I Will Be The Crowned King

When Ansen kept making cakes for Grand Duke Thun while eating and drinking in Golden Stone City, Ludwig Franz, who led the main force of the Southern Legion, had just arrived at Eagle Point and besieged the city. The fortress that blocks the southeast gate of Clovis.

The situation... arguably not optimistic.

The spring in the south came earlier than in the north. When the city of Clovis was still shivering in the cold wind, the city of Eagle Point was already green; the cloudless sky was as clear as a mirror. valley.

But this was not good news at all for the Southern Corps, and in a sense it was even worse than the worst fog or rainstorm.

Because as the frontier fortress and one of the most important tax sources of the Iser elves, Eaglehorn City is not an isolated fortress, but a complete defense system built with many small forts, strongholds, towers and temporary artillery fortresses; Attacking Eagle Point City from the front means facing at least three directions of firepower.

And the cloudless "good weather" undoubtedly made the entire legion a living target in front of the defenders occupying favorable terrain.

After organizing a night attack and being attacked head-on, Ludwig resolutely gave up his plan to attack; the elves might not have the guts to confront them head-on, but they still had the guts to hide in the fortress and shoot.

The terrain in the mountains is rugged and complex, and there is no open terrain that allows the entire army to fully spread out. At the same time, there is a lack of soft soil, and the terrain with multiple rock layers also makes the trenching tactics used in Fort Thunder basically ineffective.

In the end, Ludwig had to turn his attention to the many fortresses outside Eaglehorn City, trying to knock out all these troubles before attacking the fortresses.

At the foot of the Dawn Ice Peak, the soldiers of the Southern Legion had to risk the risk of being attacked by artillery fire and set up temporary artillery fortresses on the high ground between the mountains; almost every time they attacked, they were exposed to the fire coverage of at least one or two fortresses. At the same time, we must be alert to the elf infantry who may go out of the city to harass... At least seven times out of ten times, they have returned without success, and they have to pay a lot of casualties.

This kind of battle with no turning point in sight greatly exhausted Ludwig's patience; on the tenth day of the battle, after another artillery fort was smashed by the elves with artillery, he immediately began to write to the rear, requesting Large-caliber mortar and howitzer support.

However, many fortresses on the western front of the empire are also facing the attack of the empire, and they also need these heavy firepower that can deter the enemy; Ludwig will have to wait at least a month before he can get the supplies he wants.

Obviously, the commander of the Southern Corps will not have the patience to wait for a month; especially those who are eager to see the victory of the Southern Corps sponsor people-in order to ensure the continuous delivery of materials and energy, Ludwig must also be as soon as possible. attack.

After recklessly destroying the outermost fortress of the Eagle Horn Fortress, the main force of the southern legion led by Ludwig finally established a stable forward base in the valley; New artillery base, and fortress shooting.

The two sides began an almost endless confrontation around the towers and forts outside Eagle Point.

"All of them - shoot in sequence!"

Accompanied by the officer's calm command, the rushing infantry line in front of the temporary artillery fort opened fire on the approaching elf army in the distance.

I don't know if it was because of the terrain or a centuries-old tradition. The elves who attacked from the fortress in the valleys still maintained a tight column formation amid the dense gunfire. The artillery forts built by the regiment advanced.

"Go forward! Go forward! May the ring of order bless you and be with me forever!"

"The Ring of Order is with me—!!!"

Fanatical cries exploded from the elf phalanx, and the golden banner of the Ring of Order fluttered in the cold wind.

As a former strong country in the Eastern Land, the Yisel elves originally maintained their ancestral beliefs for thousands of years; but after the "Second Public Order Meeting" in the forty-seventh year of the Saint Calendar, due to the weakening of the national strength and the fascination of the western countries Religious divisions were reunited, and the then Elf King Ysir threw himself into the arms of the Church of Order without warning, and was out of control.

In order to prove his piety, the Elven King of Iser not only built a large-scale cathedral in his capital, but also changed the family flag to a golden ring of order on a white background. The executioner dealt with all the nobles who dared to dissent.

As a religion that is inconsistent with the elf tradition and has a somewhat centralized color, only a few elven nobles at the top and subjects with human blood in the middle and lower classes believe in the Iser Kingdom; but the elf kings of all dynasties still try their best to spread the doctrine of the ring of order, Continuing to use faith as an excuse to fight externally and suppress internal.

After decades of turmoil, the elven kingdom of Ysir has become a more religious, almost fanatical, Ring of Order kingdom than many human kingdoms.

"Bang——!!!! Bang——!!!! Bang——!!!!"

The tidy gunshots rang out one after another like thunder; although the elf army's marksmanship was really bad, it still maintained a considerable degree of deterrence under the blessing of the salvo.

The screaming lead bullets kept passing through the dense column... In the face of the companion who kept screaming and his arm was pierced through the head, the elf army with a frenzied expression did not have any panic or hesitation in the eyes, and continued unswervingly. move forward.

As the distance between the two sides gradually narrowed, the two fortresses behind the elven army opened fire.

The Iser Elf, who received assistance from the Empire, also attached great importance to the use of artillery in tactics like the Empire; the cannonballs came with a deafening explosion, instantly blasting the rocks and piled sandbags under the soldiers' feet into powder. Countless dust rose into the sky like a geyser disk, and fell in large swathes amid the wailing of the defenders.

In just a few minutes, the entire temporary artillery fort was washed by the elf's artillery, and the large and small craters made the position look like it had been bitten by a giant beast... almost no different from the ruins.

Facing the hard-working and hard-to-build position under fire, the soldiers of the Southern Legion didn't even have time to repair it - the Iser elf on the opposite side had already rushed forward!

"Blessed by the Ring of Order—!!!"

"All in place - ready to take on the enemy!!!!"

The screams resounding from the sky echoed on the ground, and the front of the defenders with their bayonets raised collided with the roaring and charging elf army; roars and wailing intertwined with each other, and the bright bayonet tore open the chests of one thin figure after another.

Relying on the relatively narrow terrain and relatively tacit cooperation, the Clovis soldiers who were strangled together were not torn apart, and they forcibly withstood the charge of the elves.

At this moment, the sound of Clovis's bugle came from behind the temporary artillery fort - two Clovis infantry phalanxes in column formation were rapidly approaching the battlefield from both wings.

"Everyone has it - sideways!"

The words fell, and the trotting soldiers quickly changed from a six-column column to a double-column line; they suddenly stopped at a position close to fifty meters, and raised their rifles at the enemy's flank.

"Fire!"

Along with the volley of gunpowder smoke, the soldiers who had already loaded their rifles with bayonets let out a slightly messy cry and launched a bayonet charge towards the flanks of the elf army.

In a chaotic hand-to-hand battle, the situation reversed in an instant.

The elf army, which had used the advantages of troops and artillery fire in one go, found itself caught between three sides of the enemy with the same strength in the blink of an eye, and immediately panicked; The chaotic lines of the elf army began to intersperse.

Despite their fanaticism, the elven soldiers, like the empire that provided their support, paid extremely little attention to the training of infantry - in addition to the basic distinction between left and right and the execution of formation orders, shooting and bayonets were only used when the battle was approaching. Charge training, more professional training of sniping, grenade, and rapid dash, can only be mastered by a small number of elites.

If the imperial army can still maintain a certain level by relying on battlefield experience, the infantry of the Iser elves are pure recruits who have not experienced the baptism of war; even if the elves have an advantage over humans in hand-to-hand combat, head-to-head bayonet battles are still not the same as The opponent of Clovis, who founded the infantry nation.

After realizing that they were surrounded, the elf army continued to reorganize the defense, and began to retreat continuously against the almost fatal charge of the Clovis soldiers.

But the artillery defenders who held their positions didn't even have time to cheer. As the infantry retreated, the two fortresses of the Iser elves on the opposite side began to cover the temporary artillery fortresses of the Southern Legion again.

"boom--!!!!"

The entire temporary artillery fort was instantly engulfed by golden-red flames, and the bursting flames directly ignited the ammunition boxes on the position; the two 12-pound infantry guns that had been dragged up with great effort were blown up together with the surrounding sand. sky; at an altitude of dozens of meters and the disintegrated gun carriage and gun carriage fell heavily to the ground.

When the rumbling of cannons gradually dissipated, the Clovis soldiers who were hiding in the position began to retreat one after another; while the infantry of the Iser elf still had no plans to pursue, and watched the enemy leave the battlefield.

The battle that lasted for most of the day came to an end when the two sides retreated—and this small-scale battle was just one of the countless battles in the past ten days.

Looking at the billowing smoke and the ruins of the artillery fort in the distance, Ludwig with a gloomy face sighed heavily.

Facing the difficult terrain and having many peripheral defense nets, the Southern Legion, which lacks heavy firepower, has no good solution; .

And the Southern Legion, with a total strength of just over 10,000 men, did not have the capital to do that; all Ludwig could do except wait for the heavy artillery sent from the rear. The morale of the elven defenders.

The so-called siege battle is a competition of confidence, patience, perseverance, morale, and material consumption; whoever takes the lead and cannot continue to maintain it will inevitably fail.

"General, the troops on the fort have been withdrawn and are being repaired in the camp." Lieutenant Colonel Roman walked slowly behind Ludwig and said calmly.

"How about the casualties?" Ludwig asked without turning his head.

"Except for the destruction of two 12-pounder infantry guns and the death of the artillery, there was almost nothing - the army and the ammunition box were far away when the fort exploded, and it was not affected. Only a few dozen people were slightly injured, that is... ..." The expressionless Lieutenant Colonel Roman paused:

"It's just that morale is a little low."

"...I see." Ludwig's mouth showed a wry smile.

The battle that was originally thought to be able to take down the fortress in one go, turned into a tedious tug-of-war, and it would be a ghost if morale was high.

In order to build momentum for the invasion of the Isir elf kingdom, the Clovis royal family, nobles and the army have spent years hyping how vulnerable the Isir elf army is - although it is true to some extent - the result is that the kingdom From top to bottom, they all believed in the weakness and timidity of the Iser elf, believing that as long as the gunshot sounded, the enemy would flee.

And Ludwig and the entire southern legion are currently suffering from the consequences of this ethos. Even the elves have been beaten into the fortresses and fortresses and dare not pursue them, which will still dampen the morale of the army.

"Let the soldiers take a good rest. By the way, notify the rotating troops to prepare for battle. Next time, try to see if you can build artillery bases on the two highlands in front of the opposite fortress at the same time, and strive for at least one success."

"Yes!"

Lieutenant Colonel Roman, who received the order, did not hesitate at all, and immediately turned and left.

"Roman!"

Just as the lieutenant colonel was about to leave, Ludwig suddenly spoke.

"General?"

"You said Anson Bach and his three infantry regiments... where are they now?"

In the face of Ludwig's sudden question ~www.readwn.com~ Lieutenant Colonel Roman couldn't help frowning slightly:

"If it had been as originally planned, Lieutenant Colonel Anson Bach and his army should have arrived near Eagle Point by now, harassing the fortress and trying to contact us; but so far, we have not received any news about him. "

"In addition, with all due respect, the reason why our army has made slow progress in defending the outer defensive positions of Eagle Point City is because of the fact that the heavy artillery at the rear has not been put in place, but also because of his factors; if it wasn't for Anson Bach who stole the three regiments in private Grenadier equipment..."

"That's what I promised him." The chuckling Ludwig interrupted Lieutenant Colonel Roman's "complaint":

"I understand that you have opinions on him, but crossing the snowy mountains and harassing the enemy's rear is not much easier than a frontal attack; in a sense, his task is even more difficult than ours, and it should be given to him a little."

With that said, Ludwig stood up and looked up at the Dawn Ice Peak, which was shrouded in ice and snow and towering into the clouds. In his pupils, he seemed to be able to see someone staggering along the foothills of the howling snowstorm.

"Even a frontal attack is already so difficult, Anson Bach... The situation he has to face now is probably more difficult than us?"