The afternoon sun shone through the vents, viewing windows, and shooting holes of the fortresses of the Bergst Fortress. The bright light pierced the darkness, but it could not give the gloomy Guardians an optimistic spirit.

In front of the observation window on the west side of Fort No. 1, Lieutenant Björle Gustaf of the 15th Rifle Regiment of the Wessex Kingdom Army stood alone for a long time. He squinted and watched the Norman ships that were out of range of their guns. There are only a dozen armored ships, escort ships, and transport ships in total, and the scene is not shocking, and it is not at all comparable to the parade at the celebration of the thirtieth anniversary of the coronation of King Edra II of Wessex, but the more this is the case, the more Ensign Gustav feels that it is not a good feeling......

Among the three great powers today, although the aviation strength of the Kingdom of Wessex is the weakest, it is not so weak that it is not worth mentioning. Due to the existence of the Alster-Wessex League, the Norman Empire had to split its air forces and deploy them in the east, north, and the capital region in the hinterland. In terms of size, the Wessex main fleet had an overwhelming advantage over the Norman Northern Fleet, and the Duke de Silvestre, the Minister of Defense of Wessex, once said that the Norman Northern Fleet would be annihilated within two hours. The North Fries region is caught between the Wessex Kingdom and the Norman Empire, and it only takes three or four hours for the Wessex main fleet and the Norman Northern Fleet to reach North Fries from their respective stations, and after witnessing the defeat of the Wessex Fleet to the Norman fleet the day before, Lieutenant Gustav has painfully realized that the Normans have been in retreat and cultivation all these years, and they have really held back the terrible weapons of mass destruction. Armored ships against armored ships actually won a crushing victory in one round, and in such a situation, their main fleet will not appear in North Fries again in a short time.

Without air support, it would have been almost impossible to relieve the siege of Begast Fortress with the Wessex Army and the Jocumen militia alone.

To Lieutenant Gustav's relief, he and his companions were in a modern fortress that the Kingdom of Fries had spent more than six years and 45 million fris, or about 12 million crowns, to build. Although this money came from the war reparations of the Norman Empire, it was already an unprecedented military project for such a small mountain country. In order to defend against attacks from the air, the fortress was equipped with 12 super heavy anti-aircraft guns of 41PIR caliber and 30 heavy anti-aircraft guns of 26PIR caliber, as well as a large number of rapid-fire guns for ground defense deployed throughout the fortress, forming a three-dimensional defensive circle without four corners. The main body of the fortress is a solid reinforced concrete structure, thick enough to withstand continuous bombardment by large-caliber naval guns, and there are wooden compartments inside the forts to absorb the blast from the outside, which is theoretically capable of withstanding a squadron-level attack.

The evening before yesterday, the Norman fleet had arrived victoriously and made a tentative attack on the fortress of Bergst, and the defenders immediately returned fire. In this fierce artillery battle, which had little or no results, the fortress's anti-aircraft artillery group showed a strong enough deterrent power, not to mention the three or two armored ships in front of them, even if one or two battleships equipped with heavy artillery came, they still had the power to fight back.

The fortress, which was besieged by the Norman army, consisted of 417 Wessex soldiers, 544 Yorken militiamen, and 29 Yorken soldiers who had previously served in the Friesian army. With this force of less than 1,000 troops, if you can't get the response of your own aviation forces, forcing a breakthrough is basically a dead end, staying and holding the fortress, and it is possible to survive until the situation is reversed and the Normans take the initiative to withdraw their troops......

The more than 400 Wessex soldiers trapped in Siege Fortress came from three different units, Lieutenant Gustav's company from the 15th Rifle Regiment, Lieutenant Falken's gunners from the 39th Air Defense Battalion, and Lieutenant Miller's gunners from the 6th Fortress Regiment. As for the more than 500 Yoken militiamen organized into four combat companies, they are basically rookies who have only assaulted for several weeks of military training, and they can't even walk in line, and their biggest role is to help the gunners carry artillery shells, and nothing else can be counted on.

"The Normans still haven't moved?"

A deep voice came from behind him, and Gustav quickly turned around and saluted the officer wearing the silver collar badge.

Major Roots, the commander of Operation Bergst appointed by the Army Staff of the Kingdom of Wessex, became the acting commander of the Fortress after the capture of Fortress by Wessex troops and the Yorken forces.

"There is no movement for the time being, but ......," Gustav paused, "I have a bad feeling that they are preparing to attack, and that it is likely to be in a way that we have not seen before. ”

"My worries are the same as yours. Since yesterday ......"

Major Roots was halfway through his words, and then shook his head incessantly.

"They're not attacking for the time being, maybe they're just using us as bait on a hook." Gustav speculated.

Major Roots smiled bitterly: "Bait, you have no right to decide your own destiny at all. ”

As he spoke, he walked over to the observation window and looked at the ominous "dark clouds" in the sky. After only looking at it for a few seconds, he frowned and said, "They're moving!" ”

Gustav's face changed suddenly, and he picked up the binoculars he carried with him to look at it for a moment: "Their armored ship is adjusting its position, it seems that it is about to start!" Sir, order to go on the highest alert! ”

Major Roots hesitated: "Will they do it so quickly?" ”

Gustav didn't answer, for he wasn't sure if the enemy would attack Fortress Bergst so quickly. If not, ordering a guard at this time will only make the soldiers nervous and pessimistic, and consume what little morale they have left.

In sight, the two armored ships of the Normans moved forward slowly, but they were still out of range of the fortress's guns. After a few more moments, they both shifted their positions, their sides facing the direction of the fortress.

At this time, Major Roots finally realized that something bad was about to happen, and hurriedly shouted: "Quick, herald, all on top alert!" ”

"Buck! Buck! Gustav called out to his heralds, "Convey Major Roots' orders to all units, all on highest alert!" ”

As soon as Gustav finished speaking, he heard Major Roots next to him secretly scream "Oops". He hurriedly looked out, in addition to those Norman warships, there were two more thin white smoke trails in the sky, and then looked closely, and the smoke trails were caused by two big black fish that were rapidly attacking.

Without waiting for Gustav to think more, Major Roots grabbed him violently and walked into the fortifications: "Quick! Get out of here! ”

The two of them flew along the stairs to the depths of the fortress, and before they reached the bottom of the stairs, they suddenly felt that the world seemed to have collapsed, the mountains and the ground were cracked, and the space was distorted......

After two extremely violent explosions in quick succession, the sensory world gradually returned to stability. Gustav and Major Roots stood up with each other's arms in their arms. The inside of the fortress was so thick with smoke and dust that the visual distance was very short, but the sound of coughing in the darkness reassured them a little.

Major Roots coughed and said to Gustav: "Hurry up...... Let your soldiers ...... Let's count the situation of each unit......"

"Buck! Buck! Gustav called twice.

A moment later, a figure staggered to them, but it was not Gustav's herald, but a non-commissioned officer under his command.

"Lieutenant, Buckta...... He fainted, and several others fainted. There was smoke all over the place, it was too bad, we better get them outside......"

"I can't go out now!" Major Roots scrambled to speak, "The enemy attack has just begun, and it is not safe to stay outside!" ”

The smudged and terrified non-commissioned officer set his eyes on Gustav. Although the 29-year-old Gustav did not personally experience the brutal battles of the last war, his five-year study at the Royal Military Academy in Wessex and the tireless teaching of his highly decorated predecessors have given him a thorough understanding of many aspects of warfare. After serving as an officer, he still humbly and meticulously learned various skills and techniques from senior non-commissioned officers and veterans, and made up for the lack of experience with a diligent attitude.

"How's it going on over there?" Gustav asked.

The non-commissioned officer shook his head: "I don't know, but it seems that the smoke and dust in that direction are the thickest, and there is a feeling of suffocation." ”

After taking over the fortress of Bergst, Gustav took the drawings obtained by the people of Yorken and spent a week to find out the structure of the fortress and the assembly of various weapons and equipment. In his opinion, the fortress designed and built after the war was not inferior to the famous fortresses in Wessex. The ventilation system here adopts advanced explosion-proof and anti-fouling technology, and it is said that ordinary artillery fire is not enough to cause the current situation of smoke and dust inside the fortress, and the only reasonable explanation is that the main building of the fortress has been structurally damaged in the explosion just now. However, even the most powerful armor-piercing shells of the largest caliber naval guns could hardly inflict such damage without much effort. The Normans only had two armored ships, and one round of attacks reached the power of the battleship to bombard for half a day?

After a moment's hesitation, Gustav turned to Major Roots and said, "It seems that the Normans have mastered a completely new weapon technology capable of effortlessly destroying battleships and leveling fortresses. If we continue to resist, I'm afraid no one will be able to get out of here alive. ”

As a commander, there is no greater sorrow than leading his troops to surrender to the enemy. Major Roots blushed, but did not say anything to refute Gustav. He looked down in thought for a moment, then turned around, and walked up the steps to the observation window.

Outside the window, there was billowing smoke and large and small pieces. The Fortress of Bergst consisted of a total of 7 fortresses, with fortresses 1-3 distributed in a triangular shape in the inner circle and fortresses 4-7 in a quadrangular shape distributed in the outer circle. Fort No. 5, located northwest of Fort No. 1, originally had a thick and round appearance of six heavy and super-heavy anti-aircraft guns, but now only the remnants of the wall remain......