I Will Be The Crowned King Chapter 168

"What, the top tower has been captured by you?!"

Staring at the guy who claimed to be the 1st Infantry Battalion Commander in front of him, Archduke Aiden's expression could no longer be described by the overly mundane word "shocked".

As the "gatekeeper" of the west gate of Hantu, no one knows better than him how strong the top of the tower is - a sturdy chest, as many shooting holes as stars and a triangular fort, can withstand twenty-four pounds of solid The main fortress of bombs...

Even if she was as arrogant as an imperial man, she mobilized 20,000 troops to attack and deceive one side of the city gate to complete the breakthrough. It took three days to completely capture her.

Now, this Clovis Infantry Regiment, which is said to be less than a thousand people, actually claims that they have captured the Dengping Tower, and...

"Just yesterday?!"

"Exactly!"

The captain, the battalion commander, who was sent to deliver the message, was arrogant, and even the ends of his hair were curled up with pride: "It turns out that the imperial people are really bluffing - a fortress that can accommodate 10,000 people is only in the early 2000s. logistics staff."

"Not armed, not sentry, not even the most vigilant."

"We approached the neighborhood in a group, and after dark, we sneaked into the fortress very smoothly, defeated a little bit of sporadic resistance, and locked all those disgusting **** in the castle dungeon."

Recalling the traces of the massacre in the castle, which exuded a stench, and the corpse pits piled up with white bones, the captain and battalion commander's face showed a disgusting expression:

"In addition... we also found a lot of military supplies for the Imperial Expeditionary Force; there are no details, there are about 10,000 boxes of rifles, 20 artillery pieces of various types, plus two warehouse supplies and half of the warehouse's ammunition."

Archduke Aiden was stunned.

"Of course, these are secondary - the purpose of the regiment's sending me here is to hope that you will send a troop to take over the top of the tower as soon as possible, plus those supplies." The captain, who was complacent for a long time, finally remembered himself The task of this line:

"You know, there are only less than a thousand people in our regiment, and we can't hold such a large fortress at all."

Archduke Aiden, who frowned tightly, was silent for a long time, and after hesitating for a full minute, he finally spoke:

"...What else did your headmaster say?"

"Uh..." The captain was stunned, trying to recall Fabian's exhortation before leaving: "The regimental commander also asked me to remind you that the enemy opposite you is probably just a pretense-they only have less than 600 people. The cavalry is not the main force of the Imperial Expeditionary Force at all."

"The real 'Imperial Expedition'...probably still laying siege to the fortress of Barrenstone, or fighting his Majesty Claude Francois somewhere; Deng warriors are isolated from the battlefield that determines the fate of Hantu."

"So if you still plan to show your true strength in this war, then please don't wait for orders and instructions, and go east as soon as possible!"

"If it's not too late..."

The captain said in a solemn tone.

"The enemy is coming - get ready to fight!"

"The sixty-fourth time!"

With the roar of cannons and the hoarse shouts of Carl Bain, the Imperial Expeditionary Force besieging the Barren Stone Castle once again turned into a blue and white tide, sweeping towards the fortress, which was already dilapidated and shrouded in fire and black smoke.

The siege battle has begun again...and it's all over the place.

Faced with a battle that was close to life and death, the reserve army of "Swear to Defend the City" showed extremely low morale and fighting will as expected. If a breach is torn open at each position, the entire line of defense will quickly break out in a chain reaction, collapsing one after another.

But in the eyes of Carl Bain, this is not really because these "no-brand" cannon fodder lack courage, in a sense, it is even the opposite.

On the eleventh day of the battle, he saw with his own eyes a Mist knight with his infantry regiment with only three or four hundred men left, trying his best to defend the meaningless gap that was blown up by twelve pound bombs. The regiment was killed - and the day before, it was the same group of people who were scared to flee by a dozen Imperial Grenadiers who raided, and almost collapsed the entire front.

They don't lack courage, and they don't really fear death; what they lack is discipline...and experience.

In the face of too cruel reality, Carl has given up the illusion of counter-offensive and suppressing the enemy - withdrawing all the artillery of the peripheral defense line, once the enemy starts to attack the city, the army of the outermost defense line will immediately retreat after four rounds of salvos. Retreat to the second and third lines of defense with artillery cover.

This is almost equivalent to completely handing over the battle initiative to the enemy, but it can take advantage of the complex structure inside the barren stone castle and the obstacles of the city wall to limit the advantages of the empire's elite artillery and hand-to-hand combat, and prevent the weakly organized reserve army from being defeated in pieces. .

Most importantly, doing so will reduce the number of deaths.

Many, many people die less.

Looking at the dense array of imperial line infantry on the opposite side, they swept in like a swarm of ants, and Carl, whose eyes were bloodshot, was very doubtful that he had saved the reserve army of nearly 30,000 people behind him by doing this, or just let them be there. It was painful for a while before dying.

Just yesterday, an Imperial Grenadier who almost broke through the line of defense revealed the confusion that had plagued him for more than ten days - how did the Imperial Expeditionary Force, which should have run out of ammunition and food, survive until now?

The answer lies in the Leopold rifle in the hands of that Imperial soldier.

Defeated Claude-François's Imperial Expeditionary Force, and seized vast supplies from the retreating Legion of Forty Thousand Earths.

Of course, considering the hurry of the Hantu Corps' attack and the losses caused by the battle, these materials would not be many - but even only a quarter is enough to make an army of less than 20,000 people with a lower Consume, and insist on fighting for more than ten days.

And myself... and this group of cannon fodders who believed in their own nonsense, really thought there would be reinforcements... Can they hold on for another ten days?

Karl, who was supporting his tired body, turned his head and looked at the faces behind him who were curled up and hiding behind the bunkers and artillery, with a bit of panic in the numbness.

At this moment, his heart is desperate.

"Hold on, the enemy won't be able to hold on any longer - after this round, the reinforcements...the reinforcements will come to save us!" Carl, with a hoarse voice, was still roaring desperately, shouting that he didn't even believe it himself. encouraging words.

However, what he didn't know was that reinforcements had actually arrived... and they were just outside the city.

Leon Francois, who was holding the handle of the knife tightly, gritted his teeth and stared at the knight standing in front of him with anger: "Get out of the way!"

"no!"

The Thun knight, who was caught by the neck of the knife holder, looked at the red flowing down the blade, and refused with difficulty: "The periphery of the barren stone castle is now all controlled by the Imperial Expeditionary Force, and the number of cavalry we have seen alone has exceeded 3,000! "

"If you attack now, I can guarantee that you haven't touched the wall of the Barren Stone Castle, and the three thousand of us will be killed by the imperial people!"

"Really?" A rare sneer appeared on Leon's face:

"Are you afraid of death?!"

"Master Leon Francois!" Knight Thun shouted excitedly, stepping forward with the blade on his neck hard:

"I swear to the Ring of Order, from the moment I decided to follow you to rescue the Barren Stone Castle, I have no intention of going back alive!"

"And them!" The knight pointed to Leon's back and pointed to the silent soldiers: "You can ask them to see who is willing to follow you, which one is afraid of death?!"

"Then why did you stop me?!"

"Because we can't look at the future of Han soil to die!" the knight said excitedly: "If anything goes wrong with His Majesty Claude Francois, you are the only one who can continue to unite the vast soil and alliance Clovis against the empire. the king!"

"We must wait for the moment... At the most critical juncture, we will do our best to cover you and rush into the Barren Stone Fort - as long as your banner is there, the defeated Han soil army can become invincible again."

The knight persuaded bitterly.

But Leon doesn't think so: "When will it be the most 'critical' moment - they can't even hold the outer city wall!"

"Then wait until the inner city wall also falls!" The knight said coldly:

"Only by letting the barren stone castle attract all the attention of the enemy can we have a glimmer of hope for victory; for the survival of the vast land, a little sacrifice is inevitable."

Clenching the handle of the knife tightly, Leon, who gritted his teeth, closed his eyes in pain.

He knows that he is not a military genius, and he is very clear that the other party is right - they only have more than 3,000 people, and they are only a "militia" composed of a dozen knights and a group of ordinary people who have just learned to use guns for a few months. ".

Even Claude Francois and the elite Royal Legion have been defeated, how long can they last in front of the invincible imperial army?

But... But this feeling of powerlessness that I can't do anything while watching others die, I don't even know what to do, really...

"Master!"

"Master Leon Francois!"

At this moment, the exclamation of the Thun knight suddenly sounded in his ears: "Empire...Imperial Expeditionary Force...they..."

Are we finally going to start the general attack... Leon said silently in his heart.

However, even if it is a general attack, it is not so easy to conquer the deserted stone fortress. This fortress was built by the architects of the empire when the Emmanuel family went bankrupt.

What's more, since I got the news, the enemy has been besieging the barren stone fort for more than ten days, so it's not going to be done right now...

"They...seem to be retreating!"

Um? !

Leon opened his eyes in surprise.

The gloomy-faced Caspar Herrede sat in a chair, squinting at the officers who suddenly burst into his command; a dozen guards behind him crowded around him, and the muzzles in his hands pointed tremblingly opposite. , the locked bolt indicates that these weapons are ready to be fired.

The officers at gunpoint were somewhere in between—neither as calm as Kasper, nor so terrified of needing to draw their guns to protect themselves.

Inside the dead silent headquarters, only the breathing of everyone and the roar of the barren stone fortress outside could be heard.

"So according to my understanding... are you planning to... rebel?" Casper said coldly.

"It is to appeal to my legitimate rights and interests, Your Excellency Commander-in-Chief."

The knight officer standing in the front row had his hands behind his back, and his trembling voice revealed a trace of tension - facing a commander famous for massacred prisoners, no one could not be nervous: "You violated your previous agreement, We have no choice but to express our grievances in this way."

"Really, what agreement was violated?" Casper's pupils shrank, revealing a beast-like expression:

"Or...you remind me?"

"You promised before that the battle of the deserted stone castle would not last more than ten days, and now it has already exceeded this period." The knight officer said carefully:

"So according to the pre-war plan, we must withdraw as soon as possible now... ah!"

The knight suddenly let out a scream.

"Evacuate as soon as possible...what?" Casper's expression was still gloomy, as if everything was business as usual.

The only difference is that he has an extra long-barreled revolver in his hand... in front of everyone ~www.mtlnovel.com~ stuffed a bullet into the magazine.

on the knight's throat.

"Excuse me, withdraw troops as soon as possible... ah!"

The sound of the magazine idling in his ears made the knight scream again.

"It's a good point, but I think it's convincing... it's still a little bit lacking." Staring at the knight's eyes with dim yellow eyes, Casper pulled the revolver striker with his thumb:

"continue."

"And..." The knight's legs trembled. He could see from Casper's eyes that this man...he really wanted to die!

"And according to the information that my subordinates have inquired about privately, our logistics base, the summit tower, has been... ah... captured by the Clovis! And... and the road to the summit tower has also been... blocked by the Aiden Army... !"

"The most important thing is that our army's supplies have also been basically consumed in the past ten days of siege warfare... exhausted! If we continue to delay, it is very likely that before the fortress is conquered, it will be... already... exhausted. Ah, ah ... !!!! "

With the idling sound of "click" and "click" from the revolver magazine, the knight who did his best said the last sentence, and then shouted like a madman.

"Well..." Looking at the "subordinate" who was almost collapsing, Casper nodded slightly with a normal expression:

"You're right, I must admit... I'm persuaded by you!"

Ugh? !

In an instant, the knight who was hysterical just now raised his head in astonishment, with a happy expression on his face.

Then, he found that a heavy metal tube was stuffed into his open mouth.

"Gentlemen, since everyone is unwilling to spend any more time in the waste stone castle; then as your commander, I respect everyone's ideas."

Scarpa got up slowly and looked around at the terrified faces: "Withdraw the troops... Let's go back to the top tower."

"boom--!"

Chapter end