I will be crowned king

Although he disagreed with Claude Francois's plan ten thousand times, Archduke Aiden, who had been dragging him for a day, was still forced to lead the army under the constant urging of the other party.

In order to regain the summit tower fortress as soon as possible and achieve the strategic goal of cutting off enemy supplies and reinforcements, Claude transferred most of the cavalry from the border corps under Archduke Ayden, but gave all the artillery to the two border corps and the central garrison. At the same time, he added as many logistics vehicles as possible to the border regiments to speed up the advance of infantry and heavy weapons.

Under the common goal of "unifying the land and defeating the empire", the princes and nobles of the land finally temporarily forgot the fact that they were a feudal army, and explosively demonstrated that only a modern army has the resources and manpower deployment, and unprecedented Efficient.

Within one day, the 20,000-strong border army completed its transformation from a "field force" to a "siege force."

Even in order to ensure the success of the siege, the troops assigned to Grand Duke Ayden were mostly his most trusted Ayden people. At the same time, they also gave him part of the Hantu Army's already very tight artillery reserve - including Two twenty-four-pounder mortars and six twelve-pounder cannon, as well as a batch of very expensive explosive shells.

Such a small amount of equipment can at most arm an artillery company directly under the Clovis Infantry Division, which is not worth mentioning in the imperial army.

But for Hantu, this was almost a quarter of the heavy firepower they could muster immediately.

Of course, such a "intimate" subtext is to urge Grand Duke Aiden to set off as soon as possible and recapture the Summit Tower Fortress in the shortest possible time.

Therefore, even though it was clear that he was actually used as bait by Claude Francois to lure the Imperial Expeditionary Force, Archduke Ayden had to accept this task that seemed almost the same as sending him to his death.

Having said that, he didn't really intend to just "send his life obediently" - Grand Duke Aiden, who was also ambitious and longed for the throne of the vast earth, might as well have taken back the summit tower fortress and waited for Claude François. When faced with setbacks on the battlefield, the idea of ​​trying to turn the tide again.

With such an ambition to rebel, the reorganized Border Legion embarked on a journey to the summit tower, preparing to avenge their shame and recapture the west gate of the Hantu Kingdom.

After seeing off his old rival, Claude Francois officially began the second step of his plan - to do everything possible to force the Imperial Expeditionary Force to fight a decisive battle with him.

After the Mist Legion was completely wiped out and the Border Legion was sent to the Summit Tower Fortress, he was left with three legions of 60,000 people, including the reserve legion currently in charge of Carl Bain.

Claude, the cannon fodder of more than 20,000 people, was originally intended to be used as cannon fodder and human shield to fill the battle line, but the disastrous defeat of the Mist Army completely dispelled his idea.

It's not that I'm worried that they will collapse too quickly or suffer heavy casualties...if these scumbags break up and break up their own defense line while fleeing for their lives, it will be more of a loss than a gain.

After deducting 20,000 cannon fodder, Claude Francois only had more than 40,000 people on hand, which was almost twice the strength of the Imperial Expeditionary Force; the cavalry and artillery were basically the same, and the infantry was almost three to four times as strong as the Imperial Expeditionary Force. times.

If the summit tower fortress is not lost, these troops should be enough, but now...

"Just in case", Claude Francois decided to send a request for help to Anson Bach, asking him to lead the Storm Division and the coalition forces to join him as soon as possible - although he did not want to be defeated The Luowei people took away the glory of defeating the empire, but he also had to admit that the newly born Hantu was not enough to compare with these two powerful countries in the world.

As for whether the Imperial Expeditionary Force will really fight him head-on as he wishes, Claude Francois is not worried.

Since the Second Ecumenical Council in 47 A.D., despite the continuous advancement of weapon technology, the form of warfare has not changed much.

From the line infantry that replaced archers at the beginning to completely becoming the main body of the army, from the artillery that was originally only thought of when sieging cities to the artillery that claims to be able to "dominate the battlefield", and the king's cavalry from beginning to end, the projection and maneuverability are constantly strengthened The result of the army is that its reliance on logistics is gradually increasing.

And often the stronger the army, the more so.

The direct result is that small groups of troops may be able to "maneuver" in the true sense, while the established legion must move forward from supply point to supply point along the road, just like chess pieces on a chessboard.

This is especially obvious in the relatively barren and rugged Principality of Aiden; the Imperial Expeditionary Force, which has 20,000 soldiers and is equipped with a large number of artillery and cavalry, must abide by this rule of war, otherwise their cavalry and artillery will not be able to To exert its due combat power, it is not even as good as the same number of infantry.

Under this premise, unless the Imperial Expeditionary Force dares to abandon their proud cavalry and artillery, their marching route can actually be predicted.

Moreover, although Hantu lost the battle of the Mist Army, there were also advantages to losing - the empire that won the battle needed to clear the battlefield, collect prisoners and chase scattered deserters, and rectify and establish a more stable supply line.

Even if he had to overestimate as much as possible, Claude estimated that it would take at least two days...enough for the Hantu Army to complete the dispatch.

In order to ensure that his plan was foolproof, Claude Francois made two preparations.

If the expeditionary force rushes for reinforcements or returns to defend the Summit Tower Fortress, then Archduke Aiden's Border Legion will block their retreat, and he will lead the main force of the Hantu Legion to steadily press forward, and wait until Anson Bach arrives to join him. A complete siege.

And if they don't return to defense and choose to continue the attack, they will move in - yes, they will move in, not retreat - to the first generation of Huangshi Castle to hold back the expeditionary force's offensive and fight a defensive counterattack.

This is the only supply point in the surroundings, providing and preserving more than half of the logistics supply for Hantu's "three hundred thousand troops"; if the Imperial Expeditionary Force wants to defeat the Hantu Army, it must capture this place; conversely, as long as the Deserted Stone Castle is defended , even if they knew it was heavily guarded, the Imperial Expeditionary Force must launch an attack here.

No matter which one, he who controls the communication line has an absolute advantage. No matter how the Imperial Expeditionary Force moves around, they can't escape from his grasp.

Seeing that the battle situation was developing bit by bit in the direction he expected, Claude Francois became more and more confident.

Unfortunately, not everyone has the same confidence as him.

……………………

Port of Carindia, Lighthouse Palace.

Wearing a gray military coat and a military cap, Anson walked straight forward in the Storm Division barracks with a gloomy expression. The sentries who noticed that the deputy commander seemed to be in a good mood were all shocked. The standard military posture seemed to be arranged in an orderly manner on both sides of the road. flagpole.

Although the salary is generous, the requirements and training intensity of the Storm Division's soldiers are not inferior to those of the main force of the Southern Legion, and are even similar to those of the Clovis regular army.

After all, with Miss Sophia Franz as the major shareholder - of course, there are now two major shareholders - all the officers from Anson on down are genuine workers, and his "project manager" does not need to be like other recruits. Like the XPCC, they still have to argue with a group of "small shareholders" and pass the buck.

In addition to considering the profits of investors and the welfare of "employees", Anson, the "Deputy Commander of the Recruitment Corps", is actually no different from a serious infantry division commander.

To put it more bluntly, as long as he does not rebel or openly disobey the orders of the Army and the Privy Council, Anson can basically speak the truth within the Storm Division by relying on the authority established in all the battles from Eagle Point City to the present.

As for the outside... Unless the Army replaces its entire command headquarters, it will just send an additional deputy or the like. Anson is also confident enough to turn the other party into a decoration, or simply turn the other party into one of his own.

After knocking on Fabian's door, the commander of the Grenadier Regiment, who was processing documents, immediately stopped what he was doing and looked at the deputy commander calmly.

"Notify all Storm Division officers, the entire army is assembled and ready to go, immediately!"

Without waiting for the other party to take the rum bottle off the bookshelf, Anson, without any courtesy, gave the order directly.

"Immediately?" Fabian suddenly frowned and almost dropped the bottle to the ground in shock.

"Yes, let's go now, we won't wait any longer!" Anson said with a solemn expression:

"The Imperial Expeditionary Force did not defend the fortress. They took the initiative and annihilated the Mist Army in two hours... The battle has changed from a city defense battle to a battle in the wild. There is no point in waiting except to waste time. "

"In addition, Claude Francois has also sent a letter asking for help. He hopes that we can provide reinforcements as soon as possible - with this letter here, there is no need to worry about what to do if Ludwig comes to visit."

"So just in case, are you going to leave now?" Fabian immediately guessed what Anson meant.

"The sooner the better, otherwise it may be too late."

Anson nodded, acquiescing to Fabian's guess: "Claude François plans to block the Imperial Expeditionary Force near the Wild Stone Castle and engage in a siege; now both sides have gone crazy and want to take the initiative. Attack, no matter who wins or loses, this Hantu war will not last much longer.”

To be honest, he had never thought that the empire would choose to take the initiative to attack, but the possibility of this was really too low. After all, without the crucial maneuverability of the fleet, ordinary commanders would choose more cautious tactics and wait until After opening up the situation, consider whether to take the risk.

But now... he can only say that the opponent is probably like Claude, who wants to win crazy and would rather take risks than give it a go and tear apart Hantu's "three hundred thousand army" from the front.

Of course, it is not impossible to do it with the strength of the empire - the Mist Army is the best example, and it was completely wiped out in one attack; the imperial army, which has been repeatedly frustrated on the Clovis border, can only Underestimating the enemy, to the ordinary Hantu army, they are heavenly soldiers and generals who reduce the dimensionality and attack.

On the contrary, it was Claude Francois... Anson really didn't know where he got the confidence. Facing the Imperial Expeditionary Force who took the initiative, he still dared to divide his troops on multiple fronts even after losing one-fifth of his combat effectiveness. Fight, and even confidently want to have a decisive battle with the expeditionary force in the Deserted Stone Castle?

Anson really wanted to ask him now, what if the empire just didn't want to fight him head-on, but turned around and attacked his supply line?

Carl Bain, who is responsible for protecting the supply line, only has a reserve army with a mysterious combat effectiveness. Considering the past experience of the Mist Army being wiped out in less than five hours, Anson does not think that his most trusted chief of staff can surpass Play to your level and lead a bunch of cannon fodder to defeat the Imperial Expeditionary Force...

Well, thank God he came back alive Anson.

"The troops will be assembled before dinner today, and the coalition soldiers will probably be ready until noon tomorrow. Mainly because many companies are still on patrol in the city."

After confirming that Anson had made up his mind, Fabian stopped persuading and began to think about how to complete his mission: "His Excellency Lenore Emmanuel and the Carindia nobles will also inform them, Would you like to hand over the city's public security management?"

"No need...they are not blind. Just let us know when we set out tomorrow." Anson waved his hand and said indifferently:

"Anyway, the reconstruction work of Carindia Port has begun to get on the right track. If we delay it any longer, they will only become more and more impatient with us. We might as well take this opportunity to get out as soon as possible."

Fabian also fully agreed with this: "The so-called gratitude is nothing more than the expectation of the benefits that are about to come. Now that Carindia Port has received all the assistance, even if it is for the sake of face, they will not treat us anymore. Showing more kindness.”

Of course, the more important thing is that neither of them wants to take on the subsequent reconstruction work of Carindia Port, which will only lead to endless wrangling and trouble. The Storm Division is not here to be the savior; even if it is, with Carindia's left and right sides It’s hard to expect the other party to appreciate you because of the “traditional” dance.

So it would be more cost-effective to take advantage of the "honeymoon period" when both parties are still in the "honeymoon period" to find ways to search for needed things and rush to the Western Front battlefield as soon as possible... This is almost the common idea of ​​the two.

"But there is a small problem here, that is supplies." Fabian suddenly said:

"His Excellency Alan Dawn, the junior secretary, once told me that the road leading to the Principality of Aiden is already fully used to transport supplies for the Hantu army, and there is no room for more transportation routes and baggage vehicles to build another supply line for us. … We have to find another way.”

Find another way? Anson raised his eyebrows:

"What's the meaning?"

"Nothing, I just want to know something from you." A smile suddenly appeared on Fabian's face:

"Deputy Commander Anson Bach, please..."

"Are you seasick?"