I will be crowned king

Unlike the extremely nervous Western Front Army, the imperial army on the west bank was in high spirits at this time. Thousands of bugles resounded from the dome, and military flags fluttered in the wind. Three legions of 80,000 troops began to line up along the river in an orderly manner. , forming a "pin"-shaped front, firmly trapping the Ranger Corps' west bank position.

By 5:30 in the evening, it was confirmed that there were no reinforcements from the Clovis thugs on the opposite side - Anson ordered all subsequent troops to stop outside the royal estate in advance - at the same time, the enemy was suspected of sending ten to fifteen additional regiments to the north and south along the river. After taking action, the emperor made his final deployment with great confidence:

"Bernard's Corps formed on the left flank, and sent seven more rifle regiments, one artillery company, and one hussars company to guard the downstream (north) ferry. Leo's Corps defended the right flank, and sent ten more rifle regiments, and two artillery companies to guard the upper reaches. At the (southern) ferry, craftsmen and civilians and no less than twenty tools and carriages were mobilized at the same time. If the enemy is defeated, be ready to repair the pontoon bridge immediately."

"Half of the legion under my command will be transferred as a reserve force and will be on standby behind Baiyuan Town (where the headquarters is located). The remaining troops will fill the central army and form an impact column. After the war begins, they will serve as the vanguard to break through the enemy's west bank positions."

"Build a separate artillery position outside Baiyuan Town and use all the remaining artillery in the army - in the past, due to the sophisticated technology of the imperial artillery, the power of scale was seriously ignored. We should follow our enemies in this regard and should not regard artillery as Merely a support weapon.”

"Place the hussars behind the infantry lines on both wings. Once our army breaks through the Clovis mob's west bank position head-on, the mob whose morale has collapsed will inevitably retreat in droves. At that time, the infantry will get out of the way, and the cavalry will attack from both wings and strangle them on the bank. The defeated troops on the other side!"

Such a perfect deployment was certainly not something that the emperor who had never been on the battlefield suddenly had an idea and came up with on his own, but was the result of discussions and reviews by many noble staff officers, knights and experienced officers.

Although the emperor's 80,000-strong army is now said to be well-equipped and of excellent quality, it is an army assembled in a hurry, and its combat coordination is far from a truly elite level. Too complicated tactical arrangements can easily cause trouble. Just make it as simple as possible, and separate the various arms for more efficient command.

The efficiency mentioned here is definitely not in terms of battlefield mobilization, but is more convenient for the emperor to understand - although on the surface, the personal expedition is just a formality, and the emperor will not really interfere with the specific combat details, but no one can guarantee whether the emperor will suddenly When the mood strikes, they may issue whimsical orders such as "Let the troops advance forty meters" before the battle begins... So it's better to make it clear in advance.

No matter how hot-headed Joseph Herred is at that time, after all, there are military orders, and the deployment he arranged himself will not slap him in the face again, right?

Of course, no one dares to point it out openly. They even have to be sincere and expressive to show their surrender and surrender: "Your Majesty is wise!"

At this point, this battle was already a sure thing in the eyes of Joseph III; even if the Clovis people on the opposite side really had an army of 100,000, once the armies of Roland and the Levent family arrived, not only would he completely overwhelm the opponent with his strength, he would even It can also form a three-way flank, and with the Brahm Knights of the Wolf family cutting off the retreat, it is simply a matter of catching a turtle in a jar, without any difficulty...

……?

……………………

"What, because of insufficient logistics estimates, the progress of the army was blocked?!" Joseph III, eyes wide with anger, threw the letter directly in front of the trembling herald:

"Absurd, the whole empire... No! The Roland family, which is supposed to be the richest in the world, and the Levent family, which has the largest territory, would actually have their schedule delayed due to logistical problems?!"

The furious Joseph couldn't even help but laugh. These scum of the world of order, the scum of the empire, couldn't even find a decent excuse. They simply treated their own orders as child's play.

Realizing that the emperor was still angry, Bernard immediately stood up calmly; he first raised his hand and dismissed the poor messenger, then picked up the paper ball crumpled by the emperor and unfolded it. After a moment of silence, he continued Shaking his head:

"It seems that we can no longer count on reinforcements from these two archdukes. Without them, it will be more difficult to completely encircle the Clovis thugs."

"Based on the current situation, if our army cannot gain a huge advantage at the beginning of the war, if the enemy's follow-up troops arrive on the battlefield, the outcome...is still unknown."

These words immediately brought the atmosphere in the headquarters to freezing point.

"What should we do?" Joseph III's face was extremely ugly: "Bernard, do you want to suggest that I negotiate peace with the enemy?"

"of course not!"

Bernard must not admit such a bottom line thing: "Now that the situation has reached its current state, the only choices before us are to win and to win completely. Taking the initiative to negotiate is tantamount to admitting defeat and surrendering, while holding high the goal of ordering the world." The empire that protects the banner...can never surrender."

The emperor's expression softened slightly after hearing this. He knew that behind Bernard were the two Grand Dukes Roland and Bernard. To a certain extent, his attitude was also the collective attitude of the northern nobles of the empire: "Then what suggestions do you have?"

"Your Majesty, thank you. I just got the news. I really didn't think of any good solution." Bernard smiled wryly and spread his hands, while looking at the figure sitting opposite him:

"Why don't we... let's ask Sir Leo Hered for his opinion. I think he has been deep in thought since just now. Maybe he already has some ideas?"

"ah?"

As soon as he finished speaking, a middle-aged man with a neat hairstyle and elegant clothes raised his head in a daze, looking at the surrounding eyes that were suddenly directed at him with dull eyes.

"...Forget it, Bernard."

Joseph waved his hand helplessly. Of course, the emperor himself knew very well about the commander he appointed, Leo Hered. He was only at the level of a division commander at best. His only advantage was that he was loyal enough and far from a real commander. Still need training:

"I want to hear your opinion now, and I'm not allowed to hide anything."

"As you command, Your Majesty."

Bernard calmly raised his chest and saluted, as if the helpless guy just now was not him: "Actually, from my perspective, this matter... is not a big deal at all."

"Oh, how do you say this?"

"The reason why Roland and Archduke Levent were late... Let's not talk about it for now, but what if they are late?" Bernard spread his hands:

"With our current army, it is not difficult to defeat the enemy in the Halberd River head-on. It is even more than enough, isn't it?"

"But the enemy's strength is not limited to the ones in Halberd." Leo Hered, who had just been in a trance, finally woke up and said worriedly:

"Even according to the most conservative estimate, more than half of them have not yet reached the battlefield."

"Indeed, your judgment is absolutely correct."

Bernard nodded slightly, but didn't even look at him: "But we don't need to care about the enemies who haven't appeared yet. As long as we can win the Battle of the Halberd and capture the ferry, the winner of this war will be Your Majesty, the Clovis thugs who have been cut off from their retreat will not be able to make a comeback just because they still have half of their strength."

"On the contrary, because they lost the Battle of the Halberd and were completely blocked by His Majesty's army in the Grand Duchy of Brahm, they no longer had any hope of threatening the tens of thousands of Clovis thugs in Snapdragon City. What was before them …The only option left is to flee in panic.”

"War is never a contest of numbers. The victory or defeat of a key battle may not be determined by one battle. Letting everyone see who has the upper hand is far more important than killing a few more enemies." Bernard smiled meaningfully. laugh:

"And I also believe that by the time His Majesty's army overwhelmingly wins the Battle of the Halcyon, the armies of Roland and Archduke Levent... must have arrived by some means, right?"

The gloomy Joseph III did not take his words.

Bernard certainly understands what he means. Whether this battle can annihilate the Clovis army is no longer the key. The key lies in whether he can win the Battle of the Halberd; as long as he wins, it doesn't matter no matter how high the price is. , but if you lose...

No, I can never lose, and I will never lose!

He has already staked all his chips on this personal expedition. The imperial nobles in Xiaolong City must also be eagerly watching the outcome of this battle. Countless people are thinking about what they should do if they lose the battle. How to divide up the wealth accumulated by the Herred royal family over the past hundred years? I will be completely abandoned by the Holy See...

The bloodline of the Dragon Knight will decline in his own hands!

That was a result that Joseph III could never accept. Now he had understood another meaning of Bernard's words: If the Battle of the Halberd cannot be won, most of the empire will no longer support it, let alone reinforcements. By myself.

"Dear Bernard, your words make sense." The emperor finally calmed down his anger, and the eyes he looked at everyone began to become full of passion: "The spear of the empire can only move forward, never retreat."

"We must not let Clovis's thugs tarnish the glory of the golden iris. Allowing a group of thugs who betrayed the king to continue to run rampant is a shame for the guardians of the ordered world!"

"My loyal vassals and knights, in the name of the Ring of Order, I...Joseph Herred, the Emperor of the Empire, make my most sincere request to you..."

"...bring me victory!"

………………………………

At 7:55 in the morning on August 20, 103 in the Saint's Calendar, as the mist at dawn gradually dissipated, the Empire took the lead in firing, successfully taking the lead.

Faced with the indiscriminate bombardment of hundreds of cannons, the West Bank Ranger Corps position was suppressed in an instant. The successive explosions directly tore apart the outermost earth walls and pits, and the dust kicked up smashed into the trenches on the rear line. Many soldiers were buried alive on the spot.

Under the unilateral crushing that was almost a natural disaster, Fabian, the chief of general staff responsible for commanding the West Bank positions, did not even dare to order a counterattack - he was worried that doing so would directly expose his own artillery positions and become a living target for the enemy on the spot.

This is by no means an unfounded worry: the level of the imperial artillery is obvious to all, especially now that the emperor himself is conducting the conquest, and the artillery he brings are the best among the best. Once targeted, it is not easy to destroy one's own artillery forts with repeated rounds of fire.

However, Fabian seemed to have really misjudged this time, because almost all of the continuous artillery fire fell on the outer positions, almost regardless of the cost, he wanted to open a hole that could be attacked.

The confused deputy chief of staff hid in the trench and looked across. In his impression, the empire's methods of besieging positions were always very flexible - probing artillery fire, cavalry guerrillas, layer upon layer suppression of infantry lines... This kind of cannon smashed one round, The simple and crude way of clearing the way for the infantry seems to be Clovis's usual routine, right?

Just when he was still confused, Anson Bach's order came from the rear: the artillery fired back immediately to suppress the enemy's left and right legions.

Although his mind was filled with questions, Fabian chose to execute it without hesitation, and all the artillery batteries immediately opened fire on both sides of the enemy.

So under a clear sky, the Imperial line infantry who had just been mocking the battered infantry soon tasted the same feeling... Although the scale and power were far less powerful than the Empire's, it also gave the Empire There is a lot of pressure on both wings.

"Tsk... It seems that the enemy on the opposite side discovered it."

Holding his saber, Bernard looked at the opposite side while shaking his head and sighing: "You can detect the cavalry ambushing on both sides as soon as you come up. Anson Bach...is he really a genius?"

"It's not that I don't think so."

The expressionless Sir Gloria silently approached: "The terrain on both sides of the Halberd River is open. No matter who you are, you will think of using cavalry to launch a quick attack; the frontal attack target is too large, so of course you will choose to attack on both wings."

"Since Anson Bach specifically chose this place as a battlefield and dared to place the main force on the west bank, it means that he had already considered the possibility and made a reasonable response. It is not surprising."

"You can see it clearly." Bernard looked back with a flash of surprise, and carefully looked up and down at the guy in front of him:

"It seems that it is really unfair for you to be a legion commander. The position of staff officer may be more suitable for you."

"Thank you for your compliment, sir." Sir Gloria said with a smile, "Can I take it as your promise to me?"

"Of course you can, provided you come back alive."

Bernard readily agreed: "The emperor has forgiven you for the sin of defeat, but if you want to redeem yourself and meritorious service, you and your legion must show corresponding results - launch a full-line attack in fifteen minutes, and I will give you four rounds of artillery cover." .”

"Tear apart the Clovis' west bank positions, and then survive this battle alive. Fernando's death...I guarantee that nothing will happen to you!"