[King Castle]

[Jiangan Fort]

The United Provincial Army Warrant Officer [Chris Marlow] walked carefully on the path between the dike and the trench. He bent down, pressed his sword belt, held his helmet, and made no sound as much as possible.

To his left is a long slope that gently connects the open space around the fort.

On his right side was a terrible trench, which was deep and wide, and was nearly four meters wide. There were wooden sticks inserted at the bottom of the trench and caltrops were sprinkled.

Warrant Officer Marlow stopped and watched, looking at the completely different scenes on the left and right sides, a sense of comicality suddenly arose in his heart.

Because outside the slope that even the cripple can easily walk up is the enemy's control area.

But the safe fortress was separated from him by an insurmountable trench.

...

After the end of the sovereign war, by summarizing the gains and losses of a large number of urban offensive and defensive wars during the war, a new theory different from the traditional fortress defense theory was gradually formed within the Army Academy.

Compared with the traditional defense theory of "how not to be broken", the new theory is very rebellious. The academics firmly believe that "there is no fortress that never falls", and use this as the premise for all discussions.

Traditional defense theory regards fortresses as a durable product, while new theory of the Army Academy regards fortification as a consumable.

After abandoning the obsession of "must be defended", the focus of defense shifts from defense itself to "suspending the enemy's siege progress" and "killing the enemy's vital forces."

Tactical, the new theory emphasizes that "when guarding the fort, you must guard the trench, and when guarding the trench, you must guard the road", that is, if the enemy is allowed to occupy one side of the trench, the killing efficiency of the wall firepower will be greatly reduced, and it is only a matter of time before the fortress falls.

The focus of defense is not to defend the trench, but to prevent the enemy from approaching the trench.

So unlike the trench that was just a trench during the sovereign war, the fortifications of the Kings, which were personally conducted by Lieutenant Colonel Raymond Montekukoli, former director of the Artillery Science and Technology Department of the Army Academy, added a sunken causeway to the front of the trench.

Lieutenant Colonel Montekukoli called it a hidden road and a shooting road.

Because through the clever design, the slope of the inclined embankment is just guaranteed, and as long as the defensive soldiers squatted in the causeway, the siegemen on the inclined embankment will not be able to see them.

In turn, stand up and the defensive musketeers can shoot at the enemy who is climbing the hill with a small position.

...

At this moment, Warrant Officer Chris Marlow was standing on the "hidden road" of the Jiangan Fort.

Compared to the scientific name, Warrant Officer Marlow is more accustomed to using the nickname given by veterans to call the causeway under his feet - the Dead.

The reason why veterans gave this nickname is very simple: if the enemy wants to break into a hidden road, just climb a gentle slope, while the soldiers guarding the hidden road want to go back to the fortress but have to cross a trench.

Although the officers promised that if the battle situation was critical, soldiers guarding the hidden road could withdraw to the main fort through the suspension bridge.

But, suspension bridge?

Veterans who hear this word will smile.

So the "hidden road" becomes the "dead way".

This nickname is so catchy that the low-ranking officers also began to call it like this, making Lieutenant Colonel Raymond Montecukoli so angry that he smoked his orifices.

If it weren't for the unfortunate draw, Chris Marlowe would have taken the initiative to enter the deadly world.

He raised his head slightly and peered at the causeway drowning in the midnight where he could not see his fingers. He always felt something was about to move in the darkness, which made his spine chill.

War is different from what he imagined, and it is also different from the heroic stories he has heard since childhood.

There is no spectacular military formation, no surging war drums, and no earth-shaking cheers - at least not yet, only digging, digging and digging soil.

The enemy also appeared in a dull way. First, few soldiers who went out to reconnaissance came back, and then occasionally some strange riders appeared on the horizon. Finally, General Conelis announced martial law throughout the city, and the whole process was calm and disappointing.

Chris Marlow couldn't help but lament in his heart that the dramatic scene he was expecting could only be seen in the storybook.

Thinking of this, Warrant Officer Marlow just wanted to complete the inspection tonight as soon as possible, go back to the barracks as soon as possible, sip some wine, get into the bed, and continue reading the tragedy that was just in the wonderful place.

...

If it weren't for this war, Chris Marlow would have continued to write his Taiwanese script at the "Swan" troupe in Guitucheng.

Conversely, without this war, Chris Marlow would not have had the chance to become an officer.

Just like most Army Officers Academy losers, after graduating from the Preparatory School in Blacklimber, Chris Marlowe first entered the National Guard and worked as a clerk for several years.

After finally becoming a non-commissioned officer, he began to get tired of the unchanging paperwork, so he voluntarily retired. After several twists and turns, he finally joined the Swan Opera Troupe.

After the coup on April 1, the United Provincial Army began to expand its military forces to prepare for war.

Retired personnel like Chris Marlow who have a military school education background and have obtained the rank of non-commissioned officers were all recruited by recruiters from the United Provincial Army.

Chris Marlowe accepted the invitation without hesitation, not only to make up for the regret of losing to the Army Officer Academy, but also because of his natural desire for unknowns, he has begun to get tired of the life of a playwright again.

So, playwright Chris Marlow became an ordinary warrant officer in the United Provincial Army National Guard, responsible for commanding a team of 100 people.

Afterwards, like a dandelion in the wind, someone in the office waved his pen and was stuffed into the so-called Southern Front. Finally, he was selected by Jansen Conelis and followed the brigade general to the country of galloping horses.

...

Thinking of his experience since he joined the army for the second time, Marlow couldn't help but sigh.

"It's better than this dull war," he looked at the dead man under his feet and thought to himself, "maybe my experience is more interesting."

He couldn't help but think, "Will the soldiers of the old marshal's era give this nickname to fortifications?"

"No," Marlow shook his head firmly, "people in the age of sovereign war will only call this path a hero's path."

What's the problem? Marlow is unwilling to think about it.

Out of the dignity of a federal provincial man, he was unwilling to admit that he did not know why he came to the Kings Castle.

The negative emotions of fighting for some reason permeated the soldiers and lower-level officers in the army - as for what the top leaders were like, Chris Marlow didn't know.

Marlow didn't want to think about it anymore, "It's almost over," he said to himself, "Go back after the tour."

Just as Marlow was cheering up again, he suddenly smelled a faint smell of tobacco.

He turned around and looked at the soldiers behind him and asked reproachfully, "Did you come out with your pipe?"

"Pipe?" The musketeer, who was stared at by the warrant officer, looked confused. "What pipe?"

"Who is smoking?" Marlow turned his head and looked at the main fort on the other side of the trench and shouted, "Hey! Yegang is not allowed to light the pipe!"

The musketeer's stuttering sound rang behind Marlowe, "Warning Officer! The smoke comes from outside!"

Marlow was startled and looked at the dike, and saw that the dark night rolling towards him as if it had become a body.

The choking smell reminded him that it was not night, but smoke.

"Enemy attack!" Malo hurriedly took out a whistle from his clothes and blew it with the greatest strength, "Enemy attack!"

The shrill whistle pierced the night sky. After a brief delay, the Jiangan Fortress exploded in an instant. The harsh whistles sounded one after another, and the "enemy attack" shouts came one after another. The awakened United Provincial soldiers stumbled towards the shooting position with their weapons.

When I heard the movement from the turret, the enemies under the slanting embankment were no longer hidden.

Marlow only heard a loud shout outside the causeway: "Everyone - get on the horse!"

Outside the night, there was a sound of fabric rubbing and metal scratching.

"Impact--" A loud voice sounded, "Go forward!"

The strange and familiar battle cry made all the Union Provincial people tremble:

“Uukhai!

“Uukhai!!

“Uukhai!!!”

The next moment, the sound of rolling hooves pushed the smoke screen and rolled towards the fort.

Marlow realized that something was wrong—if a lame human could walk on the dike, there was no reason why the horse with four hooves could not be.

"Retreat!" Marlow turned around and pushed the soldiers behind him, "Retreat!"

The dead humanity is a ring road, and their only hope is to turn back the same way.

However, the accompanying musketeer was a little confused. He widened his eyes and kept asking: "Suspension Bridge? Where is the suspension bridge?"

Ma Luo was sweating anxiously: "It's now, who can still take care of putting a suspension bridge for us?"

At this moment, there were continuous sharp sounds behind the fort.

With each sound, a red meteor is launched into the air.

However, the meteor neither shattered nor annihilated. Instead, after rising to the highest point, it slowly descended slowly, and emitted a red light like a burning fire.

"The stars fell!" The musketeer was scared.

"What's the panic?" Marlow was furious, "It's the Lighting Rocket!"

With the light emitted by the red stars hanging in the air, the causeway in front of the fort was barely illuminated, and the gauze-like smoke screen had completely wrapped the fort, and many hazy figures could be seen under the causeway.

At the same time, the sound of horse hooves had already reached the trench.

A black horse leaped high out of the smoke screen, and the cavalry on the horse's back saw the United Provincial officer on the causeway and the musketeers with earthy faces beside the officers.

He pulled the reins and rushed straight towards the two of them.

Everything happened between lightning and fire. Marlow wanted to move, but his body was not in control. He looked at the Palathu cavalry galloping towards him, his mind blank.

Seeing the angry face of the UN Provincial Military Officer Scholar, the Palatou cavalry hesitated for a moment, but gritted their teeth and waved their saber.
To be continued...