I will be crowned king

Under the endless blue sky, the "Storm Division" infantrymen lined up in scattered formations, carrying not-so-light marching backpacks and a full set of weapons and equipment, and advancing on the rugged road.

In order to speed up the march, Anson simply abandoned all the large baggage. All soldiers were responsible for two days of rations and ammunition, and a small number of pack horses carried three days' worth; the rest was hoarded in a place near Eagle Point Pass. The Thun people controlled the relatively hidden villages and towns, and left a company responsible for establishing outposts.

After much consideration, Anson handed over the outpost to Alan Dawn: on the one hand, he was already managing the army's logistics, and on the other hand, he really couldn't help much in the coming battle, so it would be better to go to the rear to deal with it specifically. Supplies, and by the way, deal with the Thun people on his behalf.

On the one hand, the little clerk was very disappointed that he could not stay with Anson - he still remembered his gaffe at Lund Manor - but on the other hand, because he was entrusted with an important task, he was extremely excited and spared no effort to tell Anson He said that he would definitely fulfill his duties and bet on his career to ensure that nothing would go wrong.

Anson can only say a few words of encouragement, hoping that he can continue his efforts so that the logistics department that is currently short of manpower can flourish.

On the narrow path, the soldiers, whose necks and backs were wet with sweat, were marching forward almost shoulder to shoulder. The dusty military uniforms on their bodies were already dirty... There was a faint excitement on their slightly tired faces. .

Although the organizational system of the conscripted army has always been full of "commercialization" - attracting investment and sponsorship in the early stage, compressing operating costs in the mid-term, and dividing dividends in the later stage, from investors to officers at each level, they can all participate according to their respective military ranks and roles in the war. Contributions get a share of the loot.

But for the lowest-ranking soldiers, in addition to at least one full meal a day, the only thing they can get is the eternal Schrödinger's military pay before the end of the month.

The dividends from winning the war have nothing to do with them, but they will be implicated in losing the war. In order to reduce losses, the officers who contracted to recruit the corps often cut operating costs by withholding military pay, supplies and even arms.

Even the end of the war is not good news for them - the regular army needs to garrison the border, suppress rebellions and various riots, and need to scare neighboring countries; but this group of scum-like levies is like a summer fireplace. Something that can be thrown away after the battle.

But this time it’s different!

Deputy Commander Lieutenant Colonel Anson Bach said personally that a quarter of all loot captured goes to all soldiers!

Not just food and chores, but a quarter of all loot—from finances to weapons—discounted!

After repeatedly confirming the news and getting a personal commitment from the deputy commander himself, the morale of the entire army immediately changed.

If before the war started, this group of people had only heard rumors that "the elves' army is very invincible", then after fighting against the Thun people, the whole army was convinced of the weakness and incompetence of the Yser elves.

They are not afraid of these scum soldiers who can be broken into pieces at a touch, let alone two or three thousand, even if they are doubled to four or five thousand!

That's right, under the wise command of Deputy Commander Anson Bach, they are invincible and will definitely be able to defeat powerful enemies again, and even turn enemies into friends, making the other party obediently spend money to provide them with supplies - just like what happened in Jinshi City.

So, stimulated by the impending fortune, the entire army burst out with an unusually high fighting spirit. They carried out every order given by Anson without any complaints and advanced on foot to the east of Eagle Point Pass in a state of rapid march.

Of course, they didn't know that what stood between them and the supplies of at least two infantry divisions, in addition to the endless hills and rugged terrain, were also up to two infantry divisions, fully loaded with elven soldiers.

"you've changed."

Walking on the rugged path, Anson suddenly turned and spoke to the adjutant beside him.

"Um?"

Carl Bain was stunned. He was busy recording the scout's report and observing the surrounding terrain, and he didn't hear what he said clearly.

"I don't know if you've noticed that you've been extremely quiet these past two days, unusually quiet." Anson looked at him seriously:

"You were not like this before - like an asthmatic who was about to die, shouting that either you were crazy or I was crazy, or both of us were crazy."

"My deputy commander, do you think this is the first time that you have tampered with your commander's orders and done whatever you want?"

Karl rolled his eyes weakly:

"The artillery fort on a foggy day, the city wall on a stormy night, the snow-capped mountains where I almost got lost, and your relatives in Jinshi City... To be honest, you can't surprise me any more."

"Really?!" Anson raised the corner of his mouth.

Karl glared at him: "Do you think I praise you?!"

"No!" Anson shook his head decisively:

"I think this proves that the tacit understanding between you and me is getting deeper and deeper, which is a good thing!"

Carl Bain: "...You should just think that I am complimenting you."

The corners of Anson's mouth immediately rose at 60 degrees, and extended toward the ears on both sides at a speed visible to the naked eye, fully demonstrating how uncomfortable a person's posture in a proud state would be for those around him who saw him.

Karl stared at him with this extremely uncomfortable look and remained silent for more than ten seconds. Then he decisively gave up his patience and rushed forward to hold Anson's shoulders:

"What on earth do you want to do?!"

"Fuck...didn't I tell you everything?"

"When did you tell me, what did you tell me?!"

"I've been telling you all this time. Don't you understand what I said at the military meeting before?"

"I don't understand, and you didn't say a word to me at that time, right?!"

"Why not? I think my eyes have expressed it in detail!"

"..." Karl found that he didn't want to talk to this guy at all, and looked at the endless mountains ahead without saying a word.

Of course he knew what Anson wanted to do, but he especially hoped that he was wrong.

This optimistic guy looks like a lunatic. He probably got lost on the Dawn Ice Peak... No! It should have been far before that, ever since he left the capital of King Clovis with more than two thousand people...

He had no intention of obeying anyone's orders, whether they were from the Army or from Ludwig Franz.

Karl even suspected that they were not lost at all. Anson deliberately deviated from the originally planned marching route of the army, diverted to the Grand Duchy of Thun, and obtained a second investment from his "relatives".

Now he has tampered with Ludwig's orders and led an army of more than 2,000 people and at least 10,000 Ysel elves to fight head-on... Who knows how far his "perfect plan" has progressed.

"Can I ask a question?"

Seeing a certain adjutant leaving quickly, Leon Francois, who had been following the two men, immediately seized this opportunity, trotted to follow Anson, and spoke with curiosity on his face.

"Of course." Anson was still very polite to this important "hostage":

"Dear cousin Leon, you can ask anything you want."

"You are so approachable, dear cousin Anson." The young knight thanked him quickly, and then said quickly:

"I just want to know, how do you plan to block or even capture the supplies of two infantry divisions of the Ysel elves with just two thousand people?"

"Of course, I know that your troops are definitely the elite of the Clovis Army, and the combat effectiveness of the Ysel elves is probably not worth mentioning in your eyes - but in any case, the strength of the army responsible for escorting these supplies is at least It’s more than twice as good as yours!”

"Because of the terrain here."

"Terrain?" The young knight looked very puzzled.

"It was clearly marked on the map you brought at yesterday's military meeting. If the Ysel elves want to quickly support Eagle Point City from the territory, there are only three parallel roads to take." Anson looked at him slowly:

"Which path do you think the Ysel elves will take?"

The young knight didn't even think about it: "Of course it's the fastest one recently!"

"No, they will take all three paths." Anson flatly rejected:

"And if the commander of this army has a little common sense, he will keep the speed of the troops on the three roads as consistent as possible."

"oh?"

The young knight was as excited as if he had discovered a new world. He even couldn't wait to take out the paper and pen from his arms - which he borrowed from the little clerk the day before.

"Because an army is not an individual, and it is impossible to maintain absolutely consistent steps." Anson looked at the notes in his hand with great satisfaction - people who like to keep notes and diaries are very serious gentlemen, just like himself.

"If a fully-equipped infantry regiment is marching, the distance from the first row to the last row will be more than 500 meters and less than 700 meters. What if it is an infantry division? Only the infantry queue does not include baggage, which is also three More than five kilometers and less than five kilometers.”

"If this army has sufficient supplies, the queue length will reach at least eight kilometers; if they are the team responsible for escorting supplies, the length will immediately increase to twelve to sixteen kilometers."

"What does this mean? The average infantry marches twenty to thirty kilometers in a day; sixteen kilometers means that the first platoon of soldiers starts from early morning, and by noon, the last soldier has not yet started to move."

Anson shook his head: "Therefore, the commander of any army will not make such a stupid mistake; the most reasonable arrangement is to split the army into several roughly equal parts, let them advance in separate ways, and then at the same time or Arrive at the reserved destination one after another.”

"In addition, the commander should have the most basic understanding of the area he is about to pass - how smooth the road is, how many troops can pass through at one time, whether he can get sufficient supplies on the way... these must all be considered. within range.”

"It's easy to take a thousand people from goal 1 to goal 2, but to get 6,000 or even 10,000 people to do the same thing... it's hard."

The excited Leon Francois quickly recorded that this was something his father and Henares had never taught him.

"In this battle, the Ysel elves must quickly reinforce and supply Eagle Point City - otherwise the ammunition in the fortress will be exhausted or there will be too many casualties, and we Clovis people will be able to win without a fight."

As he spoke, Anson suddenly looked forward and frowned slightly.

"So the Ysel elves will definitely divide their troops and choose a three-way approach - in this way, their army will be separated by three parallel roads!"

The young knight said excitedly, but immediately thought of another question:

"But what if the commander on the opposite side insists on starting from one road to support us, or increases the strength of the supply team, or is particularly cautious and withdraws his entire army as soon as he is attacked, and gathers his forces to eliminate us?"

"These are three questions, but the answers are all the same." Anson smiled:

"It only took a dozen days from Clovis's declaration of war to the siege of the city; the Ysel elves had no time to allocate enough supplies to Eagle Point City - their hasty support for the fortress is the best proof!"

"So if they really do this, Eagle Point City will not have time to get supplies, and morale will soon be low; they will open the door and surrender when they run out of ammunition and food."

"I see!"

Leon Francois suddenly understood, and looked at Anson with a deeper look of admiration.

Anson smiled playfully, but there was actually a more important reason he didn't say.

That was the betrayal of the Grand Duchy of Thun.

One of the core reasons why the Ysel Elf would provide such decisive and quick support, even at the risk of encountering some accidents, was that she did not know that her "protected" allies, the Thuns, had betrayed her.

Therefore, they would not take any precautions against the south, and would even neglect to take precautions in order to speed up their march, giving Anson plenty of opportunities to launch a surprise attack on them on the rugged mountain roads.

Of course, this is only true at the beginning; what the enemy will do after they react depends on who the commander on the opposite side is and when Lieutenant Colonel Roman's reinforcements will arrive.

"No matter how the form of war changes, information always comes first; only by understanding enough information and combining it with known basic knowledge can we make the most reasonable judgment." Anson concluded:

"If it were on an open plain with no obstructions or obstacles around, it would be impossible for two thousand people to stop twice or even three or four times the number of enemies; but that situation does not exist at all, or even if that situation In extreme cases, the factors that affect the outcome of the battle are far more than just terrain."

"You should take all factors into consideration, but don't let this information interfere with your thinking; you should actively listen to ideas and information you don't know from others, but never let others think for you."

"That's what a commander does."

Anson, who narrowed his eyes slightly, suddenly stopped and felt a sting in his mind.

The young knight, still lowering his head, was still taking notes. In just a short moment of communication, he learned from Anson things that he had never heard of in the past - as if in the blink of an eye, war changed from a beautiful poem to a poem. The cold machine.

at this time……

"boom--!!!!"

Deafening gunfire exploded on the rugged mountain road, and countless birds leaped from the forest and flew all over the sky.

The first shot of the Eagle Point City blockade has been fired.