novelSusiti Chapter 100. The Battle of Cux 7
Chapter 100. The Battle of Cux 7
Chapter 100. The Battle of Cux 7
Europeans seem to have a strong aversion to defensive lines.
During World War I and World War II, various defensive lines sprang up everywhere, with some of the more famous ones being the Macedonian Line, the Siegfried Line, and the Mannerheim Line.
In fact, as early as the Peninsular War in 1809, Arthur Wellesley, later known as Wellington, built a defensive line called the Talavera Field Line in central Spain.
The overall strategy for the defense line is similar to that of Dugan: lock down the high ground, deploy the main force in the central plain, control key routes with artillery, and leave room for counterattacks in segmented positions.
Dugan quietly asked Gris, "Gris, have you had any lately—?"
Gris opened his eyes wide and retorted, "What do you take me for? Don't worry, brother, I took your advice; now I only look for clean girls!"
Dugan was speechless for a long time after hearing this.
Gris seemed to understand his previous advice, but also seemed not to understand it.
Dugan himself was actually quite scared. He was incredibly lucky that he hadn't contracted syphilis during his previous dissolute lifestyle in Europe, where it was rampant.
"Isn't it time to go find that moldy orange?" Dugan muttered to himself.
Afterward, Dugan abandoned Gris and went to inspect the construction progress in other areas.
That afternoon, as Dugan was inspecting the village of Dorther in the southwest, he unexpectedly saw something on the outskirts of Dorther.
It was a local German farmer repairing his livestock pen.
Before his time travel, Dugan also enjoyed watching videos on Douyin (TikTok) such as knife-forging competitions, donkey hoof repair, and banana transport by Ode Watch.
Seeing someone repairing the livestock pen, a sight so reminiscent of the past, Dugan's curiosity led him to approach and take a look.
"Huh?" Dugan noticed that the tools the farmer used to repair the livestock pen looked familiar.
The farmer first used two thick iron wires to draw two parallel lines, and then evenly wrapped thinner iron wires around the two thick wires. Each thinner iron wire was clamped at both ends with pliers to form a spike.
"Isn't this just barbed wire?" Dugan suddenly remembered.
"Hey!" Dugan shouted, startling the farmer.
The farmer was about to start cursing when he turned around and saw a group of uniformed officers. He immediately swallowed the profanity that was on the tip of his tongue.
"Greetings, officers!" The farmer took off his straw hat and bowed to Dugan.
"What's your name?" Dugan asked from his horse. The farmer honestly replied, "My name is Hans Ewald."
Dugan pointed to the barbed wire and asked, "Why don't you use more expensive wire to repair the livestock pens instead of wood?"
Hans Ewald retorted bluntly, "Timber? Sir, do you see any timber around here?"
Dugan looked around; this seaside fishing village near Cooks Harbor was practically situated on a tidal swamp.
The heart of a wasteland interwoven with shallows and muddy depressions.
In such terrain, it is impossible for tall trees to grow.
"Indeed, it seems there are only low shrubs." Dugan smiled somewhat awkwardly.
Hans Ewald gave a wry smile and said, "Inland farmers can use hedges, log fences, and wooden chevaux-de-frise to keep their livestock in place, but here we are in a coastal swampy area with almost no mature trees and only soft, weak shrubs that are impossible to build fences on."
Dorse is a coastal fishing village. During high tide or fog, cattle and sheep are very likely to break free of their restraints and wander into the depths of the unmanaged swamp, where they become stuck in the mud and drown.
Even if they didn't drown, these large grazing animals would still damage other people's crops if left unattended, causing Hans to lose a lot of money.
To make matters worse, after the French army occupied Hanover in 1803, the garrison frequently requisitioned timber and logs from villages to build fortifications and barracks. The already scarce timber price tripled, making it impossible for ordinary farmers to build wooden fences.
By this time, the Hanover region already had imported smooth wrought iron woven wire mesh from Britain, and the price was not high.
However, the wire mesh made of wrought iron is smooth and soft, and cattle and sheep can easily push it apart by butting it. It has no restraining effect on livestock and can only be used to raise poultry, not to graze large livestock.
For this reason, Hans used to rely on gathering natural thorn bushes for protection.
However, thorns grow slowly and have a limited coverage area.
Prolonged losses forced Hans to start thinking: Could he modify the wire to create a new type of fence that does not require wood, is inexpensive, and can actively deter livestock?
The inspiration came from two things Hans was very familiar with: the scattered thorny brambles on the edge of the swamp and the wrought iron bull hook he used to drive away mad bulls.
Through years of observation, Hans discovered that cattle and sheep never actively touch thorny bushes; the sharp thorns would prick their mouths and noses, causing them to instinctively avoid them. His homemade cattle-driving hook, however, could tame restless bulls with just a gentle scrape.
He had the simplest inspiration to invent something: to add barbs and bend hooks to smooth barbed wire, giving it the intimidating power of thorns.
"So, you invented this thing?" Dugan dismounted, went to the livestock pen, and reached out to touch the barbed wire.
"Sir, be careful with your hands," Hans kindly reminded him.
Dugan merely touched the tip of the thorn lightly, then pulled hard a few times on the non-thorny areas, before shaking his head in disappointment.
It wasn't that Hans's design was flawed, but rather that the materials were.
Hans's design was scientifically sound: two parallel longitudinal main lines, approximately four inches apart, were horizontally wrapped with short, double-hooked wire. Every eight inches, a set of double hooks was wrapped around the wire, with the hook tips facing outwards, providing bidirectional restraint and simultaneously blocking livestock on both sides. The wire mesh was secured with thin wooden stakes and laid flat or erected to enclose the enclosure.
However, the problem is that the wire is made of wrought iron, which is soft.
Iron hooks may prick livestock, but they are easily bent and damaged when faced with soldiers charging, swords slashing, or horses charging, thus having limited military value.
Moreover, according to Hans, a skilled craftsman can only produce 30 to 40 meters a day, making large-scale mass production impossible.
Therefore, the double-hook barbed wire invented by this German farmer named Hans Ewald only circulated in a small area within two or three villages around Cuxhaven, and was limited to grazing use.
"But—" Dugen had originally planned to give up, but in the end he still decided to spend money to buy all the barbed wire in Hans's hands and asked Hans to immediately accept the temporary conscription of the German Army to go to Cuxkes to hand-make this barbed wire for the British army.
"Colonel Decken," Dugan said, mounting his horse again and cracking his whip, "I demand that you immediately gather all the wire and iron sheets you can get your hands on, and summon all the blacksmiths. I don't care what method you use! Do you understand? I mean whatever method you use."
"Yes, sir." Colonel Deken understood what Dugan meant by "by any means necessary."
"Sir, our farm work—" Hans didn't want to work for the British army.
"Mr. Hans Ewald, don't you want to do your part to save Hanover from French enslavement?" Dugan began his moral blackmail and PUA tactics.
"But—" Hans Ewald was still hesitating.
"No buts," Dugan said. "I'll pay you. Cash!"
Colonel Decker quickly stepped in to smooth things over, "My fellow Cooks, no buts. It's an honor for you to contribute to Hanover's freedom."
Colonel Decken didn't want this seemingly honest farmer to become the first victim "by any means necessary".
Finally, Colonel Deken spoke a few more words of advice to Hans Ewald in German. Since there was no one to translate, Dugan didn't understand, but in the end, Hans Ewald nodded in agreement.
On the way back, Dugan asked Deakin, "What did you say to him in the end? Why did he agree?"
Decker said frankly, "I told him you would pay him double."
"What?" Dugan's eyes widened. "When did I make such a promise?"
Decker replied solemnly, "General, you yourself said it, by any means necessary!"
"————" Dugan was both amused and exasperated, then said, "Alright, the extra half of the pay will come from your troops' pay."
After saying that, Dugen lashed his horse hard with his whip, and the innocent warhorse neighed and ran away.
"General—" Colonel Decken shouted urgently, "Can we discuss this—"
"No, there's no room for negotiation." Dugan said without turning his head. Colonel Deken sighed helplessly and turned to Hans Ewald, saying, "The General said that double the reward is impossible, at most 10% more."
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