I will be crowned king

Gray Pigeon Fortress, early morning.

The silver moon still hangs high in the dome, but the faint morning light has already dyed the eastern horizon with a touch of gold; among the dark hills, billowing smoke and black shadows can be vaguely seen, advancing rapidly along the rugged mountain road.

At the top of the towering tower, the leader of the Supreme Council, Polina Frey, held the "Declaration of Resistance" in her arms. Surrounded by a group of knight officers, she approached the city wall, overlooking the golden iris flowers and the Palace of Order that were already close at hand. Ring flags, hunting in the cold wind.

Although she had been repeatedly comforted by the people around her before boarding the city wall, even artillery at this distance could not be accurate at all and was absolutely safe. However, the girl who was visiting the front line for the first time was still confused when she saw the familiar military flag. Bloody; even if Norton Crosell hadn't reacted quickly, he would have almost collapsed on the wall in front of the defenders.

"It is truly an honor for the church that leads the world of order to mobilize such a large army in order to seize the small Gray Pigeon Castle."

The girl who realized that she had lost her composure immediately forced herself to calm down, and deliberately put on a look of disdain. She looked at Lieutenant Colonel Norton beside her with a mocking tone: "It seems to be worse than the counter-insurgency army that massacred Gray Pigeon Castle." Want more?"

"Indeed." The commander of the Third Infantry Regiment carefully observed the slowly moving team at the foot of the mountain and said in a very calm tone: "Judging from the size of the team, the enemy's total strength is approximately 20,000, and it cannot be ruled out that there are still more troops. There is a possibility of follow-up reinforcements.”

And the entire Gray Pigeon Fort garrison combined, I'm afraid there is not even half of this number, and the heavy firepower and the quality of the soldiers are far inferior... Norton secretly thought in his heart.

Despite this, the officers gathered at the top of the tower still showed no signs of nervousness. Their moods were so stable that they hardly looked like they were about to engage in a life-or-death battle with a powerful enemy whose strength was several times their own.

This is not only because the Gray Pigeon Fortress is strong enough, the various defense facilities are fully prepared, and the logistics are fully guaranteed, but also because the information about the movements of the Jihad Army has long been sent from the staff headquarters at Black Reef Port.

They all know the total number of troops, organization numbers, materials and equipment, leaders and commanders... and even the enemy's target of this operation. It is basically a unilateral and transparent state.

Since the enemy had only feigned an attack on Gray Pigeon Castle before the end of the Battle of Black Reef Port, even if it was defeated or the enemy reinforced it, Gray Pigeon Castle would not be able to be breached in a short time due to its strong strength. There would definitely be enough time to organize a retreat. So what else is there to worry about?

"Twenty thousand? If my father is still alive, I am afraid that by this time he will have brought all the famous people in the city of Gray Pigeon Castle to greet him respectfully outside the city gate, right?"

Polina sighed with some self-deprecation, but then raised her voice: "But! Today's Gray Pigeon Castle will never kowtow to the rulers and invaders of the old world like it once did!"

"We are the citizens of a free and equal new world and the real masters of this land; if the invaders of the old world still want to enslave us and put shackles on us as they did in the past, then please step over our corpses. !”

"The golden iris will never bloom again in the ice and snow of the new world; the faithful who defend their faith will never succumb to the dictatorial heresy!"

In the early morning mist, Polina Frey held her head high and held up the "Declaration of Resistance" in her hand. Her childish voice echoed in the valley of Pigeon Castle: "Long live the Free Confederacy! Long live the Thirteen Colonies!"

“Long live the Free Confederacy—!!!!”

“Thirteen Colonies—long live—!!!!”

The shouts of mountains and tsunamis exploded over the fortress, so that the Holy War Legion that was marching hard also had some commotion. They looked at the dark Gray Pigeon Castle under the night in surprise, not knowing what happened.

Amidst the cheers, the girl holding the "Declaration of Resistance" held her head high, escorted by knights and guards, she inspected the garrison in the fortress while walking down the tower, while trying to ensure that all soldiers could see clearly own figure.

She knew very well that she knew nothing about military affairs, and she did not have a large-scale army under her command. Commanding operations was the responsibility of the New World Legion, that is, Anson and Louis' men; her mission was to inspire and inspire the defenders as the spiritual leader of the Confederacy. morale.

"It seems that the Commander-in-Chief was right to keep her and not evacuate to Winter Torch City."

Looking at the girl's retreating figure, Alexey, who was still on the tower, couldn't help but sigh to Norton: "With or without her presence, the morale of those colonial troops is not at the same level; even if the enemy is just feigning an attack, ours The pressure can be reduced a lot.”

"On the contrary, the commander-in-chief is the most opposed to her staying." The commander of the third infantry regiment shook his head and corrected: "The Frey family is the puppet... ally of the commander-in-chief and the Luen family in controlling Gray Pigeon Castle, or is it the order? The important flag of the entire Free Confederacy; even if the enemy is just feigning an attack, it is impossible to put such an important...important ally at risk."

"Oh, then why is she still..."

"She insisted on staying of her own free will."

"Volunteer?!"

Alexey's pupils shrank suddenly with a face full of surprise, and he suddenly thought of a possibility: "The ring of order is above...she doesn't intend to stay here and not leave, does she?!"

Norton nodded helplessly.

"What, what should we do? We are not ready to defend Gray Pigeon Castle and fight against the Jihad Army!" Alexei suddenly felt like his head was getting bigger:

"What if she refuses to leave during the final retreat and insists on us keeping Gray Pigeon Castle for her - this was not mentioned in the battle plan given by the Commander-in-Chief?!"

"There is no other way but to take it one step at a time."

The helpless Norton smiled bitterly. This was not the first time that the Storm Legion was "persecuted" by friendly forces and had to change its combat plan.

"The only thing that is fortunate at the moment is that the enemy will not really attack the city in a large scale for the time being, and the commander-in-chief seems to be a young man with no experience. Apart from the powerful power of blood, he has never commanded a battle." He looked at the approaching queue outside the city:

"Arthur Herred...have you ever heard of that name?"

"No! Ah... It seems that he fought with us once in Hantu."

Alexei seemed to suddenly remember, and he picked up the monocular in a careless manner: "They attacked our flank position from behind, and then they were severely punished by Miss Lisa Bach, so they only have a little impression. "

"Just a little?"

Norton turned his head and looked at Alexey meaningfully.

"It's really just a little impression, just a little bit!" Alexey, who was stared at, twitched the corner of his mouth and ducked his eyes guiltily:

"Why did I lie to you?!"

"Yes, you have no reason to lie to me." Norton nodded, his smile getting wider:

"Both of us were originally junior officers on the Eastern Front. We were recruited by the Southern Army to join the Storm Division. We absolutely know each other. How could you lie to me?"

The corner of Alexei's mouth suddenly twitched, and his whole body seemed to have thousands of ants crawling around in his body; and as someone's eyes became more and more weird, the number of ants seemed to continue to increase...

"Okay, okay...I surrender, surrender!" The commander of the 2nd Infantry Regiment finally couldn't hold it anymore and sighed, his expression was very difficult to describe: "I do know Arthur Herred, but I have never met him, so I don't know anything about it. It’s just hearsay, but it may not be true.”

"This guy is of the bloodline of the Hereid royal family. He is a very famous knight errant. Because he is a talented dragon knight and can shout sound waves comparable to heavy artillery, he has the nickname of 'Dragon Roar'... Ordinary talents, no matter how much they are, are not His opponent—of course, this is what I heard, strictly speaking, I haven’t seen it with my own eyes.”

"As for the leader... I only heard that he seemed to have participated in many achievements in exterminating bandits and suppressing rebellions, and also looking for people to fight in duels. I never heard that he personally commanded any army, let alone an army of more than 20,000 people. "

Alexey shook his head: "That's all, I don't know the rest - I really don't know this time, I won't lie to you!"

"I know." Norton nodded and smiled slightly:

"What you said is exactly the same as what I know. There is no discrepancy."

Alexei Dukasky: "..."

While the two of them were still talking to each other, a shrill bugle sound suddenly came from among the mountains on the west side of the Gray Pigeon Fortress.

Norton and Alexei at the top of the tower, as well as the entire fortress garrison, subconsciously looked towards the direction where the bugle sound came from.

“Calm down—don’t panic!”

Without any hesitation, Alexey, who was still chatting and laughing a second ago, put his hands on the wall, leaned out half of his body and shouted: "Everyone strictly abides by their posts, and no unauthorized actions are allowed without orders..."

"boom--!!!!"

Before he could finish his words, a piercing scream had already cut through the night sky and exploded loudly on the walls of Gray Pigeon Castle.

Norton, who was the first to react, had a sudden change in expression, and without any explanation, he dragged Alexei behind him. At the same time, he activated the power of his bloodline, Dustless Land, and opened a repulsive force field in front of him.

Perhaps because the trajectory was too far, or perhaps because the night was still dark, the shells that hit the city wall did not hurt anyone, and only the empty sound of the cannons echoed in the valley.

Then, nothing happened.

"How is this going?!"

Alexey, who was in shock, almost thought he was going to be blown up. He was not in a good condition: "Isn't it a feint to attack someone in a hurry to fire before they even get into formation?"

"I don't know!" Norton pursed his lips tightly and stared at the golden iris military flags scattered in the distance under the night:

"But one thing is certain, that is, the commander of the Arthur Herred Army, like our Commander-in-Chief, is the type who is good at surprising others - of course, there is no doubt whether he will fight or not!"

Norton Crosell's judgment was absolutely correct. Just as the nerves of the Gray Pigeon Castle were tense due to the sudden sound of artillery, the Holy War Legion that was still marching in the mountains was also frightened into chaos and was completely out of order.

Because the three holy war legions stationed in Yangfan City have no trust in each other, even if they send troops from two directions at the same time, they must act together, and they all leave enough troops in Yangfan City to maintain order, and at the same time keep strict guard against each other.

The same goes for the legion that attacked Castle Gray Pigeon. Although it was commanded by Arthur Herred, he only had half of his own legion, and the remaining half was Ludwig's legion.

Relying on Bernard's advance preparations, Arthur Herred, whose legion was well-equipped and of excellent quality, looked down upon the rotten fish and shrimps that Clovis had cobbled together and let them follow him as if they were a burden. Responsible for taking care of the logistics and baggage, he did not expect them to attack the city - mainly because he did not want the Clovis to take away the credit.

So when Arthur Herred arranged the siege position in advance and was excitedly preparing to "scare" Gray Pigeon Castle, something happened to the Clovis Army that he had forgotten about immediately.

Because they did not receive such an urgent order to attack the city from the legion commander, and it was night again, the Clovis legion who heard the sound of cannons thought that the troops in front were covered by the fortress' artillery fire, and immediately instinctively Abandon the baggage and retreat across the line, looking for cover according to custom.

And when they retreated, they did not notify the Imperial Knights in front. As a result, when the rear team of Arthur's Legion turned around, they found that all the friendly troops escorting the baggage had disappeared. They thought they had been attacked, and they exclaimed, "There is something wrong." Ambush!", while gathering and retreating in a panic.

So an army of more than 20,000 people frightened themselves in the dark mountains in the early morning, running around like a group of headless flies. When the excited Arthur came to his senses, his invincible army had turned into a piece of scattered sand. There were soldiers everywhere running around and shouting about enemy attack.

Arthur, who had a numb scalp, had to give up his genius grand plan of "scare the Gray Pigeon Castle", and with the remaining guards, he began to gather the jihadist army that was frightened by his own people all over the mountains and plains.

A battle at Gray Pigeon Castle that was supposed to start in the early morning ended so anticlimactically and did not finally start until the morning of the third day; Alexei and Norton blocked Arthur without any effort. The 20,000-strong army lasted two days and three nights.

On the other side, at Black Reef Port where the elite forces of both sides were truly assembled, the situation was not so relaxed and comfortable.

Dozens of battleships split the waves, and millions of pairs of military boots stepped on the soft sand... After finding a beach that had not been completely destroyed by the Free Confederacy, Bernard Morwes forced 10,000 legions to land. Advance by sea and land with Borre Levent's army, and simultaneously launch an attack on Black Reef Port from the southwest and coastline.

"Blackreef Port, Free Confederacy, Anson Bach...I'm back!"

Riding a pure white horse, Bernard Morewes drew the sword from his waist with dignity and pointed toward the hills guarding Black Reef Harbor:

"In the name of the Circle of Order - crush them!"