I will be crowned king

"As you command!"

Count Schlieffen, who shouted loudly, happily performed a military salute and immediately grabbed the commander of the Rising Sun Legion next to him and turned away. The surrounding staff officers and officers consciously got out of the way and watched the two people leave the headquarters.

In comparison, Carl Bain was not so excited: "There is no news about the Hantu Army so far, and the opponent obviously still has enough strength. At this time, it doesn't matter if we don't leave a reserve team and directly reveal the trump card?"

"Of course...if the emperor doesn't plan to cross the river for encirclement and suppression at all, but simply feigns an attack and sends a few infantry companies to die, we will be in trouble." Anson spread his hands with a wry smile:

"The question is what can we do if we don't reveal our trump card now. If Fabian on the west coast is under siege and doesn't take advantage of our false appearance of weakness to hold him back, then we really have to think of a way to withdraw the Rangers to the east coast. .”

Both of them knew very well that in the face of the empire with superior firepower, the retreat of the 40,000-strong army across the river would never be as easy as it seemed... The most conservative estimate is that one-fifth of the officers and soldiers would have to be sacrificed. With the preparations in place, there may be a big question mark as to whether the Western Front Army can win the Battle of the Changji River despite a sharp drop in morale.

"Then if the other party hasn't been fooled..."

"I will personally lead the army and organize a strong attack across the river." Ansen intercepted without hesitation: "Then the command task will have to be troublesome to you. If there is any bad momentum, the priority is to preserve the vast majority of the combat power. You can leave me alone. .”

Karl did not answer this time and just nodded silently.

Although they seemed to be full of confidence, in fact both of them had prepared for the worst for this battle; after all, this battle was a surprise, and on the other hand, they did not know how many cards the emperor had in his hand. , no accident is more abnormal than an accident.

But at least so far, the situation seems to be going very smoothly: "The Storm Legion at the ferry on both sides of the Changjian River received news that they have encountered the troops holding the ferry on the opposite side. They are still in the confrontation stage, and they have also tentatively launched several river crossings. Action…The enemy seems to have taken the bait.”

"Send the order for them to start crossing the Halberd River immediately."

After pondering for a moment, Anson raised his hand and tapped the map on the table: "Which side of the ferry is currently weakly guarded by the enemy and has a better chance of defeating it?"

"...It should be upstream."

"should?"

"There is an extra artillery battery on the opposite side at the upstream ferry, but the discipline of the defenders is obviously not as good as that of the lower reaches." Karl analyzed calmly: "Based on the intelligence received, the upstream defenders waited until the Storm Legion appeared before they began to form formations to respond to the enemy. , and the defenders downstream had already sounded the alert bugle before our troops arrived."

"And the most important thing...the imperial reinforcements upstream are the troops of Archduke Roland."

Karl's meaning is very clear: the Roland family, like Brahm's Wolfe and the Dukaski family, has secretly reached an agreement with Clovis City. At least until the outcome is determined, there is a high probability that they will still choose to wait and see. of.

However, the Levent family is different. Strictly speaking, Anson and the Levent family have a grudge: a New World Holy War, the jihadist army organized by the Levent family was completely annihilated, and a large number of people related to their family The blood knight talents suffered heavy casualties.

Although the other party's attitude is mostly to wait and see, no one can guarantee that he will not do some irrational behavior out of anger and turn from "a thorn in the emperor's side" to "a loyal guard of the empire" on the spot.

"Send the order and immediately ask the two cavalry artillery companies directly under the headquarters to reinforce the troops upstream." Anson ordered decisively:

"Prepare a hundred rounds of shrapnel, tell them not to worry about it, hit them as fast as they can, and do your best to convince the emperor that we are going to open a breakthrough from upstream!"

"One hundred rounds...the total of the entire army is only three hundred...understand." Karl couldn't help but muttered a few words, but he was just complaining. He understood that Anson was doing his best to help Fabian, who was resisting pressure. Untie: "The manpower and equipment are ready, I will let them set off now!"

Anson nodded slightly and looked back at the smoke-shrouded battlefield on the west bank.

So far, the progress has been in line with expectations. All the intelligence coming from Clovis City has been confirmed. The Herred royal family has been completely abandoned by his vassals. The entire empire is looking forward to someone who can lead them again. The new emperor; he just followed the trend and successfully took advantage of this golden opportunity.

But...is it really that simple?

Is it true that the Herrid family, who are descendants of the mighty dragon knights, are completely unaware of the ulterior motives of their vassals and take risks without leaving any backup plan?

In any case, he had no way out - Anson had already prepared for the worst. If he really lost to the emperor, he would directly open a field above the battlefield and forcefully reverse the situation of the battle as a blasphemous mage.

Yes, the worst result... is just to declare war on the Holy See in advance.

…………………………

"Clovis, onward-!!!!"

Seizing the opportunity when the Imperial soldiers were unprepared, the Storm Legion upstream used artillery fire as cover, laid a pontoon bridge on the ferry as quickly as possible, and forcibly crossed the Halberd River.

It is said to be a "floating bridge", but it is actually a wooden plank tied with sandbags. It is impossible for the Western Front Army to gather the materials to build a bridge in a short time. The control of the river is still in the hands of the empire, and there is no way to use sampans. There is a plank bridge, so we can only look for a ferry where the river is not so fast and the water depth is no more than half a person's height.

Under the cover of their comrades and artillery behind them, the soldiers in the front row braved the oncoming hail of bullets and pushed the "bridge" connected by ropes forward slowly until they crossed the river and rushed in front of the enemy.

Therefore, even if we gain the upper hand, this process is doomed to require huge sacrifices.

The commander of the upstream Storm Legion was Norton Crosell, who was temporarily recruited back. After discovering that the enemy had no preparation at all, he decisively ordered the soldiers of the 3rd Infantry Regiment to enter the water directly, and then rushed up personally carrying the pontoon bridge, leaving The adjutant who was about to go crazy was on the bank directing the crossing.

"Don't be afraid, just rush ashore. Once ashore, victory will be ours!"

Carrying the cold and wet chains, the shirtless Norton tried to raise his head to prevent himself from choking on the water: "The first victory in the Battle of the Halcyon...can only be attributed to the Storm Legion!"

"Long live the Storm Legion - Wow wow wow wow...!!!"

The panicked Imperial defenders on the shore tried to organize artillery fire to suppress them, but their reaction was still half slow. Before they could slowly drag out the ammunition boxes, the six-pound howitzers of the Storm Legion on the opposite side had already arrived first, and the roaring black shadow appeared directly. Over the heads of the Imperial artillerymen.

The messy lead bullets were sprinkled on the river like raindrops, penetrating through the flesh and blood and creating ripples on the river. The rushing river water had not even been dyed red, but it had already taken away the remaining warmth of the body.

As if to vent their inner fear, the Imperial Line soldiers kept firing, but they still could not stop the Storm Legion soldiers on the river from advancing; they failed to warn in time and successfully suppressed them at the beginning of crossing the river, and they had turned into Became the suppressed party.

But when they finally realized the seriousness of the matter, the Third Infantry Regiment had already rushed to the shore.

"Storm Legion..."

Shaking off the chains on his shoulders, Norton directly pushed away the young soldier who wanted to put his coat on him, suddenly pulled out his saber, and raised it above his head with some staggering: "Attack!"

"attack--!!!!"

The soaked Clovis soldiers picked up their still dry Leopold rifles, fired volleys one after another in company units, and then launched a bayonet charge.

The imperial defenders who were forced to fight took the initiative to jump out of the fortifications and fight with the Storm Legion that rushed ashore; the artillery fire from both sides did not stop, but the Storm Legion that had built the pontoon bridge had completely got rid of the disadvantage, and the follow-up troops were company after company. He rushed across the Halberd River and attacked the enemy's already crumbling position.

"What the hell does this happen?!"

The knight who came to deliver the order on behalf of the emperor widened his eyes and looked at the Clovis soldiers rushing across the river like a wave in disbelief. He turned and shouted at the garrison commander: "Have I not been warned time and time again? Be sure to be wary of Clovis." What are the movements of the Uighurs? Why did the enemy still succeed in trying to cross over?!"

"This...I...we..." The commander who was questioned blushed, and after hesitating for a while he still refused to admit his mistake, or dared not admit it: "We did this on purpose!"

"on purpose?!"

The knight's eyes widened.

"Yes, this is to better crush the vicious ambitions of the Clovis people." The commander, who blushed like a tomato, twitched the corners of his eyes and was determined to speak tough to the end:

"Standing on the ferry will only lead to meaningless attacks and defenses. Letting the enemy cross the river, but attacking halfway across the river can cause huge casualties, creating opportunities for Your Majesty to annihilate the Clovis thugs... That's right! That's it, halfway across the river. hit!"

"Bandu...well, well..."

The knight laughed angrily and nodded seriously: "Then I will go back and resume my life to see if your Majesty has the same view as you... Farewell!"

After saying that, he didn't give the other party a chance to change his story and galloped away.

At this time, the frontal battlefield on the West Bank was still in full swing: Although the Gloria Army, which broke through the outer positions, failed to achieve more results, it was blocked by the Ranger Army at the second line of defense; even compared to Anson, who had experienced the New World Holy War Fabian is not inferior in dispatching the army.

Although they were suppressed by artillery fire and military strength and were unable to kick the enemy out of their positions, maintaining the status quo and staying in place was not a problem.

And at this time, the empire's focus was no longer on the west bank positions: the legions on the left and right wings continued to advance and began to erect pontoon bridges on the banks of the Halberd River; the suppressed Ranger Legion could not spare any extra strength and could only watch the enemy complete the task. All preparations for crossing the river were made.

At the same time, the Clovis command headquarters on the east coast did not seem to make any unnecessary moves - in the eyes of Joseph III, this was a sign that the other party was completely desperate, or that it was unable to make a comeback.

But just when victory was so close, the messenger who hurriedly came from upstream reported a rather unpleasant news to him.

In an instant, the nobles and knights present could clearly feel that although the extremely excited emperor was still smiling, his breath from head to toe was as cold as the tomb.

"Your Majesty, atone for your sins!"

As Leo Hered, who was responsible for the upstream defense task, immediately fell to his knees: "It was my poor supervision that led to..."

"Okay, now is not the time to discuss guilt!"

Joseph III, whose expression was extremely ugly, waved his hand and had no intention of listening to the other party's sincere and humble apology: "You have just taken over this legion. What does the mistake of the subordinate officers have to do with the new commander-in-chief? Don't be hypocritical here. "

"Yes...yes, your majesty has mercy, your majesty has mercy!"

"The real key now is to control the situation immediately. We must not let the Clovis thugs succeed in disrupting our plan." Joseph III said solemnly: "The Clovis army crossing the river must either be annihilated or kill them." Rush down to the river."

"Yes, I obey!" Seeing that there was still a chance to make a difference, Leo quickly stepped forward: "Then I will..."

"After all, Commander Leo is inexperienced. It would be more appropriate to hand over this emergency situation to a more experienced general."

Joseph III interrupted him lightly, and at the same time looked back to the other side:

"Dear Bernard, please make a trip."

"I obey your Majesty's will." Bernard turned around and saluted respectfully without any hesitation.

"I know that this kind of thing has wronged you to some extent, but when it comes to the face of the empire, I can only trust you completely." Joseph III sighed: "But please don't worry, we will wait until the victory of the Battle of the Halberd River to judge the merits. When it comes to rewards, I will never treat you badly."

Bernard's expression did not change. Of course he understood the emperor's intention - to drive him away from the frontal battlefield was to avoid getting too much credit for himself who was too close to the northern nobles. Of course, this kind of good thing could only belong to the emperor himself and a group of people. Direct descendants of all relatives.

As for the promise of "no wrong treatment"...just listen to some things and don't care about them. Whoever cares will lose.

"Your Majesty, everything I have is given by Your Majesty, and the favors, rewards and punishments should naturally be decided by Your Majesty." Bernard smiled: "Then...I will take my own soldiers and rush to reinforce."

"Well, be careful." Joseph III nodded absently. He also understood that what the other party said was just for the occasion, and he was a little embarrassed: "Before leaving, is there anything else you want to ask?"

"Your Majesty's plan is going well. There is no need for me, a guilty minister, to give you any instructions. But there is one thing..." He chuckled to himself, and Bernard seemed to suddenly realize something:

"Anson Bach is extremely cunning. Be careful. He may have some back-up plan. If he is attacked halfway..."

"...Haha, I must be thinking too much, right?"