I Will Be The Crowned King

As it turns out, everything was just Carl Bain overthinking.

The aggressive Imperial Expeditionary Force did not have any "perfect plan" at all - to put it in a simpler way, they never considered using the routed troops to conquer the barren stone fort, and then "perfectly reproduce" the fall of the top tower.

Because there is no need at all.

With the roar of the Clovis six-pounder and the imperial eight-pounder at the same time, more than a dozen imperial infantry companies pulled away from the position, stepping on brisk drum beats, shrouded in gunpowder smoke, sprinkling gunfire, and From time to time, he stepped forward among the shells that fell beside him and overhead.

Relying on the excellent technology of the imperial artillery and the long-standing tacit cooperation, these line infantrymen did not have to worry that the shells behind them would fall on their heads and proceeded to the position calmly.

The Reserve Corps, who had no concept of the power of the Empire, felt for the first time what Carl Bain meant by "infantry and artillery coordination".

"The enemy fire is coming—!"

The roar of guns and the panicked screams of the officers and soldiers completely drowned out Carl's hoarse roar: "Go into the trench to hide from the guns!"

Under the precise strikes of the Imperial artillery, the outer positions that had been hastily constructed in a day were quickly ploughed by artillery fire; Shred it together, pouring rubble and flesh on the entire defense line indiscriminately.

In the face of such terrifying firepower suppression, the positions that could still maintain a little deterrent almost went out. The soldiers behind the trenches and retaining walls panicked, and some even cried out in panic. No matter how hard the officers behind them punched and kicked, Just refused to stand up and shoot back.

The sporadic "salvos" were not even "obstacles" to the Imperial line infantry - in just four or five rounds of rapid artillery fire, they had already advanced to within 100 meters of the defense line.

"All in place - bayonet!"

With an order, the Imperial Line soldiers neatly pulled out the daggers from their sheaths and inserted them into the slot under the muzzle.

Enemies that were too weak even made them too lazy to delay the time with a pair of shots, and started the last step of the attack bluntly.

"Come on!"

"God Bless the Empire—!!!!"

In the uniform shouts, the "bayonet walls" were like silver waves, rushing in steps to the reserve army that had just pulled up the defense line in a hurry and was preparing for hand-to-hand combat.

In order to delay the enemy's attack speed as much as possible, Carl Bain spent a lot of effort on the design of the position... But no matter how strong the fortress is, if the defenders have no morale, it is just an earth wall and a trench.

Ninety minutes later, a golden iris flag was raised on the defense line.

One after another Imperial infantry company marched in unstoppable footsteps, chasing the defeated garrison army like a pack of wolves driving a flock of sheep.

The dazzling bayonet and scorching lead bullets mercilessly pierced the flesh and blood that fell to the ground and screamed, crushing them to dust.

It was originally planned to support the line of defense for six to seven hours, but after less than three hours, the entire line was lost, and they retreated in the direction of the barren stone castle one after another.

This is probably the only fortunate thing - Karl and the officers of the Reserve Corps, who are very self-aware of themselves, have formulated a very detailed plan for the retreat from the beginning, and it is the only plan that has been fully implemented at the end.

The more than 3,000 Aiden soldiers who were the first to leave the battle launched a counter-attack at the end of the defense line to buy time for the Tuen army to cover the retreating troops, and then retreated while fighting under the cover of artillery bombardment at all costs in the fortress. Enter the deserted stone fortress.

So far... Three hours after the battle, all the defenders of the Barren Stone Castle had only suffered a few casualties, and then almost all the troops were safely withdrawn into the fortress.

But this also means that the peripheral defense line has been completely lost, and even the line of communication originally controlled by the eastern position has also fallen under the control of the Imperial Expeditionary Force.

"It's finally started."

With a long exhalation, Kaspar Herrid on horseback looked at the deserted stone castle that was surrounded by circles: "The stinky fish and rotten shrimp in a bunch of stinky fish and rotten shrimp are still dawdling like this ghost. ...I'm getting impatient!"

"I'm so sorry!"

A knight in a one-shoulder cloak behind him hurriedly knelt down on one knee, his head hanging to the ground shaking uncontrollably: "I, we didn't notice the problem with the enemy's position, which caused...

"Okay, don't squeak!" The irritable old man looked impatient:

"I just didn't expect these scumbags to actually learn to be smart, and put a cover on themselves outside the turtle shell! Things that can be explained in two or three sentences, why is it so troublesome?!"

"Still shaking, shaking a fart! What are you afraid of, afraid that I will eat you?!"

"I..." The knight trembled.

"What are you?!" Casper looked disgusted:

"You are hard to eat!"

"Yes Yes Yes!"

Hearing the words, the knight let out a long breath and found that his back was soaked with cold sweat.

Ignoring the trash-like subordinates, Kasper turned his attention back to the walls of the Wasteland Castle.

I thought that the fortress that was taken down directly was a matter of course, but I didn't expect that there were still defeated soldiers who dared to resist.

Of course, this also helped him save a lot of time - it is better to "clean up" these stinky fish and shrimps together than scattered everywhere.

The expedition force was only 20,000 people, and it lost a lot after defeating Claude Francois, leaving only 17,000 people... If you want to kill all the resistance forces of Quan Hantu, this force will be ten times more powerful. not enough.

It is undeniable that these defeated soldiers did bring him some "surprises".

Although it was still on the verge of collapse, the entire retreat process was very orderly, completely different from the Hantu army that had collapsed thousands of miles before.

And then, their position... Casper frowned slightly.

The last time he pretended to attack the barren stone castle, he noticed that the construction of the eastern position was very interesting, deliberately sacrificing the width to increase the depth, and restricting the artillery and cavalry maneuvers - not like Han who knew nothing about "modern warfare". What the natives can make... but it has the style of the Clovis bastards.

It seems that in the cave of Hantu, a mouse from the Clovis sewer got into it.

Hmm, kind of interesting.

The irritable old man's eyes showed a little excited pleasure.

"My lord, the messengers from the forward position are here to report that the line infantry has cleared the battlefield and is digging siege trenches."

Looking at Kasper who was in a "happy mood" for some reason, the knight on the ground raised his head tremblingly, and said softly, "The artillery positions have also been adjusted, and the artillery positions on the enemy's city walls have been confirmed, ready to use at any time. Pull out the city defense artillery of the barren stone castle one by one to cover the infantry attack."

"Very good, let them stabilize." The irritable old man with the corners of his mouth raised said solemnly:

"We have plenty of time. It doesn't matter if it takes three or five days to take down the Barren Stone Fort, let alone... what about the cavalry?"

"Standing on the flanks of the position." The knight replied immediately:

"But Your Excellency, the Head of the Chief Cuirassier Regiment, has led his own guards to the eastern position to conduct fire reconnaissance on the enemy's supply line!"

This gentleman who will cause trouble for people... Casper's eyes flashed with a hint of annoyance.

"Sir, do you want to call him back?" The knight's expression was quite nervous.

"No need, let him go if he wants to - just take this opportunity to spread the news of the fiasco of Clovis Francois and the siege of Barren Stone Castle." Casper sneered:

"Tell the soldiers, don't worry too much."

"The stinky fish and rotten shrimps that we are going to kill next are not just in the shell of that bastard!"

………………

Looking at the slowly unfolding siege positions under the city walls, Carl Bain's heart froze.

To be honest, he was actually a little proud at first—this was a large-scale deployment of tens of thousands of people, the preparation time was only one day, and it was a motley army that had basically not received much military training.

Although the painstakingly built defense line lasted only three hours—90 minutes to be exact—but 30,000 people escaped safely into the fortress despite the fierce pursuit of the Imperial Expeditionary Force... casualties are almost negligible.

Under the same conditions, even if it is replaced by a legion-level staff to command, it is impossible to do better than himself.

But it didn't last for a few minutes, and this pride was crushed into **** by reality.

With the earth-shattering steps and the sound of iron hoofs, the imposing Imperial Expeditionary Force had completely surrounded the Barren Stone Fort, and was cavalry to take over the eastern position abandoned by Karl.

But that's only "half"...or less of the Imperial Expeditionary Force.

As you can see from the city wall of the fortress, most of the troops on the opposite side were used on the defense line of the "Hantu Legion" before the restoration, and a blockade covering the west and south was opened on the periphery of the fortress. String.

That's right, that's why the enemy let go of the tens of thousands of defeated troops, and the reserve army of their own calmly retreated into the fortress-because their target was not just this fortress from the beginning.

Surrounding the point to fight for help... This somewhat unfamiliar word popped up in Carl Bain's mind with a pale face.

The Barren Stone Fort, the only remaining Hantu army of 30,000 fruits, and the mountains of supplies in the city... are all his bait.

He wants to attract all the resisting troops in Hantu one by one, and then annihilate them one by one!

If this is really the enemy's goal, then his "perfect plan" will undoubtedly help them a lot - even saving them from doing it themselves, obediently sneaking into the fortress and being trapped here.

This……

"They're going to attack!"

On the city wall, a messenger standing beside him pointed to the outside and shouted in horror: "Come! They are coming, they are coming! I, I...we..."

It was as if he saw the devil's messenger holding his head and chanting, staring at the eyes of the six gods, and his throat was stuttering and repeating as if it were clockwork.

Compared with him, the other soldiers on the city wall and the noble officers were not far behind, and even more exaggerated - some sat crying with their guns in their hands, some prayed loudly against the city wall, some curled up into a ball and pretended to be dead, some Laughing and crying for a while...

The smooth retreat into the fortress did not give them the slightest sense of security, but a deeper understanding of the power of the Imperial Expeditionary Force... The irresistible despair made many soldiers close to collapse.

"Where's the reinforcements? Lord Carl Bain, where are the reinforcements?!"

In a trance, Carl was tugged at the collar by the collapsed messenger, and his whole body shook hysterically with him: "What about the reinforcements you said, ah?!"

"Reinforcement, reinforcement, reinforcement..."

The equally desperate Carl Bain shuddered at the corners of his mouth, staring at those eager eyes, and the whole person froze in place.

Then he raised his head, looked around, and looked at the pair of eyes that were also either in despair, or hysteria, or panic, or with the last glimmer of hope... looking at himself.

"Reinforcement... there is!"

"Of course there is!"

Carl Bain's hoarse roar interrupted the cry of the messenger.

"You..." The messenger was stunned:

"You mean...really?"

"Nonsense, of course it's true!" Desperately restraining his inner fear, Carl Bain roared boldly:

"If there is no reinforcements, I will stay in this ghost place alone to find death - who do you think I am?!"

On the city wall that suddenly became quiet, the officers and soldiers looked at the Chief of Staff of the Storm Division who suddenly raised his air, and looked at each other in confusion for a while, and then...

They shook their heads politely~www.readwn.com~ I am Carl Bain! "Karl suddenly became irritable:

"Under the commander-in-chief of the dignified Southern Legion, Ludwig Franz, the deputy commander of the legion... the Colonel Chief of Staff!"

"At the Battle of Thunder Fort, our army's 3,000 infantrymen fought against a strong fortress outside the empire's full infantry division. They were taken down in less than 30 days - I was there at the time!"

"The battle of Eaglehorn City, the city was opened without blood, and two thousand infantry took the strongest fortress in the entire Hantu - I commanded it!"

"In the battle to wipe out the Guards Corps, 800 soldiers participated in the plan to raid the Corps headquarters, and finally captured the commander-in-chief of the Corps - I am one of them!"

"There are not a hundred or ninety-nine imperial knights who have been defeated by me; I will trap myself in a fortress that is doomed to fall, and watch myself be defeated?"

"What a joke!"

Carl, who was hysterical, shouted at the officers and soldiers; he desperately suppressed the infinitely expanding fear in his heart, threw all his worries behind his head, and looked at them with the most contemptuous eyes:

"Look, look at your ghosts - I don't see the need for the Imperials to do it, you can scare yourselves to death!"

"But for the sake of us still being allies, let me tell you the 'perfect plan' I made with the deputy commander of the legion."

"Listen, now the enemy outside has completely fallen into the trap we set for them in advance, and we have won! You just need to defend the fortress, do your best to contain the enemy's attention, and stand firm for help. …”

"Then! When the time is right, with the Storm Division and other reinforcements, we will be able to take out all the imperial expedition forces outside..."

"Destroy this!"