I will be crowned king

"So, why should the Clovis be the vanguard of the Crusaders?!"

In front of the messy Adran Port pier, the furious Arthur Herred looked like a drowned rat and complained dissatisfiedly to the expressionless Archduke Adran.

It is already the end of April, and the Port of Adland, which has just experienced the storm and flood at the beginning of the year, is once again thriving; the warm and humid sea breeze is intoxicating, and the clear sky seems to have infinite magic, which can relieve a depressed mood. Also as the grass grows and the orioles fly, it is full of life.

But for Arthur Herred, who was excited to be the commander-in-chief not long ago, everything was completely opposite.

In order to set out on an expedition to the New World as soon as possible, he first assembled half of the army as quickly as possible, rushed to the Port of Adland without carrying much supplies, and then ran into the local annual "routine" Severe floods caused by heavy rains and high tides turned most of the region and even cities into floods.

Immediately afterwards, fake news came from unknown sources, claiming that the people of the New World were not heretics at all, but just a group of Universalists, and that the church was going to strangle them like they did during the Schism War, triggering a major riot in the entire Edland region.

So Arthur Herred, who had only more than 10,000 lightly-armed soldiers under his command, had to suppress the rebellion while collecting supplies. As a result, the riots cut off the roads throughout the Grand Duchy, and supplies could not be delivered to the Port of Adland at all; the troops who had no food to eat also began to During the strike, even Arthur himself was almost captured alive by striking soldiers and rioting workers.

After finally waiting until the riot subsided, the supplies were basically in place, the remaining troops came up one after another, and the large fleet responsible for transporting the soldiers also completed its assembly. When everything seemed to be about to fall into place, the departure time was forcibly postponed for another month—— And the starting sequence was none other than the Clovis people.

This is so infuriating!

Arthur Herred, who had been able to remain calm at first, cracked on the spot. He really couldn't understand how the Empire negotiated with the Church to allow the Clovis people to take such a big advantage - this was not bullying. person? !

But in the eyes of Grand Duke Adlan, things were completely different, even the opposite.

First of all, the title of Commander-in-Chief Arthur Herred was obtained for nothing because of his royal status. There are so many distinguished nobles in the empire, and there are so many generals who are capable of conquering and fighting. As a result, because of the queen's pillow style and The ridiculous reason of "promoting the younger generation of the royal family" allowed a young man with almost no war experience to become the commander-in-chief.

Not only that, such a person can also be ranked at the forefront of the expedition, serving as the main force of the entire Holy War Army rather than the follow-up reinforcements; in normal times, Grand Duke Adlan would definitely feel that there was something wrong with the emperor's sanity.

Of course, the healthy Emperor is very sober. He knows that there is no suspense in this battle. Except that the first battle may suffer some setbacks due to unsuitable climate, geographical location, logistics and other reasons; but once the main force of the Jihad army arrives, it will not even be able to gather 50,000 people. There is no other possible outcome for the new world colonies except surrendering.

Although Arthur Herred had a good relationship with Louis, and he was indeed one of the outstanding ones among the younger generation of the royal family; at this moment, in the eyes of Grand Duke Adelaide, he was just a guy who got what he wanted without knowing what was wrong.

"The order of the expedition is determined by the Holy See in coordination with all parties. It is not a word of His Majesty the Emperor. Not only you, but also the commanders of each legion must obey the command and are not allowed to act without authorization." After listening to the other party's complaints quietly, Ed Duke Lan said expressionlessly:

"I understand your thinking, but an order is an order, and there is no room for negotiation."

"Of course I understand that!"

Arthur Herred gritted his teeth. In fact, he really didn't want to speak so loudly - not only was he disrespectful to the important minister of the kingdom in front of him, but also his father, who was also his best friend, and it was also not good for his throat, but he couldn't swallow it without speaking. Tone:

"It doesn't matter even if we give up the vanguard to the Clovis people. After all, the main army will be composed of us and the Hantu Army. Another way is to kick those southern hillbillies to the secondary battlefield, all composed of imperial soldiers. The army will indeed be safer."

"But, isn't it too much to let the Clovis capture Sailing City - I remember that wasn't Moby Dick Port promised to them at the beginning?"

Before he finished speaking, Grand Duke Adlan, who had been filled with boredom just now, was suddenly startled and looked at those puzzled eyes in surprise.

But this surprise did not last long, and the Grand Duke's expression returned to calm: "It is very simple, this is an exchange of interests between the Emperor and Carlos II."

"exchange?"

Arthur, who still didn't know that his remarks just now were appreciated by the other party, scratched his head and asked tentatively: "Are you saying that the emperor and Carlos II made a deal, using Sailing City in exchange for the decision-making power not to intervene in the Holy War?"

"This is just the surface part." Grand Duke Adlan straightened his collar and looked straight into Arthur's eyes:

"The most critical part is to prevent Clovis from intervening, or interfering with the so-called Free Confederacy and Ice Dragon Fjord, so that the Empire and the Holy See can defeat the enemies they want to defeat without any worries."

"A war, especially an expedition, is never about sending troops to foreign lands and planting your own flag to declare victory or end; such a victorious army will not be satisfied and the local people will not surrender. , the local nobles and people will not be proud of it."

"No, they want war, or victory. They want to see soldiers sacrificed, enemies slaughtered, farmland and cities burned to the ground, with wailing in the ruins, bayonets stained with blood and gun muzzles spewing smoke!"

"Because generals and knights need military promotion, soldiers want to make a fortune through robbery, local rich and poor people all hope to get the unowned real estate, and the local people will only get the rest after the hard bones are dead. Kneel down and surrender willingly and without any burden.”

"...It sounds a bit evil." Arthur frowned slightly and said a little uncertainly:

"Are you sure you are describing the jihadist army fighting for their faith, and not some devil enslaved by an evil god?"

"I want to be sure." Grand Duke Adlan twitched the corner of his mouth:

"The only colonies in the entire New World that truly have organizational capabilities are Beluga Port and Sail City, and the latter has already suffered heavy losses due to previous rebellions; therefore, only Beluga Port is the only one that qualifies as an 'enemy.'"

"And don't forget, the headquarters of the Luen family in the New World, which is wanted by the Holy See, is also there; therefore, take the lead in capturing Sailing City, which will hardly offer any real resistance, or let the Clovis people suffer some hardships first, and regain the losses along the way. It is more in the interests of the entire Jihadist Army to have a vigorous decisive battle in Beluga Port!"

Of course, there is a more important reason, which is to take the opportunity to completely slaughter all the Clovis immigrants in the New World.

Yes, this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to destroy the Clovis roots and colonization of the New World—literally.

But what Grand Duke Adlan never expected was that Clovis actually agreed to this request.

Perhaps due to short-sightedness, or perhaps realizing the general trend, they finally chose to give up their colonies in exchange for local advantages, and returned the snow-covered new world to the empire.

Without closing his eyes, Archduke Adlan could already imagine how tragic the battle in White Whale Port would be; Anson Bach, the Storm Legion, the Rune Family... all of them would fight against an army of 100,000 people. Under the siege of the Judgment Knights, it was wiped out.

They will all die, die like crushed cockroaches.

When he came back to his senses, he found that the young commander-in-chief in front of him was frowning, as if he was worried about something.

"……you do not believe?"

"Ah... no, I firmly believe everything you just said. After all, you are Louis' father. I believe you will not lie to me; but..."

Arthur paused for a moment and pursed his lips, his brows furrowed even more than before: "But do you think that such a... cruel approach, Louis Bernard, who is currently serving as the governor of Sailing City, would really be willing to cooperate with the empire and The church’s plan?”

"Of course, I believe that Louis is still loyal to the empire, but he has always been a relatively simple person, and he often does things... Oh, sir, Sir Bernard... Sir Bernard?!"

Looking at the suddenly wide-eyed Archduke Adran, who seemed to be petrified, Arthur was frightened and screamed desperately, shaking his hands in front of the other person's eyes, but it was still to no avail.

The stunned Grand Duke Adlan fell completely into an inner panic.

I seem to have forgotten one of the most important things...

……………………

Beluga Harbor, Storm Legion headquarters.

On the wasteland outside the fortress, there is a dusty road that is almost filled with people flowing slowly; large groups of soldiers, baggage vehicles, livestock...are lined up in a formation that is absolutely not even half a copper coin away from "neatness". Assemble at the foot of the headquarters mountain and stand by.

Ever since Anson and Louis Bernard passed the "Emergency Mobilization" order at the Supreme Council, calling on all colonies to gather soldiers and formally establish the Confederate Legion, troops have gradually begun to enter the Ice Dragon Fjord from ports or land to accept unified exchanges. Adaptation of clothing and military system.

In fact, Anson had already done the same thing once during the establishment of the Confederacy and the War of Independence; but time was tight that time, and he only reorganized the troops sent from each colony. The equipment, military system and even tactics were still the same. Each party decides based on its own situation - similar to the bandits who have just been recruited.

Saying this is definitely not to belittle the combat effectiveness of the colonial militia, because they are definitely not up to the level of local bandits: marching long distances, sleeping in the countryside, sneaking and attacking at night... Each of these basic operations of the bandits can make the colonial militia die suddenly on the spot. If you don't fight, you will collapse.

Therefore, even though he knew deep down that he was doing useless work, Anson Bach decided that these troops must be gathered together, trained and commanded uniformly; he did not expect these people to become a well-trained and powerful iron army that would frighten the enemy, but at least The enemy must really believe that this is an army, not refugees or indigenous tribes.

The colonies also knew very well that they had little say in the military. They decisively agreed to the proposal of the two governors and even expressed their willingness to bear part of the costs. They were even willing to establish a Confederate General Staff as soon as possible and democratically elect the commander of the Confederate Legion.

This kind of integration of the military will obviously greatly harm the autonomy of each colony. It is not difficult for a fool to guess that once the General Staff is established, the degree of centralization will be even greater than that of the Supreme Council; if any request is not accepted, the free confederation will defend itself. The soldiers are about to kick down the door with guns and eliminate the traitors of freedom!

But again, in terms of self-awareness, each colony is very self-aware.

Not to mention that Anson and Louis found reasonable-sounding reasons like "Beware of Imperial Counterattack", even if they said "Beware of Old God Sects", "Beware of Church Crusaders", "Beware of Aliens"... they should be handed in Military power still has to be handed over, otherwise? Otherwise, do you want to become a traitor to freedom?

Anson Bach and Louis Bernard, Sailing City and Ice Dragon Fjord, when the two bipolar poles of the Thirteen Colonies had the same opinion, the rest of the people, in addition to agreement, only had more positive and strong agreement.

But even if you can force others to agree with some things, it may not necessarily mean that you can get the desired results.

"One thousand people in Changhu Town, 800 people in Red Hand Bay, one thousand people in Black Reef Port, 400 people in Winter Torch City, 500 people in Slave Port..."

On a raised breakthrough outside the fortress, Carl Bain looked at the figures just tallied by the staff, his expression extremely ugly: "There are thirteen colonies, except for the Sailing City and Ice Dragon Fjord, the assembled army company There are less than 10,000 people, what do they want to do?!”

"In my opinion, I don't think about anything, it's just a matter of luck." Fabian on the side said coldly:

"In the eyes of these colonies, protecting the Confederacy and fighting the Empire is the mission of Beluga Harbor and Sail City; since we can defeat the Empire once, we can defeat the Empire a second time; in their eyes, it only took half a year to gain independence. , freedom… is probably something that is easy to obtain.”

"But this time it's not just the empire, but a coalition of at least 100,000 people from the entire Old Continent!"

Karl couldn't help shouting in a low voice, but then he couldn't help laughing: "Of course, they probably won't understand the difference - whether it's ten thousand, fifty thousand, one hundred thousand or even one million, right?" There’s no difference between these people.”

After hearing this, Fabian nodded slightly and agreed very much with the chief of staff's statement.

"But to be honest, the scarcity of troops is also a good thing in a sense." Fabian changed the subject: "This way we can also reduce the manpower used to train them and focus on training the last five thousand shooters. .”

"There are still sixty or seventy days until the Jihadi Army arrives. If we hurry up, it might still be too late!"

"yes."

The two worried people looked at each other. Thinking that the enemy would not arrive for another two months, their nervousness suddenly relaxed a lot.

What they don't know is that there are only two months left in the new world.