I will be crowned king

As the one hundred years of the Saints Calendar passed the midpoint and began to come to an end, the curtain of the second half of the Hantu War also slowly opened.

In early August, as Claude I was officially crowned at Iron Bell Castle, accepted the allegiance of all Hantu subjects, and announced an alliance with the Kingdom of Clovis and war against the empire, hundreds of years later, the fragmented Hantu once again reunited United under one flag by war.

And while thousands of Hantu lords and civilians were bowing their heads to the new king and swearing allegiance, they had not yet realized how many earth-shaking changes this new "Hantu Kingdom" would bring. "His Majesty Lord Lord I" is about to possess such terror that it far exceeds the strength of any previous ruler of the Dark Ages.

Relying on the mobilization for the Mist War, the former Grand Duchy of Thun and the current Kingdom of Thun mobilized a total of 65,000 legions. After integrating Carindia, the Grand Duchy of Aiden also mobilized 38,000 legions. Thousands of legions.

Including the Grand Duchy of Mist that recovered from the civil war, the Grand Duke's personal troops plus the surrendered captive troops amounted to approximately 25,000 legions...a total of 128,000 legions, known as the "three hundred thousand army."

Of course, these 300,000 are the "paper figures" in the real sense - after excluding the "shadow soldiers" of 172,000, of the remaining 128,000, the baggage troops account for a quarter. Troops controlling forts, fortresses, strongholds and policing made up one-half.

Therefore, there are only 42,000 troops that can actually engage in mobile operations anytime and anywhere... plus the Storm Division of more than 5,000 people, the number is less than 50,000, just a full army.

Even so, it almost drove him crazy to just establish the "Hantu Supreme Staff Headquarters".

The flags, passwords, and equipment are not unified, not even organized. There are probably more than a dozen types of weapons used in a company, from muskets to Leyden rifles exported by Clovis. The variety is comparable to a weapons history exhibition.

The organization is even more chaotic. Almost every "infantry company" is astonishingly large in size, close to an infantry regiment. The soldiers range in age from 70-year-olds to children under ten years old, and there are even men and women... so-called The regular army is more like a wandering fishing and hunting tribe, or a "strong man" who was called up temporarily to make up the numbers and was forcibly captured.

This phenomenon is actually not uncommon in Clovis's army. Even the regular army is full of tramps, criminals, bankrupt farmers and soldiers from unemployed workers. These "social dregs" are the best candidates to fill trenches in the eyes of the army. .

But even if they do the same thing, Hantu's efficiency is extremely low - the recruitment of soldiers often turns into a raid on the countryside, and the plundered villagers become "new recruits."

As for how much combat effectiveness the soldiers recruited in this way can have, it is basically a secret known to everyone; and the army with this composition still accounts for a very high proportion in the "three hundred thousand army".

Even these are not the most desperate... years of peace have made Hantu's infrastructure very backward, there is no so-called logistics system, and even the most basic self-sufficiency is extremely poor.

If an army is being formed somewhere in the Kingdom of Clovis, the army will place orders directly to the military factory closest to the military camp; the recruited recruits will be gathered by the officers and march toward the military camp along the road on foot.

This force will receive the logistics for a seven-day march at the starting point and be supplied at military warehouses along the road; their weapons will depart from the military factory and be distributed by the Railway Committee to the nearest station, and then baggage wagons will be recruited from nearby to be transported to Military camp...Finally, new recruits will be sent to the military camp at least one day in advance to ensure that this army can immediately have combat effectiveness.

But all of the above do not exist in the vast earth.

The backward infrastructure makes it a mystery for any army to arrive at its destination. There is basically no warehouse storage, and all supplies must be collected directly from towns and villages. It is even more difficult to be self-sufficient in weapons and ammunition, which must be obtained from Croton. High-priced imports.

Therefore, from the first hour of its establishment, the "Hantu Supreme Staff", which was unanimously approved by all Hantu lords and claimed to control the entire army, was full of chaos and wrangling.

Some troops are well-equipped, but find that their numbers are not on the list; some troops have just been sent out to carry out orders, but their supplies are cut off on the day of departure, and they are almost collapsed; some troops do not even have an artillery, but they have received valuable equipment. Twelve pound explosive bombs...

But even if there are 10,000 problems, compared with the fragmented Seven Cities Alliance Legion in the past, the newly released "300,000 Hantu Army" is still a huge improvement, especially the control over the entire Hantu has reached an unprecedented level. the height of.

War is a test of a country's potential, and the army is the ultimate expression of strength. Whoever can build this army can hold the entire country in his hands.

Therefore, even though Hantu was not sensitive to war because of its long-term peace, when Anson said that he wanted to establish a "Supreme General Staff", everyone guessed what he wanted to do.

But what surprised everyone was that when Claude I and the two Grand Dukes Eden and Mist jointly "elected" Anson Bach to become "Chief of General Staff", he... refused.

Not only did he refuse, Anson also strongly recommended Léon François as chief of staff, and Lenore Emmanuel, the son of Grand Duke Ayden, as deputy chief of staff. The three sons of Grand Duke Mist were also in the Supreme Staff. Hold important positions.

As for the Storm Division, Anson himself refused to hold an important position within the General Staff, and only proposed to let his secretary Alan Dawn be the logistics manager, and at the same time let a representative of the August Military Factory and a worker from the Luhn family Mr. Erich served as deputy and was responsible for the logistics supply of the entire Hantu Army.

This proposal was passed calmly without any surprises; after all, Hantu had declared war on the empire, and except for the Kingdom of Clovis, no one could stably provide arms to support national-level wars.

Such a generous concession surprised and delighted the Hantu lords - they were delighted that they did not have to listen to the command of a Clovis man, but they were surprised that some rumors about "Clovis people wanting to escape" seemed to have been found again. evidence.

On the other hand, young Leon, who was strongly recommended by Anson, fell into unparalleled surprise and panic; in his opinion, besides Anson, there was no other candidate for this position, and even if there was, it should not be him.

But this decision was very popular with the Hantu lords... For them to have the "Crown Prince" serve as the supreme commander of the Hantu Army was a strong signal to the outside world - it marked the new "Hantu Kingdom" "It is not a simple military alliance, but a country that has established a stable ruling group through blood inheritance.

Therefore, although young Leon himself repeatedly shied away in fear and said, "I am really not humble, I'd better hire someone else." However, he was still surrounded by a group of local nobles and took the position of "Chief of General Staff".

And Anson Bach also accepted the position of "Military Advisor" amidst the praise and applause of everyone - without a title, he was only responsible for "giving military advice" to the Supreme Staff.

……………

"After all, some things should not be taken too far."

In the map room, Anson, who had an easy-going smile on his face, spoke sincerely to Carl Bain who came to meet him.

Although the "Supreme General Staff" is still in its infancy, and the functions and powers of each department are still unclear in confusion and wrangling, with Claude I having just been crowned, most of the nobles and the army have gathered here The opportunity near Iron Bell Castle has begun to show its power.

According to the order of Chief of General Staff Léon Francois - or the agreement reached between Anson and Claude I - Count Arcade immediately set off northward, passing through Eagle Point City and advancing towards the Elf Kingdom of Yser. Rush to reinforce the main force of the Southern Army.

In order to ensure that Count Arkad could understand the seriousness of the situation, little Leon specially appointed Henares as the herald... Well, by the way, he was a little revenge for the previous incident where he drove his own herald back.

The Storm Division immediately advanced to the west, targeting the next batch of reinforcements that the empire was about to land, and cooperating with the army besieging Carindia Port to encircle and reinforce.

Because it is really unclear at which port the Imperial fleet will land, the Storm Division must set off immediately without any delay, giving them a chance to gain a foothold and cooperate with the enemy forces besieging the Ayden Fortress at Carindia Port... Therefore, this It was also the last meeting between the two before departure.

"Let me, a dignified army colonel from the Clovis Kingdom and deputy commander of the Southern Army, serve as the chief of general staff of the Hantu Kingdom. Is this good? This is not good." Anson smiled:

"For a position with such great responsibility, it would be more appropriate for a noble Knight of the Earth to take over - just like Leon, I have always felt that he has great potential in this area and should take responsibility at such an important moment. Come."

"You're probably afraid of being too pushy and being targeted by the Imperial people."

Carl Bain snorted coldly, unceremoniously exposing Anson's dark thoughts.

Once you become the Chief of General Staff of the Supreme Staff, it means that you are completely bound to the rise and fall of the Hantu Kingdom; you will not only get supreme power, but also a responsibility that is so heavy that you can't breathe.

Obviously, Anson did not intend to take any responsibility for Hantu. He only wanted to gain the power to remotely command the entire Hantu Army, and he did not want to become a target of the enemy... so he tried his best to recommend young Leon to become the chief of general staff.

In Karl's view, this candidate has at least three advantages:

First, no one dares to question it, because little Leon is the crown prince of the Hantu Kingdom, and having him serve as the chief of general staff is equivalent to an extension of Claude I's authority to some extent. Opposing him is tantamount to opposing the king.

Secondly, the newly created "Supreme Staff" can only establish sufficient authority by relying on the power of the families behind him, Renault and others - after all, no matter how good the system is, it must be implemented by others, otherwise it will just be a mere They can argue with each other, but they are just empty shells with a false name.

Finally, and a very important point is that to a certain extent, little Leon has almost come to the point of obeying Anson; with him as the chief of staff, Anson can still be responsible for his actions without taking any responsibility. The entire army of Hantu is commanded like an arm.

Coupled with the young secretary and the representatives of the Luen family, the arms dealer Erich jointly took charge of the logistics department and tightly controlled the lifeblood of the "Hantu 300,000-strong army".

In normal times, this logistics department can of course maintain an impartial attitude and provide and allocate supplies to all armies fairly, but if a critical moment comes... regardless of whether other troops can receive supplies, the Storm Division's logistics will definitely be sufficient.

Relying on this arrangement, "Chief of the General Staff" is already an honorary title with little difference to Anson Bach; throw it to young Leon, and he will not even have to bear the minimum responsibility. .

"I think your heart is really dark. I really didn't think too much about it." Anson blinked, his face full of innocence and innocence:

"As long as we can unite Hantu, it doesn't matter who we are... I really think so, really."

"Yes, it's the same for everyone." Karl rolled his eyes: "Compared with you, I feel that I am still too pure."

"Oh...no, no."

Anson waved his hands repeatedly with an apologetic smile on his face: "You are too humble."

"You think I'm praising you!" Karl sighed helplessly:

"And having said that, you also saw the ghostly appearance of the Hantu Army today - are you really sure that you can defeat the empire with them?"

"It's the same as before, I never count on anyone."

Anson shrugged nonchalantly: "It would be great if they can fight, but if they don't...it doesn't matter. After all, there are 'three hundred thousand troops'. It should be enough to scare the empire and make them dare not act rashly."

"If we really want to defeat the empire, we still have to find a way on our own... Of course, this time the situation is quite special. Whether everything can go smoothly depends on the cooperation of the commander on the opposite side."

"Cooperate?" Karl frowned:

"Expect him to be stupid enough?"

"No." Anson raised his right index finger and shook it:

"We have to hope he's smart enough."

"……I do not understand."

"The reason is very simple. If the opponent is Louis... I mean, if the opponent is a fool, he will be strict and carry out the empire's original battle plan in an orderly manner." Anson explained:

"The good thing about an idiot is that every step he takes next is within our expectations; but the trouble is that the empire that invades Hantu will be a group of tough guys who are extremely well-prepared and very difficult to deal with... If we want to annihilate them all, we It’s a huge price to pay.”

"Like the battle in Eagle Point City, if Louis Bernard had not misjudged the situation and regarded the Thun Army as friendly forces, it would be almost impossible for us to annihilate them. Losing both sides would be the best outcome."

"Yeah." Karl nodded slightly in agreement:

"What if Louis isn't... I mean, a smart guy?"

"Then he will understand that according to the original plan, besides conquering Hantu, the empire will have no other way to achieve its strategic goals; therefore, adjustments, or micro-management, must be made."

"This kind of micro-management will definitely disrupt the original deployment. A lot of problems will arise from logistics to previous maneuvers. There will be a short period of chaos, and then..."

The corners of Anson's mouth began to raise at a 45-degree angle to the upper left: "Our opportunity has come."