Chapter 1369 The Regular Army's Nightmare (Seeking Monthly Pass)
The train wheels and rails were constantly rubbing against each other, emitting countless sparks, and at the same time, making a series of sharp and harsh "crunching" sounds.
The long train slid slowly on the track for a long distance and finally stopped.
Immediately afterwards, the shiny black locomotive suddenly made a chirping sound and spewed out large clouds of white steam. The steam was like mist and instantly enveloped the entire locomotive.
‘Beep, beep, beep…’ the sharp whistle sounded continuously.
Countless loud voices came immediately: "Everyone get out of the car, hurry up, hurry up, everyone get out of the car, little bastards, we are here, get out of the car quickly..."
The voice was extremely loud and the words were concise. If you have ever stayed in a military camp, you will know that it is the unique voice of sergeants in the army.
The door of the freight car behind the front of the car, which was made of wooden boards, was violently opened, making a "clattering" sound.
The sun shone into the originally dark carriage, revealing the densely packed soldiers inside.
Like all people riding a train for the first time, they all had expressions of surprise and confusion on their faces.
Before they could fully react, the officers jumped on the car and beat and kicked the soldiers.
It is clear that this kind of violence is extremely persuasive.
The soldiers woke up immediately, screamed, and jumped out of the car while rolling and crawling.
Suddenly leaving the crowded crowd, the cold winter wind blew, and the soldiers couldn't help but shudder, and then wrapped up their clothes tightly.
At this time, Archduke Julius also stepped out of the first carriage.
Like all staid old-style soldiers, no matter what time of day, his clothes are neat and straight, and his leather boots are shiny. However, after a long journey, he looks a little tired.
He put his feet on the ground, and his first action was to take a deep breath and raise his arms to expand. At the same time, he thought to himself: I swear, I will never take a train again~!
The Grand Duke, who has been a soldier all his life and has long been accustomed to long-distance marches, found himself suffering from train sickness~!
The Grand Duke had no problem flying around in the War Fortress, but in order to share the joys and sorrows with the soldiers, he traveled thousands of miles in a carriage and felt almost exhausted.
My stomach was still spasming, my head was dizzy, my face was pale, I hadn't eaten properly for several times, and the regular clanking sound of the wheels hitting the rails made me drowsy again.
Besides, this simple carriage is not comfortable at all.
Due to the needs of the war, Archduke Julius did not use the luxurious palace-like Oriental train carriages in Lorraine - those carriages not only had luxurious bedrooms, but also bathrooms with 24-hour hot water and gold toilets.
Bathroom. In addition, there is an office and a bar.
The Grand Duke and his officers were traveling in ordinary green leather carriages.
In order to save costs, those carriages were all hastily made of wooden boards from top to bottom. They were extremely crude.
And there are only rows of wooden seats in the middle of the carriage.
Archduke Julius' only privilege as commander-in-chief was that he spread a camp bed in the aisle in the middle of the carriage.
Under such circumstances, sitting in the car for two days and one night was simply a hellish torment for the Grand Duke, who was no longer young.
When he expanded his arms, he could even hear bursts of crackling sounds coming from his bones.
The Grand Duke glanced around. In the carriage behind him, soldiers were jumping out of the carriage one after another. Then they grinned and moved their hands and feet.
Not far away are groups of railway workers.
They shouted slogans, carried the sleepers on their shoulders, and walked forward with heavy steps.
Although the weather was cold, they were only wearing a single piece of clothing, and their thick cotton coats had been thrown somewhere long ago. Even so, every worker was covered in sweat, with sweat coming out of their hair.
Steaming mist.
The Grand Duke couldn't help but nodded appreciatively: It was because of the day and night work of these people that the railway from Constantine to Ruman City was being extended rapidly.
The surrounding area is a bleak scene in winter, with yellowing grass and withered trees. In the distance, there is a small village across the sky.
You can vaguely see that a few miles away, there is a group of ordinary people gathering together, looking at this side curiously and timidly, and from time to time, they even talk to each other.
The Grand Duke immediately smiled and waved to them. Ever since the train opened, there would always be a group of people who had never seen anything in the market before, looking at this new thing from a distance.
However, I believe that once they get used to it, they will no longer watch the train in such a cruel and inhumane manner.
The Grand Duke shook his head vigorously, throwing those irrelevant thoughts out of his mind, then turned around, faced the iron wheel, pulled it open... unzipped his pants, and then released the water.
With him taking the lead, all the officers and soldiers beside him stopped being coy and immediately unzipped their pants - after riding in the car for such a long time, although it was not very hard, everyone was holding back a lot of sweat.
of urine.
On the edge of the railway, thousands of people were urinating at once, which was quite spectacular.
The workers nearby looked at it and couldn't help but laugh and curse a few times.
The supervisor of the construction site was also very troubled, but he did not dare to step forward to stop him. The soldiers were all fierce and would beat anyone if they made a mistake. Not to mention, the boss's father took the lead in doing this. Therefore,
On the other hand, he could only turn a blind eye and pretend he couldn't see it.
The Grand Duke finished his official business, then turned around and saw the surprised expressions on the faces of the young staff officers next to him. He couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed. He laughed twice and said, "Where are we?"
The staff officer next to him immediately sent the map to him, then pointed out a location and said: "Sir, we have just passed Luosheng Fort, thirty miles west of the city.
Four hundred miles further on is the city of Ruman. If we march urgently, we can get there in three days."
Grand Duke Julius exhaled a puff of white smoke and said: "It's finally here. Send the order. Let the little bastards cheer up.
We can't be outdone by that brat Lorraine."
"Yes~!" the officer loudly agreed, waving his arms and shouting at the team: "Let's go."
The soldiers immediately put on their backpacks and weapons, then lined up and strode westward along the railway line.
At this time, an attendant brought the Grand Duke's war horse.
The Aberdeen war horse had also been suffocating on the train for several days and was extremely uncomfortable. When he suddenly saw his master, he was extremely excited and kept jumping and neighing.
When the Grand Duke saw this, he couldn't help but laugh, then reached out his hand, patted the war horse's neck hard, and then jumped up quickly.
With just a slight shake of the reins, the war horse roared and then bolted out.
The Grand Duke sat on the horse, facing the biting cold wind. He couldn't help but close his eyes in intoxication. This kind of galloping could make him feel comfortable again.
Two miles ahead, the black railroad tracks disappeared, leaving only the gravel-paved base track.
A few miles ahead, even the base road disappears, and the flattened land stretches straight forward.
Thick railway workers on both sides are transporting materials.
"Your Highness. Your Highness~!" The Grand Justice ran happily, and then the nervous calls of the guards came from behind, and dozens of cavalry fought hard to beat their horses and run wildly.
Archduke Julius reined in his horse, smiled cheerfully, and said, "You are too slow."
The guards and generals rushed forward, wiped the sweat from their foreheads, and said, "Your Highness, it is too dangerous for you to leave the team alone."
"What are you afraid of? I am in my own country, surrounded by my own people." Grand Duke Julius said indifferently.
"This is war time after all." His subordinates advised him seriously.
Grand Duke Julius curled his lips and said, "It's really annoying to be so slow."
The surrounding men couldn't laugh or cry, and thought to themselves: You are the one who wants to take the train, and you are the one who is too slow. If you had known, you would have borrowed a war fortress from Nai'an.
However, the old man claimed that he would maintain his style of sharing weal and woe with the soldiers, and they did not dare to say anything more.
"That boy from Lorraine has won the battle, and now the whole world is watching us." Archduke Julius looked quite unwilling.
The generals beside him sighed almost at the same time. They were now under great pressure.
A veteran hesitated for a moment and said: "Your Highness, will the enemy appear in the place we have circled?"
"Yes," Archduke Julius said with certainty, "It will definitely happen."
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The commander of the Semitic Northern Route Army, General Orlandini, raised his telescope and looked at a group of figures galloping on horseback to the east.
They were all wearing colorful clothes, and at first glance they looked similar to their surroundings. They were lying on their horses and running wildly.
A group of Semitic cavalry was chasing after them. Seeing that they were too far away from the team, the Semitic cavalry gradually stopped and watched the group of knights go away.
That is the human guerrilla army.
Orlandini gritted his teeth and cursed fiercely: "A bunch of rats, if they have the ability to fight openly and openly."
The officer quickly ran over, saluted, and said: "Commander, six scouts were killed in action."
Orlandini waved his hands feebly and said: "Forget it, ignore them and continue marching."
Ever since he entered the north of Ruman, Orlandini found that the road became increasingly difficult to walk.
The precious Ruman North map he had was full of errors.
The most outrageous thing is that according to the map, he originally planned to bypass a large swamp, but unexpectedly he plunged into a swamp instead.
The guerrillas of the Ruman Empire were like ghosts in the woods and rivers. The scouts were so frightened that they would never come back as long as they left the main force three to five miles away.
When Orlandini sent a division to clean up, they caught nothing except a few wild boars. Instead, they fell into countless traps and lost dozens of people.
Orlandini angrily complained to the lich who was passing information back and forth. A few days later, the lich brought back news that this place was not a swamp originally. Two hundred years ago, a river suddenly changed its course and turned this place into a swamp and forest.
It took the army more than ten days to get out of this vast swamp.
In addition, there are no bridges on the river marked on the map.
The place that was clearly marked as a shoal and could be forded turned into a rapid, and Orlandini had to send people up and down the river to find a suitable place to cross.
Orlandini wanted to tear up the yellowed map several times and stuff it into the mouth of the damn lich.
After the commotion, the army formed a long queue and marched south again.
The Semitic soldiers who were on the road again looked cautious. They stared at the surroundings with their eyes wide open. If there was any sign of trouble, they would immediately shout loudly.
The official roads of the Ruman Empire are very good. When they first set foot on this road, Orlandini even praised this high-quality road.
But at this moment, the soldiers walking on the flat road were all on tenterhooks, looking carefully at their feet, as if they wanted to see flowers through the cracks in the stone slabs.
A few dozen meters away from the front of the main force, the soldiers exploring the path suddenly raised the red flag in their hands and waved it, then circled a place and set up eye-catching warning signs.
The soldiers in the rear immediately became nervous because they knew that it was a trap set by humans.
They dug holes on the official road in front of the army, buried explosives, and detonated them when the Semitic army passed by.
The Semites have no idea where they are hiding. The guerrillas may have wires and detonators provided by the Alchemy Research Institute. Some of them are time bombs.
The pits are usually filled with dozens of kilograms of explosives, and the Semitic soldiers who form a dense formation suffer heavy casualties in the explosions. Each time, dozens of people are killed and hundreds of others are injured.
This is another great artifact of guerrilla warfare, roadside bombs.
After eating dozens of roadside bombs, the Semitic soldiers finally woke up - there was an ambush on the road.
But why not take the main road?
This is not about traveling lightly. Except for the three or five people traveling, it doesn’t matter if they take small roads.
Instead, the nearly 400,000 troops, the dense flow of people, and the huge baggage vehicles needed to rely on wide roads to pass quickly.
This is the same as the American army in Iraq and Afghanistan. Although the resistance elements have been planting bombs on the roads, the American army has to patrol and clean up again and again. For this reason, a large number of soldiers have been lost, because the army's mobility and deployment depend on these roads.
That's a lifeline.
For Orlandini, who was racing against time, dozens of casualties were inconsequential, as they were insignificant compared with the army.
If he didn't take the high road and fell into a human trap, he could afford the loss.
But the soldiers are not willing to do it.
The final compromise was to send dozens of sharp-eyed and careful observers in front to act as mine sweepers.
After all, the road surface where explosives have been buried is different from the surroundings. You can see it if you are careful, but this is a dangerous job.
Roadside bombs sometimes target their mine clearing personnel.
There have been more than a dozen demining crews clearing the road ahead of the army, and all the people in front have been killed.
In desperation, the officer had to organize the soldiers to draw lots of life and death. Whoever drew the lottery would be unlucky and opened the way in front of the army. Everyone knew that this was a job that would never come back. When the entire army was restricted in diet, they were the only ones who were open to eating and drinking.
.
The one who was drawn cried and cried to no avail, and in the end he gave up on himself and was drunk and dreaming all day long.
What the Semitic people hate most now is rain. The rain will wash away the traces of roadside bombs on the road, and the mine clearance team will not be able to see them. Then the bombs will detonate when there are the most people.
Whenever it rains or just after a rainy day, it is the time when Semitic soldiers are most afraid.
Fortunately, the weather has been good in recent days, with only a few sporadic light snowfalls.
The roadside bomb is clearly visible on the dry ground. The bomb was buried quite roughly and was obviously made for storage. The traces of loess around it are very obvious.
The army walked down the official road and took detours on both sides to avoid roadside bombs.
Just when they were relaxing...
"Boom~!"
There was a loud noise, and two balls of fire suddenly burst out among the crowds on both sides of the official road.
The violent explosion kicked up the soil, rushed into the sky dozens of meters high, sandwiched the bodies and limbs of countless Semitic soldiers, and then scattered like a meteor shower.
Black smoke enveloped the surrounding area for dozens of meters. Mud and stumps fell down with crackling sounds.
Black smoke rose slowly, forming two mushroom clouds in mid-air, revealing the soldiers who had just been enveloped in them.
Hundreds of people were lying around the roadside bomb. The clothes on those who were closer were gone, leaving only charred corpses, their bodies twisted into incredible shapes.
A little behind, someone was holding a severed limb, screaming in pain, and rolling around on the ground.
The surrounding Semitic soldiers did not go to the rescue. Instead, they all ran back without their lives, hiding as far away as possible.
The smell of gunpowder smoke, burnt stink and blood wafted everywhere.
The smoke slowly dissipated, revealing two large pits with a diameter of several meters on both sides, one on the left and one on the right, with gray smoke still slowly rising from inside.
Humans deliberately planted a bomb for them to discover, forcing the Semitic people to take a detour and bury two more powerful bombs in the dirt on both sides of the official road that they must pass.
Orlandini licked his dry lips and his heart was beating wildly. The two explosions were not far away from him. He could even feel the choking heat waves rushing through him during the explosions.
If the enemy had a little more patience and waited a few more minutes, they might have achieved their biggest victory since the war began, killing the Semitic commander with a roadside bomb.
There were hundreds of wounded soldiers lying near the explosion point. Those who could move helped each other get up from the ground and limped backwards.
Even though he couldn't walk, he screamed and struggled to crawl on the ground, moving outward little by little, dragging a long bloody trail on the ground.
The remaining ones who could not move were wailing on the ground and shouting: "Help me."
"Someone come and save us."
"Please, help me."
But the soldiers behind were indifferent.
Cunning and insidious humans like to plant bombs near the explosion point and detonate them again when Semitic soldiers rush to rescue, killing the Semitic soldiers a second time.
After several times, no one dared to come to the rescue anymore.
The Semitic army immediately ran a few hundred meters farther away, passing through the harvested fields far away from here.
As for the wounded soldiers, except for those who can climb out of the danger zone on their own, the others can just leave it to fate. Carrying them around is a burden anyway.
The miserable cries of the wounded soldiers carried far away in the cold wind. All the Semitic soldiers who heard it had ugly faces. Human methods have become more cunning. Even mine clearance is no longer safe, and they are likely to be in the future.
one of them.
Orlandini glanced at the vicinity of the explosion crater from a distance, pursed his lips tightly, and his heart was filled with helplessness and anger.
Fantino's defeat had already reached his ears, and humans also spread the news to the entire army by throwing leaflets.
Now everyone among the Semitic soldiers knows that the Western Front army suffered a big loss at the hands of Lorraine. The entire navy was wiped out and the infantry carried suffered heavy losses.
They are the only ones left.
Orlandini realized that this war might not go as he thought, but fortunately the enemy he faced had not changed.
And the failure of the Semites in Fantino is not a good thing for him, so that the high priest will devote all his power to him, the war fortress, the lich, the dark mage...
As long as he captures the city of Ruman, he will become the undisputed number one Semitic.