I will be crowned king

As night falls, the stars shine brightly.

The cold wind from the Ice Peak of Dawn has blown away the smoke from the battlefield in Eagle Point City, but the air is still filled with the disgusting smell of blood; there are no crows and hyenas in the Dawn Mountains, but when the cries of vultures occasionally come from outside the city, it is still audible. The color changes.

At this moment, Eagle Point City, the only city with twinkling lights on the dark land, was completely enveloped in an atmosphere of joy and laughter; Clovis, Thun... soldiers with tired faces cheered happily for victory.

Although the customs of the two sides are very different, they still quickly got along with each other over wine and dirty jokes. It was so enjoyable that it was hard to believe that the two countries were actually mortal enemies not long ago.

From the castle hall in the fortress to every corner where the aroma of alcohol and bacon can be smelled, everyone is immersed in the joy of victory, forgetting the fatigue of fighting, the pain on the body, and the loss of robes. of sadness.

But as the biggest beneficiary of this victory, Ludwig felt no joy at all.

Standing outside a terrace of the castle, the commander of the Southern Army looked at the morning mountains shrouded in darkness without saying a word, and the noise of soldiers celebrating continued to be heard in his ears.

Yes, he won - not only captured Eagle Point City, but also defeated the "famous" Iser Guards Corps, setting the tone for victory in this Iser Punishment War.

To be honest, as long as this fortress is not lost, no matter how the next battle turns out, Israel will have no chance to make a comeback; the only thing they can change is the size of the land and compensation in the final peace agreement. .

Or... in fact, even this number has nothing to do with them, it just depends on how much His Majesty Carlos II and the members of the Privy Council in Clovis City hope; and in order to make up for the losses caused by the war with the Empire, I am afraid it is not a matter of breaking bones and extracting marrow. To satisfy them.

In order to expand the wealth brought by this victory, the Privy Council who learned the news will definitely do their best to support themselves; as long as they can win, they will be satisfied with whatever they want - anyway, the money and people invested can be obtained from Israel's Take it out of your pocket.

Ludwig was convinced of this. He fought on the Western Front for several months, and the facts verified his suspicions time and time again.

The huge size of the empire is far beyond the reach of Clovis; facing this kind of enemy, Clovis must give full play to his mobilization advantages, retain only a small number of troops at the border, and concentrate a force that can form an absolute force against a single force. The crushing force wiped them out one by one.

A division of 3,000 to 5,000 men, or a legion of 20,000 to 40,000 men... These once "huge" establishments now seem increasingly inadequate; they should be expanded upon and the three The four legions unite as one, and a single battle can determine the fate of victory or defeat.

To form a "grand army" of this size, it requires stronger co-ordination capabilities, better mobilization and delivery capabilities. These are Clovis's real advantages - it can allow more armies to act at the same time in one go, and appear On the same battlefield.

An empire that does not have this ability will be forced to gather an army of the same size to fight; but it is destined to be a ragtag group with unclear orders, fighting independently, and even unable to coordinate logistics planning.

Unfortunately, despite possessing this power, Clovis's officers still hold on to the old ideas of the past era; except for slight tactical advantages, they are essentially no different from the knights of the Empire.

They are even worse than the Imperial Knights - those knights who cling to the glory of the old era are willing to sacrifice themselves for victory; Officer Clovis, who regards fighting as a job and a means of making money, is completely different from them.

On the Western Front, Ludwig was just a brigadier general leading the levy force, an ordinary high-ranking officer who was squeezed out by the army; but on the Southern Front, he was a commander who could decide everything with one sentence. No one except the Privy Council could make decisions. He was gesticulating.

So he is eager to win, and use a decisive victory to let the idiots on the Western Front completely understand, let the Privy Council and His Majesty Carlos II completely understand why they have been losing battles!

Because times have changed!

A war should no longer last for several years or even more than ten years with intermittent fighting; it should be a decisive battle that uses all your strength to defeat the enemy before it even tries to resist in a matter of months or even a year. , in exchange for ten to twenty years of absolute peace.

So he needs to win, and use the glory and iron-clad evidence that victory brings to realize his ideas.

But did he really win?

It seems so - he conquered Eagle Point City, let Yser break the alliance with Thun of the Seven Cities Alliance, and defeated the main force of the Guards Corps.

According to the most popular ways of judging victory at present: hold the position, have a much smaller casualty ratio than the enemy, gain a strategic advantage, seize spoils of war, capture important enemy generals... I have indeed won.

However, he failed to annihilate the Guards Corps.

Under the dark night, Ludwig frowned as he whispered quietly, as if he could see the slope that determined the outcome.

The annihilation of the 40,000 Guards Corps and the captured soldiers and knight generals amounted to more than 20,000. More were impossible to count in the melee, but Ludwig himself believed that the final number should be close to 30,000.

The Guards retreated decisively at the last moment, but they were only one step away from being surrounded and annihilated; all supplies and wounded soldiers were abandoned; according to the observations of the scouts, the strength of the Guards that finally withdrew from the battlefield was only Around ten thousand.

If it were an ordinary Iser army, Ludwig wouldn't care at all; but this Guards Army is a modern army built according to the imperial model; this means that it will not be defeated in one battle and will disperse in a hurry. The army can tenaciously retain its structure by relying on its organization, and can recover itself after the war by replenishing its troops and weapons.

Perhaps the combat effectiveness will decline, or there may be a lack of weapons due to the trade blockade, but...

They weren't really beaten.

They can still come back.

I tried my best to join forces with Anson, and what I got at all costs... was just a victory that made Clovis City cheer, and it did not reach the point where a battle could determine the outcome.

In the cold wind of the night, the gloomy-looking Ludwig slowly looked back, looking thoughtfully at another quiet corner of the cheering Eagle Point City.

In this fortress, besides Roman, he is probably the only person who can truly understand him.

After all the hard work and even taking the initiative to risk his life, he only got such a mediocre result... Anson Bach, he should be more disappointed than himself now, right?

"Snapped!"

After punching the cold wall, Ludwig closed his eyes while desperately suppressing his emotions.

……………………

"Actually...it's not a big problem."

Anson, who was lying on the hospital bed, hugged Lisa, who was already sleeping soundly, and said calmly to Carl Bain.

The girl pounced on him as soon as he was injured and refused to leave even after entering the ward. She wanted to cook for Anson and take care of him; but in the end she couldn't resist the sleepiness and fell asleep on the bed.

After repeatedly confirming that she was asleep, Ansen took a deep breath and kept silently chanting "I'm saved, I'm saved..." in his heart.

"Of course it would be best to completely annihilate the Guards, but it doesn't matter if it doesn't succeed - all the baggage is lost, the commander is captured, and the Guards who fled the battlefield are just a bunch of bereaved dogs, and they will no longer be able to do anything in a short time."

"Yser is not an empire, nor is it Clovis. Without trade routes and the Seven Cities Alliance, their own military industry cannot support legion-level consumption; even if the fully-organized troops can be rebuilt, it will never be possible this time. scale.”

"So this battle for Eagle Point City was overall a success!"

"Success, do you think they have nothing to do with us anymore?"

Karl, who had seen through his thoughts, chuckled twice, holding his chin and looking at the girl in his arms - Lisa, who was sleeping, as cute as an angel:

"The battle of Eagle Point City is won, and the fortress is defended; the rest is all Ludwig's business. He will not come to you again whether he wins or loses. This war is Ludwig's war. Unless it is forced, otherwise He will not give any more of his military exploits to others."

"He wants to win, but he only wants to win in an honest and fair manner, and he can't shamelessly take credit from others; so he can give you the credit for the battle of Eagle Point City, but that's the end of it."

"So we can only go to Hantu and the Seven Cities Alliance." Anson smiled and shrugged:

"The only benefit to us from winning the Battle of Eagle Point and capturing Louis Bernard alive is to ensure that Ludwig can convince the officers of the Southern Legion to give the Storm Division a separate supply line, which will allow us to replenish troops and supplies as quickly as possible …Of course, don’t expect too much from this.”

"If you don't count on Ludwig, who can you count on?" Karl was stunned for a moment:

"Your relative from Thun?"

"Claude François? Even less likely."

Anson waved his hand: "He still wants me to help him get weapons and rely on Clovis to unify the Seven Cities Alliance - no one can count on us except ourselves."

This is also a long-term business - since the Francois family wants to unify the Seven Cities Alliance, it will definitely expand its army; as long as it is run well, it can not only maintain the friendship with the Francois family and the Luen family, but also himself You can also make money from purchasing on behalf of others.

"Then what are your plans next?"

"First of all, of course, we need to truly establish the Storm Division. Replenish as much as we can. We must expand at least two more infantry regiments and establish a complete logistics organization, officer corps, and staff corps." Anson said while thinking:

"Take half a month to repair, and then wait and see the situation of the Seven Cities Alliance - Thun should not be able to hide the news of Yser's defeat; with Thun in front, the Seven Cities Alliance will soon fall apart...and then This is our chance.”

"What if they are particularly united, or simply split into two, a few defect to Clovis, and the rest are neutral or defect to the Empire?"

Karl was worried that with the size and combat effectiveness of the Storm Division, it would be able to deal with a small country with low combat effectiveness.

"Why do you always think so pessimistically? I don't even want to chat with you anymore." Anson complained:

"Even if we want to unify, with the reaction speed of the Seven Cities Alliance, it will definitely not happen overnight; besides, what does this have to do with their choice of stance? The key is whether we want to fight or not."

"What's the meaning?"

"It means that for an 'ally' like Thun, a weaker one is enough - strictly speaking, the rest are all our enemies."

"For example?"

"For example, if they are willing to surrender, they must show sincerity." Anson put Lisa in his arms, took an apple from the table and handed it to Karl:

"Spend at least one-fifth of your annual income, hand over the hostages and one-half of the army - then Princess Thun can be asked to make a statement, and after the matter is over, the part they paid for buying weapons will be deducted, and the remaining I will repay you in full."

"What if they can't pay or don't want to pay?"

Karl glanced at the apple: "I won't eat this."

"I asked you to peel it for me and cut it into pieces - didn't you see that I am a patient?" Anson rolled his eyes:

"They won't accept it if they don't pay, and then use this excuse to beat them; we're here to win allies, not charity."

"What about neutrality?" Karl reluctantly took the apple.

"Neutral means collaborating with the enemy Iser. Then we can more legitimately attack - try to defeat them before they surrender!" Anson said absently:

"Cut the apples into smaller pieces, I'm a patient!"

"I think you are quite healthy..." Karl twitched the corner of his mouth:

"What about those who defect to the empire?"

"Similarly, beat it all in one breath - of course, try to put this at the end." Anson was silent for two seconds, and then said:

"We have to look at the attitude of the empire first. If they plan to participate in this war, they will have to consider another alternative."

"Why do I feel that your plan is not to find allies for Clovis, but to make crazy enemies?"

"On the contrary, the prerequisite for finding an ally is to have an enemy."

Anson smiled mysteriously: "In the eyes of our 'ally' Grand Duke Thun, the Seven Cities Alliance and the entire Hantu will be his future territory. He is willing to pay some price to unify the Seven Cities Alliance, but it is absolutely impossible. Allow Clovis to touch this land."

"The harder we attack and exploit the Seven Cities Alliance, the more it proves that we have no interest in staying here; if we make good friends with other countries, the Grand Duke of Thun will be truly wary of us."

"That's why you said it would be enough to find someone weaker?" Karl suddenly realized.

"That's right - it's an insurance policy. If Thun wants to betray Clovis, we can't make it so easy for them that they don't even have to bear the price." Anson glanced at the apple that had been cut:

“Any perfect plan must have at least one alternative to be considered perfect.”

Karl rolled his eyes, stuffed the apple chunks in the bowl into Anson's arms, and turned to leave.

"That's right." The adjutant who walked to the door suddenly remembered something, stopped where he was, and said without looking back:

"Your pair of monocles... accidentally fell off when you entered the ward, so I picked them up for you and put them on the bedside table. Don't forget them."

"Okay, thank you."

Anson smiled lightly and nodded towards Karl who walked out of the door.

As for what the monocle was... neither of the two people who understood it said much.