I will be crowned king

The bugle sound that resounded throughout the earth exploded from the position of the Guards Corps, and accompanied by a golden-red wave, it hit Eagle Point City from the rolling hills.

The Southern Legion, which was caught off guard, immediately sounded the alarm. The panic-stricken soldiers stuffed the uneaten bread into their mouths and picked up the rifles beside them. The sound of military boots as troops gathered and passed was everywhere on the position, mixed with the sound of officers. They urged and cursed anxiously.

No one expected that Iser would choose this time to launch another attack, and press it across the board!

At the top of the fortress tower, the stern-faced Ludwig could clearly overlook the entire battlefield with the help of a telescope; the offensive of the Guards Corps was divided into three parts, each consisting of almost six infantry regiments, attacking in sequence, like a A huge one-sided trapezoid.

The three columns advanced toward the southern legion defense line at a similar pace along the uneven road.

Looking at the golden red color that was about to cross the center line of the battlefield, Ludwig's heart sank and he pursed his lips tightly. The knuckles of both hands holding the monocular turned slightly white.

At four-fifty, the first to fire was Louis Bernard.

The rolling hills suddenly lit up in patches of fire, accompanied by a scream that tore through the air. Twelve-pound solid bullets hit the defensive position hard, and the deafening blast sound swayed in the ears of every soldier. ; The explosion exploded into a cloud of smoke nearly ten meters high, completely blocking the view of the defensive position.

Although slightly inferior to the Imperial Artillery, twelve days were enough for Louis Bernard to figure out the defensive layout of the Southern Army, plan the gun positions and coordinates for the artillery positions hidden on the highlands in advance, and attack the most critical ones from a high position. A fort provides cover for the army.

For the newly formed Guards Corps, being able to achieve this is already a very good achievement. Even many Clovis commanders are not as good as them. Once the gun positions are confirmed, they will not move and can only be used as a deterrent weapon. use.

But...that's not Ludwig Franz's style.

Looking at the vaguely flashing artillery position opposite, the expressionless commander of the Southern Army raised his right hand to the herald behind him who was waiting for orders.

"Boom!!!! Boom!!!! Boom!!!!"

With the roar of the defense artillery of Eagle Point City Fortress, the artillerymen of the Guards Corps had no time to cheer for the victory they had just achieved, when they received the "return gift" from the Southern Corps - four 48-pound mortars and eight 24-pounder mortars. The pounder cannons fired at the same time, and the hot solid bullets swooped towards them from a kilometer away under the gaze of a pair of horrified eyes.

The Yser artillery position, which was not considered strong, was instantly shrouded in smoke and fire. The peripheral fortifications, which were not considered strong, were directly blown into powder. The Elf artillery hiding behind them did not even have time to scream, and was destroyed by the air waves and fire. It was torn into pieces, and several light artillery pieces were blown directly into the sky.

Just when the remaining surviving artillerymen regarded all this as a coincidence, the sound of artillery was heard again from the direction of Eagle Point City. The second round of artillery struck, then the third round, and the fourth round... Black smoke billowed out from the roaring sparks. It rose from the ground, almost completely blocking the sun.

Ludwig gently put down his telescope, hoping to look towards the high ground shrouded in black smoke, his eyes faintly revealing a bit of complacency.

Perhaps Louis Bernard thought he had hidden the artillery position secretly enough, but in the eyes of Ludwig, a general born as an artillery colonel, there was no secret from the beginning.

The rugged terrain around Eagle Point City is destined to have only so many artillery positions that can pose a threat to the fortress. Unless the Guards Corps is armed with curved artillery and has high-quality artillery that can aim purely based on distance sensing, Louis Bell It was simply impossible for Na to place the artillery where he could not see it.

Therefore, as long as Ludwig determines the general position, and then waits for Louis Bernard's artillery to take the initiative to fire and expose himself, he can send all the enemies into the sky.

Even if Louis Bernard was cautious enough and prepared an iron-walled defense for the artillery position, the four forty-eight-pound mortars could still pose a fatal threat to him.

Sure enough, after Ludwig knocked out two artillery positions in a row, they realized that the artillery of the Guards Corps with large-caliber heavy artillery in Eagle Point City clearly felt threatened, and their firepower was much weaker than at the beginning.

Ludwig guessed that they were probably adjusting their gun positions, trying to move some of the artillery away from the threat range of the fortress, right?

In that case, don't blame me for being rude.

"Adjust the gun position, aim all artillery at the front of the position, prepare shrapnel!"

The right hand holding the handle of the knife at his waist turned slightly white. Ludwig, who was desperately trying to control his nervousness, ordered: "Aim the main fire at the front of the right wing of the position and suppress them!"

"yes--!!!!"

the soldiers replied in unison.

Ludwig, with a grim look on his face, turned his attention to the battlefield again. Under the cover of the initial artillery fire, the leading columns of the Guards Corps had spread out to the two wings to form horizontal formations. The soldiers of the Guards Corps were scattered in pieces cut by the terrain. Holding your head high and your chest high, you advance towards the artillery base on the defensive position amid the sound of artillery fire.

Taking advantage of the end of the round of shelling of the fort, several elf knights holding high the battle flag immediately issued an attack order; the elf line infantrymen holding rifles roared, raised their bayonets and launched a charge in rows.

The Clovis soldiers huddled in the position immediately fired back. Although the smoke on the position still did not dissipate, the golden and red uniforms of the Guards were as conspicuous as a living target. They did not even need to aim within fifty meters. .

Amidst the uniform gunfire, the "gold-red" in the front row fell almost instantly; all the artillery forts were built on high ground based on the terrain, and the elevation angle attack and the rugged terrain greatly slowed down their attack speed. , let alone avoid the oncoming lead bullets.

Rows of barrages swept over their heads, and the Ysel elves who kept exploding the blood mist screamed and fell to the ground. The dense formation made it impossible for them to hide, and the casualties were almost visible to the naked eye. Speed ​​expands.

But these eyes showed that the fanatical Yser elves were still indifferent to their fallen comrades, and even stepped directly on the bodies of the wounded soldiers, just to pass faster.

"These elves from Yser..."

A slightly older infantry commander who was guarding the forward position in the artillery base frowned and looked at the enemies who were already close at hand with a somewhat complicated look.

As an old man in the army, he is not unfamiliar with this look - the Clovis officers who experienced sectarian wars and pagan wars also had this look in their eyes, fanatical and fearless, as if death was just a matter of time. A process of life, not an end.

Now that the sects have merged, there are finally no more wars caused by religion in the world of order. To see this kind of look from the Ysel elves again is really hard not to feel sad.

Of course, it was just emotion... The elderly infantry leader stood up with his hands on his knees, looked around the fort, and pulled out his saber:

"Soldiers - bayonets fixed, ready - to receive! The enemy!"

"Long live Clovis——!!!"/"For the glory of Iser——!!!"

A hand-to-hand battle began.

The golden-red flood was divided into countless streams by the terrain, and then converged into a huge wave in front of the southern legion's defense line, mercilessly lapping at the rock-solid forts.

Compared with the previous "exploratory raid", all the soldiers of the Southern Legion could feel the pressure.

The two sides fought in front of a long and narrow trench and a towering artillery fort. An Iser elf jumped into the trench. As soon as he raised his weapon, he was stabbed through the lungs by the enemy in front of him. With a distorted face, he directly picked up the butt of the gun and directly Hitting the Clovis soldier in the face, the latter screamed and fell to the ground.

The excited Ysel Elf gasped in pain. Before he could find the next target, an elderly officer appeared behind the fallen soldier, holding a revolver aimed at himself in his right hand.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The Ysel Elf's cheek was smashed, bleeding profusely, and his body fell to the ground.

Roars and screams exploded everywhere on the battle line, accompanied by the sounds of gunshots and bayonet collisions; the Guards Corps, which was bombarded by rifle volleys and twelve-pound solid bullets, rushed forward like they were desperate, again and again. They were beaten back, leaving bodies scattered all over the place, and then came back again, and the cycle started over and over again.

As Iser's first column was fully engaged in the battle, the southern army holding its position had to begin to send troops to the front line; a large number of reserves braved Iser's artillery fire to gather towards the front line.

In the smoke and choking smoke, both sides sent more troops to the front line regardless of the cost, and repeatedly pulled in front of the trench that was only as high as the chest.

Although these temporary trenches are very crude and can only be used as defenses in small-scale battles. The protection of Eagle Point City is very limited, and there is nothing to regret if they are lost; but the Southern Legion on the forward position is still holding on desperately, A 300% morale they had never experienced before broke out.

The reason is also very simple, because there are really too many Guards Corps, and the Southern Corps really has no retreat; once the defense line connected by the trenches is broken through too quickly, the defensive positions with Eagle Point City and various artillery forts as the core will be destroyed. Being separated from each other directly affected whether they would retreat to Eagle Point City or be surrounded by artillery forts during their retreat.

Even if they were concerned about their own lives, they had to hold on until Ludwig ordered a retreat, or the Guards Corps pressed forward across the line and were completely unable to stop them before they could "calmly" collapse the entire army.

To the east of the battle line, the two columns continued to advance unhurriedly towards the defense fortress. Their high morale and composure - more accurately speaking, their numbers - put considerable pressure on the Southern Corps on the defense line.

At this moment, the fortress artillery of Eagle Point City opened fire again; this time the target was the center line of the battlefield, the separation point between the three columns.

Ludwig's purpose was very clear. He wanted to interrupt Louis Bernard's rhythm. With the Ysel Elf's desperate dispatch, nearly 10,000 troops were really allowed to press forward at the same time. It would be really difficult to mess up the defense line. Will collapse.

The soldiers of the Yser Elf Line who were marching together were surprised to see the sound of cannons rang out in Eagle Point City, and several black shadows cut through the sky and passed over their heads.

"boom--!!!!"

The shrapnel bursting in the air spewed out thousands of lead bullets, exploding around the unprotected Yser elves, covering them instantly; the torso torn apart by countless bullets was mixed with bullets that burst out of the barrel. The flesh and blood bloomed into dark red flowers amidst screams.

As if the fortress's artillery would never explode, it kept pouring out flames of death towards them, and the shrill screams could be clearly heard even in the explosion; hundreds of people who were alive a few minutes ago could be heard clearly. Life has now become a part of the muddy flesh and blood, no longer distinguishable from each other.

The Yser elves, who had nowhere to dodge, were still advancing forward at a constant speed. Even though they were suffering casualties every minute, the fanatical elf knights were still ordering their soldiers to maintain formation and attack in the direction of Eagle Point City.

Despite this, the offensive of the Guards Corps was disrupted by the shelling of Eagle Point City at all costs. Because of the continuous shelling and casualties, the officers had to spend more time gathering the scattered troops and maintaining the team. shape.

But Ludwig's attention was no longer here.

The sky was getting darker and darker. Ludwig, expressionless, took out his pocket watch and opened it with a "pop!" sound. The transparent dial showed that it was five-thirty.

The battle has been going on for nearly an hour, and Louis Bernard's nearly 10,000 troops have not yet been fully committed to the battle - the sun will set in another hour and a half at most.

He doesn't have much time left.

This sudden attack really caught him off guard. He never expected that he would launch a general attack in the evening, and it also coincided with the rest and dinner time of the Southern Army... It was powerful, but it was not enough.

Far from enough!

It is simply wishful thinking to defeat one's own defenses in such a short time; but since Louis Bernard can be so careful, he will not fail to understand this.

Therefore, his real purpose is not to defeat himself, but to take advantage of the time when he has no time to worry and go all out to hold most of the positions... to open a gap in places that he cannot take care of.

Um? !

Ludwig, whose pupils shrank suddenly, suddenly turned his gaze to the south.

Almost at the same time, an artillery position of the Guards Corps suddenly opened fire on the southernmost right-wing position of Eagle Point City.

"boom--!!!!"

Fierce artillery fire poured down on the artillery fort on the right flank, and even Ludwig at the top of the tower could clearly see the smoke and dust raised by the explosion; but what really attracted his attention was not the explosive spots, but the sudden drop from the sky. The golden red color gushed out from the back of a hill to the right of the fort.

They are like daggers hidden in the dark, piercing out from the shadows when the enemy least expects it!

This is Louis Bernard's plan - he attracts his main force from the front with great momentum, which is to try his best to open a gap in the defense line and at the same time flank Eagle Point City from the southeast.

"Sure enough, it's just as he guessed..."

Ludwig murmured quietly.