Steel, gunpowder, and spellcasters

Chapter 298 Trapped Beast
Bard, who had rushed from the refugee camp to the front lines, immediately met with Winters: "The Teldenans are surrendering?"

“Yes.” Winters, still sketching on the drawing, picked up the water pouch with his left hand and handed it to Bard, answering without looking up, “I didn’t agree.”

There is no need for small talk or formalities between comrades.

Bard took the water pouch, sipped some water, and waited quietly for Winters to continue.

Winters threw down the charcoal pencil and called a messenger to take the map.

With no one else in the temporary command post, he no longer needed to hide his weariness.

He walked to the bucket in the corner of the tent and splashed his face with cold water: "The fire-warmers say they're willing to return all the loot, offer three thousand horses, and call it a day—a dignified surrender, keeping their weapons and flags. Humph, the Harts are starting to play these tricks too!"

The temporary command post was set up on a high ground overlooking the southeast, from which the third line of defense and the forest further away could be seen.

Messengers would occasionally ride by on horseback, reporting to Winters verbally and then hurriedly departing with a reply.

"The Teldens haven't made a move?" Bard looked down at the map, assessing the situation of the two armies.

Winters shook his head slightly, his brow furrowing involuntarily: "No movement... so I'm a little confused about what Monkey Butt Face is up to."

The Teltown right wing is now divided into three parts:

A portion of them were on the west bank of the Big Horn River, and had been repelled in previous battles;

Part of it was on the south bank of the Pangtuo River, which was in Xia Tiefeng County;

The Khan's elite troops were trapped in a small area surrounded by the Dajiao River, the Pangtuo River, and the third line of defense.

The situation was very favorable for the Tiefeng County army. As long as they could encircle and annihilate the Khan's elite troops, the remaining rabble would collapse without a fight.

“Even a rabbit caught in a trap will struggle to survive. But Monkey Butt Face, trapped in a deadly situation, is instead begging to surrender.” Winters voiced his doubts to Bard: “If Monkey Butt Face were in my position, do you think he would accept his terms?”

“No.” Bard continued, helping Winters to clarify his thoughts.

“In other words,” Winters said, unconsciously fiddling with a small knife, “that monkey-face is doing something he knows he can’t succeed at.”

Bard pondered for a moment: "Does the person warming themselves by the fire have another purpose?"

"It must be so."

"Delaying for time?"

"Why?" Winters vaporized a few drops of water on the table to stimulate his mind: "The longer it drags on, the higher the walls will be, the deeper the trenches will be, and the stronger the defenses the Teldens will face."

"Perhaps they want to feign weakness to lull us into a false sense of security before putting all their strength into breaking through our defenses."

"But in my opinion, given the Teldun's cavalry advantage, it would be better to use speed to strike first, before the trench system is fully constructed..."

The words stopped abruptly, and Winters fell silent.

After a moment, he spoke softly: "Or perhaps the Teldenans are waiting for reinforcements to join forces from within and without, and then annihilate us here."

Bud didn't respond; he knew he couldn't interrupt Winters at this moment.

Winters fell into deep thought, his hands gripping the table as he stared intently at the map: "Reinforcements...reinforcements...if the Teldenans have reinforcements, where will they come from? The west bank? The south bank? The north?"

Bud sighed and patted Winters on the shoulder.

Winters snapped out of his daze and looked blankly at his friend.

"How long has it been since you slept?" Bud asked.

“One day? Two days?” Winters’ eyes were bloodshot. “I think I took a few naps, but I can’t remember exactly.”

“That won’t do.” Bard’s expression grew even more serious: “The second commandment: [The general must be exhausted and worn out].”

Winters smiled for the first time and answered the next sentence in a coded manner: "[They will overlook what is truly important]."

“Go to sleep.” Bud handed Winters his coat. “I’ll stay here.”

Winters was about to say something, but then he changed his mind, picked up his coat, and went into the inner room of the tent.

He made up his mind and said, "In short, we'll remain unchanged no matter what. No matter what the Teldens are up to, as long as we keep the gates closed, we'll drive the Teldens out!"

Bard watched Winters' retreating figure, then glanced around the command post, his expression complex.

This command post consisted of only four tents, making it extremely rudimentary. But at this moment, it was issuing orders that coordinated the actions of tens of thousands of people, and making decisions that concerned the life and death of Tiefeng County.

It is no exaggeration to say that these four tents are the brain and core of the Iron Peak County Army.

However, it faces a severe shortage of manpower: the number of literate clerks can be counted on two hands, and apart from Winters and Bard, there are no professional soldiers who have received special training.

The reason why the Iron Peak County army was still able to operate normally without major chaos was entirely because everything was stored in Winters' mind, and he was calculating based on his mental abilities.

“This can’t go on,” Bud suddenly said. “You need an assistant.”

"Didn't you arrive?" Winters unfolded his cot and answered slowly.

"Many assistants, many, many assistants."

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

Bud picked up a pen and paper and began to write a list from memory.

……

Zhongtiefeng County, the third line of defense.

Four burly farmers are using a pile driver.

The four men, chanting in unison, turned the wheel. Despite the bitter cold of winter, they worked up a sweat. A thick rope was wound around the wheel's axle, the other end of which was tied to a large rock. As the wheel tightened the rope, the rock was slowly lifted.

After the stone was lifted a certain distance, the farmers broke open the latch.

The large rock suddenly fell and crashed heavily onto the wooden stake.

This process was repeated continuously, and in just six or seven strokes, a four-meter-long log was driven into the ground, with only about two meters of the log protruding above ground.

Once the stakes were driven in, the farmers left them alone.

Other farmers walked over to the pile driver, and a dozen of them worked together to move the simple machine a few steps.

Then another group of farmers took over and started driving in another stake.

To the southwest, behind a hillside, Tai Chi peered at the rudimentary but efficient machinery in the distance, his face turning pale.

Within his line of sight, at least eight pile drivers were operating simultaneously.

One by one, wooden stakes were driven in, and a series of "stake walls" with spacing of about two steps had been erected in the valley.

Bard's arrival gave Winters a brief respite, while at the same time, Teich led his personal guards through the forest to scout out the enemy's situation.

At a distance of three hundred paces, Taichi finally saw clearly how the other side had "built a city overnight":
First, drive in wooden stakes, then put something like a willow basket over the stakes;
Take soil from in front of the wooden stake and fill it into the willow basket;

Fill one basket with soil, then put another new basket over it;
Like skewering meat with wooden sticks, six baskets were placed on the wooden stake in a row; the first four baskets were placed on the stake first and then filled with soil, while the last two baskets were filled with soil first and then placed on the stake.
The wide gaps between the wooden stakes were filled with willow baskets filled with soil, and the two-legged people then covered the outside of the wall with loose soil to make it look like a whole, so that the mystery inside could not be seen.

Eventually, the earthen wall was completed, and the pits dug out to extract the soil became trenches.

"Did you understand?" Taichi asked his son through gritted teeth.

“I understand now. The wooden stakes are the spine, the willow baskets are the ribs, and the mud is the flesh and blood.” Taichi’s son licked his lips and replied, “If you want to demolish this wall, you can only drag down the wooden stakes. Once the wooden stakes fall, the wall will fall down too.”

“That wooden stake is at least three steps deep into the ground, how could it be dragged down?” Tai Chi stared wide-eyed.

Taichi's son also glared, his expression exactly the same as his father's: "If one horse can't pull it down, use two; if two horses can't pull it down, use four."

Looking at his son's appearance, Tai Chi sighed bitterly, "I'm afraid this two-legged man is hoping for us to come like this."

……

The building materials for constructing walls are nothing more than mud, wood, and stone.

For the sake of future generations, it is best to use stone, namely lime mortar or volcanic ash mortar.

But Winters wasn't building a church; he wanted to build field fortifications, and speed was key. His only options were earth and wood.

Building walls with wood is the simplest method; just drive logs one next to another into the ground and you have a wall.

However, this method would require hundreds of thousands of timbers, which Winters did not have. His only remaining option was soil.

The problem with soil is that it is not stable and can slide.

If you simply pile up the earth, the pile will naturally form a slope. This is the reason behind the saying, "A six-foot wall corner has an eight-foot moat, and the main wall should be at least seven feet high."

However, if the slope is too steep, it loses its purpose of stopping warhorses. Therefore, since ancient times, the most crucial technique in building earthen walls has been "binding the soil".

Rammed earth is one method, but unfortunately it's still not fast enough.

Using sheepskin bags and burlap sacks to hold earth and build walls would be the ideal way, but unfortunately Winters lacked both sheepskin bags and burlap sacks.

Having nothing, we can only make do with what we have, adapt to local conditions, and use whatever we have.

After much thought, Winters found a new approach and improved upon Lieutenant Colonel Vauban's engineering method for building the tunnel on Chilu Island.

The tunnels on Chiliu Island were constructed with "soil bound in cages," while those on Winters were constructed with "soil bound in baskets."

Because baskets are not as strong as cages, and they are difficult to stack neatly like cages.

Therefore, Winters added an extra wooden stake to the basket structure as a "backbone." This not only increased the strength of the wall but also firmly secured the soil basket.

A wall of this strength might be a stretch to withstand artillery fire, but it would be more than capable of stopping warhorses.

Compared to ordinary earthen walls, using baskets to bundle soil allows for steeper walls, making it impossible for warhorses to find a foothold. Moreover, it is not picky about building materials; mud and gravel can be used.

The construction efficiency is slower than using sheepskin bags or burlap sacks to bind soil, but much faster than rammed earth or mortar methods.

……

As Taichi gazed at the wall in despair, Winters on the other side suddenly awoke from his sleep.

Winters suddenly sat up straight, staring blankly at the tent flap, motionless.

Hearing the noise, Bard went into the inner tent: "What's wrong?"

“Something terrible happened.” Winters looked at Bard. “I dreamt about it.”

Bud was surprised to see cold sweat beading on Winters' forehead.

In an instant, Winters transformed back into the energetic and decisive military tribunal.

He threw off his coat, leaped to his feet, and roared towards the outside of the tent: "Prepare the horses! Summon all company-level commanders!"

The small command post was immediately thrown into chaos.

"What's wrong?" Even the usually composed Bard was somewhat surprised to see Winters' appearance.

“I think I know what the Teldens are up to… We need to be quick! We have to finish this quickly!” Winters gripped Bard’s arm tightly. “Perhaps—time is not on our side.”

[Late...but still came...(>person<;)]
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(End of this chapter)