He could only watch as they escorted a convoy full of supplies into Jinke Town.
After unloading the supplies and soldiers, the three warships of the fleet headed for the section of the river where Brikaman City was located. They carried out a fierce bombardment on Brikaman City that lasted for an entire day, turning the city walls facing the river into ruins. Only then did they lead the fleet to the estuary.
。