Since the Accounting: A Chronicle of the Roman Khanate

Chapter 729 The Commander Should Not Personally Repair the Roadblocks

After marching for about half an hour, Tang Sai'er's scouts issued another warning: the enemy's vanguard had appeared on the road ahead. It seemed they had spurred a portion of their forces back to provide reinforcements. The number of soldiers was large, but their ranks were disorganized. The flags in the ranks were also a mixed bag, making it unclear who was leading this reinforcement force.

“I remember there was a path cleared through the woods ahead. Is it this way?” Tang Sai’er asked immediately.

"Really?" Liang Lao Er asked doubtfully.

"This morning, when we passed the intersection of this road and the main road we were on, the guide mentioned something," Tang Sai'er thought for a moment. "He said that the road over there was the narrowest, and their county had planned to recruit people to repair it this year, but before they could, a fight broke out."

"Uh……"

The others didn't remember it very well and didn't know how she remembered it so easily. However, the scout had just run back the way he came and immediately nodded in confirmation.

"Then let's speed up and intercept them there." Tang Sai'er raised her riding whip: "Listen up, everyone who can move, from now on, run as fast as you can. No problem?"

"No matter, no matter," Liang Lao Er immediately shook his head to stop them, saying, "We haven't recovered from the raid on the camp yet. If we run over there, our horses will be ruined."

"So what if they're ruined? If we win this battle, the fight will be over; if we lose, we won't need the warhorses anymore." Tang Sai'er said without hesitation, "Let's go!"

Seeing her decisiveness, Liang Lao Er and the others said nothing more, and urged their mounts onward at full speed.

However, their warhorses were gathered piecemeal, with significant differences in speed and stamina, not to mention that many were riding donkeys. Therefore, the column quickly spread out, forming a long single file. But Tang Sai'er couldn't worry about that; she only led the fastest few dozen men, and they reached their destination in a quarter of an hour.

The enemy appeared to be some distance away, so they immediately began constructing obstacles. According to the guide at the time, the roadside woods had grown relatively recently and were easier to manage, so they planned to start clearing them there. Therefore, she sent some men to quickly cut down several trees and place them in the middle of the road.

Later, the others arrived one after another, and Tang Sai'er urged them to dig a trench. Time was short, so they didn't care about the quality; they simply stuck the chopped wood behind the trench as cover.

When Xiao Jeanne arrived with Li Li and the others, Tang Sai'er was working herself, with a towel wrapped around her head, carrying a large log with the soldiers beside her to make a deer fort.

"Sister-in-law, what are you doing here? I heard from Mr. Luo's stories that the commander-in-chief cannot personally go to the construction site," she called out quickly.

"What kind of commander am I? We only have this many men," Tang Sai'er said helplessly. "Besides, don't use stories as examples. Who fights based on stories?"

“The story is easy to understand and suitable for beginners.” Little Jeanne answered quite seriously: “I think the level of military common sense in Europe is pitifully low. It’s not just lacking in tactics, but also in strategic thinking. In fact, many of our veteran mercenaries have fought half their lives but don’t have any strategic vision. They don’t know who to attack first or who to unite with. We have to teach them little by little.”

“And even Nurhaci could understand these stories. It’s quite appropriate to use storytelling to convey these principles.”

"Fine, fine." Tang Sai'er was too lazy to argue with her anymore.

Seeing her so dismissive attitude, little Jeanne stuck out her tongue and went to the side.

Tang Sai'er often felt that her humble origins and limited perspective were the reasons she had suffered setbacks along the way. However, in the eyes of Jeanne, who had experienced life in Europe and grew up in the French countryside, Tang Sai'er's team was already quite impressive.

In the Central Plains, "strategic vision" wasn't a luxury. Anyone contemplating rebellion could always find a down-on-his-luck scholar, a wandering Taoist physician, or a fugitive monk to explain the state of the world. Whether they succeeded or not, they could at least offer a few words of wisdom and grand principles.

But in Europe, such profound truths are rare. If the villagers decided to rebel, without someone knowledgeable to guide them, they probably wouldn't even know where to go… This isn't a metaphor; it's the reality of Domrémy back then. Otherwise, if the village girl Jeanne had an uncle who was a local priest, they truly wouldn't even know whether Paris was in the east or west…

This kind of thing can't be explained in a few words. Meanwhile, Tang Sai'er was still engrossed in her work and ignored her.

Just then, another scout rode up to report the situation to Tang Sai'er.

"The enemy will arrive in a quarter of an hour." After hearing this, she shouted to everyone, "That's all for the deployment! Use as many as you can. Everyone rest and prepare to meet the enemy!" After saying this, she ordered someone to call all the leaders over for a final meeting. She went to sit down to the side, picked up her water bottle, and began to drink. Before long, several people arrived.

“The enemy isn’t running fast either,” Little Jeanne said after a moment’s thought. “I thought we’d have to wait a little longer.”

“It seems the previous methods were still effective,” Tang Sai’er said. “But they’re in such a hurry, aren’t they afraid of suffering losses? At this point, whoever is more anxious will be more likely to be put on the defensive.”

“I understand your anxiety. But war is inherently against human nature, which is why there’s a saying that you can’t command an army with mercy,” Li Li said. “When you’re in command, you have to be rational and impartial, not only towards your soldiers and civilians, but also towards those things you care about. You can’t be too merciful. When you think about it, it’s quite torturous.”

"But controlling one's emotions and maintaining rationality are basic requirements for a battlefield commander. It's probably impossible to do well without a very strong will."

“I wonder where that Gray ran off to. If he's not lost, we can find him and have Wen Kui bring him in too.” Tang Sai’er nodded, pondered for a moment, and said to the person next to her, “Those words that reminded me earlier are indeed very useful now. Putting aside everything else, this guy is very good at grasping situations and seizing opportunities. He's also quite eloquent when giving advice.”

"Being good at talking is also a sign of being good at reading situations," Captain Martin commented. "After all, they're a grassland tribe; if they didn't have this ability, they probably wouldn't have survived this long..."

"Their stronghold is in trouble, why can't we be anxious?" Little Jeanne was more concerned about what was happening on the battlefield.

“It’s normal to be anxious, but the commander must control this emotion. Just like Uncle Li said earlier,” Tang Sai’er said, “the enemy is making the worst possible choice right now.”

"By now, they have been attacking all afternoon without making a breakthrough, and the soldiers must be exhausted. Under these circumstances, an emergency withdrawal and rush to the next battlefield would definitely cause a significant drop in both the organization of the army and the overall morale."

"Even those units that are in reserve and have not yet been deployed will be greatly affected. Under such circumstances, it is not a good choice to rashly carry out long-distance relocation."

"Why is there such a big impact even though you've never been on the battlefield?" Little Jeanne asked.

“Well…” Tang Sai’er thought for a moment and explained briefly, “In actual combat, a single soldier or a small unit cannot fight continuously for too long. Especially when fighting in armor, most people’s physical strength cannot last long. Therefore, battles like this siege are usually fought in rounds—if a breakthrough is not achieved in one round, they have to withdraw some distance, rotate and reorganize, and then launch another attack.”

"That kind of attack method where everyone rushes in looks spectacular, but the number of soldiers who can actually engage the enemy is relatively limited. Most people can only watch helplessly from the back."

"Another point is that on the battlefield, once combat begins, it is generally difficult for soldiers to maintain organization. Launching an attack is much easier than marching in an orderly manner. As for an orderly withdrawal, it requires even more training of soldiers and coordination of junior officers. No army that can do these things is simple. In Europe today, they are probably even rarer."

"Therefore, given limited resources, it is best to keep as many people as possible organized. After the charge, it is obviously impossible to effectively manage and rotate so many people crammed together."

"I heard from the people here that when the Romans and Gauls fought, they concluded that the Gauls were only a threat in their first wave of attack. As long as they survived the first wave, it would be easier for them to advance. However, the barbarians of today are much more advanced militarily than they were in classical times. Normally, commanders would try to avoid this situation. Since the Grail faction specifically hired experienced Italian mercenary groups, they must understand this."

"However, this also presents a problem: at the current pace of a typical army, after an afternoon of fighting, at least six or seven rotations have already taken place. In this situation, the defenders are certainly under a lot of pressure, but the attackers are in the same boat. It's not just those who take turns going up that have to bear the psychological pressure of casualties and failed assaults; others will also be affected when they see them taking turns going up and back down."

"Under normal circumstances, this level of wavering would be suppressed by officers. Unless the attack suffers a severe setback, it is within the normal range of combat and has a relatively limited impact on regular troops. However, if something suddenly happens in the rear, the situation becomes much more complicated."

"This situation is a great test of a commander's judgment. The simultaneous appearance of two enemy forces at the front and rear is either a coincidence or a pre-planned strategy; are the enemy forces in the rear scattered or the main force? These are all questions that need to be answered."

"More importantly, the convoy that has been unable to be captured for so long not only frustrates the attacking soldiers but also arouses suspicion among the commanders. Logically, a target like a transport convoy, suddenly attacked by a force with superior numbers, should end the battle quickly. Yet, these people have been able to immediately construct positions and hold out until now. So, is this the key target mentioned in the intelligence, or a carefully designed decoy? If it's not the latter, why is it inexplicably so difficult to capture? Even I, if I didn't know the situation, would definitely have reservations."

"And they have no choice but to be anxious. If they're held off here for a while, they'll probably be even more anxious." Captain Martin remembered something and said, "Do you remember? The mayor of Prague's territory is over in the camp area. That place has probably been emptied out by the Gray tribe by now. Even if the mercenary captains aren't in a hurry, the mayor and the lords of Prague probably can't control themselves."

"If I were in command, I would definitely think about quickly dealing with these equally exhausted enemies in front of us, and then preparing to wait for another group of enemies to arrive. Since the camp is already destroyed anyway, going back is pointless given the distance. On the other hand, since our side still has strength, even if the other side uses feints, as long as we don't follow their rhythm and continue to fight steadily, forcing them to come out for a decisive battle first, we won't suffer too much loss due to our sheer size."

"Their terrible choice is probably more than just a military decision-making problem." He shook his head with a smile. "You'll see later; I reckon there'll be other interesting developments."

(End of this chapter)