I will be crowned king

Not only Anson, but also the entire Storm Division were quite hesitant about whether to intervene in the rebellion in the empire's colonies, take advantage of the opponent's weakness and kick it hard, and make a big fortune at the same time.

The empire is far more powerful than Clovis. Some people loyal to the royal family may have objections in the country, but in the New World, this is absolutely an undisputed fact.

Of the thirteen large colonies, the empire controls six, and Clovis has only two, and they are slightly inferior in terms of population and degree of development; and the colonies do not have mature industries and complete transportation networks like the mainland, and there is no " The possibility of the weak defeating the strong.

The reason why the empire has not invaded the colonies controlled by Clovis in the past, apart from the reason that the return rate of pioneering is higher, is simply because they do not care about the colonies as much as Clovis.

But the rich uninhabited wasteland is limited after all. Sooner or later, the empire's colonists will turn their attention to their enemies; if they cannot weaken the empire's power in the new world now, the size will be determined by the time the other party takes action. The Clovis people of the New World simply had no choice.

So no matter how you look at it, this looks like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

But it was precisely because it looked so tempting that the Storm Master was so hesitant.

First of all, even if there are four rebellions in the six colonies, the empire still holds the two important strongholds of Changhu Town and Sailing City. Their size is almost the same as that of Clovis Colony, and each has its own advantages and disadvantages.

This is already an exaggeration - not to mention the two colonies, the Storm Division can't even control the entire Ice Dragon Fjord. At best, it is "Beluga Port and the surrounding suburbs and towns". The slightly remote ones can only be theoretically owned by him. Jurisdiction, map opening is just fun.

Secondly, the empire still has ten infantry regiments in the colonies. Together with the colonial militias who are still loyal to the empire, the empire still has more troops than itself.

In terms of combat effectiveness, Stormtroopers are very self-aware; even if they bully the Ysel elves and Hantu, they can't guarantee that they will not suffer heavy casualties even if they encounter the regular army of the Empire, even if they have all the advantages.

And if you just lose the battle, or the battle situation is stalemate, forget it. What if you win the battle?

If this imperial army sent to the colonies is completely wiped out and the colonies become independent or simply merged into Clovis, it is unclear whether the empire will send reinforcements, but there will definitely be no reinforcements sent from Clovis itself.

After all, this time it was not Hantu, and it did not matter if the foreign invasion was defeated. The colonies were the real territory of the empire. No matter how much he didn't care, the emperor who suddenly lost such a large territory could not really be indifferent.

If the Empire really wants to send troops to retake the colonies, it will definitely be good news for the local war. If it is placed on the Storm Division, it will be a bolt from the blue - the Empire may not make much money, but in Beluga Harbor, which is destined to become a battlefield The Storm Master, which invested huge amounts of money, suffered a 100% loss of blood.

What's more, to put it bluntly, the Storm Division is the garrison of the colony, and its responsibility is to protect the pioneering colonists and the security within the colonial territory; contacting the enemy rebels to launch an invasion is actually crossing the line in a strict sense.

Of course it doesn't matter if you can take advantage, but if it ends up outweighing the gains... the royal family who lost the colony will never let him go, a commander who acted without permission.

What's more, even if Changhu Town is successfully captured, what can the Storm Master gain?

A port and trading center? There's already Beluga Harbor, and one more can't handle it; a pile of lumber, coal, and iron ore? There are plenty of these Beluga ports, not to mention normal business is not impossible to buy; population? When a group of Imperial people are packed into Clovis's colony, I don't feel confident that they are willing to come!

Although they are both trade centers, the port conditions of Changhu Town are not as good as those of Beluga Port. In fact, inland trade relies on nearby lakes and rivers; if Beluga Port is an international port, Changhu Town is a place for second-hand traders and agricultural and animal husbandry products. Distribution center.

Therefore, even if the profit can be maximized, the Storm Division can at most make a quick buck, control a downstream trade center to collect rent, and occasionally send troops to deter suppression to ensure that the other party will not default on its debts or evade taxes.

At the same time, in order to earn this money, he may have to fight several fierce battles with the imperial army whose strength is almost two or three times his own at the risk of being held accountable by the mainland, and he must also be prepared for the possibility that the other party will have reinforcements. ...No matter how you look at it, it doesn’t make sense.

In the final analysis, there is indeed a need to take risks in the long run, but that is for Clovis rather than the Stormtroopers themselves - from the perspective of Anson Bach and other officers, even if there is some profit from this matter, it is really limited. .

The Stormtroopers, who had experienced a war between the vast territories and gained financial freedom, had long been indifferent to such small profits. Instead of earning a compensation, they had to compete with the enemy to see who could capture the Carindia Port first. It's time.

……………………

"boom!"

A dark suitcase hit the desk hard, and the violent vibrations echoed in the room. The little clerk sitting in the corner quickly covered his ears in fear, and his body flew upwards for a moment with the loud noise.

Staring expressionlessly at the suitcase with the words "I am heavy" written on it, the silent Anson slowly moved his gaze upwards; with a smile on his face, he was surrounded by two "beast slaves" with horns on their foreheads. The middle-aged man in the middle came into view.

"Some priceless little gems are a small congratulatory gift from the Red Hand Bay Council to the new Speaker of Beluga Port. Congratulations to our friendly neighbor for ushering in a brand new leader."

Before Anson could ask, the middle-aged man who was wearing a double-breasted dress and a big bow tie, as if he was going to a banquet, took the lead and took out a much smaller one from his pocket with a smile. The silver box was gently placed in front of Anson:

"And these are some small gifts from me - I am fortunate to have heard that the Honorable Speaker Anson Bach is also a keen pipe smoker. In this case, he will not exclude the famous Adland tobacco, right?"

"Of course not, thank you."

Facing the hint from the middle-aged man, Anson smiled slightly and took the tobacco box from the other party. At the same time, he extended his hand to greet the other party to sit down: "You are so polite. I just came to Beluga Port not long ago. I really don't know the difference between this place and Red Hand Bay." There is such a good relationship.”

"The relationship between our two colonies cannot be described with just one word 'good'." The middle-aged man chuckled as he sat down:

"Oh, I'm sorry I haven't introduced myself yet - my name is Pete Chatham, and I am an honorable member of the Red Hand Bay Council of One Hundred. You can just call me Pete."

Red Hand Bay has a one-hundred-person parliament. I really want to know which other weird colony has a five-hundred-person parliament besides Beluga Harbor... Anson nodded slightly: "Nice to meet you, Congressman Pete."

"No, this is my honor, distinguished Speaker Anson." Pete still tried his best to greet, with a polite attitude as if the two of them were not talking at the military camp headquarters, but at the Beluga Harbor Assembly Hall:

"Speaking of the friendship between Red Hand Bay and Beluga Harbor, we have to go back fifty years ago, when the first brave Clovis colonial team arrived at the land beneath our feet."

"At that time, the Old World had just recovered from the suffering of sectarian wars and began to recuperate. As a result, the remote New World began to become somewhat alienated from the mainland, and it was difficult to obtain sufficient assistance."

"It was at that time that the colonists from the two places forged a rare friendship by helping each other - Red Hand Bay sent a whole ship full of crop seeds, leather and coal to Beluga Port. ; and the newcomers to Beluga Harbor responded with medicine, salt and spirits."

"Since then, the two colonies have prospered and developed together and exchanged supplies. To this day, Beluga Harbor provides two-thirds of the salt for Red Hand Bay every year, and Red Hand Bay produces leather, tobacco, and even gems. More than half are also sold to Beluga Port; over the past fifty years, we have always had a friendly relationship of mutual dependence and common prosperity."

"And now, we hope that this special friendly relationship can go further on the basis of the past." Peter said with hints.

"Oh?" Anson blinked curiously, with a confused expression on his face:

"Then what should we do to take this relationship further?"

"It's very simple. In addition to the tacit understanding of the agreement, the most important thing is to be able to open up the obstacles on the road between the two places."

Peter took over the topic very cooperatively: "In the past, the communication between Red Hand Bay and Beluga Port mainly relied on shipping. In addition to reducing costs, the more important reason is that there is a long lake town between the two places."

"They control the inland shipping and transportation hubs, and control the road traffic between Red Hand Bay and Beluga Port. It was precisely because Changhu Town, in order to monopolize the livestock trade, drove prices to the sky that led to the collapse of Beluga Harbor. Farms cannot buy cheap livestock and slaves."

"Not only that, during the previous beast slave riots, Changhu Town received the largest supply of arms from the mainland, but it would rather lock it in its own warehouse than distribute it to the surrounding colonies - obviously they were hardly affected by the riots. , but Red Hand Bay has been surrounded by tens of thousands of beast slave thugs, and has been forced to use agricultural tools such as logging axes and hoes to protect itself!"

"That's not the most outrageous thing. They also asked their militia to block the border road to prevent the thugs from entering Changhu Town. At the same time, they also robbed passing refugees and caravans, and slandered them as accomplices of the thugs - here is the Red Hand Bay businessmen, but there are also friends from Beluga Port.”

The more Peter spoke, the more excited he became. His tense cheeks and slightly trembling body seemed to contain endless anger: "So far, Long Lake Town is not only the enemy of Red Hand Bay, but also the enemy of the entire New World colonists. Traitor! It must be eradicated - not by me, but by all the Red Hand Bay MPs and all the people!"

"And Port Beluga will definitely respect the views of her friends." Anson nodded slightly and responded calmly: "Is there anything we can do to help?"

"Red Hand Bay hopes that her friends in Beluga Harbor can directly send troops to attack Long Lake Town."

Pete replied quite frankly.

The other party was so straightforward that Anson was stunned. He hesitated for a moment and then slowly said: "On this point, of course we also want to take the initiative to send troops to help our friends in Beluga Port for more than 50 years."

"But the problem is that according to the laws of the Kingdom of Clovis, the garrison cannot openly send troops to fight without receiving orders - only the levy can do this, so if we do this, it will probably violate the kingdom's laws. Law.”

Breaking the laws of the kingdom?

This answer also made the other party stunned, with a look of surprise in his eyes, as if to say that a leader who holds military power at the edge of the world would actually care about some bullshit law?

But Peter soon came to his senses and nodded matter-of-factly: "As Beluga Port's best friend, Red Hand Bay will certainly not make it difficult for you; we just want to completely eradicate Chang Lake Town. We do need some support - and we're willing to pay any price for that."

"Any price?" Anson raised his eyebrows.

"Any price!"

Pete emphasized.

Perhaps because he felt that what he said was not clear enough, he sat up slightly and said in an affectionate tone:

"It may be a bit abrupt to say this, but according to our investigation, the reason why Changhu Town has its current status is not only because of its superior geographical location, but also because they control a very secret gold mine and have never disclosed it. Report the matter to the empire or the church..."

"Alan!"

Anson suddenly interrupted Peter who was chatting and looked at the corner of the room. "Take the guests from Red Hand Bay to the lounge and inform Fabian to entertain him and give my new friend a clean break."

"Yes!" The little clerk who was called was excited. He quickly put down the meeting minutes he was writing and stood up. He walked enthusiastically to the middle-aged man with his hands behind his back:

"Your Excellency Peter Chatham, please come with me. Your lounge is on the second floor."

Looking at Anson's suggestive gaze, the middle-aged man did not refuse. He turned around with a meaningful smile and followed the little secretary away with the two guards.

Ten minutes later, the dusty Carl Bain knocked on the door and walked into the office. As he entered, he looked at the other end of the corridor in astonishment.

"Why are you back?"

Looking at the chief of staff who carefully closed the door, Anson looked a little surprised: "Aren't you going to accommodate the immigrants who have just been evacuated from the border?"

"That one has to be handled by Alexei. He is now a popular man in Beluga Port - all the rich people in the entire Council of Five Hundred really want to have a gifted son-in-law." Karl waved his hand and closed the door carefully. Pointing to the door:

"They're already here?"

"Who are you talking about?"

"Who else could I be? I'm from Red Hand Bay!"

"Yes, I arranged for him to stay at the headquarters temporarily."

"In the headquarters? Well, this is a good way to prevent him from wandering around in Beluga Harbor and attracting other people's attention... Oh, what is this?"

Suddenly finding an extra suitcase on Anson's desk, Karl's eyes lit up and he couldn't help but speak.

"Uh, that's..."

Before he could speak, the curious chief of staff stepped forward and lifted it gently.

The next second, the light shone into the dark inside of the suitcase, and the endless light instantly filled all the corners of the room - plus two shrill screams.

“Ahhhhhh——!!!!”

"my eyes--!!!!"