I will be crowned king

What Bernard Morweis, who was full of complaints and crying, did not know was that he was not the only one who was unlucky in this expedition, but that all four main legions suffered, and no one was spared.

People's happiness is always similar, but each has its own misfortune - this sentence is not only completely inapplicable to the Jihadi Legion, but is even completely opposite.

Because the departure locations, troop and material preparations, strategic goals, and background forces behind them are completely different, the departure times of the four legions are also perfectly staggered. Each has its own wishful thinking and chooses what it considers to be the "most perfect" route. There's not even an overlap.

But no matter when and where they set out, the situations they encountered were highly similar: the first few days were calm, and the fleet headed toward the new world at full speed against the sea breeze, without encountering any abnormalities throughout the process.

Then they were killed one after another, running headlong into the storm in perfect agreement.

Although the waters are vast and full of all kinds of unimaginable disasters, they are called "turbulent". In fact, the rough seas do not have waves that are fifty meters high all day long. Calm days still occupy most of them. , otherwise it would not be the busiest ocean in the Order World, with countless golden waterways that are flocked to by people chasing wealth.

The period from May to August every year is generally considered to be the safest time in the Turbulent Sea, and it is also an important reason why the Holy War Legion decided to set off for the new world at this time; as long as nothing unexpected happens, there is a high probability that it will not happen at all Hit by particularly bad weather.

So when an accident occurs, the entire main force of the Jihadi Army is in bad luck!

If you want to send 100,000 or more troops to conduct cross-sea operations, and the voyage is nearly a month, with almost no stops along the way, no matter how large the number of ships is, it will be an extremely severe test; it has never been so large. The world of order that sails with large-scale fleets has almost drained all its transportation capacity, and it can barely make up the ships filled with hundreds of thousands of troops.

Being able to fill up all the personnel, weapons and logistics reserves is already the limit, and expecting to cover everything is simply wishful thinking; in order to make enough space, overloading is a common phenomenon, and many ships have serious shortages of sailors and crew. The problem is that the soldiers who board the ship can only make a temporary "guest appearance" and be responsible for some physical work that does not require much use of their brains.

Fortunately, in normal times, when encountering bad weather, these "guest sailors" cannot understand the orders given by the boatswain, and there are many people who can't help; many ships that might have been able to survive were able to survive smoothly due to their efforts. Went to feed the fish.

In addition, although the main force of the Holy War Army is basically loyal to the imperial royal family, the sailors and crewmen who sail the ship are basically from the north of the empire. Not only do many of them sympathize with the Universalist believers in the New World, but they also hate the Holy War for interrupting them. their livelihood; expecting them to stand by the jihadi army in times of danger is sheer delusion.

The Jihadi Army, eager to assemble a fleet and set off, could not tell the origins and beliefs of these sailors, or in other words, they had no choice at all - there were not even enough ships, so how could they expect the sailors to be loyal and willing to work for order? What about fighting in the ring?

Therefore, when many ships discovered that they were encountering a storm, they immediately turned around decisively and took the initiative to break away from the fleet. They deceived the landlubber jihadist army into saying that they were trying to escape. Then when the other side relaxed their vigilance, they threw the officers and soldiers into the sea to feed the fish, tore off the military flags, or returned directly. .

Some simply turned into "armed merchant ships" and blocked the shipping routes to rob the ships transporting supplies for the Jihadists, and then pretended to be smugglers and sailed to the three countries in the North Sea or other small ports where the church did not have strong control to sell these military supplies at high prices.

There is no need to even pretend. Many merchant ships that have been forcibly commandeered have basically had the experience of hiding and smuggling contraband between countries; otherwise, who would be willing to risk death and go to sea based only on the profits from normal trade?

In the end, it was the Arthur Herred Legion that set out first, which was the most well-prepared and had the most secure sailing plan. With the shadow of being beaten in the New World, Bernard personally went to Archduke Adlan to plead for mercy. , provided a lot of support in terms of manpower and material resources.

It was the navy of the Grand Duchy of Edland that transported this holy war legion, not the "grand fleet" of the emperor's relatives; many of the staff and logistics leaders within the legion were also vassals and knights under Archduke Bernard; It is known as the Holy War Legion, but actually half of it is composed of private soldiers from the northern wealthy families headed by the Bernard family.

Precisely because they were all our own, the fleet that encountered the storm could finally unite as one, and did not suffer heavy casualties due to internal strife like other legions.

But it doesn't matter if there are heavy casualties. After all, even if more than half of them are killed, they can still crush the rotten fish and shrimps of the New World. Even a small number of people can alleviate the logistical pressure, and the combat effectiveness may not decrease but increase.

In comparison, the impact of internal strife is very bad - sailors use soldiers to feed fish, and pirates intercept and kill friendly troops; the Jihadi Army often counterattacks, seizes ships and gets lost; all kinds of extremely unfavorable news for the Jihadi Army. Along with the smuggled goods, the fleeing soldiers, the pirate cargo ship... After being exaggerated thousands of times, it spread back to various ports in the world of order.

Although there were originally different attitudes, public opinion at least believed that the Holy War Army would be victorious and invincible. It was only a matter of time before it conquered the pagans in the New World. However, when the news of the shipwrecks of various fleets came, the style of the painting immediately turned into a turbulent sea. No matter how difficult and dangerous the new world is, how barbaric the new world is, sooner or later the unacclimated army will be finished.

Especially those who finally got back, whether they were crew members who killed soldiers or holy warriors who deserted, in order to cover up their mistakes, they basically made the situation as bad and miserable as possible.

In their mouths, this expedition almost became a death march: the fleet, which lacked food and drink, was drifting on the sea that was sometimes scorching with the sun and sometimes violently stormy. A mouthful of clean water could be a reason to kill, and a piece of biscuit could make people die. The mighty knight bows his knee and flatters you, and obeys you.

The seemingly massive jihadi army does not need to be attacked by anyone at all. When it arrives in the new world, it will turn into a ghost fleet full of corpses; among ten thousand people, not one person can reach the new world alive.

Such false statements that slandered the glorious and great Jihad Army and questioned the rationality of the victory of the Jihad were naturally immediately investigated by the local church and the Inquisition.

But it was too late when they started their propaganda machine and refuted the rumors in newspapers and various public occasions... Even His Majesty King Carlos Osteria of Clovis, who was the most steadfast in his support for the Holy War and firmly believed that the Circle of Order would win, He also asked his archbishop in public whether the jihadist army had encountered any difficulties.

As Archbishop of Clovis, Luther Franz naturally refuted those ridiculous remarks for His Majesty; but for a king to ask such questions in public, it itself represented a very bad trend; No matter how much public opinion is controlled, private gossip can no longer stop the car.

A large amount of negative public opinion directly affected Clovis's confidence in the jihad - especially the public opinion that the king had "personally instructed" - and Clovis undertook the most logistics transportation tasks in the entire jihad and was extremely important to the logistics of the jihadist army. Impact.

Coupled with the loss of the colony, an important input site for raw materials, soaring coal and steel prices also dealt a heavy blow to the transportation industry, especially Clovis' vital railway transportation; large amounts of materials were piled up in warehouses and could not be transported away. , in the end, it couldn’t even be packed into the warehouse, and had to be exposed to the sun in the open air, endured wind and rain, and finally broke...

At the same time, a large number of "Jihad munitions" appeared scattered on the black market and were resold after their seals were torn off. The scale was so large that it was shocking. The Inquisition, the Clovis Royal Army, and the Whitehall Police repeatedly Forbidden.

In the end, in order to prevent these materials from causing social unrest, the Clovis royal family had to reluctantly order the purchase at a high price, at least to prevent them from flowing into the hands of ordinary people.

For such a kind and generous deed, which was only for the sake of his subjects and faith, the grateful Archbishop Clovis immediately reported to the Holy See and asked the Pope to express condolences and commendation to the Osterian royal family.

The Holy See did not immediately respond to this, but only expressed verbal praise and hoped that Clovis would continue to fight for his faith and never be bewitched by worldly interests.

But no matter how hard the Clovis royal family tried to "turn the tide" at this time, by late May, countless rumors and rumors that were unfavorable to the Holy War had spread throughout the world of order; "To join the Holy War is to die, and to go to the New World and The idea that there is no difference if you are dead" has become generally mainstream.

Of course, the top leaders of all parties at least openly support jihad, and no one dares to be labeled as a "heresy" or "hypocrisy"; despite constant problems, the war machine forcibly put together by the Church of Order is still in operation. Operating in an orderly manner.

It’s just that when some insignificant bearings and screws begin to crack, and the rapidly rotating pulleys make harsh noises, many things are irreversible...

……………………

"So it's true that the Jihadist Army suffered heavy losses in shipwrecks and many fleets fell apart?"

"At least part of it is true, and of course there are many parts that are exaggerated."

"Hmm... It seems that you strongly advised me not to leave immediately. Your suggestion to go to the new world was correct; there are too many uncertainties and risks in cross-sea operations."

"You are ridiculous, Your Highness. In fact, maybe what you did was the right thing back then. I even regret it now because I shouldn't have acted so cautiously."

In the Jihadist Army camp in North Port, Leon Francois and Henares held the latest newspapers and sighed while reading them; all kinds of negative news made the atmosphere seem quite heavy, so much so that they were clearly in peace. , the two people who successfully saved the army from any losses looked unhappy.

At the beginning, Henares was indeed grateful that he had saved the Hantu Army and was not like the main force of the Empire's Holy War Army that suffered a shipwreck, but he soon realized a very serious problem: the Hantu Army that set out last was responsible for the rear. , the Jihadist Army suffered heavy losses, and the Hantu people who could still pretend to be transparent will immediately receive the "attention" of the church.

"During our routine patrol this morning, we met the inquisitor specially sent by the headquarters to contact us, and he mentioned this matter." Henares said solemnly:

"He told me that the Church of Order will definitely learn from the lessons of the Empire and carefully prepare a fleet responsible for transportation for our Hantu Legion to avoid the same encounter; I hope that the knights of Hantu who are willing to fight for their faith can fight against heretics and heretics. Get the glory befitting your status in the land.”

Henares couldn't help but shook his head... What does glory befitting one's status mean? This was clearly telling Han Tu that daring to pretend to be transparent and hide behind to save one's strength was an act of impiety in the eyes of the church.

And if Hantu is considered impious by the church during this holy war, what will happen to Hantu who has not yet recovered from the war?

Rather than being left alone and being targeted by the church, it is better to set off with the empire's legion; if you die, you will die, and it will not be too eye-catching and be regarded as a "model".

"I'm more worried about the time issue." Leon's expression was also quite heavy:

"It's almost June now, and the best time to sail on the Turbulent Sea is only August. The later the troops are sent out, the higher the risk of shipwreck; even the empire that sets out at a good time will be hit by such a terrifying storm, we need I’m afraid the situation we face is also very dangerous.”

"This is just a departure. As far as I know, the headquarters has not yet given a plan for when it will end or when it will return; unless the war can be ended within a month, we have to prepare for the winter... But no matter what The high command is still a Clovis person in charge of logistics, and it seems that they have not considered this until now.”

"And can we really defeat the pagans of the New World in a month?"

"I'm afraid that's not very realistic."

Looking at the worried little Leon, Henares came closer and said as if he had made up some kind of determination: "Even if the enemy is really as weak as the imperial people described, how can the desolate and savage new world be occupied so easily? Conquered?”

"Therefore, I'm afraid we must make other plans, Your Highness."

"...Other plans?"

Leon raised his eyebrows with a confused expression: "This is a holy war that will destroy the entire world of order. What other plans can there be?"

"A plan to preserve the essence of the vast earth and avoid outside interference." Henares lowered his voice and his expression became more gloomy: "Sometimes between family and faith, we may not be able to balance both; it is necessary. In order to protect your family and those you are loyal to, you have to do something that goes against your faith."

"For example, before coming here, a certain member of the Thirteen Elf Council of Iser who was not wiped out by the Judgment Knights secretly found your father and me; that guy introduced a person to us and proposed some very special things. …”

"...a bold idea!"