I will be crowned king

"Although this is belated congratulations, Brigadier General Anson Bach, congratulations on your promotion."

In front of the port of Beluga Harbor, William Cecil looked up and down at Anson's brand-new general uniform, his eyes full of envy: "A twenty-four-year-old brigadier general... tsk tsk, I can't imagine being forty-two years old. What status will you have?"

"Major General? Lieutenant General? Marshal or..." Anson paused deliberately, with a bit of self-mockery between his brows:

"Still a brigadier general!"

"Ha ha."

The naval colonel couldn't help but raise the corners of his mouth slightly: "If the person who said this was a lucky person by chance, I would probably agree, but from the mouth of a person who has the support of both Franz and the Luen family, It’s not very convincing.”

"Not just me, anyone who has witnessed the inauguration of Miss Sophia Franz will not have any doubts about your future."

Ansen was startled for a moment and frowned slightly: "...how to say?"

"She is a woman, isn't she?" William Cecil said with a natural smile on his face:

"Even if she has Franz as her boss and no matter how good her relationship with the royal family is, how much can she do? I mean... no matter what happens, you, the commander-in-chief... or the commander of the army, are the real leaders of the colony." Governor'."

"With the help of her name, you can display your talents in the colony without worrying about interference and constraints from others; and in order to keep the title of honorary governor, the Franz family will fully support all your actions - and there is nothing better than this Is there anything more exciting for a general?"

Seeing the profound expression on the navy captain's face, Anson couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth.

Sighing slightly, he chuckled a little helplessly: "So, you have already known about this...surprise, right?"

"Of course, in a sense, this is one of the reasons why it is the 'Governor's' mission rather than the representatives of the royal family or the Privy Council; in addition to taking over the tax collection of the colony, the most important task of the distinguished Baron Aix is ​​to provide You award me the honor."

William smiled easily: "The Baron asked us to keep it secret from you before the official announcement. He probably hopes to use this 'little surprise' to ease the relationship with you after taking control of the bank."

"When I just got off the ship, I thought about telling you this matter directly, but I was delayed by the matter of Representative Roland. Looking back now, it might not be a good thing."

Anson nodded slightly.

Although the New World Bank incident ended with him and Reinhard forming an alliance to repel their respective minions, it was not completely without side effects.

For Reinhard, the consequence of completely ostracizing Cedric would be to have bad relations with the family elders and even the imperial queen who he relied on as his backers, and he would no longer be able to get the support of these people.

And Baron Akers's loss of the position of bank president is destined to cause an irreparable rift between Anson and the Governor's Mission; just because Ice Dragon Fjord is his "home field", he has just arrived, and there is no force behind him. Baron Aix had no choice but to compromise.

At this time, an investiture ceremony full of "surprises" can obviously greatly alleviate the conflicts between the two parties; from Anson's own point of view, it is equivalent to a sign of the other party's surrender and begging for mercy; and in the eyes of Baron Aix, it is equivalent to him once again demonstrating The authority given to him by the native land behind him showed off his muscles a little.

And this time, it was not just Anson himself who received the award, but the entire Storm Division!

First, the establishment is directly expanded from an infantry division to a standing corps. What does this mean?

This means that theoretically the entire First Colonial Corps (numbered "Storm") can have four divisions, no less than fifteen standard infantry regiments of 600 men, and three to four cavalry regiments - or one cavalry division - Plus an artillery regiment with thirty-two to fifty artillery pieces of various types.

In theory.

For the commanders-in-chief of all standing armies, the Kingdom of Clovis grants them very high authority. They can apply to the army headquarters for budgets, mobilize troops, purchase equipment based on their own judgment of the battlefield situation, and can directly request the local government where they are stationed. Cooperate - of course, this is also one of the reasons why all kinds of logistical corruption are common.

At the same time, as long as an officer has served as the commander-in-chief of a certain legion, and his military rank is still at the general level (almost impossible), then as long as he does not commit any serious mistakes, his future promotion path is almost certain.

Taking office, going on an expedition, being promoted or transferred to a certain fortress garrison commander, entering the army headquarters, being knighted... Anson can already hear the bright future calling him.

Not only him, but also three members of the Storm Division officer corps were awarded the title at the same time: Fabian, the commander of the Grenadier Corps, was awarded the title of colonel, Chief of Staff Carl Bain was awarded the title of lieutenant colonel, and the commander of the cavalry company Jason Fruhauf was awarded the title of colonel. The rank of major.

These are only those who have been directly awarded the title. According to the Clovis military system, general-level officers have the right to nominate a subordinate for promotion. As long as it is reasonable and reasonable, there is almost no possibility of being rejected - Major General Ludwig was promoting a certain subordinate before. When he was a young man, he took this right to its limit, bypassing the Army and directly reporting to the Privy Council for approval, which resulted in his stipend never being paid.

The reorganization of the infantry division into a corps means expansion, which means that almost all officers - even soldiers can have the opportunity to be promoted quickly, which means that their status within the Clovis Army system continues to rise.

It can be said that Baron Akers used such a small surprise to immediately make all the officers and soldiers of the Storm Division have a good impression of him.

"So...what's next?"

William Cecil suddenly said: "You have become the de facto ruler of Ice Dragon Fjord, with military and civil affairs in your hands. With the Luen Family and the New World Bank, Baron Akers cannot restrict your every move... What else are you going to do next?”

What to do, why is he asking this? Anson frowned slightly, thought carefully and said:

"Probably to reorganize the Storm Legion as soon as possible, continue to promote the construction process of banks and companies in the New World, strengthen the relationship with the Free Confederacy, and ensure that..."

"That's not what I'm talking about."

William Cecil raised his hand and stopped Anson who was still trying to answer:

"I'm aware that you've considered...going back?"

"go back?"

"Yes, go back to the mainland." The navy captain nodded and said casually as if chatting: "Complete the work at hand, then resign to the mainland, return to Clovis City, and take up other more... leisurely positions?"

The air suddenly became quiet.

Behind the two of them, the sailors of the ship were still busy going back and forth on the deck; in the bustling port, everything seemed to have become two worlds.

Anson, who had been silent for a long time, slowly raised his head and smiled calmly at the naval captain: "William, are you..."

"What did you hear?"

"No!"

The naval captain flatly denied: "It's just a suggestion. After all, although the new world is suitable for making achievements, it is not a particularly comfortable place, is it?"

"I, I just simply feel that the Storm Legion has too many things to face next, and it's hard to say how much reward it will get, and maybe it will have to bear a lot of responsibilities; to achieve the current results is already amazing!"

"To be honest, I actually quite admire you. If I were in the same situation, the result would definitely not be the same as it is now. It would be a thousand or ten thousand times worse!"

William, with a relaxed expression, was admiring the surrounding scenery while chatting casually, chatting in a nonchalant way, but seemed to mean something.

An Senyun listened calmly, his heart becoming more and more solemn.

"Of course, these are just my personal suggestions. You can think that I am jealous...haha." William chuckled, and then his expression became serious again:

"No matter what, the Cecil family will never go back on the promise they made to you, please rest assured; even if the Imperial Fleet arrives at Ice Dragon Fjord tomorrow, as long as you hold on, King Clovis's flag will appear sooner or later. On the horizon.”

Withdrawing his wandering gaze, Anson made eye contact with the other party: "I don't have the slightest doubt about this."

"Oh, speaking of the Grand Fleet, there is some information that you might want to pay more attention to." The naval captain seemed to suddenly remember something:

"Probably after the incident at the Yser Elf Court, the Church of Order seemed to have reached an agreement with the Empire to rebuild an old shipyard near the Port of Adran."

"This is information we only got recently, because the shipyard is recruiting ship workers on a large scale, and Port Adland's coal and steel import quotas this year are much higher than in previous years."

"According to my father's analysis, it is likely that the Church of Order transferred technology to the empire and allowed them to build steam ironclads!"

oh?

Anson, who was still in a serious mood just now, was immediately aroused with some curiosity.

As the absolute monopoly on technology and knowledge in the entire Order World, the Church of Order has always treated all countries equally, and will only transfer and open its drawings and related research to it after "judging that the country has the qualifications to master the technology." .

As for the process of judgment... it can only be said that it is absolutely subjective and depends entirely on the church's words. Others, including the royal families of various countries and even the emperor himself, are not qualified to participate in the discussion.

For example, Clovis could surpass the empire and even the entire world of order in this respect by relying on his accumulation during the time of Saint Isaac, as well as Archbishop Luther Franz's hard work on steam core and steam train technology. Hantu - which was still the Seven Cities Alliance at the time - did not even have a decent arms factory at the time, and relied heavily on imported arms.

"The empire has started building ironclads, which is good news." William said with some excitement:

"This means that in the next few years, the Imperial Navy's focus will shift from oppressing Clovis's maritime activity space to phasing out old battleships and integrating ironclads into the grand fleet system."

"And building ironclads costs a lot of money, not to mention they have to start from scratch; if the money is spent on shipbuilding, the emperor will not be able to squeeze out extra expenses to form an expeditionary force to counterattack the colonies!"

Oh, this is indeed good news... Anson's eyes showed a hint of joy: "Can you confirm the authenticity of the information?"

"Cecil's family's intelligence network and the royal family's spies are all inquiring about this information. If nothing else happens, it should be correct!" William Cecil nodded seriously:

"After all, it is a large shipyard. Even if the empire wants to hide it, the noise, workers and various raw materials... these things cannot be deceived."

"Of course, if you have the chance, I would also trouble you to get some information from His Excellency Reinhard Roland. At present, there is also a lot of local attention on this matter; the relationship between the Roland family and Archbishop Bernard of Adlan It’s very deep, and it’s very possible that it holds information that we don’t know about.”

"No problem, I will definitely give it a try if I have the chance."

Anson agreed without hesitation, although he did not think that Reinhard would tell him such important information.

Business is business, and enemies are enemies; with the current relationship between Clovis and the Empire, no matter how good they are, it is impossible to reveal each other's secrets.

After entrusting the last thing, William Cecil glanced at the Crown flagship that was almost finished packing up behind him, and said with a little reluctance:

"Goodbye then, Brigadier General Anson Bach, and wish you peace."

"Have a safe journey with you too, Colonel William Cecil."

The sound of heavy military boots sounded on the pier, and the navy captain shook up his coat and walked toward the sea without looking back.

Watching William leave, the relaxation and comfort on Anson's face gradually disappeared, replaced by a tangled and complicated expression.

First he congratulated him, and then he persuaded him to leave the colony as soon as possible... The other party's "parting sentiments" were so inconsistent that it was really hard not to make people suspicious, especially at this crucial time.

But whether it is promoting himself, changing the Storm Division into a standing army, trying to control the Bank of the New World... Clovis's various measures are obviously trying to strengthen the control of the colony, and it does not look like he is ready to abandon it. Otherwise, the cost will be high. Too high.

As long as Clovis does not intend to abandon the colony, then everything he is doing now is still valuable; even if the Royal Fleet is not a match for the Imperial Fleet, Anson will still have 10,000 or even 30,000 to 40,000 Imperial troops to land in Ice Dragon Fjord. Full confidence dragged them to death in the icy and snowy wasteland.

As long as there are reinforcements, even one ship's worth of supplies will be fine.

if only……

"Brigadier General Anson Bach."

A familiar figure suddenly appeared behind him. After being called out, Anson looked back subconsciously and found William Cecil's deputy, the first mate of the Crown, looking at him with a letter in his hand.

"Excuse me……"

"There is a letter for you." The first mate deliberately lowered his voice and said: "When I came here, Colonel William specifically asked me to give it to you before leaving."

Send it to me, and you have to wait until before leaving?

Anson showed a somewhat incomprehensible expression: "Who sent the letter?"

"On the surface, it's the Clovis Truth Newspaper, asking you about Draco Vertes, who worked there before; but in fact..." The first mate's expression suddenly condensed:

"Sofia Franz."