I will be crowned king

Although Sir Garland's suggestion aroused the indignation of many Ranger Corps officers, Anson understood it well - curved loyalty is also loyalty, as long as you don't get yourself involved.

As for whether doing this will lead to a bad reputation... There is no way the reality is so cruel. Everyone wants to live as cleanly as possible, but in order to achieve the goal, you always have to make deals with evil people who are willing to cooperate, and occasionally kick out the stubborn ones. A "good guy" who doesn't change.

Of course, it would be best if he was a good old man like Louis who had principles and knew how to compromise - an upright knight.

However, the subordinates were excited. Even if it was to take care of the mood of the Rangers who had just won the battle, Anson could not agree too happily. He still had to show the right posture.

So under the hint and "instruction" of the Commander-in-Chief, the High Sheriff held down Sir Gloria, who was tied up and had something stuffed in his mouth, and escorted him to the headquarters like a prisoner. Along the way, there was a pair of cavalrymen with carbines in their arms to escort him. ·Colonel Sanders personally served as the escort captain, walking in the front row holding a command knife, holding his head high and passing in front of the cheering soldiers and frustrated prisoners.

"My dear Lord Anson Bach, is this a little too unfriendly?"

In the tent, looking at Anson who was retreating to the left and right, Sir Garland, who was tied to a chair, was finally able to remove the military flag stuffed in his mouth: "I surrendered to you with full sincerity, and you didn't even treat an Imperial The knights don’t even have the least amount of respect.”

"On the contrary, Sir Garland." Anson closed the pocket watch in his hand with a "pop!" and stood by the map table with his hands in his pockets: "Maybe you don't know, but I have tried my best to protect your most important thing. "

"the most important……"

"Your life."

Anson intercepted it without any courtesy: "If I invite you here respectfully, guess if someone from the cheering Clovis soldiers outside will shoot you in the back?"

"This..." Sir Gloria smiled half-heartedly: "Is the dignified Clovis in power so distrustful of his subordinates?"

"yes."

Anson nodded matter-of-factly: "There is no king in Clovis now. We are all equal to each other, but I can't guarantee that they will absolutely obey my orders."

"..." Sir Gloria suddenly didn't know what to say, and twitched the corner of his mouth weakly:

"You're quite honest."

"Yes, I am a good person who is honest and respects the people I work with, and now I want to give you a proposal that you will never refuse - immediately go to Flag Mountain accompanied by our troops, and announce to the imperial soldiers who are still besieging there that Fernando Hered is treasonous and those who do not want to be hanged by the emperor should all put down their weapons and surrender voluntarily."

"you--?!"

The frightened Sir Garland subconsciously wanted to stand up, but forgot that he was still tied to the chair and almost fell to the ground:

"Your Excellency Anson Bach, I advise you to stop making such jokes!"

"I don't have time to humor you now, Sir Gloria." Anson said coldly: "Cooperate with me, and I will help you kill Fernando and his best friends, and go back with 30,000 to 40,000 disarmed imperial soldiers, otherwise... Anyway, it’s not like I haven’t killed imperial nobles in the New World, and I wouldn’t mind doing it again.”

"...You really don't hide it at all."

Sir Garland snorted softly: "Is this how you cooperate with others? I have always been polite and courteous before, but you have repeatedly failed to abide by the agreement. Who will dare to believe in your integrity in the future?"

"It doesn't matter, I am the one who wins, so I don't care what the 'collaborators' think." Anson walked up to him, and his cold eyes made the latter shudder:

"Now, it's your turn."

………………………………

At eleven o'clock sharp, Junqi Mountain.

After attacking again and again and paying far more losses than before, Fernando's army finally broke through the layers of defenses of the Flag Mountain camp and began to attack the innermost fortress.

Fernando fully learned the lessons from each previous tentative siege of Junqishan, and continuously mobilized small groups of troops to launch tentative offensives. Every time there was a slight setback, he immediately mobilized cavalry artillery to bombard the target; in order to facilitate reinforcements, the artillery also specially unloaded Several gun mounts were removed and placed in foxholes for use as cannons.

This tactic soon had immediate results - facing Fernando, who treated the soldiers as cannon fodder for the kamikaze, Carl Bain was immediately at his wits' end; no matter how many holes he dug, the opponent would only be fooled once, and then he would use rapid fire suppression. And there is no need to worry about accidental fire suppression by friendly forces.

At this time, a piece of good news and bad news were placed in front of the Chief of General Staff at the same time: The good news was that he no longer had to worry about the problem of insufficient artillery shells. The bad news was that the artillery shells were fired from the opposite side, blowing up to the sky on both sides, and no one could Don't even think about running.

Faced with this suicidal attack, coupled with the enemy's dual advantages in strength and firepower, the layers of defense in the Junqishan position quickly collapsed; even if the entire camp tried its best to fight from top to bottom, it still could not restore the decline.

Of course, they were not without "gain": in just six hours after the war began, Fernando's legion suffered more than a thousand casualties, many of whom were killed by the empire's own artillery fire, becoming a stepping stone for Fernando to move forward. .

Stepping on the burning position, the expressionless Fernando Herred still held the fleur-de-lis flag high, standing at the front of the battlefield like a target, personally directing the siege operations.

It’s not that he didn’t understand how risky it was to do this. If the enemy had a few soldiers with good marksmanship who risked their lives to jump out of the bunker and shoot coldly, there was a chance that he would be shot in the head. But at this time, Fernando’s army was already at its limit. He was not on the front line, and with this suicide tactic regardless of the cost, his collapse was just a matter of a thought.

In addition, Fernando has also seen that the defenders at the Junqishan camp have no intention of fighting to the end. They are stalling for time from beginning to end, obviously planning to wait for reinforcements from the Red Moon Road.

Even the other side has no intention of covering up. Every time he slightly increases the intensity of his attack, the defenders will begin to retreat in an orderly manner, enter the next line of defense and continue to hold on. They will use cannons to block roads and create traps mixed with smoke bombs and grenades. The attacking soldiers close to the position concentrated fire... just to slow down the efficiency of the attack, and they had no attitude of fighting to the end.

Regarding the battle on the Red Moon Trunk Road, Fernando was very relieved, or in other words, he had no time to care about it because he was too busy. He could only place all his hopes on his right-hand man, Sir Gloria. Although this man was famous for his shocking moral limits, When it comes to his own life, he should still go all out.

Putting aside the last uneasiness in his heart, he turned his attention back to the Junqishan camp in front of him; all the enemies had retreated into the inner fort, and there were only a few remnants still fighting stubbornly on the position. These scattered odds and ends were not worth wasting time at all. , as long as we conquer the inner fort with all our strength, there will be no suspense about victory.

So Fernando raised his saber again, and the military band behind him immediately blew a rapid trumpet blast. Each company in the forward position immediately responded with exciting military drums, and officially launched the final general attack on Junqi Mountain!

The scattered line infantry began to regroup, forming a dense wall of bayonets, and rushed forward with their heads held high and to the beat of drums; in comparison, the reaction of the defenders at Junqishan was like a frightened rabbit, hiding in the fortress and not even The courage to shoot back - of course, it's possible that he ran out of ammunition.

But no matter which one it is, it cannot affect the extremely high morale of Fernando's legion at this moment: the victory that is within reach seems to prove to them that all the previous sacrifices are not meaningless, and they will also become the lucky ones in the legion. Live to welcome the last light...

"Lord Fernando, the rear scouts are reporting that there is enemy activity in the direction of the base camp!"

In the direction of the base camp... Looking at the panicked messengers, Fernando couldn't help but raise his eyebrows - Could it be that the Clovis people from the south and north of the mountain finally lost their patience and started to attack their rear?

"It doesn't matter. Let the soldiers left behind in the base camp evacuate towards Junqi Mountain. The cavalry will be responsible for covering. If the equipment and baggage are lost, just throw them away. Don't worry." Fernando said solemnly:

"Anyway, as long as we capture Junqi Mountain, there won't be any more... huh?" in this battle.

……………………

"Chief of General Staff, you can't hesitate any longer!"

While Fernando's legion was arrogantly launching an all-out siege, the inner fort of Banner Hill was also full of passion. The faces of every officer and soldier were filled with confidence in the battle at this moment - almost a look of complete despair.

"Yeah, if this continues, it's really only a matter of time before the whole army is annihilated." One person spoke, and there were echoing shouts around him:

"For the sake of preserving the fire of the Rangers, and for the safety of all of us, I suggest you raise the white flag and surrender immediately!"

"Yes, yes, we have to be as proactive as possible and let the Chief of General Staff throw down the military flag himself to show our sincerity, lest the Imperial people on the other side don't understand what we mean."

"There are also weapons... Anyway, the ammunition is almost gone. Throw the gun out. The other party will understand, right?"

"It should be possible, it should be possible... ah, no, it must be possible. After all, they are considered civilized people, and they would not do such barbaric acts as abusing prisoners."

"Yes, yes, it makes sense..."

With his hands on the table support column and his tired body, Carl Bain, who was surrounded by everyone, stood up, looking helplessly at the miserable faces, and couldn't help but sigh.

He then looked at the staff officer in the corner who was obeying his advice. He was already in a daze and did not dare to step forward to refute the other officers. He just looked outside the fortress in a daze.

The situation is as desperate as it is now, and he can't even see the possibility of a comeback. How can he ask his subordinates to persevere to the end?

"Well, since everyone has this attitude, I won't say anything."

Sighing slightly, Karl with a wry smile stopped several officers who were sweating profusely and wanted to defend their surrender: "I once promised everyone that if you really can't hold on, then surrendering doesn't matter. Now it's just It’s finally the worst-case scenario we all foreseen.”

"The problem now is how to ensure that the other side is willing to accept our surrender without putting everyone at risk of being shot to death as soon as they put down their weapons."

"this……"

Several officers looked at each other and could only mutter vaguely: "Y-shouldn't it be... right?"

Although I don’t know who said it, the moment the words fell, everyone who was excited to raise the white flag immediately fell silent; there was a strange dead silence in the air, like a frog in a warm water pot, wanting to escape but not daring escape.

Karl, who was trying to remain calm, was also beating drums in his heart. After all, no one knew what the fighting situation was like on the Red Moon Road. Even if Anson Bach could defeat the Galan Army, whether it would be too late was still a question.

"I have a proposal, but I don't know if it is feasible." Karl said again: "The enemy's goal is to occupy Junqi Mountain, not to eliminate us; is it possible that if we retreat proactively, the Imperial people on the opposite side will not pursue us? ?”

"How about we pretend that the army mutinied and fled... Doesn't it sound much safer than surrendering directly?"

"Maybe..." The officers who were still frightened just now were suddenly shocked by the "fantastic idea" of the Chief of General Staff: "Then, how do you plan to implement it?"

"Didn't I just think of this great idea?"

Karl's expression suddenly became a little annoyed: "How about you come up with some good ideas? As long as it's feasible, I'll definitely accept it - including if I take the initiative to raise the white flag and go out to surrender!"

"Sir, if there is a situation, Fernando's army has stopped attacking!"

Just when the atmosphere in the fortress was gradually getting colder, a voice suddenly broke the silence.

Carl Bain, who was still arguing, and a group of officers turned around and looked at the staff officer who was pointing outside with a shocked face: "It's absolutely true, the enemy's front army is retreating!"

"What?!"

On the outskirts of the Junqi Mountain position, the frowning Fernando Herred stared at the enemy troops that suddenly appeared at the foot of the hillside. Thousands of troops were forming a column, approaching Junqi Mountain from the direction of the Red Moon Road, with a size of nearly 10,000. !

But that didn't matter. What really made him feel bad was the fleur-de-lis flag that appeared in Clovis's military formation, and the figure riding a horse and standing under the fleur-de-lis flag surrounded by a military band.

With a look of helplessness, Sir Garland held up the tin trumpet, looked up at the Clovis flag still standing on the flag hill, and couldn't help but lower his head and sigh.

Forget it, it's your own lack of strength after all, so don't blame me for being unkind, Mr. Fernando.

"Soldiers of the Empire, I am announcing something to you now. Fernando Herred is a traitor to the Empire! He wants to coerce the army into proclaiming himself king in the Red Moon Province and blackmail the Emperor!"

"I repeat, Fernando Herred is a traitor, he has betrayed His Majesty the Emperor!"

"Loyal ministers who do not want to betray the empire and become the victims of careerists should immediately lay down their weapons and surrender!"