I will be crowned king

Accompanied by a deafening loud noise, golden-red fire suddenly burst out from the sea outside Black Reef Port, and air-tearing projectiles passed low over the city amid countless screams and exclamations.

The next second, dozens of naval artillery shells instantly covered the right-wing high ground that had been breached by the Empire. Only a few ruins of defense lines were left, which were completely overwhelmed by the fire and smoke exploded by solid bombs, together with the temporary defenses built by the Imperial soldiers. The fortifications were also smashed to pieces, and the air waves following the landing of the cannonballs swept across.

Although these shells are basically inaccurate, they are definitely enough to deal with the attacking troops crowded in a small gap - nearly a thousand imperial soldiers were pressed tightly in the trench by the artillery fire. Anyone who dared to show his head would be killed in an instant. The air wave of the cannonball sent a pair of invisible wings.

At this time, the empire's artillery positions had stopped firing. Bernard, who went to the front line in person, could only command two six-pound cavalry cannons, and there were very few shells left in the attack. Since it was Of course, it is impossible to prepare much ammunition for a temporary general attack in order to gain time.

The imperial army, which was originally high-spirited, was instantly interrupted.

"Sir, what should we do next?!"

The roar was like thunder, and the helpless officers shouted eagerly to Bernard: "The attack was completely suppressed by the artillery fire of the port fleet. If we don't think of a way, we may not even be able to defend this only gap!"

Faced with his bewildered subordinates, Bernard Molwes remained indifferent.

Looking at the direction in which the artillery fire was coming, the colonial minister's expression was extremely confused; he could not figure out why the pirates he bribed turned to the colonial traitors and the Clovis people.

Also, there are no more than three people in the entire Sailing City who know about this matter. Where did they get the information and how did they control the pirates?

Bernard was extremely confused.

But he no longer had to be confused soon... Just when he was about to continue observing, a sudden intuition made him jump forward subconsciously.

The next second, a black shadow whizzed past his head and landed on the artillery base directly behind him with incomparable accuracy.

"boom--!!!!"

Accompanied by a loud noise mixed with several screams, the entire artillery fort "bloomed" in all directions like a flower ready to go; the six-pound cavalry cannon placed on it was directly blasted into the sky, rolling and falling. In some mud pit.

The surrounding officers were all dumbfounded, watching helplessly as the soldiers hiding in the fort were torn apart. Their remains, which had been blown into pieces, exploded in all directions in the firelight.

Bernard, who was sprayed all over by the plasma mixed with silt, suddenly woke up and immediately made the most rational decision in his mind at the moment:

"withdraw!"

After saying that, without waiting for everyone around him to hear clearly, Bernard kicked open the ammunition box that was in the way, turned around and ran away.

Almost at the same time, another roar exploded behind him - another cavalry cannon was also blasted into the sky.

They all looked at the gun barrel that was "flying into the sky" and glanced at the back of the minister who was already running away. The knight officers just followed them as if they had just woken up from a dream, using their hands and feet to move quickly in the trench fortifications. Turn in, extremely embarrassed.

Five minutes later, when the sound of shelling finally settled, retreat bugles sounded again on the outer defense line of Black Reef Port.

The sudden rebellion of the rough sea pirates not only destroyed Bernard Morweis's carefully designed "backstab" plan, but also made up for the shortcomings of Black Reef Port's lack of sea defense and artillery cover.

This means that unless these three-masted sailing ships are destroyed, the possibility of simply breaking a gap in the defense line to advance forward and bombard the entire city is completely ruined.

And the impact of pirate rebellion is even more than that... In large-scale battles, morale can almost be said to be the decisive factor in many cases; the betrayal of allies not only severely dampened the imperial soldiers' confidence in victory, but also reduced the morale of Black Reef Port, which was already on the verge of despair. Big shake.

Under such a situation, Bernard realized that even if he could still drive straight into the parliament in the city center, he could not expect the traitors to surrender easily; unless the imperial army could withstand the bombardment of the port and destroy the entire defense line, retreat would be the only option.

So the high-spirited Imperial soldiers who were marching straight in a second ago fell into the abyss without knowing it. They retreated after hearing the news before they could figure out the situation. At the same time, they had to stop them from rushing out from the defense line and organize The Black Reef Port militia launched a counterattack.

Among them, especially the troops that have broken through the defense line and are approaching the city, they have directly cut off contact with the rear after the withdrawal order is issued. They are still exchanging fire with the last line of defense of the Black Reef Port defenders. They will definitely not be able to withdraw. At the same time, Without the necessary flank cover and artillery support, the offensive was unsustainable.

In the end, hundreds of imperial soldiers watched helplessly as the large army got further and further away from them. In despair, they were divided and surrounded by the Black Reef Port defenders who gradually came up on the position destroyed by artillery fire.

When the last lead bullet in the gun barrel was empty, both sides chose to abandon the original "civilized" form of war. The most bloody and cruel hand-to-hand combat of the previous era began in a chaotic position. staged.

Although the Black Reef Port militia lacked training and their combat effectiveness was a mob in the literal sense; but the morale of the Imperial line soldiers who were completely surrounded had dropped to freezing point, and there were no reinforcements at all, and they gradually turned from tenacious resistance to a desperate struggle. Every bit was wiped out.

When the imperial soldiers who suffered heavy casualties took the initiative to put down the fleur-de-lis flag, threw down their weapons and knelt down to surrender, the offensive and defensive battle that lasted for nearly a whole day finally came to an end with the cheers of the defenders of Black Reef Port.

"Ahem...why does it end like this?!"

While Bernard Morweis was fleeing in panic, on the deck of one of the four pirate ships outside Black Reef Harbor, the girl lying behind the 18-pound naval gun had "unhappiness" written all over her face. cried out in frustration.

Just a little bit...Lisa could swear that it was just a little bit close. If she hadn't run too fast, the two cavalry cannons that had just been blown into the sky by her would definitely not have been the one named Bernard Morweis. Bad guy!

But now the opponent not only ran away, but also the entire imperial army withdrew from their position; the battle was won, but the girl couldn't feel any sense of accomplishment at all.

This is a bit like the game reaching the final moment. You are only one round away from winning the whole game and the opponent surrenders. They just won’t let you hit the final triumphant victory... Lisa, who was not happy at all, stared at the opponent and pouted in grievance. Mouth.

However, the other officers and soldiers of the Storm Division on the deck and the surrendered pirates of the Turbulent Sea were very happy. They were either cheering or lying on the railing of the ship, talking and laughing, pointing at the escaping Imperial army... The atmosphere was relaxed and happy.

Except Lieutenant Colonel Alexei Dukasky.

The commander of the Storm Division Line Regiment, one of the top ten most important figures in the garrison, felt as if he had ridden an unprecedentedly thrilling roller coaster and ten bungee jumps. His body had just landed, but his soul had not yet Completely in place.

This feeling of dislocation of spirit and body did not just appear, but had accompanied him during the long journey of the past ten days... To be honest, after experiencing such an "exciting" adventure, Alexey, who originally had a weak faith, Nowadays, he is becoming more pious.

Quite simply, without the protection of the Ring of Order, even by the most conservative estimate, he would have died almost ten times in the past ten days.

But now...he arrived at Blackreef Harbor, intact.

Alexei seemed to be in a dream.

Just as he was looking at the Black Reef Port not far away in a daze, a slightly swaying figure came to the side and patted his shoulder hard:

"What, am I right? The plan is perfect, there are no problems!"

What? !

Alexei's eyes widened in an instant, his pupils shrank suddenly, and his expression was as shocked as if someone was seriously arguing with him that "the sun is actually pink."

He turned his head, and the Commander-in-Chief beside him was smiling at him with a pale face. His slightly trembling body obviously still had not completely overcome the seasickness, and was just trying to hold on:

"No problem... If I remember correctly, the troops got lost in the virgin forest on the third day after setting off, and were attacked by three brown bears at the camp!"

"Yes, but Lisa discovered and killed them in time. Based on the traces of the activities of wild beasts and indigenous people, she quickly found the correct route!" Anson corrected:

"And to be honest, if it weren't for those bears, plus the supplies and warm equipment they provided, the rest of the journey would never have been as easy as what we experienced."

easy? !

Alexey was shocked, as if he almost lost his breath: "You mean to encounter avalanches continuously, to be blocked by countless bandits from morning to night, and to be attacked by indigenous people hiding in the woods?"

"Yes, isn't it?" Anson nodded seriously:

"It is precisely because of the bearskin quilts, meat and fat that we did not lose our troops due to the extremely cold weather. Based on their range of activities, we determined that there were traces of indigenous people and bandit activities around us. We decisively changed the direction of march. Greatly improved marching efficiency..."

"Then I didn't know why I went all the way south. I was originally going to Black Reef Port. When I came back to my senses, I not only ran out of ammunition and food, but also ran to the vicinity of Red Hand Bay. Finally, I ran into the black reef smuggled by pirates and Red Hand Bay merchants. Harbor camp!" Alexei couldn't help but steal and said:

"Is this...is this also part of your plan?"

"Of course, this is my carefully designed marching route." Anson's expression was quite proud:

"Didn't the bandits who attacked us on the road say that the imperial army is besieging Black Reef Port? Since there is no way to get there on land, we can only sneak into Black Reef Port by sea - which also saves us a lot of time!"

"But weren't all those pirates bribed by Sailing City and preparing to attack Black Reef Port?"

Alexey was even more confused: "How on earth did you convince them to betray the Empire and willingly serve the Free Confederacy?"

"Persuasion, I didn't convince anything." Anson shrugged:

"They have been on the same side as the Free Confederacy from the beginning."

"Um?

"The two main economic pillars of Red Hand Bay are the local planting industry and the other is black market smuggling. Since the colonial rebellion, the smuggling trade in Red Hand Bay has become increasingly prosperous and has become an important livelihood for many local people. The hand is broken.”

Anson raised his right hand and pointed at the pirates behind him who were chatting with the Storm Division soldiers: "Many of them are even locals. Once they completely turn against Red Hand Bay or even the entire Confederacy, they will not only lose their financial resources, but their families will also lose their income." My relatives and friends are all in the colony."

"So there is no need to instigate rebellion at all. As long as the price is higher than that of the empire, 'rebellion' is a natural thing."

Alexei was completely stunned. Was everything really according to his plan as the commander-in-chief said?

If Anson were to be honest...not entirely.

In his original plan, he indeed planned to go directly to Black Reef Port from Segren's "secret shortcut"; but he ignored the most critical factor in this shortcut - the indigenous people.

Why were Kjegren and his men able to cross the wilderness without repercussions? Because almost all of them are indigenous people, Segrun himself is a famous beast slave mercenary leader.

This means that they can get supplies from nearby or migrating indigenous tribes, and will not be attacked by them. At the same time, they know very well where there are wild beasts, where the terrain is dangerous, and where bandits linger... These advantages are all possessed by the Storm Division. Not available.

Aware of this, Anson decisively changed his marching route. Of course, it was impossible for him to predict in advance where there would be pirate smuggling dens near Red Hand Bay, but the probability of getting a ship as long as he got close was 100%.

As for the reason why the pirates surrendered, there was another important reason that he did not tell Alexey, and that was that although the smuggling trade in Red Hand Bay was developed, the entire colony had begun to operate more "high-end" under the influence of Beluga Port. manufacturing industry, using the technology and equipment provided by Beluga Port, is preparing to build a steel plant locally.

If these pirates cannot "transform" as soon as possible, they will sooner or later decline along with the smuggling industry that is gradually declining; Anson's price for them is the "Free Confederate Navy", which will openly engage in maritime trade between the colonies and Beluga Port, and Can get "most favorable treatment" and stable supply guarantee.

In the face of huge interests and hundreds of fully armed and well-trained troops, it is clear what the pirates will choose.

"So, my plan is perfect and there is nothing to worry about!"

Patting Alexei's shoulder affectionately, Anson comforted him: "You just need to carry out the order with peace of mind, and leave the rest to me."

"Oh, speaking of this, I may need your help and cooperation for the next plan... How about it, are you confident?"

Listening to the commander-in-chief's sincere tone, Alexey shuddered.

A familiar feeling came over me again.