I Will Be The Crowned King

Vol 3 Chapter 51: Divide the spoils

The celebration of victory lasted all night, and they reveled in the victory they paid a huge price for.

The soldiers called each other brothers, and the officers talked freely about the future of the two countries. They believed in each other that an unbreakable alliance would be formed between the north and south of the Dawn Mountains. Nothing in the world could measure the friendship between the two countries. bring it to an end.

Although the covenant has not yet been concluded, many terms have been finalized in a staggering process; the drunken Thun nobles and Clovis officers patted their chests and assured each other that all problems were not problems.

But when the two sides officially started negotiations the next afternoon, this "unbreakable alliance" almost died before it could even begin.

The first contradiction between the two sides is the disposal and distribution of the spoils.

In order to win this battle, Thun sent 18,000 troops, and he has done his best without mobilizing the reserves. It is unrealistic to want them to generate electricity with love.

In the battle of Eagle Point City, the coalition forces won three trophies: Eagle Point City itself, a large number of military supplies discarded by the defeat of the Guard Corps, the prisoners of the Guard Corps - especially Louis Bernard and a group of "pure blood" and "" Half-blood" high-level elf noble.

As a bridgehead for attacking the Elven Kingdom of Iser and opening the passage to the south of the Dawn Mountains, it is impossible for Clovis to give up Eaglehorn City anyway. Tuen knew this well, and did not try to win plan.

But the remaining military supplies and prisoners are different - the former is an important material urgently needed for Thun's expansion of the army, and the latter can be exchanged for huge ransoms and favors, which is an important blood-recovery means for countries to make up for military expenditures after wars in this era.

Especially Louis Bernard, he is the heir of the Principality of Adelaide of the Empire, the most pure talent of the bloodline power of the "Sea Knight", and the emperor's former military attaché... His ransom is definitely an exorbitant figure.

As for the spoils of war—not to mention anything else, just the tens of thousands of rifles scattered on the battlefield and the nearly 100 artillery pieces in the artillery positions can instantly increase the combat effectiveness of Thun’s army by three or four times!

In order not to arouse the resentment of the Clovis people and maintain the alliance between the two parties, Henares prepared a quite "sincere" distribution draft:

First, Thun recognized the Clovis' ownership of Eagle Point City. Second, three-quarters of all the senior prisoners of the Praetorian Guards belonged to Clovis, but Louis Bernard had to be handed over to Thun.

Both sides will take half of the spoils of war, but Thun has the right to buy the rest of the spoils from Clovis at the cost price; at the same time, the Southern Legion has to sign an agreement stipulating that the military supplies for the next year must be purchased from Thun.

Henares was looking forward to waiting for the other party to sign and agree, or to discuss the specific details with himself a little; Roman, who never wanted to get the draft, just sneered, changed it directly on it, and returned it to him.

In Roman's version, the Eagle Point is still owned by Clovis - this is not discussed - the issue of high-ranking prisoners of the Praetorian Guards can be discussed from one third to one half, but Louis Bernard Must be disposed of by Clovis.

As for the spoils - although Roman who followed Ludwig did not have the habit of "picking up garbage", one-half was completely unacceptable, at least two-thirds.

After reading this "revised draft", Henares' forehead was so red that it seemed like he had been pried open, and he poured a bucket full of boiling water into it - the whole person was directly blown up.

A group of Thun nobles behind him bounced off their chairs like they were sitting on nails, slapped the table and kicked the chairs, roaring red-faced and roaring that they wanted to "severe a clean break" with Clovis.

They even forgot that Thun and Clovis hadn't signed a contract yet.

Under the excitement of the crowd, Henares expressed to Roman "very regretful" that this clause is completely unacceptable and must be revised; the battle of Eagle Point City Thun suffered a lot and must be compensated.

"At least it should be equivalent to half of Clovis's profit from this battle, no less." Henares' tone was extremely sincere:

"Since Clovis has the will to form an alliance with Thun, please show the arrogance and responsibility that a strong country should have - since Thun gave up the ownership of Eagle Horn City, he should at least get other benefits elsewhere. "

"Of course." Lieutenant Colonel Roman nodded slightly, raised his hand to stop a group of officers behind him who were about to rush to fight with the Tuen nobles, and asked them to sit back in their original positions obediently:

"The official signing of the covenant will wait for the Privy Council's reply, but the Southern Legion will not forget that it is your helping hand at the most critical moment - we are willing to make greater concessions on Iser elf captives and spoils, and on the logistical supply of the Legion. Sign a trade deal that is more favorable to Thun and repay Thun for the losses."

The Clovis officers who heard Roman's "concession" changed their expressions one after another. They looked at each other and sat in their chairs honestly, daring to say nothing; while the Tuen nobles on the opposite side cheered and praised Clovis. It is indeed a responsible country.”

Amidst the cheers, only Henares remained silent and looked at Roman coldly.

He noticed that Roman was talking about "Isel captives".

In other words, Clovis...or Ludwig Franz behind Roman, would never give Louis Bernard to Thun.

There may be the commander's own considerations, but more probably Clovis is not worried that Thun will betray them - he has betrayed two bordering powers, whether there are enough allies, waiting for Thun's generals It would be a disaster.

The cruel reality makes Henares both angry and sad... It is clear that the strength of the fortress Netturn is twice that of the Southern Legion, but there is still not much confidence to argue in front of the opponent, and it can only be painless. Itchy protest.

Roman, with a grim face, met Henares' gaze with a calm demeanor.

Of course he knew why Thune wanted Louis Bernard so much.

Since Thun can betray Iser after the defeat of the Iser elf, of course he can also betray Clovis after Clovis's strength is damaged; of course, the Grand Duke Thun needs a "meeting ceremony" suitable enough to make the empire willingly Send troops to support the Francois family.

Louis Bernard was the gift, the talisman used by the Thunes when they decided to betray Clovis.

Although it is clear that without Thun's reinforcements, the battle of Eaglehorn City would not have been so successful anyway, but Lieutenant Colonel Roman disliked the traitorous behavior of the "wall-riding faction" from the bottom of his heart, and distrusted 10,000 Thun people. .

Therefore, although Ludwig did not insist on this matter, Roman still made up his mind to deduct Louis Bernard and not give the Thun people any more sweetness.

As for whether the interests of the legion investors and the officers who contracted the levy will be damaged, that is not within Roman's consideration. He only makes plans for Ludwig - even if he does not look at the interests, Louis is a man who can make Ludwig possible. Items that increase reputation.

After a whole day and night of quarrels, the coalition forces who had long missed the pursuit of the remnants of the Imperial Guard Corps finally finalized the spoils distribution plan:

First, Thun recognized that Eaglehorn City belonged to the Kingdom of Clovis.

Second, three-quarters of all Iser elf captives go to the Grand Duchy of Thun, and one-quarter goes to the Southern Legion. Both parties have the right to question each other's captives. They must agree on a time and announce the ransom amount to the other party. Let go.

Third, all the booty, including but not limited to rifles, lead powder, artillery, livestock... The two sides are divided equally, but one half of the southern legion must be sold to Thun at a discount.

Fourth, Ludwig Franz must sign a unilateral protection agreement and a trade agreement with Thun as commander of the Southern Army, promising not to allow Iser to invade the Grand Duchy of Thun, and within the next year Purchase supplies for no less than 15,000 people on a quarterly basis.

The whole plan is quite beneficial to the Grand Duchy of Thun as a whole, and even if the Eagle Horn City is not captured, the gains of the Southern Legion in this battle will just make up for the previous losses, and it is barely a situation where there is no profit or loss.

This made the officers of the Southern Legion extremely dissatisfied - their conscripted infantry regiments were all contracted with money, and some even borrowed loan sharks. It doesn't matter to Ludwig whether they make money or lose money, it is a blood loss for them. .

In this regard, Ludwig could only make a promise to the officers that in the next battle against Iser, he would divide a portion of the spoils he had earned to make up for their current losses.

Among the spoils, Anson's Storm Division was assigned 3,000 front-loading rifles, six six-pounder infantry guns, four twelve-pounder infantry guns and four light howitzers... a small gain.

In addition, he also captured the most important prisoner, Louis Bernard, but in order to appease the officers whose interests were damaged, Ludwig could not give Anson the ransom of other Iser elf nobles; so he privately agreed to wait for logistics As soon as the supplies arrived, 300 horses were distributed to the Storm Division as compensation.

Of course, Ludwig's "generousness" is not without reason - the southern legion will attack Iser next, from west to east, there are many hills and forests in the west of Iser, and only the east and the north have a large area plain area.

That is to say, before the attack on the Royal Court of Iser, whether Ludwig has cavalry or not is of little significance, and it is better to give it to the Storm Division who is about to attack the Seven Cities Alliance.

This is a mixed news for Anson. After all, the Storm Division does need a mobile force that can quickly detour around the battlefield and pursue the enemy after the war to expand the results.

But when the horses arrived, it was even more difficult for him to explain to the other officers why he refused to ride - mainly because it seemed that it was really too late to learn now.

As for the most controversial part of the two sides, that is, the issue of the ownership of Louis Bernard, it did not appear in the plan; the two sides were very tacit and pretended to forget about it, and focused their attention on maintaining each other's alliance.

……That is impossible.

………………

"In a coma?!"

Leon Francois said in astonishment: "How come you fell into a coma so well?!"

"To tell you the truth, we are also surprised by this."

Outside Anson's ward, Major Fabien sighed with a heavy expression, and his eyes showed a bit of sadness: "Probably because the injury is too serious, and it's too tired for this period of time, right?"

"You have been with the Deputy Commander lately, and you should know more about his health than my subordinate; don't you, Your Excellency Leon Francois?"

Fabian paused slightly and looked at each other.

Leon froze for a moment, frowned slightly and fell into deep thought: "Indeed, indeed, although it looks very energetic on the surface, it may also be due to excessive overdraft, and then focus on erupting after the injury..."

"That's it." Fabian sighed again, his expression darker than before:

"In order to win the battle of Eagle Point City and completely annihilate the Imperial Guard Corps, the deputy commander has put in countless hard work, and exhausted his energy almost every day; as a result, he just won..."

Speaking of which, Fabian stopped abruptly, and with a "crack!" his right hand pressed his cheek; with his head hanging on his chest, his shoulders trembled slightly.

Seeing this usual unsmiling, even a little too indifferent soldier was so sad, Leon was at a loss for a while, so he could only pat the other side's shoulder as a sign of comfort.

"But, is there really no way?" After a moment of silence, Leon couldn't help but speak.

"Major General Ludwig wants to hand Louis over to the country. Clovis is now at war with the Empire. Once he falls into the hands of the Clovis royal family... the consequences are simply unimaginable!"

Leon, who became more and more excited, clenched his fists, and the painful entanglement made his expression slightly distorted:

"The only one who can force Ludwig to take his life back is Ansen Bach, but why...why did he suddenly..."

"Wow!"

At this moment, a faint cry suddenly sounded in the room.

"This is..." Leon raised his head in astonishment.

Fabian slowly removed the hand from his face: "It's Miss Lisa."

"She has been taking care of the deputy commander since last night. She has never left the bed, and she hasn't even drank a glass of water until now."

Leon was stunned at first, and then his face darkened again; he looked at the door behind Fabian, hesitated for a moment, and finally left with a sigh.

Fabian watched him leave expressionlessly, until Leon's back completely disappeared at the end of the corridor.

Ten minutes later, the former Guards Major turned around and pushed open the door of Anson's ward; Anson was sitting on the bed, bandaging Lisa, whose little finger was cut by a fruit knife, with gauze.

The red-eyed girl pouted her lips~www.readwn.com~ and avoided Anson's gaze as if she was afraid after making a mistake.

What used to be a bowl full of apples on the bedside table is now only a bowl full of apple cores.

Discreetly tied a bow with gauze on that little finger, Anson looked at Lisa seriously:

"Do you know what's wrong?"

Lisa, who was about to cry, nodded vigorously.

"Next time, will you steal snacks, so that you can't even eat dinner?"

The girl shook her head vigorously: "Lisa is a good obedient girl."

Anson patted her little head with satisfaction, and turned to Fabian who was standing in front of the door:

"what happened?"

"Nothing." Fabian smiled:

"Just to help you drive away a troublesome guest."

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