I will be crowned king

Pale white lightning mixed with deafening roars cut through the night sky of Thunder Castle.

On the siege position at midnight, the heavy rain continued; thousands of soldiers began to be mobilized in knee-deep mud and water to the rhythmic drumbeats.

general mobilization.

Thunder Fort recruited troops, and the entire army's five infantry regiments, plus artillery and cavalry companies, were divided into two columns. They entered the position according to the latest military deployment, and launched a general attack on Thunder Fort at one o'clock in the morning the next day.

When the officers of the levy army received the news from the messengers, they could not believe their ears.

After confirming again and again that this was Brigadier General Ludwig's order and not some "New Year's joke", the group of people rushed to summon their officers in a panic and quickly gathered the troops.

The rifles carried on the back, the bayonets and ammunition hanging on the waists were constantly colliding and rubbing among the crowded formations. The flags in the forest were soaked in the heavy rain and wound listlessly around the flagpole.

No matter how the captains and non-commissioned officers accompanying the team yelled, cursed, and even beat them with military sticks; the soldiers, wearing soaked military uniforms and only drinking a bowl of cold broth, were still shivering in the cold wind and looking listless. Looks like there is no morale at all.

Faced with such an atmosphere, the officers, who had no confidence in this raid, could not see the slightest hope of victory; if it were not for a guy who was shot in front, no one would dare to disobey the military order. Now I even think about running away from the battle.

Even if many of them only learned to line up to shoot and eat with a knife and fork in the military academy, they still know that night fighting is an extremely complex combat operation that involves a lot of luck.

Being in such a hurry and in bad weather like heavy rain, there may be some element of anger in the decision. No matter how you look at it, it looks like you are preparing to die.

The only good thing is that, as Brigadier General Ludwig said, the Imperial garrison at Thunder Castle was completely indifferent to what was going on outside the city - but with the rain falling so hard, I'm afraid they didn't even know what was happening outside the city. What happened?

In the artillery position, Anson, who looked slightly drunk, stood on the side of the twelve-pound cannon, lowered his head, stared at the pocket watch in his hand, and counted down silently in his heart.

Click, click, click...

On the watch cover full of raindrops, the short hand passed "twelve" and finally began to move towards the next round.

Boom, boom, boom...

At some point, the sound of the clockwork turning was replaced by the uniform steps, which struck his heart.

"First Line Infantry Regiment—four columns, offensive formation, assemble!"

Carl Bain's shout rang in his ears, making Anson put away his thoughts.

Inside the artillery position was the first regiment of nearly 400 men; and in the forward positions on both sides of the artillery position, there were three full infantry regiments following closely behind.

This was slightly different from Anson's original plan, because the Grenadier Regiment and Lieutenant Colonel Roman were transferred to Oak Town, losing a force that could serve as the main offensive.

In heavy rain, the imperial defenders who notice the movement of the siege position will definitely shoot blindly; adding new active directions without ensuring morale is to gain experience for the inaccurate artillery.

Therefore...even if Lieutenant Colonel Roman can return to the battlefield in time, he will be the main attacker.

Ludwig Franz, who had spent so much on himself, had been waiting for this moment.

Carl Bain walked up to Anson with a loaded Leopold rifle and a heavy expression.

"Although I have thought about it for a long time, I still feel that you are sending yourself to death, and you are taking all of us with you; but..."

"This is the best way to keep as many people alive as possible!" Taking the rifle from Carl, Anson looked at his adjutant with a smile:

"Trust me, this is the last time."

Karl, who looked complicated, snorted and took a long breath: "Let me ask you one last time, how sure are you?"

"Or to put it another way - was this war forced by the Archbishop's own son, or was it a spur-of-the-moment initiative of your own that was overflowing with confidence?"

"I……"

As he spoke, Anson suddenly saw Karl's gaze behind him and was suddenly stunned.

More than 400 pairs of eyes from the first regiment were looking at him blankly.

Lisa stood in the front row, carrying a rifle taller than herself, staring at her big eyes that were bright even in the rainy night, standing on tiptoes and watching her expression nervously.

I don't know when the entire front line became quiet. In the silence, only the sound of rain falling from the sky could be heard, and only pairs of bright eyes could be seen in the rain curtain.

Anson, who was stunned for a moment, took a deep breath, then puffed up his chest and shouted with all his strength:

"I have!"

"I'm sure of winning!"

"what about you?!"

The shouts that penetrated the rain curtain seemed to freeze the air.

The stunned Carl Bain stared at Anson who suddenly changed his color. After a long time, he smiled reluctantly: "Don't, don't ask us, it's not me..."

"It's you I'm asking, tell me!" Anson stepped forward abruptly and shouted in the heavy rain, still drunk.

"If you can't win tonight, when do you want to wait?!"

"Wait until you can't attack for a long time, and you will be transferred by the army? Wait until the fortress runs out of ammunition and food, and then surrender?"

Speaking of this, even Anson himself couldn't help but sneer:

"Stop dreaming!"

"In front of you is a solid fortress, behind you are cut supply lines, and imperial cavalry raiding and plundering everywhere."

"If we can't win, we will die without a burial ground! We will be attacked from both sides by the Empire and we will be killed!"

"But we can win! Tonight...we can win!"

As soon as the topic changed, Anson's eyes scanned the queue for a week:

"Because we have nearly five thousand people, we have heavy artillery, and we have guns in our hands! We... are not scum who cannot resist and are slaughtered by them. We are soldiers who know how to fight and kill!"

"They can kill us, and we can kill them!"

"It's that simple!"

The next second, Anson raised the Leopold rifle in his hand and pointed the muzzle in the direction of Thunder Castle:

"Tonight... those imperial scum are hiding behind the walls of Thunder Castle, wearing clothes that are not soaked, leaning against the fire, eating hot bread and soup, maybe taking a bath, and then sleeping peacefully in bed Get some sleep…why?”

"Because they would never have imagined that such a group of crazy fools would launch an attack on a well-defended fortress on a rainy night!"

"It's like they didn't understand why there were a bunch of fools stationed in the artillery position, and they just repelled an imperial army that was three times their size until reinforcements arrived!"

Anson gave a thumbs up and pointed hard at his chest.

"I...we...are that fool!"

"That fool who only thinks about how to win and how to survive on this damn battlefield!"

"So...I'm telling you now, I believe I will win and I am sure of winning."

"what about you?!"

The hoarse shouts gradually faded away in the heavy rain.

Anson stood alone on the fort, facing countless pairs of eyes looking at him in the rain.

"Boom!"

Lisa, who was standing in the front row, suddenly slammed the rifle in her hand on the muddy ground.

Soon, the entire first platoon, including all the soldiers of the first regiment, began to raise their rifles in unison and hit the ground hard.

The chaotic sounds gradually became orderly and unified after repeated interactions.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

This orderly response is like the prelude to a rising tide, followed by waves after waves; more and more, more and more dense, until the sound overwhelms the heavy rain and echoes throughout the entire forward position.

"Dang——! Dang——! Dang——!"

The stunned Carl Bain looked at the soldiers in front of him as if he were looking at fools.

Lisa, whose face turned red with excitement, watched more and more people around her follow her example, and began to smash harder.

Anson, whose lips began to rise, slowly turned around and raised his rifle to the soldiers behind him:

"Soldiers of the First Infantry Regiment, those who believe I can win will follow me, and the rest will follow the First Infantry Infantry Regiment."

"In ten minutes, it will be the 100th anniversary of the Saints' Calendar; let's go to Thunder Castle together and say something to those imperial scum who just went to bed..."

"Happy New Year--!!!!"