Aleister's judgment was correct. The main road to the west had always been excluded from their escape route by Mendelstein.
The main reason is that the west side is close to Gablenz, and the route is not suitable for escape. The cavalry team was short of manpower and had already lost a lot of people in the blocking battle. Only about 40 people came to the town. Only 3 of the 8 injured soldiers can return to the team now, and the others need to rest.
When choosing, you need to make trade-offs.
At least 15 of the 35 people need to be responsible for preparing food, which is a top priority when food is out, and the remaining 20 soldiers need to be responsible for the three exits.
Originally, the west side was not within the scope of consideration, but Mendelstein chose to think from other people's perspective, just like Aleister's previous analysis, but he did not further predict the opponent's prediction. He chose a more prudent approach. The ratio of the number of people at the east, north, and west exits was 5:12:3, and the north gate was his key target.
The reason is not only that the north gate is the most suitable for escaping, but also because the other party chose the north when he abandoned his car on the gravel road three days ago and fled.
Judging from the manpower distribution, Mendelstein concluded that they would take the north gate. Twelve people don't seem to be many, but after three days of observation, most of the people staying in the church are doctors, and not many are capable of fighting.
A team of 12 people, relying on the height of the second floor of the residential house and the advantages of the weapons in their hands, can completely prevent the opponent from moving. If handled properly, it is not impossible to quickly eliminate the opponent's armed forces.
Of course, since it is prediction, there is a possibility of mistakes. The key is whether there is a backup plan after the mistake.
If the opponent chooses the other two exits, according to the previous arrangement, as soon as gunfire occurs, the other three locations need support as soon as possible, and people must be left in the town. Now there are the most people in the north and south, so no matter whether you are walking east or west, you can get there quickly.
Before 6 o'clock in the morning, before dawn, the church guards were withdrawn, and guards from three locations were put in place.
In charge of the west side was a squad leader, Laina, and two young soldiers.
Lainer is considered a veteran. He has been Mendelstein's soldier since he was the squad leader. He has rich investigation experience. The two young soldiers were new recruits who had only joined the army in July. They had fought in a few battles, but they were still very immature in their actions. They were typical examples of one old man leading two young men.
Just 10 minutes before the gunfire rang out, Laina guessed that someone was coming to his side.
"Everyone cheer up, someone is coming."
"You're really here?!" The two recruits who were still yawning just now were excited. The cat looked at several major intersections in the distance by the window, "...That's not right, squad leader, there's nothing outside. People."
"Aren't you stupid? What's the use of waiting for people to actually arrive on the road?" Laina pointed to the distance, "Look over there, do you understand?"
"Over there? What is it?"
"Birds!" Laina sighed, "To be able to scare so many birds so early in the morning, it's in the direction of the church. Someone must be here!"
The two soldiers quickly stuffed bullets into the barrels of their guns, lowered the curtains on both sides, and only exposed a thin slit to observe the movements outside the street. A few minutes later, a face appeared at the corner of the alley, and soon three figures jumped out from the corner.
"It's coming, it's coming! It's really coming this time!"
The recruit was very excited and reported the situation to Laina beside him. This time it was Laina who was calm. He just glanced outside and said, "Don't worry, those three are just here to explore the road. Wait a moment."
"Wait? Everyone is coming out!"
"There are more than 20 of them, why are you anxious?" Laina sat on the ground and began to prepare bullets. "Just watch and put back the barrel of the gun! Don't let anyone discover our location when they start shooting!"
This is just a normal warning.
After all, I only have two people in my hands, and the new recruits are inexperienced, so I need to clearly tell them how to better hide their positions. No matter how many times he asked Laina, he would always choose to say this, but he would never have imagined that it was this routine warning that made the already clear situation confusing.
The sudden sound of gunfire pierced the sky, startling everyone in the escort team.
In an instant, Derleth was shot and on the verge of death. Smith was isolated on the road and could only rely on experience to hide by the tree.
At the same time, the sudden sound of gunshots also startled Laina. Originally there were only three people here, mostly for surveillance and delaying time. You shouldn't shoot unless you have to, at least not now.
"Made, who fired the shot?!!"
The newly fired soldier stood there dumbly, not knowing what to say for a moment.
Laina leaned against the window, fanned away the smoke produced by the gunpowder explosion, raised the gun in his hand, and fired another shot at the location where he had just shot. Another recruit next to him also understood and fired along with him.
After three shots were fired, the two of them pulled away and ducked to both sides.
Lainahu made a face, suppressed his voice, and asked again: "Who asked you to shoot???"
"I...when I put the gun away, I accidentally pressed it..."
"Didn't you have any gun training when you were in the army? Can this be misfired?" Laina was so angry that his lungs were about to explode, but he still stood up and secretly opened a corner of the curtain to look out the window. When he found that the other party did not appear, his heart couldn't help but thump. For a moment, "Do you know what the consequences will be if you shoot like this?"
"..."
"Do you know why we stay here?"
Another recruit interjected: "Stop them?"
"Is it useful to stop them?" Laina said. "How big is the town of Otaka? How many people are there? What if they scatter and run away? How do we catch them? Do you want to stay here all the time? You need to know the surroundings of the town. It's just that the wall, although very high, is not a barbed wire fence after all. If they are really pushed into a hurry, they can definitely spend some time climbing over the wall one by one..."
According to the practice of the squad leaders in charge of the intersection, they should wait for all the people to appear, block them on the side of the road with no other forks, and then wait for support.
The Prussian soldiers were not a medical team. They only had guns in their hands and were much faster. It took less than 10 minutes to sprint at full speed from the north and south exits. As soon as support arrived, these people were like turtles in a jar and had no way to escape.
Now this sudden shot hit the opponent at an angle, which seemed to be a good result. But if you put aside this human life and look at the entire situation, Laina's side is definitely at a loss.
Smith's location is not far from the corner, about 30-40 meters. If it hadn't been for the two additional shots that made the other party think that there were many people here, the other party might have dragged the wounded soldiers back to their previous positions.
After all, the next three of them need to reload and aim. It is almost impossible to hit each other in just ten seconds.
Once everyone evacuates this road, their whereabouts will be completely out of control.
It would be fine if they were simply out of control. The key problem is that the gunfire just now has attracted soldiers from the north and the south. What if they... Thinking of this, Laina became so angry that he slapped the wall. superior. But it's useless to be angry now. We must stabilize the other side immediately to prevent them from escaping.
He took out a newspaper from the bookcase behind him, rolled it into a loudspeaker, then opened the curtain and shouted outside: "Our commander knows that you are the Austrian escort, escorting officers and doctors to escape from the front line. Now four We have sealed all the exits, you can't escape, the only thing you can do is surrender!"
After finishing a sentence, he retracted his head before the other party could react.
This is a very risky move. If the other party is eager for reward, exposing the position is likely to wipe out the three-person team. But now Laina can't think of any other way. They will definitely not be able to defeat them. With the three guns in their hands, they can only fire more than a dozen bullets per minute. Taking into account the shooting deviation, they may not be able to stop them.
All he can do now is pure verbal intimidation.
"Why is there no response?" Laina looked at the two team members, considered for a moment, and then raised the newspaper tube, "No one shot either..."
"Let's see what's going on?"
"Those two people are still there and haven't left."
Laina nodded and decided to add a few more sticks to that paragraph to stoke the fire: "Your Sixth Army has been defeated miserably, and our main division is heading here. As long as you surrender, our captain promises to treat you well!"
"..."
After shouting loudly, the street was still quiet. Smith pulled Derlez, who had just been shot, still hiding by the tree, and the guardsmen were still hiding in the darkness around the corner and staying still. The situation was the same as when the gun was fired, but it still gave Laina a strange feeling.
"not good!"
He stood up abruptly, took up the gun and aimed it at the tree first, then quickly pointed the gun at the corner...
No movement!
Just when he was about to take the two recruits out of the house to bite the group of people just now, Smith, who had been hiding by the tree, suddenly cried bitterly: "Captain, captain, wake up, captain...morning... Knowing this, how good we were when we surrendered!"
I'll be happy to hear it.
Could it be that the person he shot just now was the other party's guard captain?
Lainer knew very well that this kind of small unit was separated from the main force for a long time, and the people's hearts were easily dispersed. It was in great need of a commander with charismatic personality. As long as the captain falls, they will most likely become a piece of sand.
"The bullets just now were just a warning. If you don't surrender, you will bear the consequences." He calculated the time for support, raised the newspaper tube again, and shouted, "I will give you five more minutes to think about it."
After saying this, he finally breathed a sigh of relief and was very satisfied with his on-the-spot judgment.
Of course, it was not easy to come to Na. I was not completely immersed in this joy, but I still reviewed what happened just now.
This is actually just like taking an exam. When I first got it, I found that I didn't know a few questions, but as I was doing it, I got inspired and wrote the answers eloquently. But the reality is cruel, and self-confidence often collapses suddenly at the final inspection stage.
The problem lies in the words.
In the next five minutes, he gradually realized that he seemed to have missed the opportunity to make up for the chaos after the cold shot. The opponent's large force hiding in the corner may have left from the beginning.
The man hiding behind the tree in front of me is just an abandoned child, oh no, it should be two.
"Follow me! Hurry!!!"
Liner threw away the newspaper tube, stood up, picked up the gun and rushed downstairs. The two new recruits also stood up and picked up their guns very quickly. But when the old squad leader just opened the door and wanted to chase Aleister, there was another gunshot, and the bullet hit his ear and directly hit the head of a recruit behind him.
"Mad! Emilov!"
Laina slammed the door and turned around to hide against the wall. As for the recruit who had been with him for less than three months, his right eye was completely shattered, a bullet hit his head, and his face was covered in blood.
"Sorry Prussians, we chose not to surrender." Smith across the street leaned against a tree, immediately reloaded his rifle with bullets, then continued to turn around and crouch, pointing the gun at the door, "Come out if you can. Come and I'll fight you."
From the moment Lena closed the door, he knew he had lost.
Not only did he let the person escape, but he was also blocked in the room by the other party. There was only one person on the other side. If they had been more decisive just now, both of them were not affected by Emilov's bullet and rushed forward. They should be able to kill him before the other side reloaded.
But now that the door is closed, it gives the opponent enough time to reload. The doors and windows of the house are all facing this direction. If you want to go out, you will face the next bullet attack.
The one who was originally blocking became a charger, while the one who was originally rushing forward became a blocking player.
Offense and defense have changed.
...
Unlike Laina, Aleister on the other side was very decisive. After seeing Derleth being shot and judging that he could not support him, he decisively chose to leave. This kind of decisiveness is not entirely a reaction on the spot, nor is he cold-blooded, but relies on an escape plan that has been prepared before.
"Meeting each other" has always been in Aleister's calculations.
If they just offer good words, they might be able to make a fuss about it with the surgical team and French journalists. But if a firefight breaks out, the entire escort team will still have to do the same thing as before. The large troops will flee first, and the forward reconnaissance posts will try to delay as much as possible.
The escape route was also planned before.
As long as he finds the north and south exits to support the fastest road to the west, he can arrange an escape route away from the opponent's sight. At this time, it will be much safer to choose the east or north.
】
"Follow me, this way." Aleister stood on the roadside, directing the team's retreat direction, and said in a low voice, "Everyone, step softly and don't talk!"
"Why doesn't Smith come back?"
"If he comes back, won't our intentions be exposed? And who will stop those enemies?"
"There aren't many people on the other side, right?"
"You mean to rush out directly?"
"right."
"There are at least three people on the other side. At least, they are holding fast-loading rifles." Aleister said, "You also saw the shot just now. It hit the neck accurately during the action. If we rush out like this, I'm afraid no one will Make it to the town alive."
Although Smith was disrespectful to himself, it was not serious.
Kawei is a doctor after all, and it always feels uncomfortable to see him face the enemy alone.
"He has already violated military discipline by holding a gun against you. In serious terms, this is tantamount to rebellion." Aleister looked at Kavi with a cold face, "If you think he does not deserve to die, then please follow him quickly. Get in line and let’s get out of here together.”
