I will be crowned king

Northwest of Black Reef Port, Gray Pigeon Fortress.

At the same time that Anson and Louis led the main force of the New World Army to confront the Borre Army, this inland colony, which was also heavily besieged by the Jihadi Army, was already a purgatory-like scene.

Virus-like fire spread across the hilly wilderness, and the smoke that covered the sky made the midday sun seem extremely dim; looking around, there were only craters, ravines and trenches around the lonely fortress, and scattered flags and weapons. Outside, there is only a piece of scorched earth, ugly scorched earth.

"Boom-boom-boom-!!!"

The ferocious muzzle once again spewed out flames smelling of sulfur, accompanied by bursts of screams piercing the sky from the mountains, smashing large clouds of dust and smoke on the standing mountains and city walls, and gravel and shells falling like raindrops in the air. , fell on the battlefield that was already full of mess.

Under the tattered banners stained with blood, the majestic Holy War Legion attacked the fortress burning in the fire from three sides along the undulating mountains.

The Colony of Pigeon Castle, located between hills and forests, is narrow and not conducive to the organization of large-scale military operations. In the early stages of the battle, the defenders only needed to guard two or three highlands around the fortress and build trenches and low walls in the middle of the road. The jihadi army of 20,000 people was immobilized.

But not to be outdone, Arthur Herred quickly found a way to deal with it: knocking down the defensive strongholds outside Gray Pigeon Castle one by one by building forts. The strength and number of artillery on both sides were not at the same level at all, and they could not bear the bombardment. The defenders soon had no choice but to collapse and shrink.

Although the legion almost collapsed due to recklessness and carelessness at first, and it took three days to complete the rectification, the Jihadi Army made rapid progress immediately after finding the right one.

In just ten days, Arthur Herred wiped out all the surrounding fortresses and colonial settlements. The army approached the outside of Gray Pigeon Castle, completely turning it into an isolated city.

After several rounds of siege battles, the defenders of Gray Pigeon Castle, who were short of troops and lost the support of other strongholds, had to abandon their outer defense lines and retreat to the town with all their strength.

The entire Gray Pigeon Castle is an inland fortress built on the mountain. Although the outer wall is not very strong, it is enough to withstand the bombardment of most six-pound and eight-pound field artillery. The majestic tower also provides an absolute highland view, allowing The defenders can have a clear view of the attacking enemies, and the narrow hillside roads also greatly limit the use of superior forces. The defenders can organize layers of gradient defense lines in the fortifications built on the mountains to attack the attacking enemies from a high position. military.

Even so, the Jihadi Army continued to launch fierce attacks despite heavy casualties.

Far away from Gray Pigeon Castle, in the legion headquarters located on the hilly heights, an unconvinced Arthur Herred stared at the battlefield in the distance at the foot of the mountain; nearly two kilometers away, he could actually only see A rough guess, coupled with the "artificial haze" created by artillery and rifles on both sides that wildly reduces the visibility of the battlefield, there are even fewer things that can be seen clearly.

However, after so many days of practice and taking the initiative to ask for advice, he has basically zero command experience and has now learned a lot: through the intensity of gunfire and gunpowder smoke on the battlefield, flags, bugles, and intelligence sent by messengers, Infer the true position of the battle line, the intensity of enemy and friendly firepower, and whether the attack was successful or frustrated.

For example, the "excellent tactics" of using forts to build superior firepower and advancing step by step were something Arthur had just recently learned from an enthusiastic person who was both a teacher and a friend.

At first, Arthur just wrote a few simple letters reporting the situation, but he got a very serious and detailed evaluation from the other party, and even attached a plan for reference; Arthur, who had no military experience at all, simply copied the other party's suggestions, and the effect was amazing. Good.

So he simply asked his subordinates to summarize the battle situation and various intelligence every day, and then quickly sent letters to the other party in his own name. He often received a reply in less than a day. Not only did he not have any complaints, he would even explain it very patiently. He couldn't understand the enemy's actions, and the suggestions he gave became more and more detailed.

This also made Arthur rely more and more on letters from "enthusiastic people". At first, he would take them out very cautiously and discuss them with his subordinates. Soon he found that his subordinates who had the latest information were not as reliable as an outsider. Soon he Then he commanded the army exactly according to the method mentioned in the letter and didn't think much about it at all.

Looking at the anxious battle situation outside the fortress, where even the advantage began to tilt towards the defenders, Arthur's mood became more and more anxious, looking restless.

Just when he finally couldn't bear it any longer and was about to go to the front line to join the battle in person as before, a sudden figure made his eyes light up.

"Report!" The herald holding the letter stopped outside the headquarters and bowed: "Report to the legion commander, the news from Black Reef Port, Lord Borre Levent and Bernard More Lord Weiss has arrived outside the city and is organizing troops to land, planning to attack and conquer in three days..."

"Okay, okay, none of this is important!" Arthur waved his hands, looking like a child waiting for candy during the New Year's Day, and said impatiently: "Where's the letter? Did you bring it here?!"

"Ah, here's the letter!"

The herald did not dare to neglect, and hurriedly stepped forward and handed it over with both hands, but still murmured uneasily: "In addition to this letter, there is also a verbal order from Bernard, the supervisor of the army. Please, sir..."

"I know. You can tell me his orders in detail later. Just do everything Brother-in-law Bernard says!"

Impatiently dealing with the worried herald, Arthur, who was grinning from ear to ear, quickly opened the envelope and read attentively:

"To the Honorable Legion Master Arthur Herred:

I am very happy to hear the news that you have wiped out all the outlying strongholds of the Gray Pigeon Castle Colony and surrounded the Gray Pigeon Castle Fortress. Although I have not been able to see it with my own eyes, the written words alone are enough to make me imagine how fast and smooth the progress was. A dripping battle.

And now that you have arrived at the city and launched the siege, you must have discovered how dangerous this fortress is, how easy it is to defend and how difficult it is to attack. There is no need to go into detail about the hardships and unpleasantness of it. You must have a better understanding of it.

The reason why the enemy retreated to the fortress is also because of this... As the gateway to the East of the New World from Sailing City, Gray Pigeon Castle is responsible for delaying and hindering the enemy. It itself cannot supply too many troops; if the scale of the garrison is large enough, , they should not abandon their outer defensive positions so quickly, as the isolated Gray Pigeon Fortress itself poses an obstacle to your legions.

Referring to the battle reports from the previous few days, I concluded that the number of defenders was very small, never more than 4,000 people, and the number of real combat effectiveness may only be around 2,000.

The garrison with such a shortage of troops proves that the intelligence we have received before is likely to have serious misjudgments. The enemy is very likely to mobilize a large number of troops to Black Reef Port; and the purpose of the garrison's withdrawal into Gray Pigeon Castle is probably not to hold on to the end. I'm afraid Preparations have been made to abandon Gray Pigeon Castle and wait for an opportunity to retreat.

This is just my guess, but the enemy may have planned to use Gray Pigeon Castle to hold back part of the Jihadi Army's forces from the beginning, and concentrate its superior forces on the Black Reef Port for a decisive battle with the Jihadi Army!

If this is the case, then Sir Arthur Herred, you don’t have to have any scruples, boldly launch the most violent attack, and show the momentum of taking the fortress at all costs; the defenders who have lost their will to fight cannot hold on. If it takes too long, you will try to escape.

For the retreating enemies, you only need to make a slight pursuit posture, without actually destroying them; for the current Holy War Army, the most important thing is to control the important gateway of Gray Pigeon Castle. If you capture this place, you He is the hero of the entire Jihad Army.

After that, you have at least two options: one is to leave a small number of troops and quickly advance to Blackreef Port to support Lord Borre Levent who is fighting a fierce battle with the main force of the heretics.

The other is to take a short rest and wait for the reinforcements from Sailing City to arrive, or to gather some of the effective forces and set off to Black Reef Port to join the battle.

I personally prefer the latter, but these are just suggestions below. How to do it is all up to you; please don’t be bound by my ideas. War is a flexible art. The bolder the idea, Often the more effective it is.

Finally, I wish you success and establish meritorious deeds consistent with your status as soon as possible; as a friend, I will pray for you in the Sailing City, and may the Ring of Order protect its loyal warriors.

Your colleague, comrade-in-arms and partner, the leader of the Crusaders, Major General Ludwig Franz of Clovis.

yours truly. "

After reading the last line attentively, Arthur Herred's pupils shrank suddenly, showing a strangely excited look on his face. All the anxiety, uneasiness, and worries before were all gone at this moment.

"Send orders to the front line——"

The young legion commander slammed the letter on the table with force: "Tell all the troops, from now on, regardless of casualties, regardless of priority, launch a general attack on three sides of Gray Pigeon Castle, and conquer this place as quickly as possible. A fortress!"

"Bore Levent's army has arrived at Black Reef Port. Feint attacks are no longer necessary. Fight the enemy to your heart's content and gain the glory you deserve; use the most ferocious offensive to show them the true strength of the Crusaders. !”

While shouting excitedly, ignoring the soldiers who had already rushed out to deliver the order, Arthur Herred rushed out of the camp, got on his horse and headed towards the battlefield; the guards were stunned and did not dare to neglect, and followed closely in panic He followed his figure and left the command post.

At this point, the attack and defense of Gray Pigeon Castle has come to an end; but what Arthur doesn't know is that he is not the only one who knows about this...

……………………

"The news from Sailing City is that Arthur Herred will launch a general attack soon."

In the hall of Gray Pigeon Castle, Norton held the just-delivered letter between the fingers of his right hand and handed it to Alexei: "Today at the earliest, tomorrow at the latest... They will attack from three sides at the same time, and if nothing goes wrong, they will approach the opposite headquarters. The position should be in the active direction."

"Does this mean we can finally organize a retreat?"

Alexey tilted his head and asked tentatively. He took the letter but did not read it. Instead, he still stared directly at Norton: "Is there going to be any problem?"

"The enemy's goal is to seize Fort Gray Pigeon, not to annihilate us 'rebels'; as long as we are not stupid enough to break out from the direction of their attack, the commander of the Arthur Herred Army opposite will not care about us." Norton Nodding slightly:

"The information that Marshal Louis Bernard is not at Fort Gray Pigeon seems to have been discovered by the enemy."

The moment he heard this, Alexey finally let out a sigh of relief, as if a big stone in his heart had finally landed firmly, and his whole body relaxed a lot.

The first two people didn't understand why the enemy on the other side had received a feint attack order but fought so fiercely, as if they wished they could conquer Yangfan City in one day. They almost mistakenly thought that the intelligence was wrong and that the real main target of the Jihadi Army was It was me who was trembling with fear for several days.

There is no other way. It's not that they are too cowardly. In fact, the Gray Pigeon Castle, which is known as a 10,000-strong garrison, has less than 4,000 garrison troops. The only ones that can really fight are the 2nd and 3rd Infantry Regiments of the Storm Legion. Taken together With just over 2,000 people, it is difficult to have any confidence when facing ten times the number of enemies.

Just when they were panicking, they actually received intelligence from Ludwig, who was "seriously injured" in Sailing City, explaining in detail why the enemy was so aggressive - they thought the garrison commander of Gray Pigeon Castle was Louis Bernard and Arthur Herred, who was in charge of the feint attack, were close friends.

Norton and Alexey, who were a little scratching their heads, still didn't know what kind of strange friendship this kind of wanting to kill each other was, but it became easier to handle after understanding the motivation of the other party.

Since the enemy's goal was not to hack them to death, the two of them were happy to proactively cooperate with Ludwig's request, giving up peripheral strongholds in batches and stages for the enemy to occupy, and shrinking the defense line step by step... It took Arthur a full ten years. After three days, the real siege of Gray Pigeon Castle began.

Now that the plan has reached the final stage, the retreat can finally be organized.

"I have made all the necessary preparations before evacuation, including the evacuation time, route, the departure batch of the army and the last people in the city, the necessary luggage, and the damage to the key facilities of the fortress..." Norton sighed:

"If everything goes well, try to leave an empty city with nothing left on the opposite side."

"Well done, you are good at these troublesome tasks." Alexei grinned after successfully slacking off and gave a thumbs up to his friend: "It was indeed the right decision to act with you!"

"In any case, we are comrades-in-arms, and we should have a division of labor." Norton shook his head and said humbly: "Everyone has their own strengths, and only by complementing each other's strengths can we unleash greater energy."

"That makes sense!"

Alexey nodded, and of course he heard the implication of the other person's words: "Is there anything you need me to do?"

"It's not really anything. It's just that there's someone I can't convince. I'm afraid I have to ask you to come forward." Norton said slowly, and finally came to a conclusion:

"It doesn't matter what the means are, just let her obey orders."

"No problem...wait, her? Who is she?!"

"Pollina Frey." Norton raised the corners of his mouth slightly, showing a somewhat embarrassed smile:

"She... still seems unwilling to leave with us."