I will be crowned king

The roar of artillery fire continued, and the fanaticism and anger of the Hantu Legion continued to pour into the smoke-filled battlefield. The roars of fighting and orders were endless.

In the distance, the Hantu cavalry responsible for chasing the defeated troops began to retreat one after another; under the deafening shouts of killing, the powerful Central Garrison Corps was pouring into the valley defense line with flying golden iris flowers like a tide, trying to annihilate them all More than two thousand imperial expeditionary troops are retreating steadily.

"I originally thought that these Imperial people could give me some surprises, but now it seems... the 'surprises' seem to end here."

Claude Francois, who was watching the battlefield coldly, said to himself, slightly raising the corners of his mouth with some satisfaction.

Although gunpowder smoke shrouded most of the battlefield, causing the visibility of the battlefield to become extremely low, it was impossible to observe the battle situation in front of or behind with the naked eye, and could only rely on the intelligence constantly sent back by the messengers and scouts to judge...

But he could already guess the "plan" of the Imperial Expeditionary Force very well.

Use a lone army at the entrance of the valley to block the only way to attract attention and induce yourself to take the initiative to attack. Rely on the empire's excellent artillery and tough line infantry to support the front.

Immediately afterwards, the main army ambushing behind him took the opportunity to break out and use infantry and cavalry coordination to double-team him. In this way, he could neither retreat nor move westward to contact Archduke Aydin who was besieging the summit tower. Being blocked in front of this mountain pass that doesn't even have a name.

That is if their plan can really succeed.

But the Imperial Expeditionary Force was so arrogant that they only sent two thousand men to block the mountain pass. The cavalry responsible for the surprise attack did not even wait for the infantry lines to merge before launching a frontal charge.

"They're coming!"

Henares, who was responsible for guarding the two wings and pursuing the escape, emerged from a group of similarly scarred cavalry covered in blood. His horse, which was puffing out white steam, stopped steadily behind Claude Francois. .

"Twelve regiments... about six thousand line infantry, are advancing here together with the retreating imperial cavalry!" Henares said in a deep voice, with a bit of regret on his expression:

"They reacted very quickly. I didn't dare to launch an attack before the line was formed...The pursuit and escape was not very successful."

"It doesn't matter, you've done a great job!" Claude Francois patted him on the shoulder:

"The foreplay is over, what's next is the real bloody battle with the Imperial Expeditionary Force; be prepared, there are still many achievements to be made!"

Henares looked at the battlefield thoughtfully, and did not loosen his frown because of the king's encouragement.

"has a problem?"

Claude saw that he was hesitant to speak.

"I, I can't tell." Henares shook his head and opened his mouth, his eyes full of confusion: "I don't know why, but I just feel like something is not quite right."

"Those imperial cavalry... they don't look like they were defeated by us after being frustrated at all. They don't look panic at all, more like..."

"On purpose?" Claude Francois blurted out, his expression a little ugly.

"...It's just a feeling."

Henares spoke reluctantly, but his expression was obviously not as simple as "feeling": "And even including the six thousand infantry, there are only ten thousand imperial people who have appeared in front of us so far. People come forward.”

"Where's the rest?!"

Claude Francois looked startled.

………………………

"We're surrounded?!"

Hiding in the trench, Arthur Herred looked at the Clovis flags that suddenly appeared behind him in the distance, covering the mountains and plains, and his mouth widened in shock: "What's going on?!"

"What's going on? I want to ask you what's going on!"

Bernard, the deputy commander of the expeditionary force, gritted his teeth and glared at him: "Didn't you say that they were in Salt Village and not following you?! So why did they appear here!"

He regrets very much now. He regrets why he was so soft-hearted and promised Arthur to give him an infantry regiment. He even expected him to experience and improve on the battlefield of Hantu, so that he would not have to be talked about by Juliana all day long. She should give her "lovely brother" a lot of support.

Support? Bah, what a piece of advice!

He now wishes he could shoot this troublesome "brother-in-law" to death!

Originally, the risk of this plan was very high. If you were not careful, the entire army could be annihilated... Even the annihilation of the entire army was not the most serious matter. What was more serious was that once they were exposed, the unchecked Duke Eden would definitely immediately Storm the summit tower, and then rush to the aid of the Wild Stone Castle.

The Battle of Deserted Stone Castle was carried out with huge risks, and it was very likely that the whole game would be lost because of this!

Just when Bernard went to the Xikou to air-condition and was about to remove Arthur Herred from his post as regimental commander, Louis Bernard suddenly said:

"The Clovis army in Salted Village...how many people are there?"

"How many people, uh..." Arthur Herid scratched his head apologetically:

"I was just running away, so I didn't pay much attention to this. There were about... four or five thousand people? Including the Hantu army, it was probably tens of thousands!"

"Tens of thousands..."

Louis sighed with emotion, looking at the looming Storm Division position on the mountains, his expression was a little lost.

Bernard, who was interrupted, raised his eyebrows and looked at the young knight holding back his displeasure: "What did you think of?"

"Nothing, I just thought of a possibility." Louis blinked and said to Bernard with an extremely sincere expression: "In this way, let's assume that Arthur didn't lie..."

"Oh, Louis?!" Arthur looked touched and wanted to rush into the arms of his best friend immediately:

"I knew you were a good friend and would never betray..."

"It's just a hypothesis without any bias."

Raising his hand to stop the rushing Arthur, Louis said seriously: "In that case, there is only one possibility."

"The original goal of this Clovis mercenary army was to recapture the Summit Tower Fortress." Bernard immediately guessed what Louis meant and snorted rather mockingly:

"Send allies and disobedient vassals to fight the least visible and most troublesome battle... His Majesty Claude Francois really has the same bad taste as our Commander!"

"But even if it were true, this Clovis army appeared too quickly."

Louis said silently: "We came from the Barren Stone Castle along the main road, and they set off from the Salt Village. All along the way were complicated and rugged mountain roads. Four-fifths of the soldiers were infantry, or tens of thousands. people."

"Even if the Hantu people know their own country better than us foreigners, even if the Clovis people have special skills in carrying baggage...how did they do it?"

Bernard fell silent.

Arthur Herred, who was pushed aside, stood in the middle, his eyes flickering back and forth between the two of them.

"So..." Bernard glanced at the Clovis flag in the distance with his peripheral vision: "That Clovis mercenary army that suddenly appeared is just a cover?"

"Just an outpost thrown in to scout the way and scare the enemy - just like us?"

"This seems to be the most likely guess." Louis pursed his lips and was very unconfident: "But this also means that their 'cover' is only temporary, and they are followed by an army of tens of thousands of people. Army.”

"Maybe it's just a cover." Bernard speculated: "Perhaps Commander Clovis opposite is smart enough to predict Commander Casper's prediction."

"...No, I don't think he can guess what Commander Casper is thinking."

Louis thought seriously for a while and shook his head: "I believe it is just a coincidence at most, or he is planning to bluff."

Just like when he was at Thunder Fort and Eagle Point City... Louis said silently in his heart.

"Well, that doesn't sound too bad." Bernard nodded slightly, and his panicked eyes finally calmed down:

"It looks like we still have a little bit of an advantage, and maybe we can turn defeat into victory - if we do it right."

"What, what works properly?" Arthur next to him looked confused.

What were they saying and what did I hear? What is a cover, who predicted whose prediction, what is not too bad, what is turning defeat into victory, what...

"Shut up!"

Bernard slapped his mouth with a merciless "Pah!" and looked at Louis with burning eyes: "What's your suggestion?"

"Attack, initiate an attack!" Louis said in a deep voice:

"If the enemy hadn't deliberately used the illusion to contain us, a small-scale encounter would not have had much impact - Duke Eden even gave up the siege of the summit tower in order to stop us, proving that he is an extremely cautious person. , If you don’t see hope, you won’t take action easily.”

"But if it is, and these Clovis people choose to retreat, it will cause a very serious blow to the morale of the Border Legion!"

"They won't know that this was just a small-scale encounter. What they saw was tens of thousands of Clovis people fleeing in front of a small cavalry of the Imperial Expeditionary Force!"

"How can there be tens of thousands of Clovis people?" Arthur laughed out loud: "Pfft!"

"It's only five thousand at most, and the rest are..."

"Shut up!" Bernard rolled his eyes, and then said sternly to Louis:

"How sure are you?"

"...Not a lot." Louis said truthfully, with a trace of bitterness on his lips:

"Every time I thought I had seen through Anson Bach's conspiracy, the facts told me how wrong I was."

"So this time I simply gave up guessing and just relied on the information in front of me to judge - of course, maybe this is also part of his plan. He has set a trap for us a long time ago. It's not necessarily true."

"A guy like me will probably never be able to keep up with his ideas, right?"

Louis laughed lightly at himself.

……………………

"Have the Central Garrison Corps stop attacking immediately and hold on to the spot! Then slowly assemble and withdraw from the valley!" Claude Francois decisively ordered:

"Tell them this is the king's order!"

Despite the order, he had given up all hope.

Not to mention whether the "loyal ministers" who were always thinking about rebellion were more afraid of themselves than they were eager to defeat the empire; just based on the quality of their private soldiers, Claude did not believe that they could complete the reorganization in a short time, and Organize an orderly retreat.

The best outcome is probably to be able to defend the captured Imperial Expeditionary Force position, right?

Claude Francois, who had regained his composure from the joy of victory, looked extremely ugly at this moment - Henares was right, he was fighting only half of the Imperial Expeditionary Force.

What about the other half? Where did they go? !

He followed the road and followed closely behind him, leaving little time for the enemy. The ability to ambush him was already the limit; the 20,000-strong Imperial Expeditionary Force could no longer bypass him silently. A surprise attack on the Wild Stone Castle.

Since it's not at the back, it can only be at the front, or...

"boom--!!!!"

The sudden loud noise shocked Claude.

He turned around suddenly and saw patches of dazzling sparks blooming from the Imperial Expeditionary Force's position, and whistling black afterimages rising into the sky from the hillsides on both sides, like pouring rain falling from the sky.

"Mortars... Explosive shells..." Claude Francois looked at everything in front of him in astonishment. Suddenly he thought of something and suddenly turned his head to look behind him:

"Henares!"

"exist!"

The Hantu Knight, who was covered in blood, immediately stepped forward regardless of his companion who was still spitting out white steam.

"Organize the infantry and start attacking the mountain immediately!" Claude pointed at the black steel that was still spitting out gunfire on the high ground on both sides of the road, and said angrily with a ferocious face:

"I don't care what method you use, use the fastest speed to capture those two artillery positions for me! These imperial bastards, they are planning to..."

Before he could finish his words, deafening shouts of killing rang out in the valley.

The imperial line infantry ambushed on the back sides of the highlands on both sides climbed up the highlands one after another, and countless black shadows appeared densely above the heads of the Hantu Army.

They completed the assembly as quickly as possible, carrying rifles with bayonets on their shoulders, forming dense lines and formations, and marched towards the road down the hillside to the brisk drumbeat.

At the same time, the imperial cavalry that had "retreated" had completed its rendezvous with the infantry, made a comeback, and began to slowly advance towards the front of the Royal Army.

The entire Hantu army consisted of 40,000 people, and the burned valley entrance defense line was divided into two. At the same time, the entire army was completely within the range of the imperial artillery.

On the other side, the two thousand imperial soldiers who were fighting and retreating under the pursuit of the Central Guard Corps had also stopped retreating, blocking the westward passage of the Hantu Corps.

In front of them, Caspar Hered, who was holding a saber, got a chair from somewhere and sat in the center surrounded by two thousand rifles.

"Okay, the foreplay is over, let these rotten fish and shrimps go to hell as soon as possible." Casper raised the saber in his hand behind him and slashed forward with force:

"For the Empire—fire!"