I will be crowned king

While Anson was drawing cakes for Archduke Thun in Golden Stone City while eating and drinking in Golden Stone City, Ludwig Franz, who was commanding the main force of the Southern Army, had just arrived at Eagle Point City and laid siege to the city. A fortress blocking the southeast gate of Clovis.

The situation is... it can be said that it is not optimistic.

Spring comes earlier in the south than in the north. While Clovis City is still shivering in the cold wind, the ground below Eagle Point City is already green; the cloudless sky is as clear as a mirror, and you can even see the entire city from the highlands and mountain tops. valley.

But this is not good news at all for the Southern Army. In a sense, it is even worse, worse than the worst dense fog or heavy rain.

Because as the border fortress of the Ysel elves and one of the most important tax sources, Eagle Point City is not an isolated fortress, but a complete defense system composed of many small fortresses, strongholds, towers and temporary forts; Attacking Eagle Point City from the front means facing firepower from at least three directions.

The cloudless "good weather" undoubtedly made the entire legion a living target in front of the defenders occupying favorable terrain.

After organizing a night attack and receiving a head-on attack, Ludwig decisively gave up the plan of storming. The elves may not have the courage to confront them head-on, but they still have the courage to hide in the fortress and fire artillery, and they are very bold.

The terrain in the mountainous area is rugged and complex, and there is no open terrain for the entire legion to spread out completely. At the same time, the lack of soft soil and rocky terrain also make the trench tactics used in Thunder Castle basically ineffective.

In the end, Ludwig had no choice but to turn his attention to the many fortresses outside Eagle Point City, trying to eliminate all these troubles before attacking the fortress.

At the foot of the morning ice peak, the soldiers of the Southern Legion had to risk being attacked by artillery fire and build temporary artillery forts on the high ground in the mountains. Almost every time they launched an attack, they were exposed to the firepower coverage of at least one or two forts. At the same time, we must be wary of the elven infantry who may come out of the city to harass... At least seven out of ten times, they will return without success, and they will have to pay a lot of casualties.

This kind of battle with no chance of turning around at all greatly wore down Ludwig's patience; on the tenth day of the battle, after another fort was smashed by elves with artillery, he immediately began to write letters to the rear, applying for Supported by large caliber mortars and howitzers.

However, many fortresses on the western front of the empire are also facing attacks from the empire, and they also need heavy firepower that can deter the enemy; Ludwig will have to wait at least a month to get the supplies he wants.

Obviously, the commander of the Southern Army would not have the patience to wait for a month; especially those sponsors of the Southern Army who were eager to see victory - in order to ensure that supplies and energy were continuously delivered, Ludwig had to be as soon as possible Launch an attack.

After desperately destroying the outermost fortress of the Eagle Point Fortress, the main force of the Southern Army led by Ludwig finally established a solid forward base in the valley; and with the base as the core, they continued to build up despite the elves' firepower. New artillery fort, and fortress shooting.

The two sides began an almost endless confrontation around the towers and fortresses outside Eagle Point City.

"Everyone has it—shoot in turn!"

Accompanied by the officers' calm orders, the infantry lines in front of the temporary forts hurriedly opened fire at the approaching Elf army in the distance. Hundreds of lead bullets continued to scream and tear the air in the valley.

I don't know whether it was due to the terrain or the centuries-old tradition. The elves who attacked from the fortress in the valley still maintained a tight column formation amidst the intensive gunfire. They fired back while taking firm steps towards the south. The artillery forts built by the legion advanced.

"Go forward! Go forward! May the Ring of Order protect you and be with us forever!"

"The Ring of Order is with us——!!!"

Fanatic shouts exploded from the elven phalanx, and the golden King's Flag of the Ring of Order fluttered in the cold wind.

As a once powerful country in the Eastern Continent, the Ysel elves had maintained their ancestral beliefs for thousands of years; however, after the "Second Council of Order" in the forty-seventh year of the Saints' Calendar, due to the weakening of the country's power and the decline of the western countries, The religious schism was reunified, and the then Elf King of Yser threw himself into the arms of the Church of Order without any warning, and was out of control.

In order to prove his piety, the Elf King Yser not only built a magnificent cathedral in his royal capital, but also changed the family flag to a golden ring of order on a white background, and vigorously spread and promoted the teachings of the ring of order. The executioner dispatched any nobles who dared to raise objections.

As a religion that is inconsistent with the elven tradition and has a somewhat centralized tone, only a few elven nobles at the top and subjects with human blood in the middle and lower classes in the Kingdom of Yser believe in it; however, the elven kings of all generations still tried their best to spread the teachings of the Ring of Order. They continue to use their faith as an excuse to wage war externally and suppress internally.

After decades of turmoil, the elven kingdom of Yser has become a more pious, even fanatical, Ring of Order kingdom than many human kingdoms.

"Bang-!!!! Bang-!!!! Bang-!!!!"

The neat gunshots exploded one after another like thunder; although the elven army's marksmanship was really not very good, they still maintained a considerable degree of deterrence with the help of salvos.

Screaming lead bullets continued to pass through the dense columns... Facing their companions who kept screaming and had their heads shot through and their arms broken, the elf army with fanatical expressions showed no panic or hesitation in their eyes and continued unswervingly. move forward.

As the distance between the two sides gradually closed, the two fortresses behind the elven army opened fire.

The Ysel elves, who had received assistance from the Empire, also attached great importance to the use of artillery in tactics like the Empire; the artillery shells came with deafening explosions, instantly blowing the rocks and sandbags piled under the soldiers' feet into powder. Countless amounts of dust rose into the sky like geysers, and fell in large swaths amidst the wails of the defenders.

In just a few minutes, the entire temporary fort was washed away by the elves' artillery. Large and small craters made the position look like it had been torn apart by giant beasts... almost no different from ruins.

Facing the position they had built with so much hard work and under artillery fire, the soldiers of the Southern Legion didn't even have time to repair it - the Ysel elves on the opposite side had already rushed up!

"Blessed by the Ring of Order——!!!"

“Everyone is in position—get ready to engage the enemy!!!!”

Screams resounded in the sky echoed on the ground, and the defenders with bayonets raised collided head-on with the roaring charging elf army; roars and wails intertwined with each other, and the shining bayonets tore open the chests of one after another thin figures.

Relying on the relatively narrow terrain and relatively tacit cooperation, the Clovis soldiers who were strangled together were not torn apart and withstood the elves' charge.

At this moment, the sound of Clovis's bugle came from behind the temporary fort - two Clovis infantry phalanxes maintaining column formation were rapidly approaching the battlefield from both wings.

"Everyone has it—spread out the formation!"

As soon as the words fell, the trotting soldiers quickly changed from a six-row column to a double-row row; they suddenly stopped about fifty meters away and raised their rifles aimed at the enemy's flank.

"Fire!"

Along with the smoke from the volley, the soldiers who had already installed bayonets on their rifles let out a slightly chaotic shout and launched a bayonet charge towards the two wings of the elven army.

In a chaotic hand-to-hand battle, the situation reversed in an instant.

The elf army, which had originally relied on its strength and artillery fire advantage, found itself surrounded by enemies of equal strength on three sides in the blink of an eye, and immediately panicked; the artillery fort army that was struggling to defend immediately turned from defense to offense, changing from horizontal formations to columns, attacking from the front The chaotic lines of the elven army began to intersperse.

Although the elven soldiers are fanatical, just like the empire that provides them with support, they pay extremely little attention to infantry training - apart from basic distinctions between left and right and execution of formation orders, shooting and bayonets are only performed when the battle is approaching. Charge training, more professional sniping, grenade throwing, and rapid assault training can only be mastered by a small number of elites.

If the imperial army can still maintain a certain level by relying on battlefield experience, the infantry of the Yser elves are pure recruits who have not experienced the baptism of war; even if the elves have an advantage over humans in hand-to-hand combat, head-on bayonet battles are still not based on The opponent of Clovis, who founded a country based on infantry.

After realizing that they were surrounded, the elven army continued to reorganize their defenses, and began to retreat continuously against the almost lifeless charge of the Clovis soldiers.

But the fort defenders who held their position didn't even have time to cheer. As the infantry retreated, the two fortresses of the Yser elves on the opposite side once again began to cover the temporary artillery forts of the Southern Legion.

"boom--!!!!"

The entire temporary fort was instantly engulfed in golden-red flames, and the bursting fire directly ignited the ammunition boxes on the position; the two twelve-pound infantry cannons that had been dragged up with great pains were blown up together with the surrounding sand. sky; the disintegrated gun carriage and gun mount crashed to the ground at a height of dozens of meters.

When the rumble of artillery gradually dissipated, the Clovis soldiers hiding in the position began to retreat one after another; while the infantry of the Ysel elves still had no intention of pursuing them and watched the enemy leave the battlefield.

The battle that lasted for most of the day came to an end with the retreat of both sides - and this small-scale battle was just one of countless battles in the past ten days.

Looking at the fort with only billowing smoke and ruins in the distance, the gloomy-looking Ludwig sighed heavily.

Facing Eagle Point City, which has difficult terrain and numerous peripheral defense networks, the Southern Legion, which lacks heavy firepower, doesn't actually have many good options; it can either do what it is doing now, or it can only mobilize the entire army to attack at the cost of high casualties. .

The Southern Army, with a total strength of just over 10,000, did not have the capital to do that; apart from waiting for the heavy artillery sent from the rear, all Ludwig could do was attack, continue to attack, and defeat them with a steady stream of attacks. The morale of the elven defenders.

The so-called siege war is a competition of confidence, patience, perseverance, morale and material consumption; whichever side takes the lead and cannot continue to maintain it will be inevitable failure waiting for it.

"General, the troops on the fort have been withdrawn and are being repaired in the camp." Lieutenant Colonel Roman walked slowly behind Ludwig and said calmly.

"What are the casualties?" Ludwig asked without turning around.

"Except for the destruction of two twelve-pound infantry cannons and the death of the artillerymen, there was almost nothing - the army and the ammunition boxes were far away when the fort exploded, and they were not affected. Only a few dozen people were slightly injured, that is... ..." The expressionless Lieutenant Colonel Roman paused:

"It's just that morale is a little low."

"...I know." A wry smile appeared on Ludwig's lips.

The battle that was originally thought to be able to capture the fortress in one go turned into a drawn-out tug-of-war. It would have been really weird if the morale had been high.

In order to build momentum for the invasion of the Iser Elf Kingdom, the Clovis royal family, nobles and army have been trumpeting how vulnerable the Iser Elf army is all year round - although it is true to a certain extent - the result is that the Kingdom From top to bottom, everyone is convinced that the Ysel elves are weak and timid, and believe that the enemy will flee as soon as the gunshots are fired.

Ludwig and the entire Southern Army are currently suffering the consequences of this trend. Even though the elves have been beaten to the point of cowering in fortresses and fortresses and do not dare to pursue them, it will still dampen the morale of the army.

"Let the soldiers have a good rest, and notify the troops on duty to prepare for battle. Next time, try to see if we can build artillery forts on two highlands in front of the opposite fortress at the same time, and try to succeed in at least one."

"yes!"

After receiving the order, Lieutenant Colonel Roman immediately turned around and left without any hesitation.

"Roman!"

Just as the lieutenant colonel was about to leave, Ludwig suddenly spoke.

"General?"

"You said Anson Bach and his three infantry regiments... where are they now?"

Faced with Ludwig's sudden question, Lieutenant Colonel Roman couldn't help but frown slightly:

"If we follow the original plan, Lieutenant Colonel Anson Bach and his army should have arrived near Eagle Point City by now, harassing the fortress while trying to contact us; but so far, we have not received any news about him. "

"In addition, with all due respect, the reason why our army has been making slow progress against the outer defensive positions of Eagle Point City is not only that the heavy artillery in the rear has not been in place, but also other factors; if Anson Bach hadn't privately stolen the three regiments' Grenadier equipment..."

"That's what I promised him." Ludwig, who chuckled lightly, interrupted Lieutenant Colonel Roman's "complaint":

"I understand that you have objections to him, but crossing the snow-capped mountains to harass the enemy's rear is not much easier than attacking from the front; in a sense, his task is even more difficult than ours, so we should give him a little concession."

As he spoke, Ludwig stood up and looked up at the towering morning peaks covered in ice and snow. In his eyes, he seemed to be able to see the figure of someone staggering through the foothills of the howling snowstorm.

"Even a frontal attack is so difficult. Anson Bach... the situation he faces now is probably more difficult than us, right?"