I will be crowned king

Hantu, Grand Duchy of Mist, Iron Bell Castle.

The Grand Duke of Thun, with his eyes closed, was wearing a white linen coat, kneeling in front of the main steps of the hall, holding a candle, and quietly waiting for the sun to rise.

This is a ceremony that looks very simple, and can even be called "shabby"; it is so shabby that there is no specially decorated luxurious hall, no gourmet feast to make everyone excited, and even the nobles and nobles who came to watch the ceremony are not. There were also very few foreign guests.

But in such a shabby ceremony, everyone present looked either solemn or heavy... The atmosphere was extremely solemn.

"Claude François, son of Vittorio François, under the gaze of everyone here with the ring of order, I question you on their behalf..."

In the dead silence of the hall, the black-robed priest holding a crown in his hand stood expressionlessly on the steps and said solemnly:

"Are you willing to bear the glory of your ancestors and become the guardian of all the people of Hantu south of the Dawn Mountains?"

Everyone held their breath.

Under the gaze of everyone, Claude Francois, who was holding a candle in his hand, slowly raised his head and opened his eyes, which were calm and without any disturbance:

"I do."

Anson stood in the front row of the crowd with a calm expression, holding his shoulders as if he were a junior attending a distant relative's wedding. Everything around him had nothing to do with him.

Karl, who had a complicated expression, and Fabian, who was thoughtful, stood closely behind him, as if they were his friends who were brought in to join in the trouble.

The little clerk could only stand in the corner. All his attention was not on the protagonist of the ceremony. He looked at Anson's back with admiration from beginning to end.

Little Lisa, who was also not interested in the ceremony, sat beside him, concentrating on enjoying the almond cake prepared for her by the little clerk.

"Are you willing to protect your subjects and keep your promise?"

"I do."

The moment the words fell, Grand Duke Mist and his grandchildren, who were over seventy years old, let out a sigh of relief, and their tense bodies completely relaxed.

Duke Eden...or rather Grand Duke Eden frowned slightly, and the expression on his shadow-covered cheeks was extremely complex.

"Are you willing to fight for her and draw your sword against all enemies that humiliate her dignity, tarnish her glory, and invade her territory, no matter whether the enemy is strong or weak, close or hated?"

"I do."

The excited little Leon bit his lower lip tightly, looking at his father's back while tightly holding the wrist of his "best friend" Renault beside him; Renault, whose right hand was almost numb, remained motionless, with the same complicated expression as his father.

"Then in the name of the Circle of Order, His humble servants hereby declare to the world..."

The black-robed priest looked around at everyone and slowly raised the crown above his head with both hands: "Claude Francois, the son of Vittorio Francois, was crowned with the support of all Hantu people. King of the Vast Earth!”

"With the great grace of my Lord, I will inherit the bloodline of the ancient 'King François' and create the François lineage, called...Claude I!"

"From the south of the Dawn Mountains to the Dusk Sea, everything is your territory, your country... the Kingdom of Hantu!"

Every time the priest said something, the atmosphere became more exciting.

"In the name of the Ring of Order, and in line with the wishes of thousands of people of Hantu, I... crown you the king of Hantu."

The black-robed priest slowly put the crown on the head of Claude Francois, then slowly stepped back and suddenly opened his arms: "God bless the earth, long live my king!"

The loud voice was like a loud bell, echoing in the hall.

The next second, except for the storm masters and the two grand dukes, all the Hantu nobles present in the hall knelt down neatly on one knee, and excited shouts broke out from their chests:

"God bless the earth, long live my king——!!"

"God bless the earth, long live my king——!!!"

"God bless the earth, long live my king——!!!"...

Accompanied by waves of shouts, Claude I, with the crown on his head, slowly stood up. On his slightly aged face, a pair of sharp eyes swept towards everyone in the hall.

He saw his excited son, the frightened Archduke Mister who still held his chest and saluted him, and the Archduke Aiden with a cold face and proud head... Finally, his eyes stopped on the deputy commander of the Southern Army. .

Anson, who remained silent, nodded slightly, with a fleeting smile on his lips.

Claude I was pleased to understand, and looked at everyone, listening to the shouts of everyone swearing allegiance... until he raised his hands to signal, the sound that lasted for nearly two minutes finally stopped.

"Everyone, I...Claude François thank you for your support. It is your unity, strength, courage and determination that have reunited the land that has been divided for thousands of years and allowed this land to join hands again." , fight for our common future."

Claude I looked around the audience and said solemnly: "But I know better that 'King' is not just a title, a title, an honor and power... It is a responsibility, a flag, a symbol, and a symbol of the entire Han." The unity and integrity of the soil.”

"But the current Hantu...is not complete; and we have also not won the honor that belongs to this new kingdom."

"I, your King, will never allow this to continue any longer!"

"In order to unite, we paid a heavy price, paving the way with the blood of our enemies and even ourselves, and creating a bond connecting each other by forgetting hatred and reconciliation... I will never allow the blood and tears of the victims to go to waste."

"So I promise you, Hantu will eventually be unified!"

"Today, in this glorious and glorious moment, in this moment of unity, I, Claude François, your King, give you my first order..."

"The Kingdom of Hantu...formally declares war on the Empire!"

"Until the last invader is driven out of Hantu, until the last Hantu person sheds all his blood."

"Our new kingdom will be born from the ashes of war!"

………………………

"What does this mean?"

In the military camp tent, Arthur Herald flipped through the newspaper that was almost torn in his hand, and looked blankly at Louis Bernard, who was thinking deeply:

"Hantu declared war on the empire... But aren't our enemies the Clovis and Thun people? Where did the Seven Cities Alliance go? Why did it become the Hantu Kingdom again?"

"Also, who is Claude Francois? This name sounds a bit familiar... And why do they say we are invaders? Aren't the invaders Clovis? Oh, Louis, tell me Come on, what does this newspaper want to say..."

"The meaning is clear!"

Louis, who had a dull expression, rudely interrupted his close friend and current regimental commander - if their current combat unit of four companies and less than 500 people could be called an "infantry regiment":

"Our enemies... or rather the entire Hantu, because of a certain person, have now formed a very united alliance against the empire."

"Someone..." The clever Arthur blinked immediately:

"you know?"

Louis hesitated, then nodded silently.

"Then you must know him very well!" Arthur immediately became excited:

"I mean, for example, how will he deal with us...these intruders next?"

"...You're referring to his tactics, right?"

Louis smiled self-deprecatingly, sat on the cold camp bed and sighed: "Probably...if you have repeated defeats, it can be interpreted as rich experience."

"But let me state in advance that I am no longer the commander-in-chief of the Iser Guards Corps, only your deputy commander. I am as ignorant of the war in Hantu in recent months as you are, so it is definitely impossible to say it in detail. ...is it quite clear?”

"Clear, clear!"

Arthur nodded excitedly, sitting cross-legged on the bed, his eyes burning, looking completely impatient.

"I haven't played against him many times. Strictly speaking, there are only two times." Louis sighed:

"As far as I know, Ansen Bach... is the kind of guy who looks very bold, but is actually extremely cautious. Sometimes this caution can be so rational that he turns into a madman in the eyes of others."

“If I have to explain it, it’s that he can always see some ‘best’ options that are particularly impractical, difficult and difficult to achieve in the eyes of others, and then he will do everything possible to realize it.”

"Like this?" Arthur's eyes lit up:

"Turn the Seven Cities Alliance into the Kingdom of Hantu?"

"maybe."

Louis said thoughtfully: "He knew that it was impossible to resist the empire's attack with just a few thousand of his own, and he was worried that some of the divided Seven Cities Alliance would fall to the empire, so he did everything he could to unite them into a country. This way At least in name, Hantu is already an ally of the Kingdom of Clovis and an enemy of the empire."

"Our enemy is no longer the thousands-strong Clovis Infantry Division and the scattered Seven Cities Alliance, but a newly rising kingdom and her allies."

"Oh I got it……"

Arthur suddenly realized that, while feeling deep admiration, he couldn't help but feel doubts:

"Then what are we going to do to defeat this guy named Anson Bach?"

"What does this have to do with us?"

Resisting the urge to punch his best friend in the face, Louis pointed to the snow-capped mountains outside the tent and said: "We, the Second Infantry Regiment, our mission is to station artillery positions, monitor and patrol nearby roads, and ensure smooth supply lines. .”

"What does this mean? It means that unless there is an accident, our infantry regiment will not participate in the battle at all, and may even not enter Hantu at all. Do you understand?!"

The stunned Arthur Herald was startled, and his originally excited expression suddenly lost its expression.

"Louis, you have changed."

"I still remember how excited you were when you and your brother set off to raid Thunder Castle; if it were you at that time, you would never have said to me, 'This is not our mission.' "

Louis suddenly fell into silence, lying on the cold bedmate with his back to Arthur; listening to his angry footsteps, he rushed out of the tent angrily.

He understood the other party's mood...yes, just like himself when he was about to raid Thunder Castle.

Believe that the imperial cavalry is invincible, believe that the enemy will surrender obediently, believe in your own ability to turn the tide, and become the hero who ends the war and saves everyone.

But... there are no such heroes on the battlefield.

Arthur Herald, like his former self, is far from ready to face war; now let him face a battlefield filled with smoke, trenches filled with mud and plasma, and piles of corpses. Highlands…

He will become crazy.

Sighing again, Louis turned around while lying on the bed, picked up the crumpled newspaper on the ground, and began to look at it carefully.

To be honest, even now he still couldn't believe that Anson Bach could actually unite the scattered Seven Cities Alliance into a unified kingdom.

You must know that this is not as good as through marriage or simple annexation... The Grand Duchy of Thun is very strong, but even with the thousands of Stormtroopers, it is still not enough to crush the rest of the Seven Cities Alliance.

And although they are nominally considered a whole, the division of Hantu has lasted for hundreds of years, and there is little sense of identity between them. Each country in the alliance has a strong independence and will never Because the Francois family had royal blood in the past, they surrendered easily.

So how did he do it?

No...that's not important. What's important is what impact the unified Hantu will have on the next war situation.

Even if Anson can really turn Hantu into a unified kingdom in name, this does not mean that all Hantu rulers will really be united because of this, and it may even be the complete opposite.

The original intrigues were no longer on the surface, but became an undercurrent in private; the armies of various lords would not be loyal to Claude Francois because he became the king, and they would still be in disarray.

More importantly, Hantu's war potential has always been very limited. Even if they can mobilize a huge army, their fragile logistics force can barely support the consumption of about 100,000 people. That is the limit. Simply increasing the number of people is meaningless. It doesn't have any effect.

The only function is probably to use the banner of "unification of the vast land" to legitimately wage war against the empire.

But is this reasonable?

Do Anson Bach and his allies, as well as the Grand Duke Thun, who betrayed the Iserl elves before the battle, really need such an excuse to become enemies of the empire?

According to the known intelligence, if you are faced with this situation, the best choice should be to fully shrink, organize a defense line at the border of the Grand Duchy of Mist, and at the same time rescue the main force of the Southern Legion as soon as possible and protect the most important rear area of ​​Eagle Point City. .

Then, while using the time consumed by the empire to occupy various parts of the vast land, they built a solid defense line; at the same time, they applied for more supplies and support from the country, taking advantage of the shorter supply lines to engage in a war of attrition with the empire.

As a result, if the empire still wants to penetrate the Hantu, support the Yser elves from the south and attack Clovis, it will have to invest much more resources and troops than Clovis, which will inevitably have an impact on the frontal battlefield on the Western Front. .

Otherwise, the troops must be withdrawn to avoid too heavy losses, and Clovis can even win without a fight.

so……

"Anson Bach, what do you want to do?"

Louis Bernard said to himself.

Late update again, sorry