I will be crowned king

Just when everyone thought that this attack was just a repeat of the past few days and would end with the rotten vassal army being defeated at the speed of light, the reality turned out to be a huge joke.

A group of defeated vassal troops composed of mercenary regiments fled like headless flies in the smoke. They actually fled in the opposite direction and shot a carbine from behind the defenders.

The Black Reef Port militiamen who thought the battle was over were unprepared. Even the reinforcements that had come to support had already withdrawn at this time. It was not until the sound of gunfire and the screams of their companions came from behind that the defenders realized that they had been attacked. On to the backstab.

But at this time, the vassal army had already broken into the bunkers and fortifications, and everything was already too late... For this group of mercenary guys, dozens or dozens of people were best at street fighting and encounters in small spaces. things.

The Black Reef Port militiamen, who had just received three months of recruit training and had only learned lines and shooting, had no experience at all in this kind of battle.

A hasty battle quickly turned into a one-sided massacre.

The vassal army who found themselves breaking into the bunker first used the terrain to block it, and then continued to lure the defenders who were trying to retake the bunker to swarm inside. Finally, they calmly detonated the ammunition boxes in the bunker, destroying the fortifications and dozens of soldiers. The defenders exploded into the sky.

After successfully taking down a defensive stronghold, in order to prevent himself from being beaten and vented by the defenders, he urgently raised the previously hidden military flag on the ruins (to facilitate escape) and called for friendly support behind him.

Looking at the golden iris flowers fluttering in the wind amid the gunpowder smoke, Bernard was stunned for half a minute. Then he suddenly turned back and pressed down the messenger who also had a blank head: "Blow the assembly horn. The entire army will attack immediately, targeting the high ground on the enemy's right-wing defense line!"

"L-immediately?!"

The herald was shocked. The battle was already over before he launched an attack. Just to regroup the troops who had withdrawn from the battlefield, even if the officers at all levels could obey the orders loyally; when they really launched a general attack, could they? It was still unknown whether all the dozens of people could be killed - or escaped - before attacking the high ground.

"That's right, right away, right now, and I'm going to attack with the whole army!" The excited Bernard pointed behind him and roared:

"Tell the artillerymen not to think about the issue of ammunition, and give me all your strength to suppress the enemies on both sides of the high ground! The hussars and the cuirassier companies directly under the legion took the lead in providing support. The front-line troops entered the battle within half an hour, and the rest of the corps stepped up within an hour. "

"In one hour, in one hour I will see three thousand imperial soldiers appear on the high ground, establishing solid artillery forts and forward positions!"

Although he didn't know what happened specifically, his mature experience told Bernard that this was definitely a God-given opportunity; with good luck, he could even conquer Black Reef Port in one go.

Nearly half the bottom of the basin, the terrain of the surrounding hills and plains gives Black Reef Port a natural defense system, but it is also its most fatal weakness - as long as the enemy can attack a high ground and set up cannons, they can bombard every part of the city at will. corner.

Even if the people of Black Reef Port are all tough-minded, they would rather die than surrender under artillery bombardment; Bernard has one last trick, a deadly ace that can directly hit the weakness of Black Reef Port.

Although the frightened herald did not know that the minister was going crazy, he still carried out the order seriously.

Ten minutes later, the artillery and cavalry units that received the instructions quickly completed their assembly and entered the battle five minutes in advance.

After all, the Imperial Army is most proud of its cavalry and artillery units; compared to the localized and "warlord-oriented" infantry, the cavalry and professional artillery that retain a high degree of knightly tradition are affected by factions and upper-level power struggles. Be smaller and more loyal to your superiors.

The price is that except for the emperor, it is difficult for others to gain their loyalty. In internal struggles, they will always remain neutral and only loyal to the winner.

"Boom-boom-boom-!!!"

The passionate sound of artillery struck the ground again, and hundreds of iron hooves in the smoke passed across the devastated battlefield, with a dull roar, rushing towards the high ground shrouded in the flames of the explosion.

Behind the arrow-like cavalry, which had been gathering momentum for a long time, the real army of the empire turned into a blue and white wave and poured out of the position as the gorgeous swords fell down. Thousands of golden iris flowers burst into the air amidst the loud shouts of killing. Grand bloom.

It wasn't until the thunderous artillery fire fell on their heads that the defenders of Black Reef Port finally realized what had happened, and began to assemble reserves and defenders on both wings to try to regain the high ground and remove the fleur-de-lis flag.

But it was too late... As the general attack order was issued, the hussars and cuirassiers as the vanguard had already rushed to the high ground; hundreds of cavalry dismounted, carrying sabers on their backs and drawing out the revolvers, carbines and shotguns on their saddles, Jump into battle as a dragoon.

The reserves that were urgently assembled in Black Reef Port launched a counterattack. Although they successfully regained part of the position, they still failed to drive the enemy out of the fortifications. Instead, they were attacked by cavalry armed with revolvers and shotguns at various corners of the ruins and trenches. Indiscriminate killing, heavy casualties.

The defenders on both sides of the high ground tried to rescue, but were blocked by shelling. The expanded line was penetrated by solid bullets from left to right. The survivors looked at the rows of fallen comrades in front of them, and their morale suddenly collapsed.

While they were still hesitating whether to rescue them, the main force of the imperial army had already pressed forward and rushed towards their defense line.

The main force of nearly 10,000 people all went into battle, and the last reserves of the Black Reef Port militia company, who were exhausted, had to join the blocking battle. There were no more extra troops to support the fallen bunker, and they could only watch the gap. It grew bigger and bigger, splitting the entire defense line in two.

At the same time, the follow-up imperial troops were still pouring into the high ground - it seemed that they realized that victory was close at hand. The officers who originally planned to wait and see and just throw some cannon fodder to deal with the problem finally began to take it seriously and spared no effort. to carry out the orders of the Lord Chancellor of the Colonies.

Ninety minutes later, the cavalry artillery unit swaggered into the right-wing high ground under the cover of the infantry. Among the ruins of corpses everywhere, they took the six-pound cavalry cannon off the trailer and leisurely began to build a temporary artillery position. They headed towards the extremely chaotic Black Reef Port. The defenses rained shells.

Rumbling artillery fire echoed throughout the entire defense line, and the cry of death resounded in every corner; the outer defense line of Black Reef Port, which had stubbornly resisted the siege of the imperial army for more than ten days, had now completely become a slaughterhouse for the attackers. .

As the defenders' lines were torn apart bit by bit, the battle situation gradually began to become clearer.

However, due to the hasty all-out general attack and the desire of the commanders of each unit to grab credit, the entire offensive sequence of the imperial army can only be described as "chaos."

Except for the cavalry who were responsible for supporting at the beginning, the subsequent troops were cautious at first and only dared to invest a little tentative cannon fodder. When they realized that victory was in sight, they began to swarm the entire line, swarming crazily towards the small, originally only a few dozen There is a gap in the defense line where people are stationed.

Such chaos also gave the Black Reef Port defenders room to breathe. Even if they could not recapture the captured bunker immediately, they could at least firmly control other lines of defense and build new defensive positions behind the gap.

All of these new fortifications were located on the back of the hills, rendering the original artillery positions on the empire's side completely useless. Only two six-pound cavalry cannons were left to pose a threat to them, leaving the attacking army with a dilemma: whether to use Will these two guns destroy the defense lines on both wings, or will they continue to break forward?

"Break through the defenses of Black Reef Port as soon as possible, and don't worry about those cowards hiding in the fortifications!"

Just when the frontline troops were hesitant, Bernard Morweis, the colonial minister, suddenly appeared in the breached defense line: "The most important thing now is to attack the city in one go and let the shells fall on the people of Black Reef Harbor. Above our heads - as long as we completely dispel the arrogance of this gang of rebels, we will win!"

Standing on the "mound" of corpses, Bernard yelled at the confused officers.

At this moment, he was extremely high-spirited. Although he was sure that the Clovis people would never rescue Black Reef Port, and it didn't matter even if the siege lasted for a month or two, it was really surprising that victory could come so easily. His expectations.

More importantly, he was convinced that Anson Bach would definitely give up Black Reef Port, but the possibility of the other party launching a surprise attack while he had conquered Black Reef Port and the army's combat strength was weak... Although it was slim, it could not be completely ruled out.

Now there was an opportunity to seize this important town before the enemy was aware of it. How could Bernard miss it?

"But... Sir Bernard, even if we can tear through the enemy's defense lines and attack the city, can we really win?"

Compared with the confidence of the chief minister, the officers seemed very worried: "This group of rebels in Black Reef Port is quite stubborn. Until now, not a single person has surrendered. We don't think that we can rely solely on intimidation to defeat such an enemy." Just..."

"This is not something you should worry about. All you have to do is execute the order!"

Bernard didn't bother to talk to these cowards. The longer he served as commander, the more he could understand where the old General Caspar Herred's bad temper came from. The originally elegant and easy-going Chief of Staff was now in full view He gradually disappeared and was replaced by the colonial minister who was "elegant and easy-going" in another sense.

"Attack! Attack, let me attack! As long as we break through the parliament in Black Reef Port, victory will be ours!"

Under the constant urging of the chief minister, although the officers were still worried, they still had to execute the order and organize the army to launch a new round of attack.

The gunfire that had stopped for a long time rang out again, easily smashing the temporary defense facilities built by the defenders of Black Reef Port; the militiamen of Black Reef Port who were clinging to their positions had to step out of the fortifications, spread out their lines, and completely expose themselves to the two gates. Under the muzzle of a cavalry gun.

The imperial army occupying the gap slowly blew the attack horn, and a full infantry regiment was divided into six columns and advanced towards the garrison position amidst the sound of artillery.

Relying on superb technology, the two cavalry cannons still fired cross-fire despite the restricted position; the Black Reef Port militiamen who held their positions had already soared in casualties before the battle began.

Facing the man next to him whose hands and feet were broken off by artillery shells from time to time, his head wiped off, blood gushing out as he fell to the ground and wailing; the bloodless Black Reef Port militiamen were shaking like chaff, and could hardly even stand still.

But... no one stepped back, not one.

When the gunfire stopped and the smoke dissipated, looking at the oncoming golden iris flowers and blue-white "waves", the militia company commander, whose leg was broken by the shell, leaned on the flagpole, took out his homemade trumpet gun and pointed it straight ahead:

"Ready—fire!"

"boom--!!!!"

Gun flames flickered under the hills, and in the slowly rising thick white smoke, more than a dozen people on each side fell to the ground and wailed.

"For the honor of His Majesty Hred—fix your bayonets and attack!"

The imperial line was the first to burst out with shouts, charging forward one after another towards the defenders, and slammed into the array of defenders at Black Reef Port; the militia leader holding the flagpole disappeared in an instant in the blue and white ocean. .

Despite their relative strength advantage, the Imperial soldiers stormed into the position in just one charge, but that was all; relying on the front, the Black Reef Port militia began to invest their few reserves.

At the same time, the defenders on both sides of the right-wing high ground noticed that the enemy's artillery fire began to gradually weaken, and they tried to regain their positions again, limiting the pace of the Empire's follow-up troops' attack... The Empire's army, which was originally thought to be overwhelming, seemed to be kicked. Into the quagmire.

No matter how you look at it, the Empire's capture of Black Reef Port is not as easy as it seems.

But Bernard Molwes didn't think so. His smile was so confident that he seemed to have everything under control, and it never left his face.

Especially when he clearly saw four looming three-masted sailing ships speeding towards Black Reef Port on the distant sea level, his smug expression became even more obvious.

Pirates of the Turbulent Sea - This is Bernard's trump card for conquering Black Reef Port.

As a modest port colony, Black Reef Port does not have its own ocean-going fleet like Sail City or Beluga Port, so the port it relies on for survival is the weakest link in its defense line: it has gathered all its strength to resist itself. They were under siege and had absolutely no extra troops to resist the backstab from the port!

As the four three-masted sailing ships continued to approach, cheers from the imperial soldiers immediately erupted on the battlefield - especially when they saw the blue-and-gold heraldic flag hanging on the ship.

But at the same time, Bernard, who was originally confident, showed a somewhat confused expression, holding up a monocular and looking towards the port.

Um? Why do those pirates fly the star-ring flag with a blue background... Is this the family crest of which imperial family?

Why haven't they fired a cannon when they are already so close to the port? What are they waiting for?

Why are they raising the muzzle upward? Are they trying to attack a particularly tall building?

Why does the direction of this shot seem to be directed toward me...

Um? !