Hogwarts Ordnance Manual

Going further north and entering the mountains, the armored troops of the Iron Lion Principality slowed down significantly. Dudley had no time to mushroom with them. The Spitfire increased its flight altitude to 200 meters, accelerated its speed, and passed a towering tower. Mountains and endless plains are displayed in front of everyone.

Mia leaned next to Dudley, looking at the beautiful scenery of the plains in front of her, and suddenly asked: "Teacher Dudley... Since Byres has a magic airship and can pass through the Iron Lion Principality's border almost without any hindrance, why? How about directly attacking Thunder Rock Castle (the capital of the Iron Lion Principality) without building many airships?... Just like attacking the Kingdom of Wind..."

Dudley thought of the world he lived in in his previous life, and the bullying records of some countries with strong air supremacy. He couldn't help but sigh and said: "Airships can indeed quickly break through the defenses of the Iron Lion Principality, but in the end, the occupation of the city still relies on the army's advancement. , bombing can only reduce the enemy's ability to resist and destroy the enemy's morale, but there are also many contradictions that restrict this tactic."

He continued to explain: "The first is the difficulty of mass production. The Spitfire we are on is 80 meters long. It should be the largest airship that Byres can produce. Not to mention the manufacturing difficulties, this kind of airship still needs A magician can provide energy for a long time. I think three-star magicians are not a bad street in Byres. You can pull a group of them casually, right?"

"The second is the load. Such an airship can carry more than 300 people, more or less. All the food, drink and food of 300 people are on the ship. The ammunition that can be carried is bound to be limited. But if the number of people is reduced, the number of people will be increased. If you don’t have enough ammunition, you won’t have enough gunners and soldiers on duty, and you won’t have the ability to defend yourself in the event of an emergency landing.”

"Then there's the economic account. Destroying a city by airship bombing, not to mention the counter-attack capabilities of the opponent's air defense forces, consumes an astronomical number of ammunition. What's the use of occupying it after blowing up a ruins?"

Dad was the first to nod in agreement and said: "If you use a 500 Zem coin bomb to blow up a civilian's house worth only 200 Zem coins, you will only lose but not make any profit. And high-value targets will inevitably have anti-aircraft guns deployed, which will be very difficult." It’s difficult to get close, so although airships are good, they don’t provide an overwhelming advantage.”

Dudley looked at the sky and said, "Unless we can build a fully enclosed airship that can fly to an altitude of several thousand meters so that even local anti-aircraft guns can't hit it!"

Mia was thoughtful. She didn't expect that there would be so many twists and turns. She thought that by building a few more airships, she could easily regain the city of the Kingdom of Wind. But now it seems that it is still a fantasy.

"An army firefight was detected in the northwest!" Ghost Joe's voice came from overhead. He didn't like to be with others. He usually liked to climb onto the airbag inspection platform of the airship, observe the enemy's situation with a telescope, and draw iron maps along the way. Map of the Lion Kingdom is a natural master of reconnaissance.

Dudley took out the scope of his rifle and looked northwest. About fifty kilometers away, there were two troops fighting on the plain. Of course, the sound of the artillery could not reach that far, but the rising smoke and rumbling black smoke made it difficult to see. 's very clear.

Dudley waved his hand, and Lulu immediately adjusted his flight direction and flew towards the battle site.

As the distance approached, the roar of the explosion gradually came over, and the battle situation and the military power of the two sides were also displayed in front of Dudley.

The vast plain was separated by a large river, which was 200 meters wide. A strong fortress was built downstream of the battle site. Like a sharp knife, this Byres army broke through the border defense of the Iron Lion Principality, which was still two hundred kilometers to the north. Prepare to forcibly cross the river from the upper reaches of the fortress, and then penetrate the Iron Lion Principality's second line of defense.

If successful, the hinterland of the Iron Lion Principality will only contain forests and villages. Byres's army will be able to advance, attack, retreat or defend, and will respond to the legions on other offensive routes.

The defenders of the fortress discovered the Byres Army's intentions in time and sent a large number of mechanical troops up the river bank to attack the Byres Army head-on as they crossed the river.

There are at least more than 2000 Iron Lion defenders, and more than a dozen heavy-duty military trucks are deployed on the river bank, turning into tall forts, venting artillery fire towards the Byres Army on the other side. This is a kind of magic energy similar to a 130-caliber howitzer. The power of the artillery was not much weaker than that of the howitzer, but its range was only about 3-5 kilometers. Other tanks swarmed in front of the place where Byres' army was preparing to land, forming a copper wall and iron wall, blocking the direction of Byres' army.

The Byres Army on the opposite side has about three thousand semi-mechanized troops and is building a pontoon bridge on the river. On the bank are mainly cavalry riding mechanical chocobos. They are very mobile and will rush across the river quickly as long as the pontoon bridge is built.

They are not equipped with heavy siege machinery, but there are three magicians sitting on a vehicle that looks like a mechanical sand beast. Whenever the cannon from the opposite side is about to fall on the pontoon bridge being built or a relatively dense crowd, there will be magic. The division emits a lilac light and knocks away the incoming shells, like a missile interception system.Whenever there is an opportunity, a magician will summon a fireball like a meteorite and blast it towards the chariot of the Iron Lion defenders.

Both sides had their own strengths. The Iron Lion defenders had intensive firepower, but the effect was not great. Most of the artillery fire fired in the target were intercepted by the magicians. The construction of the pontoon bridge by the Byres army was also very slow. For a while, the two armies were in a stalemate. There is damage.

"Who can win?" Mia asked Dudley.

Before Dudley could speak, his father had already stroked his moustache and analyzed: "The Byres Army is bound to be defeated. They attacked for a long distance and were isolated and helpless. They were blocked by the Iron Lion Army on the river. They were in a dilemma. The operation has failed. The Iron Lion Army As long as we outflank them from the other way, we can completely annihilate the enemy forces."

"I'm afraid it's not that simple..." Dudley muttered.

If it is an ordinary army, the only way to go deep alone is to fight quickly, kill with one blow, and retreat at the first touch, such as destroying the supply line of the Iron Lion Army on the front line, blocking reinforcements sent from other cities, or destroying energy facilities, communication facilities, and ammunition depots And so on, but the Byres army acted as if they were planning to attack the city. It is possible that their goal was not to penetrate the second line of defense, but to attack Huanglong like Huo Qubing and seal the wolf away from home.

Now that the forward is blocked, the Byres army has no intention of taking advantage of the situation, but wants to fight to the end with the Iron Lion defenders. Either you die or I die.

As he spoke, smoke from vehicles passing by appeared behind the Byres Army. Apparently, just as his father said, the defenders of the Iron Lion Fortress downstream had crossed the river from the lower reaches and went around to the rear of the Byres Army, preparing to make a surprise attack. dumpling.

"The Byres Army is in trouble!" Mia's tone contained a hint of hatred and pleasure. Dudley could see the burning flames in her eyes. She really wanted to see the Byres Army being surrounded and annihilated. , which can be regarded as avenging her relatives and hometown.

However, before the Iron Lion Army who came to outflank the Byres Army exchanged fire, a violent explosion came from the direction of the Iron Lion Fortress.

Dudley turned around and saw, what a guy, two airships slightly smaller than the Spitfire appeared not far from the fortress. The mana cannons on the ships fired a volley, filling the fortress with smoke, and large rocks fell from the fortress. The city head fell down, accompanied by fragments of the defending artillery.

"It's a conspiracy to divert the tiger away from the mountain again." Dad analyzed: "If you want to eat the Byres army that comes in, the defenders of the Iron Lion Fortress must dispatch at least 5000 to [-] people. In this way, the fortress's city defense will be weakened." It must be empty.”

Mia asked: "But the Iron Lion Army knew clearly that if they went out in full force, their internal defense would be empty, so why did they do it anyway?"

Dudley sighed and said: "Human nature... In the face of merit and profit, it is not surprising that the commander of the fortress finally chose to go all-in."

The remaining defenders of the fortress launched scattered counterattacks, but the two airships suddenly raised their altitude and continued to bombard the other wall indiscriminately.

The chariot troops who were originally going to outflank Byres' army across the river saw the thick smoke coming from the direction of the fortress and stepped on the brakes. They also faced a dilemma: whether to continue to advance and destroy Byres' army, or to return to defend the fortress. ,Safety first?

"Don't retreat, don't retreat!" Dad shouted excitedly. As he said, Iron Lion's outflanking troops are here. Of course, they should continue to perform the mission and annihilate the troops crossing the river in front of them. Now that they are retreating before the battle, the morale of the army will immediately increase. They were scattered, and even if they turned around immediately, it would be too late to go back. The airship had already withdrawn.

Byres would never expect two small airships to capture this fortress. He just wanted to get into the mentality of the commander of the Iron Lion Army who was fighting.The bombing left them uneasy and unable to make a decision, and the troops crossing the river had a chance.

But no matter how Dad yelled, Iron Lion's outflanking troops still turned around. Dad slapped his thigh with a palm, and the robot hand hit his thigh in pain, which made him grin, showing the indignation in his heart.

Mia looked at Dudley and wanted to go down and help the Iron Lion Army defeat Byleth's troops.

"We cannot expose our military strength. Even if we defeat the Byres Army, the Iron Lion Army will not trust us... I can go alone!" Dudley said loudly.

Mia quickly shook her head and said: "No, we can't let you take risks alone!"

Dudley grinned, touched Mia's hair and said, "Don't worry, girl, I'll be right back!"

After he finished speaking, he took out the flying broomstick from the magic package, turned over and stepped on it.

"I'll go with you!" Before Mia could say anything, Ghost Joe's voice came from the air bag above his head. Dudley turned around and saw that Ghost Joe had actually made a pair of gliders, which might be Remus's "Air Force" "Marine Corps" equipment, sometimes gliders can be used to arrange emergency landings.

Before Dudley could take off, Ghost Joe had already stuck his arms firmly on the hang glider and jumped off the top of the air bag, making Mia scream in surprise.

But Ghost Shadow Qiao did not fall to the ground, but flew quickly towards the Iron Lion Fortress like a huge kite.

"This kid!" Dudley was angry and amused in his heart. Hang gliding is not a game. How could anyone perform a high-altitude gliding combat mission for the first time?Do you really think you are Guo Jing?

But with Dudley around, of course he wouldn't just watch anything happen to Ghost Joe. He kicked his feet, and the flying broom shot out from the deck like an arrow, chasing Ghost Joe's back. .