I will be crowned king

Ludwig still compromised.

It wasn't just because of the "threat" Anson secretly poked at - although this did account for a large factor - the complete collapse of public security in Clovis City after the mutiny was also an important factor that made him unable to leave the Storm Legion for the time being.

The cause is still someone's "good idea" that seems to be great but turns out to be unsatisfactory: by distributing weapons in large quantities at low prices or even free of charge, allowing various communities and streets in the city to form spontaneous armed forces to maintain law and order and alleviate white violence. Work pressure of police officers in Hall Street.

What seemed like a good plan turned into something else when it came to the implementation stage: grassroots forces that were almost unable to even maintain law and order would inevitably not be able to control who would end up with the weapons distributed to the people. When the rising residents encounter security pressure that they cannot solve, they will certainly not be able to provide any help.

In the past, because Clovis's arsenals were directly affiliated with the kingdom, or were contracted by nobles to supply the army, small-scale private gun shops were very few and expensive. Most people at the bottom usually could not get any weapons at all, even if they had They are also mainly homemade front-loading powder guns, which have poor performance and are very unsafe.

This ensures that when police officers armed with only light weapons maintain law and order, they can ensure absolute suppression by force, which greatly reduces the cost and risk of public security management.

But now, both ordinary citizens and potential social dangers have sufficient official weapons procurement channels - even just rifles are enough to greatly close the armed gap between them and the security forces; even if the thugs have discipline and quality It is not as good as the regular army, but melees in the streets often do not require much organization and individual soldier skills.

There are less than 5,000 real police officers in Clovis City. Counting the security companies that have a good relationship with Whitehall Street, the veterans who are retired and want to find something to do, the recruited mercenaries and bounty hunters... bits and pieces Taken together, there are only nearly ten thousand armed forces.

Of course, this number is already very high, but the problem is that if the statistics of the Privy Council and the Whitehall Street Police are correct, the inventory of various military factories they sold before the mutiny was probably close to one million!

To be clear, there are one million rifles in Clovis City that are not under the control of the kingdom - this is still a conservative estimate.

Feeling that Clovis is indeed a powerful country and full of martial virtue, Ludwig also realized a very critical issue, that is, the proportion of the Clovis Kingdom's military force in the entire city is no longer Absolutely crushed.

And if Anson Bach's Storm Legion is eliminated, then this ratio is likely to be less than a certain percentage critical point with the greatest advantage.

This... isn't even the scariest thing.

Since the militia forces are divided into streets and communities when they are established, some kind of almost autonomous organization will inevitably be formed spontaneously in each community. In order to avoid the emergence of a militia army that is too big to lose, these armed forces must also be independent of each other. It is under the direct control of the Ministry of War.

So here comes the question: There are almost two to three hundred communities in the streets and communities inside and outside Clovis, which means that there are two to three hundred more under the name of the Ministry of War. They are not under each other, but are all under direct jurisdiction. To recruit troops, Ludwig needed to find a way to send people to manage them.

It was obvious that he couldn't control it at all, so he had to find someone who could, or at least suppress, their voices to sit in Clovis City until he came up with a solution.

…………………………

"Really, I think this matter is quite simple."

After listening carefully to Ludwig's narration, Anson couldn't help but speak directly: "It's no exaggeration to say that I don't even understand what the difficulty of this matter is!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the generals and senior officials of the Ministry of War on both sides of the long table all looked surprised. They tacitly glanced at a certain major general from the corner of their eyes who was obviously a little uneasy.

This was an internal meeting of the Ministry of War that Sophia convened at short notice. In order to show her grace as a new official, she also specially chose the meeting place in the most luxurious war hall of the Dedication Palace. All currently serving generals, lieutenant colonels and above All the officers were present, and even if they did not intend to speak, they had to sit in the back row and listen.

Confront the beasts head-on and let them see how powerful she is... This is the experience the girl just gained from her seniors. As the nominal spokesperson of hundreds of thousands of soldiers, she must not be afraid of appearing in front of them, let alone have any To show weakness, let them truly realize their status, rather than the decorations or vases they think they are.

Of course, pursuing victory and continuing to attack her brother who still refuses to face reality is also one of her goals.

"Oh, Brigadier General Anson Bach seems to be very confident." Although she was quite proud in her heart, Sophia remained calm on the surface and smiled at Ludwig: "My beloved brother, it seems that the biggest problem that troubles the War Department is The trouble will be gone soon."

"I hope so."

The corner of Ludwig's mouth twitched... What is the biggest trouble plaguing the War Department? Isn't it just to satirize himself for taking all the power after the mutiny, not giving others room to display, and only asking for help when they hit a wall?

"Then let me ask Brigadier General Anson Bach to tell me what is so simple about this matter?"

Facing the slightly hostile and resentful eyes of his "old boss" and the expressions on everyone's faces as if they couldn't wait to watch the show, Ansen, who was smiling secretly in his heart, pursed his lips and took a deep breath: "It's simple. The demands of these people are real. It couldn’t be clearer!”

"The troubles we encountered in the past, regardless of fighting enemy troops, whether it was to win over allies or help quell the rebellion in a certain area, always seemed simple, but the core of the matter was very complicated: those guys who came to our door, They always make things very clear, but they don't tell us the most critical information. When something really happens and they have to tell us, they hesitantly reveal even a little bit!"

"At this time, as the invited party, we are probably unable to escape, and we have to ask the people we want to help for more help; in the end, it is often very difficult to solve the problem, and it is purely wishful thinking to think that everyone will be happy. !”

After saying this, the officials in the back row had no reaction. The generals on both sides of the long table acted as if they felt the same. They nodded subconsciously and even made exaggerated movements to applaud.

"But this time the situation is the other way around. The thoughts and words of the militiamen are quite noisy, but their core demands are clear." Anson snapped his fingers:

"First of all, they came to us not as individuals but as militiamen, which shows that they don't want to just disband; secondly, the security of Clovis City has not been restored after the mutiny, and they hope that we can solve this problem .”

"That's the problem. It's because we can't solve the security problems now that we keep these militiamen alive!"

Lieutenant General Paul, who was biting his pipe, couldn't help but said: "The standing army can no longer enter the city easily, and the security force is lacking, otherwise why would we keep them?!"

As he spoke, he glanced at Ludwig, whose face turned dark. The generals of the standing army were not as convinced as they appeared to be about the failure of the mutiny.

"What you said makes so much sense. The question is... is the deterioration of public security in Clovis City really caused only by some armed thugs? What are the actions of some organizations that are supposed to maintain public security in name? Are they all good for public security?”

Anson took out his pipe and banged on the table with "bang bang bang——": "I sent my clerk to investigate the recent case files on Whitehall Street and found that the proportion of large-scale gun fights has increased significantly in different communities. .”

"What do you mean? There is a smart and capable gang of thugs that are running back and forth between communities 24 hours a day to fight guerrillas? I don't believe that those good old people who are covered in blood and carrying the bodies of their relatives and neighbors to report the crime deliberately deliberately What are you hiding?"

"You still need to ask?" Ludwig said coldly: "It's very simple, they are also participants in the armed fight, and they may even be the ones who initiated the armed fight!"

"Yes, it's that simple!"

Anson immediately smiled at him: "And I don't know if you have noticed that most of the fights take place in various streets, at the junctions of communities, in edge areas - especially at intersections, and in some remote long alleys. Group conflicts are most likely to break out within the group.”

"According to my clerk's preliminary summary, it accounts for about one-third of all public security conflicts. What does this... mean?"

"Just give me the answer directly."

Lieutenant General Theodore Bosmeier sighed impatiently: "Brigadier General Bach, we are looking for a solution to the problem, not here to listen to your stories."

"The solution lies in the story just now." Anson shrugged:

"Why are conflicts always at the edges of communities and streets? It's because that's the border area between two militias. In Clovis City, although the community divisions in the inner city are reasonable, the outer city is... relatively rough, with many streets under jurisdiction. There's a lot of overlap with the nominal scope, which leaves a source of conflict."

"I just said that since these militias come to our door, it means that they do not want to be disbanded easily; and the only legitimacy of their existence is that various communities still have security management problems. At the same time, the basis for maintaining their existence is the respective communities to which they belong. Funds for the replenishment of young and strong labor force, as well as the active or passive donations made by members of the community for their own safety, to maintain the basic expenses of the armed forces."

"The larger the community, the more people the militia has and the more money it has... They're fighting each other for territory like the war lords of the Dark Ages."

At this point, even Anson himself couldn't help but laugh: "So everyone, what we are facing is not a contractor of the levy corps, but two or three hundred people attacking each other, but because of the existence of the Army Department, we are not facing The little lord who dares to completely break his face."

"Under their name, they control more than four-fifths of the population of Clovis City, plus at least about one-third of the wealth... Yes, the current Clovis City is almost a miniature version of the empire!"

"What...have things gotten so serious?"

Sophia, who had been calm just now, finally changed her expression slightly: "Is it true that if we are not careful, the entire city of Clovis will... fall apart?"

"Oh, that's not the case." Anson shook his head and quickly added:

"I didn't expect that you haven't discovered it yet, but the city of Clovis has actually been torn apart."

"..."

There was silence.

If everyone was just shocked just now, now they are completely speechless; Anson Bach seems to have dropped one bombshell after another as a matter of course, and he doesn't think it is anything to make a fuss about.

And this guy who has no self-awareness continues to tell his story: "Just like the example I gave at the beginning, the simpler the core, the easier it is to deal with it-the two things before us are road."

"Article 1: Completely negate the legitimacy of the militia. All similar organizations must be disbanded on the spot and their weapons handed over within a time limit. Anyone who does not accept it will be destroyed directly!"

"Of course, this is based on the premise that Clovis City's current armed forces can absolutely guarantee the city's security - as I said, what most people want is peace and stability." Anson said He raised his right hand and raised two fingers in the direction of Sophia:

"The second, of course, is to recognize the existence of militia, but it must be registered with the Ministry of War, and at the same time strictly limit the number of weapons, and at the same time, jointly with the Privy Council, reclassify the streets of various communities in Clovis City."

"But this time, we can no longer follow the past maps, but we must divide them according to the actual control areas of various militia armed forces. Some places are not yet controlled by them, important transportation hub locations, involving military industry and maintaining Clovis. Factories operating daily in the city must be under the direct jurisdiction of the Whitehall Street Police."

"If the final decision is the second one, I request to contact the Privy Council immediately to establish a committee that can communicate with all these community militias as soon as possible, or directly establish a brand new department to be responsible to the king...well, His Majesty."

"But in the end, it is up to the Minister of War to decide which plan to adopt in the end!"

As Anson finished speaking, everyone's eyes returned to Sophia.

The girl who was no longer relaxed nodded solemnly and looked around everyone with serious eyes: "I already know the specific situation. I will report this matter to His Majesty as soon as possible. I will also communicate with the Privy Council and Cabinet ministers as soon as possible and come up with something. Come up with a concrete and feasible plan.”

"But no matter what His Majesty decides to do, the Ministry of War must be fully prepared and must thoroughly understand this issue before the New Year's banquet is postponed to January 5th!"

"yes--!!!!"