I will be crowned king

The sound of gunfire was sparse and the smoke drifted away.

As if they sensed that the artillery fire on the opposite side had finally stopped, the Iser soldiers hiding in the walls and trenches finally stopped tensing up and sat down on the ground panting with their weapons in hand to rest; the officers and nobles didn't care either. Angrily scolding these "unwary" subordinates, one by one cautiously poked their heads out and looked outside the fortress.

The situation on the battlefield was far more grim than they imagined.

The entire siege lasted less than a day, and the enemy did not invest all its troops. However, almost all the outer positions of the cliff fortress were removed. In the wilderness illuminated by fire, Iser's royal flag could no longer be seen. .

Wherever they looked, there were corpses of half-elves and humans (Isser Army) everywhere, lying scattered around the outside of the bunker: this shows that most of them were not eliminated during the battle with the enemy, but retreated. , were brutally killed or bombarded on the way to escape, and were massacred unilaterally without any room to fight back.

The position that had been plowed by artillery fire was scorched black, and the blasted pits were filled with dirty and smelly water, mixed with the corpses of soldiers, and their blood pooled into streams; the seemingly solid fortress walls were already full of pits and were completely crumbling. Many soldiers who had finally retreated saw this scene and did not dare to stay under the city gate any longer for fear of being crushed to death by the collapsed wall bricks.

On the periphery of the battlefield, the twenty-five new regiments under Anson Bach had taken the opportunity to complete the preliminary construction of the siege position, building a simple ring fortification around four large artillery forts, using the western front as the base camp, and the cliff fortress. The south and north sides are completely cut off, leaving only a gap on the east side.

This seems to be a huge flaw, but in fact it is purely because Hantu and the Clovis people do not need to do that at all: the Cliff Fortress no longer has external positions and is completely exposed to artillery fire coverage; if the Ysel Elf reinforcements Upon arrival, if they dared to send people to respond, they would immediately be blasted into the sky by artillery fire from the highlands on both sides.

But if there is no response...the reinforcements will not be able to enter the fortress, and after a long-distance attack, they will have to fight the Hantu and Clovis people who are waiting for work...the end will not be much better than a unilateral massacre.

Of course, it is more likely that the reinforcements will turn around and leave as soon as they see this formation, and will not try their best to rescue the cliff fortress; after all, the current Elf King is a complete puppet, and the "powerful factions" everywhere are You have your own territory to protect, and if you suffer heavy losses, you run the risk of being annexed by others. This is no joke.

Thinking of this, the Yiser nobles and officers in the fortress felt desperate, and even felt a bit of self-pity and sadness - it would have been better if they had not taken the initiative to come.

They have forgotten that the reason why they came here on their own initiative is because their territory is too close to the border. If they cannot defend the cliff fortress, they will have no power to fight back against the tens of thousands of Clovis-Hantu coalition forces. .

But now, these half-elf nobles and human officers regard themselves as the saviors of the entire Yser, loyal ministers betrayed by everyone, and holding the last line of defense for the kingdom.

Since we are already so great, it seems that there is no problem in negotiating with the enemy on behalf of the kingdom; after all, the way to defend the interests of the kingdom is not only the battlefield. If we can defeat the enemy without fighting, wouldn't it be more beneficial to Israel? favorable?

With this thought of self-deception, they poked their heads out from the city wall and looked at the thorn flower flag representing the vast earth and the bloody unicorn flag representing Clovis, as well as the flagpole holding high and flying towards the city gate. The negotiating team came.

But just for negotiation, is it really necessary to use an entire infantry regiment to negotiate? Even if it is to avoid accidents, this scale is too much, and it is they who occupy it now.

But soon, they understood why...

……………………

"Yes, I think it's better not to waste everyone's time." Anson, who was sitting carelessly in the middle of the negotiation table with his feet directly on the table, expressionlessly raised his right index finger and pointed towards the opposite negotiator from the left. Click to the right:

"The Cliff Fortress surrenders before noon tomorrow. All soldiers will voluntarily lay down their weapons and gather at the designated place to be on standby. All officers will be on standby behind the fortress according to their identities and titles. All warehouse keys, accounts and everything related to the Iser Elf Kingdom in the fortress will be handed over. The intelligence on military deployment will be given out in full without any reservations."

"Huh?!" The elf representatives were dumbfounded: "This, this is too..."

"In return, we will not harm the personal safety of all active avatars and captured officers or soldiers. Of course, if someone resists or tries to escape, that is another matter." Anson interrupted directly:

"This is our price, what do you think? You still have... um..."

"Eighteen hours."

Leon on the side came closer and reminded in a low voice.

"Eighteen hours of consideration time." Anson continued without changing his expression: "Of course, our soldiers and artillery won't wait that long; if we don't give an answer before the end of tonight, I will let them do it. Ready for battle."

"If you refuse to surrender, I will directly raze the cliff fortress to the ground and destroy all living things in the fortress!"

"Please wait!"

A half-elf noble finally couldn't help but stand up, with a hint of anger in his fear: "Don't forget, there are more than 10,000 soldiers in the Cliff Fortress now, and we are not livestock that you can slaughter at will! "

"Oh, that means I'm still going to fight to the end."

Anson narrowed his eyes slightly and kicked off the table: "Very good, then I wish you a great victory and drive out all of us 'invaders'. Goodbye!"

After saying that, Anson stood up directly and waved to the surroundings; the Hantu and Clovis officers who came to negotiate did not hesitate at all, and immediately assumed a posture as if they were about to leave.

Seeing that the negotiation was about to break down before it even started, the Yser elves suddenly turned pale and were at a loss.

"Wait! Please wait!"

The elf noble who had just stood up quickly put on a smile that was uglier than pain, and said repeatedly as if pleading: "I, we are willing to negotiate... No, we are willing to surrender, willing to surrender to you!"

Anson, who had turned around and walked several steps, immediately turned his head and raised his hand to signal everyone to stop: "Really?"

"Absolutely true!"

The elf noble nodded repeatedly, not daring to show any further slights: "But your request is a little... difficult. Can we discuss it?"

"Discuss, of course, everything can be discussed." Anson also changed his expression, smiled and raised his hand to signal the other party to sit down: "We are negotiating. Isn't the purpose of negotiation to make everyone satisfied with the result? What do you think? ?”

"I think what you said is absolutely right."

The elf wanted to tear this guy into pieces in his heart, but he still kept a smile on his face; there was no way, the carefully prepared fortifications could not hold up for even a day, and the entire fortress was almost in despair.

Now being humiliated by the opponent is just a loss of face, but if the conditions for surrender are not met, and everyone is even forced to be killed by the opponent, the elven nobles believe that the first ones to kill them will definitely not be the guns of Hantu and the Clovis people. Son.

"Very good. In that case, please tell me. What are your specific requirements?"

"Oh... our request is very simple." The elf nobles hurriedly came closer: "The most important thing is the time issue. Tomorrow at noon will be too hasty, so please be a little more generous."

When he spoke, his expression was as humble as possible, and he tried his best to hide all his contempt and disdain for human beings in his heart, and tried to put on a flattering posture.

The surrounding Iser officers and nobles had different expressions, either silent or suppressing the urge to gag, but no one came up to interrupt him.

"Ah, so that's it." Anson seemed to suddenly realize: "Is this what you want?"

"That's right, can it be more broad then?"

"Sorry, no."

"..."

"Sorry, I don't mean to disrespect you, but please understand our difficulties." Anson sighed helplessly: "The soldiers happily ran to the Kingdom of Iser, thinking that they could win military exploits; if If you can't surrender before noon tomorrow, I really don't have much reason to ask them to give up the idea of ​​meritorious service and promotion."

"Ah...then, that does put you in a bit of a dilemma."

Even if he scolded Anson Bach ten thousand times in his heart, at least the elf noble would remain polite on his face, and even pretended to understand the other party's difficulties: "I'm sorry, it was our lack of consideration. Please forgive me."

"There is nothing to forgive."

Anson waved his hand, smiled and shook his head: "But since you said so, then I will forgive you."

"...Thank you."

The elf noble subconsciously clenched his teeth and showed an angry expression as if he was crying with gratitude: "In that case, may I ask you to make some concessions in terms of the scale of surrender?"

"Oh." Anson seemed to be interested: "For example?"

"for example……"

The elf noble with a long voice hesitated for a moment: "Allow some of our soldiers to return to their hometowns... Of course, after they are disarmed."

"why is that?"

"Ah, the main reason is that Israel is different from Clovis. Many of our soldiers are temporarily recruited from the territory. They still have their own lives when there is no war." The elf noble explained patiently:

"Usually, once the war is over, they can return to their hometown; but now that we have surrendered, there is no reason or need for them to stay here, right?"

"Of course, not all the soldiers have to go back, just some of them. His Royal Highness Leon Francois must understand that Hantu and Israel still have a lot in common in this regard."

While talking, he didn't forget to pull up little Leon opposite him and smile at him in a flattering way.

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of Hantu did not respond and just chuckled a few times.

"That's it, then I understand." Anson nodded and said in a serious manner: "Then how many soldiers need to go home? Can you give a specific number?"

"This..." The elf noble rolled his eyes: "This may require a little discussion."

"I'm afraid that won't work. I need a specific answer now. How many people are there specifically?"

"Specific...specific..."

The elf noble who was being questioned gritted his teeth, resisted the eager gazes from around him, and stretched out his hand tremblingly to make a sign of two: "About two, two thousand, is that okay?"

"Two thousand." Anson smiled and said:

"Can't."

"Then...the fifteen hundred..."

"No way."

"One, one thousand..."

"Or not."

"Then how much do you think is appropriate?" The elf noble finally couldn't bear it anymore: "Please give me a specific number. I will never bargain!"

"Very good, this is what you promised yourself."

Anson's eyes lit up with the corners of his mouth raised to the base of his ears. He slowly raised his right hand, and then... suddenly clenched it into a fist.

Staring at the opponent's right hand, the elf noble who gasped suddenly had an extremely ugly look on his face.

"That means... not even one?"

"That's right, no one is allowed to leave." Anson smiled and nodded: "If you dare to try to escape, I will kill all the defenders in the fortress, and I will do what I say."

"..."

Suppressing the anger in his heart, the elf noble slowly raised his head: "If that's the case, then why did you agree to negotiate with us? Wouldn't it be better to simply send an army to kill us all?"

"You're right." Anson nodded matter-of-factly:

"That's what I think, and the Crown Prince of Hantu next to me also thinks so. As enemies for the past few decades, if we say we have any feelings for the Ysel elves, we are absolutely lying. .”

"So I really don't want to give you a chance to negotiate. As you can see, my army can easily crush you until nothing is left; my soldiers are brave and active, and are willing to bear the price of blood in exchange for what is rightfully theirs. honor, but..."

"An important friend of ours has a different view on this." Anson changed the topic: "He firmly believes that there is a possibility of coexistence and common prosperity between the Ysel elves, Hantu and Clovis. ; As long as the current status quo can be changed and the Ysel elves can once again be united and unified under the scepter of the Elf King, everything can change."

"……who?"

"The only legitimate elf king of the Israel elves, His Majesty Israel Moses Field." Holding the table with both hands, Anson stood up slowly:

"Yes, maybe you don't think so, and even we ourselves have no plans in this regard, but everyone here please believe that we..."

"...the friendly forces are here to save you!"