I will be crowned king

It turns out that everything was just Carl Bain's overthinking.

The aggressive Imperial Expeditionary Force did not have any "perfect plan" at all - to put it more simply, they never considered using the defeated troops to conquer the Wild Stone Castle and "perfectly recreate" the fall of the Summit Tower.

Because there is no need for it.

As the Clovis six-pounder cannon and the Imperial eight-pounder cannon roared at the same time, more than a dozen Imperial infantry companies formed a line and left the position, stepping on the brisk drumbeat, shrouded in gunpowder smoke, dots of gunfire, and He stepped forward among the shells that occasionally landed beside him and above his head.

Relying on the excellent technology of the imperial artillery and their long-term tacit cooperation, these line infantrymen did not have to worry about the artillery shells behind them falling on their heads, and they could calmly advance towards the position.

The reserve army, which had no idea about the power of the empire, felt for the first time what Carl Bain meant by "infantry and artillery coordination."

"Enemy fire is coming——!"

The roar of the artillery and the panicked screams of the officers and soldiers completely drowned out Karl's hoarse roar: "Go into the trench to hide from the artillery!"

Under the precise strikes of the imperial artillery, the outer position that had been hastily constructed in a day was quickly plowed by artillery fire; the outer fences and unconsolidated earth walls were blown to pieces like toys, and the soldiers hiding behind were also blown apart. Tear them apart together, pouring rubble and flesh and blood on the entire defense line indiscriminately.

Faced with such terrifying fire suppression, the position that could still maintain some deterrence was almost extinguished. The soldiers behind the trenches and protective walls were in panic, and some even cried out in panic. No matter how much the officers behind them punched and kicked them, He just refused to stand up and shoot back.

The sporadic "volleys" were not considered "obstructions" to the imperial line infantry companies - in just four or five rounds of rapid artillery fire, they had already advanced to within a hundred meters of the defense line.

"Everyone on position—bayonets on!"

With an order, the Imperial Line soldiers neatly pulled out the daggers from their sheaths and inserted them into the slots under the muzzles.

The enemies were so weak that they didn't even bother to use crossfire to delay time, and simply started the last step of the attack.

"Come on!"

“God bless the empire—!!!!”

Amidst the uniform shouts, the "bayonet walls" were like silver waves, rushing towards the reserve regiments who had just pulled up the defense line in a hurry and were preparing for hand-to-hand combat.

In order to delay the enemy's attack as much as possible, Carl Bain spent a lot of effort on position design... But no matter how strong the fortress is, if the defenders have no morale, it is just an earth wall or a trench.

Ninety minutes later, a golden iris military flag rose slowly over the defense line.

One imperial infantry company after another marched at an unstoppable pace, chasing the defeated garrison along the entire front like a pack of wolves driving a flock of sheep.

The bright bayonets and scorching lead bullets mercilessly pierced the flesh and blood of the screaming ones on the ground, grinding them into dust.

The defense line that was originally planned to last for six to seven hours was completely lost in less than three hours, and they gradually retreated towards the Wild Stone Castle.

This is probably the only thing worth celebrating - Karl and the officers of the Reserve Corps, who were very self-aware of themselves, made a very detailed plan for the retreat from the beginning, and it was the only plan that was fully implemented in the end.

The more than 3,000 Aiden soldiers who were the first to break away from the battle launched a counterattack at the end of the defense line to buy time for the Thun army to cover the retreat of the defeated troops. Then, under the cover of shelling at any cost in the fortress, they retreated while fighting. Enter the Wild Stone Castle Fortress.

At this point...three hours after the battle began, all the defenders of the Deserted Stone Castle safely withdrew almost all the troops into the fortress with only a few casualties.

But this also means that the outer defense line is completely lost, and the communication lines originally controlled by the eastern position also fall under the control of the Imperial Expeditionary Force.

"It finally started."

After exhaling a long breath, Caspar Herred, who was riding on horseback, looked at the deserted stone castle that was surrounded by people: "I beat a bunch of stinky fish and rotten shrimps, and they are still messing around like this. …I’m almost impatient!”

"I'm so sorry!"

Behind him, a knight wearing a one-shouldered cape quickly knelt down on one knee, his head hanging to the ground trembling uncontrollably: "I, we failed to notice that there was a problem with the enemy's position, so... to... to... to... to..."

"Okay, stop squeaking!" the grumpy old man said impatiently:

"I just didn't expect that these scumbags would actually learn to be smart and put a new lid on themselves outside the turtle shell! Do you want to go to so much trouble when you can explain things clearly in two or three sentences?!"

"Still shaking, shake your ass! What are you afraid of? Are you afraid that I will eat you?!"

"I..." The knight trembled all over.

"What are you?!" Casper looked disgusted:

"It's hard for you to eat!"

"Yes Yes Yes!"

The knight who heard this took a deep breath and found that his back was soaked with cold sweat.

Ignoring the trash-like subordinates, Casper turned his attention back to the walls of the Deserted Stone Castle.

I originally thought that the fortress would be captured directly, but I didn't expect that there were still defeated soldiers who dared to resist.

Of course, this also saved him a lot of time - it was easier to "clean up" these smelly fish and rotten shrimps by keeping them together than scattered everywhere.

There are only 20,000 people in the expeditionary force. After defeating Claude Francois, they suffered a lot, leaving only more than 17,000 people... If they want to kill all the resistance forces in Hantu, this force cannot be increased ten times. not enough.

It is undeniable that these defeated soldiers did bring him some "surprises".

Although it was still on the verge of collapse, the entire retreat process was very orderly, completely different from the previous Hantu army that collapsed thousands of miles away.

Then, there was their position... Casper frowned slightly.

He had noticed the last time he pretended to attack the Deserted Stone Castle. The construction of the east side position was very interesting. He deliberately sacrificed width to increase depth and restrict the movement of artillery and cavalry - completely unlike Han who knew nothing about "modern warfare". What the natives can make...it looks very much like the Clovis hybrids.

It seems that a Clovis sewer rat got into Hantu's cave.

Well, that's interesting.

The grumpy old man's eyes showed a little excitement.

"Sir, the messenger from the forward position came to report that the line infantry have cleared the battlefield and are digging siege trenches."

Looking at Casper who was "in a good mood" for some reason, the knight who was kneeling on the ground raised his head tremblingly and said softly: "The artillery position has also been adjusted, and the artillery positions on the enemy's wall have been confirmed and can be used at any time. Pull out the city defense guns of Huangshi Fort one by one to cover the infantry attack."

"Very good, let them stabilize." The grumpy old man with raised lips said in a deep voice:

"We have plenty of time. It doesn't matter if we take three to five days to capture the Wild Stone Castle. What's more...where are the cavalry?"

"Waiting on the flanks of the position." The knight immediately replied:

"But His Excellency, the Chief Commander of the Cuirassiers, has led his guards to the eastern position to conduct fire reconnaissance of the enemy's supply lines!"

This young man would cause trouble for others... Casper's eyes flashed with a trace of annoyance.

"Sir, do you want to call him back?" The knight's expression was quite nervous.

"No need, let him go if he wants to go - just take this opportunity to spread the news of Clovis Francois's defeat and the siege of Desert Stone Castle." Casper sneered:

"Tell the soldiers, don't be too anxious."

"The rotten fish and shrimps that we will kill next are not just those in that bastard's shell!"

………………

Looking at the siege position slowly unfolding under the city wall, Carl Bain's heart suddenly went cold.

To be honest, he was actually a little proud at first - this was a large-scale deployment of tens of thousands of people, with only one day of preparation time, and it was a motley army that had basically not received much military training.

Although the defense line that was painstakingly built only lasted for three hours—ninety minutes to be exact—30,000 people were able to safely evacuate into the fortress despite the relentless pursuit of the Imperial Expeditionary Force... During this period, they sacrificed The casualties are almost negligible.

Under the same conditions, even if it were replaced by a corps-level staff command, it would be impossible to do better than myself.

But within a few minutes, this pride was crushed to pieces by reality.

Amidst the earth-shaking footsteps and the sound of iron hooves, the powerful Imperial Expeditionary Force has completely surrounded the Wild Stone Castle, and is cavalry to take over the eastern position abandoned by Karl.

But that's only "half"... or less of the Imperial Expeditionary Force.

You can see from the city wall of the Deserted Stone Castle that most of the troops on the opposite side have been used to repair the defense line of the former "Hantu Legion" of the Deserted Stone Castle, and a blockade covering the west and south sides has been opened on the outside of the fortress. Wire.

Yes, this is why the enemy let go of the tens of thousands of defeated troops and their own reserve legions and calmly retreated into the fortress - because their target from the beginning was not just this fortress.

Surrounding the spot for reinforcements... This somewhat unfamiliar word came to the pale-faced Carl Bain's mind.

The desolate stone castle, the thirty thousand remaining Hantu troops, and the mountains of supplies in the city... were all his bait.

He wants to attract all the armies that are still resisting in Hantu one by one, and then annihilate them one by one!

If this was really the enemy's purpose, then his "perfect plan" undoubtedly helped them a great favor - even saving them from having to do it themselves, he obediently got into the fortress and was trapped here by them.

this……

"They're going to attack!"

On the city wall, a messenger standing beside him pointed outside and shouted in horror: "They are coming! They are coming, they are coming to kill! I, I... we..."

It was like seeing the devil's messenger holding his head and talking non-stop, staring at the eyes of the gods, and his throat seemed to be wound up, making stuttering and repetitive sounds.

Compared with him, other soldiers and noble officers on the city wall were no less generous, and even more exaggerated - some sat on the ground holding their guns and cried, some leaned against the city wall and prayed loudly, some curled up in a ball and simply pretended to be dead, some Sometimes I laugh and sometimes I cry...

The smooth retreat into the fortress did not give them the slightest sense of security. On the contrary, they gained a deeper understanding of the power of the Imperial Expeditionary Force... Their overwhelming despair brought many soldiers to the verge of collapse.

"Where are the reinforcements? Lord Carl Bain, where are the reinforcements?!"

Karl, who was in a daze, was tightly held by the collar by the messenger who looked collapsed, and his whole body shook as he trembled hysterically: "Where are the reinforcements you are talking about, huh?!"

"Reinforcements, reinforcements, reinforcements..."

Carl Bain, who was equally desperate, trembled at the corners of his mouth, looking at those eager eyes, his whole person was stunned.

Then he raised his head, looked around, and looked at the eyes that were looking at him in despair, hysteria, panic, or with the last glimmer of hope.

"Reinforcements...are available!"

"Of course!"

Carl Bain's hoarse roar interrupted the cry of the messenger.

"You..." the messenger was stunned:

"Are you saying...really?"

"Nonsense, of course it's true!" Trying his best to control the fear in his heart, Carl Bain bravely shouted:

"If there were no reinforcements, I would stay alone in this hellish place and seek death - who do you think I am?!"

On the suddenly quiet city wall, the officers and soldiers looked at the Chief of Staff of the Storm Division who suddenly became arrogant. They looked at each other in confusion for a while, and then...

They all shook their heads politely.

"I am Carl Bain!" Carl suddenly became furious:

"Under the command of Ludwig Franz, the commander-in-chief of the Southern Army, the deputy commander of the army...the school officer's chief of staff!"

"In the Battle of Thunder Castle, our legion's 3,000 infantrymen faced off against an impregnably fortified fortress outside a fully-equipped infantry division of the empire. We captured them in less than thirty days - I was on the scene at the time!"

"The battle of Eagle Point City was a bloodless opening of the city. Two thousand infantrymen captured the strongest fortress in the entire land - under my command!"

"In the battle to completely annihilate the Guards Corps, eight hundred soldiers participated in the assault on the legion headquarters plan, and finally captured the commander-in-chief of the legion alive - I was one of them!"

"Ninety-nine if not one hundred Imperial knights have been defeated by my own hands; will I trap myself in a fortress destined to fall and watch myself be defeated?"

"What a joke!"

With a face full of hysteria, Karl shouted at the officers and soldiers at the top of his lungs; he desperately suppressed the infinite fear in his heart, threw all worries behind his mind, and looked at them with the most contemptuous eyes:

"Look, look at the devilish looks on your face - I don't think the Imperial people need to take action, you can scare yourselves to death!"

"But since we are still allies, let me tell you the 'perfect plan' that I worked out together with the deputy commander of the legion."

"Listen, now the enemies outside have completely fallen into the trap we set for them in advance. We have already won! You just need to defend the fortress, do your best to divert the enemy's attention, and wait for reinforcements. …”

"Then! When the time is right, with the cooperation of the Storm Division and other reinforcements, we can control all the Imperial Expeditionary Forces outside..."

"Destroy them all here!"

New Year's Eve is coming soon, let me wish you all a Happy New Year~

This year is really an unusual year - although no year is considered unusual - and it is also a year in which Kong Kong has consciously grown a lot - although he is growing every year - the most important thing is that this year, Kong Kong has grown a lot. The year that received the most recognition and encouragement from readers - this cannot be refuted.

To be honest, this book may be the most difficult one I have ever written. Various accidents occurred during the period and I stumbled along the way, but I still wrote it.

Thank you to yourself for persisting just a second ago, and to the readers who are still chasing and subscribing... Only with everyone here can this book continue.

Since it’s the New Year, as a holiday gift, I’d like to give you a little spoiler:

Yes, that's right, Anson was crowned king in the end - this is a feedback to a certain reader in the comment section.

To a certain extent, this book may be the one that is least afraid of having its finale spoiled, and the least worried about writing a story that goes off the rails - to be honest, Kong Kong always felt that the previous book The Witcher was actually a bit off in the end...

Cough cough cough!

Finally, regarding a reader saying whether there is any innuendo in certain plots... No! Absolutely not! The whole story is completely fabricated, and all the plots are nonsense, false, deceptive, illogical, and devoid of any rationality!

Finally, I wish everyone a happy New Year.

us……

See you next year!