I will be crowned king

Early in the morning, the Governor's Mansion of Sailing City.

cellar.

The rumbling sound of artillery fire was almost continuous, transmitted into the room through layers of granite and soil.

The successive vibrations made the narrow and dull basement seem like a lonely boat in the huge waves; the flickering lights cast a tragic light on the fallen dust, and the rats were everywhere like sailors in danger. They were running around, but they didn't forget to fight for the dead cockroach in the corner.

Alexey, with his legs crossed, sat calmly on a chair at the end of the long table, holding an imperial-style saber in his arms. He wore a dirty and torn Clovis military uniform with an ill-fitting breastplate, close to his heart. There is also a patched-up gun hole.

He just sat here expressionless, as if the sound of gunfire outside had nothing to do with him, silently smoking his pipe, and a few minutes later handed the pipe to the Imperial knight next to him; the knight with the same expressionless face He took a few puffs and handed it to Officer Clovis next to him...

The broken pipes were passed around the long table in turn, and a faint smoke lingered above everyone's heads, and they could no longer tell the difference between them.

As if he suddenly remembered something, Alexey touched the pocket under his breastplate and took out a pocket watch; the deformed lead bullet got stuck in the brass watch, and the glass cover on the dial was also full of cracks. But the surprising thing is that the pocket watch can still be used.

The commander-in-chief said that this pocket watch is a magic item, and pressing the cover switch can save lives when necessary; but Alexei found that this thing could be opened without pressing the cover, and it seemed that it could not be broken no matter how hard it was dropped, so he put it away. Use it like an ordinary pocket watch.

And it actually saved my life.

The hands on the dial slowly moved with time, and when it was about to reach six o'clock, the sound of shelling suddenly stopped; almost at the same time, a bit of cold light came through the crack in the wall of the basement entrance - the sky was quietly brightening.

Without saying anything else, Alexei stood up with his saber in his arms and took the pipe from the last Clovis officer who had smoked it; the harsh sound of tables and chairs moving followed the officers who stood up, no need to There were too many reminders and everyone was prepared.

Alexey looked around and took a deep breath of smoke floating in the air, looking at everyone:

"Let's go, it's time to 'welcome' them again."

……………………

As the sound of the fleet's bombardment gradually came to an end, the jihadi army's siege battle also began simultaneously. Infantry companies formed columns and marched along the trenches dug in advance toward the first line of defense on the outermost edge of the city: there were so many The artillery stronghold advanced.

Because of his prior experience and the intelligence provided by the empire, Ludwig knew very well that the garrison in the city would not exceed six thousand at most, and because of the chaos caused by the previous liberal rebellion and indigenous riots, as a colonial Sailing City, It may still have a strong foundation, but the inner city is dilapidated and has not fully recovered.

There is also a very important key point, that is, Louis Bernard should not be in the city at this time!

This information is very crucial: Yangfan City may be very loyal to the Bernard family, and the defenders of Yangfan City may also have a good impression of the heir of the Bernard family, but the relationship between Yangfan City and her defenders is not as it seems. of unity.

These imperial soldiers and knights, who were originally sent to suppress the riots but did not return to their homeland due to the defeat and rebellion of Bernard Morvais, actually had a very bad relationship with the local liberals; let Sailing City accept what they left behind. The only reason is Louis Bernard's guarantee.

But now that Louis Bernard is not in the city, the two sides who are not even close to each other are bound to break out in various conflicts when faced with the risk of the city being destroyed and people killed - as long as they show that they will massacre the city if they don't surrender. The chances of the cowardly and lucky liberals betraying the defenders and voluntarily surrendering will be greatly increased.

What? Why is it just a deterrent, instead of actually killing all the Sailing City?

Of course it’s because it’s simply impossible!

Regardless of the 20,000 troops and fleet support, suppressing an ordinary colony seems to have no pressure at all, but that is based on the premise that the residents in the city are scattered and lack organization; facing an unfamiliar city, the number of Excellent natives always control the absolute initiative.

Massacre of a city sounds very easy. In fact, if you want to complete this task efficiently and without leaving any consequences while maintaining military discipline, it is no more difficult than completing a large-scale battle; and no matter what the result is, It is a loss for an army.

And based on the good style of cliques, internal strife, and shirking of responsibilities within the Jihadi Army, the officers are unqualified, the technical arms are completely unskilled, and the soldiers are all timid and afraid of death... but no one obeys anyone, and no one cares. Without anyone else, it is better to expect them to perform at a super level and complete such a difficult battle than to expect the potatoes to speak and the oranges to become the essence.

Therefore, Ludwig, who was very clear-headed, did not dare to assign too important tasks to them, and even took the risk that they would not be able to accomplish anything. He formulated the battle plan based on the premise that "defeat is certain", and every step was carried out. The plan is clear, and the strategic goal can be achieved even if it is defeated by the enemy.

Fortunately, the enemy's strength was less than 10,000, and their firepower was very weak, so they could not fill up the entire defense line. Otherwise, Ludwig would not have dared to easily open the encirclement network covering both sides of the northeast and launch an attack from land and sea at the same time.

As soon as the battle began, the superior jihadi army launched a full-scale suppression.

Facing the Sailing City with a complete defense system, Ludwig once again used the "old-fashioned tactics" used in the Battle of Thunder Castle, using tunnel operations to continuously advance towards the artillery strongholds around the city.

The Yangfan City defenders in the city only had four-pound and eight-pound infantry cannons. They had no way to deal with the enemies hiding in the trenches and could only watch the distance between the two sides shorten little by little.

"The Ring of Order is above——!!!!"

When there were only thirty or forty meters between the two sides, thunderous shouts suddenly rang out in the open field; Clovis soldiers holding high the banner of the Ring of Order raised their bayonets and rushed in columns towards the defenders in the fort. military.

Then, they saw the black muzzle protruding from the fort.

"Boom——! Boom——! Boom——! Boom——!"

A series of deafening explosions exploded between the lines of both sides, bringing the roaring charge to a halt; rows of shotgun blasts exploded clouds of blood mist among the densely packed Clovis soldiers.

The shrill screams resounded in the flesh and blood of the flying stumps. Dozens and hundreds of figures fell neatly to the ground and wailed like wheat harvested by scythes.

Due to the lack of ammunition and the fact that the enemy is simply more proficient in tunnel operations than marmots, the defenders of Sailing City have gradually replaced solid bullets with shotgun shells - lead slugs, nails, broken glass, tiles, stones... as long as they are Everything that can be found is stuffed into the barrel of the gun, giving a "surprise" to the enemy who has worked so hard to dig holes all the way to the front of him.

But this warm gift did not make the defenders of Sail City happy for long. The soldiers in the back row stepped on the corpses of their comrades and continued to charge; and in the short distance of thirty or forty meters, the infantrymen who were temporarily loaded with shotguns There is absolutely no time for the cannon to fire a second shot.

The problem of insufficient manpower was exposed at this moment. The surrounding artillery forts were quickly surrounded by multiple enemies, turning from a steel defense line into an isolated island with nowhere to escape.

Under the tidal offensive, the barracks and fences outside the fort quickly collapsed, and the infantry artillery that had no time to turn around immediately lost its effect. The defenders could only block the entrances and exits, and fought fiercely with the Jihadi soldiers in the narrow trenches, relying on The terrain holds the last bit of advantage.

But while holding on to the position, it also meant a complete loss of mobility, and the inability to fully defend against an enemy several times larger than one's own... So while a small number of troops were left to fight with the defenders in the fort, more than 10,000 troops remained. The five thousand Jihadi soldiers maintained their formation and continued to advance towards the city wall.

Compared with the peripheral defense system, the city wall of Sailing City is a product of the previous era - it was aware of the threat of cannons to the city wall, but it was only slightly thickened, from circular to polygonal, and the number of towers was increased. Provides vision and shooting position... nothing more.

However, this is not to be blamed on the original designer. After all, no matter how important it is, Sailing City is just a colony. When it was built, it did not expect to encounter the high-intensity battles of the Old World. Building it too luxuriously was a waste.

Looking at the crumbling city wall, Ludwig gave the order to fire with a sneer on his lips.

"boom--!!!!"

With huge roars and billowing smoke, the already overwhelmed wall suddenly collapsed and opened several gaps; the Jihadi soldiers who broke through the outer defense line poured into the inner city through the gaps, joining the defenders who had been waiting inside the wall. Strangled into a ball.

Bayonets against bayonets, rifles against rifles, bodies of flesh and blood screamed and collided with each other, crowded, biting, and entangled... The cruel hand-to-hand combat was extremely fair to each other, and no one could easily gain the upper hand.

The Jihadi Legion, which had a numerical advantage, seemed to have realized this very early. After realizing that it could not easily break through the barricade defense line of the defenders in the city, it immediately tried to break through to other streets and set fire to the buildings along the way; while the defenders seemed to They were also well prepared and lit several barricades near the gaps in the city wall to prevent the enemy from continuing to advance.

A blazing wall of fire divided the entire battlefield into two, and the black smoke filled the battlefield with a symphony of screams and roars.

Looking at the thick smoke that almost covered most of the battlefield, the smile on Ludwig's face grew stronger.

Of course, he didn't expect to be able to break through Yangfan City with just one battle, but today's battle did make his confidence, which was almost desperate, a little higher; the Yangfan City defenders, who were originally thought to be more tenacious, showed less strength. It's too inferior, and the tactical arrangement is as pedantic and dull as the Ysel elves.

Of course, Ludwig also knew that this was probably because Louis Bernard was probably not in the city. As a result, the command of the more than 6,000 garrison troops was out of control and they could only fight on their own; even if they could gain an advantage on a local battlefield, they would still Because of the lack of troops and difficulty in cooperating, it can only be wasted.

To put it bluntly, the tactical performance of his Jihad Army is not very good. As soon as the front-line troops enter the battlefield, their command fails. Even if the commander obeys the order, there will be situations where the soldiers do not obey the command... It is purely based on having enough numbers to be able to The continuous investment of reserve forces prevented problems from being exposed.

But war is so cruel, no matter how disgraceful, embarrassing, ugly and despicable the victory is; as long as you win, you can gain absolute initiative.

Just like the current battle situation, after breaking through the outer defense line, I did not have the strength to annihilate those artillery fortresses; but because the city wall was breached and the barricades were burning, the defenders of Yangfan City had to retreat into the city. It was impossible for me to give up easily. Chew down the position.

And because the war has spread to the city, they will soon have to face the pressure of local liberals and ordinary people, and they will start to hesitate whether to surrender; they can continue to advance the front calmly, street by street, community by community. Take down the entire city.

As long as the Sailing City is captured, the Crusaders will be able to gain a stable foothold in the new world. By then, both the Free Confederacy and that damn traitor Anson Bach will usher in their doom.

……………………

The battle continued until evening. After being unable to break through the defense line behind the city gate, Ludwig decisively issued an order to retreat; since the battle goal had been achieved, there was no need to continue wasting time.

The defenders of Sailing City also maintained the same tacit understanding. They did not pursue the Jihadi Legion after they retreated on their own initiative. They gathered the troops on the outer defense line, destroyed all the artillery forts, and contracted the defense line into the city.

Leaning tiredly on the rubble of the burned ruins, Alexei, holding his saber, looked at the tired soldiers in the fortifications, the citizens in pain holding their dead relatives and friends, the bones and broken walls everywhere inside and outside the city gate, There is only numbness in my heart.

He knew very well that the moment the outer defense line fell, Yangfan City was already at the end of its rope; he knew even more clearly that battles like today would continue until the moment when there was no way to defend and no way to retreat.

Ten days, fifteen days at most... This is the limit that Sail City can endure, and Ludwig outside the city obviously knows this very well, so he is not in a hurry at all, and can completely destroy and defeat them slowly, without having to Pay too many casualties.

When he thought of this, Alexey felt a deep sense of powerlessness; he even felt very regretful. If he could have killed Major General Ludwig with a knife in the wilderness, would the situation have been different?

Of course, he also knew that he couldn't do it because Roman was watching.

"My Lord Commander-in-Chief, if you and your reinforcements don't hurry up, Yangfan City will really be lost!"