Chapter 257.

Chapter 257 Advancement
Paul Greiman recently reaped a windfall when his allied brother, Myron Garnard, recommended a general to him – Baron Andrew Byron.

He had heard of this baron last year when he was quelling the rebellion in Bairdine, and it was because of the fear of this loyal and courageous bannerman that Angelo and the others had sidetracked him in the name of the King’s diligence.

This baron had loved the matter of leading soldiers to war since he was young, and when he was still a child he had traveled to the eastern highlands to guard the border for the kingdom, experiencing countless clashes and battles with the barbarians, and it was there that he had earned his knighthood.

After he joined the Arda army, he would be second only to the old knight Schroeder, who served as the chief of staff, in terms of military attainments.

Baron Andrew Byron brought back more than four hundred soldiers from the south, and added in some more soldiers to make up a battalion, which saved the staff a great deal of effort, these four hundred people were all in the line of duty with not a short period of time, and in the southern battlefields have seen blood, the starting point is quite a bit better than the new recruits.

According to the program given by the staff, to send a part of the officers to add to the new “Bairdine Battalion”, and in accordance with the rules of the Alda for the integration, and finally for a period of three months for the training of new recruits.

Andrew at first was not convinced, my soldiers but in the south and the rebels in real combat, the battlefield experience is not you only fought the pirates of the countryside can be compared. Like this “elite”, should be immediately pulled down to the battlefield and the Kent family army to compete.

But Schroeder invited him to watch the second battalion of the infantry’s separate ceremony and musket firing exercises, he was no longer arrogant.

The temperament and quality of Alda’s soldiers were really much higher than his soldiers, and the weapon called “musket” made their fighting power even more powerful.

So Andrew honestly accepted the reorganization and training program, and even taught a few pricks a lesson himself.

“The 4th Infantry Battalion was born.

Paul in accordance with his “military knowledge” brought from the Earth had proposed to break up Bairdine’s troops and other troops mixed, but was Schroeder and others to discourage, first, this move may make Myron and Andrew hearts have a problem, but the battalion’s size is still small, as long as it is inserted into the “Gleiman The size of the battalion is still small, as long as the officers trained in the “Grauman’s Military School” can be installed.

……

After a week of resting on the border, the 1st and 3rd Infantry Battalions waited for their long-awaited order to march to Emden.

The two battalions, along with the artillery companies that accompanied them, marched into the Kent family’s territory.

“How dare you, don’t you know this is House Kent territory? I warn you, the great Duke Maltz Kent will surely punish you.”

A Kent Family Steward stationed in a town along the way stopped on the road and shouted at them in anger.

Bryce, sitting on his high horse, politely said to him, “Please step aside, sir, don’t you know that House Kent and House Gladman are at war?”

Still refusing to move, the steward strained his face and shouted again, “I warn you, great Duke Maltz Kent ……”

But before he could finish, he was pushed by Bryce’s guards into the stinking ditch by the roadside.

The Steward’s wretched appearance drew laughter from the surrounding populace, but after he struggled to climb out, the people around him instantly shut up. Bryce pointed his riding crop at him, causing him to shiver in fear.

“Get your ass back to your master and tell him that the Arda army is here to repay the Kent family for last year’s humiliation.”

Having run into a tough opponent, but the other party had no intention of harming him, the steward who couldn’t say whether he was lucky or unlucky shrank his neck and coyly said, “Yes, yes, yes, I’ll be sure to relay the information truthfully.” Then twisted his head and ran away.

Looking at that panicked back in front, Bryce proudly raised his horse whip, “Keep moving!”

Kent family has many vassals, Alda army’s marching route will have to cross several family territories, but as nobles they are all better informed, the result of the Battle of Bidu Fortress they are aware of, most of them think that they can’t fight against Alda’s army, and when they heard the news of Alda’s army’s southward movement, they ran away to Sentry City with the wealth they and their families have saved up early on.

However, these small lords gathered the knights and militia of their own territories and tried to fight against Alda’s army with their own castles to the end.

But the castles of these countryside lords were not enough in front of the artillery of the artillery company.

The artillery company carries large-caliber mortars that are specially designed to attack strong fortresses and city walls, which were originally prepared for large castles such as Bitol Castle, but I didn’t expect that the lord of Bitol Castle surrendered before they could be put to use, so it’s not a bad idea to use the small castles of these countryside lords to practice a little bit.

Alda before the manufacture of artillery, from the classification should belong to the cannon, high muzzle velocity, low flat trajectory, so in dealing with the enemy hiding behind the solid walls of the somewhat incompetent, you must use solid shells layer by layer on the walls of the masonry stripped, until the walls will be bombarded down, the efficiency of the low is ridiculously low.

The short and thick barrel mortar was different, with a large angle of fire, low muzzle velocity, and high arc trajectory, and was manufactured to utilize the free-fall motion of the shell to attack targets hiding behind obstacles, and could also be used to bombard the walls of a city wall from top to bottom.

In preparation for firing, the cannon is raised to a vertical angle, a man pours a calculated portion of gunpowder into the powder chamber, and then it’s time to load the shells. The mortar shells equipped by the Arda army were upwards of 40 kilograms, and needed to be loaded by the combined efforts of two to three men, with support logs to determine where the shells were located in the center of the barrel, and spades and hammers to make the corrections. Once the shells were in place, the mortars were accurately adjusted to a 45-degree angle.

It was then the responsibility of the battery commander or deputy commander to take aim, the adjustment of the angle and the loading of the powder directly affecting the accuracy of the fire, and the lifting could be accomplished by means of levers placed squarely on the peripheral handles of the pedestal.

The last step is to fire. After a mortar roared loudly, an iron lump fell from the sky, and the castle buildings were instantly shattered into pieces, with some unlucky people being directly smashed into meat cakes.

Often a round of people in the castle will collapse, after the battle of Biduo Fort, “fire crossbow” and “thunder hammer” power has given the northwestern lords to a great deterrent, and now hide in the strong castle inside can not be blocked, can only raise the white flag to surrender.

So Alda’s army did not suffer any casualties, they marched along the S-shaped route, along the way, the Kent family in the local ruling forces are expelled, and assigned those who are willing to serve Alda as administrators.

Finally, they arrived not far from Fort Byram, and by now the small half of Emden was under their control.

Fort Byram was the residence of the Kent family members, but at this time, the Kent family, father and son, were not among them, and Maltz Kent, who had inherited the dukedom, and his son stayed in Sentry City.

And the news of Alda’s army moving south was on his desk.

(End of chapter)