I will be crowned king

Without any pause, the two regiments of Signal Flag and Rising Sun pressed forward with full force - the three hussars regiments acted as the vanguard, facing the enemy's random gunshots that had just landed, and ran all the way across the wide battlefield gap, waving their sabers and taking the lead. Launch an onslaught!

Although Count Schlieffen is old, he is not a reckless person: from crossing the river to gaining a firm foothold, the imperial army has only ten minutes to lose its foothold. If we don't take advantage of now to defeat them and defeat them, The next uncomfortable thing was the two-front battle, and the Western Front Army was cut off from the battlefield.

"Wow wow wow wow wow wow wow...!!!"

Under the smoke of gunpowder, the cavalry shouting for kill raised their sabers high above their heads. This moving "steel forest" shook the earth wantonly, like a pouring flood, bursting out with endless power.

Yes, torrent... The flat open land on the east coast is dotted with artillery forts built by skirmishers. They are not large in scale and can even be called quite crude - in the eyes of the Imperial Knights, this is Clovis. Human beings are just stubbornly resisting and struggling to the death.

But the moment the army appeared from behind the high ground, they finally understood: scattered artillery forts divided the battlefield, giving the Clovis people the possibility to choose attack targets at will, and the slight covering effect was very deceptive; However, the imperial army that had just landed was unable to confirm the focus of defense based on the artillery forts, and was invisibly weakened again.

Even so, the panicked Imperial Knights still showed their military qualities that were unparalleled in the world of order: while aware of the enemy's situation, it took less than five minutes to reorganize the army that had been shattered by the bombing, and surrounded it. Positions were arranged at the landing point, and the hastily put together infantry battalions and companies formed a tight square formation, back to back, bayonets extended outward.

Facing this group of small phalanxes lined up like hedgehogs, Count Schlieffen, who was at the forefront of the charge, showed no signs of avoiding his edge. He commanded the cavalry to continue accelerating, and the galloping horse hooves beat wildly on the hearts of both warring parties, like a battle. A game between cowards.

finally……

"Bang-!!!! Bang-!!!! Bang-!!!!"

The heart-shaking gunshots, the screams of trampled horseshoes, the wails of slashing swords...the hastily formed defense line of the Imperial Knights was instantly defeated.

Until they were trampled on their chests by horses' hooves, the Imperial knights still didn't understand what happened. They didn't understand: Where did the cowards of Clovis, who used to have poor riding skills and never launch a frontal attack, find the courage to attack the infantry phalanx head-on.

Are they all stupid and don't know what a heavy price they will pay for doing this?

This is indeed the case: even though they had tried their best to be as unexpected as possible, the front rows of the three hussars regiments still suffered heavy casualties. Many cavalrymen did not even fall to the enemy's lead bullets, but directly hit their bayonets at the moment of charging, including their lives. Lead the horse and smash into the square formation.

There is no way, the strength gap between Clovis and the Imperial Cavalry is so big: they don't have enough experience at all, they regard charging as a close combat, let alone quickly evade, and being able to seize the opportunity to change direction is regarded as superb skill.

But it was precisely because of this recklessness that it caused a huge shock to the Imperial Knights: These Clovis people really dared to charge into the phalanx head-on!

One, two, three... the imperial phalanx collapsed one after another, and the Clovis hussars continued to roll forward, stepping on the corpses of their enemies and comrades.

Behind them, there was a dense column that was also holding high the military flag and shouting to charge, trotting closely behind them and launching a follow-up attack on the already crushed front line.

"The Hermann regiment collapsed! The Lucian regiment collapsed! More than half of the casualties were lost, and the remaining soldiers are fleeing!"

"Sir Brady was killed in action. Outside the Brady regiment's defense line, the defeated troops were temporarily taken over by Robert's regiment. They are trying their best to stop it and request reinforcements!"

"Two-thirds of the Seriya regiment suffered casualties, and all the company commanders were killed. Requesting reinforcements!"

Bad news kept flying to Leo Hered like pieces of paper. He had just come from the West Coast and before he could recover from the previous explosion, he was surrounded by the messengers asking for help. "Lord Leo, you are the legion." Commander, give the order quickly!"

"I, I, I, I, I..."

Looking at the frightened faces, Leo seemed to be stupid - the situation was obviously good one second, but why suddenly it took a turn for the worse: "What's going on? Who can tell me this?" what's going on?!"

"Our defenses have been defeated!"

Amidst the chaotic sound of gunfire, a knight who was responsible for delivering the order braved his courage and jumped directly to grab him by the collar: "The Clovis people have an ambush, no less than 20,000 to 30,000 people!"

"They have launched a full-line attack. Half of our troops are still on the west bank. The cavalry has not been able to come over. The artillery is not clear about the situation and dare not support us. The only ones who can fight now are these soldiers who dare to go ashore!"

"If you don't give the order, these people - including you - will all die!"

The knights were extremely panicked, and no one was even willing to step forward to stop the "warrior" who grabbed the commander's collar.

But the object of their hope was obviously more confused than they were. Listening to the chaotic noise and shouts of death around him, looking at the crowded crowd in front of him and the unknown battlefield, Leo Herred was so frightened that he could not say anything. Speak up.

"I...then...what order should I give?"

"Attack! Or...retreat!"

The knight who was tugging on his collar finally showed a trace of fear on his face, but there was also a little hope in the fear: "You are the commander-in-chief, and only you can issue this order to make the army take action."

"Retreat, retreat? No, this is absolutely not possible!"

Leo Hered, who was in a trance, was brought back to reality as soon as he heard "retreat", and he suddenly broke into a cold sweat - he knew too well that if he dared to issue an order to retreat at this time, the emperor would not stop him on the spot. It would be an act of mercy to shoot him.

"Attack, must attack! Organize a counterattack immediately, repel the damn Clovis people, and make them pay the price!" Leo seemed to have finally found his courage, raised his right hand high and clenched it into a fist:

"I will personally lead the team and clear the way for the army!"

Seeing that the Lord Commander was so courageous, the knights who were trembling just now felt a little more relieved. The "warrior" who was holding his collar quickly let go of his hand and knelt on one knee.

"Excuse me for being rude, sir, but I wonder how you plan to repel the Clovis ambush?"

"Uh... this..." Leo coughed twice, and his eyes seemed confused again: "This is not important! The most important thing now is to gather the troops and start the counterattack quickly. Don't waste any more time!"

Knights: "..."

Who doesn’t know that the troops must be gathered quickly to organize a counterattack, and who doesn’t know that if this continues, it will definitely end. The problem is that they were bombarded by the Clovis as soon as they landed, and the organization collapsed. The outer front has now been breached. Battalions, regiments and even companies of all sizes are fighting independently. How do you assemble them and organize a counterattack?

We hope that you, the commander-in-chief, will think of a solution instead of telling us a bunch of correct nonsense!

But looking at Leo's bluffing look, everyone was relieved... No matter how much you expect this gentleman to be like this, he is already loyal enough by not abandoning the army and running away, and can't expect more.

The knights who had given up their illusions "surrounded" Leo Hered, who was still unclear about the situation, and began to gather the remaining soldiers in a panic, gathering reinforcements from the back line, trying to block the fierce offensive of the Clovis people on the shore...

At the same time, the emperor's headquarters on the west bank had been involved in endless quarrels. The knights and aristocratic advisers had to fight over whether to withdraw the two-wing legions from the east bank.

The reason is also very simple: if we withdraw the army from the east coast now, there is no guarantee that the Clovis people will not take advantage of the victory and pursue them. At the same time, it is equivalent to voluntarily giving up the opportunity to end the battle as soon as possible; but if we do not order the retreat, the legions on the east coast will watch. The whole army is about to be annihilated!

Not only the knights and staff, but Joseph III himself was also extremely entangled... No one knew Leo Hered's ability better than him. Handing over the besieged army to him was no different from committing suicide, but delaying it, waiting until After the battle on the east coast was over, he really had no hope of making a comeback.

The more he thought about it, the more Bernard's "instructions" came back to Joseph III's mind... The humble face became more twisted, full of ridicule and teasing.

"Tell the commanders on both wings that the troops are not allowed to evacuate and continue to transport troops to the east coast!"

The emperor's face was as solemn as ever: "The baggage corps will do its best to ensure the stability of the pontoon bridge, and let the artillery positions find ways to provide reinforcements to the east bank - from now on, anyone who dares to mention abandoning the east bank front will be executed on the spot!"

After the words fell, the knight staff who were still arguing just now lowered their heads and remained silent.

"Now we still have a powerful cavalry force in our hands, as well as an elite reserve of 15,000 people, as well as Roland and Archduke Levent's 60,000 reinforcements who are coming from the upper and lower reaches of the Halberd River. The advantage is still on our side. , it is only a matter of time before we defeat the rampant and despicable Clovis people."

"Pass my order, the reserve team is ready for battle, reinforce the Garland Army that is surrounding the Clovis position on the west bank, and send an additional two thousand cavalry from both wings to assist in the battle; there is no requirement for a quick battle, but the enemy must be compressed as much as possible living space, cut off their retreat, and put pressure on the Clovis people on the east coast."

"As for the artillery hidden by the Clovis... don't worry about them. All the remaining cavalry are on standby to reinforce Count Bernard who is fighting upriver; once he successfully defeats the Clovis crossing army, he will successfully counterattack to On the east bank, the cavalry immediately attacked for reinforcements.”

"yes--!!!!"

Seeing that the emperor was still calm and composed, making arrangements calmly, the knights finally calmed down and began to continue working in an orderly manner.

In fact, Joseph III could not guarantee that his decision was really correct, but he knew very well that he had to give the order at this moment, otherwise the morale of the army was likely to collapse immediately - even a wrong order was ten thousand better than no order at all. times.

Bernard holds the same opinion on this. The danger on the battlefield is never the enemy, but the commander who does nothing. What is more dangerous is the mistaken belief that he has done something. In fact, it is just a waste of manpower and time. It is a complete waste of manpower and time. idiot.

In this regard, the garrison officer at the upper reaches of the Halberd River was obviously the latter, and he was also the best among such people: he actually thought he could kill Clovis with a beautiful mid-crossing attack.

Obviously he doesn't have this ability. What's even more frightening is that he actually thinks that "half-crossing and attacking" means simply letting the enemy over and then attacking with the whole army... There is no need to prepare an ambush to lure the enemy in advance, there is no need to arrange artillery positions to cover, or even You need to prepare a preliminary plan in case you don't succeed and fail, and you really just watch the enemy rush to your face.

Bernard simply didn't know how to describe his feelings. Calling this kind of people trash seemed to be somewhat sorry for the grassroots officers who had no talent but worked hard.

At this time, after he led the army to come for reinforcements, the situation in the upstream position had improved slightly... Although the Storm Legion, which numbered more than 5,000 people, had strong combat power, the preparations were quite hasty after all, and coupled with the lack of follow-up troops in the cross-river battle, for a time They failed to defeat Bernard, who also rushed in for reinforcements.

In order to ensure that the morale of the army would not be affected by the defeat of the defenders upstream, Bernard even personally supervised the battle with a sword, sent cavalry to chase and beheaded all the deserters one by one.

As a general known for his gentleness and tolerance, Bernard's sudden coldness greatly shocked the defeated troops; with his efforts, the originally scattered front line gradually gathered together, no matter how Norton Crosell launched the attack, They even used cavalry artillery to bombard them from the flanks. Rows of soldiers screamed and fell in a pool of blood, but the front line remained as stable as a rock.

After several attempts, Norton saw no hope and could only retreat and defend the ferry, using the fortifications on the original position to restrain Bernard. However, he did not expect that his approach would allow Bernard to verify a guess:

Anson Bach, he does not intend to launch a surprise attack from the upstream and downstream ferries. The key to victory or defeat still lies in the main battlefield!

It was at this moment that two pieces of news came to him one after another: the first was, of course, the failure of the river-crossing operation commanded by Leo Hered, and the army was trapped on the shore in a dilemma, and the other...

"Archduke Roland's army is less than two hours away from the main battlefield." With a solemn look on his face, he muttered to himself as he looked towards the upper reaches of the Halberd River... This meant that the direction of Xiaolong City was probably already there. The final decision has been made. The Northern Alliance established by the two giants Bernard and Roland has made a final decision.

"Anson Bach, and our beloved Majesty... No matter which of you is the one who wins everything in the end, you must speed up now!"