I will be crowned king

To the east of Slave Port, Kulin Village.

This was once a colony of the Kingdom of Naxir, one of the three North Sea countries; in the past nearly a hundred years, dozens and hundreds of criminals, bankrupt businessmen and nobles who had been stripped of their titles were loaded onto ocean-going merchant ships every year. warehouse, was escorted here via the slave port, and cut wood in the ice and snow to pay for his sins.

The reason why it is arranged here is not because of the dense trees, but purely because the slave port is becoming more and more prosperous, so the Kingdom of Naxir must find a "good place" suitable for exiled criminals without worrying about their possible escape - surrounded by ice and snow. , the land is barren and the Kulin Village deep in the interior is this good place.

Over the past hundred years, countless prisoners have died here of illness, freezing, starvation, and exhaustion... The remaining tenacious or lucky guys have gradually built this place from a small logging camp to a place with a population of thousands , a small village surrounded by wooden fences and rammed earth, made a living by providing high-quality wood for the slave ships of the slave port, and later joined the Free Confederacy, becoming nominally on an equal footing with the slave port. One of the Thirteen Colonies.

Of course, this is all in the past.

Heavy horse hooves kicked open the wooden fence of the colony, and the piercing sound of gunfire broke the peace deep in the land of ice and snow; even though most residents had evacuated, hundreds of immigrants who refused to leave their "homeland" did not escape in the end. The flames of war; the thick smoke that covered the sky ignited the fields and houses. Under the blood stains flowing in the sea of ​​​​fire, corpses with hideous faces, holding pitchforks and muskets in their hands, lay scattered.

In the wilderness outside the burning town, there was a surge of people and horses neighing... Thousands of Jihadi soldiers who had just unleashed their animalistic desires were lined up in neat formation, with unfinished smiles on their blood-stained cheeks, looking at them. Lord Legion Commander.

Riding on the newly captured war horse, Borre Levent's face was not as excited as the soldiers. There was a dark cloud under his frown, and he looked solemnly in the direction of the slave port.

After successfully breaking through from Strawtown, he continued to gather the defeated troops and did not immediately retreat to the slave port as he said before. Instead, he took a slight detour and took a small road to attack the northeast side of the slave port. Kulin Village.

Even ordinary Levent knights knew that the supplies in the slave port could not protect the Holy War army that had just suffered a disastrous defeat and was in urgent need of rest. Of course, Borre Levent also knew this; in order to obtain the necessary supplies, and also to slightly improve To boost the morale of the defeated soldiers, he directly ordered the massacre of the entire colony and the surrounding small settlements, and tried his best to collect supplies.

But the final result was not satisfactory - the land in the remote Kulin Village was even more barren than the slave port. Even if they killed, burned, and robbed them all, the supplies obtained would only be enough for the current army of more than 8,000 people for three or four days. With other broken troops coming from far and near to rendezvous, this scarce supply may not be enough to last for a day or two.

Even Kulin Village, which is very close to the Slave Port, is so poor that it makes people feel so poor. Not to mention the remaining Bingxi Town and Yanshi City, it is probably difficult for them to return to their roots.

But what makes Borei feel heavy is not just supplies...

"The broken soldiers who came from the rear to join up reported that Eco Levent died in the slave port. Most of the more than a thousand soldiers were captured, and less than 400 escaped."

Holding the intelligence he had just obtained, the young knight who had just been "promoted" to adjutant reported in a deep voice: "In addition, nearly three to four thousand troops have arrived at the slave port one after another in the past two days. Either the attempted attack was defeated, or they were detected and warned before they even got close.”

"The number of pagan troops stationed there is unknown, but judging from the ability to defeat Eco Levent in one battle, there should be no less than two thousand, but never more than five thousand - with the pagan navy, it should not be It is possible to transport an army of five thousand men to a slave port so far away without being noticed by our people."

"Therefore, it can be basically concluded that the troops stationed there were mostly the ones who slipped through the net when we harassed the main force of the New World Legion, allowing them to take advantage of the chaos to steal control of the slave port, and also took the opportunity to build defenses."

Closing the document, the knight paused briefly and then looked up at Borre Levent: "It's a trouble, but it's not worth being too nervous about, Commander of the Legion."

"Pavel, what you said is absolutely correct." Bo Lei frowned slightly: "The real trouble is not the defeated soldiers of only two or three thousand soldiers, but our fleet."

The fundamental reason why the slave-catching port suddenly fell was that the fleet responsible for transporting reinforcements and supplies had not arrived... This was a sign of real danger.

Unlike those sponsored by Arthur Herred, the Levent family, who was born in the south, does not have its own ships. All the fleets that transport the legion are provided by the Holy See. Some are the empire's large fleet, and the rest are greedy for commissions. of merchant ships, and did not fully obey the loyalty and necessity of Beaure Levent.

Excluding low-probability events such as being killed or being sunk by infidels, there are only two possibilities for their delay in showing up...either they were forcibly detained by the rest of the Jihadi Army, or they were bribed by some people with ulterior motives - anyway, they are all making money. Money, who is earning it?

What Borre Levent was worried about was that it was both. Not only did some guys with ulterior motives, such as Ludwig Franz, buy their own fleet at a high price, but the Holy See's headquarters also gave up on their side. idea.

After all, what he did in Black Reef Port really aroused public outrage, and the Holy See still needs the other legions to continue to work hard, so it is natural not to be too partial; Ludwig Franz, who has been bribing allies and excluding dissidents, will naturally not let him go. Such a good opportunity, try every means to create obstacles for yourself.

If he can win the battle of Straw Town, Borre Levent will certainly not be afraid of this small move from the opponent; but if he does not get reinforcements for a long time, he will really be blocked by the Storm Legion in the Slave Port and be surrounded and annihilated. risks of!

"At this point, we must regain control of the slave port as soon as possible, not only to replenish military supplies and control a stable forward base, but also to give some explanation to the headquarters." Borre Levent made up his mind:

"We need to make the Holy See realize that attacking from the west to exterminate the heretics is too costly and difficult; instead of attacking from the east, only a small number of troops are needed to force the enemy to shrink its strategy and retreat to the Ice Dragon Fjord - the so-called The Free Confederacy will only have Clovis colonies left, and then we can organize the remaining loyalists in each colony to establish a new Free Confederacy, and we can divide and disintegrate the pagans!"

"As you command!"

The knight nodded slightly: "Then I will notify the officers immediately and invite them to attend the military meeting."

"No, we don't have that time!" Borre Levent interrupted directly: "You immediately take my order and lead the main force of the Jihad Army to set off and capture the slave port."

"I?"

The knight showed a surprised look: "W-why..."

"Because in addition to this small slave port, we also have to face the pursuit of the Storm Legion - if they know that I am the one who is besieging the slave port, those guys who are greedy for military exploits and ransom will definitely go crazy. Pounce on us and bite us, who are already weak, until not even the scum is left!"

Borre Levent sighed: "I will lead the cavalry to continue to harass the remaining colonies. On the one hand, I can search for supplies, and on the other hand, I can attract the enemy's attention for the legion so that we can conquer the slave port as soon as possible."

"Indeed, if the current supply situation of the legion is not alleviated, I am afraid it will be difficult to hold on until the fleet arrives...if they arrive at all." The knight's face was still surprised:

"But...why me?"

"because……"

Looking at the doubtful and slightly wary eyes next to him, Borre Levent stopped talking as he spoke. He paused for nearly half a minute and sighed heavily under the gaze of the other person.

"Forget it, I'd better be honest with you." Bo Lei said with a gloomy face: "You should know very well that our Jihad Army is mainly organized by relying on the power of the Lewente family, and almost all of the elite main force are Lewente. People from the Te family.”

"In the Battle of Straw Town, the main force of the legion suffered heavy losses. Most of the thousands of people who can still be gathered are not the Levent family's troops. It might be okay if I am here, but if it is replaced by someone else, it will definitely cause dissatisfaction... This kind of At that time, we need to have people in the legion who are not from the Levent faction, but whose strength and reputation are barely enough to maintain the existence of the legion."

"And now that the Levent family is not in the legion, the only knight with both reputation and ability is you... His Excellency Pavel Dukaski."

"This is why I asked you to be my adjutant and give orders on my behalf." Borre Levent's expression became more serious: "I'm not discussing with you, but... it's not an order. You You should understand what I mean.”

Pavel pursed his lips tightly, fearing that expressing his consent immediately would reveal his thoughts, but also extremely unwilling to refuse this opportunity; of course he knew that the other party only regarded him as a temporary emergency "tool man", but he could also temporarily become a "jihadist" The tool of the "Legion Commander".

Looking at the extremely troubled expression of the other party, Borre Levent showed a flash of pride; he knew very well how important this opportunity was to the Dukaski family, and Pavel himself may not have had this idea. , but his position does not allow him to maintain his so-called dignity.

After a moment of silence, the young knight slowly lowered his head, tremblingly pressed his right hand to his chest, and bowed humbly to the legion commander:

"As you command!"

………………………………

"Today is Kulin Village, tomorrow is Bingxi Town, and the day after tomorrow is Salt Rock City...Did Borre Levent have four legs? Why doesn't he run away from the slave port and stay here if he can run so well? Why are you wandering around in this damn poor place? Are you addicted to hide-and-seek with us?"

In the temporary camp of the Fourth Infantry Regiment, the panting Leo slumped on a chair with his feet on the table. His whole body was as weak as if he had been drained: "It's been three days. I originally thought it would be over in four days." Fighting, the results now look like it won’t be difficult even in a month or two!”

"One or two months is too exaggerated... Even if the enemy can do it, our supplies can't last that long." Yu Lian, commander of the 5th Infantry Regiment, wiped the sweat from his forehead and his whole body was almost soaked and shook his head weakly. Shaking his head: "By the way, why didn't we use all our strength to attack the main force of the Borre Corps in the Slave Port at the beginning, but instead pursued Borre Levent closely?"

"Because all of you are unwilling to give up the great credit of killing or capturing Borre Levent alive, and Anson Bach unexpectedly agreed."

Carrying a half-empty kettle, Carl Bain, who was already limping from exhaustion, also walked into the tent and looked at the two men angrily: "Three main infantry regiments, nearly 4,000 people, followed the prey all over the mountains and plains. We played hide-and-seek in the back and got nothing except collecting the bodies of those unlucky colonists. If Anson Bach and Alexei knew what we looked like, they would probably laugh their back teeth off."

Looking at the half bottle of water in his hand, the two guys, who were too tired to move, their eyes lit up at the same time, and they looked at their good colleague and senior with hopeful eyes.

The Chief of General Staff immediately rolled his eyes and gestured to the two of them. The two immediately understood: Leo, who was groping for a while, took out the last half of a box of cigarettes from his underwear pocket, and Julien skillfully took out a match and lit it.

The captains of the two main groups waited on Carl Bain, who was puffing away his breath, and solemnly accepted the remaining half a jug of water as if receiving a holy object.

The cold water spray and the smell of high-end cigarettes entered the throat, and the faces of the three people showed relief.

"Speaking of which, we don't seem to have any news about Alexei yet." Julien, who sipped the water at the corner of his mouth and finally regained some energy, suddenly said: "Ordinarily, his mission has been completed. , should have rendezvoused with the Commander-in-Chief a long time ago, right?"

"I don't know...that guy has always been unlucky. Maybe he got lost like he did in the Battle of Black Reef Port?" Leo shrugged, his face full of the calmness of a lucky man:

"Now I only care about where that bastard Borre Levent can run... I got the news in Salt Stone City in the morning, and in the afternoon he disappeared; he escaped from the encirclement net again and again, even if he has insight into the power of human bloodline Talented people are too exaggerated!”

Carl Bain, who was chewing a cigarette, looked at the two of them in a daze as if it had nothing to do with him... Anson did not make any plan for this hunt, and left all the power to his group leaders; with his knowledge of this guy, this kind of The situation can only mean one thing, and that is that Anson Bach does not care about whether he can catch the target, but about the things and people that will be exposed during the capture process.

Could it be... related to the silver beam of light that night?

There was suddenly silence in the tent for a moment, until Norton Crosell, who was in a hurry, rushed in and shouted impatiently:

"Looking for it, found it!"

oh? !

The tired three people's eyes suddenly lit up: "Borey Levent?!"

"No." Norton's expression became increasingly uneasy:

"It's Alexei!"