Conquer Europe from the West

Chapter 131 Night Encounter
Setting up camp in the wild at night is not a good option.

It is now 8 p.m. on the 20th. The sky has long since turned completely dark, and there is only darkness as far as the eye can see.

Ryan sat in the drafty command car, wrapped in a blanket, eating his ration of black bread by the light of a kerosene lamp, along with some still-warm salted meat soup.

Raine actually wanted to provide rice for the troops, since black bread was really not tasty.

However, cooking rice takes too long. For the front lines where the war is urgent, spending less time on meals could allow more time for scouting the enemy or building defenses.

He leaned against the railing on the side of the carriage, his eyes scanning the road hundreds of meters behind him.

More than forty trucks were parked haphazardly in the middle of the road, while the soldiers simply untied the large canvas that was originally used as canopies, turned it over, and set up a row of rain shelters for them to rest.

But no one would risk setting up a tent in the fields on either side of the road just to avoid the wind.

Because nobody knew whether the fields and muddy ground outside were even passable—Wolf said he would catch some rabbits for everyone while cooking, but when he caught a rabbit, he got stuck in the mud while trying to get it, with only his head sticking out, and almost died in that godforsaken place.

Then Renn had to set a maximum movement range for everyone—limited to roads.

He looked away and glanced at the time, realizing that it was past the time when the scouts would return.

Logically speaking, those brats should have been back half an hour ago. There must be something wrong with them being so late.

Without much thought, Ryan pressed the switch on the kerosene lamp, gently blew out the still-burning wick, and then got out of the car wrapped in a blanket.

The temperature tonight will be at most four degrees Celsius; we definitely won't survive on just the newly issued cotton-padded clothes.

"Colonel."

Brinkman had been hiding in the tent next to the truck. Before Ryan even got out of the truck, he heard the sound of clothes rubbing against canvas.

Brinkman then crawled out of the tent, but was chilled by the cold wind outside, so he immediately crawled back in to grab a blanket and put it on.

Raine happened to see her grab the blanket and asked, "Where's the platoon leader? Why haven't the scouts returned yet?"

"He went to find the scouts."

Brinkman, wrapped in a blanket, stamped his feet, his gaze fixed on the direction of Insterburg: "He went there on a motorcycle, so he should be back by now."

The scouts of the assault company would typically move ten kilometers from the camp in the direction they needed to scout. If there were no problems within ten kilometers, they would send a communications officer back to report the situation. After a period of time, they would begin to make a large detour to both sides, eventually returning from the rear of the troops.

Because this journey usually takes four or five hours, it has always been called the Flig Marathon by the soldiers.

Ryan didn't have much to say about their claims, but a group of scouts had indeed suddenly disappeared.

He wanted to use his map cheat to check the environment, but unfortunately he hadn't yet obtained intelligence from the front lines and only had a map of the empire's borders drawn more than twenty years ago, so he couldn't see anything at all.

At best, you can only see the outline.

Beside her, Brinkman noticed the subtle unease that Renn was showing. This was nothing new to her, but after all, it was wartime.

After thinking for a moment, Brinkman asked in a low voice, "Should I call another squad to go and look for them?"

But before she could finish speaking, a faint rumble of a cylinder came from afar.

"No need."

Looking in the direction the sound came from, Ryan finally breathed a sigh of relief: "They're back."

A long line of motorcycles bumped and stumbled along the way, and only a faint light could be seen through the headlight covers, it was hard to tell whether they were broken or what.

But before the platoon leader could even get on the road on his motorcycle, Ryan saw him stumble and fall to the ground, motorcycle and all.

The surrounding sentries rushed over immediately, but the motorcycle engine was emitting white smoke, so it was definitely broken.

"has a problem."

Ryan's heart tightened, and he immediately stepped forward, stopping Brinkman, who was about to come with him: "Go and wake everyone up, something's wrong."

"Yes!"

Brinkman immediately turned around, called out the people who had been in the tent, and then urged the entire company to line up.

Ryan immediately jogged forward and soon saw the platoon leader who had fallen and was bleeding from his head: "How is it up ahead?"

"cavalry!"

The platoon leader shoved aside the sentry beside him, skillfully bandaged his head, then put on a helmet, and cursed through gritted teeth: "It's the Imperial cavalry! They took down the supply depot ahead sometime ago. The second platoon was spotted as soon as they got there, and I almost didn't make it back!"

Ryan glanced instinctively at the motorcycle lying on the ground and noticed two gun holes in the front fairing. He asked, "How many of them are there? Can you tell? Where is the reconnaissance team?"

The platoon leader limped toward the convoy, his free hand reaching for his whistle, but it was immediately snatched away by Ryan.

Seeing this, he knew that his command had been taken away by Rein, and could only say angrily, "I don't know, but the people at the supply station should all be dead."

"The reconnaissance team hid in the woods a kilometer from the supply depot. They were very quick and agile, and the Imperial cavalry dared not pursue them too far."

"The last time I saw them, they said they would take a big detour from the south to rendezvous with the troops, and then I don't know what happened to them."

As the two were talking, they happened to walk up to the command vehicle.

The assault company soldiers had already packed up their tents and lined up along the roadside.

Brinkman overheard their conversation and immediately pulled out a simple map and a flashlight.

Raine glanced around, then calmly looked at the system map.

There were no enemy markers within two kilometers of the unit, but four fast-moving red dots could be seen further away, clearly indicating a cavalry squad.

The red dots were to the southeast of the convoy, moving around a deep forest, but they couldn't get around to the front of the convoy because a river blocked their way.

At this point, Ryan could also see the scouts.

They are about 15 kilometers away from the troops in a straight line, and have not moved yet, presumably waiting for the Imperial cavalry to leave.

He immediately exited the map and climbed onto the command vehicle, pulling down the canvas on both sides to block the flashlight beam.

The map is old, as I've mentioned before.

Not only are there some problems with the road drawing, but even the distances between the towns are incorrect, so the distances can only be marked with a pencil.

A long line of people stood in the carriage, using the dim light of their flashlights to draw several circles on the map.

Looking at the system map, Renn noticed that a long circle marked the location of the supply depot ahead, while the other circles indicated the woods where scouts were hiding and the pursuing cavalry.

Having obtained the specific location information, he immediately discovered that the system map had refreshed with the exact location and information of the supply station.

The troops are currently located about 20 kilometers from the supply depot, but the Imperial cavalry is very large and has almost completely occupied the supply depot. The system calculates that there are 150 people, and the number of horses is about 10 more than the number of people.

However, it was clearly impossible for an army of this size to capture the Empire's supply depots.

Imperial frontline supply depots typically consist of two to three companies, slightly smaller than battalions.

This ensures that the supply depot has 24/7 security, and in emergencies, it can also deploy some troops to the front lines as support...

and many more?

Renn frowned; he suddenly felt that he might have discovered something extraordinary.

He immediately looked at the platoon leader: "Schultz, are you sure the Empire has captured our supply depot?"

“Absolutely.” The platoon leader patted his chest confidently, so hard that he even knocked off the bandage that was held in place by his helmet, and blood streamed down his face. Brinkman was startled by his appearance and quickly called the medic, then immediately stuffed the bandage back into his helmet.

Renn, however, fell into thought. His voice was low as he said, "The Eighth Army is currently engaged in battle with the First Army of the Empire. If the Empire has advanced this far, it means they should have already captured Intersburg..."

Brinkman immediately understood what Ryan meant: "But we haven't seen any retreating troops along the way!"

An army group has at least 200,000 men, and it's impossible for the Empire to capture them all in such a short time.

She looked tense yet excited: "So, the Imperial Army is here because their main force is engaged in battle with General Hindenburg's Eighth Army!"

"Yes."

Rein picked up a pencil, drew a big X in front of Insterburg, and then drew two arrows that surrounded Insterburg, pointing directly to the supply route behind: "The Eighth Army is currently likely holding Insterburg, and the enemy has surrounded them and cut off their supply lines... This explains why we haven't received any news from them for the past few days."

"The Imperial Army should be attacking Insterburg. They may have gained the upper hand in the initial battle, so in episode eight, the troops in the rear were called to the front as reinforcements. This could explain why the supply depot was captured by the cavalry."

"Considering that the only routes to Insterburg are the railway and our highway, the Empire must have only dispatched highly mobile forces, such as cavalry regiments or cavalry brigades, to launch the attack..."

“I know!” Brinkman immediately replied, “The commander of the Imperial First Army has a dedicated cavalry brigade under his command, and they managed to enter East Prussia by surprise attack at the very beginning of the war!”

"When was that?" Schultz was clearly taken aback.

“It’s August.” Brinkman’s voice was heavy.

Renn was also taken aback.

So these damn imperial guys invaded once in August?
They even pushed them all the way here?

What kind of bullshit joke is this?
But even though I was angry, I still had to get the work done.

After a moment of contemplation, Renn spoke.

"Lieutenant, notify the entire company to prepare for battle."

"The first and second platoons will all gather in the vehicles at the rear. If we encounter the enemy, we will immediately get off the vehicles and begin combat."

"Have the third platoon drive a self-propelled truck-mounted artillery piece to the front of the column, and instruct their machine gun squad to set up the machine gun in case of emergencies."

Brinkman immediately accepted the order, but before she could get out of the car, Ryan called her back: "Also, get a truck and have someone take Schultz and Wolf back to the rear to rest. Send any other people who are unwell away as well. Break the legs of anyone who disobeys."

"Yes!"

The young lieutenant immediately disappeared into the darkness of the night, and all the trucks started their engines without exception.

The self-propelled truck-mounted gun at the very end lowered the wooden planks behind it first, and after stuffing five soldiers and a machine gun inside, it came to the front of the column, belching black smoke all the way.

Schulz got out of the car reluctantly. He hadn't brought his company with him in the last operation, and he hadn't brought them this time either, meaning he had missed the front line twice.

But he also knew that although he was still able to fight, he could also become a burden to the troops.

Rein understood what Schulz was thinking, and said before he left, "After you return to Königsberg, immediately send someone to the capital to report that the Eighth Army is besieged, but do not let them send reinforcements. If necessary, have Colonel Schmidt bring the airships and the Second Battalion of the regiment as well."

Schultz knew that no matter how much he talked to Rein, it wouldn't make him stay, so he asked, "Isn't that too little?"

Renn shook his head: "It's no use having more people in this place."

“Okay, I’ll contact them as soon as I get back to Königsberg.”

"Go."

Ryan patted him on the shoulder and then had two sergeants shove Schultz into an empty truck.

Once he was done, he immediately shouted, "Everyone, let's go!"

The convoy immediately began to move, but Brinkman missed the command vehicle, so she boarded the nearest vehicle and took over the duties of the platoon leader, which was previously under Schulz's responsibility.

Raine returned to the command vehicle, opening the system map while checking the situation of the captured supply depots.

Like most of the Empire's supply depots, this one was converted from a displaced village. It was about 200 meters long and wide and was originally home to more than sixty families.

In the center of the village stands a church that is not small, and the cemetery behind it is now used as a horse-breeding ground for the imperial cavalry.

Raine didn't understand the organization of cavalry, because when he was born, the country had already abolished the cavalry as a branch of the military, and now only a few battalions and companies remained, which was considered to maintain tradition.

But one thing was clear to him.

That's because horses and carriages are different; horses eat, drink, poop, and urinate a lot.

And you also need to sleep.

Therefore, unless it is a full-scale attack, cavalry units usually carry out combat missions in small squads or medium-sized units.

After all, the main job of cavalry is reconnaissance and guard duty, with the most that might be flanking maneuvers – that's what the Imperial Army is doing now.

But this also leads to a problem.

Almost all civilians were evacuated from East Prussia after the start of the war. Currently, there is not a single civilian to be seen within a 60-kilometer radius of Insterburg.

Considering it's already October 20th, some time has passed since the autumn harvest...

In other words, this group of cavalrymen might not stay at the supply depot for too long.

After all, in such an unfamiliar place, they had to put a lot of effort into just maintaining the daily supplies for the horses, not to mention that the troops were carrying out operations deep behind enemy lines.

Therefore, Raine was certain that these cavalrymen would not remain in their camps like the Farrans had at the start of the war.

They will run away, perhaps tonight, perhaps tomorrow.

They certainly won't stay here for long, since this highway is long and remote, and its actual carrying capacity is not large, making it incomparable to the railway dozens of kilometers away.

In addition, the Imperial Army does not have enough trucks to transport supplies. Rein's few dozen vehicles would normally be enough to meet the field transport needs of several regiments.

Therefore, instead of stationing a valuable cavalry squadron at a supply depot where they might only see a supply convoy twice a week, or at most a donkey cart, oxcart, or horse-drawn wagon, it would be better to gather them together and have them attack the Imperial railways.

But Renn clearly wouldn't let these Imperial troops escape.

Damn it, you think you can just run away after taking my supply depot?
Where in the world can you find such a good deal?
But all that can be said, Ryan's most important task right now is to confiscate those stupid horses.

After all, they had already discovered the scouts sent out by the assault company, and now they were definitely eager to find the assault company.

Considering that cavalrymen are different from infantrymen, and can fight on dismount if their horses are unable to fight, Renn dared not take this matter lightly.

Furthermore, although the assault company already had trucks as transportation, the soldiers were essentially sitting ducks fighting in these things. If they encountered machine gun positions or those incredibly fast cavalry, they would be helpless, barely managing to put up a fight before having to retreat.

Raine wasn't stupid enough to wipe out his elite troops, who had fought their way up from the 502nd Battalion camp and could still calculate their total casualties.

Inside the carriage, Renn rubbed his temples, pondering how to capture all of the Imperial cavalry with as few casualties as possible.

However, at this moment, several small red dots suddenly appeared on the system map.

Raine immediately checked the map and discovered that it was a small Imperial cavalry squad that had set off from the supply depot and was speeding along the road.

This team is very fast; it takes them less than ten minutes to reach a location where the convoy can be visually confirmed.

But considering that it was very dark tonight with almost no moonlight, they would have to rush to within several hundred meters to see Ryan's convoy clearly...

(End of this chapter)