Steel, Explosives, and Spellcasters-Chapter 778 - 64 Width

Chapter 778: Chapter 64: Width Chapter 778: Chapter 64: Width The flames rose, and the farmhouses with wooden walls and thatched roofs were engulfed by fire in an instant.

While Iron Peak County and Upper Iron Peak County still retained their last vestige of peace, it was not the case elsewhere.

Vernge County, Hammer Town, Oak Village.

Unarmed men and women were tied up with hemp ropes in chains, mercilessly whipped on their backs as they stumbled away from their homes, a trail of their cries behind them.

Among the hundreds of captured Paratu civilians, not a single elder could be seen, for those without the ability to work were either left in houses to be devoured by the inferno or were outright killed.

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On the road, besides the captives, there were carriages loaded with grains and utensils, pack horses loaded with clothing and valuables, and…the Terdun people, laughing and joking.

Go a bit further, past the small woods up front, and these Paratu people would be stepping onto the road of no return.

...

Suddenly, a young Paratu man broke free from his bonds. He had hidden a small knife on him and quietely cut the rope while his captors were off guard.

The young man’s first impulse was to untie the woman behind him, but the woman pushed him away from the road with tears in her eyes.

The sound of horse hooves and whistles came from behind, and the young man, also with tears streaming down, stumbled toward the woods.

But two legs cannot outrun four, and the sound of hooves drew ever nearer.

Fear took over the young man’s mind, and he instinctively looked back to see a dark shadow looming towards him.

Amidst his mother’s screams, the young man was knocked down by a cudgel.

The one who had knocked down the young Paratu man was a Herder of about the same age.

Under the urging of other Herders, the young Herder dismounted. He trembled as he pulled the bowstring, aiming at the heart of the person on the ground, his back turned to the others, and released it with his eyes closed.

With a “twang” of the horn bow, the other Herders cheered and applauded.

The young Herder opened his eyes to see the arrow had veered off course, landing in the ground. He said nothing, silently retrieved the arrowhead, stepped back onto the saddle, and rode off to follow the other Herders.

This young Herder was the son of Yunguang, the chief of a village with forty households, and Yunguang was a companion and subordinate to Nayen “Hongyue” of the Green Plumed Feathers.

The Green Plumed Feathers’ “Hongyue” boasted six hundred households and was considered a minor but influential external tribe within the Terdun Tribe.

According to the Herders’ tradition of marching and fighting, the Chief Harald arranged the Terdun Tribe into left and right wings.

The left wing comprised mainly the less reliable external Nayens, amounting to over ten thousand cavalry;

The right wing was mostly made of directly related Nayens of the Golden Clan, nearly eight thousand strong, commanded personally by the Chief Harald.

Following the route decided before the war, the Terdun wings would, like the spread of a bird’s wings, separately plunder the Newly Reclaimed Lands Province.

The left descended the river, generally raiding the Newly Reclaimed Land from Vernge County and Maplestone City.

The right ascended the river, generally infiltrating the Newly Reclaimed Land from Iron Peak County.

Another wing of troops feigned an attack on Mirror Lake County, pulling the Paratu forces’ attention.

On the surface, the upstream was poor and sparsely populated, and the downstream was rich and densely settled, making sending the external Nayens for plundering downstream appear to be a favor.

In reality, the opposite was true. According to Chief Harald’s plan: though the downstream was richer, crossing the river was also more difficult, and Paratu’s main battle forces were stationed downstream.

In the great raid in mid-September, not even the allied forces of the southerly Herder tribes could gain much in Mirror Lake County.

Sending external Nayens downstream to engage the Paratu People while leading the direct kin to plunder the upstream and then adapt to the situation by moving north, marching east, or pulling back—that was Chief Harald’s original plan.

The Terdun people compliantly accepted this plan that clearly favored one over the other, and even the external Nayens found nothing strange about it. Shouldn’t the fat be reserved for kin instead of strangers?

However, things did not always progress as smoothly as planned.

When Iron Peak County displayed an extremely tenacious will, staunchly preventing the Terdun right wing from crossing the Big Horn River, it was the Terdun left wing that wreaked severe havoc in Vernge County, even threatening the jurisdiction of Maplestone City.

Knowing their military strength was inadequate and lacking a leading chief, the left-wing Nayens simply abandoned the notion of “fighting a battle.”

Without even entering the Newly Reclaimed Land, the Terdun left wing scattered. Various Nayens and Kotas acted independently, each showing their cunning in crossing the river, claiming spoils for themselves.

Some Nayens even quietly turned their livestock around and, without making a sound, headed back home.

On the other hand, the military commander of Vernge County did not follow the advice of the rebel leader Montaigne—evacuating villages, consolidating forces, and focusing on defense.

He spread his troops along a riverbank line of over two hundred kilometers, structurally resembling an egg, “hard on the outside, soft in the middle,” with a Piaoqi troop squadron responsible for sweeping scattered enemies within.

It is hard to say whether his decision was bad and that of Winters’ was good.

Winters made his judgment on the premise that Vernge County was devoid of military strength.

Lack of strength meant ineffective defense along the river; therefore, Winters suggested Vernge County cede the riverbank, evacuate the villages, garrison the strongholds and towns, and minimize losses as much as possible.

But the reality was [in preparation for next year’s campaign to suppress the rebels, six infantry battalions were secretly gathering in Vernge County]—something Winters was certainly unaware of.

If arranged properly, perhaps Vernge County could, like Middle Iron Peak County, keep the Terdun barbarians at bay.

However, the Terdun arrived much faster than the military commander of Vernge County had anticipated; before Vernge County’s troops were in place, the Terdun left-wing vanguard had already crossed the river.