Steel, Explosives, and Spellcasters

Chapter 809 809 77 Cornered Beast

?Chapter 809: Chapter 77 Cornered Beast Chapter 809: Chapter 77 Cornered Beast Bard, who had rushed from the refugee camp to the front line, came to see Winters first, “The people of Terdun want to surrender?”

“Yes,” Winters, hunched over a map, and sketching, took a sheepskin bag with his left hand and handed it to Bard without lifting his head, “I haven’t agreed.”

Comrades in arms didn’t need pleasantries or formalities.

Bard took the sheepskin bag, took a sip of clear water, and quietly waited for Winters to continue.

Winters tossed aside his charcoal pencil and called over a runner to take the map away.

With no one else in the temporary command post, he didn’t need to hide his weariness any longer.

He walked over to the bucket in the corner of the tent and washed his face vigorously with cold water, “The Herders claim they’re willing to return all the plunder and offer up three thousand warhorses, calling for an end to hostilities—retaining their weapons, flags, a dignified surrender. Humph, now the Herders are playing this game, too!”

The temporary command post was located on a high ground that overlooked the southeast direction, from which one could see the third line of defense, as well as the forests farther away.

Messengers would occasionally come galloping in, reporting to Winters verbally and then hurriedly leaving with a reply.

“The people of Terdun aren’t making any movements?” Bard studied the map, assessing the situation of the two armies.

Winters shook his head slightly, a frown involuntarily forming, “No movements… so I’m somewhat baffled as to what that baboon-faced is up to.”

At the moment, Terdun’s right wing had been segmented into three parts:

One part was on the West Bank of the Big Horn River, having been repelled in the previous battles;

One part was on the south bank of the Panto River, that is in the Lower Iron Peak County;

The elite of the Khan’s tent were trapped in the space formed by the Big Horn River, the Panto River, and the encirclement of the third defensive line.

The situation was very favorable for the Iron Peak County Military, as long as they could annihilate the elite of the Khan’s tent, the rest of the disorganized rabble would collapse without a fight.

“Even a trapped rabbit will struggle desperately before dying. Baboon-face is cornered and yet he is asking to surrender and showing weakness,” Winters voiced his doubts to Bard, “Assuming baboon-face was in my position, do you think he would accept the terms he is offering?”

“No,” Bard followed up on Winters’s train of thought, helping him to clarify his mind.

“Which means,” Winters toyed unconsciously with a small knife, “baboon-face is attempting something he knows won’t succeed.”

Bard pondered briefly, “Herders have another purpose?”

“Indeed so.”

“Buying time?”

“For what?” Winters evaporated a few droplets of water on the table as a stimulus to his mind, “The longer time drags on, the higher the walls, the deeper the trenches, the more formidable the defensive line that the people of Terdun will face.”

“Perhaps they want to feign weakness to lull us first, then gather all their strength to break through our defensive line.”

“But from what I can see, with the people of Terdun’s cavalry advantage, they should opt for a swift attack rather than wait until our wall and trench system is fully established to strike…”

His voice abruptly stopped, and Winters fell silent.

After a moment, he spoke softly, “Or, the people of Terdun are waiting for reinforcements, inside and out, to annihilate us here.”

Bard didn’t chime in, knowing this was not the time to interrupt Winters.

Winters sank into deep thought, his hands propped on the table, intently staring at the map, “Reinforcements… reinforcements… If Terdun had reinforcements, where would they come from? The West Bank? The South? The North?”

Bard sighed, patting Winters’s shoulder.

Winters came back to his senses, looking blankly at his friend.

“How long have you been without sleep?” Bard asked.

“One day? Two days?” Winters’s eyes were full of blood vessels, “I’ve dozed off a few times, I can’t quite remember.”

“This won’t do,” Bard’s expression grew more stern, “The second precept, [When the commander is utterly exhausted, at the end of his tether…]”

For the first time, a smile appeared on Winters’s face, responding to the password-like sequel, “[…he will overlook truly important matters.]”

“Go to sleep,” Bard handed a greatcoat to Winters, “I’ll watch over this place.”

Winters was about to say something but thought better of it and wrapped himself in the greatcoat heading to the inner part of the tent.

He made up his mind, “Anyway, respond to every change with unchanging principles. No matter what tricks the people of Terdun are up to, as long as we tighten our grip, we’ll force them out!”

Bard watched Winters’s retreating back, then looked around the command post, his eyes somewhat complex.

There were only four tents in this command post, which could be described as extremely simple. But at this moment, its issued orders were directing the movements of tens of thousands, and its decisions were critical to the life and death of Iron Peak County.

To put it bluntly, these four tents were the brain and core of the Iron Peak County Military.

Yet it faced a severe shortage of personnel: the literate clerks could be counted on two hands, and as for trained professional soldiers besides Winters and Bard, there were none.

The reason why the Iron Peak County Military was still functioning normally and hadn’t fallen into total chaos was entirely because everything was stored in Winters’s mind, calculating with his mental capacity.

“This can’t go on,” Bard suddenly spoke, “You need assistants.”

“Aren’t you here now?” Winters unfurled a camp cot and replied leisurely.

“Many assistants, lots and lots of them.”

“Yes,” Winters lay down heavily and quickly fell asleep.

Meanwhile, Bard picked up the paper and pen, beginning to compose a list from memory.

…

In Iron Peak County, at the third line of defense.

Four sturdy farmers operated a pile driver.

The men shouted rhythmically as they cranked the lever, drenched in sweat despite the cold winter air.

Wrapped around the axle of the turning wheel was a thick rope, the other end of which was tied to a large stone. As the wheel tightened the rope, the stone was slowly hoisted up.

After the stone was lifted a certain distance, the farmers smashed the trigger.

The stone plummeted down fiercely, striking heavily upon the wooden stake.

This process repeated over and over, and it only took six or seven tries to drive a four-meter-long log into the ground, leaving around two meters of stake exposed above the surface.

Once the stake was in place, the farmers no longer paid it any attention.

Other farmers moved to the side of the pile driver, where, working together in teams of about ten, they moved the crude piece of machinery two steps over.

Then another group of farmers took over, beginning to drive in another stake.

To the southwest, behind a hillside, Tie Chi was watching the primitive but efficient machinery in the distance, his face turning green.

Where his gaze landed, at least eight pile drivers were working simultaneously.

One after another, stakes were driven into the ground, creating a continuous “stake wall” in the valley with a gap of about two steps between each one.

Bard’s arrival provided Winters with a brief respite, while at the same time, Tie Chi led his personal guard through the forest to get close and scout out the enemy.

From a distance of three hundred paces, Tie Chi could finally see clearly how the other side had “built a city overnight”:

First, they would drive in wooden stakes, then fit something like wicker baskets over them;

They would dig earth in front of the stakes, filling the baskets with it;

Once a basket was filled with earth, another new basket would be placed on top;

Like skewering meat onto a stick, the stakes were fitted with six baskets; the first four baskets were fitted before being filled with earth, and the last two were filled with earth before being placed;

The large gaps between the wooden stakes were filled with earth-laden wicker baskets, and then two-legged men covered the outer surface of the wall with loose soil, seamlessly integrating it so that the inner intricacies were indistinguishable;

Finally, the earthen wall was completed, and the pits dug for earth also became moats.

“Do you understand?” Tie Chi asked his son through gritted teeth.

“I understand. The wooden stakes are the spine, the wicker baskets are the ribs, the earth is the flesh and skin,” Tie Chi’s son replied, licking his lips. “To take down this wall, you can only drag down the stakes. If the stakes fall, the wall will fall with them.”

“How can you drag them down when the stakes are at least three steps deep into the ground?” Tie Chi glared.

Tie Chi’s son also widened his eyes, mirroring his father’s expression: “If one horse can’t pull it down, use two; if two can’t, use four.”

Tie Chi looked at his son and heaved a bitter sigh. “I’m afraid the two-legged people are just waiting for us to do exactly that.”

…

The materials for wall construction are nothing more than earth, wood, and stone.

For something to last for ages, stone is the best material, such as lime mortar or volcanic ash mortar.

However, Winters wasn’t looking to build a cathedral; he needed to construct field fortifications, and speed was the key. His choices were narrowed down to earth and wood.

Building a wall from wood is the simplest method: drive logs into the ground, one tight against the next, and you’ve got a wall.

However, this method requires hundreds of thousands of logs, which Winters did not have. His only choice left was earth.

The problem with earth is that it’s not sturdy and can slide.

If you just pile up the earth, it will naturally form a slope. This is why there’s a saying, “a six-foot wall corner and an eight-foot moat, the proper wall should be seven feet tall.”

If the slope is too great, it loses its purpose as an impediment to warhorses. Therefore, the most crucial technique in earth wall construction throughout history has been “bundling earth.”

Tamping earth is one method, but it’s still not quick enough.

Using sheepskin bags or hemp cloth bags to carry earth and build the wall would be ideal, but Winters lacked both sheepskin bags and hemp cloth bags.

Without any resources, one must make do with a simple solution, adapting to the materials at hand.

After much thought, Winters blazed his own trail, improving upon the construction methods Colonel Volbon used on Red Sulfur Island for building galleries.

Red Sulfur Island’s galleries were “earth bound with cages,” while Winters used “earth bound with baskets.”

Because the structural strength of baskets was not as great as cages, and because baskets could not be stacked as neatly as cages,

Winters added an extra wooden stake as the “mainstay” to the basket structure, both to increase the wall’s strength and to firmly secure the earth baskets.

Such a “wall,” though perhaps a challenge to withstand cannon fire, would have no issue stopping warhorses.

Compared to a regular earth wall, using baskets to bind the earth allowed for a steeper wall to be built, ensuring that warhorses couldn’t even find a place to get a foothold. Moreover, the method wasn’t picky about materials; even mushy mud and broken stones could be used.

The construction efficiency was slower than using sheepskin bags or hemp cloth bags, but it was much faster than methods like tamping earth or using mortar.

…

While Tie Chi was sighing over the wall, on the other side, Winters suddenly awoke from a deep sleep.

Winters sat up abruptly, his gaze fixed on the tent’s canvas, motionless.

Bard, hearing the noise, entered the inner tent. “What’s the matter?”

“I dreamt of something terrifying,” Winters replied.

Bard was shocked to see Winters’ forehead covered in cold sweat.

Winters threw off his coat, leaped to his feet, and bellowed outside the tent, “Get me a horse! Gather all the company commanders!”

The small command post was thrown into chaos.

“What’s happened?” Bard, normally composed, was also taken aback by Winters’ appearance.

“I think I know what the people of Terdun are planning to do.” Winters clenched Bard’s arm tightly. “We can’t delay any longer! We must act fast!”