Thus, on January 22, 1742, William's army of 60,000 and the army of 100,000 under Emperor Kalman IV opened up in the north-central part of the empire. Pen Fun Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo

After several days of set-up, cavalry outposts, and skirmishes. The two sides lined up their respective arrays. Wilhelm lined up with his back to Magdeburg, using a manor on the outskirts of Magdeburg's old town as his command center. At the same time, the small ships of Hereford's navy also controlled a golden waterway that was vital to both sides, namely the Elbe.

Through this waterway, the Hereford family can calmly mobilize troops and transport supplies. Although the volume and speed of transportation are slightly worse than those of the railway network, it is still much better than the Imperial Army, which has nothing and can only rely on the simplest livestock and manpower transportation.

In this way, Hereford's army easily occupied positions on both sides of the Elbe. Under William's command, several barracks and artillery positions were built to control the nearest shoal on the battlefield.

The shallow beach is located north of Magdeburg. William deployed a legion here...... He also ordered his henchman John Jr. to garrison the place as a commander, and waited for an opportunity to attack the flank of the Imperial army.

In fact, if King Otto could join the campaign now, William would have devised a much bolder tactic. He would deploy his two separate cavalry brigades, as well as at least two regiments, to the northern cluster, so that the army would become a strong and deadly fist, and the Hereford army would be able to deal with its enemies more calmly and effectively.

It's just a pity that William can't do that. With John Jr.'s ability, commanding a legion is already very difficult. The troops who gave him two legions were completely irresponsible to the soldiers. In this case, William could only play against King Otto on his own.

As Wilhelm had thought, the main forces of the Emperor's imperial army were all concentrated in Magdeburg. In other words, Magdeburg, the northeastern town of the empire, is the focus of contention between the two sides.

It's not that they think Magdeburg is the best goal. Rather, they could not find a second more suitable place besides Magdeburg.

The Emperor wanted to send cavalry, or a small force, around the rear of Hereford's army. But that's completely impossible.

William's cavalry troops were much more numerous than him. At the same time, it took full control of the Elbe. Combined, these two points are enough to discourage the Imperial Army.

Then, there was William's army. William also wanted to make some small moves or something. But if you think about it, forget it...... The lack of troops on their own side is one thing, and the displeasure with the Hereford family is another.

The displeasure with the Hereford family here refers to the nobles and people in other parts of the empire.

The Hereford family's efforts to build the Northeast and implement policies conducive to centralization have made the nobles who currently hold the power of the empire feel uneasy and angry.

"What if those barbarians of House Hereford were allowed to control the power of the Empire?!"

From top to bottom, such arguments pervaded the Empire. It also indirectly affected the perception of ordinary people about the Hereford family. All in all, if the Hereford family were to advance into the interior of the empire now, it would take tenfold, if not more, effort to stabilize the situation on the ground.

If this was something that was done after the end of the war, forget it. But the problem is that the war is still going on. Moreover, 100,000 against 60,000, no matter how you look at it, the probability of His Majesty's victory is a little higher. If His Majesty the Emperor wins and then pursues himself or something, it is not very cost-effective to be decisive.

So under this kind of request, the Hereford family sent an attack on the surrounding territory, and it was not worth it to send too many troops. William's forces were not so many in the first place, and it would be a bit ...... to weaken too much Never mind.

And if the number is too small...... Well, the small number seems to be a little useful - in fact, William also considered whether to detour a separate cavalry brigade through the enemy's rear to attack the enemy's rear and transport supply lines.

But when he thought about it, he didn't think it was useful.

Because, there needs to be one thing to cut off the logistics supply line, that is, there is a logistics supply line. If that's the case, fine. Those vehicles, logistics troops, etc., are very good targets......

It's just a great pity that the Imperial Army has not yet been upgraded to that extent. The current imperial army still maintains the style of the feudal army, that is, collecting grain and grass on the spot and not giving money or anything. An army of 100,000 attacked everywhere, turning the entire northern part of the empire into a miasma or something. This made William a little speechless. Speaking of which, Emperor Kalman IV is also one of the famous generals, why can't he take care of it and reform it?

All in all, if there is a reason for the defeat of the Imperial army, then William must have counted the chaotic supply system, and it is quite a front. Regardless, the Emperor's army was still a formidable enemy, and they could not be expected to bring themselves down.

That's it, the nearly sixty-thousand-strong army of the Hereford family deployed an array around Magdeburg. At the same time, the Imperial Army had already lined up their arrays. A war of incomprehensible scale in the world today. In this way, it will be unveiled......

Whether it is the army, whether it is weapons and equipment, or whether it is the opponent, it is perfect. After stepping into the battlefield, William was even a little intoxicated for a while. Revel in such a one-of-a-kind battlefield.

He felt that he was standing on the most important theatrical stage in the world, unique in the world, and appeared as the most important character - of course, whether his character would eventually become the protagonist or the villain. It will depend on the outcome of this war.

That's it, William laid out a standard regiment in his first array. He was going to use this legion to test the enemy's combat effectiveness. With a total of six infantry regiments, two cavalry regiments and an artillery regiment, the Hereford Praetorian Guard Regiment was largely capable of fighting independently. At the same time, the person who commanded the battle this time was none other than his aunt, Duchess Freya, who had been valued very much by William in recent times.

With such a commander, he could understand William's purpose. That is, it doesn't matter if he is defeated, his key is to let Freya gain some experience in commanding large legions...... Although it seems that it is not very good to say that such an important battle is to do this. But William didn't think it was bad either.

On the contrary, it was precisely because it was an outpost of such an important battle that William would do this-

As it was said before, the Imperial Army had the upper hand, at least the vast majority of people thought it was. Therefore, in such an important war, the other side must adopt steady and steady tactics in the first battle.

In this way, even if your own commander is a little worse, there is no problem.

That's it.

And the real situation is basically the same as William thought. The forward commander of the Imperial Army is indeed a veteran and civilized commander, and this commander and Duchess Freya can be regarded as chess opponents and talents. Nearly 20,000 Imperial troops advanced silently under the command of a steady Imperial General. Enduring the bombardment of the large and small Napoleonic guns of the Hereford family - it is a great pity that the eighteen-pounder unicorn and howitzer are not equipped with such weapons of mass destruction. Otherwise, it will definitely cause more results.

However, despite the heavy losses, the general's army was very tenacious - of course, the reason for their tenacity may also be the large number of overseers behind them, and the large number of bloody heads.

Whatever one may say, under the near-perfect artillery bombardment of the Hereford family, huntsman fire, shotgun bombardment, three-column salvo, throwing grenade band attacks. The attack of the first batch of fifteen companies of the opponent vanished. Thousands of Imperial soldiers became corpses on the battlefield.

Such a pleasant battle made Duchess Freya can't help but have the illusion that war is nothing more than this, and there doesn't seem to be anything too difficult.

So, the duchess decisively decided that she should be more radical. Play well with a big one.

Under the influence of such thoughts, Freya almost didn't think about it seriously, and **** out the lancers under her command. Then the artillery unit was ordered to bombard the right flank of the opposing array, hoping to blast a gap, and then charge with the Lancers, preferably with a charge.

That's it, initially, the tactics of the duchess were very successful. The shelling ability of hundreds of Napoleonic guns is unmatched by any artillery group of this era. After an unbearable heavy shelling, the lancers charged.

Hundreds of lancers slowly approached under the cover of shells, and then increased their speed, raised their hands in the Chinese and German style of the super-long vermilion cavalry spear, and launched a fierce charge towards the gap in the opponent's array.

Looking at this shocking scene, the Duchess couldn't help but think of several large-scale battles she participated in when she was younger, when knights could still fight as an independent class. At that time, it was very exciting and rewarding to watch those knights in sharp armor charge and crush the seemingly powerful and numerous enemies in front of them.

The Duchess did not deny that such a shocking scene had changed her worldview to a certain extent, and now, she did not deny that she did like to see such scenes.

However.

It's a pity.

Freya's command skills still need to be strengthened. The cavalry unit she commanded did not achieve the tactical effect she had hoped for. Mainly because of the poor connection between the artillery bombardment and the cavalry charge. Give the enemy enough time to reinforce the battered, broken front. In the face of the enemy infantry armed with extra-long spears and waiting in battle, the charge of the lancers was useless, and at the same time it was a tragic loss......