I will be crowned king

For Hantu, a southern kingdom, the benefits that the holy war itself can bring are basically negative. Even if the benefits can be compared with the costs, the price-performance ratio can be said to be pitifully low. And if the capital is wasted, , then there is really no place to cry.

But it is precisely because all forces are well aware of this that Hantu, who is actively sending troops, has become very popular; especially in Clovis, which is only willing to send out one legion, the scale of Hantu's troop dispatches is second only to the Empire - - Including quality - the "Seven Cities Alliance", which was originally unknown and scattered, has become an important weight that can influence the strength and voice of the Jihadi Army.

Of course no one would take Hantu seriously if they were independent, but for the South, it could unite a bunch of small forces that had not completely surrendered to the Empire and Clovis; for Clovis, it could become an important fulcrum to break the Empire's siege; for the Empire , it is the key channel to connect with the East, bypassing Clovis; for the church, Hantu, which has once again emerged as a kingdom, is similar to Clovis, which was just born. It is a hot investment target. The sooner you invest, the more cost-effective it is. .

There are three letters on Claude Francois's desk right now, one from the imperial family, one from Hantu Cathedral, and one from King Clovis, Carlos II.

The three letters have different tones and completely different contents, but the purpose is the same - to win over or threaten Hantu to join his side.

Seeing these "Guardians of Order" in the old world, who just a few years ago the Francois family could only look up to, but who would not even look at themselves, are now willing to condescend to them and take the initiative to contact them; Even though he knew it was to take advantage of Hantu, Claude still had a somewhat proud look on his face.

"It seems that our initial judgment was completely correct. The church, the emperor, and Clovis could not really reach a consensus from the beginning; the seemingly united jihadi army was just a group of careerists who had their own agendas and shared different dreams!"

Claude, who sneered, picked up the letter sent by Carlos II and threw it on the table with disdain: "Of course we are the same in Hantu. Only fools are willing to shed blood and sweat for the benefit of the church and the empire. ; They have obtained the colony of the New World, and they will not give me an extra piece of territory because of it!"

Even if it were given, Claude wouldn't want it; what's the use of a southern country getting an enclave in the New World? Even the three countries of the North Sea couldn't keep their colonies so close, and the vast land was separated by more than half of the old continent, so it was only a matter of time. Will it be annexed by other people's forces?

"That means..." Grand Duke Aiden, who was sitting opposite, raised his eyes and picked up Carlos II's letter:

"Are you ready to join Clovis?"

"We were originally allies, and it seems reasonable to advance and retreat with them, but..." Claude, who frowned slightly, shook his head:

"Since the Clovis people are secretive and dare not openly express their opposition to the Holy War, the weak Hantu cannot be too active, otherwise it will be easy to be targeted by the empire and the church."

"If the church asks Hantu to increase its troops again, I am going to use the excuse that the Francois family has not fully recovered from the civil war and the domestic situation is unstable; just as several heirs of the Grand Duchy of Mist have started to make trouble again, I You can use mediation as an excuse to pretend that you are not in Jinshi City for the time being."

"In this case, Clovis will not say anything, but the empire and the church will not agree easily." Archduke Aiden reminded: "We still have to give them an explanation...otherwise they may not threaten Clovis. , but it’s definitely going to knock us.”

"Yes, I have already considered this."

Looking at the worried Archduke Aiden, Claude raised the corners of his mouth slightly: "I recently heard that because of the civil strife in Mist, the empire seems to be contacting various nobles in Hantu in an attempt to incite rebellion; if I guessed correctly, , they should have written to you too, right?"

"It's what you think." Grand Duke Ayden nodded slightly and admitted openly: "They promised that as long as the Principality of Ayden sends 10,000 people to participate in the war, they will support me in seizing the territory of the Grand Duchy of Mist."

Let Archduke Aiden inherit Mist's territory? Even I, a descendant of Han Tu's orthodox ancient royal family, dare not easily take Mist's idea. The emperor of the empire doesn't know Han Tu at all... Holding back the smile in his heart, Claude still maintained his attitude. Serious expression:

"That's just right. You can take advantage of my 'absence' in Jinshi City to continue to keep in touch with them privately and spread the news that the Grand Duchy of Ayden is dissatisfied with the Hantu royal family's decision. One hundred thousand Ayden, Carindia and Mist soldiers The news came out that he bravely asked for a fight, but was suppressed by the royal family."

"This way we can make two-hand preparations... If Clovis's plan succeeds, the rumors will naturally be just rumors; but if Carlos II can't withstand the pressure, he will have no choice but to go along with the rumors and send more troops north to march towards The church shows the piety of Hantu!"

Claude, who suddenly paused, lost his smile, and couldn't help but sigh: "You have to look at other people's faces anytime and anywhere, and survive in the cracks between powerful people. This is the sin of being weak!"

"So Hantu must be strong... Only by breaking the old and broken old order can we rise and have a truly bright future." Grand Duke Ayden took a deep breath and said coldly:

"How have you considered that person's proposal?"

The moment he finished speaking, Claude Francois, who was sitting opposite him, had his pupils suddenly shrunk, and his tangled look seemed like countless hands were constantly pulling and struggling in his chest.

……………………

As time passed quickly, more and more intelligence about the Holy War Legion and various resold military supplies were spread to the colonies along with smugglers; in addition, Ludwig and William Cecil who were stationed in Sailing City secretly As for the parts leaked by people inside, the New World Army has basically achieved unilateral transparency in the intelligence of the Jihadi Army.

At the same time, not to mention the main force of the Holy War that has not yet arrived in the New World, even Ludwig, a "hidden friendly force", knows very little about the true strength of the Free Confederacy. He can only estimate it through several battles in Sail City. I probably guessed that the Confederate population should be between 1 and 3 million, and that the number of troops that could be mobilized would not exceed 100,000, of which no more than 50,000 would be truly effective... I really don't know anything about the rest.

This level of guessing is also due to the existence of Roman. Although this core member of the Truth Society cannot move freely in Beluga Harbor, he can roughly calculate the mobilization limit of the Free Confederacy based on newspapers and the intelligence provided by the Truth Society.

This number shocked Ludwig, especially when Roman told him personally that the so-called "Free Confederacy" was simply a fig leaf. With the exception of Sailing City, almost all of the New World had been conquered by Anson Bach using various means, and in essence became a conquered country. Territory he controlled.

And just over a year ago, he was just an ordinary middle- and upper-level officer who was "exiled" by Clovis with a levy of four to five thousand people... In just a few months, he allowed himself to control the territory, population, and The army has expanded more than ten times!

What's more important is that this time, just like before in Hantu, he united a scattered group of weak allies around him; if the Jihad Army cannot defeat him in one go, it is likely that the tragedy he suffered in Yser will be repeated. It was gradually worn down by the much weaker enemy, and finally collapsed without a fight.

This holy war...maybe really lost.

However, just as Ludwig began to waver about the outcome, more and more information about the Crusaders was almost frightening the liberals of the Free Confederacy. They did not care about the large number of sails that had just ended in the Battle of Sail City. Before the refugees in the city could be settled, they urgently urged the newly appointed Marshal Louis Bernard to prepare for war.

Louis and Anson also happened to abandon the still wrangling Supreme Council and let them quickly pass the decision on the transfer of personnel and materials. While sending the army to station at Black Reef Port, they rushed back to Beluga Port with most of the officers.

"...In short, according to the information we have obtained so far, the main force of the Holy War Legion formed by the empire can be roughly divided into four parts according to the legion."

In the headquarters of the Back of the Hand Army in Beluga Port, Anson Bach, who served as the commander-in-chief of the New World Army with the Governor of Ice Dragon Fjord, spoke eloquently to the newly formed staff:

"First, there is the Holy War Army, headed by Arthur Herred, composed of some vassals of the Duke of Snapdragon, some imperial tycoons, especially the vassals and troops of the Grand Duchy of Adlan, with a total of fifty warships and 24,000 infantry. , 4,000 cavalry, about 80 light and heavy artillery pieces...it can basically be regarded as an enhanced version of Bernard Morweis’s previous army.”

"Then the heir to the Levent family in the south, Borre Levent, summoned the nobles of the southern empire to form a legion, with a total of twenty-nine warships, the equipment is unknown, and the strength is about 20,000."

"Don't underestimate this army just because of its small number." Anson suddenly said in a more serious tone: "According to the information we have, the proportion of talented people in the Borei Legion is likely to be the highest in the entire Jihad Army. A large number of wind knights responded to the call of the Levent family, and although most of them are wandering knights with humble status, they still cannot be underestimated."

Faced with Anson's warning, the officers present nodded in response, but they were quite dissatisfied - they knew very well about their position as a rotten fish and a rotten shrimp, and the commander-in-chief was really overly worried.

"The third one is the royal branch of the empire. Fernando Herred also formed a legion with the knights of Xiaolong Principality and vassals directly affiliated with the royal family. It has forty warships, 25,000 infantry, and 2,000 infantrymen. Cavalry, fifty pieces of light and heavy artillery.”

"It can be judged from the identity of the commander that this army should have been formed under the instruction of the emperor himself. Fernando Herred is not a talented person, but he has considerable experience in leading troops. He has appeared on the Western Front battlefield against Clovis before, so The legions under his command are also likely to be veterans drawn from the front lines of the battlefield."

"The fourth legion is a legion composed of followers of the Ring of Order within the empire, plus Iser, Clovis, and all over the land. It has a size of about 30,000 and also has fifty ships. The leader is a There is a young knight named Philus, other than that there is no other information about this person.”

Speaking of this, Anson frowned slightly. There was so little information about this holy war legion that looked like an army of fanatical believers. Not to mention the types of arms, he even knew nothing about the organization of the legion... At first glance, it looked like a standard armed thug.

But can a group of armed thugs really form a large-scale legion, assemble in an orderly manner and cross the turbulent sea?

Anson, who was quite suspicious of this, vaguely smelled the smell of some kind of conspiracy, and remembered that he had told the Hantu people that they had two or three infantry divisions when there was only one infantry regiment.

However, doubts are just doubts after all. After a moment's pause, Anson continued: "What is more advantageous to us at present is that all four legions have encountered a storm. It is impossible to reach the New World on time, and they have suffered varying degrees of losses and casualties. .”

"But this is also bad news - except for the Fernando Legion and the Philez Legion, there is no news yet among the fleets that encountered the storm. The Arthur Legion was the earliest and most well-prepared for the departure. It actually arrived in the waters of the New World ahead of schedule and was only 10 meters away from setting sail. There are only a few days left in the city!”

"The Borre Corps seems to have adopted a strategy of dividing its troops to avoid the storm. It is difficult to determine the exact location of its flagship and main force. It is likely that it will attack multiple coastal colonies at the same time."

Both pieces of information were sent to Moby-Dick Harbor by Ludwig through the newspaper office and the Faithless Knights lurking in the City of Sails, escorted by William Cecil's fleet; the navy, which originally thought it was really going to counter the rebellion, Colonel, after being "enlightened" secretly by Ludwig, he finally understood why he could serve as the commander-in-chief of the fleet with the rank of colonel again.

"In addition to these four legions, plus the Ludwig legion in Sailing City, there is also the Leon legion sent by Hantu in Clovis North Port, with a strength of nearly 40,000. As for combat strength... everyone here is more or less , they should all understand.”

Having said this, Anson glanced at Louis Bernard, who was sitting at the head of the long table. The young knight who understood the situation slowly stood up and looked around at the officers sitting around him.

Among them were Anson's officer corps, the Imperial knights who had rebelled and then defected to him, leaders of militia groups from all over the New World, mercenary captains, and leaders of militiamen and fanatic believers who had formed spontaneously.

No matter good or bad, strong or weak, united or full of internal strife... They and the army behind them are the entire new world, all the power that can be assembled to fight against the old world.

Louis pursed his lips with emotion, and faced everyone's gaze with a cold face: "The above...is about all the current information about the Ring of Order Crusaders...our enemies. Do you have any objections?"

There was dead silence in the conference room, and there was no sound.

"Very good." Louis nodded slightly:

"Since there are no objections, then it will be up to me to announce the battle plan to you all!"