I will be crowned king

Xiaolong City, Royal Palace

"Counting the time, the battle on the Halberd River...should have already started, right?"

There is a small round table filled with various desserts and fruits in the exquisite garden pavilion. The guests do not need to do it themselves, the palace maids who look like butterflies in flowers will serve them their favorite delicacies, plus coffee. , wine, rum and other drinks.

Since it was midsummer, not only were pots of "icebergs" placed around the pavilion, but there were also several waiters using "hand-crank fans" for guests to enjoy the coolness. There was also an ice shaver and an ice cube machine next to the dessert round table. The small hammer can provide cold drinks and unlimited ice service anytime and anywhere.

This was a temporary salon held by Anne Herred, and all the ministers and grand dukes of the empire were present. On the surface, it was just a small gathering, but in reality, the true thoughts of the Queen Mother of Clovis and the eldest princess of the empire were of course unknown to everyone. They all know it well.

In this case, Anne Herred did not intend to hide it: "I heard... the Clovis people have assembled a hundred thousand troops. Counting the reinforcements from the Hantu people in the south, the total strength is a full 150,000. Everyone; Your Majesty is rushing to fight, and the number of capable warriors is less than 100,000...Is it really okay?"

The eldest princess raised her question casually, but it attracted the attention of the nobles present: to be able to accurately tell the approximate strength comparison between Clovis and the emperor's army, this is not just "heard", it is clear that they have accurate information!

You must know that this is not Clovis. As the eldest princess, Anne Herred has no power at all except her noble status. She has no power at all since she fled, and there is no network of contacts and information... How does she know all this? of?

Facing the shocked imperial nobles, Anne Herred still maintained her calm elegance, her eyes curiously looking forward to someone's answer.

"Ahem...Elder Princess Palace..."

"No, not His Highness." Anne Herred smiled and looked at Marquis Pavel Dukaski who spoke: "You used the wrong title, Marquis."

"...I'm sorry, Her Majesty the Queen Mother."

Pavel stood up and saluted: "We understand your worries, but war is never a battle of numbers; His Majesty leads all elite and loyal men, and the battlefield is in the heart of the empire. He also has the great mission of defending the orderly world and suppressing rebellions and invasions. Now, we have obvious advantages in all aspects, and there is absolutely no possibility of failure.”

"Is that so? Then I'm relieved." The Queen Mother smiled implicitly: "It is indeed as you said, those thugs who betrayed the Osteria royal family and the king are destined to be spurned by the entire world of order; anyone who Anyone who attempts to collude with them will definitely not be protected by the Circle of Order."

"...Haha, His Majesty said so."

Marquis Pavel, who laughed twice, sat back angrily, and at the same time glanced warily at Grand Duke Adlan beside him. The latter nodded slightly in understanding, picked up the ice-cold rum in his hand, and took a big sip.

Obviously, regardless of whether there is Anne Herred's spy in Xiaolong City, the Queen Mother of Clovis already knows a lot. She specially invited all the dignitaries in the city not to test, but to warn.

If you dare to continue colluding with the Clovis people, you will become the enemy of the entire empire.

At this moment, everyone in Xiaolong City knows one thing: if the emperor loses to the Clovis at the Halberd River, the Herred family will immediately lose the throne, and then the six grand dukes will have the opportunity to become the next king. An emperor - three of them, Wolfe, Roland and Bernard, have been on good terms with the royal family for many years and have a close relationship.

The powerful Levent family in the south has always been hostile to the imperial power and almost split the southern part of the empire. However, they have to admit that they are indeed powerful and a strong contender for the throne.

Therefore, Anne Herred's words are tantamount to a statement: if Brahm and the Grand Duchy of Adlan dare to betray the emperor, she would rather see the Levant family crowned than drag the two families together to hell and become a slave. The object of contempt for the entire ordered world.

"Everyone, in the name of the Ring of Order, please raise the wine glasses in your hands..."

Anne Herred suddenly raised her voice and raised the glass goblet in her hand above her head: "Please shout 'Long Live the Emperor' and pay the highest respect to His Majesty Joseph III who is defending the peace of the entire world!"

……………………

"Long live the Emperor——!!!"

Not quite neat shouts rang out on the west bank of the Halberd River. Six line infantry regiments formed a dense offensive column, picked up rifles with bayonets, and advanced towards the Ranger Corps position.

Without any hesitation, knowing that he would definitely not survive tonight if he did not gain some results, Sir Garland personally led the team, riding on horseback and holding his saber high, along with his most elite hussars and two grenadiers. To suppress the formation, he unabashedly chose a frontal attack, completely exposing himself to most of the enemy's firepower network.

Fortunately, Bernard kept his word. As soon as he issued the order to attack, thousands of thunders sounded immediately behind him: dozens of light and heavy artillery aimed at the front of the Ranger Corps position and began almost non-stop rounds of shooting. , the soldiers of the Jialan Legion were almost attacking towards the blast point of the artillery shells.

"Boom!!!! Boom!!!! Boom!!!!"

The dust raised by the loud noise opened an invisible curtain on the battlefield, which more or less provided a little cover for the Jialan Army.

Through the telescope, Sir Garland could vaguely see what kind of devastation the Clovis garrison on the opposite side was suffering: the flying cannonballs directly smashed down the low wall made of sandbags, and the smoking cannonballs rolled and jumped in the trenches. The scene of blood and flesh splattering was repeated, and rows of soldiers were directly penetrated before they could figure out what was happening.

But even though they were suppressed by unilateral artillery fire, the Clovis people on the position remained undisturbed. The wounded soldiers were quickly dragged to the rear of the position, and the vacant positions were quickly filled.

"As expected of Anson Bach's army, it is indeed a rare elite." Sir Garland couldn't help but admired as he put down his telescope, and summoned the messenger behind him:

"Go ask Sir Bernard if the last round of artillery support can be changed to shrapnel?"

"As you command!"

Looking at the messenger who turned around and galloped away, Sir Gloria suddenly knocked down the long knife in his hand: "His Majesty Joseph III - long live!"

"Long live--!!!!"

Accompanied by bursts of shouts of killing, the Jialan Legion, which suddenly slowed down its pace, began to skillfully deploy its front line. One-third of the soldiers in the front row spread out horizontally, while the back row formed a tighter and more orderly assault column.

Ten minutes later, the last round of artillery fire exploded over the Ranger Corps position; thousands of lead bullets rained down on the heads of the soldiers like a rainstorm, and screams suddenly broke out one after another.

Amidst the continuous wailing, Sir Gloria officially issued the order to attack: the front row soldiers advanced quickly first, rushed to a position less than a hundred meters away from the position, and met the Clovis defenders who had rushed to fill in. Fire.

"Bang——!!!Bang——!!!!"

Milky white smoke filled the battlefield in the blink of an eye, and rows of lead bullets penetrated the crowds on both sides one after another, and soldiers continued to fall.

Seizing this gap, the rear column of Jialan Army immediately launched an attack, quickly passed through the gap between its own lines, and broke into the position with rifles with bayonets in hand.

In an instant, the figures of both sides were strangled together regardless of each other. Sir Gloria brandished his saber again. The soldiers who had just formed a horizontal line and fired a volley also followed the drumbeat of the military band and rushed towards the Clovis defenders on the position.

The dawn of hope seems to be shining on the blooming golden iris...

"Excellent, Sir Gloria... He has indeed lived up to my trust and bravely shouldered the responsibilities of an Imperial Knight."

Looking at the battlefield where the smoke was rising, Joseph III smiled with great satisfaction; although he was far from understanding military affairs, the scene in front of him was not difficult for anyone with normal intelligence to understand: "Facts have proved that the soldiers of the empire are far away. Much better than Clovis' thugs; with just one charge, they can put the opponent into a tough fight."

"Your Majesty has a clear warning." Bernard on the side quickly boasted a few words, while secretly wiping a few cold sweats in his heart; Sir Galland was sent to rush forward first, and he actually had a bit of a death squad mentality; after all, he and Anson Bach That slippery man had dealt with him so many times, and he really couldn't guess how many cards the other party had hidden.

Now it seems that the opponent is not omnipotent, and must follow some of the most basic logic of ordinary people... The price of a rapid march is that a large amount of baggage and weapons and equipment must be discarded, and it will also cause a huge consumption of the army's physical strength and morale.

Facing the relatively well-prepared imperial army in a hurry, it is reasonable to be suppressed.

"With such a talent, it would be too wasteful just to condescend to serve as a legion commander." Joseph III suddenly said: "But his background is indeed too low, and rash promotion is likely to cause unnecessary controversy, dear Bernard ,what you think?"

"Your Majesty is indeed far-sighted."

Bernard, who seized the opportunity, immediately echoed: "Before this battle, I had made a private promise to Sir Garland. As long as he can wash away his shame, after the war, I will transfer him to my side as a staff officer; when the time is right, maybe he will It can give him the opportunity to win titles and territories.”

"Well, your proposal is very good. The empire is at a time when it is hiring, and it should spare no effort to recruit such talents."

Joseph III nodded slightly: "However, Leo Hered, who has just taken office, is short of talents. Transferring Sir Gloriosa to him will better demonstrate his value. Bernard, please be willing to part with me."

"Of course, everything is subject to His Majesty's arrangement."

Bernard Maulvius saluted respectfully, and he had already scolded Joseph III thousands of times in his heart: The talents he had finally discovered were snatched away with just one sentence. Why? !

Moreover, for a guy who is from a side of the royal family to serve as a consultant, if you think about it, you will know that the other party must have understood that Leo Hered was not a great guy, so he pushed Jialan over just as a hard laborer; the credit must have been lost, and something happened. Be the first to take the blame!

Just thinking about it, Bernard couldn't help but feel sorry for Sir Garland's future, but well, hum...

While the two were talking, the melee on the west bank battlefield continued: the Rangers had begun to lose ground, and Fabian, who had been unable to drive the Gloriosa Army out of their positions, finally gave the order to withdraw from the outer positions.

At this time, only two hours had passed since the battle broke out.

Even the forts at the Ranger Corps' positions were fully suppressed. Since the enemy dared to expose their targets, Bernard certainly had no reason to let go. The artillery began to focus fire on the Clovis forts. After three rounds of strikes, the Rangers The legion's artillery fire has obviously weakened, and they no longer dare to be too arrogant.

Seeing the enemy's obvious decline, Joseph finally couldn't hold back his patience and ordered the left and right wings to start advancing, bypassing the enemy's position on the west bank, setting up a pontoon bridge, and reaching the Polovi headquarters on the east bank.

Since the Clovis thugs on the opposite side have pressed most of their main force on the west bank, the strength of the east bank is simply conceivably weak. According to intelligence, there may not even be 10,000 people. As long as the army successfully crosses the river, victory is simply easy.

Of course, despite being excited, the emperor pretended to be patient and asked Bernard to confirm whether it was feasible. The answer given by the latter was: "If the two legions sent by the Clovis to cross the river have already started to move, and If enemy reinforcements will not arrive immediately, then there is a high probability that it will be feasible.”

After receiving a satisfactory answer, Joseph III immediately sent messengers to confirm the situation upstream and downstream of the Halberd River. The result completely fulfilled Bernard's judgment: both Clovis armies were already trying to cross the river, and were fighting against the Empire who was holding on to the crossing. Troops fighting.

At this point, the emperor completely lowered his guard: "Send the order, Bernard's Army and Leo's Army on the left and right wings, immediately prepare to cross the Halberd River and cut off the Clovis people's retreat!"

Twenty minutes later, the chaotic battlefield on the west bank began to change: the empire's central army was still suppressing the Ranger Corps position, while the left and right wings gradually approached the shore, and one after another set up pontoon bridges on the turbulent river.

"Very good. The other party finally couldn't bear it anymore."

In the royal manor on the east coast, looking at the imperial army that had begun to take action, Anson showed a relieved smile: "I was worried that if I continued to hold on like this, the Ranger Corps might be in danger... It turns out that I was overly worried! "

He turned around, and the faces of the officers present were also filled with smiles; especially Count Schlieffen, who stood up from his chair impatiently: "Your Majesty, it's our turn now. Are you in the limelight?"

"That's right, the Signal Flag Corps and the Rising Sun Corps will all assemble and immediately move towards the east bank of the Halberd River, seizing the best opportunity for the imperial army to cross the river, and split the emperor's right and left arms in two!" Anson said with a smile:

"It's time... to show them our cards!"