I will be crowned king

Faced with Bernard's unknown "instructions", Joseph III didn't take it to heart at all, or even if what the other party said was true, it was impossible for him to adopt it.

Could it be that the Clovis people set up an ambush on the east bank, and when the two armies were halfway across the river to attack, they could still order the troops crossing the river to retreat?

joke!

This is not a small-scale battle involving hundreds or thousands of people. An army of tens of thousands is as powerful as thunder. Can they stop the attack with just one order?

Even if there is an ambush on the east coast, so what? If the 20,000-strong army directly presses on the entire front, and cooperates with one's own artillery positions, isn't it enough to open a gap and control the situation on the entire battlefield?

To put it bluntly, I really couldn't end the battle immediately. The main force of the Clovis west bank saw that their retreat was cut off, and they became a turtle in a urn, and their morale would inevitably collapse.

After nearly three hours of fierce fighting, it was almost noon and the sky above the Changjian River was cloudless. The sparkling water was unusually calm without any ripples. The west side was filled with gunpowder smoke, and the east side was as quiet as death.

Relying on the convenience of local combat logistics, the preparations on both wings of the imperial army were very fast: small sampans were pushed down the river one after another, and the construction of the pontoon bridge was completed at an astonishing speed. A large number of sandbags were even thrown into the sampans for reinforcement. , ensuring that even small artillery can easily pass through.

Throughout the process, the Clovis army on the east coast only organized a small-scale artillery bombardment, and sent a small number of skirmishers - less than two regiments - to dig trenches on the shore and build artillery forts with sandbags and soil in an attempt to resist.

In the eyes of Joseph III, this was undoubtedly the enemy telling him: The east coast is empty, and the army only needs to rush over and take away the Clovis command post, and the battle will be over!

"For Your Majesty—forward!"

"Long live——!!! Long live——!!!! Long live——!!!"

Thousands of soldiers marched across the Halberd River shouting slogans, and the thousands of cold lights reflected on the spear points and bayonets raised high were breathtaking.

The Clovis soldiers on the opposite position seemed to have been completely frightened. They didn't even dare to climb out of the trench fortifications to stop the attack. Instead, they hid inside and even hid the military flag.

"Your Majesty, it seems that the Clovis people did not expect your army to be so powerful. The reserve team at the rear does not even look like 5,000 people." Leo Hered, who seized the opportunity to show off, put down his Telescope, he quickly opened his mouth and boasted:

"Now Sir Bernard seems to be overly worried. With such a small force, let alone blocking, it is impossible to escape!"

"The battle is not over yet, Leo, don't make any judgments at this time. A commander as experienced and cautious as Bernard is not something you can criticize at will."

Seeing that this relative from a nearby family was a little distraught, Joseph III immediately reprimanded: "Until the last moment, the battle will never be finalized. Your self-righteousness may very well be an opportunity for the enemy to make a comeback!"

"Yes, Your Majesty, I have learned a lesson from my humble duty."

Looking at Leo who was extremely humble and lowered his head, Joseph III nodded with satisfaction; although he said to be cautious, in fact he and Leo had the same judgment - they were all beaten like this, Clovis people There is no doubt that they will lose.

It was just to maintain the majesty of the emperor, and to give a few words to this relative who was not yet mature enough to reprimand him; Joseph III knew very well that in terms of military affairs, this guy was still far behind; when it came to the real commanders in the empire, In front of him, he was almost the size of a baby.

But the best commanders in the empire are almost all grand dukes and lords and nobles from various places, and their loyalty is very doubtful; Fernando, whom he trusted most, died in Clovis for no apparent reason, and several royal legions on the border were also killed by Clovis. The man was tightly restrained, unable to move.

That's why Joseph III would rather bring in new people than entrust the legion to the princes in Xiaolong City at this time - the former is most incompetent, and the latter who can guarantee that they will not surrender to the enemy on the battlefield and stage another Red Moon The drama about Fernando being "suicided" during the trip to the province?

If you can do it the first time, you can definitely do it the second time... The emperor didn't dare to take that kind of risk.

"But you reminded me, Leo, if the leader of the Clovis thugs, that guy named Anson Bach, abandons the army and flees alone, this battle will be far from a victory." Joseph III The conversation changed:

"We have to avoid this risk. Do you have any good way to dispel this doubt for me?"

"Yes! Your Majesty, of course there is!"

The overjoyed Leo Hered immediately knelt down on one knee. He understood that this was the emperor hinting - or indicating - that he had an opportunity to perform meritorious deeds!

As a commander-in-chief, I am indeed not as good as Bernard. This is true, so if I continue to stay at the headquarters, I will not be able to achieve any merit (not to mention that this is His Majesty's personal expedition, and the credit for commanding the army certainly belongs to His Majesty). If you want to stand out, you can only rely on it. Capturing the enemy commander is such a visible and tangible military achievement.

"Please give me five thousand... no, three thousand cavalry! When the army completes crossing the river, I will personally present Anson Bach's head to His Majesty!"

"It's not necessary. I'll give you five thousand cavalry. Anson Bach... I want to live." Joseph III had no expression on his face, almost crushing his teeth under his face:

"That shameless villain who hurt my sister and nephew, I'm looking forward to meeting him."

"O-obey!"

Leo Hered couldn't help but shudder. Even with his head lowered from a meter away, he could feel the endless murderous intent in the emperor's eyes.

The satisfied emperor nodded slightly and looked towards the battlefield again.

After several hours of fighting, the outer positions of the Ranger Corps had been basically penetrated. From the collapsed earth walls into the trenches and inner forts, the support the artillery positions could provide was minimal. ; On the contrary, the defending Ranger Corps can take advantage of the terrain and strength to suppress the attacker.

Without the reinforcements of the artillery position, Sir Garland, who was the spearhead of the attack, was in an extremely difficult situation: continuous attacks not only depleted morale, but also produced almost no results except causing more casualties.

Normally, at this stage of the battle, the Jialan Legion, as the "death squad", should withdraw from the battle and give up the battlefield to the real main army; but regardless of the "elite cavalry assault" originally agreed upon by the two wings to break the situation, The emperor's headquarters, which should have appeared long ago, seemed to show no signs of participating in the battle at this time.

Seeing that the battle was becoming more and more difficult, Sir Garland quickly sent someone to the rear to contact Bernard to ask what was going on. However, he received the reply that "Earl Bernard has rushed upriver for reinforcements." Not to mention the messenger he sent. The emperor couldn't even enter the headquarters gate.

At this time, he had a vague feeling that the emperor seemed to have given up on defeating the Clovis people head-on, and instead forced himself across the Halberd River to capture the Clovis headquarters, and capture or behead Anson Bach himself.

Therefore, in line with the attitude of "the battle is pretty good anyway, let's continue to use the remaining heat", we watched the Jialan Army being stuck in the mud pit, not even willing to waste a single shell of reinforcements.

Despite this, Sir Garland still did not maintain the offensive and had no intention of stopping the attack.

He didn't really care whether the emperor would notice if he "fished", but if the Ranger Corps on the opposite side realized that he was weak and probably had no reinforcements, then he would be really in danger!

The knights of the Jialan Legion also understand this truth to some extent... There is no way, prisoners who have served their crimes have no human rights.

Fortunately, the Clovis people on the opposite side did not notice this. They continued to resist and fought with the Garland Army. During this period, they tried to organize a counter-encirclement more than once, taking advantage of their position to strangle the company that was gradually advancing.

But...did they really not find it?

Sir Garland was quite suspicious...Although he had only met Anson Bach once, and had personally witnessed the opponent's amazing talent and tightrope-walking "skirmishing tactics", his reason told him that the opponent would never take all of them. The person whose family fortune is directly tied to his appearance.

No, he definitely has a trump card, definitely...

"boom--!!!!"

Just when he was distracted, a loud noise suddenly came from the east bank direction.

The astonished Sir Gloria looked up subconsciously, and took out the monocular from his arms with both hands. He could only vaguely see a huge water column rising from the direction where the explosion just came from.

Water droplets that flew more than ten meters into the air emerged one after another on the east bank.

This... Jialan's pupils shrank slightly. Judging from the direction, it should be the direction of the Clovis headquarters, which is almost equivalent to the power of a twelve-pound infantry cannon - it seems that the Clovis defenders on the east coast are mobilizing artillery. The armies on both wings of the emperor blocked the crossing of the river.

It sounds like nothing, but why has it taken until now to finally take action? If there is still a considerable amount of artillery, shouldn't we take immediate action when building the pontoon bridge, or provide reinforcements for the defenders on the west bank?

Could it be that……

"Your Majesty, there is an emergency military situation on the east coast!"

The sweaty messenger galloped from the shore to the headquarters. He dismounted in a slightly embarrassed manner and knelt on one knee in front of the emperor: "From behind the original royal manor in the highlands, a large number of figures suddenly appeared! Suspected... …”

"I've already seen it!"

Coldly interrupting the hesitating messenger, Joseph III, with an extremely ugly face, stared in the direction of the east bank, with the corners of his mouth twitching slightly.

Through the layers of gunpowder smoke on the west bank, patches of black shadow suddenly appeared behind the hills and horizon that obscured the view on the east bank.

They were like swarms of ants, or like floods sweeping out from the depths of the earth, pouring out unbridled, vigorous and unstoppable.

"……How many?"

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty..."

"I asked you how many reinforcements there are from those Clovis thugs...how many are there?!"

"this……"

The messenger hesitated for a moment, then looked at the emperor's expression that could not be called joy and twitched his throat: "It's about 40,000 to 50,000 people..."

Fifty thousand... Joseph III's expression was distorted. Does that mean that the Clovis people had hidden half of their army, waiting for him to issue the order to cross the river for a general attack, and take the opportunity to launch a surprise attack?

He, they... How dare they do this, how can they be sure that they will be the first to cross the river, how can they be sure that the defenders on the west bank will not collapse, how can they be so sure that there will never be a slight mistake, and they will be able to cross the river just in time. The armies on both wings didn't have time to completely cross the river and launch a full-scale attack?

What kind of crazy plan was made by a madman, and what kind of madman dared to execute it so meticulously? !

Joseph III couldn't understand, but at this moment, Bernard's seemingly meaningless instructions before leaving suddenly became full of irony - as if he had already guessed such a result.

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

Before he could recover from his anger, another burst of loud noises came from the east bank, and it was no longer just water columns, but also billowing black smoke, mixed with dust and rubble, as black as broken pieces. Like a corpse...

"Finally it's our turn to attack!"

In the east bank position, Count Schlieffen, who personally held high the red-blooded unicorn flag, laughed loudly and looked at the Imperial line soldiers who were badly damaged by shelling as soon as they landed on the shore.

In order to ensure that the artillery positions on the east coast would not be exposed, Anson indeed blocked a very extreme distance and placed the artillery on the downhill slope behind the royal estate; this way the enemy could not see it, and the artillery on his side could not observe the artillery fire with the naked eye. The coordinate point can only be fired based on the coordinates reported by the observer on the high ground.

Not to mention Clovis, even for an empire that has always been known for its elite artillery, cross-field artillery bombardment is also very difficult. It is completely normal to inadvertently injure friendly troops, and it is even more common to miss the position.

Fortunately, there is someone beside Anson who is impossible to miss - a sharpshooter who can accurately knock down the enemy's fortress turrets from a distance of one kilometer. Miss Lisa Bach, the chief police officer, is here.

After Lisa's personal command and several rounds of test firings, the Western Front Army had the opportunity to launch a shocking rapid artillery fire and accurately cover the Imperial army that had just landed.

"Young men, show your courage! The cavalry takes the lead, and the infantry forms an assault column in companies. They work in pairs to cover - don't stop as long as you charge, don't waste time reloading ammunition; remember , Cowards hide behind others and shoot cold shots, heroes always place their faith on the tip of the bayonet!"

Count Schlieffen, holding the military flag high, galloped in front of the formation, shouting and waving the flag, then turned his horse's head and rushed towards the battlefield flooded by artillery fire: "God bless Clovis - charge!"

"God bless Clovis-!!!!"

Thousands of shouts shook the hearts of the imperial soldiers who had been blown to pieces.

The balance of victory seems to have tilted once again.