Chapter 38: why
The heavy rain that started in the early morning did not show any signs of stopping until the evening, but there were still signs of intensifying.
When it was dinner time, the torrential rain continued; the orderlies with their lunch boxes walked into the tent and put dinner directly on the table in front of everyone.
In the silent camp, the already hungry officers twitched their throats and glanced at the delicious food on the plate in front of them from the corner of their eyes, but no one dared to move; all eyes were nervously looking at the silent Ludwig. Hi, let the hot soup get cold little by little.
Ludwig Franz was in a bad mood.
Very bad!
For the battle at this moment, he almost did everything, seized every life-saving straw, did not miss the slightest opportunity, and was even willing to endure the humiliation of the enemy... but he didn't count the weather.
In winter, there is no snow, but icy and biting rain.
Heavy rain...and it was also a winter rainstorm, and the morale blow to an army that was preparing to attack was unprecedented and terrifying.
Thousands of soldiers stood in trenches turned into puddles by the rain, struggling to pull themselves out of the silt while keeping their guns and ammo boxes from getting wet; When they came down, they had to assemble in the heavy rain, charging in the water-soaked mud, dragging their drenched bodies forward with difficulty;
Under the torrential rain, except for the flash of artillery fire and the silhouettes of teammates, there is no marker on the battlefield that can tell them the direction of the attack. Except for the attack order, they will no longer be able to get any effective instructions;
At the same time, due to the occlusion of the rain screen, all the artillery will lose the possibility of aiming, and all can only fire according to the direction of the mark before the war, and you have to be prepared to accidentally injure friendly forces;
And what they have to face is the imperial soldiers who are curled up in the fortress, their bodies and clothes are dry and tidy, their stamina and combat experience are abundant, and most of them can guarantee the morale before the commander is killed.
Thinking of this, it is not difficult for Ludwig to predict what kind of situation he and his Thundercastle levy will encounter in the next battle.
Fiasco... At the moment when the rainstorm fell from the sky, this seemed to be an established fact.
Ludwig, who was cold all over, clenched his fists tightly, and the moment he raised his tired eyes, he suddenly stopped.
At the end of his line of sight, the figure on the other side of the sand table was enjoying his dinner as if nothing had happened.
Although the logistics were tight at the moment, there was still a steaming vegetable broth for each officer, freshly baked bread sprinkled with pretzel, a glass of wine, a small piece of cheese and two garlic sausages.
Anson, who was holding the cup, drank the slightly sour wine in one go, then carefully tore the bread apart, piled it on the soup bowl with the crumbs, and then stuck a garlic sausage with a fork. She chomped down between two loaves of bread.
Ludwig was stunned.
Anson Bach...this guy...he...he's giving up on himself?
The officers who noticed the brigadier general's expression also turned their heads to the other end of the sand table, and were stunned one by one.
Inside the deadly silent tent, there was only the sound of rain outside and Anson enjoying dinner.
After a full minute, Ludwig, who seemed to have recovered from the shock, silently raised the wine glass in front of him; the officers who saw the action of the brigadier general seemed to have flipped some kind of switch, and also began to cry. Eat silently.
At this moment, a young non-commissioned officer who was soaking wet suddenly broke into the camp, with a single-room backpack for letters hanging on his body.
Raising his hand to stop the guard, Ludwig, who stood up silently, walked up to the young sergeant himself and took the letter from the other party.
At the moment of opening the letter, Ludwig's hands suddenly trembled and then stopped abruptly, so much force that the young sergeant in front of him was startled, thinking that he was about to tear up the letter.
Standing there for a while, he said without raising his head:
"It's hard work, let's go down."
"Yes!"
The young sergeant with a face full of rain and sweat jolted, saluted the brigadier general in a panic, and left quickly.
Turning around in place, the expressionless Ludwig pursed the corners of his mouth tightly, and glanced around the restless face outside Anson:
"Everyone—except Lieutenant Colonel Anson Bach—get out, now."
"Yes-!!"
All the officers replied in unison, dropped the messy dinner plates, and disappeared from the tent in a very orderly manner.
Fifteen seconds later, only Ludwig, who was standing with his hands behind his back, and Anson, who was still enjoying dinner, were left in front of the sand table.
It wasn't until he swallowed the last piece of bread that Anson breathed a sigh of relief before raising his eyes and looking at Ludwig, who was still standing still and didn't speak:
"bad news?"
"...an order from the Privy Council." Ludwig paused, and his whole body trembled slightly as he spoke:
"Order me to lead the army to withdraw from Thunder Fort within two days, do my best to maintain and rectify the order of Oak Town, repair the train tracks as soon as possible, and ensure that the surrounding... traffic is smooth!"
The implication is that Ludwig should give up the siege of Fort Thunder, which is considered a "peaceful dismissal".
An Sen nodded lightly: "Then what's next... What about Fort Thunder?"
"I don't know, maybe a gunner who has fought tough battles is really going to be transferred from the western battlefield?"
Ludwig was calm and even a little unusual, and said lightly: "The letter didn't mention the siege troops, hehe... It seems that he really wanted to drive me out of the battlefield completely."
"Army?" Anson whispered.
"No, this time it's not the army." Pulling the corners of his stiff mouth, Ludwig smiled at Anson for the first time:
"It's my father, the archbishop of the Church of Order in the Kingdom of Clovis, the great Luther Franz."
"It was he who wrote the letter himself, requesting the Privy Council to capture Thundercastle as soon as possible and open up the supply line to the southern fortress; it is because of him that this letter appeared in my hands so soon, not two days later."
"Thanks to my meticulous and meticulous father, I was able to have the opportunity to keep a trace of face and take the initiative to retreat, instead of getting out of the siege position under the scolding of the special envoy sent by the Privy Council."
After speaking, the smiling Ludwig closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and slammed his right hand on the corner of the table.
When he opened his eyes again, Anson with his hands behind his back was already standing in front of him:
"What about you?"
"What?" Ludwig was startled.
"I'm asking you, Brigadier General Ludwig." Anson's eyes were extremely calm: "Are you ready to get out of the siege position?"
"you…"
"I'm not ready. In the plan for you, I didn't make any plans to retreat... It's a mistake." Anson hurriedly stepped forward and approached Ludwig:
"But I'm ready to take Thunder Castle back from the Empire!"
"But we've run out of time!" Ludwig's expression tightened instantly: "The order of the Privy Council is two days later, if we can't tomorrow..."
Anson steals again: "Then take Thunder Fort tonight!"
"Just tonight?!"
"It's tonight!"
"tonight…"
With a trembling voice, Ludwig looked at Anson in disbelief, and the blue veins on his forehead were completely exposed: "Are you crazy - braving so much rain in winter to attack a well-prepared fortress?!"
"No, General, I'm calm now." An Sen shook his head and said lightly:
"Because of the heavy rain, the enemy will never think that we can launch an attack at this point in time - so what we are going to attack is an unprepared fortress with a completely blocked view."
Ludwig was at a loss for words.
Yes, the torrential rain has the same impact on both sides. The defenders in the city will also involuntarily relax their vigilance in such bad weather.
If that's the case, why should you withdraw from this battle, when you still have the hope of victory?
Why would you give up a fortress that was besieged by you for more than ten days and was about to be captured to some scum sent by the army?
Why? !
Why! !