I will be crowned king

Compared to the battlefield on the Western Front where flesh and blood are flying and artillery fire roaring, the northern side of the empire's siege position is immersed in eerie silence at this moment.

The soldiers held cigarettes and propellants in their mouths, and slowly and slowly deployed defensive formations along the fortifications according to the routine and instructions. The officers who were always accustomed to swearing orders in the past were rarely "mellow" and did not rush these. They were obviously coping. subordinates - because from top to bottom, no one feels that they need to "defend" anyone.

Just a few minutes ago, Sir Sado sent an infantry regiment to attack the defense line on the north side of Black Reef Port. The advance army occupying the gap in the position was still fighting to the death with more than 2,000 vassal soldiers...

Even if the Clovis people kill all the vassal troops, the first thing to do should be to rush to the aid of Black Reef Port or continue to hold the position. Why is there any need to deal with these fishy...reserves left behind?

But this silence did not last long.

"There's a situation!"

Accompanied by gunshots and shouts of kill rang out from the gunpowder smoke, an Imperial knight with keen hearing suddenly turned his head and nervously shouted behind him: "Everyone is on alert!"

Rapid drumbeats played, and a fully-equipped private company quickly assembled behind the knight, forming a compact four-row line. The front row knelt on one knee, and five people were separated from each wing to form a "hedge shooting" team to deal with sudden attacks. Skirmishers appear for a surprise attack.

Although it has always been ridiculed by the Clovis people as "rigid" and "rigid", in fact, the empire's infantry training is not really without progress. It also develops in response to the Clovis wide line, column assault and skirmish line raids. Various response tactics were developed.

It's just that in the grand scene of strong cavalry and artillery fire, this little improvement has no sense of existence at all. Even the empire itself doesn't pay much attention to this aspect of training.

The surrounding smoke blocked their vision, and the tight formation seemed to be a raised rock in this sea of ​​smoke; as long as the waves were larger, they could be engulfed and beaten into scattered red foam.

The gunshots and shouts of death were getting closer and faster; the Imperial knight standing in front of the line held his right hand on the handle of the knife at his waist, and the temples under his helmet were hopping, stimulating his nerves.

"Prepare--"

Under the tense orders, the line soldiers hurriedly raised their weapons and aimed at the smoke on the front and sides. "Boom! Boom!" Their beating hearts urged them to complete the steps of loading and aiming as quickly as possible.

Suppressing his increasingly rapid breathing, the Imperial Knight pulled out his saber with a "Clang!" sound. The sharp blade stood upright in front of his eyes, just stuck in the position between his eyes, motionless.

Suddenly, a dazzling reflection flashed in front of him.

Without hesitation, the moment the blade fell, the knight with a distorted face roared with all his strength:

"Fire!"

A thunderous volley of gunfire exploded behind him, and the golden-red gun flames were extremely dazzling in the sea of ​​smoke, just like the sudden brightness of street lights under the night sky, attracting the surrounding darkness.

With the help of the firelight, the knight realized what a fatal mistake he had made - hundreds of figures tore through the layers of smoke, like a pack of wolves discovering prey, and attacked them from the flanks.

Without any warning and without any effective resistance, the advance army broke through the "peripheral defense line" composed of broken vassal armies, and ran directly into the face of Sir Sado's reserve force.

In order to ensure maximum "concealment", Anson even ordered all soldiers except the guard company not to fire, and they were only allowed to use bayonets to respond to the enemy before the official battle... Attack the defensive position with a complete defense system and firepower network. Once exposed, The end result was that they were repeatedly ravaged by countless intersecting firepower points, until dozens, hundreds, or even more corpses were thrown into the trench.

It turns out that he really thought too much.

The reserve team left behind did not consider the possibility of being "attacked" at all. Many soldiers did not load ammunition until they heard the gunshots from the front row while the officers yelled and cursed. After completing the steps, they discovered that there were two rounds in the barrel. Buckshot.

When they finally raised their guns to fight back, a dozen skirmishers had already moved along the trench to the side. Several rounds of shooting and bayonet attacks defeated these lines that had not really expanded yet.

Although the officers of the empire finally realized that they had been attacked and began to deploy defenses, the entire position was already a mess and orders could not be conveyed at all - the entire position was almost penetrated by Lisa's guards!

More than two hundred soldiers from the Guard Company came up like a steam train, and the sound of the whistle sounded like the call of death; they sniped with Bolny rifles, opened roads with grenades, sealed the points with smoke grenades, and swept with shotguns. The revolver covers the close flank and rear...

Facing a firepower system that was more complex than that of an ordinary grenadier regiment, and a guard company that could be called a "miniature army" with at least three weapons per person, the imperial soldiers who were caught off guard had no room for counterattack.

Of course, this kind of army is the only one in the Storm Division - the training standards are in line with Company Commander Lisa Bach. Every encounter is a "performance appraisal", and those who are not fast enough or whose reactions cannot keep up will be judged. Those who are not lucky enough will be eliminated actively or passively.

While the guard company was crushing them head-on, the follow-up troops began to attack in all directions, completely annihilating or driving the defeated troops from the battlefield, destroying defense facilities and logistics everywhere, and preventing the enemy from coming back.

"Continue the attack!"

After kicking down the corpse whose head he had blown off, Anson ran wildly and shouted at the people around him: "Don't waste time here, where is your company commander?! Go find your company commander, assemble as soon as possible, charge, keep charging!" "

"Don't stop, our target is the enemy's headquarters!"

Looking at the back of the commander-in-chief waving the Clovis flag and knocking down enemies one after another, the soldiers of the advance army who had been instinctively clearing the battlefield just now had their eyes red instantly, and they followed closely behind them with howling at right angles after gathering at the speed of light.

The advance army's surprise attack has the advantage of being the first mover, and cannot really crush the imperial army. Therefore, once it starts, it must not stop, let alone turn back midway, otherwise it will be easily outflanked by the superior force on the opposite side. Or become the target of wanton hunting by cavalry.

Only non-stop attacks can create pressure on the enemy, forcing them to decide whether to continue attacking Black Reef Port or turn their attention to the advance army.

Either give up the siege, or wait for the headquarters to be overrun... Bernard may not lose money, but Anson will gain blood in either case.

So under the dark smoke, the Imperial line soldiers stared with frightened eyes, looking at the gun flames and bayonets rushing towards them like a pack of wolves; along with them, there was the simple and easy-to-understand bloodthirsty killing sound:

"Ugh wow wow wow wow wow wow...!!!"

……………………

"Prepare to retreat."

Looking at the messy defensive position in front of him, Sir Sado calmly issued orders to the surrounding officers.

"retreat?!"

"It's 'preparing' to retreat...pay attention to the full meaning of my words." Sir Sado glanced at the officer who interrupted him, who shivered and shrank his neck:

"The reserve team is hopeless. This is the last effective force on our entire northern front. Losing them means that the flanks of the main attack position have been completely exposed. Unless something happens immediately that can reverse the situation, otherwise this black war will be over. We have lost the siege of Reef Harbor.”

"But we have already sent an infantry regiment to attack the defense line on the north side of Black Reef Port, and Lord Bernard's main attack on the west side is almost making progress!" The officer expressed his confusion:

"If we retreat at this time, wouldn't we sell them to the Clovis people?!"

"This is what I call a 'turnaround' situation."

Sir Sado remained calm: "The news came from the battlefield on the Western Front. The Clovis people gave up their original defense line and built multiple positions on the reverse slope behind it. Since they can think of arranging it on the west side, why the north side? impossible?"

"A regiment, or even a battalion, with a considerable number of artillery, they can easily intercept the infantry regiment we sent to test it; as for Lord Bernard... Do you think that if the flank is attacked, he will persist in the attack given his character? City?"

With the cautious and cautious character of Bernard Molwes? Absolutely impossible.

This is not the voice of one person, but the common sentiment of all officers.

If he hadn't been cautious enough, he would never have waited until he was completely out of options before attacking Gray Pigeon Castle, and delayed the siege of Black Reef Port until May; he wanted to please the army, but he didn't dare to offend the local forces too much... He would not bother to the absolute He was so foolproof that he didn't even dare to settle in Yangfan City easily, for fear of being shot to death by thugs and following in the footsteps of his predecessor.

Therefore, the turning point of the battle lies in whether they can successfully seize the defense line on the north side of Black Reef Port in a sneak attack.

Thinking of this, the officers present raised their heads one after another and looked in the same direction in tacit agreement, as if they were looking forward to something.

Then, they finally saw it...

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

The huge golden-red fireball bloomed grandly on the rolling hills, and it was still dazzling even on the smoke-filled battlefield.

The stunned officers froze on the spot, looking at each other in shock.

Sir Sado sighed softly, with a bit of disappointment in his sharp eyes.

He originally had high hopes for this infantry regiment. He didn't even need to actually break through the Black Reef Port defense line. As long as he could effectively threaten the enemy's flanks, half of the siege was won, but now...

"Prepare to retreat." Sir Sado said again:

"Try to gather your troops as much as possible, throw away all unnecessary baggage and leave the battlefield as quickly as possible... I will lead the cuirassiers to cut off your rear, but it will only be fifteen minutes. If you haven't retreated by then, just pray for the protection of the Ring of Order. .”

Pray for the Circle of Order to delay the Clovis reinforcements for a little longer...he secretly thought in his heart.

………………………

Not only the imperial army on the north side, Alexey, who was struggling under the successive waves of the empire's offensive, and the officers of the Black Reef Port militia were also shocked to see being bombarded to pieces by the empire. The north side fort suddenly lit up with fire, and the entire defense line was reduced to scorched earth, leaving nothing behind.

When the smoke from the explosion dissipated, countless shrill screams came from the ruins. Hundreds of imperial soldiers in blue and white uniforms fled around the position. Their weapons, including the fleur-de-lis flag, were thrown to the ground. He was chased and killed by the engineers who gathered nearby.

Even from a considerable distance, they could feel how tragic the scene was and hear the screams like killing pigs.

This...what happened?

Fifteen minutes later, Alexey finally got a rough idea of ​​what happened from the triumphant tone of a "violent engineer" who wielded a blood-stained shovel and claimed to have chopped off the heads of three imperial soldiers:

The imperial army outside the city sent an infantry regiment to attack the ruins of the fort. Councilor Pushwood, who heard the gunshots, ran away decisively and threw several cannons and four thousand engineers that had just been dug out of the ruins on the spot.

The engineers were obviously panicked. They wanted to run but couldn't move a few heavy cannons - Pushwood escaped by carriage - so a few engineers with miner backgrounds came up with an idea and stuffed all the gunpowder left in the dug hole. Into the barrel.

But before they could take action, the Imperial Line soldiers had already attacked. Facing the enemy's artillery, these soldiers took out nails and hammers according to their old habits, and nailed the cannon blocks to prevent the defenders from continuing to rely on them to threaten the peace. The flank of the rebel army.

"And then...bang!"

The engineer made an exaggerated explosive gesture with his hands, and sprayed Alexei's face with a slightly forceful tone of voice: "One hundred... no! There are at least two hundred imperial people, and they flew directly!"

Very good, which means that the flanks are completely safe, and there is no need to worry about being attacked by the empire any more, and the commander-in-chief of the surprise attack has also attracted most of the enemy's attention - in other words, the time for his counterattack has arrived!

As the commander-in-chief of the advance army, sound the clarion call for the official counterattack at Black Reef Port!

After wiping the saliva, dirt, and plasma from his face, Alexey thought a little excitedly; he took a deep breath, held the shoulders of the panting adjutant, walked out of the trench with dignity, and looked down at the people who were still gathering around him. The soldiers around him.

"The Stormtroopers, as well as the soldiers of the Free Confederacy, are pressed for time and cannot give you a long speech!"

He drew his saber and shouted loudly like Anson did during the counterattack at Carindia Port: "The imperial attack is over, now it's our turn to attack!"

"Pick up your weapons, rush forward with me, and drive away every imperialist who invades your homeland..."

"Captain!"

Before Alexei could finish his speech, the adjutant suddenly shouted and pointed to the position not far away in shock: "Look, the Imperials are trying to escape!"

"Nonsense! Once we launch a counterattack and cooperate with the cross-fire blockade, can they still... huh?!"

Alexey, who finally realized something was wrong, stopped speaking abruptly. He didn't have time to reprimand the adjutant and quickly looked in the direction he was pointing, his eyes widening:

"Run?!"

"Why now...why do you have to run now!"