I will be crowned king

It turns out that opening a chest full of gold and gems unprepared in a dark room with plenty of light is not a good idea.

When both of them were blinded by the flash, Anson, who was the first to react, decisively activated his "superpower" and raised his hand to close the box with the help of the picture in his mind.

Next to him, Karl, who was covering his eyes and screaming, was doing the same thing. He instinctively reached out to touch the box, but the problem was that he couldn't see it...

So in the eyes of the little clerk who pushed the door open the next second, they saw two people screaming loudly and eagerly reaching out to slap each other.

Of course, everything is still within control up to this point. After all, "small misunderstandings" like accidentally slapping each other are not that rare. If we stop here, it will just be a smile at each other.

Well, if the two of them didn't hit the desk with the diamond box at the same time when they fell, and each of them kicked it down.

When he saw more than a dozen gold bricks and gravel-like gems flying towards him amidst Karl's screams and the little clerk's exclamations, Anson's mind suddenly recalled some memories from his previous life.

In the novels or other forms of "relatively realistic" works he has read, the thieves who sneak into the vault can often "only" carry three or four standard brick-sized gold bricks at a time, and their cautious movements are similar to holding them. A bucket is about the same.

In the past, Anson would praise the author for being so "rigorous", but now... if such details can be considered rigorous, it means that the world in his previous life was even more fantastic than this one.

At least when he, a gifted person and spellcaster, "saw" the gold brick flying toward his head, he was almost forced to activate the power of his bloodline.

Just when both of them were about to die, the flying gold brick happened to hit the ceiling of the roof. The spiraling lamp successfully died together with most of the UFOs; the overturned desk also perfectly blocked Anson's top. , allowing him to successfully escape.

But a certain poor chief of staff was not so lucky... First he was slapped with black eyes, and then he tripped over a table leg and fell to the ground. The back of his head came into close contact with the ground and he passed out.

When I woke up, I found myself lying on the bed with gauze wrapped around my head. My eyes were a little bloodshot, my ears were ringing, my head was dizzy, and my whole body ached as if I had been kicked and beaten. I sat down at the same time. Anson across from him was still looking at him apologetically.

For a moment, Karl really felt that he was tired. Being the chief of staff to such an outstanding commander as Anson Bach was really a weight that a low-level veteran like himself could not bear.

However, as a qualified adjutant, he still did not forget his responsibilities - most importantly, he found that he did not lose his memory as smoothly as other people who were hit by heavy objects, so the work had to continue.

"So you don't really plan to agree to Red Hand Bay and help them take over Changhu Town - just because that guy gave you a box of diamonds?"

"This has nothing to do with diamonds." Regarding this irresponsible speculation and slander, the General Director of the Garrison Army flatly denied:

"I just wonder, why can't we help them?"

"It should be why you want to help them!" Karl said reluctantly:

"Because Red Hand Bay is a... friendly neighbor of Beluga Harbor?"

"Can this be considered a reason?" Karl rolled his eyes in his heart and on his face at the same time.

"Uh, Master Anson, that..."

The little clerk suddenly stood up and raised his right hand holding the pen tremblingly: "I didn't mean to interrupt you, but I must correct the wrong information you got from Mr. Pitt."

"In fact, Red Hand Bay is not the so-called 'friendly neighbor' of Beluga Port - both places have excellent harbors, rich seafood, abundant coal and iron resources, and self-sufficient agriculture."

"But compared to Red Hand Bay and the mainland of the empire, the distance between Beluga Port and North Port is closer, and there are ports in the three North Sea countries in between. Therefore, Beluga Port is mainly engaged in trade with the Old Continent, and Red Hand Bay retreats. Secondly, there are more frequent contacts with other colonies...Strictly speaking, the two sides are actually in a competitive relationship."

"As for the 'legends' he mentioned... It's a pity that I didn't find reliable written information, but there are many contents in it that are actually closer to the relationship between Long Lake Town and Beluga Harbor." Putting down his right hand, Allen Dawn said slightly apologetically.

Karl looked at the little clerk intently, then turned back to Anson without saying a word, meaning "What else do you want to say?"

Anyway, in his opinion, this matter was completely meaningless to the Storm Master.

Putting aside the cost of post-war suppression and the 100% certainty that the Empire will fight back, let’s talk about the biggest result that the Storm Division can achieve in the entire operation - annexing Lake Town, obtaining a supply of cheap livestock and beast slaves, and obtaining a secret gold mine, received a large amount of compensation, and concluded a military alliance with Red Hand Bay.

No matter how you look at it, you are making a lot of money, right? But this is not the case at all!

First of all, Long Lake Town is an imperial colony, and it is closer to Red Hand Bay than Beluga Port. Once it is controlled by Clovis's army, there will definitely be a large number of refugees, especially the rich, fleeing to Red Hand Bay. Luck Good assets will shrink by one-third, but if you are unlucky, the loss may be more than half!

Of course, it is not necessarily a bad thing for the rich to flee, as it also reduces the cost of governance to a certain extent; then, will Beluga Port be able to obtain cheap livestock and animal slaves?

How is it possible - the Stormtroopers have officially declared war on the Empire's colonies, and they still expect the Empire to take a beating while doing business with the people who beat them? !

Therefore, there is no need to count on cheap livestock and animal slaves. They can rob as many as they can, and the planned livestock trade is completely out of the question.

The military alliance with Red Hand Bay... Among all the benefits that the Storm Division can get from this battle, this is the only one that is an absolute negative asset; after all, if Red Hand Bay is strong or has many allies, it is necessary for them to ask a Clovis Did the colony ask for help?

As for the most coveted thing, the legendary secret gold mine... let alone whether it really exists, assuming that Changhu Town can really hide that the Emperor and the Church of Order control a gold mine, what effect can it have on Stormtroopers? How much is it worth?

money? The New World is full of coal, iron ore deposits and rare timber, and everything is valuable enough; you have to risk being discovered by the church and the royal family and then forced to seize it to grab a piece of gold that you don’t know whether it exists or not, and even if it does exist, how much production it can produce. Mine?

In the end, Changhu Town had the largest number of arms among all the imperial colonies, and most of them had their own small arms factories; considering that Red Hand Bay repeatedly emphasized their weak strength, the so-called "power of being sandwiched between two sides", in the end it was very difficult to It may be that the Storm Division is fighting unilaterally, while Red Hand Bay is waving the flag and shouting from behind.

Thinking about it more darkly, Changhu Town is closer to Red Hand Bay than Beluga Port. Is it possible that the other party could take advantage of the decisive battle between the Storm Division and the main force of Changhu Town to sneak in and take the lead from behind...

Carl Bain didn't know if such a thing could be done in Red Hand Bay. Anyway, if it were him or a certain Commander-in-Chief, there would be absolutely no pressure.

Looking at the chief of staff who couldn't wait to ask questions, the commander-in-chief sighed softly.

"Okay, let me put it another way." Anson sat up slightly, supported his chin with his hands, and looked at Karl's eyes:

"What do you think this would have been like if we hadn't intervened?"

Not to interfere?

Karl frowned slightly: "Red Hand Bay will definitely not be able to defeat Changhu Town. They will definitely not seek death without reinforcements, but Changhu Town will not take the initiative to attack; the empire has 20,000 to 30,000 troops, and they will suppress each colony one by one. Countering the rebellion...will take about two or three years?"

"Yes, I also think it will take at least two or three years." Anson nodded in agreement: "What will the New World look like in two or three years?"

"The vitality of the empire's colonies has been severely damaged, and the population and wealth have dropped sharply?" Karl said subconsciously.

"And is this a good thing?" Anson asked back.

"...Isn't it?"

"Certainly not!"

Anson made a "bang!" sound and knocked on the table with his knuckles: "The locals are now hungry for raw materials. We want the royal family, the Privy Council and the army to turn a blind eye to anything we do in Beluga Port. Then We must ensure that the supply of raw materials only increases every year, and it must become cheaper day by day.”

"We need cheaper and more abundant raw materials locally. We want to build a steel plant in Beluga Port and develop manufacturing. We also want to expand trade and introduce banks to engage in the financial industry so that everyone can earn more than in Hantu - this is I promised it before I came here.”

"Have you discovered the problem? If the empire is severely weakened after this battle and the population drops sharply, where will I get the raw materials to supply the country, and who will I sell the imported finished products and luxury goods to?"

"So you intervened in Changhu Town to prevent the empire's colonies from being unable to make money due to the long-term war, resulting in a sharp decline in trade volume?" the chief of staff thought for half a minute and said in disbelief.

"You... uh... you've almost grasped the point." The corner of Anson's mouth twitched slightly:

"To put it simply, when I met with the negotiators of Red Hand Bay, I came up with a complete plan; this plan has two goals in total: First, the vitality of the New World colony must be preserved, no matter who it currently belongs to."

"Second, we must make the empire realize that continuing to interfere in the colonies is not worth the gains and give up on its own initiative; or make the royal family or the Privy Council realize that this matter is very important, and at the worst, send us reinforcements, otherwise we will not be able to win."

"In this way, no matter whether the colonies in the New World are still owned by the empire or simply become independent, Beluga Port can maintain the market and more sources of raw materials. The empire, which is constrained by the war in the old continent, has no spare power to interfere too much in the colonies. We still have Gotta earn it.”

This is indeed in the interests of the Storm Division... Karl nodded slightly: "So to do this, we have to form an alliance with Red Hand Bay?"

"Yes...and no." Anson said softly:

"To do this, we have to ally with all the rebellious Imperial colonies - including Red Hand Bay."

"all?!"

Karl was immediately stunned.

He originally thought that an alliance with Red Hand Bay was exaggerated enough, but this guy also planned to bring in all the rebellious colonies!

"Yes, and if there is a chance, we may have to try to see if we can also bring in the colonies of the three North Sea countries." Anson added:

"I said, this plan is very complete - it contains all the steps to achieve our expected goals. The Storm Division's next actions must comply with one of these steps to ensure nothing goes wrong."

"Accepting Red Hand Bay's request for help is the first step in the entire plan."

Anson said, took out his pipe, lit it with a match, took out the cigarette case and handed it to his chief of staff.

"Understood."

Subconsciously taking the cigarette case, Karl, who was in a daze, lit one for himself tremblingly: "Changhu Town is just a vote, you plan to use it to win over the four colonies, and show off your force to future allies... Yes Bar?"

"I can't completely say that. I actually really hope that the 'Secret Gold Mine' is real." Anson chuckled:

"If you can really control a mine, whether it is a private bank or Wang's Bank to settle in the future, you will have more confidence when negotiating."

Kalnu mouthed, of course he knew what Anson meant - it didn't matter whether there was a gold mine, but the fact that "there is a secret gold mine in Changhu Town" itself was a very useful gimmick to attract foreign investment.

"So you already have a plan, why did you bring me here specially?"

Karl, who was holding a cigarette in his mouth, looked confused.

"It's true that the plan has been made, but you also know that this plan sounds quite risky, and there are many aspects that we can't let everyone know about yet." Anson's face suddenly showed happiness and displeasure at the same time. Nice expression:

"But for such a major matter, everyone must agree."

Um? !

Karl raised his head alertly. In his memory, every time Anson showed this expression, it was because he wanted to...

"I need you to help me convince others - of course, without revealing the plan."

"why me?!"

"Because the first thing I thought of was you, Major Carl Bain, a loyal, hard-working and good deputy... chief of staff!"

Anson said matter-of-factly: "I think you are the only one to take on such an arduous task."

"...Have you never considered that you are quite suitable?"

"Considered, but no - I don't have time."

Anson shook his head, with "regret" written all over his face: "In addition to continuing to improve my perfect plan, I also have to further negotiate terms with Red Hand Bay, and also find a way to convince the White Whale Port Council - this is comparable to convincing the Stormtroopers It’s much more difficult.”

"Really? Why do I think this is the easiest?"

Karl curled his lips. He didn't think that those congressmen would dare to stand up and resist at all - unless they wanted to be blasted into the sky by a 68-pound naval gun.

"Stop talking nonsense, are you going to do it or not?"

"No problem, but I have a condition."

"explain!"

"No, you must promise me first, and then I will tell you what it is after it succeeds."

"...Bad check?"

"Yeah, and it's the kind where I can fill in as many zeros as I want."

"……make a deal!"