I will be crowned king

Where is Anson Bach now? This is a question that puzzles everyone.

According to the plan originally formulated by the Hantu Supreme Staff—in fact, most Hantu knights are still unfamiliar with this "organization" and have no idea what it does. They only regard it as a department in charge of logistics. The deputy commander of the southern army should have arrived long ago to join the Hantu army.

But the problem is that they are not very clear about it, because the entire Hantu army from top to bottom does not really want to see this Clovis man appear.

The reason is also very simple. After Anson Bach comes, who will direct whom?

Let a Clovis command the entire Hantu army to fight a war that will determine the future and destiny of Hantu? Let the honor of Hantu's "Foundation War" be snatched away by a group of Clovis people?

Are you kidding me? It is true that Hantu is an ally of Clovis, but it has not reached the level of a vassal - even if Claude Francois can tolerate such a behavior of "losing power and humiliating the country", the nobles of Hantu cannot tolerate it!

So...just the other way around?

Well, it doesn’t seem very realistic.

Although the deputy commander of the legion has always had a good attitude, he is also extremely tough in terms of "independence"; from the recapture of Eagle Horn City to the unification of Hantu, there are people behind almost all important events that affect Hantu. See his shadow.

But if the primary and secondary relationships and the ownership of the highest command authority cannot be determined, two armies are worse than one army.

It's not a pleasant feeling to be forced to share the fruits of victory with an outsider, not to mention that you are still the one asking for help; but... given the current situation, Hantu doesn't have much choice.

In order to defeat the Imperial Expeditionary Force, and to prevent the other party from attacking the supply lines that mattered to the lives of hundreds of thousands of soldiers while suppressing the Wild Stone Castle, they could no longer continue to be passively beaten as they are now, and must take the initiative to launch an attack!

At the moment, the Imperial people on the opposite side seem to be intimidated by the densely packed small fortresses on the east side of the defense line and the various fortifications that look very strong. They are afraid of being flanked by the fortress and the defense line from both sides, and dare not take the initiative to fight on two fronts.

But of course Claude Francois and the knights present knew exactly what the "reserve legions" stationed there were - they were all cannon fodder selected by each legion, and their combat effectiveness was negative!

At present, this "impregnable" east side defense line seems to be pretending, but once the Imperial Expeditionary Force "plucks up the courage" to test it a little, it will be able to expose the nature of this paper tiger on the spot and cut off or even control the supply line of the 100,000-strong army of Hantu.

That way they don't even have to take the initiative to attack, they just need to set up a siege net outside the Wild Stone Castle, and within twenty days the 40,000-strong army will collapse without a fight!

Therefore, we must counterattack, and we must counterattack no matter what.

The problem is, they can't.

It's not because he doesn't want to, but the "defense plan" designed by Carl Bain is naturally not suitable for organizing a counterattack-it requires a larger battlefield width and shorter length, but Carl's design is designed to defend depth. Width is sacrificed.

With the gap in mobility between the Hantu Army and the Imperial Expeditionary Force, it was absolutely impossible to catch up, and they would only be passively beaten.

However, no one now thinks that the Chief of Staff of the Storm Division is too "conservative". On the contrary, many Hantu nobles even think that he is too "radical" - the defense plan he designed is too comprehensive. As a result, it was not until the Imperial Expeditionary Force appeared that Just two-thirds done.

In addition, due to the raid of the Imperial Expeditionary Force, most of the peripheral defense facilities were destroyed, and the dominance of the battlefield completely fell into the hands of the enemy.

So facing the wrath of Claude Francois, the knights present had no choice but to shut up and remain silent except to continue to defend the fortress of Wild Stone Castle.

And Claude himself didn't expect his group of extremely incompetent "vassals" to provide any useful information, and his attention was entirely on the map in front of him.

He was looking for the marching route of the Imperial Expeditionary Force.

The other party did not follow the road but climbed over the mountains, which was indeed beyond his expectation, but this does not mean that 20,000 imperial soldiers are 20,000 Aiden goats, able to walk on flat ground among the cliffs - even if they can Even their livestock, baggage trains and artillery can't do it.

The only answer is that they find mountain roads that allow small groups of scattered troops to pass quickly.

what does that mean?

This means that the Imperial Expeditionary Force, which is currently storming the Wild Stone Castle, is a truly lone army without a stable supply line!

The more desperate they attack and the more they exert all their strength, the more it proves that they are actually weak and unable to hold on to this battle for too long; they must conquer the important supply point of Deserted Stone Castle in the shortest possible time in order to alleviate their imminent threat. We must face the threat of running out of ammunition and food.

Of course, the premise is that the enemy's attention must be completely focused on the Deserted Stone Castle... If time drags on for too long and the Imperial Expeditionary Force, which has been repeatedly frustrated in its attacks, will turn its main force to the reserve army on the east side of the defense line, it will be a bit dangerous.

Therefore, the key to victory or defeat lies in whether Anson Bach's reinforcements can arrive as soon as possible... As long as Anson Bach launches an attack and delivers a fatal blow to the Imperial Expeditionary Force from behind, everything will be fine.

Hantu, who was passively beaten, could turn his attack and turn defeat into victory!

It doesn't even matter if they can't defeat the expeditionary force, or it's just a draw... When they are dragged under the castle of Wild Stone Castle, Archduke Ayden's border army will have enough time to recapture the crucial and little defensive force. Top Tower Fortress.

After locking the exit on the western front and firmly controlling the fortress of Wild Stone Castle, I can form a closed-door-and-dog-fighting style between the two fortresses. Then... huh?

Just when Claude was still planning how to turn defense into offense and turn defeat into victory, he suddenly found that the sound of gunfire outside seemed to have become much weaker.

He was not the only one, almost all the nobles and knights in the dead silent hall couldn't help but raise their heads, looked around at each other, and whispered to each other, trying to confirm something incredible from each other as soon as possible.

Ignoring those guys who couldn't see the situation clearly, Claude Francois stood up directly and left the map table, kicked open the solid oak door, and walked along the narrow stone spiral staircase in the tower to the deepest part of the fortress. The rooftop at the top.

Rather than huddle in an impregnable "cell" and wait for the messenger's breathless and unclear report, he wanted to confirm the situation with his own eyes!

And when he pushed past the two knights who tried to block him and crossed the stairs, he was stunned.

In the deserted stone fort under the setting sun, the choking smoke was slowly dissipating, revealing the desolate land that had been ravaged by artillery fire, cavalry and lead bullets.

A large number of unfinished fortifications outside the city wall were almost completely destroyed, leaving only shapeless ruins and rubble everywhere; under the rising smoke pillars were dark red after-fires, which continued to burn the charred black fragments. The ruins of the wall...are the same burnt black "things" below.

Compared with the outer positions that were almost reduced to scorched earth, the condition of the Deserted Stone Castle itself could not be better - although the outer walls were repeatedly bombarded by artillery fire, they were almost intact except for slight damage; the defensive facilities on the walls were also There was not much damage, only two forts near the periphery were blown down... the strength of it was evident.

As for the Hantu Legion, which relied on the defense of the fortress, except for the initial battle where it was caught off guard and forced by the imperial cavalry, which caused quite heavy casualties, there were not many casualties in the subsequent battles.

As for the Imperial Expeditionary Force, they...

"Retreating?"

The stunned Claude Francois blurted out.

On the distant horizon, the Imperial Expeditionary Force, which has destroyed the outer defenses of the Wild Stone Castle Fortress and swept in like a wave, is retreating in an orderly manner!

Not stopping the attack, not suspending the offensive, not even taking a false shot... They are definitely retreating!

This...what exactly happened? !

The outer fortifications have been completely destroyed, and the Hantu Army, which was caught off guard, has lost all means of resistance except being passively beaten; according to common sense, any siege party entering this stage should take the opportunity to expand their results in the city. Build a siege position outside and strive to capture the fortress as soon as possible?

It's clearly them who have the advantage now!

But no matter how unbelievable Claude Francois was, the reality was before his eyes; in just a few dozen minutes after the ceasefire, the arrogant imperial line phalanx and the majestic cuirassiers, It had disappeared from his sight without a trace.

Withdrawn cleanly.

At the same time, there were sparse cheers on the city walls - panicked soldiers holding their weapons excitedly celebrating this hard-won victory and celebrating that they were still alive.

Suppressing the throbbing veins on his forehead, Claude recovered from the shock and grabbed the knight beside him who also wanted to celebrate: "Follow me!"

"Uh...where are you going?!" The frightened knight trembled slightly and almost didn't react.

"I said follow up, follow the retreating Imperial Expeditionary Force!" Claude growled impatiently:

"Send all the light cavalry and all the scouts out, follow them and figure out the retreat route and speed of these imperial bastards, figure out what happened, why they retreated, where they retreated... Do you understand? ?!”

"O-obey!"

The knight was so frightened that his legs became weak, but he still did not forget to salute his king before leaving in a panic.

That night, after sending nearly a thousand messengers and cavalry, Claude Francois finally got all the information he wanted.

Climb the tower!

After trying to storm the Wild Stone Castle to no avail, the 20,000 Imperial Expeditionary Force were marching quickly along the main traffic road to the Summit Tower Fortress.

This result once again verified Claude Francois's guess, and he suddenly realized it.

Yeah, that would make everything make sense.

Why would the Imperial Expeditionary Force be willing to take risks and attack the Deserted Stone Castle in a detour?

Because the Imperial Fleet and the Imperial Legion at Carindia Port had been completely wiped out under the joint attack of Lenore Francois and Anson Bach.

As a result, the Imperial Expeditionary Force has lost its only mobile force and cannot use this army deployed in the hinterland of Hantu to raid Tiezhong Fort and split Hantu.

So they had to take a risk and defeat themselves by cutting off the supply line; but the enemy obviously overestimated their own strength, or underestimated the strength of the Wild Stone Castle.

Just a temporary setback in their attack forced them to give up their extremely arrogant idea of ​​"quickly attacking the Wild Stone Castle" and return to defense to climb to the top of the tower!

At the same time, 20,000 Ayden warriors equipped with sophisticated infantry equipment and a large number of artillery have arrived outside the summit tower under the leadership of Grand Duke Ayden, and can easily capture this fortress with empty defenses at any time.

No matter whether he has conquered the summit tower or not, 20,000 Aydin soldiers are already ready and ready. They only need to set up defensive positions along the traffic lines to stop this group of imperial bastards who are in a hurry.

Moreover, there are 20,000 exhausted imperial bastards who have run out of ammunition and food!

At that time, he, who leads an army of 40,000, only needs to follow the main traffic road and join up with the coalition forces commanded by Anson Bach. With an army of 80,000, he will be able to encircle and retreat the 20,000 from the east, west and south at the same time. The lost imperial expeditionary force.

"...Therefore, His Majesty King Claude I has personally led an army of 40,000 people and is rapidly advancing towards the summit tower; Honorary Advisor Carl Bain is following the king's orders to hold on to the fortress of Wild Stone Castle and clean up the traces left by the Battle of Wild Stone Castle. , and establish a solid supply line for the army."

In front of Anson and Renault, the messenger sent by Claude said loudly and arrogantly: "Your Majesty means, please don't go to the Wild Stone Castle to join us again, and move west as soon as possible to encircle the Imperial Expeditionary Force! "

"Wait, isn't this too arbitrary?"

Renaud, who frowned slightly, raised his hand to interrupt the messenger, and couldn't help but say: "To be honest, it's hard for me to believe that an imperial army would give up its plan so easily because of a short-term attack setback; Your Excellency, Deputy Commander, Do you think this could be a trap... oh, Deputy... Anson?!"

As soon as he turned around, he found that the guy who was still standing next to him had already run to the high ground dozens of meters away in the blink of an eye, grabbed the military flag from a flag officer, and roared at the moving queue. :

"The whole army obeys the order - throw away all excess supplies, the cavalry clears the way, and the infantry advances at a gallop! We will arrive at the Deserted Stone Castle within three days!"

It was too late... The Imperial Expeditionary Force had never thought of storming the Deserted Stone Castle from the very beginning; they did this in order to mobilize the Hantu army that was defending the fortress out of the city and fight them in the wild.

Claude Francois, who longed for victory but could not defend the Deserted Stone Castle forever, and the "three hundred thousand vast army" obviously could not resist this temptation.

The raid on Wild Stone Castle was just a bait, turning defeat into victory... was the real trap!