I will be crowned king

Pushwood...or the Blackreef Harbor Council, finally gave in.

Not only because their retreat was cut off and they were collectively captured, but also because the strength displayed by the advance army made them feel frightened from the bottom of their hearts.

A mere few hundred soldiers, under "house arrest", actually broke through the heavy blockade they had set up, easily repelled the defenders who were trying to seize the warship, and took control of the Black Reef Port before the main militia returned to defend. Most of Black Reef Harbor, including Parliament.

Being able to control the Parliament proved that even if they wanted to capture Black Reef Port, it would be easy for them.

In fact, when he walked out of the basement of the parliament and saw the advance army and the Black Reef Port militia confronting each other outside, Pushwood already understood that "Captain Alan Dawn" had lied, and they had not been recognized by the defenders at all.

Even so, he managed to convince others in the council to grant the advance guard full command and control of the defense line.

The reason is simple: to live or to die is an obvious question.

If the advance army or "Captain Alan Dawn" dares to lie, it is actually drawing a clear line between them: if they recognize the leadership of the advance army over Black Reef Port, there will be room for cooperation between the two sides; if they don't admit it, they will die.

The Black Reef Port militiamen present will die, the congressmen and officers who were taken hostage in the basement will die, and many militiamen who do not know the truth will die... He, Pushwood, will be the first to die.

And it will definitely be an ugly death.

Under such blunt intimidation, Pushwood had no choice at all—at least he didn't think he had one.

Anson finally got his wish and got the army at Black Reef Port. The defenses and all the supplies in the city were at his disposal, but...

"Although I know that Black Reef Port is almost running out of ammunition and food, but...but this is a little too complete, right?"

Looking at the pile of densely packed account books sent by the congressmen after sorting them out, with ghosts and symbols flying all over the place, Alexei was so desperate that he even thought of swallowing a gun and committing suicide.

According to the books, the total population of Black Reef Port is just over 50,000. Of course, this is only in the city and its original surrounding villages and towns. The total population of the entire Black Reef Port colony is almost four times that number.

With such a large population, how many troops do they have?

Seven thousand people!

Of course, this is not a real militancy in Black Reef Port, but the result of the clearing of the strong walls and the siege of the empire - a large number of young men and women poured into the already crowded city with supplies, and at the same time faced great pressure from city defense, which naturally made Black Reef Hong Kong stuffed these "surplus labor" into the defenders' ranks to strengthen the defense line.

As for the influx of new soldiers, will it cause the defenders' combat effectiveness to decline...

First of all, the weapons in the New World are not "weapons", but are necessities of life. As long as they live a normal life, immigrants or colonies will definitely use them to some extent.

And for something that doesn't exist at all, there is certainly no risk of decline.

Summoning an "army" of 7,000 men overnight, coupled with the strong defense line created by the unique geography of Black Reef Port, did allow them to gain a temporary advantage over the empire - but the price was also quite heavy.

That's rapidly consuming supplies.

How to maintain the morale and combat effectiveness of the army is a subject with divergent opinions. It is so complex that many views contradict each other or even seriously oppose each other.

But there is one aspect in which everyone can still reach consensus: that is, at least a certain amount of supplies, at least the most basic supplies, must be maintained.

The Black Reef Port Militia, which originally had only more than 3,000 soldiers, suddenly doubled, and the material consumption naturally doubled; coupled with the increase in the refugee population due to the war, the losses and consumption suffered in resisting the empire's successive attacks... In more than ten days, Material reserves have already bottomed out.

"Now the rations can last the whole city for three days, and the ammunition can only last one battle. This is really a literal run out of ammunition and food!"

Throwing the account book on the table casually, Alexey, who had a bandage on his left shoulder, rolled his eyes and his cheeks twitched slightly: "No wonder these bastards were so straightforward when handing over power, without any hesitation - because they really have to Ruined!"

If the port had not been blown up by the Imperials and the four pirate ships were still there, Alexey felt that he could still think of ways to deal with shipping; but now that he was so desperate, he really couldn't think of any way to hold on. here.

"There is no need to be so desperate. It's just that the logistics reserve is about to bottom out, but it doesn't mean that there is really not even a piece of bread in Black Reef Port. If the ammunition is saved, it will be more than enough to last two more battles." Anson comforted:

"For example, I have heard of a fortress where the defenders held on for twenty-eight days even though they were running out of ammunition and food. They were not captured until an accident."

"But ours is not a fortress, but a city of tens of thousands of people!"

Alexey took a deep breath and tried his best to calm down his despair: "Reinforcements will not arrive for at least a week, and the imperial army outside the city will launch an attack at any time. What should we do?"

"Simple." Anson shrugged:

“Isn’t it enough to tell the empire not to launch an attack?”

Looking at the indifferent attitude of "Captain Alan Dawn", Alexei felt his shoulder hurt even more:

"Then please tell me, what can we do to prevent the empire from attacking us? You must know that now is a great time to attack us - if I were Bernard Morweis, I would definitely think so!"

"So we want to make them think differently and make them feel that it is more beneficial to give up the attack temporarily and use other means." Anson rolled his eyes and gave the answer:

"Such as...negotiation."

"negotiation?"

Alexey scratched his head in confusion.

"Uh-huh." Anson raised the corners of his mouth slightly:

"After experiencing the turmoil last night, the people of the Empire may not yet know that Black Reef Port has 'changed'; we need to tell them this information, and at the same time release a little goodwill to show our sincerity."

"Then they can give up the attack and come to negotiate with us?" Alexei said with disbelief on his face: "Bernard Morweis is not a fool. He is quite cautious and understands the tactics of the Storm Division. Style - these are your own words."

"That's right, so we must release more goodwill, or come up with more substantial chips, in order to make him relax his vigilance slightly."

Anson agreed with this: "So the negotiators we sent must be very weighty, not only to make them believe that the advance army has controlled the Black Reef Port, but also to make them believe that the Clovis people intend to abandon the Black Reef Port and control the Black Reef Port." The region is very satisfied and is willing to carve up the new world with the empire."

Therefore, he planned to show weakness to the enemy and give the opponent the illusion that he could "take Black Reef Port without bloodshed"... Alexey nodded slightly in understanding.

"But since we need to negotiate, who should we send?" Alexey was a little confused:

"You are now 'Captain Alan Dawn', but when the Hantu negotiations were held, our entire Storm Division officer corps was present. Bernard must remember your and my identities, then..."

The words stopped abruptly.

Looking at the commander-in-chief who was still smiling, Alexey, who looked stiff, suddenly remembered something, turned his head and glanced at the wound on his left shoulder, and exhaled heavily:

"So...that's what you planned from the beginning, right?"

"That's not entirely true. At most, it's a thorough consideration." Anson put on an innocent yet slightly proud expression and spread his hands:

"After all...my plan was perfect."

……………………

Outside Black Reef Port City, the Empire siege position.

A small cocktail party is being held grandly at the headquarters.

Although the siege of Black Reef Port has not progressed smoothly in the past ten days, and even the confident night show of the colonial minister has come to an end, the trade in human resources and logistics resources is prosperous outside the battlefield, and there are even some The trend of becoming bigger and stronger.

In order to thank his "trading partners" and at the same time boost his morale, Bernard still managed a light and luxurious banquet within his ability, entertaining senior officers in the army and representatives of the colonial chamber of commerce who came from the rear.

The officers who specially put on military uniforms, matching ribbons and various medals, wiped away the blood on their armors and military boots, walked into the brightly lit camp amid the respectful salutes of the guards, and danced and drank with the graceful ladies. .

Purple-red wine, dark and fragrant rum, as bright as gold mead, paired with sizzling and oily fried sausages, delicate, sweet and colorful macarons, a dazzling array of nuts, colonial-style Flavored seafood... It is unimaginable that the imperial army currently besieging Black Reef Port is extremely short of supplies.

But as long as you walk out of the camp, it is not difficult to find those soldiers who have not received sufficient supplies for many days and have thin faces, dragging their tired bodies to repair the fortifications; from time to time there are people who suffer from malnutrition, contaminated drinking water or unclean food. The food fell to the ground.

As for the vassal troops who took the initiative to defect, they could not get even a little bit of supplies. They could only forage for food in the wilderness, and were arrested to do hard labor until one day they could get a share in a manor or mine in Yangfan City. "Stable job.

Of course, all the participants at the reception could not see it at all. In their eyes, the war had already been won. What they were thinking about was how to sell Black Reef Port at a good price after winning.

At present, the Black Reef Port, which is fortified and clear of the country and swore to resist the invasion of the empire, has killed every one of its loyalists, leaving only the traitors known as "liberals"; after the city is broken, these people will be counted one by one, or they will be shot at indiscriminately. Either die or beheaded in public.

Their property, even the entire Black Lagoon real estate, ports, houses, mines, farms, taverns, workshops, livestock, forests, rivers and lakes... will be divided up by everyone present.

A group of old nobles fell, and a group of new nobles rose up - for the people of the Empire, this was almost the common understanding of war in their minds.

And this cocktail party is just the prelude to the upcoming carnival.

Looking at the noisy and lively scene in the hall, Bernard Morweis was not happy at all.

As the host of the entire banquet, after he presided over the commendation and decoration of Sir Sado, the commander of the cuirassier battalion, and a large number of officers who carried out his "surprise attack" plan last night, he took a glass of rum and hid in the In the corner of the banquet, they smoked their pipes silently and looked on with cold eyes.

Bernard actually didn't care much about his failure to fully implement his plan, causing the advance army and the defenders of Black Reef Port to fight each other; after all, he had cut off the enemy's retreat, and Black Reef Port, which was running out of ammunition and food, would not be able to survive today. Surrender, you will surrender tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, there is no need to rush.

What is really dangerous is the attitude of the cavalry.

Without receiving any orders, they decisively disobeyed military orders in order to protect themselves; this meant that even the most "loyal" cavalrymen had realized that they, the "colonial minister", had no support from the mainland at all. A puppet who was thrown out to take the blame.

This is too dangerous!

Except for Ed Levent, who has been sent to the three countries in the North Sea, Bernard has no real forces or allies in the new world; if even the always "loyal" cavalry begins to work in secret, he will be truly alone.

However, even if he knew that the other party was intentional, Bernard could not punish them. He even had to reward them and promised various preferential conditions so that the cavalry would continue to be "loyal" to him at least on the surface.

When he thought of this, Bernard's face, which was originally in a good mood, instantly turned gloomy.

His last hope now is to end the battle at Black Reef Port as soon as possible. At the same time, Ed Levent can convince the three North Sea countries to attack the Clovis colony from the east, cooperate with him to attack from both sides, and completely eliminate the so-called " Free Confederacy” and that damn Stormtrooper!

Victory...Only victory can completely reverse the current unfavorable situation, win over bribed officers, suppress the colonial parliament that conspired to rebel against itself, and at the same time win the support of the local people and the favor of the emperor - except for victory, no means can solve these problems.

"Sir, why are you sitting here?"

Familiar exclamations sounded in his ears. The drunken Bernard turned his head and found that the herald had sneaked into his side at some point: "The banquet is not over yet. Those adults are looking for you everywhere. They are almost dying." Got it!"

"Eager? Are they afraid that without me, the unlucky guy who takes the blame, it will be difficult to deal with the mainland?" Bernard snorted coldly, his eyes full of contempt:

"Tell me, what do they want from me? Is it an uneven distribution of spoils in logistics, or are they planning to enclose land in Black Reef Port in advance and reserve some real estate they like?"

In Bernard's eyes, those bastards could only remember that they were colonial ministers because of these things - without their own endorsement, they would not be able to legitimately embezzle other people's properties.

"No! It's not about uneven distribution of spoils, it's because..."

The herald blushed anxiously, looked around, and then carefully lay down next to the drunken Bernard's ear and whispered a few words.

Two minutes later, the chief minister’s heart-rending exclamation rang out in the feasting tent:

"What? The commander-in-chief of the advance army wants to come to our camp to negotiate in person - and he's already here?!"