I Will Be The Crowned King Chapter 21

The sound of the cannons gradually faded away, and the permeable gunpowder smoke gradually dissipated, but the iron hoofs hitting the ground were still deafening.

After trying to annihilate Anson and the 1st Corps failed and paid a considerable price, the Imperial cavalry quickly changed their minds and began to use a scattered encirclement method to launch harassing raids.

If it is the regular army of the Clovis Kingdom, it must be desperately holding the position, and at the same time quickly gathering with the surrounding troops to complete the siege of the enemy; relying on fortifications, multi-faceted firepower and artillery support to force the enemy to collapse.

But it's a pity, the Thundercastle levy is a shoddy brand that can't be more shoddy - almost at the moment of engagement, the entire frontier position collapsed at the touch of a button!

Facing the fortifications swept away by artillery fire, some of the conscript soldiers who had no fighting spirit only dared to curl up and hide in the trenches, waiting for the command of the commander in panic; The resistance did not collapse.

What's worse is that because the entire siege position is connected, the collapse of each place inevitably produces a linkage effect: the front-line troops that consolidate the position collapse, the officers flee, causing the soldiers in the back row to lose contact with the army, let alone know. Who should listen to the order, fell into a daze.

Although there are still many officers who know the terrible consequences of losing their positions, they desperately gather the defeated troops and want to keep their positions; but the armies fighting on their own have neither the strength nor the courage to face the forces approaching themselves, and can organize a charge at any time. Imperial cavalry.

These very few guys, who couldn't even make up a full company, had no luck with Anson; after a few rounds of salvos, they were surrounded and annihilated by the imperial cavalry who quickly gathered their superior forces.

Originally, only the frontier positions were defeated, but as more and more troops were entangled and fled to the rear, they gradually became more and more completely collapsed, and the seemingly solid positions fell into pieces.

Fortunately, the Imperial cavalry, who suffered losses from the First Corps, no longer tried to annihilate the scattered levies, but only after a single contact turned to semi-circling shots to constantly disturb and destroy the morale of the levies.

At the same time, these cavalrymen are also very aware of their own disadvantages. They know that the immediate victory is only temporary. The strength of the two sides is very disparate. Play it once.

Even so, the torn apart Thunder Fort levy cost a lot of resources and time, and the defense system that was finally built was completely destroyed.

Although this kind of paper-like defense system, even if it is completely torn apart, it seems that there is nothing to regret; but if it is noticed by the Imperial Army in Thunder Fort, and the entire levy is defeated by momentum, it is not a matter of shooting one. The boss can solve the problem.

So he didn't care that there were still a large number of troops who did not have time to retreat, Ludwig Franz decisively ordered to launch shelling directly on the lost positions; at the same time, Lieutenant Colonel Roman, who led the grenadier regiment, gathered up the disintegrated army as before, Reorganize the counterattack.

Although the morale of the conscripts was low, let alone any will to fight, relying on the superiority of the supervising team and the number of troops, they managed to maintain the continuously advancing line of troops, forcing the imperial cavalry to "recede".

But that's all.

Even if relying on absolute numerical superiority and infantry firepower, the harassing attacks of the imperial cavalry were barely repelled, but the levy was still unilaterally beaten-the artillery firepower was completely suppressed by the fortress, and the only light cavalry company was in front of the imperial cavalry. If you can't even contain it, if you rush to it, you will die.

The battle lasted for more than an hour. In the end, the levy army regained control of the position. After paying about three or four hundred casualties, the imperial cavalry who watched the rushing back and forth rushed away, and withdrew to the fortress to announce the end of the battle.

"...According to the preliminary judgment, the enemy's purpose of this operation is to destroy morale and destroy the frontier fortifications to hinder the encirclement of the fortress..."

"...165 killed, 172 seriously wounded, and 286 lightly wounded; the 2nd and 3rd Corps were badly damaged and needed to be replenished as soon as possible to restore combat effectiveness; the fortifications of the forward positions Almost all of them were destroyed, and many materials were buried under the rubble, and more people need to be dispatched to excavate as soon as possible..."

Standing in front of the sand table, Lieutenant Colonel Roman looked at the brigadier general with an extremely ugly face, and reported the result in the calmest tone possible—even if it didn't change anything.

Ludwig, with his elbows on the table, trembled slightly with his fingers resting on his chin, and the veins on the back of his pale hands were exposed.

After an unknown amount of time, he stopped reporting that Roman put the list on the table meticulously; instead of leaving, he stood there like a sculpture, silently watching the brigadier general.

After a while, Ludwig blinked his sour eyes and looked at Roman:

"how long?"

"Within ten days, the forward positions and artillery forts will be roughly completed." Roman said without hesitation:

"At that time, we will have two artillery bases, at least for a short time, we can suppress the artillery fire of the imperial defenders at the city gate; if everything goes as Ansen Bach planned, then..."

"That means twelve, no! After eleven days, we can launch a general attack on Thunder Castle!"

A slightly hoarse growl echoed in the quiet tent and dissipated.

Ludwig, who didn't wait for the imagined reply, raised his eyes and stared indifferently at his best friend, who still didn't change his face.

"You don't agree?"

"Yes."

"...Give me a reason."

"My subordinate never thought that I would answer you like this, but Anson Bach is right." After hesitating for a moment, Roman, whose complexion quickly recovered, said solemnly:

"In any case, Thunder Fort is a fortress guarded by heavy troops. It is a gamble to advance lightly without full preparation; what you need... is a great victory with a definite certainty!"

"At least for now! Since you choose to trust him, please follow his plan to establish a solid siege position, gradually shorten the attack distance, and then launch a general attack when the opportunity is right!"

Looking at Roman, whose face remained unchanged, Ludwig was somewhat surprised.

A few hours ago, he told himself not to trust Anson Bach too much, but now...

"Okay, I accept your suggestion; the plan to seize the city is temporarily postponed, and the most important thing now is to consolidate the position." Ludwig said solemnly:

"What happened today can never happen again!"

"Yes!"

Roman turned around and walked, but was stopped by Ludwig when he was about to leave.

"What happened to Anson Bach...and his 1st Corps, I remember they were in the forward position as well. How about the casualties?"

"They were the first troops to fight against the imperial cavalry, so the casualties were not small, but the organization was still intact." Roman replied truthfully:

"Probably relying on the cover of artillery fire to survive the first round of the cavalry charge?"

Although Anson still had a hunch when the imperial cavalry was "headshot" by a cannonball, he was still shocked when the little girl asked him for credit with a face full of pride.

"How can you use artillery?"

This is the most puzzling part of Anson. No matter how much he complains about this **** "bang-bang gun", it's a gun, not a rifle, and it's definitely not something that can be used at first sight.

"I won't!" Lisa, who grinned, showed two tiger teeth:

"It's all done by the smoking old uncle. Lisa just needs to aim, and the rest are the smoking old uncle... Hey, he's gone?"

Following Lisa's bewildered gaze, Anson looked sideways, and the silhouettes that had been swallowing clouds in the corner disappeared without a trace at some point.

Thinking of Carl's ghostly expression when he came in, Anson felt that he had almost guessed it.

"Then... can Lisa stay?"

Lisa, whose eyes were staring at Anson, leaned forward, her unblinking pupils were filled with a hint of hope, a hint of flattery and a hint of tension, and her dangling calf kept swaying and shaking:

"Lisa knows how to use guns and cannons. Lisa can shoot accurately; Lisa can stay, right?"

"Can."

Anson nodded: "From today onwards, you are my skirmish commander!"

"Well, it's good!"

Lisa, who received a positive answer, nodded vigorously, her eyes curved into crescent shapes, but she also showed a confused expression:

"What is a skipper company commander?"

Uh……

Anson pondered for a moment, considering that after the explanation he had to explain to her what a "skirmisher" was and what a "company commander" was, so he decided to simplify the question.

"A man who can drink two bowls of vegetable broth and eat three pieces of dry bread a day is a skipper company commander."

"Really?!"

Lisa was surprised again.

"Exactly!"

Looking at Lisa who was immersed in the joy of "two bowls of broth a day", Anson nodded solemnly.

He felt deep in his heart that something precious was quickly disappearing.

Sigh... if it disappears, it will disappear, sooner or later...

"Goo."

A very strange voice rang in the ears of the two at the same time.

Lisa, who was still surprised a second ago, slapped her right hand on her belly button with a "crack!" and looked at Anson with a serious expression:

"hungry."

Um?

An Sen's face was full of confusion: "Hungry? But you just..."

"Goo."

Another voice interrupted Anson's words.

Staring at her aggrieved eyes, Lisa repeated it with a serious expression:

"hungry."

"..." Anson.

Looking at Lisa, who was holding her stomach and swallowing her saliva, Anson found that he seemed to be a little hungry too - he had not eaten much for almost a whole day, and he had just finished a battle and needed to rely on his appetite to relieve the battle. mental stress and exhaustion.

The food standard of the Clovis Army is very strict, but it is aimed at ordinary soldiers and low-ranking officers. As the lieutenant colonel, Anson can now completely say goodbye to cured meat, stale vegetables and inferior beer - as long as he is willing to spend money.

As it happens, he is in a very good financial position now.

This is because Ludwig did not take over the logistics of the 1st Corps, and the general's salaries were distributed to Ansen as usual, but no matter what the 1st Corps wanted to purchase, it had to go through the logistics of the Levy Army at Fort Thunder.

Right now, the first corps is only two or three companies in size, and the brigadier general, who is not short of money, still pays him according to the standard of the regiment, plus the original salary of the lieutenant colonel... After the war is over, only by "deducting the army's pay" "Anson can make a small fortune.

Thirty minutes later, there was a whole roast chicken on the table in front of the two, plus a large plate of fried sausages.

The two hungry people used dry bread to sandwich the fried sausages "Zizi" with oil, and devoured them with big mouthfuls.

The dry bread that has just been baked still exudes a little wheat aroma, and it is accompanied by the sausage wrapped in the casing with a faint smoky smell in the middle; when you bite down, the salty and spicy minced meat is mixed with the grease that seeps into it. Rolling up and down between the lips and teeth, frantically stimulates the taste buds.

Compared with sausages, which are very solid and convenient, the tender and delicious roast chicken is an extremely hearty delicacy for most Clovis people, which is only eaten on festivals.

After all, eating his own chicken is equivalent to eating the source of the eggs. In the memory of "Former Ansen", he could only eat chicken at any time after he went to the Royal Capital Church Academy.

Scented with bell peppers and butter, with layers of oily, crispy skins; thoroughly stewed, fluffy and smothered with black peppercorns; and if the color alone doesn't satisfy diners, then The bottom is crisp and tender, mixed with the sauce that is directly filled into the chicken belly when it is roasted, which will definitely conquer the taste buds of all diners.

At least Anson and Lisa were really conquered.

Lisa, who had eaten up three-quarters of the sausage and most of the roast chicken~www.mtlnovel.com~ yawned unsurprisingly, and fell asleep directly on the bench.

Looking at Lisa, who still had bread crumbs and sauce stains left on the corners of her mouth, with a happy smile on her face, Anson, who sighed, couldn't help but smile bitterly.

According to her appetite, I'm afraid she won't be able to save even a single copper plate in the end.

Holding his newly appointed "Skker Company Commander", Anson managed to get her a separate tent - in the severely understaffed 1st Corps, this was not a particularly difficult task.

Looking at the evening sky outside, Anson dragged his tired body back to his tent.

Anson, who was promoted to head of the regiment, could have changed to a new residence. He didn't even need to change it. He could directly live in the tent of the former head of the regiment - the fat man who was shot by Ludwig - Willen Small; but considering Again, he stayed in his old tent.

The moment he walked into the tent, An Sen froze in place, his right hand holding the curtain stopped in mid-air.

Someone came.

Unlike the last time when there was no trace, there were still quite obvious footprints on the ground outside the tent; inside the empty tent, a letter was placed on his desk undisguised.

On the stationery is a **** "primitive rune"!

In a moment of stunned, Anson immediately realized two things:

Without concealing it, it means that the other party came in a hurry this time, and it should be a temporary intention; secondly, if there is no accident, the other party has not gone far yet.

He is all around!

Taking a deep breath, An Sen, who remained calm, desperately restrained the urge to turn his head to look for the other party, and carefully picked up the letter on the table.

The blood stained in the paper turned into a string of elegant characters the moment he picked it up:

[Dear friends, I will visit tonight. 】

Chapter end