I will be crowned king

While Bernard was still shocked that the imperial aristocrats in Snapdragon City were not even performing and were preparing to join forces with Clovis, the preparations for the establishment of the Western Front Army Headquarters in Red Moon Town had entered the final stage.

"Everyone on position—guns raised!"

Under a clear sky, hundreds of infantry columns lined up in the wilderness outside the fortress wall, forming a nearly rectangular infantry square; Clovis soldiers dressed in neat red and black military uniforms held their heads high and faced He held the rifle across his shoulder facing the rising sun. The sunlight refracted by the bayonet was extremely dazzling, casting a golden layer on the entire phalanx.

Glorious cannons were displayed among the phalanxes. Elite hussars recruited from the eastern fortresses sat on their horses, wearing armor that was completely different from the imperial cavalry. Only the chest and arms were protected. The bicorn hat worn on the side and the slender feather decoration are refreshing.

The entire phalanx was divided into three, and in front of each part was a huge military flag surrounded by a military band. It was mainly black and red, with golden tassels on the edges; the center of the flag on the left was painted with a raised The white horse on the front hooves, and on the right side is a very flamboyant red sun disk.

In the middle, the most eye-catching flag, the shape of the eye of the storm is outlined in gray and white, and is divided into two by a golden lightning bolt.

"Stand at attention - salute!"

As the officers shouted angrily, tens of thousands of soldiers raised their heads in order, looking at the tower directly in front of them while clenching their right hands into fists and beating their chests heavily:

"Hurray Clovis!!!!"

"Hurray Clovis!!!! Hooray-!!!! Hooray-!!!!"

Waves of sound echoed across the mountains, like thunder exploding under a clear sky, making everyone standing on the tower have mixed feelings.

"This is really... so exciting." Looking at the densely packed figures under his feet, almost filling the valley, Carl Bain had mixed feelings: "A hundred thousand troops... although this is not the first time I have seen so many. army, but why does it feel different?"

"Probably because this time the 100,000-strong army is no longer a friendly force that has nothing to do with us, or a cobbled-together coalition force, but an army that belongs to us and can truly be commanded by our arm, right?"

Anson, who was standing in front of him, smiled and turned around: "Thunder Castle, Hantu, Yser, New World, and Clovis City...we survived."

"yes……"

Sighing heavily, Carl Bain rarely refuted him this time, but nodded solemnly, with the corners of his mouth rising uncontrollably.

Time and time again, I was controlled by others, and time and time again I was forced to accept almost death, or destined to be thankless troubles, but I finally got through it!

Independent staff, independent logistics system, absolutely free combat authority, completely independent policies that are not restricted by the rear...

And four... not one, not two, but the size of four standing legions, plus a highly independent "front army" organization that Clovis has never had in the past!

When a war broke out in Clovis in the past, the situation could be roughly divided into two types: a border counterattack, where orders were issued directly by the king or the Ministry of War. Each legion did its own thing, and there was no higher-level commander.

The other is when the situation is critical and multiple legions must be assembled to fight, then a "marshal" or chariot will be temporarily appointed to fight in person, but the commander-in-chief of each standing legion still has a high degree of independence; even the marshal himself What was carried out was still the King's instructions issued in the name of the War Department.

But this time it was different... Although the reasons were all ulterior, Clovis, who had experienced the victory in the Red Moon Town Counterattack, made the unprecedented decision to establish a larger than standing army, capable of independently undertaking a war direction, and completely different Under the control of the War Department.

Of course, this is not accurate. The actual situation is that for various reasons, the Ministry of War has delegated a large amount of authority to the staff of this front army, and the only restrictions on it are the approval of logistics supplies and personnel appointments, that is, the use of human-shaped seals. To such an extent, it is almost impossible to intervene in any military decisions of the front army.

In addition, the front army also owns the Hongyue Town Fortress as its headquarters and outpost. Not only does the Army Department have no right to interfere with the affairs of the fortress, it also has to provide manpower and material resources to completely rebuild the entire fortress according to the previously provided drawings.

Since the mission of the front army is to counterattack the empire, all standards, especially materials, must of course be provided according to corresponding specifications; the new Army Ministry lacks experience, and in addition to completing basic paper standards, it can only find them from filing cabinets. Before Clovis took the initiative to launch the war, the level, scale and proportion of various materials, personnel, and equipment were unknown.

Two hussar divisions, three armored cavalry regiments, fifteen grenadier regiments, all equipped with breech-loading rifles, one hundred and twenty-eight artillery pieces, and even an elite cavalry artillery regiment.

It is precisely because of this that Carl Bain is so emotional... Counting how many years have passed since he joined the army, he has taken countless scapegoats, but he has never fought such a rich war!

"But why was the original Silver Bayonet Legion replaced by the Storm Legion?"

Pointing to the brand new flag below, Karl turned to look at Fabian beside him: "And...who designed that flag?"

"Well, it's a bit complicated to say." The newly promoted brigadier general and the newly appointed chief of general staff had a meaningful expression:

"It was indeed the Silver Bayonet Legion that was supposed to come, but before the first steam train arrived, information about the suspected movement of the Imperial Fleet came from the North Port."

"With the shadow of the ninety-fifth year of the Saint's Calendar, the National Assembly still feels that it is better to leave this legion in the north just in case; but in this way, the only thing left that can be transferred to the Western Front Army is stationed there. The Storm Legion in Clovis City."

"Ah...it doesn't matter to me personally, or it would actually be better if we could bring the Storm Legion here..." Karl, who couldn't help frowning, scratched his head:

"But without the Storm Legion, how can we maintain public order in Clovis City? Wouldn't it be troublesome if another riot breaks out?"

"Please don't worry about this. During the battle to retake Red Moon Town, our Minister of War, Miss Sophia, and Speaker Christian, have worked together to solve this problem." Fabian chuckled and waved his hand:

"Because of this, there is no need for the Storm Legion to be stationed in Zaklovi City anymore; instead of doing nothing in the rear, it is better to join the counterattack against the Empire that is about to begin; many old guys from the Storm Legion have heard about the Ranger Legion We won a big victory in Hongyue Town, but everyone is quite greedy."

While speaking, he also secretly looked at Anson, and the two people who looked at each other nodded tacitly.

Why withdraw the Storm Legion? Of course, we must give Viscount Bogner a chance to act!

If Viscount Bogner does not withdraw, his next action will inevitably take the Storm Legion into consideration, and then he will be faced with a two-way dilemma of suppressing or not suppressing:

If you suppress it immediately, it will definitely destroy the plan of the Truth Society, and it will not be able to completely clear out the conservative wealthy families and their followers; if you do not suppress it, because of the special connection between the Storm Legion and Anson, it is equivalent to telling others that all this is It was Anson's tacit approval, which is completely unclear.

In addition, the Western Front Army is about to be established. If Anson Bach, an "infant commander-in-chief" who has been in the army family for less than ten years including schooling, does not have a loyal enough "soldiers" to protect him, he will No matter how much I think about it, I feel that I am at risk of being ignored by the old fritters below.

After considering many aspects, it was still safest to bring the Storm Legion to the front line - as for the empire's risk of attacking North Port and so on... It is okay to deceive the laymen of the National Assembly with such lies, but it cannot be deceived by our own people.

In fact, when the Storm Legion was transferred to the front line, Ludwig was the first to be alert, but he was worried that the National Assembly in the rear wanted to do something stupid and break the agreement between him and Anson; Anson soon guaranteed the agreement in person Everything remains the same, and the friendship between the two will never be harmed by this "small change".

Ludwig didn't know whether there was a so-called "friendship", but since Anson said so, it proved that it was voluntary on his part, and it was also his problem if he got into trouble.

Looking at the tacit expressions of the two people in front of him, Karl rolled his eyes and remained silent. His principle has always been to avoid getting into trouble if he can. Curiosity can really kill people.

"The commander-in-chief, the officers of each legion, the staff of the staff headquarters, and friends from Hantu are all here." Fabian took half a step forward and whispered:

"Should we go down and say hello to everyone first, and let the newcomers meet their commander-in-chief?"

"OK."

Anson nodded, looked at Karl with a chuckle: "Let's go, my chief of staff."

"It's the deputy chief of staff!" Karl still took the trouble to correct him: "After all these years, I can finally do something for others, and I no longer have to be so busy that I vomit blood. From now on, you can just go and mess with Fabian, the new unlucky guy. Got it!"

"This... I'm afraid I'm going to disappoint you."

Fabian, who was holding his hands behind his back, showed a wry smile: "Although I was appointed as the Chief of General Staff, it was simply because my military rank happened to be stuck here. If I was directly appointed as deputy commander, I was worried about being gossiped about, so I had to take a step back."

"When the war officially breaks out, he will still be with the army. The person responsible for allocating manpower in the staff department, handling various paperwork, and arranging military supplies must be..."

Carl Bain: "..."

The three people with different moods walked down the tower, and the open space below was already crowded with people. The officers had already stood up in rows according to their respective positions and ranks. On Hantu's side, in order to avoid suspicion, only Leon F. François attended alone with two attendants - this was his own strong request.

In his own words: "Clovis and Hantu are about to officially launch a counterattack against the empire. This is a historic moment. It would be a pity to miss it!"

"Everyone - please be quiet."

Fabian, who was the first to take half a step forward, had a face as deep as water, and said in a deep voice to everyone present: "Now, I would like to invite Anson Bach, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of Clovis, the Western Front Army, to give you a lecture!"

In an instant, the dark crowd raised their heads one after another, looking at the figure who was not tall and strong, but even a little thin and too young with different expressions.

Excitement, excitement, doubt, curiosity, disdain, pride... As the most straightforward group of people in Clovis, the officers almost wrote their thoughts directly on their faces.

Gently pushing aside Fabian beside him, Anson deliberately took half a step forward and came directly to the front row, in front of the commanders and division commanders of each legion:

"Before we officially begin, I would like to ask you one thing first, that is, are you... willing to dedicate absolute loyalty to Clovis?"

The heavy words echoed in the silent air, making the officers present slightly surprised.

Of course, this definitely does not include the Storm Legion... In a strange atmosphere, they were the only ones looking at each other, smiling thoughtfully, as if they had heard it somewhere before.

"Yes, I can understand everyone's doubts... Being able to come to the Red Moon Town Fortress is enough to prove that everyone has made up their mind to be loyal to Clovis, who is free and equal, and is ready to be the enemy of the empire." Anson said calmly. Voice:

"But I say, this is not enough, far from enough."

"The counterattack we are about to launch is not what everyone may have thought. It is just a 'counterattack' of conquering a few fortresses on the border of the empire, plundering a few cities, and sweeping away those villages that are not wealthy."

"No, we are not venting our anger or seeking revenge. We are civilized Clovis people. Even in war, we will use actions to prove everything to the enemy; they want to portray us as bloodthirsty and crazy. thugs, and we must use actions to prove to the entire world of order that this is not the case!”

"What is our purpose? It is to prove to the world that the emperor is crazy, that the Herred family is no longer worthy of their position, and that Clovis's overthrow of the Osterian royal family was not a barbaric atrocity, but a civilized one. Resist! We are the ones holding high the banner of justice and defending the ordered world!"

"This...is the real purpose of this war; the Clovis people who have freed themselves from the yoke of the Osterian royal family must also free themselves from the yoke of the man named Joseph Herred III for the empire; we must completely Defeat him, crush him; we want revenge, but not indiscriminately, but tooth for tooth, blood for blood, and thoroughly get rid of the emperor of the empire who is only for personal gain and who deliberately wants to seize Clovis!"

"This is true loyalty to Clovis; and those who are truly loyal to Clovis will definitely receive fair rewards." Anson said solemnly:

"In the name of Clovis, I, Anson Bach, have obtained the highest authorization from the National Assembly to take charge of all foreign affairs during the war, including but not limited to alliances, declaration of war and signing of all treaties, as well as the appointment and dismissal of all personnel on the front line, rewards and punishments The power of reward and punishment.”

"Now...those who still think they are loyal to Clovis please stay, otherwise..."

"You can leave now!"