The afternoon sun shines into the deep fortifications from the vents, observation windows and shooting holes of the fortresses in various places in the Bergst Fortress. The bright light pierces the darkness, but it cannot make the gloomy guardians optimistic.

In front of the observation window on the west side of Fortress 1, Lieutenant Bjor Gustav of the 15th Rifle Regiment of the Kingdom of Wessex Army stood alone for a long time. He squinted his eyes and quietly watched the Norman ships, armored ships, frigates, and transport ships, which were only a dozen ships in total. The scene was not shocking, and it was incomparable to the ship-reading style at the 30th anniversary celebration of King Edra II of Wessex. But the more this happened, the more uncomfortable the Lieutenant Gustav felt...

Among the three major powers today, the Wessex Kingdom's aviation strength is the weakest, but it is not as weak as it is worth mentioning. Due to the existence of the Ulster-Wessex Alliance, the Norman Empire had to separate its aviation power and deploy it in the east, north and the capital area in the hinterland. In terms of scale, the main Wessex fleet has an overwhelming advantage over the Norman Northern Fleet. The Minister of Defense of Wessex Duke Deschilvester once said that he would annihilate the Norman Northern Fleet within two hours. The North Fries area is in Wessex.

In the cracks between the Kingdom of S and the Norman Empire, it only took three or four hours for the Wessex main fleet and the Norman Empire Northern fleet to reach North Fries from their respective garrisons. After witnessing the battle of the Wessex task force defeating the Norman fleet the day before, Lieutenant Gustav had already realized painfully that the Normans had really brought up a terrible killer in recent years. Armored ships against armored ships actually achieved a crushing victory in one round. Under such circumstances, the main fleet of our side would not appear in North Fries again in a short period of time.

Without air support, it is almost impossible to break the siege of the Bergst Fortress with the Wessex Army and the Joken militia alone.

Lieutenant Gustav felt a little relieved that the place where he and his companions were built was a modern fortress built by the Kingdom of Fries for more than 6 years, spending 45 million Fries - about 12 million kroners. Although this fund came from war reparations from the Norman Empire, it was an unprecedented military project for such a small mountain country. In order to resist attacks from the air, the fortress was equipped with 12 doors and 41.

The PIR-caliber super-heavy anti-aircraft guns and 30 26PIR-caliber heavy anti-aircraft guns, as well as a large number of rapid-air guns for ground defense, are deployed in the fortresses everywhere, forming a three-dimensional defense circle without four corners. The main body of the fortress is a solid reinforced concrete structure, which is thick enough to resist the continuous bombardment of large-caliber naval guns. Moreover, there are wooden partitions inside the fortresses to absorb external explosions and in theory, they can cope with squadron-level attacks.

The evening before yesterday, the Norman fleet came with victory and launched a tentative attack on the Fort Bergst, and the defenders immediately fought back. In this fierce artillery battle with few results, the fortress's anti-aircraft artillery group showed enough powerful deterrence. Not to mention the three or two armored ships in front of them, even if one or two battleships equipped with heavy artillery were coming, they still had the power to fight back.

In this fortress besieged by the Norman army, there are 417 Wessex soldiers, 544 Yoken militias and 29 Yoken soldiers who originally served in the Fries army. With less than a thousand troops, if they do not receive support from their own air forces, forcibly breaking through will basically be a dead end. Stay behind to defend the fortress, and may survive the situation and the Normans voluntarily withdraw their troops...

The more than 400 Wessex soldiers trapped in the Fortress of Bergst were from three different troops. Lieutenant Gustav's company came from the 15th Rifle Regiment, the gunners led by Lieutenant Falken were from the 39th Air Defense Battalion, and Lieutenant Miller's gunners were from the 6th Fortress Regiment. As for the more than 500 Yoken militias who formed four combat companies, they were basically all geniuses who had only attacked military training for several weeks, and the company was still unable to get along. Their biggest role was to help the gunners carry shells, and they could not rely on others.

"The Normans are still not moving?"

A low voice came from behind, and Gustav quickly turned around and saluted the officer wearing a silver collar.

Major Roots was the commander of Operation Begst, appointed by the General Staff of the Kingdom of Wessex Army. After the Wessex army and the Jokan armed forces occupied the Begst Fortress, he naturally became the acting commander here.

"Nothing is happening for the time being, but..." Gustav paused, "I have a bad feeling that they are preparing for the offense, and, most likely, are launching the offense in a way we have never seen before."

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

Major Roots said halfway, and then he kept shaking his head.

"They are not attacking for the time being, maybe they just treat us as bait on the hook." Gustav speculated.

Major Roots smiled bitterly: "The bait has no power to determine one's own destiny."

As he spoke, he walked to the observation window and looked at the ominous "dark clouds" in the sky. After only a few seconds, he frowned and said, "They are moving!"

Gustav's face changed suddenly. He picked up the binoculars he carried with him and looked at it for a while: "Their armored ships are adjusting their positions, and it seems they are going to take action! Sir, order to enter the highest alert!"

Major Roots hesitated for a moment: "Will they do it so quickly?"

Gustav did not answer because he was not sure whether the enemy would attack the Bergst Fortress so quickly. If not, ordering alert at this time would only make the soldiers nervous and pessimistic, and consume the few remaining morale early.

In sight, the two Norman armored ships slowly moved forward, but were still outside the range of the fortress artillery. After a while, they both adjusted their postures and faced the fortress direction.

At this time, Major Roots finally realized that something was wrong was about to happen, and hurriedly shouted: "Hurry, send the order, the highest warning for all!"

"Buck! Buck!" Gustav called out to his messenger loudly, "Transfer Major Roots' orders to all the troops, and be on the utmost alert!"

As soon as Gustav finished speaking, he heard Major Roots beside him call out "Oops". He quickly looked out. In addition to the Norman warships, there were two thin white smoke marks in the sky. After looking closely, the smoke marks were two big black fish that were coming quickly.

Before Gustav could think too much, Major Roots suddenly grabbed him and walked into the fortification: "Hurry up! Get out of here!"

The two of them ran along the stairs to the depths of the fortress as if they were flying. Before they could reach the bottom of the stairs, they suddenly felt that the world had collapsed, with the landslides and the earth breaking, and the space was twisted. Not to mention maintaining balance, they felt that being alive in the next second was a great gift from God...

After two extremely violent explosions, the sensory world gradually returned to stability. Gustav and Major Roots stood up with each other. The fortress was filled with thick smoke and dust, so the visible distance was very short. The coughing sounds in the dark made them feel a little more at ease.

Major Roots said to Gustav while coughing: "Hurry up... let your soldiers... go and count the situation of each unit..."

"Buck! Buck!" Gustav called out twice.

A moment later, a figure staggered to them, but not Gustav’s messenger, but a non-commissioned officer under his command.

"Lieutenant, Buck... fainted, and several others fainted. There were cigarettes everywhere inside. It was so bad that we'd better get them outside..."

"You can't go out now!" Major Roots snatched, "The enemy's attack has just begun, and it's not safe to stay outside!"

The smudged and panic-faced gaze turned his attention to Gustav. Although Gustav, 29, had not experienced the cruel battle of the previous war personally, the Royal Military Academy of Wessex has been studying for five years and the outstanding seniors who have taught him tirelessly by example, allowing him to have a full understanding of many aspects of the war. After serving as an officer, he still humbly and meticulously learned various skills and skills from senior non-commissioned officers and veterans, and used a diligent attitude to make up for his lack of experience.

"How is the situation on the vent?" 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 it feels like it is suffocating."

After taking over the Fortress Begst, Gustav took the drawings obtained by the Yokens and spent a week to understand the structure of the fortress and the assembly of various weapons and equipment. In his opinion, this fortress designed and built after the war is no less inferior than the famous fortresses in Wessex. The ventilation system here adopts advanced explosion-proof and pollution-proof technology. Generally speaking, the artillery fire is not enough to cause the current situation of smoke and dust in the fortress. The only reasonable explanation is that the main building of the fortress was structurally damaged in the explosion just now. However, even if the largest caliber naval gun is equipped with the most powerful armor-piercing bomb, it is difficult to cause such damage without any effort. The Normans only had two armored ships, with one round of attack, achieved the power of the battleships' bombardment for a long time?

After hesitating, Gustav turned his head to Major Roots and said: "It seems that the Normans have mastered a completely new weapon technology that can destroy warships and level the fortresses effortlessly. If we continue to resist, no one will be able to leave here alive."

As a commander, the greatest sorrow is to lead his troops to surrender to the enemy. Major Roots blushed, but did not refute Gustav. He lowered his head and thought for a moment, turned around, walked up the steps step by step, and walked to the observation window.
Chapter completed!