I will be crowned king

Chapter 817 The premise of negotiation is...

"To defeat Ludwig here, but also to force him to be willing to negotiate? I really don't know where you get the confidence..."

Facing Anson, who seemed to have a pearl of wisdom in his hand, Louis sighed and shook his head; now he is no longer the simple knight of Thunder Castle; although the enemy still has the intention to fight, caution and prudent thoughts occasionally will also gain the upper hand:

"You know, the only party that has been cut off and has nowhere to escape is us!"

"It is precisely because he cut off our retreat that Ludwig will attack boldly without thinking too much." Anson deliberately emphasized the word "rest assured":

"But since he wants to cut off his retreat, he can't just look at the direction of the grass forest and turn a blind eye. He must divide his troops to guard it - if we ambush a reinforcement force in Gray Pigeon Castle and launch an attack from the east, plus the defenders of Yangfan City, then It became like he was surrounded on three sides.”

"Then do we have reinforcements in the direction of Gray Pigeon Castle?" Louis asked worriedly.

This question made Anson laugh out loud: "Of course not!"

Louis Bernard: "..."

Anson is not completely ignorant of the caution and worries of the young knight; what he is doing now is almost bringing the entire army into a cage with dead ends on both sides, and the only exits are the grass forest to the east and the direction of Sailing City; This means that as long as Ludwig seals the Barren Grass Forest, he will have to face a decisive battle with the 20,000 troops of the Holy War Legion.

And in fact, Ludwig doesn't even need to attack from the front. As long as he defends on the spot, his side, which has been cut off from retreat, will probably have to take the initiative to launch an attack and have a "classic replay" of the previous tragic defeat in the Wild Grass Forest.

It's just that those defeated soldiers still had to escape, but this time the situation is impossible to retreat. If they are really defeated, they will almost only end up being wiped out, and the error tolerance rate is extremely low.

"But only in this way can we ensure that Ludwig will definitely take the bait; if it were a deserted forest, he would probably consider conquering Sailing City first, and then wait for an opportunity to eradicate us - the city is already close at hand, and with Ludwig Nozomi's character is definitely uh...it should be impossible to give up easily."

The corner of Anson's mouth twitched. He had made mistakes in judgment before, so he didn't dare to speak too absolutely now.

Alas, why are honest people always so scarce in this world?

"And if we send troops to the city, Ludwig will not be easily shaken, but he will probably ask for help from the fleet... We don't know exactly how much ammunition reserves Clovis's royal fleet has; but no matter how much, it will not matter to us. The threats they pose can be said to be fatal." Anson emphasized:

"The most important thing is that for us, this war has reached a critical moment of life and death, but what about Ludwig? This war has great consequences for him, as well as the Franz family behind him, the Kingdom of Clovis, and Osterli What does the Asian royal family mean?"

Louis Bernard suddenly looked solemn: "Are you really planning to negotiate with him?"

"You should at least give it a try. How can you know if it will work if you haven't tried it?" Anson shrugged, his eyes following the young knight's cheeks and shoulders, and looking at the horizon in the distance:

"War is the use of violence, attacks and killings between groups. It is the most extreme and last resort to resolve conflicts and disputes and achieve goals... It is composed of people, decided, planned, executed and ended by people."

"In this case, there must be a consensus that unites everyone. Even if this consensus is just an excuse or even a lie, it must exist; but people are individuals who can think independently and are not subject to absolute control; it means Dissent and factions are bound to exist in groups and organizations.”

"Confirming factions and looking for dissent can divide them and disintegrate them. Even if enemies have common interests, win-win cooperation may not be impossible; after all, war is just a means to resolve conflicts and achieve goals; conversely It is said that as long as the goal can be achieved, it doesn’t matter what means are used.”

Staring at the whitening horizon, Anson's eyes gradually became cold. Various plans kept emerging in his mind, and he quickly calculated the probability of each success and the possible consequences afterwards.

As time went by, his understanding of his "law of planning" became deeper and deeper, and he gradually discovered that his law probably belonged to a branch of the "law of time", but the connection with time was not that strong.

From the earliest days when you start to set a plan, countless prerequisites naturally come into your mind; to when you want to achieve a certain result, countless alternative plans will appear and include risk assessment; and now even the subsequent effects have begun to be accommodated. Within the scope of the "plan"...

Next, if you understand the law more deeply, can you just imagine a plan and complete certain conditions, so that something that is impossible can actually happen, or even become the consensus of everyone?

The magic that twists the laws, creates the laws, and finally creates the world...the potential is more powerful than imagined.

Louis on the side watched Anson quietly. He was silent for a moment as he hesitated to speak. Only when he saw the other person coming back to his senses did he speak:

"Be careful, your current expression and tone of voice are no longer like a human being; if this continues, maybe one day I will really have to take up arms and kill a monster with the same name as you. "

In response to his friend's reminder, Anson smiled casually at first, but then his expression suddenly became serious, and he nodded to Louis solemnly:

"Thank you, I'll pay attention."

Louis, who didn't want to continue to struggle with this matter, nodded, looked at the direction of Yangfan City in the distance, and said calmly: "Go back, it's time to discuss with everyone how to greet your old boss. .”

……………………

"What the hell is going on?"

Through the telescope, Ludwig looked at the 11-star ring flag flying in the distance, as well as the crude and unsightly positions under the various flags, with doubts written on his face.

He was now basically sure that Anson Bach was opposite him at this moment, but he really didn't understand why that guy who was always so cautious would choose to set up his formation in such a desperate position, waiting for him to take the initiative to attack?

With his understanding of the topography of Sailing City and even the entire New World, as well as the support of the locals, he should be able to find a decisive battlefield that is more beneficial to him, at least one that will not leave him without a way out.

Or is it that the terrain here is actually much more complicated than it seems, but I just don’t know it yet?

Ludwig's brows furrowed more and more, and finally he couldn't help but look at the herald beside him: "Report the information you just got again. Do they really only have about fifteen thousand?"

"Yes, sir!" The herald immediately lowered his head:

"According to the results of the cavalry's investigation, the number of troops on the opposite position is about 10,000 to 15,000. Among them, there are about 6,000 to 10,000 with weapons and uniforms. The rest, judging by their attire, are more like It’s a militia that was called up temporarily!”

"There are really only fifteen thousand people..."

Although he had already mastered the information, Ludwig was still surprised by the reconfirmation: "Anson Bach... Is this the last strength you can assemble in the colony..."

"No! No, this is definitely not his full strength!" Before he could finish speaking, Ludwig directly rejected his guess: "Judging from the time, this army should be about the same time as the previous army in the grass forest. It was only because of my sudden move north that I forced the vanguard to go south ahead of schedule...According to his original plan, including the defenders of Sail City, there would be an army of nearly 40,000 people!"

"And he could not have received the information about my arrival in Sailing City earlier than early May; in other words, Anson Bach only needed less than ten days to gather 40,000 people on the same battlefield in the entire New World. .”

"If I had hesitated for a few more days about going north, there would have been 40,000 troops under Yangfan City and a decisive battle with us!"

"And this is most likely not his full strength!"

After thinking about all this in an instant, Ludwig was shocked at first, and then the corners of his mouth began to rise rapidly, making the herald next to him look dumbfounded.

Continuously exaggerating the enemy's strength, what kind of evil has this young master from the archbishop's family fallen into?

Ludwig didn't notice the expressions of the people around him at all. At this moment, he was completely immersed in his imagination, and even made plans for Anson on his own initiative:

"In other words, the war potential on the colonial side is far beyond the imagination of the local side. Fifty thousand... no! Even an army of 100,000 is not necessarily impossible!"

"Perhaps defeating the Jihadi Army is not enough, but it is far from easy to eliminate this 100,000-strong army and the millions of colonial people who can be united behind it."

Ludwig's eyes became bloodshot as he talked more and more excitedly. A passion that he had never experienced since the end of the Iser Punishment War was pouring into his body, making him unable to stop.

Since the war potential of the colonies is far beyond imagination, Anson Bach's purpose of setting up a battle formation in this desperate situation is definitely not for a decisive battle with himself, but for other purposes; if it is not a decisive battle, then he can only hope to pass a decisive battle. The battle forced him to give up the use of force to solve Yangfan City and then start negotiations.

And the initiative in the negotiation can only be in the hands of the winner... Ludwig smiled again, and the look of his output into the air made the herald next to him once again convinced of his judgment.

The Legion Commander is crazy, completely crazy!

"Is there any other information?"

"Ah...yes, yes, yes!"

The herald who was still slandering just a second ago nodded quickly, with a somewhat flattering expression on his face: "The cavalry regiment is still reporting and found that a small force of several hundred people left Yangfan City and seemed to be following us all the way. , lurking in the surrounding forests."

"Because the number of enemies is not large, and it is difficult to determine the specific location and identity, they have not been reported immediately; but the initial estimate is that they should be infantry, and their literacy and armament levels are quite high."

"Oh?" Ludwig raised his eyebrows: "What is the basis for judgment?"

"The other party moves very quickly and always marches at a safe distance from our large force. If the cavalry had not expanded the scope of investigation, it is difficult to say whether this force would have been discovered." The herald replied:

"As for the level of equipment...the cavalry encountered concentrated fire from the woods during the expanded search. Judging from the frequency of shooting, the opponent was probably equipped with a breech-loading rifle."

Breech-loading rifles, mainly infantry, about a few hundred people... Ludwig instantly came up with the answer: it must be the Storm Legion that attacked his headquarters!

They probably knew the plan in advance, or noticed something from their withdrawal from the siege, and decided to follow them from the rear. They probably wanted to make a surprise attack from the rear during the decisive battle to create opportunities for frontal combat, right?

But there are only a few hundred of them, and their target has been exposed in advance. Even if they really want to do this, there is no point... Ludwig nodded slightly, expressionless:

"Notify them so that the cavalry regiment can ignore them and concentrate on investigating the surrounding terrain, trying to get as much intelligence as possible before the battle begins."

"yes!"

The herald nodded vigorously, then turned and left.

Ludwig, who said no more words, turned to look at the distant fields, his hands subconsciously clenched into fists.

……………………

On May 10, 102, Saint Calendar, after completing the final preparations before the war, Ludwig Franz personally led 12,000 people to the unknown wilderness north of Sail City.

In the south of the battlefield, five thousand Jihadists and the fleet still besieged the Sailing City. In the east, more than three thousand Clovis soldiers defeated the remnants of the Sailing City militia that stayed in the grassy forest, and controlled the most important passage in and out of the colony.

Even if the troops were divided into three groups, Ludwig still had two fully equipped cavalry regiments, an artillery regiment controlling fifty cannons, plus three grenadier regiments, ten line regiments, and four skirmisher regiments.

As the side "forced to fight", the coalition formed by Anson and Louis consisted of 5,000 shooters, 3,000 storm corps, a cavalry battalion, an 18-gun artillery battalion, and a 6,000-man colony. Militia, plus a second infantry regiment wandering around the edges of the battlefield.

The total strength of the troops is similar to that of the Ludwig Crusade, but the combat effectiveness is basically very different.

The two sides faced each other across an open field and fields, and each controlled a relatively undulating highland. The Free Confederate side had higher terrain, but there was also the problem of obstructing the shooting boundary and having to leave the highland before entering the battle; while Ludwig The terrain is slightly lower, but it can directly attack the Confederate troops on the front of the hillside.

After everyone cleared their positions, only the central area where the two sides faced off was left on the battlefield, and there were still a few stone farms and houses scattered alone in the open wilderness.

At 5:30 in the morning, troops from both sides entered their positions.

At seven o'clock sharp, the battle officially started.