So, Miklos quickly told the group what he knows.
He did not think of hiding anything.
There is no reason to hide anything.
They are on the same boat right now
After all, what he knows is not exactly a secret.
It is something he heard that some of the high-ranking members of the army telling one of the leaders of the army of what he should do
And Henrik after listening to Miklos understood a bit.
He nodded
Henrik is unlike any of these peasants. The original Henrik might be a peasant and his knowledge is limited.
But even though the current Henrik did not exactly understand medieval warfare, it is not to say that he did not know anything at all. After all, he could read and he was exposed somewhat to education
And from literacy come knowledge.
The only thing that is lacking for Henrik is information.
And now that Miklos volunteered that information, the way Henrik look at the hills become different and he somewhat understand this place
"a strategic place for the rebel army" he thought to himself.
"Even though it is not that tall, with some makeshift barriers, it could protect the rear and create a kill box. Because there are narrow paths and unless the main force brought a whole cavalry around here and ride through the hills, it would not be easy to just bypass the narrow path"
"And even if there is an idea of bypassing, if the leadership of the rebel army is not stupid, then traps is probably prepared on the path that could be used to bypass the narrow path"
"No, there is something I am missing" Henrik mutters and his very analysis shocked all of them.
Hearing Henrik saying all of this, they suddenly understand certain things they did not understand before
The one most surprised is Miklos. As for Matthias, his eyes shines
"What do you mean?" Miklos asked
"The hill is not smooth. Look at that" Henrik pointed to one of the ridges
"Broken mass of ridges, knolls and narrow trails"
Miklos nodded at this.
"This place…. this place if used effectively could force attackers into predictable routes"
Henrik did not know who the leader of this rebellion is.
But if he chooses this place to guard the rear, then this person at least knows some military strategy.
For Henrik, if one asks him to craft a strategy to fight, he will not know where to start.
But to analyse someone else military strategy while it is not really easy peasy, he could use the example of the battles in the past of his original world
"The height is roughly seventy to ninety meters above the surrounding fields. Some are even higher, while some are shorter. The width, probably six hundred to seven hundred meters across give or takes."
"The slopes, steep in parts, but there are a few paths where it is climbable."
As he spoke, Henrik understood certain thing.
The real battle is further away from their position.
From Henrik original position below, further forward the line has probably been breached.
But it is not breached completely.
It means there is people fighting in the narrow paths.
He did not have a binocular and he could not see it from this position no matter how he tries or how good his eyesight really is.
"Maybe, there is many layers of defences"
"Tch" Henrik clocked his tongue. He should have scouted the area when he died before.
Though he could not blame himself. At that time, he just only one thought in his mind and scouting the area is more of an afterthought
He just wanted to defeat that squire and see what lies beyond that death. So, it is understandable.
Henrik believe he should not beat himself up for things that had passed. This is an attitude that he had before he even came to this world
Things that had been done could not be changed now. Reflecting on it is good but being obsessed with it is not good.
Henrik shakes his head and focusses his head back on the situation at hand.
Henrik look again and he could see a few narrow routes in the distance. Some are shallow valley with marshy patches.
"Probably used by wagons and traders or people coming from out of the land" he thought to himself. Like a wagon path
Maybe even for mines. These hills…and mountain of stones nearby…there is probably a mining settlement not far from here
Now, that Henrik had time, he could think for a moment and try to deduce things.
And then there is the paths that are twisting and deep, on the hills and some of them around the hill, only the size of two or three men, paths that are partially hidden by shrubs
And there is even path that has a rain-cut trench leading upward and this path would make any cavalry find it hard.
They must dismount of they use this path.
Either advance in columns and not in mass number or have the risk of the formation breaking.
The one creating the place for this area is quite the strategist. There is even a kill zone in the middle slopes of some of these hills
Or to be more accurate, if one goes halfway up the hills.
There lies the true killing ground.
The place is full of scattered rock outcrops, small knobs, patches of thorn bushes and probably even some secret hidden passages
Henrik could even hide a few militias in some of the bushes or maybe there is some cave passages or even abandoned mine pits.
On some parts of the hills, it looks like a prime position for a mine if there are resources there.
Though Henrik could not be sure since he did not really know the geography of this place.
"It is a pity that they did not put archers in those areas"
"If one placed archer behind those rocks and bushes, slightly above the paths and use that position to fire down any climbing soldiers, a rain of arrows could be sustained, break the morale of the enemy and even deter the other from climbing up"
"A prime defensive position"
"Even if the enemy have their own archers, it would be hard to see the rebel army archers if they hide behind the rocks or inside the bushes"
"Spearman could also be hidden around that area or around the ridges. When the noble's army reaches the middle slope, they could charge or mount a surprise attack to take them by surprise"
Judging by some of the hill's terrain, one could even prepare loose stones and push them downhill when the noble army reached the halfway point for when they are near your position.
Usually by the time they reach the hills, they are tired from climbing and their formations are broken
This would be the ideal condition
And then when they reached the slopes, arrows rain down and there is attack from all sides. The hills could become a kill box if such arrangements are made.
But…. why were such arrangement are not made? This is what puzzles him.
"Lack of people or lack of strategy?" this kind of place is the perfect place to set up kill box.
Though this place does utilize the hills a bit and uses the centre below the hills as a kill box, there is many other methods that could be utilized
"Such strategy could not be employed…. because they are peasants?"
This is Henrik thoughts.
There are only a few possibilities on why such plans are not employed.
Either the people are insufficient to set up such area, the strategist did not know how to set it up or…. but then Henrik shakes his head
"What does it matter why they did not set it up"
Maybe they did set it up but abandon it because there are middle level officers that could carry it out.
The backbone of the army most of the times is the middle officers.
After all, if the great generals fight on the main front the rears and the other responsibility fall on the middle level officers.
Considering this is a rebel army that seems to be made up by peasants and common people, then that means the level of the middle level officers is probably the same level as any peasant or farmer.
If you ask a farmer to till a land, there is no one better.
But if you ask them to create a battle strategy or set up a defensive perimeter or hold out that is putting things that are not in its rightful place.
That is in itself cruel
Looking at the upper crest, Henrik eyes narrow. Long uneven ridge.
That is what he seeks and in a faraway hill he could see it. He could not say that it is quite far but from his current opposition it is quite far.
If it's from the position where he first spawned, the distance is quite considerable but it would not be considered far.
Long uneven ridge, the uphill area is also quite ideal.
"A last defensive line could be set up there" this is based on Henrik rudimentary knowledge of some methods and logics.
"Anything that could be stacked could be stacked upon and if they have time, wooden stakes could be put together and put down traps on the ground and set up archers, logs and stones. If they break through the bottom, the middle slopes and reach the top, they still had to face this final defensive wall"
He thought to himself
..