I will be crowned king

Time goes back twenty days before the fall of Iron Bell Castle...

On June 21, the hundredth year of the Saint's Calendar, somewhere in the wilderness in the western border of the Elf Kingdom of Yser; a "torrent" composed of people was flowing slowly, advancing from east to west.

Thousands of military boots, horse hooves, and wheels drove by, making endless sounds; a forest of military flags fluttered slowly in the breeze along with the crisp drumbeats and bugle sounds.

In the dense queue, no high-spirited fighting spirit can be seen on the face of each soldier. Some are just tired, depressed and frustrated; some are a little more vigilant, with their eyes staring nervously at both sides of the road. grass and woods - as if what came from there was not the breeze but the sound of whispers.

The officers walking on one side of the queue were even more serious-faced, with suppressed eyes containing several times more anger than usual; they would conduct "action education" on some "disobedient" soldiers if they had any slight displeasure... even if Being beaten to death, the surrounding soldiers would just watch indifferently.

This huge team of more than 10,000 people marched steadily in such silence, and the atmosphere was so oppressive that it was difficult to breathe.

The reason for all this can be traced back to the recent siege of Antler Fortress.

Faced with the stubborn defense of the Elf King Yser at all costs, the "rebellion" of the elven nobles from all over the country, and the complex terrain... Even with the crushing power of artillery, it still failed to give the Southern Legion much advantage; even if both sides The casualty ratio was crushing, and several strong attacks failed in the end.

Especially after the elven nobles suddenly broke the tacit understanding between the two sides and began to organize an attack on the southern legion, the long and fragile logistics line faced threats that forced them to retreat and give up the military adventure of raiding the royal court.

So after experiencing an anticlimactic positional battle, the Southern Army hastily began its retreat in the chaos - because there was no serious preparation of a retreat plan from the beginning, the Southern Army could only choose to follow the path of the attack. , advancing towards their only military stronghold in Yser.

But there are two problems with doing this.

First of all, the Southern Legion did not encounter any resistance at all when they marched, so the road they chose was also the shortest and closest road to the Elf King's Court of Yser. In other words, it was bound to pass through the territories of many elven nobles.

They had no problem doing this before, because the local nobles did not dare or resist. Now these lords are raising troops one after another; although most of the combat effectiveness is not worth mentioning, it has also caused a lot of trouble to the troops who are marching in a hurry.

Secondly, there is the pursuit of soldiers.

For an army with a size of thousands or even tens of thousands, failure to achieve strategic goals is not the most terrifying thing. What is truly terrifying is the counterattack that must be faced after the failure, and the enemy pursues it fiercely.

An army eager to retreat is destined to abandon a large amount of cumbersome baggage and heavy artillery, which means that their firepower deterrence and the duration of the battle will show a cliff-like decline; once there is no complete retreat plan before the war, the organization and establishment will be guaranteed. Complete, if each combat unit has clear instructions and tasks...

The so-called retreat is almost destined to turn into a rout or even a rout, being pursued, outflanked, and annihilated one by one by the enemy - those almost terrifying battle casualty ratios basically occur at this stage.

However, the Southern Legion was lucky, because almost as soon as they withdrew from the siege of Antler Fortress and left behind a bunch of unnecessary baggage, the defenders of the fortress immediately stopped their pursuit.

At the same time, the armies of these Elf Kings showed no signs of joining the armies of the Elf Nobles; both sides looked similar, but no matter what banners they used, they were very different. It seemed as if they had the same enemy, but they were still wary of each other, each with their own hidden agendas. of the Allies.

Although it is unclear why the elf nobles who were at odds with the elf king suddenly became "loyal to the kingdom", it seems that the conflict between the two sides has not really been resolved... This also made the retreating southern legion breathe a sigh of relief and avoided the worst. Condition.

But this is just a sigh of relief.

The defeat of Antler Fortress was tantamount to an unprecedented blow to the Southern Army, which had fought consecutive victories - this kind of blow was not only on the battlefield, but also on mentality.

Victory is already close at hand, and the enemy is only half a step away from kneeling down and begging for mercy. He is suddenly interrupted. Even if he does not retreat obediently, there is a risk of being cut off from supply lines and retreats, and surrounded and annihilated...

The term "mentality explosion" can almost describe the morale state of the Southern Army at this moment.

Among these people, a small number almost completely collapsed, and their originally overwhelming self-confidence fell directly from the stratosphere into the ocean trench.

Well, like Ludwig Franz.

During the march, the commander of the Major General's Corps was always frowning, and his cold face seemed indifferent to all the situations around him. Even the commander of the Grenadier Corps, Lieutenant Colonel Roman, his most loyal confidant, turned to him. He seemed cautious about reporting the situation.

Based on Roman's understanding of Ludwig, the more serious, calm and unflustered he appears, the more it proves that his heart is already in a mess, and any complicated situation or bad news may turn into igniting gunpowder. Barrel fuse.

His guess was basically correct, Ludwig had collapsed.

Moreover, the confidence that was finally built up completely collapsed in an instant.

The strategic policy was completely wrong. All the fruits of victory and achievements previously obtained were completely lost under the Antler Fortress. He seriously underestimated the enemy's fighting will and misjudged the attitude of the Ysel Elf nobles towards the Kingdom of Clovis. …

If it were not for the siege stage, Roman resolutely opposed the use of the Grenadier Regiment in a fortified battle, always stood firm, and launched a counterattack when the 20,000-strong army organized by the Ysel Elf nobles attacked from behind... The Southern Army had absolutely no chance of maintaining its structure, like He retreated so calmly now.

The price was that his most loyal and elite Grenadier Regiment of nearly a thousand men lost more than two-thirds in this meaningless battle!

what does that mean?

This means that according to the Clovis military system, this army has completely lost its combat effectiveness!

In order to block dozens of times the enemy's attack, these soldiers who had followed them when they were recruited from Thunder Castle had to rush out of the trenches and spread out two rows of thin and loose lines outside the position, almost like skirmishers. They braved the hail of bullets and fired with swords. charge……

With their bloody bravery, Ludwig bought time for Ludwig to calmly mobilize his troops to return to defense, annihilated all 20,000 Ysel Elf nobles, and won the sudden encounter.

But they lost the entire siege of Antler Fortress, and they were completely defeated.

And on the second day after losing the siege, he received news from Anson about the war in Hantu - the Storm Division had unified the eastern part of Hantu, Carindia had surrendered, and Aiden bowed his head and conquered Mist, it was just a matter of time. A matter of time.

At that moment, Ludwig felt a deep gap.

In the past, he had always regarded Anson as a less obedient but very capable subordinate, a young officer who occasionally had "very thoughtful ideas", and a friend who made him angry, but now...

With only an army of 2,000 men, he captured Eagle Point City in a way beyond his imagination. After that, he led an army of 5,000 people across the entire Hantu, from victory to victory, and was about to make the entire Hantu capital Surrender at His feet.

But he, who had more than twice his number, a more elite and more powerful southern legion, ended up like this.

With such a huge gap, it was really difficult for Ludwig not to feel unbalanced.

Based on the current situation, if we want to completely destroy the resistance of the Ysel elves, we must either let them actively seek death, fight several large-scale decisive battles with us, and let tens of thousands of Ysel elves bury their bones in the wilderness; or we must mobilize tens of thousands of Ysel elves. Tens of thousands of troops acted separately and marched on multiple fronts to crush all the forces on this land that could still try to resist.

In addition, Ludwig really couldn't think of a third way to reverse the situation.

But regardless of these two or other options, the current strength of the Southern Army is far from being realized; as for Ludwig asking for help from the country, enduring the Army's various shirks and endless humiliation... it would be easier to commit suicide by shooting himself.

Hence the letter.

Although this act of breaking a promise to ask for help also crazily tortured Ludwig's little self-esteem after being devastated; including preparing 20,000 troops within 40 days, he was not unaware of how unrealistic it was to prepare a 40,000 reserve army. .

But at this point, apart from hoping that Anson Bach can create another miracle like Thunder Castle, Ludwig really has nothing to do...or to lose his remaining face for the sake of victory. This is his responsibility. There are still some.

Even Anson, a "a little bit" greedy guy, Ludwig was not unprepared for whether the lion would open his mouth or put forward some incredible conditions after the war.

As the sun gradually set, the Southern Army Corps, which had been marching for a day, had to stop to repair and build temporary campsites.

This work is rarely taken seriously in ordinary times, but now that the "myth" of Lien Chan and Lianjie has been shattered, the Southern Army seems to have picked up the "habits" of the Thunder Fort levy era, and regards building fortifications as more important than fighting. ; So much so that Ludwig, as the commander-in-chief, did not even need to give too many instructions, and each combat unit could explode with huge subjective initiative.

Ludwig, who was exhausted both physically and mentally, rode through the busy camp; the officers around him were still shouting that they had not yet failed and wanted to make "the despicable Iser elf look good"; but the soldiers Their dull expressions, forced smiles, and tired and bored eyes had clearly exposed their true thoughts.

Back in the tent, Lieutenant Colonel Roman, who had been waiting here for a long time, stood beside the lit brazier, with his hands behind his back and a stern expression on his face as if he was about to speak.

"Is something wrong?"

Taking off his coat, the Commander-in-Chief frowned.

"No!" Lieutenant Colonel Roman was shocked:

"I'm just here to give you a routine report as before."

Ludwig, who narrowed his eyes slightly, could see through his subordinates' thoughts, but he didn't reveal them: "Well, how is the situation?"

"The camp has been set up and a water source has been found. The estimated departure time is 5:30 tomorrow morning. There are no signs of the Ysel Elf army moving nearby." Roman said seriously:

"According to the estimates of the reconnaissance cavalry, our army will be able to reach the Cliff Fortress at the latest tomorrow evening."

Ludwig nodded: "Is there anything else?"

"...No more for now." Roman paused, his eyes wandering from side to side.

"Then let's do this for now." Ludwig hung the coat in his arms on the hanger:

"I need to rest now. Wake me up before three fifteen tomorrow."

"yes!"

After the words fell, Roman, who saluted, stepped out of the tent; Ludwig stood there, looking at his back.

Then... just as he was about to leave the tent, the commander of the Grenadier Regiment stopped, pursed his lips tightly, and turned to look at the commander-in-chief with some anxiety:

"...There is someone who wants to meet you."

Ludwig looked at him quietly: "Who?"

"Draco Vertes." Roman's expression was a little strange:

"He said he was a... novelist, a Clovis man."

novelist?

Ludwig's expression was a little surprised - of course not because of why a Clovis novelist came to see him, but because he felt as if he had heard this name somewhere, but he couldn't remember it no matter how hard he thought about it.

For the commander-in-chief who could even remember the names of each infantry battalion commander under his command, this was simply unbelievable.

"During the riots in the outer city of Clovis, this man once entered the Osteria Palace as a representative of a group of thugs and negotiated with His Majesty face to face." Roman reminded in a low voice:

"And regarding the cause of the riots...according to rumors, this person and the forces behind him are also one of the driving forces behind it."

"In addition...Colonel Anson Bach seems to have had contact with this person."

"Ah!" Ludwig suddenly realized - he finally remembered.

He finally remembered why he had the impression, but he still couldn't remember the existence of this person.

Because Sophia told him!

My "good sister" who dreams of being a detective all day long and likes to find trouble for herself seems to admire this person very much; this person once participated in the Beigang Rebellion, was suspected of the activities of the Clovis Old Gods, was related to the Iron Sky incident, and also participated in He participated in the riots outside Clovis and threatened His Majesty Carlos II face to face...

"So what is he looking for me for?" Ludwig looked confused.

"I'm not sure, but it seems to be related to some information about the Yser Elf." Roman glanced sideways in the direction outside the door:

"Do you want to see him?"

"He is in the military camp now?"

"Well, I arranged him in the Grenadier Regiment's camp and found a few veterans to take care of him."

"Oh, that's just right." Ludwig snorted coldly:

"Tell your soldiers that this person is an old god sect, a rioter and a traitor to the kingdom; to deal with such a person, we have only one way of talking..."

"shoot to death!"