I Will Be The Crowned King

When the dawn of dawn rose from the mountains, the choking gunpowder finally dissipated along with the sound of cannons roaring all night.

With the sound of bugles, the Clovis army that covered the mountains and plains retreated like a tide from the fortress group in front of Eagle Point City, leaving only a battlefield full of corpses, flags, fire and craters.

The soldiers who fought all night were stunned, staggering with their rifles in their hands, and fell asleep on the ground as soon as they entered the defense line; the rest also curled up weakly on the ground, drinking the sand Like cold coffee, he shivered and took out a box of shriveled and inferior cigarettes from his pocket.

The expressionless Ludwig stood on a raised mound where he could see the entire battlefield; his hands behind his back, his bloodshot eyes stared unblinkingly at the troops withdrawing from his feet. , and a few solitary fortresses that are almost in ruins, but still fly the flag of King Isir.

Unsurprisingly, he failed.

But this time there was no anger on Ludwig's face, because he knew very well that he had caused it all himself.

Because he really wanted too much, too wanted a happy victory!

Compared with the original Thunder Fort, Eagle Horn City, which divided the borders of the three kingdoms, is even more desperate; even if the defenders in the city are the Yisel elves who are too weak to fight, they can rely on the geographical advantage to make the southern part without heavy weapons. The Legion was trapped under the fortresses that spread across the mountains.

Ludwig... He almost showed great patience, and gnawed away the troublesome small fortresses one by one on the periphery; the legion of more than 10,000 people, but because of the terrain, it could only be expanded. One or two thousand people, repeatedly engaged in a tug-of-war that seems to have no end.

It took him more than ten days to finally see the small half of the city wall and a towering tower in the distance.

Because of this, when he noticed that Ansen Bach—although there was no accurate information, but Ludwig was sure that it was him—was besieging Eagle Point City from the back, he was so excited that he lost his mind, and desperately let it go. The army launched a general attack.

And the end result, of course, was disastrous.

For the entire battle, let alone a plan, there was not even a general direction of attack, let alone a command... An army of 8,000 people fought all night under the starry sky like a headless flies.

But it's not right to say 8,000 people - because his order was so sudden, almost all the officers did not have time to assemble their troops; except for the three infantry regiments at the forefront, the rest were left in a hurry. After the "reserve" was formed, the head of the regiment who was in a hurry to attack grabbed an infantry company and rushed up with the military flag.

According to his own observation, the troops that finally actually went into battle were probably less than 4,000 people.

Ludwig was even fortunate for this. The entire legion did not have a vicious stampede or a more terrifying "battalion bombing" because of his "impulse" order... He even took advantage of the momentum to forcefully attack two. A fortress of the Ythir elves.

I have to say, this was a real surprise.

Looking at Eaglehorn City, which was shrouded in shadows in the morning light, Ludwig, who was standing still, pursed the corners of his mouth tightly, turned around stiffly, and his resolute expression was like that of the fortress, with a little more shadow.

And just as he turned his back to the fortress, there was a sudden exclamation around him.

"That, that... that shouldn't be..."

Seeing the soldiers around him who suddenly showed surprised expressions and pointed at something in a stunned manner, Ludwig stopped and looked behind him.

And then...then he was stunned too.

In the bright sunshine of the morning, Ludwig suddenly opened his eyes wide, and his pupils reflected the Eagle Point City, which he had been unable to reach for more than ten days, and at the top of the tallest tower of the fortress...

Flying Clovis's King Osteria flag!

………………

Everything happened so suddenly and so logically.

After seeing the fall of Eagle Point City, the last few fortresses that had held on to them did not have the idea of ​​dying, so they resolutely raised the white flag to the southern legion, handed over the fortress and all the weapons to express their surrender.

Although they don't know how Eagle Point fell, since even the fortress has fallen, it doesn't make any sense for them to continue fighting; let alone escape, as long as the Clovis people besiege them for three days and three nights , these defenders who ran out of ammunition and food had to starve to death.

So after taking these captives who surrendered, the confused Ludwig and the Southern Corps, who also didn't understand what happened, entered Eaglehorn City without firing a shot, and got a spy from Ianson. Headed by Bach, the "Storm Division" was warmly welcomed by nearly 2,000 people.

Walking on the road full of scorched earth, blood and bones, the tired soldiers looked dazed; this victory came so suddenly that many people thought they were dreaming.

As for the other "big winner" of this battle, Bühler Mathias, he and his elven outpost with less than a thousand men left were disarmed before welcoming Ludwig into the city. All thrown into the cell.

When he was taken away by Fabian, the elf knight didn't even have time to ask the question, "The commander is in the city, who are you welcoming?" This puzzled him.

And the commander in his mouth... Ansen Bach, is sitting in the fortress commander's room at this moment, looking at the opposite "real commander in chief" Ludwig Franz uneasily.

Although Anson always pretended to be disapproving in front of Carl and Fabian, he is still somewhat guilty now - after all, the other party is the real commander-in-chief, and he has absolute control over the entire "Isel Punishment War". leadership.

His own actions could not be miscalculated, but to say "disobedience to orders" and "disobeying military orders" definitely made sense; not to mention "hard robbing" the opponent's trophies, taking advantage of the main force of the southern legion facing off head-to-head. Opportunity to capture Eagle Point City.

Oh, and Lieutenant Colonel Roman, who was "sold" by himself and was beaten to death by the Iser Guard Corps...

An Sen, who was sitting upright, kept a smile and wiped the sweat from his temples without leaving a trace.

Ludwig didn't think about it that much. With an expressionless face, he stared at the blood-colored unicorn flag flying outside the window, as if ten thousand emotions were intertwined in his bloodshot pupils.

This silence lasted so long that Anson, who was on pins and needles, almost thought that the commander-in-chief had fallen asleep with his eyes open, and was about to sneak away, pretending that everything was normal and nothing happened...

"What are your plans next?"

Ludwig, who didn't look back, suddenly spoke up.

"what?"

An Sen's expression froze, as if he had just woken up.

"I said... do you have any plans for the next?"

Ludwig turned his head stiffly, and glanced at Anson coldly: "It's not like 'grabbing' Eagle Point City, and you feel like you have won a big victory, right?"

Listening to the other party's deliberately aggravated words, the smiling Anson twitched his throat slightly.

...he really cares about it.

"Of course not." Anson said without hesitation:

"The capture of Eagle Point is only the first step in this war, and at most it is the starting point; for the Southern Legion, we have at most two routes to reach the 'force Iser Elf to surrender and pay the war' established by the Privy Council and the Army Reparations, severing the covenant with the Empire' is the strategic goal."

"Which two?"

"Take Eagle Point City as an outpost, establish a stable supply line, ask for reinforcements from the rear, defeat the main army of Iser Elf Kingdom at Eagle Point Pass, and then advance all the way east to capture the royal court of Iser Elf!" Anson Shen said:

"Of course, it is more difficult to really capture the Royal Court; and there are many hills and forests in Iser, and the terrain is not much better than Eagle Point Pass; but we can besiege the Royal Court, while taking the opportunity to sweep and loot the surrounding territories, relying on supply lines and The enemy is fighting a war of attrition to see who can hold on first."

Ludwig nodded lightly, which was similar to what he thought: "What about the second?"

"It's still building an outpost in Eaglehorn City, still facing the main army of Iser Elf at Eaglehorn Pass, and marching towards Iser Elf Royal Court... But!" Anson's words changed:

"The real main attack direction should not be in the east, but in the south."

South... Ludwig frowned slightly: "Seven Cities Alliance?"

"If you want to win the entire war, no matter which way you take, the Seven Cities Alliance is an indispensable part." An Sen's expression gradually became solemn:

"Despite being split and looking weak, this fragile ally has vast wealth and controls the trade routes from the Empire to the Ysir, so either crush her outright or draw her to Clovis. embrace!"

Ludwig's expression moved slightly, and he immediately understood that the "whole war" Anson was talking about didn't just refer to the "Isel Punishment War" in front of him, but also included the invasion of the empire.

If the relationship between the Seven Cities Alliance and the Iser Elves can be destroyed, it will not only completely cut off the aid that the Iser Elves get from the Empire, but also get a lot of wealth from the fertile vast land to make up for the war with the Empire because of the war. damage caused by the outbreak.

Even if we go a step further and infiltrate the power of Clovis into the Seven Cities Alliance and establish one or two vassal puppets... friendly allies, we can rely on Hantu to establish a fourth front in the southern part of the empire.

This will relieve the pressure on the western and southwestern fronts to a certain extent, and the mountain pass in the western part of the Dawn Mountains is also easy to defend and difficult to attack, and only a small number of troops can force the empire to deploy heavy troops to garrison.

The situation...will be reversed here!

"But is it really that easy?" Ludwig shook his head:

"Indeed, the Seven Cities Alliance is weak, and there are still many contradictions between them. It is a group of alliances that rely on the protection of the Iser elf and are afraid of Clovis and the Empire and have to hold a group to keep warm; but if they really unite, the strength Still not to be underestimated.”

"As long as they have a little common sense, they will know that joining Clovis's iron cavalry to continue advancing south will inevitably harm their interests."

"The premise is that their interests are exactly the same." Anson smiled lightly:

"But are their interests really aligned?"

"What's the meaning?"

"It means as you said, their union is only out of fear of Clovis and the Empire, and neither of them can annex and conquer each other." Anson said slowly:

"In other words, if we are willing to support one of them, so that he can become the actual ruler of Hantu in a reasonable and legal way; the Seven Cities Alliance... will naturally fall to us."

Ludwig narrowed his eyes slightly: "Listen to your tone, you seem to have found your target?"

Anson smiled lightly:

"The only heir of the Grand Duke of Thun, Claude Francois, Leon Francois is currently in Eaglehorn City, you can ask him personally."

"what?!"

Ludwig's eyes widened instantly.

He was shocked at first, and then he thought of the two routes that Anson had just said. Many previously puzzling problems seemed to suddenly become clear.

That's it... No wonder he can appear so quietly behind Eagle Point City, no wonder he can't always receive his orders, no wonder... Eagle Point City will fall so quickly.

In the quiet room, Ludwig took a deep breath.

"Very good... So that's what happened." Ludwig's eyes fell on Anson's face again, his bloodshot eyes didn't blink:

"Anson Bach...you're not giving me a choice."

"You have already prepared a complete set of strategic deployments, just tell me now."

"Even if I don't agree with your plan, you will still go your own way and use all means to force me to cooperate with you in order to win... Just like Eagle Point City this time, right?"

Nonsense, otherwise, do you still expect me to cooperate with you, go to the east of Eagle Point Pass desperately to resist Iser's reinforcements, so that you can continue to grind like this?

"Of course not." An Sen said decisively:

"All this is just a coincidence caused by various force majeure. As your appointed deputy commander, I just made some last resort choices in an emergency."

"Like this siege of Eaglehorn City, to be honest, I didn't expect the defenders to turn against the water, and it turned so thoroughly that I didn't even have time to inform you, so I took down the fortress! "

"So if you insist on taking the Elf Kingdom of Iser as your main attack direction, I have absolutely no complaints, and I will serve you wholeheartedly!"

Anson's expression was extremely sincere.

But Ludwig doesn't seem to believe it...and he doesn't really care~www.readwn.com~Listen! I can give you the credit for capturing Eaglehorn City, and I can also promise you the plan to unite with the Grand Duchy of Thun and dismember the Seven Cities Alliance. After all, some guys have already done it on their own terms... But! ' He glared at Anson:

"I want victory, and a great victory. What I want is the Elf King Iser kneeling in front of me and begging me for peace... Understand?"

"Understood!" Anson nodded decisively, he knew that there was no room for bargaining at this time.

"very good."

Ludwig snorted softly:

"Then it is time for you to think about what to do with the Iser Guards who are coming to the fortress's rescue; my loyal Deputy Commander, Colonel Anson Bach."

"Colonel?"

"Yes, Colonel, I was ordered to come with the next batch of supplies." Ludwig glanced at him:

"Why, you don't think I'll make my deputy commander carry the rank of 'Lieutenant Colonel' forever?"