Chapter 172: The Defense of Brandenburg — Approaching

“No, something isn’t quite right about the situation here.” George frowned as he leaned against the crenelation.

Aldred asked with some suspicion, “Are the Barbarians preparing to launch a new offensive?”

George shook his head, his furrowed brows still not relaxing: “I’m not sure. That possibility exists, but it’s definitely not high. I don’t think the Barbarians have that kind of organizational capability right now. To make those cannon fodders, who clearly have no morale left, regain the courage to charge in such a short time.”

“If they aren’t fighting, then could they be preparing to run?” Chrispian expressed his opinion with a thoughtful look.

But soon, he was refuted by Ben: “You mean retreat? In this damn ghostly weather? I don’t think those Barbarians would set off so hastily.”

“Although they won’t set off immediately, it is very possible they are making preparations before retreating.” George analyzed following Ben’s words.

“It’s a pity there are still too many of them. Otherwise, we might have had a chance to launch a pursuit.” Ben sighed with some regret.

Green rubbed his hands and stomped his feet as he gave his view: “I say, judging by the previous situation. There should be around 30,000 to 40,000 Barbarians left completely under the walls of Brandenburg!”

As someone not considered a main combat profession, Green’s main job these days was to use music to buff everyone. Occasionally, when his hands got itchy, George and the others would leave a few Barbarians for him to satisfy his craving with a rapier.

Before this, when he was in the defense zone of his own territory, he just shot some arrows. He had plenty of time to observe the specific movements and situation of the Barbarians.

Born in a Knight’s family, Green had received quite complete instruction in military knowledge on the battlefield. Although he was not a profession like a Knight who led troops in battle, his status determined that he had to join the army and fight when necessary. He studied quite hard in this regard, and the results were good. Although he seemed unfamiliar with things like leading troops in battle and setting up camps due to a lack of practice, he was quite good at roughly calculating enemy casualties.

Although he couldn’t calculate the exact number, his rough estimate was quite accurate. Of course, this also had to be thanked to the Barbarians’ low medical level. Basically, anyone who fell with serious injuries had no chance of being saved. Otherwise, just confirming death would be a problem that would give everyone a headache.

“Your statistics shouldn’t be wrong! These numbers are roughly consistent with what I learned from Mr. Val. I think those Mages on the high tower shouldn’t have calculated wrong. Although their combat power isn’t as good as Knights, their strange and varied spells are still quite useful in other aspects!” Saying this, George turned around and inserted his Longsword, along with the scabbard, back into the armed belt.

The so-called armed belt was a belt used by modern officers in the world George lived in before he crossed over. It could hold a pistol and a command sword. It referred to a military belt that included a shoulder strap, and the material could be leather or canvas. Initially, George came up with this thing out of some kind of bad taste, or perhaps just out of boredom.

After crossbreeding it with the professional belts of this world that had similar functions, an improved variety appeared. For combat professionals like George who liked to use throwing weapons or had many secondary weapons, it was a good auxiliary tool. But it was too easy to imitate, so it couldn’t bring much profit to the Bolem Territory.

“That is to say, the casualties of these Barbarians should be between twenty and thirty percent!” Aldred said with some disbelief.

Ben turned his body so his mouth wasn’t facing the cold wind directly, and gave Aldred a quite certain answer: “It should be! Although we know the other side has at least 150,000 people, even the Mages aren’t sure exactly how many. But generally speaking, it shouldn’t exceed 200,000.”

“This is really surprising. Given the level and morale of those Barbarians, they can still fight after suffering so many casualties. This seriously doesn’t match the combat power they showed!” Aldred seemed to want to scratch his head, but unfortunately, what he touched was only his cold helmet.

Chrispian also chimed in: “I agree with Aldred. Suffering such huge casualties, the Barbarian army actually hasn’t collapsed yet. This is clearly inconsistent with their performance in battle! As far as I know, they don’t have a large number of reinforcements.”

The armies of this era, by analogy, were mostly comparable to the medieval times before George crossed over. In most countries, troops that could sustain fifteen percent casualties without collapsing in frontal combat were considered elite. If they could sustain five percent casualties from being attacked from behind without wavering, they were even more outstanding. Of course, the quality of Nohan’s regular army was basically above this. Judging from the known combat performance of the Barbarians, they were not elite at all.

“I think this has a lot to do with the system and combat style of the Barbarians! Although the Barbarians sent up suffered heavy casualties, didn’t you notice? Those main Barbarian forces still maintained their combat power. Most of the ones they sent up were slaves and sinners, types of cannon fodder or death squads.” George paused slightly, touched his chin and thought for a while before continuing, “The Barbarians might want to use these manpower, which seems useless to them, to consume the physical strength of our Brandenburg defenders. And the losses of the truly elite troops were probably only that batch responsible for destroying the Drawbridge during the attack on the city gate!”

“Then according to what you say, the real combat power of those Barbarians hasn’t suffered much loss, and they can suppress those slaves and sinners in the punishment battalions. No wonder they can persist for so long.” Ben said with a shrug. “But we can’t do things like they do. Anyone with a bit of strength is wealth to us! How could we just let them die in vain like this.”

The so-called “combat power” of an army is formed jointly by “combat forces” and “support units.” The loss of either will affect the overall combat power.

However, combat forces can still hold on for a bit without support units. But once the combat forces blocking the front are gone, the support units behind become “meat on the chopping block” for the enemy! Unfortunately, what is lost first and most in battle is usually the combat forces at the front.

This is why, according to Western conventions before crossing over, a unit with twenty percent losses is considered to have halved combat power, and thirty percent is considered to have basically lost combat power—twenty percent losses often mean that the combat forces have lost more than half, and thirty percent losses mean that the combat forces are close to collapsing!

If someone insists that there is still a three percent difference between thirty percent and one-third! Have you ever seen a skilled driver wait until the gas tank only has the last drop of oil before refueling?

Of course, “losing combat power” doesn’t mean that not a single person in the entire division can go to the front line. But to be honest—when the main infantry responsible for front-line combat is almost completely lost, this unit also loses the ability to perform tasks as a “basic tactical unit.”

In principle, a division-level unit with thirty percent battle damage should be regarded as having basically lost combat power and should be withdrawn immediately for rest and reorganization. If there are sufficient reserves, this unit can recover considerable combat power in as fast as a few months or as long as half a year after receiving replenishment.

However, if they continue to hold on stubbornly, not only will they not be able to exert much combat power. After all, every trade has its specialist; can you expect the mule team’s baggage soldiers to serve as Heavy Infantry? It will also cause structural damage to the unit—training an infantryman is relatively easy, but some technical arms in the support units are not as easy to cultivate as infantry—of course, this does not refer to baggage soldiers here.

Therefore, on the modern battlefield, once a unit’s losses exceed fifty percent, if the war situation is not tight, it can be pulled back and spend a year or so to rebuild. When the war situation is tight, it will be broken up and used to replenish other units. Many unit designations have disappeared in history this way!

Aldred nodded listening to the two’s statements, then cheered with an excited face: “But it looks like the Barbarians have reached their limit too! Even if most of the losses are discarded pieces, such a large number will still be unbearable for the Barbarians. These damn guys are definitely preparing to run away. These hard days should be over soon! I’ve long been fed up with those carrots and onions.”

Due to wartime regulations, although it seemed risk-free, the South City Gate would absolutely not open without the logistics team from Karada. Although there was a pulley crane as a channel to obtain supplies from the south, the amount of supplies that could be obtained was absolutely incomparable to what could be transported through the city gate.

More importantly, for the army, fresh meat was much easier to boost morale than vegetables during battle. At the same time, it could bring a lot of protein and energy. In the eyes of the officers, meat was indeed more important than vegetables. As for the alcohol used to boost morale in other countries, it was prohibited to drink during wartime in Nohan. Although it could boost morale, if some guys were addicted to alcohol, it would easily cause trouble. So the Duchy of Nohan solved this problem from the root with regulations very early on.

“Although it’s a bit of a buzzkill, Aldred, I have to remind you. It has been snowing for several days. Even if the Barbarians retreat now, the possibility of you eating green leafy vegetables is not high.” Green said, obviously gloating.

“Don’t tell me there aren’t even cellar-stored cabbages, this kind of leafy green vegetable here!” Aldred asked with a puzzled face, not understanding the situation.

“Do you think the ordinary residents here have the ability to dig cellars for storing a large amount of vegetables? Those winter foods aren’t even enough for them to eat themselves! As for merchants, they wouldn’t choose vegetables, which don’t sell for a high price, to store!” After dampening Aldred’s spirits, Ben felt a bit reluctant and said, “Aldred, if you really can’t stand it, after this battle is over, I’ll have someone get some for you from my family’s cellar!”

For these few foodies who had gone off-topic miles away, George helplessly held his head and reminded them: “Stop thinking about this for now. Whether the Barbarians retreat or not, even if they are going to retreat, there is no certainty when they will leave! Isn’t it too early for you to think about this now?”

“Didn’t your conclusion just now say that the Barbarians couldn’t bear the losses anymore?” Chrispian asked somewhat strangely. In his view, George was overturning his previous view.

George extended his finger and waved it in front of everyone before saying: “In terms of combat power and personnel losses, the Barbarians can still hold on for now. But their biggest problem right now is the atmosphere of despair hanging over everyone’s head.”

As soon as George’s voice fell, Ben, who had a longer military career, immediately expressed his agreement: “That’s right, the Barbarians’ biggest problem now is that their efforts see no hope. After attacking for so long, they haven’t even been able to completely capture a single section of the city wall. If the important leaders haven’t lost their minds, they should know that there is no possibility of success in this battle.”

Green clenched his right fist and knocked it on his left hand before saying: “That is to say, although the Barbarians still have the strength to fight. But according to the current situation, it is meaningless for them to continue fighting. If they don’t want to suffer greater losses, retreating now can be said to be the most appropriate thing to do.”

“You can’t say it’s meaningless either. At the very least, it can cause us significant losses. At the same time, it can contribute to consuming the excess population.” Chrispian said and whistled, “Whee—”

“Cough! Cough! Cough!” Unfortunately, this behavior was not appropriate in a snowy day with strong winds. Chrispian, who accidentally had cold wind pour back into his windpipe, was now coughing desperately!

“That’s true too, the Barbarians are still in the preparation stage over there. We have to wait for them to show something before we know the specific situation!” Aldred said somewhat dejectedly.

Seeing this situation, George immediately made a promise: “When the border defense is over, don’t rush back to your places. Come with me to the Bolem Territory for a good meal first.”

“George, you’re the best. Hooray! Long live gourmet food!” Aldred cheered first.

“Long live gourmet food!”

“Hooray!”

At the same time, in the Barbarian camp, Burks and Gloras, the two special envoys of the Kingdom of Lucia, were hurriedly packing their own belongings. Ever since they got the news that the Barbarians were preparing to retreat. No! In fact, after the White Dragon was killed and the Siege Tower was destroyed, the two of them had already started arranging a way out.

They had long bribed a clan leader whose tribe was near the Kingdom of Lucia and had certain trade dealings with the Kingdom. They hoped to blend into their team during the retreat to avoid as many risks as possible. So they could return to their homeland safely.

In this moment akin to fleeing for their lives, money really could only be considered as worldly possessions. So why were they carefully packing various items!

“Gloras! How are the preparations going?” Burks was looking through the Contracts in his hand one by one and putting them into a paper bag. He asked his companion beside him without turning his head.

“It’s okay! Most of the ones around us have been recovered. The only problem is the Contracts handed to those Barbarian chieftains, I’m afraid there’s no way to get them back.” Gloras said, using force with a shiny hemp rope to pack a cowhide box nearby. That box looked so bulging it seemed like it couldn’t hold anything more.

“Then we can only hope that none of them will be unlucky enough to be caught by the soldiers of the Duchy of Nohan.” Burks said with a bit of a headache.

“It shouldn’t come to that, facing such a large number of Barbarians. The commander in Brandenburg, for the sake of safety, is unlikely to send troops to chase even if.” Gloras stopped what he was doing and said somewhat jokingly, “Instead of worrying about this, you might as well worry that those guys won’t leave the Contracts nearby to be picked up by members of the Duchy of Nohan.”

But this sentence made Burks unable to laugh at all: “Although it feels absurd, such things are not impossible to happen with the Barbarians.”

“You’re right!” Gloras’s joke immediately turned into a wry smile, “It’s a pity these are all Magic Contracts! Otherwise, we could just burn them and be done with it.”

“If they weren’t Magic Contracts, would those Barbarians trust our Kingdom of Lucia? Even if they trusted us, wouldn’t our Kingdom of Lucia be afraid that they would go back on their word after taking the things? So this is also a helpless method!” Burks said, but he didn’t slow down his handiwork. Soon, another completely sealed kraft paper bag appeared in his hand.

Of course, the kraft paper here was not the high-strength packaging material paper from before George crossed over. It was a material similar to cowhide drum surfaces, with characteristics like toughness, waterproofing, and fire resistance. In civilized society, it was a good material for preserving documents and making drum surfaces.

Gloras continued to wrestle with various packages: “Anyway, we just need to do our part well. Leave the rest to fate! If it really wants to put the Kingdom of Lucia in a difficult situation, there’s nothing we can do to stop it, right?”

“That’s true, but we still have to take everything that belongs to us. To prevent those civil officials from having an excuse to make a fuss.” Burks agreed and echoed while hurriedly packing his things.

If it weren’t for this conversation. Their behavior of not forgetting to clean up loose ends while fleeing for their lives really had the style of underground resistance members in occupied areas!

These agreements recording the cooperation between the Kingdom of Lucia and the Barbarians, once they fell into the hands of the Duchy of Nohan, could play a very significant role. Because this kind of behavior had already crossed the bottom line of the countries of the Western Continent. It was like the genocide that occurred in the 21st century before crossing over. This would not only lead to diplomatic passivity but also give surrounding countries a reason to send troops against them and for their vassals to rebel in this era.