I will be crowned king

In an instant, the two people who were shocked and the entire company raised their heads at the same time, staring at the night sky above them with wide eyes.

Under the night shrouded by dark clouds, dozens or hundreds of "meteors" trailed long tail flames, streaking across the extremely dim dome, like golden-red waterfalls falling from the sky, blooming at the end of the horizon. Countless fireworks.

Countless dazzling lights and gorgeous pillars of fire appeared in everyone's field of vision, and the Black Reef Port, which had been sleeping in a deep sleep, was awakened; all the gunshots, cannons, explosions, arson... Under this scene, one after another, Eclipsed.

"Oh my God……"

Marcus murmured in a low voice, with a bit of trembling in his voice. Even the question asked by the deputy company commander just now was forgotten by him. An idea that was originally difficult to determine resurfaced in his mind. :

"The Empire...are they really planning to attack the city overnight?!"

It's not that he has any doubts about the overall quality of the imperial army, but that the opponent's previous behavior does not seem to be prepared for a night show: even if the opponent's commander wants to fight in a hurry, how much physical strength can a soldier who has been tired for a day have? ?

And if it was prepared...that means that the other party already knew that the advance army would come, already knew that their last round of attack would be defeated, and already knew that there would be an accident tonight, so they planned to launch the attack at this time?

Marcus didn't know, but he believed that if Chief of Staff Carl Bain came up with such a plan like the "Great Prophet" at a military meeting, even the commander-in-chief, who is always very imaginative, would most likely not be able to accept it. .

"The impact point is very concentrated, it should not be a random covering of shelling."

The deputy company commander took out a monocular from his pocket and observed the orange-red "fire wall" rising at the end of the horizon and the smoke rising into the sky:

"If we don't know the specific location, the mortar can't hit it so accurately... I probably have found the coordinates when we breached the city during the day, and set up a temporary fort at a very close distance."

Marcos glanced at the deputy company commander - this son-in-law was a ranger for a country manor before joining the army. It is said that not only can he train falcons, but he also knows a little bit about artillery; unfortunately, artillery belongs to the Kingdom of Clovis. It is an absolutely technical branch. Without academic qualifications, you are not even qualified to be an ammunition hand.

"Can you determine the approximate location of the explosion point?"

Before he finished speaking, he saw the extremely ugly expression of the deputy company commander, and raised his eyebrows in surprise: "What's wrong?"

"No, it's nothing! I...I'm not sure, but it seems like..." The deputy company commander, who had been normal just now, suddenly stuttered:

"It seems to be a port—and that's where the warships are anchored."

"Um?!"

Marcus' eyes widened, he looked at the fire in the distance, and wiped it with his sleeve in disbelief:

"you sure?!"

"I……"

The deputy company commander opened his mouth, but no sound came out.

But he soon didn't have to be sure of anything anymore - just when the two were struggling with what the imperial army outside the city wanted to do, the second round of shelling came as scheduled, and bright red bullet marks once again pierced the night sky.

The two people were stunned and looked at the fireworks descending from the dome, their mouths wide open.

But this is not the last, there is a second round, a third round, a fourth round... the screams that tear through the air resound through the dome and shake the earth.

Endlessly.

……………………

Just as Marcos and the others, disguised as "locals", were completely dumbfounded, the real defenders of Black Reef Port fell into a hell of iron and fire under sudden artillery fire.

Cannonballs fell in the air one after another, directly covering the entire Black Reef Port. Huge fireballs rose on the ground one after another, and the air waves of the explosions ravaged the surrounding buildings and facilities.

Because it is a port city, Black Reef Port’s first consideration at the beginning of its construction must be to withstand wind and waves, at least to minimize losses. I never thought that one day it would be "lucky" to be covered by large-scale artillery fire... quite a lot. The house disintegrated the moment the shell hit the ground, and thick smoke rose into the sky with the fire.

As for the four three-masted sailing ships that were targeted, they received "key attention" from the imperial artillery. The cannonballs were fired almost regardless of the cost, and they would rather smash into the sea to cover them in all directions; The warships moored in the port were completely reduced to fixed targets, burning in the boiling water.

If it is a normal situation, a warship facing a shore artillery attack should immediately weigh anchor, use maneuverability to escape from the shore artillery range, try to fire back from the opponent's blind spot, or simply retreat.

The problem is that there is not even a single person on the four battleships, not to mention sailors... So when the defenders of Black Reef Port finally arrived, what they saw was not the battleships, but four huge torches.

The flames that shot straight into the sky, "blessed" by the mainmast, reached an astonishing height of nearly twenty meters, and were unparalleledly dazzling on the dark sea.

When the "negotiations failed" Black Reef Port defenders carried a large amount of supplies and prepared to storm and seize the four "Torches", they happened to catch up with the first round of shelling - before they could reach the port, a huge fireball hit them There was an explosion in front of my eyes, and the hot air wave was mixed with countless gravel and rubble, pouring straight into the crowded streets and alleys...

The roar that shook the earth and countless terrified screams came. Looking at the bombed baggage trains and billowing smoke, the militia leader who led the team thought that he had been discovered by the Clovis on the battleship and was heading towards them. Fired, and immediately ordered to hide in place.

Then... they were surprised to see cannonballs falling from the sky.

Under the cannon flames as bright as day, the continuous roar hit their hearts like a hammer. Unprepared, they were horrified to find that the surroundings were full of fireworks, and the entire port was exploding everywhere, turning themselves into ants on a hot pot. ——Literally.

Everyone was screaming, everyone was running away, crying in panic, throwing away their weapons in despair, and retreating in a chaotic direction towards the parliament... The defenders of Black Reef Port were completely out of control.

The problem is that they are not moving lightly, but they are carrying a lot of baggage and preparing to seize the ship and escape.

The baggage trains connected behind and behind blocked the retreat, but the cannonballs above their heads were still falling continuously... With the continuous exploding firelight, the defeated soldiers were swallowed up in pieces by the firelight, torn apart by the cannonballs, and knocked away by the air waves. .

The imperial army lasted for more than ten days, and all the artillery bombardments on Black Reef Port were added up, and the casualties caused were not as good as now; the defenders of Black Reef Port had no way to hide, and the number of casualties was rising rapidly almost every minute and second.

"Hit me! Let me go and hit you until you have enough!"

Looking at the gorgeous flames slowly rising in the harbor of Black Reef Harbor, Bernard Morweis showed a rare cheerful smile, and his ferocious and twisted appearance even chilled the hearts of the surrounding officers.

It's been a long time since I've experienced such a joyful battle of crushing the enemy and pouring out artillery fire!

Due to the special terrain of Black Reef Port, the greatest advantage of the imperial army - artillery and cavalry - has completely lost its meaning. After all, in siege warfare, and the opponent's defense line is built on hills, it is simply impossible for the cavalry to launch an elevation charge. target.

You must know that those who can join the army and serve as cavalry in the empire, even if they are not nobles, are manor owners or rich farmers from well-off families; even if Bernard is willing to give the order, they may not be willing to die.

The same goes for artillery... Facing complete fortifications with terrain bonuses, covering artillery fire can't cause much damage except for being huge; even if it can really force the enemy to surrender, the shells fired will definitely be An astronomical figure.

In addition, this is a new world, a new world with almost zero manufacturing and military industries. All vital weapons and equipment need to be provided locally; even if the entire Black Reef Port is packaged and sold, it cannot afford a fraction of the cost.

Therefore, whether it was to counter the rebellion in Sailing City or to seize the Gray Pigeon Castle, Bernard showed great restraint and tried his best to avoid the need to use artillery fire. He basically only used it as a means to frighten the enemy, and it was indeed very effective.

But this time, in order to eliminate some enemies that he particularly hated, he finally stopped being "stingy" - he gathered all the artillery fire and covered the port of Black Reef Harbor with artillery fire for fifteen minutes until four warships were sunk.

He wants to completely destroy the entire Black Reef Port's last hope of escape, so that no one in the city's vanguard and the self-proclaimed "liberal" traitors can escape from this city that is heavily besieged by him. They will die in the chaos tonight. perish together!

In this way, he didn't have to send out a single soldier - except for the cavalry responsible for causing chaos - he only used a few tons of artillery shells to let them kill each other... The Black Reef Port, which eventually fell into chaos, would actively ask for its own occupation. Maintain order in the city.

"But wouldn't such a large-scale bombardment be too wasteful?"

Looking at the smoke-covered sponge in the distance, the herald said worriedly: "I know you must have already had a plan, but...tonight's bombardment alone has already wiped out nearly a quarter of our reserves. .”

"What if the traitors from Beluga Port and Bang...colony really gather their troops and rush to rescue Black Reef Port - and the reinforcement outpost has already arrived!"

"Indeed...if the enemy really gathers a large number of troops and marches towards Black Reef Port immediately, with our current logistics situation, there seems to be no other better option except retreat."

Of course, Bernard was also very aware of the herald's worries, and this was also his biggest headache.

In the past, when he served as chief of general staff, all he had to do was sort out the information collected and formulate combat plans; the latter sat in the rear and maintained stability at the base camp for the commander.

Now that he has become the colonial minister personally conferred by His Majesty, he seems to be in control of the military and political affairs, but in fact he is just a puppet who is pushed out to take the blame. No one but trash dares to act rashly, and no one can offend anyone but himself.

Under such circumstances, the logistics of the army under his command is basically an empty shell. How much supplies ordinary soldiers can receive depends mainly on the energy of their immediate commanders, and secondarily on whether the wealthy businessmen who resell military supplies have any leftovers or Unsellable.

Of course, the colonial minister had nothing to say in this regard, because he himself was also a member of a military reselling gang - not entirely because of greed for money, but because he seriously suspected that the commander of the previous counter-rebellion army died tragically unexpectedly, and it was very likely that It has nothing to do with his unwillingness to go along with the trend.

In such an environment of "mutual prosperity", the imperial army besieging Black Reef Port could still rely on looting and looting to maintain food and clothing at first. Recently, it has become more and more like livestock: anything that grows from the land around the position , basically all of them have been brutally murdered.

"But...will the Clovis really come to support Black Reef Port?" Bernard sneered:

"Once Black Reef Port falls, and as a result of the traitors' efforts to clear the country, there will be almost no place in the entire colony that can provide supplies except this city."

"You must know that this is a new world. If they want to maintain the supplies of thousands or even tens of thousands of troops, it is impossible to rely on rear-line transportation alone, and the cost is ridiculously high - unless they want to watch hundreds of thousands of soldiers They will freeze to death, starve to death, or die of illness in the wilderness...otherwise we will never rescue the Black Reef Port that is about to fall!"

"As for the so-called advance army, they are probably the abandoned ones thrown out by Anson Bach. Their purpose is nothing more than to let Black Reef Port hold on for a little longer and buy time for the defense line he built around Red Hand Bay."

"But he would never have imagined that the abandoned son he sent to 'rescue' Black Reef Port would become the key to the fall of the entire city!"

Bernard was so proud now that he even had the illusion that Anson Bach was kneeling in front of him and admitting that he was ashamed of himself.

The herald on the side looked at the high-spirited look of the minister in charge, and silently swallowed the words "If the advance army had not appeared, the Black Reef Port might have been captured during the day."

With the indiscriminate bombardment of the artillery positions, the port of Black Reef Port was completely transformed into a sea of ​​fire, turning the already chaotic Black Reef Port into a burning city.

At the port, the only defenders in the city were all perished in the flames. Along with them were piles of supplies. The movable and immovable property certificates of the MPs and officers' homes were destroyed in the raging fire.

In residential areas and the city center, the advance troops who were stunned by the artillery fire were still gathering rapidly; on the one hand, they wanted to control the parliament, and on the other hand, they also wanted to minimize the impact of chaos on the city.

On the outskirts of the town, the Imperial cavalry, disguised as the Black Reef Port militia, continued to advance towards the Parliament, while constantly causing chaos in the surroundings and delaying the advance army's assembly - trying to take control of the Parliament before the Storm Division.

Bernard Morweis didn't care about any of this. He only cared about the movements of a group of people who were sticking to the defense line at Black Reef Harbor - that is, the main force of the militia.

At ten thirty...fifteen minutes after the bombardment ended, nearly a thousand militiamen stationed on the right defense line blew the rally call and marched towards the chaotic city.

Almost at the same time, the defenders on all lines of defense began to gather troops to enter the town to suppress the commotion and encircle and suppress the legendary "Imperial Assassin".

The fall of Black Reef Port is approaching.