I will be crowned king

East of Changhu Town, on the way to Huixue Town.

After finalizing the armistice time limit with the Jihadi Army, Louis did not waste a minute and led the Jihadi Army, the Supreme Council, and the disaster-stricken people to evacuate westward; he only stayed briefly in Changhu Town for two days before setting off again. And they brought in some local colonists who were willing to leave.

This is not because Changhu Town is indefensible. On the contrary, as a bridgehead to curb Clovis' expansion in the New World, Changhu Town is the only one of the imperial colonies that has complete city defense construction and even has its own arsenal - -Although it has been moved away by Anson a long time ago - plus a rather hidden gold mine.

The disadvantage is that it is far from the coastline and does not have a good harbor, so shipping needs to rely on rivers; but at the moment when the Jihadi Army is invading, this disadvantage can even be seen as an advantage. After all, as long as the warships cannot go ashore, the pressure on the New World Legion is significantly reduced. .

The problem is that Beluga Port has fallen, which means that if you want to hold on to Changhu Town, you have to be prepared to be besieged from two sides and be cut off at any time; therefore, even if the conditions are much inferior, Gray Snow Town is currently the best place for the New World Legion. s Choice.

Of course, such a decision cannot satisfy the Free Confederacy, especially those colonial militiamen who have not experienced the Battle of Red Hand Bay. They still confidently believe that there is no need to abide by the agreement with the enemy, and they can use Long Lake Town as a base and springboard. , attack quickly to recapture Beluga Harbor.

Their voices are not small, especially because the strength of Changhu Town has been preserved intact, and their voice within the Confederacy has obviously increased; coupled with the material pressure caused by leaving their hometowns and large-scale migration on the remaining colonies, many people actually have similar feelings. idea.

After small-scale commotions and protests, but without any response, their arrogance quickly grew, and they began to mobilize the troops and forces of other colonies on a large scale. They collectively announced their refusal to retreat to Gray Snow Town and demanded to move towards Beluga Port. March.

In the past, for the sake of maintaining unity and stability, Louis would probably agree to their proposal, and then try every means to overcome all difficulties and organize a siege of Beluga Port, even at the expense of his own reputation.

But now Louis Bernard is no longer the knight who once lived in seclusion in the small church of Sailing City, nor is he the younger brother who was full of yearning and expectations for war when the Thunder Castle besieged the position, and was cared for by his elder brother.

Without discussing it with Anson, he first expressed his willingness to consider the protesters' proposal. At the same time, when the opponent relaxed, he immediately mobilized the Sailing City Legion to surround the protesters. Thousands of unarmed civilians, soldiers and parliamentarians and estate owners were heavily armed. The cuirassiers held the black muzzles of their guns to their heads.

"I will not explain any more to you, because I have already told everyone in the Legion, the Confederacy, and the Congress in detail all the reasons; all of you, tell me with the loudest voice that you understand what I mean. !”

"Yes, you can protest and be dissatisfied! But this kind of protest and dissatisfaction has limits, and it must not be the reason for you to refuse to obey orders!"

"Soldiers, warriors, your duty is to obey! Members of the Parliament, you have sworn to give me full power to take charge of the army; promises and responsibilities must be fulfilled!"

"And now you have crossed an insurmountable border and violated the regulations, and the price for disobedience... is to be shot on the spot!"

"Of course, most of you can breathe a sigh of relief, because I won't beat all of you to death; I know that many of you are just aroused, and out of the friendship between friends and companions, I have to join...but that’s no excuse either!”

"Therefore, my decision is as follows: The leaders will be shot on the spot and charged with desertion! The rest of you will not be punished in any way; but you and your family members are not allowed to join the League of Promise Keepers or any colonial assembly. Or the farm, let alone participate in the next battle to retake Beluga Harbor - my army does not want a group of deserters who can disobey orders at any time!"

"And I want you to remember that those who were shot died because of you - your impulsive, self-righteous, reckless and irrational behavior killed them!"

That day, the New World Legion concentrated and shot one hundred and forty-seven people, one by one, because Louis insisted on looking into each of their eyes and making travel decisions one by one.

The execution lasted from day to night. When the executioner blew the head of the last condemned prisoner, the legionnaires who were still excited and in pain were numb, completely numb... After the execution started the next day, no one objected to Louis. ·Bernard's order.

From Changhu Town to Huixue Town, a journey of more than ten days, the New World Army took less than two weeks.

As soon as they entered the Ice Dragon Fjord, less than ten kilometers away from Beluga Port, they met the response force sent by the Chief of Staff - Norton Crosell, the commander of the 3rd Infantry Regiment, standing at the leg's must pass. The road is waiting.

This shocked the New World Legion that had retreated all the way. Could it be that before they could take action, the Storm Legion stationed in Gray Snow Town had already begun to organize a counterattack?

…………………………………………

"How is that possible!"

Faced with Louis Bernard's confusion, Norton Crosell, who was dumbfounded, organized soldiers to arrange temporary residences for the legions and refugees while answering his questions: "The Storm Legion has only nearly 10,000 people and has just experienced a long journey. We are exhausted from the rapid march and lack the most elite grenadiers, so how can we recapture Beluga Port?"

"That you……"

"We have reached an agreement with Major General Ludwig." Norton explained, took the Ice Dragon Fjord map from the messenger on the side and hung it on the wall. Location of Whale Harbor:

"The Storm Legion will not act rashly, but Major General Ludwig must leave the large and small farms outside the town...especially the Supreme Council, the shooting army camp, and the steel factory to us; the headquarters, the town, the nearby farms outside the town, the port and the port The factories around it belong to them.”

"So in theory, Major General Ludwig only captured the core area of ​​Beluga Port. The entire periphery is still under the control of the Storm Legion and the local Faith Keepers Alliance; there are even members of the Alliance in the city. Members - looking at the map, the city of Beluga Port is completely surrounded by the strongholds we control."

As he spoke, Norton looked up at Anson apologetically: "All of the above are collective decisions made by all officers without asking you for instructions - because Chief of Staff Lieutenant Colonel Carl Bain said that these It’s also an arrangement you made in advance.”

"He's right." Anson chuckled and nodded: "Your decision is correct. By controlling these strongholds, we will have important support to recapture Beluga Harbor and room for maneuver when dealing with enemy attacks."

"There is room...so we can really mobilize immediately to recapture the white whale, right?!"

Louis shouted suddenly and turned around, his wide eyes full of surprise.

"Well, that's the theory." Anson thought for a moment and gave an affirmative answer:

"With our current strength and preparedness, if we immediately organize a sneak attack without warning, we have at least a 60% certainty of recapturing Beluga Harbor and driving Major General Ludwig into the sea."

"But... at least for now, doing so is definitely not worth the loss." He suddenly changed the subject: "Now we have managed to maintain a tacit understanding with Ludwig. If we do this, he and Clovis will quickly lose power within the Holy War. The right to speak means that all our previous efforts have been in vain."

"I'm not saying this because I'm a Clovis man, or because I have feelings for my old boss; it's purely because if the Confederacy really wants to win this war, an ally, even if it can only be considered a weak ally, is extremely important to us. ." Anson's expression became solemn:

"And if I'm not wrong, those strongholds... don't have many Storm Legion soldiers stationed there."

"well?!"

Louis was startled, and suddenly looked back at Norton, only to find that the other party just smiled awkwardly: "W-why is this?"

"Because it's inappropriate." The commander of the Third Corps twitched his lips: "If you really want to control these strongholds, it is impossible without stationing two to three thousand people."

"But on the one hand, the Storm Legion is still in the rest stage, and there is no way to organize such a large-scale mobilization immediately; on the other hand, if there is such a big fuss, the Holy War Army High Command will definitely know, and Ludwig cannot continue to pretend to be deaf and dumb. Major General, you have to send troops to attack us."

"So several strongholds are said to be under control, but in fact, each has sent less than one company of skirmishers to guard and patrol; because of the distance, even their usual supplies are provided by Major General Ludwig." Norton Then he pointed to the surrounding farms:

"Even when we came to pick up everyone, we also said hello to the major general in advance. There will be no sentries and scouts from the Jihad Army passing by here in the past few days, pretending that they don't exist... But if the function lasts for a week, if the time is exceeded, another one will be required. Find a way."

What Norton said was quite difficult, but Louis was already shocked - he took the initiative to send supplies to the enemy's garrison, and the sentinels and reconnaissance work of both sides could also be discussed with each other. How could such a war be fought?

"In addition, we also received important news about personnel changes in the Jihadi Army Headquarters."

Seeing that the young knight's brain had temporarily stopped thinking, Norton finally turned his attention to Anson: "The nominal commander of the Holy War Army, Grande Manfred, has been dismissed from his post and became his adjutant, Sir Philus. , and at the same time established an organization called the 'Thirteen Collegiate', which is responsible for the next military operations of the entire Jihad Army."

"Rear Admiral Ludwig and Navy Captain William Cecil are both members of this group."

Understand, the Jihadi Army will no longer have any military secrets, and don't expect any joint operations, let alone military operations... Ansen secretly thought in his heart.

If thirteen people with equal status and no distinction between each other make a decision together, nothing can be decided and nothing can be done, because there will always be people who disagree; even if a majority of opinions are passed in the end, the losing party will inevitably counterattack. Make sure your plans fail to prove your foresight.

This result shows two things: the Holy See already knows that this holy war will probably end miserably, because there is no force that is really willing to support him.

Secondly, the Holy See does not want to just let it go. They are prepared to struggle again, even if they can somewhat compare to their past achievements, to complete the set goal of this holy war - even if it is only superficial.

Out of this extremely entangled heart and the inability to save face, they made this decentralization of power and expressed their willingness to "trust the Jihad Army's belief in the Ring of Order", allowing a group of leaders who would definitely not listen to them. Be on an equal footing with yourself and work together to complete the great cause of jihad.

If this is the case, things will actually be easier to handle...

At the same time, Louis, who finally recovered a little from the shock, turned his head and looked at Anson, who was smiling with a blank look in his eyes, and frowned slightly: "Do you already have a plan?"

"I haven't thought about it yet. I need to fill in the details." Anson did not intend to conceal or deny:

"But the specific direction is very clear."

"explain."

"We need to take back Beluga Port, defeat the Jihadi Army, and then lose to the Holy See and the Jihadi Army on the premise of winning." Anson concluded.

Louis, who frowned even more, was stunned for several seconds, and then he said with a slight hesitation: "You mean... we must first defeat the Jihadi Army, and then use this as a basis to negotiate with the other side?"

"No, no, no, it's not about defeating them, it's about defeating them!"

"……What's the difference?"

"The difference is that the Crusaders may not win, but they must not lose!"

As if he felt that what he said was not specific enough, Anson paused and sorted out the next words: "We must control the intensity of the war within a just range, and we cannot make it look like the jihadi army has failed and lost to the enemy. Free Confederacy, that’s absolutely not possible! If that’s the case, this war really won’t end easily!”

"So after both sides have experienced the war, they must realize that they are not at the point where they must kill each other; on the contrary, we should unite to fight against the forces of the Old Gods that are native to this land!"

"A native... But haven't you already eliminated almost all of those gravekeepers? The rest won't be of much use at all." Louis shook his head:

"I know you want to divert conflict and attention, but isn't it too difficult?"

"It's just because I'm unlucky that I'm suitable to be a target - I don't mean anything else, but it's easier to bully a dead person than a living person." Anson smiled and spread his hands: "As long as we can win, then we just need to find someone He is a good person who can represent the Holy See and is willing to reason."

"Can it be done?"

"It's difficult." Anson sighed:

"So we have to push them to the point where they have to be reasonable."