I will be crowned king

In the territory of the Kingdom of Clovis, Thunder Castle was just a remote country worth mentioning.

She originally belonged to a local country noble. During the expansion of the Clovis Kingdom's cavalry, it became one of the gates to the south. In order to facilitate the transfer of supplies, she was built from a dilapidated stone and wood building into a A real fortress.

In the past hundred years, due to the continuous expansion of the territory of the Kingdom of Clovis, no one has ever thought that this barren land has any value worth occupying; no one has paid attention to the hills and mountains on its east and west sides, and the woods. Fields cover the central fertile soil.

It wasn't until this war... until now that her true charisma was discovered.

When the Kingdom of Clovis faced the fear of being attacked from three sides, it suddenly realized that this small Thunder Castle was actually the only channel connecting the central province and the southern land!

Once this place is captured, it means that the royal capital will temporarily lose contact with the southern army, and the important supply line for the army will be cut off!

In the foggy siege position, Sir Louis Bernard looked at Thunder Castle shrouded in a sea of ​​fog behind him; behind him, the iris battle flag of the Hered Empire sounded in the cold wind.

Her golden hair was tied into a short ponytail at the back of her head, and her clear eyes were suppressed under a dark blue three-cornered hat. She wore a military trench coat of the same color, a gun on her waist and a knight's saber in her hand, making her slightly slender. His figure looked more heroic.

"grown ups!"

An imperial officer hurried over and knelt down on one knee four or five steps away.

Hearing the footsteps behind him, the young knight turned his head sideways, and his childish and delicate face wiped away this knightly demeanor.

"How's it going? Did you find anything?"

"Nothing." The officer shook his head:

"We searched all forward positions and tried to push deeper, but found no sign of resistance except for the Clovis army that was encountered and routed at the beginning."

"No!" the officer immediately corrected: "To be precise, except for a very small number of deserters, we have never encountered a large-scale Clovis army; they seemed to have suddenly abandoned their positions and left under the heavy fog."

"Where is the position? Is there anything suspicious?" the young knight asked.

The officer still shook his head: "Guns, ammunition, and reserve materials are everywhere, and there are daily necessities for soldiers and officers in several camps. They did not retreat in a planned way in advance, but suddenly got orders to leave."

Looking at the unbelievable expression on the officer's face, Louis Bernard was also stunned. The current battle situation was beyond his understanding.

What was originally thought to be an extremely dangerous breakout battle that was destined to result in heavy casualties in order to win a glimmer of hope, turned into a smooth victory in which the enemy was completely defeated as soon as they encountered it.

Could it be that he really defeated Clovis's army, which was several times more powerful than himself, with just one surprise attack and without even encountering any decent resistance?

But the truth before him now told him that this was the fact.

It was no dream, there were no traps, and there was no ambush in sight. The enemy really retreated!

The entire position, plus the weapons, ammunition, and logistics materials abandoned by the enemy... are now all his spoils!

The extremely absurd "victory" left Louis with no sense of reality at all, and he couldn't feel the joy of victory at all... He "won" before even fighting.

Could it be that the enemy took the opportunity to capture Thunder Castle?

The next second, the young knight immediately abandoned this ridiculous idea - there were still more than half of the defenders in the fortress, and it was impossible for the enemy to bypass him and quietly capture Thunder Castle in such a short period of time.

The Clovis people...what did they want to do? !

Louis Bernard fell into confusion, and the doubts in his heart made him want to be more cautious and thoroughly understand the situation, but time no longer allowed him to delay any longer.

He took out a gold-plated pocket watch from his jacket and gently opened the flip cover with fleur-de-lis pattern relief. The pure gold short hand driven by large and small gears on the enamel mirror had passed "six" and was approaching "seven" with unstoppable momentum. "The core position.

Can't wait any longer, it's almost the appointed time... The young knight gently put away his pocket watch and turned his eyes to the officer behind him who was anxiously waiting for orders.

Just when he was about to give the order to retreat and clear the battlefield at the same time, Louis suddenly thought of something and suddenly looked up at the rear of the siege position.

Wait, if the enemy retreats across the board, wouldn't that mean...

"Where is the search now?!"

"ah?"

The startled officer looked at the young knight who looked a little excited for some reason, and said in a panic: "The entire forward position has been searched, and we are heading further back..."

"No, no more searching, no need to clean the battlefield, let the whole army gather here!" Louis interrupted: "Now! Now! Now!"

"Ah...yes!"

Looking at the officer's back in a panic, Louis Bernard pursed his lips tightly to restrain his inner impulse, and his handsome cheeks became hot.

Maybe, maybe I really found it...

A single blow hits the vital point, causing the Kingdom of Clovis to surrender obediently... the possibility of ending this war!

…………………………

In the artillery position, Anson, squatting in the corner, wiped the groove of the transmitter of the Leopold rifle in his hand with a piece of cloth he picked up. After confirming that there was no dust, he locked the gun and pulled out the muzzle. The lower purge began to clear the barrel of the gun.

When you are nervous, find something to do to calm yourself down as soon as possible.

"You really like it."

Carl Bain, who was approaching, looked at Anson angrily - it was obviously this guy's idea to hold the position, but as a result, he did all the work of defensive deployment and ammunition distribution:

"Is this breech-loading gun that good?"

"This cannot be described in one sentence."

Putting away the purge, Anson muttered to himself and looked at the metallic luster-like bolt on the right side of the gun, completely ignoring Karl's disdainful gaze.

How good is a breech bolt-action rifle? Can it be said clearly in one sentence?

Of course, Anson is also very aware of the problems with the "Leopold Rifle" in his hand - the recoil is not small, the gun sealing is not strong, and the ammunition must be paper-cased custom-loaded ammunition...

But it greatly simplifies the shooting process, and the rate of fire can reach five rounds per minute!

that's enough!

This alone can greatly improve its chances of survival on the battlefield.

Looking at the rifle in his hand, he associated with the memories of this era: the steel-making factory with its chimneys, the roaring steam machinery, the difference engine that appeared in college textbooks, the fast sailing ship sailing to the unknown distance... …

Whenever he thinks of this, Anson feels that his future is still bright.

As long as he can return to the royal capital alive, a perfect resume as a graduate of the Military Academy will allow him to travel anywhere without any hindrance - of course, the premise is that he cannot become a deserter, and that no one discovers some of his "hobbies" ".

Carl Bain on the side rolled his eyes, sighed and sat down: "Let me ask you one last time, Captain Anson Bach, what is the success rate of your plan?"

"Or let me put it another way, how many people have to die so that the rest can live?"

After inserting the purge, Anson put away the rifle: "I dare not say absolutely, but there should be two possibilities."

"The first is that the enemy didn't think much about it - their goal was to break out of the siege and call for help, and attacking the siege position was a helpless move to attract firepower; now the breakout must have been successful, and they have already made a lot of money at this point.

If the enemy commander does not want to expand the victory, or is worried about suffering too many casualties, he may give up after a brief engagement with us and withdraw to Thunder Castle. "

Speaking of this, Anson himself couldn't help but sigh: "I especially hope that this is the case."

Karl nodded and waited for him to continue.

"The second type is what we said before - the enemy will do everything possible to capture the artillery position." Anson pointed around and smiled at Karl:

"And, there's good news."

"good news?"

"Yes, didn't you realize that this heavy fog... is about to lift?"

Karl frowned, this was not good news.

"When the fog dissipates, won't the imperial scum in the fortress dare to fire cannons without worrying about blowing up their own people?"

"Yes, when the fog clears, the enemy will dare to fire." Anson smiled and nodded:

"When the enemy fires artillery, they will be noticed by the main force that has just withdrawn but has not run far away; when the main force notices it, it will know that the position has not been lost; if the position is not lost, it must organize a counterattack and regain the position; that is to say..."

"Are reinforcements coming to save us?!"

Karl looked surprised.

"I hope so."

Anson raised the corner of his mouth and his eyes became very sharp: "As long as they come to their senses and find that the enemy only has more than a thousand scum of the empire; as long as they still have one person, they dare not bear the crime of losing their position..."

Then no matter what, we must come to save people like ourselves... The two of them thought silently at the same time in their hearts.

The next second, Anson, whose expression calmed down, took out a brass pocket watch from his coat pocket. The rusty pointer swayed with a desperate struggle, and then stopped motionless in the middle of "six".

Looking at the scratches and wear marks on the dial, Anson showed a hint of helplessness on his face:

"Of course, before that..."

"boom--!"

Gunshots rang out in the thick fog, and a private who leaned out of the trench screamed and fell from the parapet, clutching his chest with his right hand.

This sound seemed to be some kind of signal—scattered but rapid footsteps immediately sounded on the fog-shrouded battlefield, and scattered gunfire began to flicker in the sea of ​​fog.

The startled bugler immediately blew the bugle, and the rapid notes tore through the dead silence of the artillery position.

"Crack."

Anson closed the watch cover and put the copper pocket watch back into the inner pocket of his military uniform:

"We must win this battle first!"