MTL - I Will Be The Crowned King-Chapter 37 layout

"If you want to capture the fortress, you must not start a war during the day!"

Facing Ludwig and a group of levy officers, Anson, who was standing in front of the sand table of Fort Thunder, used this sentence as his opening remarks.

Although in the brigadier general's own words, this was just an "informal" military meeting, and the purpose was only to make the whole army reach a consensus, and it was far from the time to make a battle plan.

But all the officers present, including Ludwig himself, knew very well that this was the last mobilization before the war—the Levy fortress Thunderbolt whose supply line was cut off, and there was no more time to make adequate preparations.

"According to the information we have now, the current garrison in the fortress includes three hundred elite imperial cavalry, about two to three full regiments of infantry and artillery, more than fifty light and heavy artillery, and less than thirty men. Knights Corps."

As he spoke, Anson pulled out the bayonet from his waist and pointed to the model of Fort Thunder on the sand table: "So without considering the reinforcements, we can temporarily assume that the enemy's strength should be around 2,000."

With his hands on the table, Ludwig stared at the location of Thunder Fort without saying a word, making it impossible to tell what he was thinking.

"In contrast, our troops are nearly three times that of the defenders of Thunder Fort." Anson looked at the people in front of him, and the bayonet in his right hand moved to the position of the siege position:

"We have six missing private regiments, one full grenadier regiment, fourteen light and heavy artillery pieces, and one full cavalry company, with a total strength of nearly 6,000; but..."

"First of all, the private regiment stationed in Oak Town was completely wiped out by the unidentified imperial cavalry; at the same time, the most effective grenadier regiment, led by Lieutenant Colonel Roman, went to Oak Town to stabilize order and restore the supply line; therefore, the current actual situation The strength is only around 5,000, barely more than twice that of the defenders."

"If such a strength comparison is a head-on confrontation, our army will be at an absolute disadvantage in the face of the defenders with the advantage of artillery and the cover of the city wall; it is foreseeable that 30 minutes before the battle, the casualties will reach four or even one-third. One, morale will collapse completely.”

Hearing this, the faces of many officers already showed pessimistic expressions.

"Therefore, since it is almost impossible to attack Thundercastle in the daytime, and it will definitely suffer huge casualties." Taking a deep breath, Anson's mind raced:

"So...why don't we put the attack time at night?"

The officers looked at each other.

"Attack at night... It's simple to say." An officer sitting on the side of the sand table stood up and snorted at Anson:

"Right now, just because of the lack of supplies, the morale of the army has been severely hit. If the soldiers are still allowed to attack in the middle of the night in the cold wind..."

"It is precisely because the morale is so low that it cannot be lower, so the attack time should be changed from day to night." Anson interrupted rudely:

"No matter how cold the midnight in Thundercastle can be, it's better than cooking a fire next to the blasting point of a cannonball!"

"Then what's the direction of the attack?" The officer who was blocked turned red, and said reluctantly: "The weather in recent days has been very bad. At night, not only is the wind blowing, but the moon is rarely seen! You want to Let us in a pitch-dark battlefield, how to judge the direction of the attack is..."

"Cannon!"

Anson, who was stealing again, smashed the bayonet in his right hand at the position of the artillery base on the sand table: "Once the battle begins, the artillery base will be responsible for blasting the gate of Thunder Fort with artillery; as long as your ears are still there, it will not be difficult. Figure out which side is the attacking direction - any more questions?"

Along with An Sen's glance, the tent was silent, only the officer who was blocked by An Sen twice in a row turned blue, and his eyes were still a little unconvinced.

There are no fools who can sit here. Everyone understands that although Ansen Bach presides over the military council, but he can stand here, it means that Brigadier General Ludwig has made a decision, and the rest is just up to everyone. The attitude, "by the way" to reach a consensus.

Inside the quiet tent, you could even hear the howling of the cold wind outside.

"last question…"

The livid-faced officer said again unwillingly: "If you choose to start the war at midnight, how can you ensure that the enemy will not fire before our army launches an attack, and the imperial defenders in the fortress will not fire? You must know that this is night, Wan Wan. A bomb hit is exactly the direction of our main attack..."

"There's no need to discuss this!"

This time, the one who raised his hand to stop him was Ludwig, who was always silent: "I can assure you that the enemy in the fortress will never do anything before our army officially launches an attack."

The voice fell, and An Sen, who was standing on the other side of the sand table, nodded slightly in agreement.

Um? !

His eyes turned to the two men with a firm expression at the same time, and all the officers present were stunned.

You must know that the greatest threat to the levies is the occasional shelling of the Fort Thunder Fortress—obviously, the imperial defenders in the city are not fools, nor are they blind, as long as they perceive any movement in the siege position, they will fire at the established target.

The biggest threat of this kind of targeted artillery bombardment is not killing, but a blow to morale, and at the same time making the siege position not dare to easily gather troops; it is precisely because of this that the advancement of the siege position has become extremely slow.

Now Ludwig actually told them that the Imperial defenders would remain silent until the levy began...

But since this is the decision made by Ludwig, the others have nothing to say - anyway, after the defeat of the siege battle, it is definitely not them who are to blame.

Ludwig, who was stared at by a pair of stunned or puzzled eyes, was always on Anson.

Until this moment, he finally figured out this guy's whole plan!

The use of trenches to advance the position is to shorten the distance of the attack and at the same time let the defenders in the city relax their vigilance;

The prisoners were returned, and they deliberately said that it was three days, so that the other party misunderstood that the levy was planning to use these three days to speed up the fortifications and launch an attack on the fourth day.

But his real purpose is just to get a head start.

As long as the defenders of the fortress did not suppress the line of troops with artillery immediately during the general attack, the forward could quickly rush through the front 200 meters and enter the blind spot of the heavy artillery. The enemy's greatest advantage would be lost. exist!

After encountering cavalry raids, setbacks in advancing positions, and supply lines being cut off, Anson Bach... This guy is still making the whole battle go according to his pre-set plan...

Can win, really can win!

Ludwig, who was desperately suppressing his inner excitement, looked at Anson with more and more enthusiasm.

"Lieutenant Colonel Anson Bach, continue to talk about your plan."

"Uh... Okay." An Sen's eyes flickered for a while, and Ludwig's stare made him feel a little nervous.

What did I just say to make him so excited?

"First of all, we need to divide our army into three parts; four regiments are assembled in the two artillery positions at the forefront, and the rest of the army and cavalry are responsible for defending the artillery positions;"

"The battle should start around one o'clock in the morning. The two corps at the front of the position charge, and then the artillery base will continue to bombard the city gate position, assisting the other two artillery bases to achieve fire suppression and cover in the direction of the main gate..."

"Boom!"

Just before An Sen could finish his words, a sudden loud noise suddenly came from outside the tent.

The expressions of everyone in the camp changed.

The atmosphere became tense.

An Sen, who raised his brows, left the bayonet on the sand table and walked out of the tent.

Almost as soon as he opened the curtain, there was another loud noise.

"Boom!"

Pale white light exploded in the cloud-covered sky.

An Sen, who instinctively raised his head, looked up at the sky, and an inconspicuous drop of water fell on his cheek; in the blink of an eye, the small drop of water began to dribble and spread all over the sky.

It's raining.