The Federal Fleet's initiative to attack once made the defenders of the city rejoice. It is a pity that in the last war, it is difficult to reproduce the scene of the enemy's own fleet pushing all the way and destroying the enemy's ground forces on their backs. The fierce resistance of the ground artillery of the Norman army simply blocked the advance line of the Federation fleet. The artillery fire between the two sides lasted for more than three hours, and although the Federation fleet had the tactical advantage and inflicted considerable damage on the Norman artillery units at a relatively small cost, the ammunition was killed one after another in the rear of the Norman front, but it was never able to open the situation. The Normans took advantage of the war of attrition to get the time they wanted—as dusk approached, the previously withdrawn Norman fleet suddenly appeared on both flanks of the battlefield, and its ships were more engaged than before, only to see them rush towards the city at high speed, and then outflank the back of the Federation fleet with their arms in their arms.

Seeing this, the Federation fleet hurriedly retreated, but their speed was noticeably slower, and they were choked by the Norman fleet before they could fully enter the coverage of the Union ground anti-aircraft fire. At this time, a group of warships were also killed in the rear of the Norman front, and after more than a dozen light ships, there were several large warships that had not appeared for a long time......

The originally evenly matched aerial combat, due to the Norman army's deliberate sale of flaws, lured the Federation fleet away from the battle line, and changed the frontal battle form. The Norman fleet used the tactics of three breads and fierce attacks on weak points, and used the rhythm of quick knives to cut through the chaos. Even if the federal army is exhausted in reserve combat strength, it is no longer able to return to the sky. As night fell, under the desperate cover of their own fighters, the surviving few Federation warships flew over the city with their scarred bodies in tow, and retreated to the rear in great embarrassment.

Witnessing this scene, the federal officers and soldiers stationed in Aocheng had to accept this bitter result. The Federation fleet was defeated, and the situation of ground battles would return to the situation of Norman rage. For the Union Army, the grueling mode of purgatory has begun again.

After nightfall, the Normans took advantage of the victory to blow the horn of attack. Strongly supported by battleship fire, they launched a tidal offensive against the Union lines north and west of the city. Although the fleet was withdrawn, the fighter and artillery strength remained, and the federal ground forces did not give up the battle, and they organized an effective defense on the basis of the strong fortifications built in the early stage. When the first rays of the morning sun fell on the ground, most of the positions in the north and west of the city were still in the hands of the Union troops, and the front of the positions was covered with the wreckage of Norman vehicles and the corpses of soldiers.

The ground offensive was thwarted, and instead of launching a series of strong attacks, the Norman army continued to weaken the defenders with artillery fire, and on the other hand, made a comeback on both flanks, repeatedly attacking the out-of-town strongholds of the Union army. At the same time, the shelling of the outer and urban areas of the city was carried out on a daily basis, and the rhythm became very irregular, so that the spirit of the defending officers and men was always in a state of tension......

With the advent of the war, the Grumman Group building in the center of the city has long been empty, but except for the debris and dust accumulated on the bottom floor due to the broken glass of the exterior wall, the corridors here are not full of messes, everything is neat and clean, as if people are just going to take a vacation, and will soon return to continue the busy and fulfilling work rhythm......

In the office on the 65th floor, a handsome and well-dressed black-haired young man sat in a chair with a back, facing the glass curtain wall, staring at the smoke-curled city for a long time. At that time, more than a dozen biplanes flew over the city together, like a flock of brisk birds, coiling for a while, and flew into the distance. In the north, at the end of the sky, flying warships loom visible, the Norman Empire's battle fleet, proudly guarding the ground forces assembled for attack.

The white-haired old man in a ceremonial dress stood silently aside, Orr, he said softly: "Young Master Ruauf, we should go, it's not safe here!" ”

"Don't you think it's strange?" The young man sat motionless and said quietly, "The Norman artillery has a range of enough to cover the central city, but it has spared the Grumman Building. ”

"At such a distance, the best artillery can't shoot accurately!" The old butler replied in a gentle tone.

"Continuous dense coverage firing, not a single shell hit, not a single shot." The young man said in a whispering voice, "Look, around the building, there are only a few craters within two thousand feet. ”

The old butler looked out the window: "You mean...... Did the Normans do it on purpose? But why would they do it? Do you want to keep the landmark of Aocheng? ”

The black-haired youth snorted, "They don't bother to do that. If they needed a landmark, they would rebuild one after the war, one that would reflect the Norman will and royal glory. ”

The old butler seemed to understand the meaning behind these words, his body trembled slightly, and he turned his head to look at the second young master he had served for many years, with confusion and worry in his eyes, but more of a deep helplessness.

The black-haired young man sighed: "It is said that Norman generals are good at strategy, and often make their opponents unguardable, if they can really come up with such a strategy and put it into practice, I am convinced!"

"I think, you, should be well aware of the consequences of doing so." The white-haired old butler made his position clear in an affirmative tone.

The brunette youth replaced the words with silence.

The two of them sat and stood like this until night slowly fell.

The sound of artillery in the distance suddenly exploded, and explosions sounded intensively on the outskirts of Aocheng and in the urban area. The view of the city from a height of 800 feet is more spectacular than the scene of fireworks in the whole city of the festival celebration, but this spectacle is accompanied by death and destruction.

An hour passed, and another hour passed, and behind the glass curtain wall, the old and the young were always focused on the scene in front of them, as if they had been transformed into two sculptures, with neither superfluous words nor obvious movements. As the night wore on, and people were tired, a vision suddenly appeared in their field of vision: cannonballs with red light rose from the ground into the air, blooming in dazzling flashes, and under the reflection of this light, several dark, riveted steel behemoths revealed their hideous faces. These fierce flying monsters actually broke through the air cordon of the Federal Air Force in Aocheng with a ferocious attitude and went straight to the center of the city......

Seeing that the enemy ship was getting closer and closer, the black-haired young man stood up from his chair and said to his faithful servant: "It seems that I guessed correctly! If we get the ticket, we're going to bet everything and we're going to win a complete comeback or we're going to have nothing. Old Frey, if you want to quit, it's still too late. ”

The old butler shrugged: "Where you go, I go." Unless one day you dislike me for being old and deaf and say to me, "Hey, old Frey, it's time for you to retire and go home!" ”

The black-haired young man raised the corners of his mouth, a relieved smile flashed on his handsome face, and then returned to his usual indifferent and detached demeanor.

On the other side, in a factory in the city, Weiss stood in an open-air bunker, raising his eyes to look at the night sky, the corners of his mouth twitching slightly. As a time-traveler whose vision and insight far exceeded that of his contemporaries, he did not expect that in such a siege of the city, the Normans would send a group of warships to force their way into the city in an unreasonable way before the ground troops entered the city. Although in the lineup of this fleet, there are no transport ships with stubby outlines, nor light warships that are delicate and nimble; Although after several days of large-scale artillery bombardment, many of the anti-aircraft positions and weapons and equipment of the Union Army were damaged, and the air defense force could no longer be compared with the beginning of the battle; Although a surprise night breakthrough can shake the morale of the defending officers and soldiers to the greatest extent and make them panic...... But isn't it too risky to fly over the city in the form of dark clouds and accept the baptism of anti-aircraft fire from the defenders? What kind of trouble is this unheard-of routine?

Despite not understanding the enemy's tactics, the federal troops deployed in Aocheng spared no effort to shoot with a variety of anti-aircraft weapons, and countless shells and shells were "graffiti" in the night sky. At this face-to-face distance, as long as the gunners with qualified skills and a strong mentality can hit a high rate, the explosion flames of those regiments around the Norman battleships are the most intuitive embodiment. But as time went by, not to mention ordinary soldiers, even Weiss felt more and more frightened when he faced the battle scene in front of him: these Norman warships were not particularly large in size and not particularly fierce in firepower, but they were able to withstand the bombardment of anti-aircraft artillery fire, and the rudder and thruster at the rear of their hulls had obviously been bombarded, but they could still move forward at a uniform speed, could it be that the Normans had created a secret weapon with amazing performance?

In the night sky, the appearance of these Norman warships is sometimes revealed, sometimes hidden. Weiss squinted and found that their damage was not severe, and judging from the combat strength readings, they were indeed a "new type of battleship" between a battleship and a cruiser, and their upper limit of protection even exceeded that of any battleship seen before, but their combat effectiveness was only slightly better than that of armored cruisers, and the speed of action was barely comparable to that of old battleships. This configuration is reminiscent of the Wessex Kingdom's unique assault ships, which are highly anticipated by the Wessex army, with extremely strong armor covering the core, and in addition to the conventional external power plant, there is also an auxiliary drive/steering system in the tail of the battleship that is protected by armor, which allows them to charge into battle in the face of heavy enemy fire. The Norman warships in front of me are either borrowed from the design of the Wessex Kingdom, or are they ...... Directly used the unfinished battleships of the Kingdom of Wessex?

Thinking of this possibility, Weiss realized and pondered, and over the city, the Norman warships flew while suppressing the defenders' fire with a direct-aim artillery bombardment, and the city exploded violently one after another, which meant that the defenders' artillery positions were constantly suffering devastating blows.