I will be crowned king

"Everyone - take cover!"

Looking at the shells falling from the sky, Carl Bain shouted out the familiar mantra again in desperation, and dragged the staff officer beside him who had not yet reacted to hide in the bunker.

The next second, a huge column of smoke rose directly into the sky from the opponent they were standing on, and the rolling air wave almost knocked the chief of general staff unconscious.

Even so, he still endured his dizziness and climbed out of the trench, took out the telescope he carried with him and looked at the front covered by artillery fire.

In the direction he could see, Imperial line soldiers flying golden fleur-de-lis flags had begun to climb over the outer slopes and move towards the inside of the stronghold camp; but the Clovis soldiers who were stunned by the shelling could not organize at all. Any decent defense, after a slight attempt to resist, quickly organized an evacuation and retreated to the second line of defense.

Although it is said to be a camp, in fact, because he had enough time and he occupied the high ground and discovered the imperial army early in the morning, Carl Bain built it completely according to the standards of a "fortress"-that is, the standard Clovis style campsite.

This is completely the product of the "continental army tactics" developed to the extreme: the Clovis emphasized the importance of infantry, and at the same time greatly reduced the number of artillery in the army to reduce costs, plus the almost non-existent cavalry , resulting in the army's mobility not to mention being nimble and fast, and basically being beaten unilaterally.

Therefore, the former Army Department formulated this tactic: use the fort position as the basis to build a small fort with three or five sides - of course there can be more - earth walls, and dig deep trenches behind the earth walls. A fort was built behind the trenches, and then layer by layer... shooting positions, artillery bombardment areas, and solid fortifications were built between the trenches to defend and cut off the enemy's attack.

This tactic of "building a turtle shell and waiting to be beaten" is quite popular within the Clovis Army, because it is really easy to use and cheap: as long as there are five or six cannons and an infantry division of six to seven thousand soldiers, It can fight back and forth with the imperial army of the same composition.

Apart from the complete abandonment of all means of attack and its complete unsuitability for handling encounters - the construction of fortifications requires a huge amount of manpower and time - it really can't find any obvious shortcomings.

This classic tactic has not been used in the Storm Legion in the past. On the one hand, this "miscellaneous army" is basically cobbled together, and not everyone has received sufficient professional training; secondly, compared with Anson Bach As for fortifications, what he is better at is actually various skirmish line tactics of rapid detours and continuous attacks. Defense is always just a means.

Because he had enough time and had enough firepower on hand, Karl also made some small improvements: First, the outermost low wall became a gentle slope, and the enemy had to go up before attacking the inside of the fortress. Climb some distance and expose yourself to artillery fire and volley fire.

And when the imperial soldiers finally climbed up the slope despite intense artillery fire and volley after round of volleys, they found that what awaited them was not a trench where soldiers were in close contact, but another section that sank several meters deep. Huge angled descent.

At the end of the downhill slope, the Clovis Line privates hiding behind the high earth walls had already raised rows of rifles and pointed the muzzles at the heads that were first exposed when they climbed up from the outside.

"Fire in line—fire!"

As the veteran officers roared, the extremely nervous recruits could no longer control their fingers on the triggers. Hundreds of Leyden muzzle-loading rifles fired a shower of bullets, exploding into the enemy crowd. Slices of blood mist.

However, after a short period of suppression, the equally experienced Imperial Line soldiers, led by the knights, quickly broke through the outermost slope; the method was also very simple, that is, hiding behind the top of the slope and using a denser volley of guns. Call back!

The marksmanship of Clovis' new recruits is very unflattering, and they can't be said to have much discipline. In addition, the small number of troops has to be divided into five corners of the camp. Each corner can spread There are only a few hundred troops, just two or three companies. It is not difficult for the imperial army with superior strength to suppress them.

The two sides surrounded a low earthen wall and began a dense volley of gunfire; the Clovis recruits hiding inside the fortress fired blanks indiscriminately, and the imperial line infantry lying on the earthen slope did not give in too much. Time has reached a deadlock.

It was at this time that the artillery position on the empire's side suddenly opened fire; terrifying mortar shells fell from the sky, just like a urchin on the beach kicking to pieces someone else's carefully built sand castle, easily destroying the outermost earth wall of the position, and in Several huge pits were directly smashed through the earth slope, and the obstructing bunkers disappeared in an instant, and they could no longer stop the attack of the imperial army.

“Everyone – move forward!!!”

Bloodthirsty roars rang out in the gunpowder smoke. The Imperial soldiers with their rifles raised did not even wait for the bombardment to end before they excitedly launched a charge. Waving their shining bayonets, they rushed through several gaps like a tide and surged towards the entire fortress. Come.

The disgraced Clovis soldiers, led by their respective commanders, immediately began to retreat quickly into the camp as planned before the war, without even conducting any symbolic resistance.

Despite the accumulation of confidence from the battle of Yser Elf, this battle is not enough to make the Ranger Corps lose its self-awareness - all four of Carl Bain's command are new regiments, and the only elite ones are those who act with the staff group. The artillery company directly under the legion consisted of a dozen six-pound infantry cannons.

He didn't even dare to waste even this bit of firepower... When the Imperial Army reached the front line of the slope, Karl decisively ordered the artillery to be withdrawn to the inside of the fortress to avoid being easily knocked out or taken away by the enemy.

Of course, to a certain extent, he was overly worried, because there were not many artillery shells in the camp, and even if the enemy took them away, they wouldn't be able to fire a few shots.

"With the Ring of Order, this is too fast!"

Looking at the enemy who was already visible to the naked eye and very close at hand, Karl gritted his teeth; he originally expected that the enemy would have to struggle for three days at the earliest to tear apart his outer defense line, but he announced in less than a day. bankrupted.

"I'm afraid it's because the enemy, like us, is also fighting for time, right?" The staff officer on the side said subconsciously: "I just saw that their soldiers launched an attack before the shelling was over. Many of them even fell to the ground. Under the artillery fire from our side... In the previous battle for the slope, the number of troops sacrificed on the opposite side was probably close to four figures."

"They really regard us as the legion headquarters, although there is no problem in saying so..."

Carl Bain murmured to himself that the enemy's slightly strange actions revealed a lot of key information; if it was just to concentrate superior forces to destroy the army that was about to besiege Red Moon Town, then there was no need to confront his " "Nail", surround it to attract attention, then continue to surround it for reinforcements, and destroy all the Clovis troops coming in this direction.

But the enemy is not only besieging themselves, they also have a clear stance that they would rather pay a heavy sacrifice than annihilate themselves. This directly proves two things: the enemies really think that this is where Anson Bach's headquarters is, and that their Time is not as abundant as it seems, and it is very necessary to make a quick decision.

Why? There is no need to be too eager to eliminate Clovis's reinforcements before the siege; even if they do nothing, the Red Moon Town Fortress garrisoned by 10,000 people cannot be easily conquered.

unless……

"Order the soldiers, except for the direct artillery regiment, to retreat to the inner fortress and assemble as quickly as possible to be on standby!" Karl said solemnly: "Tell the officers that I will only give them five minutes, and they must not be noticed by the enemy. We must make them think that we are fleeing and preparing for the last desperate resistance."

"All?!" The staff officer's eyes widened: "Don't leave any battalion behind, and just let the enemy break into the inside of the camp?"

"Not a single camp will be left."

Karl, who suddenly had an expressionless face, said in a firm voice: "I have a hunch that reinforcements have begun to approach the roads south of the mountain and north of the mountain. The enemy will soon divide their forces to control the choke point of Junqi Mountain; as long as we can launch a counterattack, The enemy who has to divide his troops to guard multiple directions will immediately lose his position and be in a panic."

"It's hard to say who will be really surrounded by that time."

"...obey!"

Five minutes later, the new regiments fighting each other gradually withdrew into the inner fortress. This is also the center of the entire camp. It is at the highest point of the camp and can have a clear view of the surrounding battle situation.

But on the other hand, this also means that as long as they retreat here, Carl Bain and the five infantry regiments that followed him will no longer have any retreat at all; they must either block the enemy's offensive, or they will not be able to retreat. The rest were wiped out here.

Standing behind the bunker, through the telescope, Karl could clearly see the recruits who were retreating quickly, as well as the imperial soldiers following them; the other party was not stupid, and after discovering that the Clovis army did not offer any resistance, they still took it easy. They occupied the layers of trenches on the outside of the camp and slowly moved closer to the inside.

In response, Karl decisively ordered a counterattack. Five cannons fired directly at the trenches in the camp, and they fired shrapnel!

"Boom——!!!Boom——!!!Boom——!!!"

Black shadows exploded directly over the camp. The imperial soldiers who had no time to escape let out shrill and chilling screams in the barrage falling from the sky. The soldiers who had been penetrated by lead bullets in their flesh and bones crowded together and hid. He couldn't hide or run, just like wheat being harvested, falling in pieces.

The familiar tragic situation did not break the enemy's morale. On the contrary, this kind of "resistance" strengthened the determination of the Imperial Knights-victory was close at hand.

"Attack, attack, don't stop!" The knight with his sword drawn pointed at the Clovis flag fluttering on the inner castle, and his blood-stained cheeks expressed indescribable joy: "The enemy commander is inside , those captured alive can be crowned and knighted by His Majesty himself!"

Upon hearing this, the imperial line soldiers immediately showed a different look of excitement than before, so much so that the caution that arose out of timidity in the end was completely thrown away.

Becoming a knight... In the empire, a commoner becomes a knight, which is a situation that can change the world. Although it is only the lowest level of title and is not inheritable, it has finally completed the leap from commoner to noble; after being guarded by the seven knights, In the world of order, the difference between the two classes is even greater than the difference between species.

Hundreds of Imperial line soldiers rushed towards the core of the camp under the artillery fire of the inner castle. The victory that was just around the corner made everyone lose their last bit of sanity, even if the Clovis defenders of the inner castle fired wildly, They couldn't stop them from continuing to attack, and the sound of guns and cannons was even drowned out by their roars.

“Long live the Empire—onward—!!!!”

The loud shouts resounded through the sky above the camp, and even reached the ears of the troops in the rear row through the smoke screen, further inspiring the confidence of the imperial army-such a close distance was enough to prove that the end of the battle was not far away.

However, at this time...

"boom--!!!!"

The sudden explosion made the ecstatic knight subconsciously stop and stand there in a daze; he was not afraid but confused, because the sound of the cannon did not come from the direction of the inner castle, but...

"boom--!!!!"

There was another deafening bombardment, this time even mixed with the screams of the soldiers; the wide-eyed knight stared directly in front of him: just now, an entire row of soldiers was in front of him, and was suddenly hit by a black shadow. It turned into flesh and blood flying all over the sky, and there was no time to react.

Accompanied by the screams and wailings in his ears, he finally discovered that the structure of the camp was extremely strange. There was actually a layer between the inner fort and the trench, as if they were nested inside and outside, connecting the inner fort and the trench. The outer fortifications were separated.

The trenches that separate the inside and outside are actually very rare straight lines, and at the end of each trench is a very narrow fortress that can only accommodate one or two cannons at most.

etc! A... fort with one or two cannons? !

The knight's pupils suddenly shrank, and he turned his head to look behind him in panic: "Retreat! Everyone, quickly evacuate from the outside of the inner fort, this is a trap..."

He didn't get a chance to finish his last sentence.

On the upper level of the inner fort, Carl Bain, who forced himself to remain calm, waved the signal flag in his hand and gave the final instructions to the artillerymen hidden in the ditch.

Yes, everyone who sees the fortress in the camp at first glance will think that it is a stronghold used to resist the enemy's attack on the outside; but Carl Bain pointed the muzzle at the inside; as long as there is an enemy passing through the outer layers, When the defense line was crowded and blocked in the innermost trench, the fortresses were distributed in the five corners of the inner fortress...

We can carry out a thorough cleaning of these enemies who are blocked by our own people.

"boom--!!!!"