MTL - I Will Be The Crowned King-Chapter 24 Preparing for the Winter

Compared with the central province in the north, although there is no heavy snow in the Thunder Castle at the end of the year, the howling wind is equally piercing; dark and gloomy dark clouds rule the sky, making the already cold weather even more oppressive.

Generally speaking, no commander would be willing to march in such weather, much less choose to fight in such weather: the rapid depletion of food and warmth caused by the severe cold, and the rapid increase in injuries and illnesses will make his army large. of downsizing.

And the icy muddy roads, the icy mud that makes it difficult to build fortifications, will double the difficulty; even an elite division with high morale who can endure so many difficulties, when cold and hungry, everyone is sick, and risking The cold wind builds fortifications and camps, and is ready to fight at any time... It's hard to say how much combat power they can retain.

But just in the gusts of cold wind and morning fog, a team of thousands of people was struggling along the muddy Kingdom Avenue to besiege the position of Fort Thunder.

The four-wheeled carriage full of material boxes, the creaky wheels fell into the mud again and again; let the scolding coachman whip up his whip and beat the already overwhelmed packhorse.

With rifles on their backs, the soldiers in only thin uniforms shivered and breathed with heat, their cheeks and backs of hands were blue and purple from the cold; they dragged their lead-filled legs under the watch of the officers in lapel coats, keeping them fairly normal. neat team

Because the number of pack horses is seriously insufficient, many soldiers have to shoulder the transport work - two disobedient recruits can be used as one pack horse, and most of them will be exhausted to death; after the logistics officer who taught himself addition and subtraction discovered this, Also found a trick to make soldiers more obedient.

Relying on the constant "consumption" of new recruits, this team full of weapons, ammunition and various supplies finally arrived at the siege position on the fourteenth day of the siege of Thunder Fort.

On one of the parapets of the position, Ludwig Franz, with a grim face, looked at the team slowly entering the camp. With his hands behind his back, he was as motionless as a rifle standing in the cold wind.

Under his calm appearance, only Roman behind him could see the brigadier general's hands behind him trembling and clenching into fists, and every blue vein on the back of his hands was exposed under the pale joints.

Ludwig, at this moment, he is a thousand times more excited than he has shown.

After fourteen days of living like a year, plus two humiliations that nearly collapsed the entire army, the rear support he had been waiting for finally arrived!

Since the establishment of the Levy Army in Thundercastle, the army who wanted to see his jokes did not give him any useful information, and the so-called "leverage army" collapsed at a touch, even worse than the scumbags of the empire.

Obviously it was a siege battle, but as a result, he was assigned an artillery company with only eight artillery pieces, and only one heavy artillery piece. The rest were all light field infantry artillery; The defenders' firepower was completely crushed, and there was no room to fight back!

But even so, he still has a firm foothold outside Thunder Castle; a siege position that is strong enough and is gradually advancing towards the fortress is slowly unfolding.

Although a few days ago there was an "episode" where the entire line almost collapsed after being attacked by the imperial cavalry, but that was once; the rebuilt trenches have been quite well fortified, and the deep trenches are deep enough to ensure that the cavalry cannot attack at all. The position poses a threat.

Relying on the strength of the Franz family and the Church of Order, and after spending a lot of money, Ludwig finally got all the supplies and reserves he desperately needed.

In particular, four twelve-pounder cannons and two twenty-four-pounder mortars were a treasure for Ludwig, an artillery-born general—with these six guns, he was able to set up at the front of the position. Artillery base!

Although the firepower gap between the two sides still cannot be reversed - as a legion-level logistics warehouse and military station, Thunder Fort has dozens of light and heavy artillery reserves - but at the same time there are two or three artillery bases with heavy artillery deterrence, and then facing the fortress There is room for a counterattack in the event of shelling.

These are just the beginning: after completely accepting Anson's "trenches plan", Ludwig is no longer obsessed with quickly capturing the fortress, but is ready to slowly build up his strength and even prepare for a long-term siege.

After all, the ammunition and material reserves in the fortress are limited, but as long as the steam train is still running on the railway tracks of the kingdom, his materials will be continuously transported from the rear.

The only thing that surprised him was that the army didn't block any of the supplies and recruits, and it was easy for them to reach their destination.

Obviously, these guys who are going to see their jokes also know that once the battle in Thunder Castle drags on for too long, the blow to the legions that are still fighting with the empire in the south will be devastating.

No matter how stupid they are, they know they can't afford such a risk.

Facing the cold wind, Ludwig, who was trying his best to control his emotions, raised the corner of his mouth slightly.

"General, the logistics officer in charge of escorting the supplies is already waiting in your tent." Roman, who was standing behind him, stepped forward and said calmly:

"In addition, there is a messenger sent by your father. I hope you can return it as soon as possible if possible..."

"Don't be in such a hurry." Ludwig, whose good mood was ruined, frowned slightly. After hesitating, he turned to look at Roman: "How long has he waited?"

"Two days." Roman looked at the Brigadier General calmly, but his eyes were serious.

"Tell him I will write it at noon, and let him leave as soon as possible in the afternoon."

With a helpless sigh, Ludwig, who turned around and walked towards the tent, changed the subject: "It took fourteen days to deliver the first batch of supplies. Is there any way to improve the efficiency?"

"It's difficult, our supply line depends entirely on the steam train capacity and road conditions." Roman followed closely:

"Even if the Privy Council and the Railway Commission were willing to consider increasing the number of commutes, the road conditions from Oak Town, where the train platform is located, to the siege position was not optimistic; coupled with our severe shortage of heavy carriages and pack horses for transportation, it is difficult to improve efficiency in a short period of time. ."

"Then when will the next supply be at the earliest?"

"Ten days later." Roman replied:

"According to your order, I have placed an order with two gunsmiths near the capital; the war has just broken out, and they all have a lot of stock - ten days later, eight heavy artillery and 1,500 heavily armed new recruits will arrive at the same time."

Ludwig nodded.

Ten days is enough for the siege position to advance outside the walls of Thunder Fort; another three to five days is spent training and integrating new recruits and strengthening the artillery fort.

Fifteen days...after fifteen days at most~www.novelbuddy.com~ I will be able to take Thunder Fort in one fell swoop!

The excited Ludwig suddenly stopped, turned his head to look at Roman thoughtfully, and said softly in a very low tone:

"Is there any progress on what you said before?"

Roman, whose eyes flickered, was silent for a few seconds, frowning slightly:

"...There are only some doubts."

"Doubtful?"

"I privately arraigned Sir Louis Bernard, who was captured by Lieutenant Colonel Anson-although I encountered some resistance, I still asked for a lot of information." Roman said solemnly:

"It seems that he really... doesn't know anything about the situation of the imperial guards in the fortress."

The confused Ludwig was stunned for a moment, and then he said in a guessing tone: "Is this also possible? After all, the other party is still very young, and most of them were brought out by his brother to experience..."

"No, that's not the case!" Roman interrupted loudly:

"Louis Bernard is by no means an ordinary person. He is the only son of the Bernard family who has inherited the power of the bloodline of the 'Sea Knight'!"

What? !

Ludwig's eyes widened in shock—as the son of the Church's archbishop, he couldn't understand the meaning of the inheritance of blood power.

"Although it is very strange, the information shows that it is indeed the case; among the descendants of the Bernard family, only Louis has inherited this bloodline power." Roman's voice trembled slightly:

"If Anson's news is correct, then the commander of the army at the beginning of this raid should be Louis and his uncle; he temporarily sent the heir of his family and the only inheritor of blood power to a dangerous place with a high probability of survival. In low action..."

"The Empire... the Bernard family...or the people who made this decision behind the scenes...what do they want to do?"