I Will Be The Crowned King

On the seventeenth day of the siege of Fort Thunder, everything was basically the same as Carl Bain's "Crow's Mouth".

The Imperial Army, who was originally indifferent to the outside of the city, began to set up light infantry artillery and mortars on the city wall at regular intervals, and bombarded the frontiers and artillery bases of the besieged positions with targets.

Obviously, they were not unaware of the movements of the levy, but they didn't want to waste artillery shells before figuring out the main attack direction.

In the face of highly targeted artillery fire, after paying dozens of casualties, the enthusiasm of the entire levy for the "trench offensive" quickly dropped to freezing point.

In the worst case, only the officers beat and scolded them with whips and wooden sticks to allow the soldiers to build fortifications at the risk of being killed by artillery shells; The gun is in the head, and he is determined not to go back.

It’s one thing to have risks, but it’s another thing to take the initiative to die. Besides, the soldiers are also the “important property” of the mid-level officers. If the casualties are too heavy, there is a risk that the army will be deprived of their establishment and salaries.

For two full days, the progress of the forward position was basically negligible, and it was even damaged a lot by the imperial defenders.

But this is not the worst - after the front line was hit, there were also a lot of terrible rumors from the rear: in Oak Town, the logistics base of the levy, it was suspected that a large number of imperial cavalry had passed by.

Although Brigadier General Ludwig stopped the spread of rumors in the first place, it was basically useless, and the morale of the entire levy quickly dropped to freezing point in a short period of time.

In the face of such a situation, Ludwig could only hope that the infantry regiment sent to Oak Town would be able to do their due diligence, and that the steam train to transport the next batch of supplies would arrive as soon as possible.

Although he is quite pessimistic about either - especially the former.

…………

"Everyone, we have to solve the problem at hand immediately."

In the spacious tent, Ludwig, whose face was extremely ugly, took a deep breath and let himself look as calmly as possible at all the officers under his command who were sitting on both sides of the sand table of Thundercastle.

Anson Bach, the commander of the 1st Corps, was naturally among them without exception, and "fortunately" became one of the more eye-catching ones.

After all, all the officers present knew how this prospective graduate, who was only a lieutenant not long ago, "successfully ascended to the top" and was on an equal footing with them - even if the former regiment commander Willen Small was purely courting death and had nothing to do with Anson, But still, the eyes looking at him were full of vigilance and indifference.

Of course, this definitely doesn't include Zhang from a certain Grenadier regiment... Feeling the indifference of the oncoming, not even concealed, An Sen, who pretended not to notice, smiled politely at Roman who was facing him.

"Two days! For two full days, the advance of the frontier positions was not as fast as one-tenth as fast as before!" Even if he tried desperately to control his mood, Ludwig couldn't help but emphasize his tone:

"At this rate, it will take us at least another thirty to forty days to complete the siege position and begin the attack on Fort Thunder - I can assure you now that the Privy Council and the headquarters of the Southern Legion are not Will give us another forty days!"

"At that time, I will be to blame as the commander, so don't think that you can pass the customs smoothly; if you are lucky, you will be sent to the east, while those with bad luck will be stripped of your organization and rank, and you will be a tramp outside the train station! "

Under the undisguised and particularly real intimidation, the officers, who were already in danger, were bloodless and trembling like children who had done something wrong.

"But, but it's useless even if we're not afraid of death!"

Under the depressed atmosphere, a regiment commander summoned the courage to stand up: "The Imperial Army's artillery coverage is quite intense and targeted. The fortifications just built have no effect at all, and one round of artillery is over!"

"No offense, Brigadier General, but unless we have enough long-range firepower to suppress the fortress, we can't persuade our soldiers to risk death by digging trenches!"

Almost as soon as the regiment commander finished speaking, the rest of the officers who were also "deeply touched" also got up one after another, and began to complain:

"That's right! Besides, the cost of digging trenches is not low. The soldiers are already dissatisfied with the current food standards!"

"Ask the Southern Army Corps for help - we are helping them fight, why don't they have to do anything?!"

"Our current firepower is seriously insufficient. We should wait for the arrival of heavy artillery, otherwise we will not be able to attack the well-stocked fortress with strong walls like Thunder Fort!"

"That's right! Why only give us forty days? Is there any fortress in the world that can be conquered in forty days?!"

Noisy, shouting, swearing... all kinds of noises filled every corner of the camp, all the officers were desperately raising their voices; their heroic words and powerful body language made people believe that they were on the battlefield Must be equally brave.

"Silence!"

Lightly tapped the table, Ludwig said in a low voice.

In an instant, there was silence in the tent.

The officers sitting on both sides of the sand table stared at the Brigadier General, completely different from the previous second.

A look of helplessness flashed across Ludwig's face, and his icy eyes glanced at a guy who had been quiet and smiling since just now.

"Lieutenant Colonel Anson Bach, everyone was just criticizing your plan...Is there nothing to defend?"

In the blink of an eye, all eyes turned to Anson at the same time.

Feeling the sights that could never be called "goodwill", An Sen, who took a long breath, slowly got up, stretched out his hand to block the top of the sand table of Thundercastle, and the shadow of his palm blocked the light of the kerosene lamp.

Then he turned his head and looked at Ludwig, who was waiting for his answer:

"We can try... digging at night."

Ludwig thought for a few seconds:

"That's a high cost, and the risk of mobilizing the entire army is not small."

"So let's not mobilize the entire army to do this, one or two thousand people is enough." An Sen looked at him sternly:

"Let only a small part of the position continue to extend. The strong and narrow position is enough to defend against the artillery fire of the fortress. It can be used as a bridgehead and the main attack position during the attack, and it can accommodate almost ... a thousand or two thousand people."

"Can one or two thousand people be able to capture Thunder Fort?"

The opposite Roman looked at Anson coldly,

"The Imperial Army in the city is at most one or two thousand people." Anson shrugged: "We have nearly 800 people in Lieutenant Colonel Roman's grenadier regiment alone. Are you so unsure of yourself?"

"This is prudent." Roman snorted coldly: "Not to mention that they control the fortress and city defense, we have no advantage under the same force."

"Yes, but the infantry of the Empire is rigid and rigid, with low morale and often collapses at a touch, without being hit at all; and our levies... uh..."

It seems to be the same scum.

An Sen, who hesitated for a while, showed a very firm look towards the Brigadier General:

"...much stronger than them!"

Ludwig snorted coldly.

He was almost certain that this had been part of Anson's plan from the very beginning; he had already guessed that the Imperial Army would fight back, but only at this moment did he tell himself.

But if you questioned him now, this guy would definitely say that he didn't ask, not that he didn't remind him - let alone he did.

"One or two thousand infantrymen combined with artillery cover may not be enough to take Thunder Fort; but at least it can open a gap for the rear line troops to gain a chance for a full-scale attack." Seeing that no one stood up against him, Anson continued:

"Of course, the failure of the attack must also be considered, but the principle is the same - it is more convenient for a small but capable force to quickly withdraw from the battle, not to mention that the enemy's troops are not many, and if they win, they will not dare to pursue, and at most use artillery to cover and shoot. to scare us."

After speaking, Anson looked at Ludwig with his hands behind his back and waited for the other party's reply.

On both sides of the sand table, the eyes that were originally hostile towards An Sen have also softened a lot... Of course, with the exception of Roman.

Apparently, this plan seemed to the officers to be fantastic—not that it could be won, but that they could take advantage of it.

If there is hope, they will follow up to grab the military exploits; if the situation is not good, they will just "try to cover the friendly forces as much as possible".

In short, some people may make a profit, but they will definitely not lose.