I will be crowned king

The disastrous defeat in Huangcaolin was such that there was not even the slightest bit of suspense.

Facing the well-prepared Ludwig, the only advantage of the "twenty thousand troops" under Louis Bernard was morale; but sometimes morale is not necessarily the more the better. It may even have the opposite effect.

When he made a desperate move and ordered the advance with an almost fatal determination, what he saw in the eyes of the 20,000 troops was not a powerful enemy coming from afar, but the response of Sir Louis Bernard, an unprecedented victory for the Free Confederacy. Unity, majestic legions and a steady stream of reinforcements.

On the other hand, Ludwig was just the opposite: the entire army believed that the Legion Commander was a real lunatic who wanted to take 20,000 of them to Gray Pigeon Castle and die on his own initiative; they had trouble sleeping and eating from morning to night, and were always afraid. While 20,000 sturdy traitors were laughing and rushing toward him, the burly figures of the Yangfan City defenders suddenly appeared from behind, outflanking them from both sides.

Therefore, when Ludwig ordered a "temporary" station in the grass forest and built some "simple" fortifications, the entire army almost burst out with extraordinary potential, building defensive positions with the energy to build a castle overnight.

Dense and complex three-layer trenches, countless wooden fences to keep horses out, artillery outposts built with thick layers of soil, rocks and sandbags... The grassy forest stronghold that originally looked particularly inconspicuous and had a very narrow terrain only used four The sky turned into a legion-level defensive position that could fully accommodate 15,000 soldiers.

In order to prevent the enemy from taking advantage of the surrounding environment to make a surprise attack, the Jihadi Army directly cut down all the surrounding woods, and then used these logs to further strengthen the fortifications and build low curtain walls that hindered the movement of infantry... The entire position was completed in less than six days. It is a semi-fortress, located between Gray Pigeon Castle and Sailing City.

Without the sight obstruction caused by the woods, Louis' 20,000-strong army could not get around even if they wanted to, and could only attack head-on.

A group of troops that lack heavy firepower, lack training, have a chaotic command system but are full of self-confidence attack a defensive position that is well-formed and has almost the same number of troops. The result will be as tragic as it can be.

This is indeed the case. The attack had just begun, and the 20,000-strong army did not obey Louis' orders at all. When the cannon sounded, they turned into wild dogs that were unbridled and rushed towards the low-looking, easy-to-turn-over troops like wild dogs. The past curtain wall... completely ignored the neat rows of line soldiers coming out of the trench at the back, as well as the dark muzzles of the skirmishers hiding under the bunkers.

Fifteen minutes... After fifteen minutes of non-stop shooting, hundreds of corpses lay horizontally under the curtain wall that looked "easy to climb over". A small number of them successfully rushed over by stepping on the corpses in the front row. He also completely lost his mind, and without the cover of his teammates, he became a lone moving target.

As the vanguard collapsed, the seemingly powerful 20,000-strong army disintegrated like an avalanche; most people did not even see the shadow of the enemy, only heard the thunderous sound of gunfire, and fled in all directions amid the collapse of the army. .

The only good thing is that Louis and Alexei foresaw this situation long before the battle began and prepared for the worst; Ludwig and his "brave and fearless" legion did not.

The direct result of this is that after seeing the enemy's complete defeat with their own eyes, the soldiers hiding in the positions and trenches still thought that this was just a trick of the enemy. It took a full hour before the enemy attacked again before they realized it. Do you think you have already won? !

After being repeatedly urged by Ludwig, and even directly executing a disobedient officer on the spot, the cavalry was mobilized to pursue and defeat the fleeing enemy army, but it was too late... Most of the 20,000-strong army had dispersed, and the cavalry only caught up with them. They are just a handful of unlucky ones who are extremely unlucky and left alone.

Before the officers who suddenly realized it could be happy, they immediately received another bad news: more than 5,000 people stationed in the "siege position" outside Yangfan City were attacked and defeated by the Yangfan City defenders, and were chased all the way to the beachhead; Under the cover of the navy's naval guns, they finally escaped the tragic fate of being wiped out.

This is not over yet, because the defenders of Yangfan City, which is no longer blocked after seizing the siege position, have sent reinforcements to Huangcaolin: a total of one cuirassier company, one cavalry regiment, and five hundred light infantry.

At the same time, within an hour of the jihadi army sitting in silence, Alexei, who was "covered" by the defeated troops, had led the Second Infantry Regiment around to the flank of the position, a position very close to Ludwig's command post.

Originally, his mission was to lead the forward attack, responsible for stabilizing the front and launching column assaults when necessary, to forcefully open gaps in the lines of the Jihadi Army.

But as a result, those coalition soldiers who simply did not obey the order rushed faster than Alexey. The Second Infantry Regiment with less than a thousand people instantly became an "inconspicuous" presence on the battlefield; even the soldiers who defeated the western position The curtain wall, the columns interspersed all the way to the side and rear of the position, and were not discovered.

In addition to good luck, both sides "happened" to wear the same color military uniforms, which made the Jihadi soldiers mistakenly think they were one of their own, and they were completely defenseless.

After noticing the reinforcements from Sailing City, Alexey first confirmed the location of Ludwig's headquarters, and then decisively led the Second Infantry Regiment to attack.

When he was attacked, the shocked Ludwig did not panic at all. He first rejected the suggestions of the people around him to retreat, and then led his guards to rely on the surrounding trench fortifications to launch a tenacious attack on Alexey who suddenly pounced on him. resistance.

There was no way, he was too aware of the morale of the cowards under his command; if the command post was captured by the opponent, the battle that had just been won would immediately turn into defeat - not to mention he was quite confident in the position he had personally laid out. .

Facing the intricate and cobweb-like trench fortifications, the 2nd Infantry Regiment, which had a partial advantage in strength, was unable to take advantage of its numerical advantage; no matter how many times Alexei shouted, "Take the legion commander's head!" and brandished a flaming sword. Even if he personally led the charge, he would not be able to break through the blockade organized by more than 200 guards.

Seeing that the war situation was completely irreversible, he could only lead the infantry regiment to retreat quickly before being surrounded; the defenders of Yangfan City who noticed this "friendly force" immediately came to respond and lined up on both sides of Alexei's retreat road. Formation, flanking attack from left and right, directly annihilated the pursuing enemies.

Although the two sides that successfully merged repelled the attack, they had no choice but to quickly turn towards Sailing City and abandon Ludwig, who was in a mess in his own position.

The too "easy" victory coupled with the uneasiness caused by the almost killing of the legion commander caused the Holy War Army to quickly split into two factions: one side felt that they should pursue the victory and completely conquer Gray Pigeon Castle, sweep the settlements around Sail City to collect supplies, and completely control the entire army. In the Yangfan City area, attack the heavily garrisoned city.

The other side believes that since the threat has been temporarily lifted, they should retreat and continue to besiege Sail City; neither Gray Pigeon Castle nor the surrounding colonies are their mission goals, and there is no need to take risks and do unnecessary things.

The numbers of both sides were almost half to half, and neither could convince the other; the consequences of the army's patchwork were completely exposed at this moment: Ludwig could force them to obey orders when they had no idea, but as long as Conflict breaks out, and choosing either side will cause dissatisfaction on the other side.

Under pressure, Ludwig finally had no choice but to "grasp with both hands, use both hands hard" - split the 20,000 army into two, and lead 10,000 to besiege Yangfan City, while the rest were responsible for sweeping and plundering the surrounding areas. "heretics".

Then, the consequences of "I want them all" came immediately.

Originally, it was a bit difficult for 20,000 people to besiege Yangfan City. Thanks to the fleet blockade from the sea, it would not seem too shaky; now there are only 10,000 people, and the strength of the troops is almost the same as that of the defenders, and even can't match the opponent's firepower.

This is not to say that the number of artillery is not enough, it is simply that the level of artillery is really different. The only person in the entire Jihad Army who really knows how to use artillery is the legion commander himself. Although the number of defenders in the city is not large and the artillery shells are limited, But they are all extremely excellent imperial artillerymen. The "Clovis ten-year-old artilleryman" who was born in the mining industry has no pressure.

After some extreme maneuvers, the Holy War Legion, which was almost counter-attacked by the defenders, finally regained its footing and was finally not driven back to the beach.

And the Jihad Legion that insisted on "ploughing the court and clearing holes to eliminate future troubles" ended very tragically; because it was so easy to win, the 20,000-strong army that was actually "annihilated" by them did not appear at all. How many casualties.

Most of these people were scattered throughout the Sailing City, and the very few who could still be organized retreated one after another, returning to Gray Pigeon Castle and relying on the castle to re-arm themselves; although there was no hope of counterattack, they still held on to the fortress. Still no problem.

At the same time, Louis Bernard, who was separated from the army, successfully retreated to a colonial settlement somewhere outside Yangfan City under the protection of a small number of troops; while gathering up the scattered army, he made contact with the local liberals.

At least in the area of ​​Sailing City, the reputation of the Bernard family is unquestionable. Especially after the loyalists were completely eradicated, almost all the remaining colonists became loyal supporters of Louis Bernard and were the core of his rule in Sailing City. foundation.

Under his coordination, settlements and farms of all sizes around Yangfan City quickly established armed forces to ambush the small groups of troops sent by the Jihad Legion to rob and investigate... The fire of the riot quickly burned through every inch of the land, and several Ten or hundreds of colonial settlements have become strongholds and fortresses in the fields, and a large network has been densely woven.

When the officers who commanded more than 10,000 Jihadi soldiers realized it, not only were they unable to easily obtain supplies from those strongholds, they were even completely surrounded by this large net.

Every time troops are sent to try to conquer a certain settlement farm, they will be quickly exposed. Before they reach the destination, they will be ambushed and attacked by enemies several times their size. Or the buildings will be deserted before they reach the destination, leaving them with a pile of fire. Nothing can be gained from the ruins.

As for destroying roads, laying traps on the only way the army must pass, poisoning food that cannot be taken away before retreating... there are too many to mention, leaving an army of more than 10,000 people to waste away in the wilderness and watching the logistics. Reserves are dwindling.

They finally realized that their enemies were no longer the initially visible cities and the so-called Free Confederacy; the land, and all the people who lived on it, were fighting against them.

Louis Bernard used this period of time to re-establish an army of more than 6,000 people with the efforts of the liberals. He even succeeded in collecting the equipment discarded by the defeated soldiers and the trophies seized from the Jihadi Army. An army was armed.

Although the combat effectiveness is still at the level of a rotten fish, the biggest difference between this army and the previous one is that Louis built it from scratch - no matter how low the level is, he will unswervingly execute his orders.

But before he could lead this army to avenge their disgrace and confront the jihadi army that was sweeping the countryside, the more than 10,000 jihadi troops who realized that the situation was extremely bad had already chosen to retreat and joined the other half of the army that was besieging Yangfan City. Rejoin.

Louis had no choice but to occupy the deserted grass forest and use it as a base camp to continue to maintain contact with the surrounding areas of Sailing City. At the same time, he sent people to the direction of Gray Pigeon Castle for help.

……………………

"Ask for help?"

Ludwig, with a deep voice, slowly raised his head, and his extremely ugly expression shocked the officers present: "More than 10,000 well-equipped troops were beaten by thousands of militiamen with messy weapons and had to retreat... You actually have the courage to tell me that you want to ask the navy for help?!"

"Tell me, where is the face of the Jihadi Army, and where is the face of the Royal Army?!"

The hoarse roar echoed in the camp, accompanied by slight vibrations. The kerosene lamps on the table and sides flickered on and off just like the mood of the officers.

"From now on, the sweep of the surrounding areas of Sailing City and Gray Pigeon Castle will end here. Concentrate all forces to prepare for the siege; strive to capture Sailing City within half a month!" Ludwig said sternly:

"I have already made a request to Colonel William Cecil to allow them to use the two battleships to bombard the city of Sailing City with sixty-eight-pound main guns after they get the signal, and the army will take advantage of the chaos of the defenders in the city to launch an attack. "

"The vanguard troops surround the outer fortress, and the follow-up troops continue to advance in depth; whether it is burning or looting, in short, they must cause maximum damage to the areas passing through the city, put pressure on the defenders, and force them to surrender in the face of heavy consequences. "

"Otherwise, we will massacre the city bit by bit, street by street! Finally, squeeze them into the fortress in the center of the city, and then blast them into the sky with cannons!"

"I'll repeat it again, within half a month, Sailing City must fall!"