At the urging of the heralds sent by the Commander of the Vitz Corps, the 72nd Division reached the south bank of the Lanz River at 4 p.m., a full three hours later than the time requested by the Commander.

Viting looked at Sir Raymond, the commander of the 72nd Division, with a blushing face, although he was seriously late, it was difficult for Viting to punish this guy as the commander of the legion, because he was a side branch of the family of Knoyes, Prince of Pritton.

Although he was looked at by his boss with extremely unkind eyes, Raymond Noy Knoyer did not have any fear. Originally, as a side of the Knoille family, the cousin of Michel VII, and a close associate of the Pritown faction, he had coveted the position of the commander of the Southern Legion for a long time, but after the sudden death of the former corps commander Baron Fairfax, because Sir Raymond himself was in a secret conversation with the prince in Nanterley, he could not make an inch of contribution to seize the control of the Southern Legion, and finally could only watch the position of the legion commander being taken away by the Viting, so he himself was very unconvinced by the new legion commander, and relied on the backer Michel VII to oppose the Viting everywhere。

Although he was now being looked at by the Captain of the Viting Legion with a fierce look, Raymond still looked like he didn't care. He was deliberately slowing down the march and didn't want Weiting to quickly take Lanzi Town, so he had long expected that Weiting would not give him a good look.

Several division commanders were here, and Wei Ting couldn't be angry on the spot, but he didn't intend to let go of this knuveyer who was against him just like that.

"I command!" he said in a loud voice, drawing everyone's attention, "the 72nd Division is the main attack, and it is imperative to take the bridge to Lanz Town tonight and open the way to the march." ”

"I refuse. ”

"You dare to disobey military orders?" Vitin glared at Raymond as if he wanted to eat him in one bite.

Raymond also glared back without showing weakness, and said confidently: "Our army needs to rest and recuperate now after a long and rapid march. ”

This kind of turtle crawling at the same speed is also called a rapid march?Wei Ting almost wanted to throw the whip directly at this hateful face, but in the end he held back.

"In that case, then the 72nd Division should have a good rest, and you don't have to participate in this battle. ”

Raymond's face couldn't help but sink, this was to completely deny him a chance to make meritorious contributions. He became more and more disgusted with this court. The previous order was clearly to ask his troops to be cannon fodder, and after being refused, he simply did not give him a chance to make meritorious contributions, which made him how could he bear it.

"The 72nd Division, with 8,000 men, is the most elite main force of the Southern Corps. If we don't go to war, if we lose, how are you going to explain it to His Royal Highness?"

This bastard really thinks of Prince Pritown as the boss of the legion! Vittin is furious, the southern princes only regard the prince as a leader, not as a master. "Division Commander Knoyes, our Southern Army is not the army of Pritown! If you really want to change your court, you can take off this military uniform now and go to Nanterley to serve His Royal Highness!"

These words also made Raymond angry, and he stalked his neck and shot back loudly. "Do you want to question the commander and leadership of His Royal Highness the Prince?

This question made Wei Ting hesitate and couldn't speak. Compared to the other southern princes, the rebellion of their southern legions was the most unreasonable. They were the army of the Empire, soldiers who were directly under the orders of the Emperor, and had no land or legal obligations in the South. If there is any claim made by Prince Pritown and other Southern nobles, then the Southern Legion is a complete rebellion, and without Michel VII supporting them, they will not receive any support from public opinion.

Seeing that the anger on both sides was getting bigger and bigger, especially the commander of the Weiting Corps, who was already angry, the commander of the 88th Division, Dalad, hurriedly came out to make peace. "Please calm down, please calm down! They are all comrades who are fighting together, why do you need to be so angry?" The short Daladier hurriedly stood between the two of them, but he was too short to block the fierce gaze of Wei Ting and Raymond, "We still have to come up with a plan to take Lanz Town first, if we haven't made any progress by the time the prince and several dukes have arrived, won't we lose face in front of the prince and dukes?"

Dara has always been a smooth person at first, and he gets along well with his colleagues. He was not originally a member of the Pritown faction, but when the Vitent seized power, he immediately turned to the Prince, so that he did not suffer in a luxurious villa like his colleagues who were under house arrest in Nanterley.

Viting and Raymond both have a good relationship with Daladier, so this time they will give up arguing for the sake of Daladier's face, but the two still keep a straight face and ignore each other.

Without looking at the disgusting face, Wei Ting said to Daladier: "Division Commander Daladier, let your artillery regiment set up positions by the river, and we will launch the first attack at midnight." ”

"Midnight?" Daladier looked at the Legion Commander in surprise, "Is it a night attack?"

"Yes, we can't give the other side too much time, otherwise if reinforcements from the Western Province arrive, it will be even more difficult for us to take Lanz Town. ”

"So where is the target of the artillery, that bridge?"

"No, you can't shell that bridge. Wei Ting shook his head and said, "That bridge is a key line of communication, and if the bridge is blown up, the follow-up troops will have to spend more effort to cross the river to collect boats." I chose to attack at night in order not to damage the bridge as much as possible. ”

After explaining to Daladier, Wei Ting looked at the commander of the 75th Division again. "Commander Dawes, will your soldiers be able to make enough sampans before midnight?"

Dawes frowned, his face was not very good-looking, after all, the work that his troops were doing now did not want to be what a soldier should do. "With the current progress, you can make up a sampan that transports a thousand soldiers at a time, but the quality is not guaranteed, do you want to send some life-saving supplies to each of the soldiers?"

Hearing the words of Senior Commander Daowes, Wei Ting's originally ugly face couldn't help but show a slight smile. Dawes said this as if he were selling him something, although he didn't mean to.

"No, my cavalry and horses will never be drowned. We've found a shallower section of the river upstream, and your troops should cross the river with us, and the shores of Port Bess must have taught them how to swim, right?"

"Okay, I'll get my people ready. Dawis sighed and accepted the order. Although the commander's tone made him very helpless, the 75th Division was teased not for the first time, and he had long been used to such jokes. What's more, this time the commander of the Weiting Corps gave him was not a bad errand, and attacking the enemy's flank with the 63rd Cavalry Division was obviously a good opportunity for meritorious service.

"So which unit will take charge of the main attack?"

Wei Ting glanced at Raymond, whose face was ugly, and snorted coldly. "Except for the 72nd Division, all the remaining troops here are the main attackers, and the vanguard is the 64th Division. ”

The commander of the 64th Division nodded and accepted the order, and the others had no objections, only Raymond blushed, and cursed Wei Ting's defeat in his heart for not getting a chance to play.

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While the Southern Army completed its battle deployment, the Lanz Town garrison on the north bank was also nervously preparing to meet the enemy. The communications of the imperial capital were soon restored, and Viscount Jericho and General Sissel received two good news from the War Department, the Munster army led by General O'Brien was rushing to the aid of Lanz Town, and at the same time, the armies of several central provinces close to Deweide such as Mittsey were also moving closer to Deweide, once the decisive battle at Lands Town began, then the imperial army would not only be 50,000 people, but would add 30,000 standing troops in the central provinces, a total of 80,000 people to meet the rebels, and the difference in strength between the two sides was almost non-existent.

At the same time, the Minister of War Guderian also issued strict orders to Viscount Jericho and General Cecil, demanding that they must hold the town of Lanz. Once the town of Lanz is lost, then these reinforcements are meaningless, and the decisive battle will be fought in Germany.

Viscount Jericho and General Cecil, who received the death order, did not dare to rest for a moment, and always observed the movements on the other side of the river.

"It looks like we have at least thirty thousand enemies—" the old general sighed as he put down his binoculars. Many of the troop flags he saw had fought side by side with him, but today the two sides were going to meet each other, which made him sigh.

"The enemy may attack at night. Viscount Jericho said calmly.

"Why would you make such a judgment?"

"The War Office had previously said that the enemy's spies had deliberately created chaos in Dweed, attacking the War Office building and the Tiamat Palace, which was clearly a signal that the enemy was preparing to launch an all-out attack. I think that Pritown's army should not be far away, and the Southern Army must want to capture it as soon as possible, so as to open the way for the larger army behind to Deweide. ”

The old general couldn't help but nod his head when he heard this, which coincided with his thoughts.

"Come on, then, we're not to be messed with. ”

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At midnight, Daladier's artillery regiment was the first to signal the battle, dozens of mortars roared together, and the fire from the muzzles illuminated the dark night, and the defenders of Lands Town were the first to detect the enemy's attack.

Dozens of shells crossed the Lanz River and flew towards positions on the northern bank. A few of them landed in the river at the wrong angle, but most of the shells still landed on the defenders' positions, however, with their strong fortifications and the night's vigilance, the first round of shelling did not cause much damage to the defenders. The other side of the river also reacted quickly, turning on searchlights to shine on the surface of the river to prevent the enemy from crossing the river.

The soldiers of the 64th Division began to attack the heavily defended bridge, because the artillery deliberately bypassed the bridge to fire shells, and the machine-gun fortress on the bridge was basically undamaged, and the soldiers of the 64th Division could not raise their heads due to the dense tongues of fire, and the first wave of people were beaten back as soon as they got on the bridge.

The commander of the Viting Corps and his staff officers, who were paying attention to the battle situation, frowned, the enemy's firepower was different from what they estimated during the day, and there was obviously a hidden machine gun fortress on the bridge, and the intensity of the fire was no longer something that the soldier's flesh could force through.

"Let's let the artillery attack the enemy on the bridge, the casualties will be too great. Seeing that the second group of soldiers had been beaten back, the chief of staff could not sit still, and he immediately made a proposal to the commander of the Viting Corps.

"Wait. Wei Ting waved his hand and refused the chief of staff's suggestion, anyway, it was not his descendants who were killed or injured, and he was not distressed.

Soon, the positions on the opposite bank launched a counterattack on the Southern Corps. The mortars deployed on the north bank also began to fire, and the light from the previous fire of the artillery regiment of the 88th Division made the north bank notice the position of the enemy's artillery, and all the artillery fire from the north greeted the artillery positions, and the intensity was even more fierce than the previous fire on the south bank.

Seeing that the enemy had much stronger artillery fire than his own side, Wei Ting's face couldn't help but be a little ugly. He turned to the chief of staff and asked, "Connaught only has a strength of five thousand people, how can there be so many mortars?"

The chief of staff didn't understand why the other party had so many cannons, so he could only reply to his commander in a hesitant tone: "Maybe it was specially mobilized to defend Lanz Town." ”

Viting was not satisfied with this explanation, looking at the number of shells, there were at least hundreds of cannons on the north bank, and there was no reason why so many mortars were all placed in Lanz Town. If it was in Germany, then the firepower of hundreds of guns would still make Weiting feel a little little, but the small town of Lantz also had so much heavy firepower, which made him feel a little unbelievable.

"Could it be the equipment of the Imperial Capital Garrison ......?"

Adjutant Henry's muttering fell into the ears of the Captain of the Viting Legion, and it made him a little puzzled. Although I don't think that the gendarmerie unit will have much combat effectiveness, after all, it is a unit with the word "imperial capital" in the number, and it is somewhat possible that the equipment is so good.

Just when Vitin and his staff were wondering how much artillery the enemy would have, a second round of shelling on the north shore came. The previous bombardment of the artillery regiment of the 88th Division was very effective, but the south bank could not receive artillery support, so the second round of artillery bombardment on the north bank hit the entire south bank position, and one shell even fell around the command post of Weiting.

The command post shook suddenly, and the dirt from the shells smashed onto Vitin's two-horned cap. When the command post was set up, it naturally considered the possibility of being attacked by enemy artillery fire, so it must have been outside the range of the artillery, but now that the opponent's shells have hit the side of the command post, not only the chief of staff, but even the commander of the Weiting Corps himself can't sit still.

"Damn, why can their mortars hit so far?"

The staff officers looked at each other, and the chief of staff's face was particularly ugly. "Probably the latest mortars. I've heard of it, but I haven't seen it with my own eyes because the Southern Corps is not yet equipped. ”

Wei Ting slammed his fist on the table, he now felt that he had underestimated the gendarmerie before. Since the Southern Army is not equipped, there should not be a standing army in the western provinces, so it can only be the equipment of the imperial capital garrison.

"Immediately send a herald to get Dawis to the predetermined position as soon as possible and launch an attack on the flank of the enemy position. Now the winner of the battle will depend on them. ”

"The Seventy-fifth Division has only produced a small number of sampans, and the troops will have to cross the river in several batches, and Commander Dawes should have let the troops cross the river before we attacked, so I'm afraid it's too late to send people now. The chief of staff said with some concern.

"Even if you swim across the river to catch up with them, aren't our horses fast enough?" said Vitin, who started the fire and roared loudly.

In the face of the angry boss, the chief of staff did not dare to say anything more to pour cold water, and immediately sent someone to go.

"Could it be that artillery will also be placed on the opposite side in the flank direction?" a staff officer questioned.

Wei Ting sighed, although the current disadvantage made him restless, but as a commander, he must not lose his cool on the battlefield. "Probably not, and even if there were, there couldn't be too many. Since the opposing side has already deployed so much firepower on the front, it is unlikely that there will be more surplus artillery deployed on the flanks. ”

Although he said this, Wei Ting himself knew in his heart that if a considerable amount of artillery was also deployed on the other side of the river, then the battle situation would be one-sided and unfavorable to them.

For some reason, Wei Ting always had a bad premonition in his heart. He always felt that this time the battle would be very different from his layout, as if there was a dark cloud pressing on his heart, making him restless.

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In the moonlight, a fine cold sweat oozed from Dawes's forehead. He was surrounded by the sound of gunfire and the shouts of cavalry as they assaulted, and the night that had been dark was now darkened by the flames of battle.

Witting's premonition was fulfilled, and two brigades of the 75th and 63rd Cavalry Divisions led by Dawes, less than ten kilometers east of the town of Lands, were met head-on by 10,000 Munster's troops from the border between Dweide and Glamorgan.

In order to conceal themselves, Dawes did not let the troops turn on the lights, and only used the faint moonlight to find their way, so when they spotted an army nearby, it was too late to evade.

Baron Isel Noe O'Brien, who commanded 10,000 Munster's army, was also taken aback when he encountered Dawes's army, but he immediately judged that it was not a friendly army, for there was no unit in the vicinity of Dwedt that had so many cavalry. After turning on the lights and seeing the flag of the Southern Legion, he did not hesitate to order the soldiers to attack, and the Stag Corps, which had once shocked the whole continent, launched a tsunami like a jackal.

Dawis heard the distinctive Munster accent from across the side and knew it was Munster's Bucks Corps. He couldn't help but secretly complain in his heart, the Munster people were famous for their courage and good fighting, and Dungar I, Duke of Munster, who was accepted as a vassal by Midletus II, led the iron cavalry of the empire to travel all over the continent, and was a legendary figure known as the first general of Siliul. And now, it was up to him to learn the heroism of the Munsters.

He hurriedly ordered the cavalry of the 63rd Cavalry Division to charge and flank the enemy from both flanks, while the 75th Division of the headquarters lined up and began to shoot.

The melee at night was the most likely to cause accidental injuries, and when the two sides were entangled, neither of them could tell each other apart, and Dawes soon lost control of the troops, and he couldn't even figure out where the rest of the troops were, except for the direct company around him.

The tide of battle began to move in a direction that Viting could not have predicted.