I will be crowned king

At 19:30, the sudden and rapid interception battle on Hongyue Trunk Road ended in complete silence.

In the end, Charles Sanders failed to achieve his wish and annihilated the right wing of the Garland Army as planned... Before the battle entered the final stage, the six Imperial Line regiments that were still fighting on the front finally got out of the quagmire and turned left. Reinforce encircled friendly forces.

Similar to the flank of the Galan Legion that was attacked before, the sudden new force of the enemy caught the Rangers off guard. Originally, it was only a force that could surround the enemy. Of course, it could not stop the suddenly doubled number of enemies coming from the same direction. offensive launched.

Although this vanguard force is exhausted, and the ammunition is basically exhausted in the last battle; the bayonet wall of the dense column still has the power that cannot be underestimated; especially several regiments in Anson's hands have also been destroyed due to the In pursuit, with little organization left, they did not dare to confront the enemy head-on.

After less than five hours of being proud, the Clovis soldiers who had gone to great lengths to sneak attack on the enemy also experienced the "happiness" of being devoured by others.

The cavalry colonel was extremely upset about this. While he kept apologizing to Anson for his inability to supervise the battle, he also denounced the friendly forces in the Junqishan siege network as "indifferent" and actually sat back and watched the enemy retreat in front of them, letting the good fighter opportunity go to waste.

"It's not entirely their fault. The attack on Hongyue Trunk Road was a surprise to them." Anson disagreed with this:

"If Fernando comes up with any radical ideas just to contain the front troops of the Gloriosa Legion, he will be in big trouble."

"But they have four thousand men, four thousand!"

The cavalry colonel was not persuaded and was still extremely excited: "It only takes two thousand people to guard Fernando... Even if they send a regiment... no, send two or three line battalions to entangle the enemy for an extra thirty minutes or an hour, we will We can completely annihilate the flanks of the Jialan Army, and join them to encircle the remaining front army!"

"That's true, but that's only theoretical." Anson shook his head: "But the result of the battle is not like that, Colonel, no matter how good the plan is, it must be considered in reality."

"...I don't understand what you mean, Lord Consul. Are you trying to say that the soldiers of the Ranger Legion are not as good as the Storm Legion and cannot execute your plan perfectly?"

"No, I don't mean that at all; our plan is indeed based on the goal of annihilating the flanks, and we are indeed working towards this goal, but in fact, as long as we can severely damage the Jialan Army and trap his headquarters in On high ground, or being forced to give up high ground, the goal is actually achieved.”

Yes, that's what Anson means. The Ranger Legion's killing efficiency and subjective initiative in executing orders are not as good as the Storm Legion, but this actually has nothing to do with soldiers or even officers.

On the one hand, they are not familiar with themselves, and the contact time is too short, so they cannot cooperate like the Storm Legion.

In fact, the four thousand Ranger Legion soldiers stationed at the Red Moon Trunk Road position were able to resist the temptation of having military exploits close at hand and still continued to carry out their previous orders, and their performance had already met or even exceeded his expectations.

On the other hand, the killing efficiency has nothing to do with the soldiers; the Ranger Corps is generally equipped with front-loading rifles such as Leyden, while the Storm Corps is uniformly equipped with Leopold and Borni.

The reloading efficiency and rate of fire of the breech-loading rifle cannot be compared to that of the front-loading rifle. The gap is at least three to one, which means that the firepower output of the Ranger Legion is only one-third of the Storm Legion. How can this be compared?

Therefore, he did not expect the Ranger Corps to annihilate all the enemies from the beginning - of course it would be best if he could do it, and if he could not do it, it would not affect his next plan.

"Ask the soldiers not to clean the battlefield and rest in place as soon as possible, but only after confirming the shift sentry posts." Anson ordered:

"Notify the logistics people that they must prepare some hot soup. If there is no soup, boiling water will do. In any case, no one is allowed to eat cold food tonight."

"yes!"

The cavalry colonel replied, but he was still full of doubts: "If you burn the stove and make soup, will it immediately expose the location and size of our army?"

"Definitely, but it is more important for the soldiers to have a hot meal to restore their strength." Anson shook his head first, and then a smile suddenly appeared on his face:

"Also, let me make a bet with you. Fernando on the other side will never make any move after seeing the smoke from our side."

"oh?"

Charles raised his eyebrows, and the monocle on his face reflected the light of curiosity: "Interesting, then my subordinate will follow."

"If your judgment is correct, then...then I will stand guard outside your tent for a week."

"Okay, if I lose, I will send a letter of recommendation to Lady Sophia of the Ministry of War to promote your cavalry teaching at the Military Academy." Anson nodded with a smile:

"But it's a pity that this letter may not be sent."

……………………

"Damn it, it seems that the Jialan Army is already in dire straits."

In the encirclement of Junqi Mountain, looking at the wisps of smoke rising from the opposite side of the hillside, Fernando Herred's expression was extremely ugly: "If the enemy can order a meal with such arrogance, his flanks and front army may have been severely damaged. , there is not much fighting power left.”

"This...isn't necessarily true?" The knight following behind couldn't help but said: "Maybe this is just a signal deliberately sent by the enemy, with the purpose of causing us to have this misunderstanding."

"Misunderstanding? No, this is a demonstration, an unabashed demonstration."

Fernando frowned. An army that had traveled a long distance to hide its whereabouts suddenly exposed itself. It even disclosed its location coordinates and troop size to the enemy. There was only one answer: he had gotten rid of the biggest threat, and he was sure of victory!

Your biggest trump card has been defeated by me, and all your reinforcements have been blocked by me. Recognize the form. The dilemma is already an adjective for your situation in a literal sense - this is the concept that Anson Bach wants to convey.

There are only two ways left in front of Fernando: force a breakout, or simply abandon all legions, join forces with the Garland Legion to defeat the Clovis army on the Red Moon Road, rush to the Red Moon Town Fortress as quickly as possible, and finally retreat back. to the empire.

Six days... So far, it has been six days since I lost contact with the remaining four legions. It stands to reason that even if one or two legions have not received my order, the remaining legions should be on their way to Junqi Mountain. That's it.

The reality is that apart from the Gloriosa Legion, not even a single returning legion has appeared. No matter how optimistic Fernando is, he can only make the worst judgment: either they are surrounded by Clovis people like him. , or have been completely defeated on the way back!

Even the Galan Army and the Red Moon Town Fortress in the rear have been penetrated. Fernando has reason to believe that the situation of other legions is not much better; in other words, this is a trap, a huge trap - the so-called Zero Zero. The scattered "reinforcements" were a whole from the beginning, a Clovis standing army that was broken into pieces!

The purpose of deliberately breaking up the army and advancing was to hide and cover some of the troops as they detoured behind their backs, and silently opened one encirclement network after another to divide, block and surround their own army.

This is really a very bold and risky move... If you are not careful, the broken army may be wiped out one by one by your superior force; but considering that the person who executes this plan is most likely Anson Bach, everything It seems so reasonable again.

"No, he is sending a message to Junqishan!" Fernando woke up suddenly:

"The smoke is lit behind the hills. Not only can we see it, but the surrounding Clovis army can also see it - he is reporting the situation and coordinates to his own army. This is probably a signal for them to implement their next plan!"

"This...then what should we do?!"

The knight who was still convincing himself just now also panicked: "Are you going to give an order to Sir Gloriosa and let them try their best to launch a surprise attack or artillery bombardment against the enemy?"

"No, it's too late." Fernando shook his head solemnly, his frown filled with reluctance:

"Garland is the type who can never make mistakes. If he could do this, he would have done it long ago. The reason why he didn't does it proves that there must be something restricting his actions, just like the delay in reinforcing his flanks during the afternoon battle. …”

"The enemy's plan is very thorough and leaves us no chance at all; if I am not wrong, the Clovis army surrounding us will soon take action."

Sighing heavily, this feeling of helplessness really made Fernando quite uncomfortable.

"From now on, the entire army must not make any further moves, lift the siege and alert on Junqishan, and try our best to let the enemy relax their vigilance against us... Tell everyone that no further actions are allowed before getting my order. "

"As you command!"

……………………

"Fernando Hered...it seems he is preparing to break out."

In the military flag mountain camp, after receiving the information sent by the scouts, Carl Bain breathed a sigh of relief in public and gave his judgment with great confidence: "Everyone, our battle has come to an end; victory is already close at hand. !”

"Long live--!"

"Long live Clovis, long live the Ranger Legion!"

"Long live the Anson Bach administration!"

"Ah, yes, long live the ruling!"

“Long live governance, long live freedom and equality——!”

The ecstatic officers cheered non-stop. Everyone's face was filled with happiness for the rest of their lives, and they even began to praise the culprit who put them in this situation.

As for the ruling Anson Bach, who was once secretly criticized by them for "looking for trouble" and having "clear ideas", he has now become a genius strategic master who seems to have the ability to predict - he can divide the imperial army with only nearly equal forces. Surround, the orders are concise and concise, and the plans are never explained too much, showing the style of a master!

"However, everyone must not be happy too early." Seeing the group of people in front of them getting carried away with excitement, the chief of general staff did not forget to jump out and pour cold water:

"The battle has come to an end, but it is far from the end stage - in other words, just because the enemy has lifted the siege of Junqishan, it does not mean that we are safe. In fact, the real danger is now start!"

"Uh, w-why is this?"

The joyful atmosphere suddenly stopped, and a little panic suddenly appeared on the officers' stunned cheeks.

"Why, isn't this something obvious at a glance? The enemy's reinforcements were successfully blocked by us, but they were not eliminated or defeated!" Karl smiled bitterly:

"The enemy does not know this now, or even if he does, it will not help, but this does not mean that we can sit back and relax. Everyone - in addition to the enemies in front of us, there are also a total of 40,000 imperial troops in the Red Moon Province. Woolen cloth!"

"If we can't force the other side to voluntarily surrender, order the imperial army that is still trying to break through to lay down their weapons, or defeat the other side in one go and collapse the enemy's morale, we will still have to find a way to go head-to-head with the remaining 40,000 troops!"

"These are 40,000 elite elites of the empire who have been cut off from their retreat and are fighting to the bitter end. You don't think it's easy to defeat them, do you?"

After the words fell, many people's hearts suddenly became cold. Yes, there are still 40,000 imperial troops left in the Red Moon Province, and Anson Bach had made bold claims at the beginning that the Rangers would take back the Red Moon alone. The town fortress and base camp will never send reinforcements.

"But, aren't there still 40,000 Hantu troops?" A staff officer couldn't help but said: "With them here, we would have a full 100,000 troops here to crush a mere 40,000 laborers on the expedition. , aren’t the Imperial people relaxed because of the disruption in logistics?”

Such a stupid question didn't wait for Karl, who rolled his eyes, to take the initiative. Someone had already answered it in advance: "Idiot, those 40,000 people are the most elite army in Hantu. How could they really shed blood just to help Clovis regain a fortress?" How about fighting hard?"

"Yes, to be honest, these 40,000 people are just an attitude of Hantu, proving that they are still Clovis's allies. It is better to expect them than to expect the Empire to give up the fortress on their own initiative." The expression of another staff officer was even more pessimistic:

"Honestly, as long as they can join the siege of the Red Moon Town Fortress, they will definitely be thankful."

"Cough cough cough... In short, this is probably the situation; defeating the enemy is one thing, and ending the battle beautifully is another thing." Karl coughed twice and looked at everyone present seriously: "Yes Our most favorable option now is to let Fernando Herred voluntarily give up his illusions, accept the result of failure, and let the 40,000 troops lay down their weapons and surrender to the Rangers."

"And to do this, the Military Flag Mountain Camp...that is, our next performance will be the top priority!"