Chapter 20 19. Prelude to Attack
The soldiers of the Fourth Battalion walked in the dense forest for most of the day without encountering a single native. Baron Sidney's face became more and more gloomy.
The team stopped beside the river in the valley, and Baron Sidney summoned the non-commissioned officers above the squad leader for preliminary combat deployment.
The rest of the heavy armored infantry fetched some water from the river, and then lit a fire on the rocky beach to cook.
The teams that go out to perform missions all carry extremely simple marching rations. He Boqiang has been eating this food these days. Eat the toasted wheat cakes into the stomach together. If you think the wheat cakes are too hard, you can break them into pieces and soak them in the porridge to eat.
It's not unpalatable, but it's definitely not delicious. It's purely a convenient fast food for filling your stomach quickly.
Each marching ration is wrapped in dry banana leaves, and you only need to tear the banana leaves when you use them.
Jie Longnan scooped a spoonful of viscous porridge into the wooden bowl, staring straight at the porridge in the bowl without any appetite, but Ian, who was sitting by the side, ate with relish, and even touched the edge of the wooden bowl at the end Also scrape clean with your fingers.
Five scout squads left in a row, and the atmosphere in the brigade became tense, and no one even talked loudly.
He Boqiang didn't think this kind of marching ration was too bad. He silently finished the food in his hand, and sat next to a big rock with his eyes closed to rest his mind.
Black boy Jeronen refilled his marching canteen with clear water from the stream.
Suldak squatted beside the fire, pressing down the unburned charcoal with stones. Garcia came to his side and asked curiously:
"Duck, you said that Baron Sidney summoned the captain and the others, what exactly do you want to discuss?"
Garcia is also a member of the second team, but everyone prefers to call him red socks because he has a pair of red socks that he wears on his feet all the year round. Although the soles of his feet have been patched, he is still reluctant to throw them away. It is said that these socks It was knitted by his fiancée when he joined the army.
He is the best archer in the team. The team is equipped with two alloy bows, one of which is on him.
Suldak turned his head and glanced at Garcia, and said:
"Who knows! But here is far away from the col, so there is no need to worry about being attacked from the dark by the aboriginal hunters for the time being. It really is easier to be in the big army than to act by yourself."
At this time, the captain Sam came back from Baron Sidney, and he sat down against the rock, and Jeronen immediately ran back and handed the captain a piece of food that had been specially left behind.
After the porridge in the wooden bowl was cold, it condensed into lumps. Sam pushed the wooden bowl aside, grabbed half a wheat biscuit and gnawed on it.
Suldak said: "I always feel that something is wrong, we have to be careful in the next section of the road,"
Sam tore off another piece of wheat cake, but he didn't rush to put it in his mouth, and asked Suldak, "What's wrong?"
Suldak glanced at He Boqiang before slowly saying: "I think these natives seem to be leading us there."
Sam pondered for a while, but didn't speak.
It was Ian who said next to him: "This time, we dispatched all members of the fourth squadron, and seconded a squadron of longbowmen, which is more than enough to deal with those natives. There is nothing to worry about."
Geronnan, Garcia and others obviously agreed with Ian's point of view, and echoed them repeatedly, thinking that Ian was right.
…
After resting for nearly an hour, the fourth team continued to march along the dense forest to the big col.
In the afternoon, there were not many wild beasts in the forest, but some poisonous insects would occasionally cause some trouble to the team. However, almost all the soldiers carried antidotes with them, and the team did not lose staff due to poisoning.
Every day at this time, the woodland always makes people feel stuffy.
The team stretched very long in the woodland, and the road was not easy to walk. The woods were full of dead branches and rotten leaves left over the years. When these leaves rotted, they would become fertile leaf mulch, but some leaves fell into the natural formation. In the deep pits, the yellow leaves filled these deep pits and became many natural traps.
A soldier in heavy armor was walking in the team. He just looked up and saw a green snake crawling out of the top of his head. The green snake was entwined on a branch, and kept spitting out snake letters. A pair of cold eyes stared down. Passing under the horizontal branch it was perched on, the green snake drooped a trace of poisonous saliva, and the soldier was startled by the green snake.
Just thinking about whether to warn the companions behind, I heard the companions behind shout: "Hey, be careful..."
Before he finished speaking, the heavily armored soldier stepped on the ground, and his body fell forward according to inertia, and he plunged headlong into the deep pit filled with dead leaves.
Fortunately, there were thick dead leaves piled up under the deep pit, and there was nothing else. The heavy armored soldier was pulled out of the deep pit by his companions, but he didn't suffer any serious injuries, but he sprained his foot...
The team passed by a man-eating tree full of sharp thorns. The man-eating tree waved its vines, and the heavily armored soldiers who were unable to respond in time entangled them tightly and dragged them towards the trunk. With the help of companions, I am afraid that I can't break free with my own strength.
After entering the dense forest, such accidents always happen frequently, which imperceptibly slows down the marching speed.
…
It wasn't until it was getting dark that the Fourth Brigade arrived at the big mountain depression where the aboriginal hunters were hiding. With the sunset glow at dusk, they vaguely saw a bare white rock wall appearing on the west side of the valley. According to Jielongnan's previous investigation The group of indigenous hunters is hiding here.
Baron Sidney asked the Fourth Battalion to stop and repair, and after nightfall, conduct a sneak attack on the group of indigenous hunters.
The five scout squads that left the main force at noon returned one after another, and Baron Sidney once again called a meeting of non-commissioned officers above the squad leader level.
The camp is stationed on a forest **** in the big mountain depression, which is not too far from the valley in the mountain depression.
The dinner also seemed much richer. A scout team was responsible for hunting. They brought back two pine-skinned wild boars from the forest. The dinner was wild boar with some wild celery and white bread. According to Suldak, every time Before the war, Baron Sidney would give the soldiers a good meal, and it seems that this time is no exception.
The horn of battle sounded at the moment when the sky was completely dark.
The second team followed the big team to the bottom of the cliff. There is only a cave for one person to pass through. They can climb about 200 meters along this rock tunnel to reach the natural cave in the center of the cliff. Only two or three people Stationed at the exit above the cave, you can guard a passage.
Baron Sidney left the first squadron here to guard the exit here, and then personally led the fourth squadron to climb the mountain in the dark. According to the plan of the baron, after the assault team reached the top of the mountain, they had to lower the rope from the top of the mountain. , The soldiers will hang along the rope to the halfway up the mountain, and sneak in through the vents on the mountainside.
This area is full of cliffs. If you want to climb this cliff, you have to go around to the back of the depression.
The mountain road at night was even more difficult to walk. Baron Sidney had to give up riding and followed the team to climb the mountain on foot.
He Boqiang followed the team, feeling uneasy for no reason.
After nightfall, there was some faint fire from the cliff halfway up the mountain. It is not difficult to see that there are indeed people living on the cliff, but it seems that these natives are so calm. Seeing the resistance of the indigenous people, this made He Boqiang feel a little worried.
(end of this chapter)