I will be crowned king

In fact, at the same time that Lieutenant Colonel Norton Crosell led his troops to the Parliament, the battle was not far from over.

When Karl was still tremblingly leading two companies to fight street by street, "cleaning up the garbage" for Winter Torch City, he happened to run into the messenger of Alexey's Second Infantry Regiment, who told him that he did not need to continue to fight. The city gate is approaching - including the city gate, the main force of the Storm Division has taken over all the strongholds in the outer city defense of Winter Torch City.

After convincing the Winter Torch City militia with practical actions and physics.

As the officer with the highest command authority in the entire Storm Division when Anson was away, Fabian decisively ordered the assembly of the entire army as soon as he heard the sound of artillery in the city; when it was confirmed that the artillery point was at the Parliament, he no longer waited. , directly ordered the road to be blocked, and the entire army marched towards the city.

Then the attackers began to cause chaos in the city, and gunshots were fired one after another in the direction of the parliament. Fabian no longer waited, and directly ordered the cannon to be fired after negotiating with the Dongju City defenders at the city gate to no avail.

Obviously, Winter Torch City, which had only competed with indigenous people, bandits, wild beasts and small mercenary groups, did not have the experience of confronting thousands of people on a large scale and starting a fight at the slightest disagreement.

In order to prevent the other party from misunderstanding that he was not serious, Fabian directly ordered the loading of explosive bombs and fired at the city gate and four towers. The unprepared Winter Torch City did not defend itself with a single shot, and was directly fired by the skirmishers who were in a panic. Got off the city gate.

What happened next was a matter of course: after understanding the Storm Master's attitude, the Winter Torch City militiamen chose to be reasonable or go to hell, voluntarily surrendered their weapons, and handed over control of the city gates and strongholds to the Storm Master.

After taking down the city gate, Fabian and a group of officers successfully merged with the other three infantry companies sent by Karl. After repeatedly confirming that three infantry companies had rushed to the parliament, Fabian and a group of officers held an emergency military meeting. After careful discussion at the meeting, the plan for the entire town's suppression was confirmed.

Referring to Carl Bain's "step by step" plan, Fabian split the entire Storm Division into half battalions (two companies) and advanced into each urban area to eliminate and suppress any thugs who tried to resist.

As for how to clean up, the former Guards officers have rich experience in this regard - divide the city into different areas according to street and building layout, block all entrances and exits in the city, destroy the commanding heights with artillery, send a troop to encircle and suppress, and the rest Block the main road, and once the target comes into range, kill it on the spot.

Winter Torch City, shrouded in thick smoke, was already covered in a sea of ​​flames. Intense gunshots were heard one after another in the buildings. The heavy artillery carts ran over the ice and snow soaked in red, and one building after another collapsed under the spitting flames.

Although the efficiency is not high, the storm divisions with such momentum are invincible. The line infantrymen lined up with rifles are like scavengers in the city, and they feel like they are in no one's land in the quagmire-like melee.

Due to the urgency of the situation, except for the initial verbal warning given by the Storm Division before the suppression, thereafter they did not distinguish between friend and foe. As long as the soldiers determined that there was a threat on the other side, they would fire decisively.

Many taverns that were lucky enough to survive the mob attack did not understand the situation and mistook the stormtroopers for the imperial army. They bravely hid in the lofts and windows of the taverns and fired cold shots, or raided the soldiers responsible for riot control from the streets...and then immediately It was bombarded by a six-pounder, and the people and the attic were blown into the sky. Broken bones and meat residue along with blood, rained down on the streets and alleys.

The streets, covered with blood and corpses, were silent except for the sounds of soldiers locking their guns and the sound of their military boots stepping on snowflakes.

At the same time, the thugs who realized that something was wrong also began to flee; they left Winter Torch City in the opposite direction of the Storm Master; they did not forget to set fire to cover before running away... Under the howling wind, the tongues of fire were very powerful. It quickly covered the surrounding streets and alleys, turning the originally intact community into a sea of ​​death.

The residents of Wintertorch City, who originally thought they had finally escaped, immediately became the victims of the thugs' escape; hundreds of refugees immediately emerged from the billowing smoke, but due to the lack of order, there was no protection whatsoever. Measures, trampling, collision, getting lost... Various accidents occurred one after another. Most people were not burned to death or smoked to death, but more died in the hands or feet of their neighbors.

For these fleeing guys, Fabian did not order a pursuit, and even strictly prohibited artillery fire to avoid hurting innocent people - all the roads outside the city had been blocked by the Storm Division, and the captains of the two cavalry companies were worried about not having their heads recovered.

Those who escaped to the wilderness sporadically did not need the Storm Master to do it themselves; even if they could really return to Sail City, at least two-thirds would die on the way, and it was even unknown when they would be able to escape.

As Winter Torch City is gradually swallowed up by the sea of ​​​​fire, this sudden commotion is about to come to an end...

"You wait first."

Raising his hand to stop the chatting scout, Carl's face was full of confusion: "I have a general understanding of the situation, but there are a few questions that I need to trouble you to explain."

"Please speak."

The scout wiped his sweat and swallowed with a dry throat.

"Blocking roads, targeted encirclement and suppression, zoned suppression... I understand all of these, and Fabian is more experienced in this than all of us." Karl took a deep breath and frowned:

"But...you said you took control of the city gate before I sent people?"

"yes."

"Without any orders from the Commander-in-Chief?"

"No - the situation was urgent at that time. We heard the sound of cannons in the city and set off directly." The scout added: "Lieutenant Colonel Fabian saw that the situation was not right and could not persuade the militiamen defending the city in a short time, so he ordered an attack city."

"So this decision was made by Fabian?" Karl, who looked disbelieving, asked again:

"He convened a military meeting without receiving any instructions, obtained permission from the officer corps, and ordered the siege?"

It wasn't that Karl didn't believe what the scout said, but that he didn't believe that the former Guards officer would do such a thing - not to mention that he shouldn't be able to do it at all.

Yes, under the normal Clovis standing army system, if the top military commander is absent, the second-ranking commander, especially the de facto "deputy commander" like the commander of the Grenadier Regiment, has the right to convene an emergency military meeting , carry out necessary military operations with the consent of the majority.

Carl Bain knew this very well - his superiors used this method in the past to dump all the blame and trouble on his "adjutant".

But the problem is that the Storm Division is not a serious... normal army!

Although it has been established as a standing army, the "dividend system" within the entire army still exists. After wooing the two major investors Rune and Franz, the commander-in-chief Anson Bach has almost unrestricted authority over his subordinates. There are no checks and balances or assistance, it is absolutely true.

To put it simply, the officer corps of other levy corps are related to the major shareholders and a group of small shareholders; while the Storm Division has two top investors, Anson Bach is the CEO, and the officer corps can at most get dividends. Senior middle-level workers, soldiers and lower-level officers are part-time workers who earn a dead salary and occasionally receive project bonuses.

Even though he has successfully obtained the establishment now, everyone is part of the system; but the "project" profit Anson earned through hard work in the new world is still several times or even dozens of times the dead salary given by the army, and even whether the salary can Whether you get a safe payment depends on the performance level of the commander-in-chief.

Under this system, Fabian, the nominal deputy commander, was actually just the "head of a large department." How could he command the officer corps without Anson's authorization?

"of course not."

The messenger quickly replied: "To be precise, at first Lieutenant Colonel Fabian just gathered the troops and negotiated with the city gate defenders - the order to fire the artillery was not given by him."

Um?

Karl was stunned for a moment, and his expression became even more confused: "It wasn't him... Then who was it?"

………………

"it's me."

In the parliament hall, Thalia, who looked a bit remorseful, was half-kneeling and half-sitting leaning against a chair, carefully cleaning his wounds with water and silk scarves and handkerchiefs:

"The situation was urgent. Lieutenant Colonel Fabian and the officers of the Storm Division did not receive any instructions. They could only confront the city gate defenders and could do nothing."

"It happened that Thalia happened to be outside the city at the time, so she replaced Anson and allowed them to implement the collective decision in the form of an emergency military meeting-including firing the cannon at the city gate. It was Thalia's decision. Lieutenant Colonel Fabian and the others only implemented it. That’s all.”

The girl paused suddenly, raised her head slightly, and looked into his eyes with shimmering eyes: "Anson...won't blame Thalia, right?"

"No...no! How could I blame you? It's too late for me to thank you!"

Feeling the cold touch of the handkerchief gently sliding across his neck, Anson, whose hair was trembling slightly, showed a polite smile with a hint of stiffness: "Thanks to Thalia, otherwise the losses that the Storm Master would have suffered this time would be simply... unimaginable. ah!"

"Really?" Thalia seemed a little unconvinced, and suddenly raised her mouth aggrievedly:

"I don't blame Thalia for interfering in the army - after all, Anson is the commander-in-chief of the Storm Division, and Thalia is just Anson's fiancée. Doing so seems to be against the laws of the kingdom."

"A violation is a violation, so what?"

The commander-in-chief shook his head vigorously, and his expression should be as sincere as possible: "In emergency situations, extraordinary means must be used - when the situation is urgent, follow the authority."

"But doing this may affect Anson's authority within the Storm Division..." Thalia still seemed uneasy:

"You must know that without Anson's order in the past, not a single soldier of the Storm Division would be dispatched; this time they have been given the opportunity to vote collectively in an emergency military meeting, which is likely to leave a very bad precedent in the future... …”

"It doesn't matter anymore." Anson continued to try to comfort him:

"The New World is different from Han Tu. This time we really want to completely overthrow the rule of the empire and establish a new country in the colonies - this time we have no local assistance, and the entire operation has not even been authorized by the army and the royal family. It's just 'tacit approval'; under the circumstances, we should try our best to win over the officer corps to become one of our own."

"Anson means...you originally planned to do this?"

"That's right! Delegating power is only the first step. Next, we will continue to increase the dividend ratio - this war to determine the status of the Luen family in the new world cannot be just the Luen family's own business. It must be everyone's business. Only by doing this can we have absolute certainty."

"real?"

"Of course it's true - when have I ever lied to you?" Anson's expression should be as sincere and sincere as he said:

"I, Anson Bach, have always been loyal to the Luen family!"

Looking at his expression that was exactly the same as when he promised Sophia that he would never betray the Franz family, Talia finally showed a smile of relief on her face:

"Dear Ansem, Thalia will never doubt your loyalty."

Anson, who looked harmless, took the handkerchief that the girl held close to his neck and finally secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

To be honest, it's not that he doesn't understand why the girl did this - the current stage is the rise of the Storm Division, and his status as the commander-in-chief of the garrison has naturally increased, and there are still signs of becoming the leader of the Free Confederacy.

Thalia is not Sophia, and it is impossible for her to trust her 100% in her loyalty; she has learned from her mentor Mace Hornard, and it is a very normal idea to "knock" yourself occasionally.

And this kind of innocuous warning will not really interfere with her own status; after all, it is impossible for Thalia to really control the storm master beyond her. A small "beat" is better than Professor Mace Honnard's overt intentions. The threat behind closed doors is much stronger.

What's more, Anson didn't lie. This "emergency" is good for the Storm Division; not only can it reasonably and directly control a colony, but it also gives itself the opportunity to control and further weaken the opponent.

So far, among the five major colonies at the beginning of the establishment of the Free Confederation, Gray Pigeon Castle is a complete puppet, Long Lake Town and Winter Torch City are vassals with garrisons, and Red Hand Bay is an ally that can be squeezed as much as they want.

Only Black Reef Port is left, which is not yet under the control of White Whale Port...yet.

Anson is not worried about this. Since Bernard Morwest sent people to attack Winter torch city, it proves that he is ready to attack Black Reef Port; as long as Black Reef Port falls, those who bought insurance will be free. No matter how reluctant the factions were, they could only bow to the Storm Master.

Just as he was about to continue "expressing his loyalty" to Thalia, there was a sound of slight footsteps behind him; the former Guards officer quietly approached, stopped when he was about three meters away, and coughed lightly to remind him. He made a sound and put his hands behind his back.

Anson turned to look: "How was the interrogation?"

"Everyone who is still alive has been interrogated, and the situation is a little less than ideal - most of the attackers don't know what happened. They just got the reward from Sailing City and wanted to take advantage of the chaos." Fabian He said in a deep voice:

"But that guy named Segren did say some very interesting things."