I will be crowned king

Despite ten thousand reluctances, the Carinthian envoy finally agreed to Anson's "request" and set foot on the road to Clovis City in a carriage and two guards specially arranged for him by the Storm Division.

As for whether the Privy Council or Carlos II of the Osteria Palace would be willing to accept it, allowing Clovis to have an "ally" in the southernmost part of the land that is very suitable for cutting leeks... that is another matter.

Almost on the same day, the Storm Division and Thun Army, totaling 10,000 troops, officially set off, heading south along the open road between the hills and plains, advancing towards the Republic of Carindia.

The reason why they set off immediately was to make a time lag; the envoy from Carindia rushed here in such a hurry, and did not bring an army but only a few followers, so it is obvious that the matter of "surrendering to Clovis" was in Carindia. It is already a well-known thing in the country.

In this case, Anson would certainly not be polite to them; since the other party had already knelt on the ground and raised their hands in surrender, it was necessary to prevent the Carinthians from going back on their word before they could.

The result was as expected - facing the menacing Clovis army, the border fortress defenders of Carindia did not even resist. Anson did not even need to take out the agreement, and decisively "open the door" The city gate welcomes Master Wang."

Not only did they immediately hand over the entire fortress, the roster of soldiers, and all the supplies in the fortress warehouse, they also volunteered to serve as guides and clear the way for the "allies"... They were so polite that the Storm Division officers were somewhat embarrassed.

However, behind such enthusiasm, everyone in Ansen still discovered something fishy.

As a border fortress, the entire fortress has no more than a thousand defenders, and the reserves of supplies are only barely sufficient. The armament is so lax that the artillery shell reserve is less than 200 rounds, and the average number of bullets for each soldier is less than 100... Cleaning up robbers and smugglers is no more than enough to deal with a large-scale foreign invasion.

To put it bluntly, even if the Storm Division planned to storm the fortress, it would not be a problem to easily capture it within a week with low casualties; with defenses so lax, were they so sure that the Storm Division would accept the terms of surrender?

The fortress commander could not explain this at all. He told everyone that Carindia had indeed strengthened its border defenses at the end of May and sent a lot of supplies and reinforcements from the rear; but for some unknown reason, the Carindia Council again This idea was quickly rejected and all reinforcements were withdrawn to the port of Carindia.

Almost a few days after the reinforcements were withdrawn, in early June, the fortress commander received the order to "surrender to Clovis' army."

As the most vigilant person in the Storm Division, Carl Bain was almost bitten to death. There must be a conspiracy.

In order to prevent the Carinthians from rebelling midway, he carefully turned over the map and communicated with the map surveyor, and then divided the entire army into five parts. To put it simply, he divided the 5,000 Thun army into four parts and used them to storm. The division is the core and spreads out on two wings.

The purpose of this is to ensure that the Storm Division can maintain its march plan and continue to advance along the road towards the port of Carindia. The fortresses and transportation hubs that are constantly being received along the way put pressure on the Carindia nobles so that they can receive storms every day. News that the division is approaching.

On the other hand, the scattered Thun army is responsible for receiving and controlling all farms, towns and villages in the areas it passes through, collecting local taxes, warehouses and all weapons, garrisoning troops and hoisting the King of Osteria's flag locally, ordering It became an established fact that Clovis had occupied and controlled the area.

In this way, even if Carindia has any conspiracy, the Storm Division will still have these "occupied areas" as a buffer, and will not have to worry about supply lines and back roads being blocked by the enemy, and can retreat unforced when necessary.

Of course, doing this will definitely delay the march of the Storm Division and take up time; but considering that it is the Carindians who are in a hurry now, "deliberately late" is not a bad thing to a certain extent.

The supreme commander of the five thousand Thun Army and the heir to the Grand Duchy of Thun, Léon Francois, expressed extremely strong dissatisfaction with this.

He deliberately only separated his troops but allowed the Storm Division to maintain its organic structure. Doesn't this clearly show that he does not believe in the combat effectiveness of the Thun Army?

"How can this be?!"

Anson, who spoke in an exaggerated tone, looked shocked and said: "If the Thun army had not appeared in time, we Clovis people would have been completely defeated in the Battle of Eagle Point City - how could I not believe in the combat effectiveness of the Thun army?!"

"Then why are the Thun Army only sent to take over surrendered territories?"

Little Leon hugged his shoulders, with a look of doubt on his unhappy face: "Since Carindia is going to surrender to Clovis, wouldn't it be more appropriate to send Stormtrooper troops holding the King of Clovis' flag to receive it?" suitable?"

"Of course it's inappropriate!" Anson denied decisively.

"Um?!"

A huge question mark popped up on little Leon's head.

"Dear cousin Leon, think about it carefully - what is the most important thing right now?" Anson asked in a persuasive manner, and then gave the answer without waiting for him to answer:

"The surrender of Carindia should become an established fact as soon as possible, and let those towns begin to provide us with stable logistical supplies; in this case, is this matter more suitable for Thun, a native of Hantu, or for an outsider? Would the Clovis be more suitable?”

Leon frowned slightly and was silent for a few seconds:

"...Thun people?"

"It must be someone from Thun who is more suitable." Anson immediately expressed his great affirmation:

"Of course, there is a more important reason besides this, but this cannot be said in public."

"A more important reason?" Leon's eyes narrowed:

"Why?"

"Because this involves Thun's status in Hantu and even in negotiations with the Kingdom of Clovis."

Anson said quietly: "For Clovis, it is necessary to enhance Thun's strength, but it is also necessary to limit Thun's power; because Clovis itself is a powerful country that has grown by continuously expanding its military power. , of course she doesn’t want to see her allies grow as strong as herself... You must understand this."

Facing Anson's gaze, Leon pursed his lips and nodded slightly.

He is simple and naive, but he is not a fool - Clovis supports Thun to add an ally, not an evenly matched opponent, and this is the same for Thun.

"Therefore, in terms of actual control and occupation of Carindia, whether it is Thun or Clovis's army becomes very critical." Anson's eyes were full of solemnity:

"If they are soldiers of the Storm Division, then after the war the Kingdom of Clovis will definitely try to establish a vassal state in the southernmost part of the land that can barely contain Thun; but if it is the Thun people who control these areas..."

"When the war is over, Thun can try to turn Carindia into a puppet of his own vassal; and finally... actually annex it completely!"

Leon's eyes widened in shock.

"Cousin Anson, you..."

"I am a Clovisian and loyal to His Majesty Carlos II. It is impossible for me... to publicly make such remarks that are obviously against the interests of Clovis."

Anson took a deep breath and looked at little Leon with stern eyes: "But I firmly believe that Hantu... will complete the great cause of reunification in the hands of the Francois family!"

"Cousin Anson!"

The excited little Leon suddenly held Anson's hands, his eyes slightly red: "I...sorry! I, I really didn't expect...I didn't expect you to..."

"Don't say anything!" Anson took out his right hand with force and pressed it on the back of little Leon's hand with a "pop!":

"We are a family. Do we need a reason to consider our family?"

Leon nodded vigorously, trying his best not to cry: "I understand, I understand!"

So the five thousand Thun Army happily carried out the order and went to receive the border towns and transportation hubs of Carindia.

In order to ensure that nothing unexpected happened, Anson also took away his little secretary to be responsible for coordinating the work and "monitoring himself" to show his loyalty to Anson.

However, the cautious Chief of Staff was still not at ease... After private discussions with Anson and detailed explanations at the military meeting, the Storm Division Cavalry Battalion - also the only cavalry unit - set off as an outpost and continued to collect intelligence along the way. Send the information obtained back to the Storm Division headquarters as soon as possible.

It can be basically considered foolproof at this point. No matter what Carindia is planning, the Stormtroopers will have enough room to deal with it calmly; even if they really dig a big hole in front, Carl Bain will have Confidence to perform a "double jump" on the opponent.

But sometimes, being overly cautious is not a good thing...

After the Storm Division continued to advance steadily and successfully took over three fortresses, with only two days left to go to Carindia Port, with the continuous collection of intelligence, many previously incomprehensible situations gradually began to be understood. Got it.

"Because Carindia is being invaded by the Principality of Aiden!"

In the Storm Division barracks, in the deputy commander's tent, Fabian, who was soaked by the rain, looked at Anson and Carl nervously with the information just sent by the cavalry battalion commander:

"At the end of May, almost at the moment when we had just entered White Tower City, the Principality of Aiden, which was the strongest at the western foot of the Dawn Mountains and was listed as the 'Gatekeeper of the Vast Earth' alongside Thun, suddenly launched an attack on the Principality of Carindia. !”

"The total force is about 30,000, and the troops are divided into two groups to attack Carindia from the west and north at the same time; of course, Carindia's resistance is very tenacious, and almost all the strength of the country is invested in resisting; both sides are at the border The confrontation lasted for almost ten days, but the battle still had no results, until..."

Fabian paused and looked serious: "Until the Principality of Paya falls, the news that the Storm Division is about to go south reaches Carindia Port!"

"Obviously, Carindia is more willing to be a puppet of the Clovis people than to be completely annexed by the Principality of Ayden, who is also a Han native. Therefore, they immediately spared their troops on the eastern front and transferred them to the west. At the same time, we sent envoys to negotiate peace with us.”

"That's it." Karl suddenly realized, and after thinking for a moment, he understood what the other party meant:

"So Carindia's wishful thinking is to let us defeat the invasion of the Principality of Aiden for them?"

Fabian, who frowned, nodded slightly and expressed his agreement.

"Then my suggestion is to continue to slow down, or maintain the current marching speed, let the Carindians continue to wait, and at the same time look at the attitude of the Principality of Ayden." Karl looked back at Anson and said:

"It's not yet time for a head-on conflict with the Principality of Ayden - they control the western foothills of the Dawn Mountains and border the Empire. Once their strength is greatly reduced, it will be easy for the Empire to seize the border fortress and enter the vast land."

"I'm afraid this won't work." Fabian suddenly raised his hand and interrupted the chief of staff:

"The news just sent by the cavalry battalion commander - the West Route Army of the Principality of Ayden, totaling 13,000 people, has broken through the border fortress of Carindia from the front, marched straight into the hinterland, and is besieging a place called Green Valley. Small town.”

"It's only a day's journey from there to the port of Carindia!"

"What?!"

Carl and Anson showed shocked expressions almost at the same time.

"Currently, Carindia Port has recruited nearly 8,000 troops to fight Aiden in the Green Valley - they are also worried that if Carindia Port is besieged, Hantu Cathedral is likely to declare closure, so He is resisting desperately regardless of the cost." Fabian shook his head:

"But based on the combat effectiveness and morale of the conscripted troops, it is difficult to judge how long they can last."

Carl Bain's expression darkened... It could be heard from Fabian's tone that this army of 8,000 men might not be able to hold on for long.

what to do?

There was an extremely depressing atmosphere in the dead-silent tent.

keep going?

The army of the Principality of Ayden has already reached a position that is only one day away from the port of Carindia. Now they are marching over in a hurry. The Storm Division with only 5,000 people faces Ayden's army of 10,000 people. Who will win and who will lose? Hard to say.

Then go back the way you came, and then just watch the Principality of Ayden annex Carindia?

Not to mention how much damage a direct retreat would cause to the morale of the Storm Division, and how much economic losses it would suffer as a result; this kind of withdrawal without fighting would definitely have an impact on Clovis's influence in Hantu. It's devastating.

The countries of Hantu will not understand what happened specifically. They will only know one thing - the Carindia surrendered to the Clovis, and then the Clovis knew that it was the Aiden who attacked Carindia. Finally, he cowardly chose to retreat!

"what to do?!"

Karl and Fabian turned back at the same time and looked at Anson.

The silent deputy commander lowered his head and stared at the map on the table with troubled eyes.

Ten minutes later, just when Karl couldn't bear it anymore, Anson stood up suddenly and looked at them decisively:

"Set off!"

"Where to go?!" Karl asked with a surprised look on his face.

"Carindia, Green Valley—the entire Storm Division army gathers, throws away all excess baggage, and marches forward at full speed!" Anson said solemnly:

"We must capture Carindia Port before Carindia surrenders!"