I will be crowned king

Relying on accurate intelligence from the empire, although Igor Moses Field did not visit the scene in person, he accurately guessed the true situation on Clovis's western border at this moment: the empire was eager to find a breakthrough, but the Clovis standing army did not. No enthusiasm for fighting the enemy to the death.

Although Sophia made the war loud in Clovis City, in fact at this time the entire Clovis Army not only had no intention to fight, but was even in a state of severe chaos - the army was a veritable royal protector. In the Party headquarters, if Sophia had not immediately purged the old Army Ministry and became the powerful Minister of War, there might not have been a general who had "stepped forward" and become a loyal minister to defend the royal family.

Of course, the ecological niche of "loyal minister" has been completely occupied by Anson and Ludwig, leaving no chance for latecomers, but this does not mean that the army can really be calm: it has been shouted for hundreds of years. Long live the king, suddenly the king became a traitor, and not all soldiers could change their minds.

In addition, when the incident broke out, most of the standing legions had been driven out of Clovis City due to the previous mutiny. It was not clear what the actual situation was. Various rumors were flying in the sky... It was just to calm down the turmoil caused by public opinion. , which consumed a huge amount of energy from the War Department.

In this chaotic situation, the Clovis army faced the provocation of the empire and broke out with extraordinary combat power. Although it is not clear what happened in Clovis city and why the king turned into a traitor inexplicably, But the Imperials are definitely not good people!

So the situation was completely opposite to what a certain emperor imagined: the King of Clovis's flag, which was legitimately raised, not only failed to make his army invincible, but also failed; anyway, as long as the opponent's body still has the embroidery of golden fleur-de-lis, then Definitely won't get any good looks.

But, that's all.

Although they have put on a posture of not being afraid of fighting, no legion is willing to leave their fortress or station to take the initiative to attack. As long as the soldiers of the empire withdraw from the border, even if they are only separated by a mountain or a stream, the standing legions will never pursue them. At most, use a few empty gun threats to keep the opponent away from you.

It was under this deliberate situation that Ludwig took the appointment of the National Assembly and his own staff team to the base camp on the western border, and convened the commanders-in-chief of each standing army in the name of the "Officers Committee" to prepare for the massacre. Expand your ambitions.

Obviously, few generals are willing to pay attention to this ruling lord.

Ludwig also quickly realized this: Although he had orders from the Ministry of War and the National Assembly in name, and he still had a large amount of funds and logistics subsidies in his hands, it stands to reason that these generals should take the initiative to curry favor with him, but The reality may be just the opposite.

The reason is also very simple: facing a legion, Anson Bach can use "bribery" to make the entire Ranger legion be devoted to him; but facing almost half of the Clovis Army and hundreds of thousands of officers and soldiers, Lu Derwig, does he really dare to threaten all of them by "deducting allowances"?

Just kidding, not only can he not, he also has to rack his brains to ensure that these troops will never have to worry about it after he takes office. Otherwise, wouldn't it mean that the largest armed organization in Clovis will lose confidence in the government of Clovis City?

Since threats are useless, then inducements and inducements will do.

Unfortunately, that doesn't work either.

If Ludwig's purpose is just to ensure that the imperial army cannot easily break through the border and consolidate the defense line, then he might really have a chance; but the problem is that he cannot, or cannot just do this; he still has to try His "Grand Army Tactics" rallied hundreds of thousands of people across the entire Western Front to fight an unprecedented decisive battle with the Empire!

And not only did he think so in his heart, but all the generals on the entire Western Front also knew this; after all, it was not like Ludwig had never been on the Western Front before. What kind of virtue was the eldest son of the Franz family? , everyone basically knows it by heart.

In addition, Ludwig did have the motive to resolve the war as soon as possible: Anson Bach might end the war against the Yser elves at any time. If he did nothing before then, what would happen to him? Personal reputation is obviously also a very heavy blow.

Neither left nor right works, so what should I do?

The answer given by Ludwig was still the method he was most proficient in: throwing money, and then rebuilding his team so that officers who were willing to follow him would join him.

After all, even if everyone does not admit it verbally, he is still the absolute "number one" in power in Clovis. In theory, the highest power in Clovis is still very attractive to ordinary officers; at the same time, he is the absolute "number one" in Clovis. I still have official endorsement from my side. Even if I leave the original army and join myself, I definitely don't have to worry about my future being uncertain. On the contrary, the sooner I come, the faster I will have a better future.

So after it became clear that the generals did not welcome him, Ludwig began to build his own base camp behind the western border, and issued an announcement to all fortresses, making it clear that he would form a "guardian force" of approximately 150,000 people. National Army", and constantly issued orders to Clovis City, requesting to provide themselves with reserve soldiers, weapons and equipment, and establish a new and complete supply system.

But even so, Ludwig still felt it was not enough, and soon he continued to expand with the team he already had on hand, and began to continuously improve the various functions of his base camp; because he himself was in power, theoretically he was in charge The place should be the seat of the highest authority, so various functions are just separated from his own authority.

The first of these is to completely monopolize the administrative power of the province where the base camp is located, requiring all commercial and trade taxes within the territory to be paid directly to itself, the transportation system and postal system to directly serve the base camp, and setting up an arms management center and military court in the base camp, and this starts Infiltrate the local judicial system.

In short, it is called a base camp, but it is actually basically similar to a shogunate established by some semi-independent warlords - centered around the army's continuous encroachment and control of the economy and even all power of the surrounding areas.

Relying on the rich financial resources and connections of the Franz family, Ludwig's "shogunate" and even ordinary warlords became more centralized and powerful; at this time, he claimed to be one of the few people in Clovis who had truly seen through the nature of this chaos. , that is, taking advantage of the power vacuum when the king "disappears" to plunder as much power as possible.

Under Ludwig's operation, officers from various fortresses on the western border soon began to leave one after another, and they brought their troops to the ruling lord's base camp to join the ranks of the so-called "National Protectorate Army".

Faced with a near-constant stream of "blackmail" from the front line, Sophia gritted her teeth with hatred, and even privately called her beloved brother a prodigal more than once, without even considering whether Clovis's treasury could afford to start from scratch like him. , the cost of setting up an army of an astonishing 150,000 people.

But no matter how resentful she was, she still gritted her teeth and satisfied all the other party's demands... There was no way. Although Ludwig was hateful, he was still in the same camp as herself, but the commanders-in-chief of the standing armies on the Western Front were... Not necessarily.

By the time the news of Ansem's end of the Yser Elf War reached the Western Front, that is, on the morning of June 3, Ludwig's base camp and the assembled army of nearly 80,000 people were exactly the size of Ansem's theoretical army. The total number of troops, plus the entire Hantu reinforcements, is similar.

"It seems that Anson Bach is still good at creating miracles as always. It only took more than thirty days to end the entire war against the Yser elves."

In the headquarters of the base camp, Ludwig drank coffee while reading the battle report sent by the Army Department: "I don't know whether it is right or wrong to let him be responsible for the affairs of the Hantu and the Yser elves."

"This is a very clear decision." Colonel Roman came over expressionlessly and placed a thick pile of letterheads on his desk: "Except for the close relationship between him and Hantu, you actually don't He is good at attacking cities, but it is easy to get into trouble when dealing with such difficult battles, so it would be more appropriate to hand it over to someone who is better at handling this kind of thing."

"Still as honest as ever, Roman, this is what I appreciate most about you."

Ludwig smiled, obviously not particularly concerned: "But I think after such a long period of training, I have accumulated some experience in siege warfare... What is this?"

"Petition from the young officers in the military camp." Roman said solemnly, with his hands behind his back: "These people feel that after more than a month of recuperation, the National Guard Army has become quite powerful, and they should contact them immediately The garrison troops at various border fortresses are preparing to launch a full-scale counterattack against the empire."

"Oh? Then your evaluation is..."

"A bunch of ignorant people who are so arrogant that they are stupid."

Roman answered unceremoniously: "In their eyes, it seems that as long as the army reaches a certain number, it is absolutely invincible, regardless of logistics, tactics, enemy intelligence or even whether the situation is sufficient to make the conditions ripe; it seems that as long as they make up their mind, all Everything takes shape naturally.”

"Interesting comment." Ludwig smiled: "So you don't think the conditions are ripe for launching an attack now, do you?"

"It's not just that it's immature, but that the conditions for launching an attack have not been met." Roman replied truthfully: "The emperor alone mobilized more than 100,000 troops in this war. Even in the many battles between the two sides in the past, it was considered The scale of the attack is unprecedented; this means that if Clovis wants to compete with it, it must also muster a force of equal scale."

"But the efforts of the past few weeks have been enough to prove that the commanders-in-chief of the standing armies in the west are not interested in your 'grand army tactics', or they do not intend to accept it-no matter what the reason is."

He tapped the mountain of letter paper on the table with his index finger knuckle, and Roman's eyes seemed to be looking at a pile of meaningless garbage: "Sir, what you need is not the approval of these people who have no rational thinking ability, but the army system. Please ask the commanders-in-chief of each legion for their approval and let them persuade the army on your behalf."

"But we have already tried this way, and it doesn't work." Ludwig sighed with a wry smile:

"If they can realize the rationality of this plan, why would I bother to build a so-called base camp?"

"Then wait until Anson Bach arrives with the Ranger Legion and Hantu reinforcements; with a legion of 100,000 people as support, the commanders-in-chief have no reason to disagree."

"But if I still don't have any results by the time Anson Bach arrives at the border, what will be the result?"

"No matter what it is, it is better than being wiped out."

"So..." Ludwig trailed off: "You actually don't agree with my plan, right, Roman?"

"I will do my best to fulfill every wish of yours, sir, but that will definitely not include watching you die." Roman, who had always been expressionless, showed a hint of exhaustion in his eyes:

"Now is not the best time for a decisive battle with the empire. The best choice is to use strong walls and clear the country to weaken the enemy. I can tell you all the information you want to know, and they will all prove my point of view."

"Yes, the important information provided by your 'Truth Society friends'..."

Ludwig murmured to himself: "But they obviously didn't realize how precious this opportunity for a decisive battle is; the form of war is not static. If we can't fully demonstrate the 'Grand Army Tactics' to the whole world, If we hit the empire hard the first time and left her with severe injuries, then maybe the future emperor will never give us a chance for a decisive battle!"

"Please allow me to remain skeptical about this." Roman shook his head: "The Emperor is a prouder person than you. His status and current situation do not allow him to stay calm and rational. A quick victory can be achieved. It’s what he desires most.”

"Yes, maybe you haven't noticed, Roman, but a quick victory is also what I long for most." Ludwig put down the coffee cup in his hand:

"I bet everything on this decisive battle; if it doesn't succeed, I am destined to lose to Anson Bach; you also know him well, and you should know how obsessed this guy is with making various plans, even if He didn't really think about it; if I failed, do you think he would consider turning the triumvirate into one?"

This time it was Roman's turn to be silent.

He knows better than Ludwig that this is true... It has been almost confirmed within the Truth Society that Anson Bach is the spokesperson for the interests of the Truth Society, which means that even if he doesn't want to, he has to watch "one of his own" Put that bastard on top of Clovis' throne.

So, Ludwig Franz... really has no chance at all?

If, if an unprecedented decisive battle, a decisive battle that completely changes the strength comparison between Clovis and the Empire breaks out immediately, will it...

Become the weight that can shake the balance?