I will be crowned king

At the same time, in the west of the vast land, at the junction of the Principality of Ayden and Carindia.

In the field where the wheat waves were floating, the cries of crows hovered in the air over and over again; the prisoners, whose expressions were either numb or unwilling, were escorted to the edge of the battlefield and knelt together in front of the expressionless Duke Eden's horse.

Accompanied by a flash of gunfire and surging smoke, hundreds of prisoners had their skulls pierced by lead bullets from the back of their necks, and fell silently and neatly into a pool of dark red blood.

A bloody but short-lived rebellion ended just a few minutes ago.

As the "gatekeeper" of the western gate of Hantu, the proud Ayden people can be said to have the characteristics of both Hantu and the Empire. They have the simplicity of Hantu and the chivalry of the Empire; their rule over her For the Emmanuel family, this "feature" is also a double-edged sword.

The advantage is that with the blending of two cultures, the Aydin people have a strong sense of honor and are loyal to their lords.

The disadvantage is that this strong sense of honor often makes them extremely impulsive. Without supervision, they will often disobey military orders for the sake of military exploits - which is fatal - and make them only loyal to the strong.

As long as the Emmanuel family, as the rulers of Aiden, shows a little bit of weakness, they will betray without hesitation until the rebellion is ended.

Therefore, for every Duke of Eden, it does not matter what his character is, but when facing his own people and vassals, he must be a cruel and merciless tyrant; he must be desperate to the outside world. He must conquer and plunder, and eliminate all alien voices internally, so that the Aiden people can be devoted to him.

The situation this time was no different - the disastrous defeat in Green Valley and the Duke's conquest of Carindia not only produced no gains, but caused Aiden to suffer huge losses.

So after the army retreated to the territory of the Principality of Ayden, a force of less than 2,000 people rebelled without warning.

Like the countless rebellions that Victor Emmanuel had experienced before, the rebels who were determined to rebel had no plan at all. They were completely "whimsical" and did not even have a unified plan. Their only goal was to "kill the weak and incompetent" "The Duke" only.

So when they just raised the flag of rebellion, before they could figure out the situation, Victor Emmanuel calmly made dumplings and defeated them all in less than two hours, suppressing them completely.

Looking at the cheering soldiers on the messy battlefield, and a handful of gnashing teeth, looking at him with ill intentions, the stern-faced Duke Eden remained silent, mentally planning the next opportunity to suppress the rebellion. and time.

The failure of the invasion of Carindia dealt a blow to him that could not be solved by killing a handful of dissatisfied soldiers.

At this moment, the messenger behind him suddenly walked in and handed a letter into his hand.

After opening the letter, the young Duke showed a hint of surprise in his eyes, and then said to the messenger indifferently:

"Go and gather the troops."

The messenger looked a little surprised. In his impression, the Duke had no record of stopping the soldiers from cheering and celebrating after the war: "Now?"

"Immediately." Duke Eden emphasized:

"The Clovis people are going to attack Mist - according to the covenant, we will provide at least an army of 8,000 servants to be delivered to Anson Bach in three days."

"Do you really intend to fulfill that agreement?"

The messenger's expression was even more surprised, and his expression was a little complicated: "But they are all Aiden's enemies. Wouldn't it be better to let them fight the Mysterians to a bloody head first?"

"Yes, they are all Aiden's enemies, but Aiden cannot fight against so many enemies at the same time!" Duke Aiden shook his head:

"We failed in Carindia, but this does not mean that attacking Carindia was a mistake - Aiden is too poor, the population is not large enough, and the land is not fertile enough, so we must expand! We must open up the situation and have Only with a larger basic base can we gain a firm foothold in Hantu in the future."

"So we must join forces with the enemy?"

The messenger's eyes were somewhat reluctant: "Even if he is our mortal enemy, someone who has threatened your life?"

"We must join forces with them, even if he is not a threat, but actually shot me to death." Duke Eden narrowed his eyes slightly, and gently raised his hand to hold the back of the messenger's head:

"The outcome of this war is very likely to determine the future of Hantu for nearly fifty years; the Clovis sent Anson Bach to set a fire in Eagle Point City, and Hantu, which had enjoyed peace and tranquility for a hundred years, will no longer be able to There is no way to return to the mediocre Seven Cities Alliance era."

"In the future, Hantu will no longer be able to stay aloof and watch the struggle for power in the world of order; even if we just want to survive, we must join them."

"The place where you can gain the most benefit and see where the situation is heading right now is by Anson Bach's side." Duke Eden stared into the eyes of the messenger:

"So do you understand why I insisted that you go to him and become Aiden's hostage?"

"I understand." The messenger twitched his throat hard, and his eyes gradually became fanatical:

"For Aiden, for Emmanuel, for you...father."

"No, it's for yourself." Duke Eden suddenly sighed with emotion: "I was born in an era when the world was at peace. What will happen to her in the future? I am just as confused as you."

"So stop staying with me and learn how to be the future Duke of Eden, Lenore Emmanuel... my son!"

……………………

Whether he is full of longing or has his own agenda, when the excited Léon Francois arrives at Golden Stone City and the heir of Aiden with complicated emotions embarks on the road to the port of Carindia, the surroundings surrounding the last member of the Seven Cities Alliance will be revealed. In the country of Turkey, huge war machines have lit the fires, turned the gears, and the sharp whistle will herald the mist of iron and blood to envelope the land.

Three days after the "800,000 gold coin trophies" incident, the originally excited Storm Division officers and soldiers finally calmed down. Except for a few die-hards with no brains, most of them accepted the reality.

Since the deputy commander refused to come forward, the remaining low-ranking officers of the Storm Division naturally did not have the courage to challenge the Army and the Privy Council - especially when the little clerk was sitting in the corner, silently taking minutes of the meeting, even if there was Even those who are brave don’t dare.

These scumbags can still tell the difference between coercing their companions to rebel and being a leader.

In addition, during the period of staying at the port of Carindia, from Carl Bain to the small company commander of a certain line of private companies in the Storm Division, almost all the officers were frightened by Carindia three times a day. Nobles passed bribes.

Of course, Anson, who is not clean himself, will not explicitly stop this behavior of his subordinates "making extra money". In addition, with the share of spoils from the previous battles, his pockets and accounts are not poor. He will not choose food before he is hungry, and he will seek death. To the point of making money.

Of course, even if he had to bear the pain in the end, it didn't mean that Anson was really willing to hand over such a huge sum of money to the Privy Council; in the letter he sent to Miss Sophia, he had already roughly introduced the cause of the whole matter. , and ask for the other party’s assistance.

It would be impossible to collect such a large amount of compensation from Carindia Port without the help of the Church of Order; and as the eldest daughter and assistant of the Archbishop, the respected Miss Sophia is often stupid and cute on many common sense issues. She looks like an underdeveloped girl.

But when it comes to gold coins engraved with saints and banknotes that exude a good smell, her ability, according to the description of the little secretary, is "second only to the Archbishop."

Or to put it another way, if Anson is unwilling to get only a fraction of a percent of this huge sum of 800,000 gold coins, Sophia Franz is his only hope.

Of course, it is unrealistic to expect this eldest lady to "volunteer labor" for her loyal subordinates - all the works of art and luxury goods gifted by Carindia, Anson sent Carl Bain to pack them all and send them to Clovis City .

Well, people like Anson don’t have any artistic talent anyway. Oil paintings and sculptures are not as good as a twelve-pound shrapnel in his eyes, and they are not as good as a piece of yellow peach cake in Lisa’s eyes (she is tired of cherry cake recently) , in the eyes of Carl Bain, it is not as good as a sweat-absorbent and breathable shirt, but in the eyes of Fabian...it is valuable and it is an excellent stepping stone.

After deciding how to solve the problem of 800,000 gold coins, it was time to consider how to attack the Grand Duchy of Mist, the last powerful country in the vast land.

With a population of 4 million and an army of at least 50,000 people, it controls most of the plains and the most fertile land in the entire Han Territory. It is also the country with the largest territory in the entire Han Territory.

Therefore, although it is the largest country in the land, the strength of Myster is a mystery - it is called the "Grand Duchy" because it is composed of four principalities. Therefore, the Grand Duke of Myster cannot be like the Grand Duke of Thun. He manages and controls his vassals very well, and most of the time is in a state of "local autonomy" that can only be left alone.

This is why Anson must deal with Carindia and Aiden first, and put the Grand Duchy of Mist last.

First of all, regardless of strength, Mist's territory is more than twice that of Thun. To conquer her, it is far from enough to rely on more than 5,000 Stormtroopers. You must at least rely on the power of the Francois family.

Secondly, even if the Grand Duke of Myster is not powerful, it does not mean that the Grand Duke of Myster is weak - this may sound contradictory, but it is very common in this era when countries are ruled by feudal princes.

In a region with a high degree of autonomy, just defeating her nominal ruler is not enough; Anson must also take the stormtroopers to attack castles and fortresses, fighting 10,000 security battles a day, which takes several months. Only by suppressing all the rebels can the entire Mist be conquered.

Well, probably.

Because of this, Anson's original plan put Mist last - first control the eastern part of Hantu, then launch an offensive on the most prosperous south, and finally reach a compromise with the westernmost Principality of Ayden, close the door and beat the dogs, and gather together The power of most of the vast earth swallowed up Mister.

So far, except for "a little" small changes, everything has basically not exceeded his expectations.

Among them, the Grand Duchy of Mist, in particular, did not bring any surprises to Anson; it was obviously the country with the largest territory and the largest population in Hantu, but it was completely indifferent to the changes around it.

She neither sent troops to intervene nor joined Aiden's invasion of Carindia, nor did she warn Thun about his attempt to expand his power and influence, nor did she have any contact with herself, the "Clovis invader"... She behaved better than An outsider still looks like an outsider.

According to the intelligence collected by Fabian and the little clerk, as well as the information Leon occasionally received from his father's letters, the only thing the Grand Duchy of Mist was doing during this period was... uh...

Internal strife.

The fall of Eagle Point City and the collapse of the Seven Cities Alliance provided a golden opportunity for the Myster nobles to rebel and seize power without having to worry about the Grand Duke of Myster getting help from their allies.

So from April to June, the Grand Duke himself was unable to suppress the rebellious nobles, causing the balance to be completely broken; the Mysterians, who had not been invaded by any enemies, fell into a brutal factional civil war among the nobles.

"...Therefore, for us outsiders, this is also the best time to invade Mist!"

At the military meeting, Chief of Staff Carl Bain, who was always wary and cautious, began to advocate for war uncharacteristically:

"The civil war among the nobles has caused the entire Grand Duchy of Myster to be split into four factions, which are roughly the forces of the Grand Duke himself, and then the two most powerful former Dukes of Myster, the Earl of Copper Mountain Castle and the Earl of Gray Forest Valley, as well as the Grand Duke's eldest son and Heir."

"Heir?" An officer sitting on the left suddenly shouted:

"He is already the heir, why would he want to rebel against his father?"

"Because the noble Grand Duke Mist is already eighty-seven years old this year."

Fabian, who was sitting in the front row, smiled and said: "Then... when he was seventeen years old, he gave birth to this heir who lived as long as him."

There was silence in the conference room at first, and then there were intermittent exclamations and gasps.

"But this doesn't prove that now is the best time to invade Myster, right?" Another young officer who graduated from the military academy said:

“Usually, when countries in civil war are invaded by foreign enemies, don’t they become unprecedentedly united?”

"Yes, it's usually like this." Anson took over the words and said in a relaxed tone:

"But this time is different. Not only will they not unite, they will also thank us!"

After speaking, he turned his gaze to the interrupted Carl Bain behind him and motioned for him to continue.

The chief of staff twitched his lips and could only explain:

"The heir to the Grand Duchy of Mist, Ruco Vesenia, has officially sent an invitation to our deputy commander, imploring the 'noble Clovis' to fight alongside him."

"He promised that as long as we defeat his evil father and shameless subjects for him, and help him ascend to the position of Grand Duke of Myster...he will agree to all our conditions!"