I will be crowned king

The moment Roman fired his gun into the sky, the young grenadier hiding in the trench immediately carried out the order and blew the bugle he was holding tightly in his hand with all his strength.

As the loud bugle sounded again, the southern legions holding on to the two flanks suddenly began to turn their guns and launch a fierce attack on the central position that had been occupied by the Yser elves!

I don’t know whether it was because of overconfidence or to ensure the smooth implementation of the sneak attack. The Ysel elves were really unable to quickly gather enough elites. They could only gather various miscellaneous troops to fill up the numbers, so that the stinky fish and rotten shrimps were too dense, and the entire army was overwhelmed. They all smell fishy.

It is often difficult to judge the combat effectiveness of an army, but whether they are well-trained enough, whether they can maintain morale in harsh environments and relatively unfavorable battles, and whether they can maintain the integrity of their organization while fighting... after receiving education , and in the eyes of experienced soldiers, these are all clear at a glance.

Therefore, just by observing the charge of the Ysel elves, Roman could judge that the main force of the enemy on the opposite side was almost all miscellaneous and new recruits who lacked training.

The only thing this kind of army can do is to rely on numerical superiority to overwhelmingly defeat the defense line in the first round of attack; once the attack is thwarted and forced to turn into a stalemate and defense, the organization will collapse like a cliff and it will be unable to effectively execute the orders. Units and command structures that are paralyzed as soon as the war begins will quickly put them into a dilemma of fighting independently or even collapsing themselves.

The factual result was basically in line with Roman's expectations - the reason why it was basic was because less than a quarter of an hour after the battle started, the Southern Army had not launched a counterattack, and the Ysel Elf organization had already collapsed.

Thousands of Yser elves rushed into the position like a tide. After being hit head-on on both wings, they immediately rushed into the central position and fought with the sparse grenadiers and guard companies; The absolute advantage in numbers - the number of elves - forced the Grenadier Regiment to retreat continuously, shrinking the defense line bit by bit.

Then? And then... well... that's the end of it.

There is no echelon offensive, no key attack direction, no segmentation and outflanking of the main firepower point, no fire cover at all... It's like a pile of sand pouring in, and you don't know what to do except attack, and Unleashed hyenas make no difference.

Maybe even worse.

After launching an outflanking offensive on the left and right positions, the Yser Elf Legion, which had been "powerful" just a second ago, immediately stopped the offensive momentum; instead of trying to fight back, the flank that was first hit did not try to fight back, but immediately began to scramble to escape.

These small number of broken troops began to attack the formations of other troops - if they still had formations - the trapped troops and the follow-up reinforcements collided with each other on the position shrouded in darkness and thick smoke, completely indistinguishable. Knowing each other, they subconsciously pointed their guns at friendly forces.

"boom--!!!!"

As a result, the attacking Yser Elf Army fell into complete chaos.

Of course, Roman could not let go of such a rare opportunity. The Southern Legion, which had previously been guarding the left and right flanks, began to join the battle one infantry company after another, walking along the ruins of the position and heading toward the chaotic Ysel elves. The army launched a penetration offensive.

In the center of the ruins that were shrouded in thick smoke and burning all over the place, soldiers from the two armies used bomb craters and corpses as bunkers to shoot at each other. They hid under the trenches and ruins of fortifications and outflanked them. They used bayonets and rifles in the thick smoke and firelight that made them invisible. Hand-to-hand combat with gun butts...

Screaming lead bullets shuttled wantonly among the smoke and exploding fireworks, and bursts of killing cries overwhelmed the miserable screams; flags rose and fell several times, and the battle lines saw each other repeatedly... Roman's "surrounding net" will... What was originally a position where huge waves collided with rocks turned into an extremely chaotic strangulation.

In the melee, despite the setback of the offensive, the morale of the Yser elves dropped off a cliff, and the command system went from paralysis to complete collapse. The recruits, who were severely lacking in training, could not withstand the large-scale and rhythmic alternating attacks of the Southern Legion...

However, they still had an absolute advantage in terms of military strength. However, the severely damaged Southern Army Corps was short of troops and did not dare to engage in full-scale combat unless it was a last resort.

So ten minutes after the melee began, the artillery of the Southern Corps finally opened fire.

Although it suffered an unexpected blow, I don't know whether it was lucky or unfortunate - although the legion's ammunition depot was not spared from the artillery fire, and even killed hundreds of people due to the explosion, most of the artillery escaped.

As for why...because the lazy baggage soldiers and artillerymen did not unload the artillery carriage from the baggage truck at all. During the transportation, it was scattered and piled together with other carriages outside the camp, leaving it to be exposed to the wind and sun...

As a result, when the soldiers of the guard company pulled the group of artillerymen who were afraid of death from the bunker, in addition to the artillery, they also found a basic number of artillery shells and propellant - which they had hidden secretly and prepared to resell.

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

With the help of the pillar of fire raised by the Ysel Elf caster, the artillery of the Southern Legion, which was also "lit up the vision", began to counterattack the Ysel Elf that was pouring into the position.

The shrapnel that screamed horribly rose into the sky and was detonated above the heads of the dense Yser Elf attack sequence. Thousands of hot lead bullets poured down like a violent storm, accompanied by shrill screams, destroying everyone. The flesh and blood that was touched were torn into pieces.

Faced with the bombardment without warning, the follow-up offensive of the Yser Elf Legion was abruptly interrupted; seeing the compatriots in the front row blown into pieces was an immediate and very effective way to calm down the fanatical Yser Elf.

Soon, the tsunami's offensive was immediately slowed down, and the "overwhelming" Yser elves had to re-find the direction of attack, or turn around and run away, and then died under the guns of the soldiers supervising the battle in the back row.

But the slowdown of their offensive does not mean that the Southern Army will also "very wisely" stop the artillery. To some extent, it is even the opposite... After confirming that the artillery bombardment is effective in blocking the offensive, the Army has slightly restored its morale. The artillerymen fought harder.

As the second most highly used unit in the Southern Army, the direct artillery battalion has always enjoyed extremely high treatment under Ludwig; unless they are really at the end of their rope, they will not and dare not abandon the commander-in-chief and run away.

Roaring sounds that shook the air echoed one after another. The well-trained artillerymen were very well-trained in cleaning the hot and red gun barrels, trimming the gun emplacements that had been deflected by the recoil, and preparing fuzes, shells and propellants - Fifteen seconds later , golden-red flames spurted out from the dark muzzle again.

Under this almost crazy bombardment, a "blockade" of gunpowder smoke and flames formed between the southern legion's position and the main direction of the Yser Elf attack, cutting off the enemy's subsequent offensive.

And when the Yser elves caught in the melee in the central position lost reinforcements, their already rapidly declining morale collapsed even faster; a stalemate battle line gradually began to gain momentum under the red unicorn banner that was constantly being re-erected. An increasingly clear trend.

"Blow the trumpet!"

With his backhand, he smashed the head of the Iser Elf with the butt of his gun. Roman, whose face was covered in liquid and solid matter from the gushing out, ignored his embarrassment and roared at the young grenadier behind him with a ferocious expression.

"yes!"

The grenadier, who turned pale with fright, quickly picked up the bugle hanging on his chest and blew it with all his strength.

When the third loud bugle sounded on the battlefield, the Southern Army's counterattack finally began.

The soldiers of the Southern Legion, who were defeated and dispersed by the previous artillery fire from the Iser elves, and even the organization was on the verge of collapse, were like wild dogs that were let go of the reins, in the form of skirmishers - because it was really difficult and there was no need to regroup. The line was formed——launching an attack on the Yser elves in the central position.

When the last few thousand troops entered the battle, the Yiser Elf army, which was clearly in decline and had no reinforcements, began to be driven out of the position bit by bit; but behind them was no longer the road they came from, but the artillery of the Southern Legion. Fire coverage area.

Attacking is death, retreating is even more deadly... The increasingly desperate Yser elves showed their will to resist despite the dying, and launched rounds of counterattacks without fear of death, trying to open up the offensive line of the Southern Army. gap.

However, the collapse of the command system caused them to fight independently. They were easily seen through by the Southern Army who were reorganizing their offensive. They concentrated their superior forces to outflank and annihilate them, turning the Ysel elves' desperate counterattack into an active pursuit of death.

When the armies trying to break out were defeated one by one, the defeat of the Ysel Elf army began to become more obvious; even they themselves gradually fell into despair, knowing that it was only a matter of time before they were surrounded and annihilated.

But at this moment, Roman called a halt to the offensive - after the leading troops entered the battle, the troops that entered the battlefield began to form lines on the spot, defend on the spot, and re-dig trenches on the craters everywhere.

Some skirmishers began to expand their front lines to the periphery and set up observation posts; the supply troops and medical soldiers entered the position, cleaning the battlefield while treating the wounded and organizing clean-up work.

As for the remaining Ysel elves on the position, who were still engaged in the final battle between the trapped beasts, Roman seemed to have suddenly lost interest in them, hanging there; unless they tried to break out, the Southern Army did not even take the initiative. Signs of attack.

"Because it's not necessary."

Roman, who was covered in blood, was sitting on the edge of a trench, smoking a cigarette soaked in blood. The weak firelight illuminated his ferocious face, making the bewildered young grenadier too scared to speak:

"I said, it's not up to us how far the battle will go tonight; the Ysel elves... we will fight with them as long as they want; when they are defeated, that's when we break out."

Therefore...not only cannot we eliminate the Ysel elves on the battlefield, we even want them to continue to exist; as long as the position is still littered with missing teeth, the Ysel elves who can still see "hope" will not easily change the main direction of attack. , let alone attack and cover the position with artillery fire when our own troops are fighting.

The initial artillery fire coverage was indeed fierce, and the indiscriminate bombardment directly caused the collapse of at least three infantry regiments and lost their combat capabilities; but it also exposed how rubbish the opponent's artillery technology was. With guidance, vision, and pre-selected best Under the condition of the gun position, it is still impossible to carry out more precise strikes within the field of vision.

Like the Imperial Artillery, they can even let their line infantry launch a bayonet charge against the explosion point, leaving no room for the enemy to organize defense and counterattack. That kind of artillery fire is terrifying.

As for the Ysel elves who have received "technical training" from the empire... as long as there are strong defenses, you can even cover the enemy's artillery fire as a pre-war fireworks display.

This is called the gap.

If the ambush was against the elite troops of the Empire, Roman would not waste time like before; he would really follow Draco's instructions, take Ludwig and run away without even letting the commander-in-chief know what happened.

And now... he not only wants to keep Ludwig alive, but also wants to preserve the main force of the Southern Legion as much as possible to prevent Ludwig from having to rely on some shameless villains and his scum soldiers during the counterattack - yes, that's right. That's Anson Bach.

If it really comes to that, God knows what "reasonable" demands and conditions this guy can make; even if it's just a precaution, he can't let that happen.

"But what if the enemy has reinforcements?"

The young grenadier asked tremblingly: "Or...what if their artillery really doesn't care about the life and death of their own people and opens fire on the battlefield?"

"Then we will dig the trenches deeper and build the defense line denser; we will do our best to fight the enemy to the end." Roman said coldly:

"This is war. You never know how low the enemy is, how dirty and despicable they are; but it doesn't matter, because no matter how despicable or shameless the means are, they cannot be defeated in front of a determined army. Easy win.”

"If they dare to come, we will make them pay."

boom--!

The moment he finished speaking, there was a roar on the battlefield.

Roman, who was shocked, raised his head suddenly, his beast-like pupils suddenly shrank, and he immediately caught the firelight rising in the distance.

It was definitely not an explosion caused by artillery shells or grenades, because the flames they exploded definitely did not shoot straight into the sky and stood on the ground like a pillar of fire.

The pillar of fire spiraled into the sky, and the splashing golden-red fireworks set off bursts of shrill wails on the battlefield. From a distance, you could even see that the "pillar of fire" did not even stop, but was moving slowly.

Almost at the same time, horrifying screams rang out from the right wing position at the other end. Large swaths of blood mixed with residual limbs and flesh were flying in dense lines; the gushing blood turned into tentacles like living creatures. , twitchingly reaching out to the surrounding Southern Legion soldiers who were wailing and fleeing.

So Roman stood up slowly with a cigarette in his mouth, picked up the broken saber on the ground, which looked like the fangs of a ferocious beast, and gently patted the young grenadier's shoulder who was so frightened that he was confused:

"They're coming."