Chapter 11: shot to death
Thick gunpowder smoke billowed over the battlefield, gradually settled down, and drifted away.
Thousands of Clovis privates maintained a neat line, stepped into the devastated positions in the ravages of artillery fire under the sound of military flags and orders, pulled out the iris flags that were burning to ashes, and replaced them with the Kingdom of Clovis. unicorn.
The cavalry wielding sabres roamed back and forth among the corpses, looking for enemies who survived the carpet bombardment, and by the way searched for all possible valuable booty.
But these have nothing to do with Anson, plus the entire 1st Infantry Regiment.
More than two hundred people formed a three-column phalanx, and a thousand private soldiers in black and red military uniforms with live ammunition surrounded them in the center with the most standard hollow phalanx.
The restless soldiers' eyes were tense and vigilant, and the detainees would shout angrily at the slightest movement, but none of them beat them.
However, Anson had no doubts that if they dared to disagree a little, these "friends" would never mind shooting at their own people.
Inside the quiet artillery position, the atmosphere was serious and depressing.
"Grenadier regiment, the elite of the general." Carl Bain on the side gasped, and there was still not a trace of blood on his pale face: "You said...he specially asked his guards to come and **** us, it would not Are you going to kill us?"
Just as An Sen, who frowned slightly, was about to say something, a pair of icy eyes immediately glared at him.
"Everyone - be quiet!"
Officer Clovis in the front row of the queue said coldly, looking at Carl and Anson with a gloomy expression: "Shut up if you don't want to die, scumbags, wait honestly and wait for the disposal."
After speaking, the officer who didn't even bother to look at them any longer stomped his feet, and the upright figure turned behind him:
"Commander of the First Levy of Fort Thunder, Brigadier General Ludwig Franz is here!"
The rapid sound of hooves made Anson look up, and the soldiers who were in a column in the position suddenly wanted to spread out on both sides to make way for a group of cavalry.
The leader, a knight in a black general's uniform, walked towards the fortress surrounded by people behind him; he was not very old, with dark brown curly hair and a slightly raised beard, matched with a dark military uniform and draped over his right shoulder. The cloak also reveals some elegance.
But all of this was completely destroyed by a pair of eyes that were cold and a little crazy.
The moment he appeared, the already suppressed atmosphere in the fort became a bit colder than before.
Not only the 1st Infantry Regiment, who was already terrified, but also the elite grenadiers who were in charge of guarding them were all nervous and motionless.
In the middle of a group of trembling guys, Anson even had the illusion that he could hear everyone's heartbeat.
The moment he stepped into the fort, the opponent suddenly raised his head alertly, and his icy gaze quickly locked on An Sen's face.
An Sen, who immediately retracted his gaze, did not change his face, looking straight ahead as if nothing had happened.
"I'm curious." The black knight said coldly:
"At 5:30 in the morning, that is, 10 minutes after the enemy launched the surprise attack, I issued an order to every infantry regiment in the entire army to urgently evacuate the position within 30 minutes."
"But you... all of the First Infantry Regiment, you didn't retreat."
The knight in black put his hands behind his back, his eyes swept across the terrified faces of every soldier with his pace; his calm and loud voice accurately conveyed to their trembling hearts:
"On the contrary, you chose to stand by, relying on the artillery position to repel at least three times as many enemies, and survived the enemy's retaliatory artillery bombardment - you must admit, you played well."
The cold-eyed knight in black changed his words, causing everyone present to be stunned.
"So I'm curious, who has the courage and determination to lead you to hold your ground?" The black knight stopped and looked at all of them:
"stand out."
The words fell, and the soldiers of the 1st Infantry Regiment breathed a sigh of relief.
Looking at the black knight's tense expression, Anson felt a little strange.
"Uh...General! The situation is like this, our First Corps did not receive you..."
"arrive!"
Just as Carl Bain, who was also a little uneasy, was about to explain something, a sonorous voice suddenly interrupted him and took the initiative to stand up.
In an instant, everyone's eyes were drawn to the past.
The person who spoke was someone Anson had never seen before—a fat body that stretched the military uniform tightly, and beneath the hair that was about to fall out was a simple, honest and lethal face, with only the slit of his eyes showing desperately. Resolute gaze.
"Fort Thunder 1st levy, commander of the 1st private regiment, lieutenant colonel Willen Small - hold your ground, that's the order!"
The fat officer was impassioned and his whole body was shaking: "I suddenly realized when I was retreating that once the artillery fort was captured by the Empire, it would cause an irreversible blow to the siege, so I ordered the whole regiment to stand still and wait for help, and the raiders The enemy is fighting to the death!"
Looking at the head of the regiment who suddenly ran out to "attack", An Sen's expression was not anger, but a clear understanding of the problem after he finally figured it out.
That's why he has no impression of his immediate superiors.
This has a lot to do with the military system of the Clovis Kingdom - the kingdom's army is extremely complex, but it can be roughly divided into elite professional legions and all the rest.
A troop with "recruitment" in its name, like the First Recruitment Army of Thunder Fort, is an absolutely uncompromising brand.
They don't have a fixed source of troops, and they don't even pay for them. Instead, they give each officer a regiment and a sum of money to recruit soldiers; this money is definitely not enough for the soldiers' salaries and weapons and equipment, and the commander himself has to fill the rest.
The quid pro quo is not to easily interrogate their troops, to acquiesce to their private looting of enemy territory during wartime, and to far exceed the regular army's right to distribute the spoils.
Through this very "market" recruiting method, the Clovis Kingdom, which is constantly expanding its territory, has obtained an army of cannon fodders who are good at looting and sweeping, careful in fighting, and desperate for money, in addition to a small number of elite troops.
At the same time, there was also a regiment leader who made false reports like the one in front of him, who was also not capable of fighting, and would only show up when he was robbing military exploits and trophies.
"I see."
The black knight nodded slightly: "Lieutenant Colonel Willen Small, you are brave and worthy of admiration."
"Where is it! This is what Brigadier General has taught us on weekdays, but on the battlefield..."
"Roman!" The black knight interrupted him coldly.
"exist!"
The officer standing behind him immediately straightened his chest and beat his right hand.
"Tell me, how should officers be punished for disobeying orders on the battlefield?"
"Shoot to death!" the officer said coldly.
The knight in black nodded and ordered the officer behind him, "Go ahead."
"Yes!"
What? !
Willen Small, who was still impassioned just now, widened his eyes, and the surrounding soldiers didn't react for a while, and stood there dumbfounded.
"Pfft!"
The obese figure was violently pushed down by two grenadiers and knelt on the ground, the black muzzle aimed at the back of his head.
"Lieutenant Colonel Willen Small, I sentence you to death on the charge of battlefield disobedience."
The unchanging black knight took a revolver from Officer Roman's hand, slammed the hammer on the face that hadn't reacted yet: "If you have a last word, you can tell it now."
He breathed a sigh of relief just now, but the soldiers who thought they were fine instantly trembled, staring dumbfounded at the regimental commander who was dragged to the ground like a dog.
"I, I, I, I...Wait, wait! Wait a minute!" Willen, who was covered in cold sweat, stared at the dark muzzle in front of him, stammering and shouting:
"General, I... I kept my position, General!"
"That's right, I'm very grateful for this, you've done a good job." The black knight was expressionless, hanging his right hand holding the gun on his leg:
"But gratitude is gratitude. Military law returns to military law—disobedience on the battlefield... is the death penalty. What else does UU Kanshu www.uukanshu.com have to say?"
With a look of disbelief, Willen opened his mouth wide, unable to make any sound.
"Is it gone? Very good." The black knight raised his gun again, this time aiming at the center of his eyebrows.
"Don't, don't, don't...!!"
The panicked Willen shouted: "Yes! I still have, yes!"
"What?!" the black knight growled.
"I have something to say!"
"Say what?!"
"Say... I didn't, I didn't have a battlefield to disobey!"
"You didn't? But your troops are all in the artillery positions!"
"They're here, I'm not here, I ran with you!"
"Ran?!"
"No! It's retreating, it's turning in!"
"You left the troops and ran away by yourself?" The black knight sneered and looked behind him angrily:
"Roman! How should the officer be punished for abandoning the troops?"
"Shoot to death!"
The serious-looking officer answered without hesitation.
The knight in black nodded, and looked at Willen who was shaking like a chaff with eyes like a dead man: "Lieutenant Colonel Willen Small, I sentence you to death for the crime of abandoning the troops."
"boom-!"
The gunfire spewed, and Willen, who had no time to react, was punched through the head. The expression of panic, panic and disbelief solidified on his face, and he was planted in the pit in front of him.
Putting away his gun, the knight in black, Ludwig Franz, who slowly looked back, swept towards the panic-stricken 1st Corps with his unique pair of icy, crazy eyes, with a deep voice. With elegance and ease:
"Now tell me, who is the one who led you to fight back?"
"Stand up yourself."