Turning the Flank (1)

Launching large-scale mopping-up operations during the busy farming season to disrupt agricultural production is nothing new—or rather, in Joseph's view, it's nothing new. In another timeline, the Japan army also liked to use this tactic. But this tactic was completely thwarted by the revolutionary heroes. And the operational strategies of these people's heroes in dealing with this unscrupulous method are also depicted in many old anti-Japanese war films that Joseph had seen (note, not the later anti-Japanese war dramas).

This tactic was called the "Turning the Flank Tactic" at the time. It means that when the enemy is "nibbling away" and "mopping up" our territory, it is necessary to adopt the "Turning the Flank Tactic" in military terms, that is, when the enemy invades our territory, we fight back to the enemy's territory. (<Dispersed Guerrilla Warfare and Political Offensive Against the Enemy>)

Joseph, being historically illiterate in his previous life, had never read such professional literature, but that didn't matter, because in his previous life Joseph had watched quite a few relatively reliable war films, even those directly called "educational films." In these films, he often saw scenes like this.

The commander of the main force shook hands with the old district chief and said, "The Japanese are sweeping again. We are now tasked with moving to the outer lines to fight the enemy, protect the people, and hold off the Japanese. This mission is entrusted to you."

The former district chief replied firmly, "Please rest assured, sir, we will definitely complete the mission!"

The so-called "jumping to the outer line" here refers to the "enemy advances, we advance" Turning the Flank Tactic." This means that our main force, taking advantage of the gaps between enemy troops, directly penetrates the enemy's rear. At this time, the enemy's rear is very vulnerable, and the enemy's large-scale operations are heavily reliant on logistical support. Once the vulnerable rear is attacked, the enemy will have to recall its main force, thus rendering the large-scale mopping-up operation against the base area ineffective.

Of course, this type of warfare places extremely high demands on the organization of the army executing it. It requires the army to be able to both disperse into smaller units and regroup at any time. Otherwise, when the army tries to exploit gaps between enemy lines, it becomes vulnerable to being captured, leading to severe losses. In the present day, including the Ireland guerrillas, no army in the world possesses such a high degree of organization. Therefore, it would have been quite difficult for the Ireland to execute such a complex tactic.

However, Ireland's terrain provided the Ireland with a significant advantage, making it relatively easier for them to break through the Britain encirclement. This advantage lay in the numerous marshes that dotted the Ireland plains.

These vast swamps were fraught with danger, deterring even locals from venturing into them. However, for well-prepared guerrillas, these swamps became ideal hiding places and passageways. After the British Army's first major sweep, the Federation, in summarizing its lessons learned, placed great importance on building swamp shelters. They created safe paths by driving wooden stakes into the swamp and then laying planks on top. When necessary, they could remove the planks or even pull out the stakes with ropes, turning the original path into a deadly trap.

The British Army could not possibly surround these large swamps; they did not have enough troops, and doing so would only lead to excessive troop dispersion, and would likely allow the enemy to concentrate superior forces to annihilate the enemy piecemeal. Their main force could only cross these swamps to attack the heart of their base. But in doing so, the main force of the guerrillas could also bypass the British Army through these swamp passages and strike targets deep within the British Army territory.

So when Joseph mentioned this tactic in a letter he sent to the leaders of the Society of United Irishmen, almost everyone's eyes lit up.

"Wow... I never expected such a move! Hahaha, they come here to raid, so we'll raid them. We'll demolish all the supply depots they've painstakingly built near those cities, take everything they've stored inside, and kill everyone they left to guard them—in short, we'll give them a taste of their own medicine!" The rebel commander, Joyce, had served as a platoon leader in Napoleon's Italian Legion and later received special military training in Toulon. He was now the commander of the First Division of the Independence Army, formed by the Federation.

The Federation's divisions were more similar to the divisions of the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army in later times than to the divisions of the 18th Group Army. In other words, a division actually had less than a thousand men. However, on the Irish Independence Army's side, this was already the main force. Now, under the command of the Federation, there were only two divisions.

"Our strategic objective is to draw the enemy away and prevent them from sabotaging our base. We must not get caught up in unnecessary feelings of revenge, and even more importantly, we must not let our emotions affect our work," Chairman Russell said to him very seriously.

"I understand, President. I was just saying it offhand. It won't affect my work," Joyce quickly replied.

"Don't say such things casually in front of the wartime troops. If you want to spread propaganda, do it from the perspective of helping your compatriots in the base areas."

"Clear."

"Alright then, let's all get back to work."

Preparations were hectic, especially after the decision to launch this flanking maneuver was made. All sorts of intelligence were constantly being gathered at command, and the enemy's various deployments gradually became clearer...

Little Mine Village is a small village located between a "quasi-safe zone" and a "non-safe zone". Many years ago, there was a small copper mine nearby, hence the name of the village. Now, the copper mine near the village has long been abandoned because the ore has been mined out, and the miners have all moved away. The remaining people have become potato farmers.

After the last major raid, the village was wiped out, but it was not abandoned. Under the Federation's arrangement, the farmers who had escaped from the Britain- controlled area became the new villagers of the Little Mine Village.

The news of another large-scale British Army sweep had already been spread to every household by the district militia. They specifically mentioned. "You must follow our usual training and, after receiving the notice, go to the nearby swamp in an organized manner to take refuge. Do not hide in the mines. During the last sweep, the villagers hid in the mines, and the Britain smoked them out, killing the entire village!"

The villagers already knew this story, and there were even various terrifying legends about the mine. Nevertheless, everyone expressed their gratitude to the district team members.

That noon, while everyone was busy in the fields, they heard someone blow a whistle.

Everyone quickly looked up at the hilltop and, sure enough, saw the message tree had fallen.

"Everyone, follow me to the shelter immediately!" shouted Village Chief Sean.

"Village chief, my wife is still in the village!" someone shouted.

"It's alright, there are people in the village taking care of things. Just follow me directly to the shelter," the village chief said.

The village chief led his men to the edge of the swamp. At the entrance to the swamp, a member of the district squad was guarding the spot with a rifle he had seized from Black Dog. Behind him, a wooden plank road stretched for dozens of meters.

"Edgar, have all the people who stayed in the village gone inside?" the village chief asked.

"They're all inside, and they brought the livestock and everything else with them," Edgar replied.

The village chief waved to everyone and shouted, "Alright, everyone, hurry up and go inside!"

One by one, everyone stepped onto the plank road. Seeing that everyone had made their way onto the road, Chief Sean and Edgar also began to walk in. As they walked, they took up the planks they had laid out and laid them in front of them, and used ropes to pull up or tilt the wooden stakes supporting the planks behind them. In this way, the area they passed through was restored to a swamp overgrown with various aquatic plants.

"Village chief, look! There's smoke coming from over there!" someone shouted.

"It looks like it's in the direction of our village!"

"The Britain have really come. Do you think they dare to chase after us?"

"I'm afraid they won't come in. If these bastards dare to come in, no matter how many come, I'll kill them all," Edgar cursed, gripping his gun.

After a while, a group of the British Army and a group of "Black Dogs" arrived at the edge of the swamp.

"Sir, judging from the tracks, those villagers must have gone into the swamp," a black officer said to another British Army officer on horseback.

The villagers brought some livestock with them, and the animals left footprints and droppings as they moved, so the Britain and the black dog chased them all the way here.

"Hmm, very good." The Britain officer first raised his binoculars and looked into the swamp. The swamp was full of reeds of all shapes and sizes, or other aquatic plants, and occasionally a few water birds could be seen flying by. As for anything else, nothing could be seen.

"Very good." The Britain officer nodded again, then said to the "Security Army" officer standing in front of his horse, "Take your men and go scout ahead."

The "Security Army" officer trembled with fear and nearly knelt down. "Sir, you can't go into this swamp! The water may look shallow, but the mud below is incredibly deep. You might step in and sink completely! You can't go in!"

"Can't get in? Then how did those rebels get in?"

"Sir, they're locals, they might know the way. We're outsiders, we have no idea where the terrain is deep or shallow, going in like this would be a death sentence."

"Dead men? Captain, we're at war! What kind of war are we fighting if we're afraid of dead men? You Ireland are all slackers... What? You want to disobey orders?"

Seeing that the Britain officer seemed to be reaching for his pistol, the "Security Army" captain dared not say anything more and quickly nodded, saying, "Sir, you're right, we're under orders..."

Then he went to the front of his group, grabbed a few men at random, brandished his pistol, and shouted, "You guys go scout ahead! Anyone who doesn't go, I'll shoot him..."