Chapter 17: adjutant
"Have you been promoted? Congratulations."
In the cell, with a sincere smile, Louis Bernard looked at the other party's military uniform that was obviously different from the last time: "A commander as young as you is rare even in the Empire."
"So there is a price to pay." An Sen, who was sitting opposite, showed a wry smile on his face:
"I can't retake Thundercastle Fortress within a month. This military uniform may be my prison uniform."
"Oh, that's quite dangerous." The young knight nodded seriously: "Although Your Excellency Anson has defeated me, I don't think you will be able to get rid of my brother Kroger Bernard within a month. Retake Thundercastle."
"Unlike me, although my brother is sometimes a little irritable, he is a fairly calm and rational person, and he won't be easily deceived like me last time."
Well, the commander of the imperial defenders of Fort Thunder is a very calm person, and he won't rush in if he's not sure... Let's use these contents to prevaricate Lieutenant Colonel Roman today.
Anson, who made the decision in his heart, shrugged and turned the conversation to the point.
"no respond?"
The young knight's eyes widened, and he was so surprised that he couldn't help but repeat: "You mean the power of your bloodline... there is no response, how is this possible?!"
There was a hint of helplessness in the silent Anson's eyes.
Talking face-to-face with Louis Bernard is very troublesome - at least every time you have to give Roman a reason and a result, if not impossible, he doesn't want to waste such a precious opportunity on repeated problems.
But... there was indeed no response.
To be more precise, he couldn't even feel the existence of the so-called "power of blood"; even though this guy who was so innocent that he wouldn't lie, swore to himself that he possessed this power.
On the contrary, after trying to "respond" to the power of bloodline more than once and finally failed, Anson gradually figured out the law of his ability to "see" the surrounding power.
Similar to the power of blood, this "power" also requires oneself to maintain a high degree of concentration and a more lucid sanity - in a state of exhaustion, the success rate is very low.
Secondly, its "use method" is completely different from the power of bloodline mentioned by Louis and even in Anson's memory, and it is not subject to Anson's subjective control - it will not stop easily when it is turned on, and it will naturally subside at a certain point of time.
The result of several tests was about two hours.
Saying it's an ability, it's more like a disease... Could it be a side effect of time-travel?
"You should have passed the initial stage, otherwise I wouldn't be able to detect the power of blood in you, and I didn't respond..." The young knight frowned, looking even more confused than Anson: "No, usually, you should have already Occasionally, the power of blood will be used unintentionally!"
"This is a power contained in your bloodline, or more precisely, a part of your body - essentially, it's no different from your limbs or organs!"
After a pause, Louis, who was thinking hard, suggested a possibility: "Maybe... it is related to the power of your bloodline itself."
"Can you speak more clearly?" Anson was a little irritable, and the other party's explanation was no different from nonsense.
"Your Excellency Anson, you have already seen the power of my bloodline on the battlefield." Louis smiled slightly: "It is very comprehensive, it will greatly improve my reaction ability, speed and even strength, and can instantly see everything around me. Dangerous existence."
"The premise of using this bloodline power is that I can keep my senses and have sufficient physical strength; on the contrary, I cannot use it in a state of exhaustion or high tension."
"If you explain it this way, maybe it's because of the conditions for using the power of your bloodline... Well, it's rather harsh."
"This is not surprising, as blood powers are inherently diverse; I have seen the blood powers of imperial royalty 'Dragon Riders' - capable of smashing boulders with just roars and shouts, and air waves alone Shock the people around you."
"But the next day the royal family member had a sore throat, and the power of the incomparably powerful bloodline immediately diminished in power."
"So I guess your bloodline power is not something that can be used under normal conditions, or that this ability will be greatly weakened in normal times, so weak that even if you use it unintentionally, you will not be able to notice it at all. "
Speaking of this, Louis' face showed a little apology: "I'm very sorry, because I don't know the noble lineage of the Clovis Kingdom, so I don't know what type of blood power of the Bach family is. If there are some people who can refer to it, maybe…”
"It's okay, you don't need to apologize." Anson waved his hand.
It's not that he hasn't considered this, but the problem is that the Bach family from "former Anson" is just a rural landowner in the central province of the Clovis Kingdom, who knows which lucky ancestor married a certain wife of noble blood. , incidentally inherited the bloodline of the other party.
"At this point, there's not much I can help - unless you find out the origin of your bloodline power, it's very dangerous to try randomly without knowing your exact bloodline." Louis sighed again.
"But Clovis's royal family, the Osteria family, according to rumors, has some origins with the Loren family who inherited the blood of the 'Holy Grail Knight'; I don't know about the Osteria family, but since you are Cloe Wei aristocrats may wish to focus on this, and maybe they will gain something."
Louis couldn't help but smile: "Who knows? Perhaps the one who defeated me, His Excellency Anson Bach, is the descendant of the Clovis royal bloodline. That would be a great honor!"
Taking a deep breath, Anson restrained his urge to roll his eyes - if he hadn't known that the guy in front of him was being too innocent, he would have wanted to hit him.
"In addition, there are two other points you must remember." Putting away his smile, Louis' expression under the candlelight became serious again:
"First, the power of blood is not a weapon or tool, it is a part of your body, just like limbs or organs; remember, many outstanding talents have caused irreversible consequences because of this."
"Second, no matter what kind of blood power, in principle, it requires a high degree of concentration to be effective; using it is no different from listening or thinking attentively; therefore, even if you cannot immediately grasp the power of blood, keep practicing to make It’s easier to focus yourself, which is still important.”
"Your Excellency Anson Bach, I am looking forward to the day when I will be able to duel again with you who truly master the power of blood. I hope we can all wait until that day..."
...Leaving the cell, and under the surveillance of two grenadiers, Anson wrote down the content of his conversation with Louis on a slender piece of paper and handed it over to Brigadier General Roman and Ludwig for review.
Anson, who basically told the truth, specially added double quotation marks to "the commander of the imperial defenders is calm and does not rush in impulsive".
He was not afraid that Ludwig guessed the real purpose of his interrogation of Louis. What he was afraid of was that the Brigadier General wanted to retake Thunder Castle too much.
Considering that he has already spent so much money on himself, this kind of thing is not impossible.
In a war that originally had nothing to do with him, in the end, he had to save his life and try his best to win the victory. He had to always be careful of the conspiracy of the "old gods" behind him, and the culprit that might be taken for the incompetent superior...
It's too difficult, it's really too difficult for me.
Anson sighed wearily, and walked towards the siege position along the trenches outside the cell.
After Ludwig, who wanted to fight the most, made up his mind to defeat the imperial army in the fortress by digging soil and digging pits, knowing that he did not need to line up to die, the soldiers who targeted the artillery immediately burst out with extremely strong subjective initiative.
The barracks, which were ravaged by artillery, were "transformed" into huge construction sites in one day; overnight, thousands of soldiers "transformed" into a huge number of wooden spades, wooden shovels, wooden hammers and large and small Various earth-moving containers - most of them should be converted from fortifications destroyed by artillery, horses and wooden stakes.
In order to facilitate the transportation of soil, many soldiers who worked as mercenaries in the port laid simple tracks in the muddy trenches. Get a bunch of corpors and veterans.
Under this unprecedented and unparalleled enthusiasm, the four-day pre-engineering project was completed in just two days.
And it's not just high efficiency, the level of trench construction by these people makes one believe that they are more like engineering teams that have been contracting civil projects for a long time than the military.
The traffic trenches that were blown up were reopened, and the impact crater left by the shells was transformed into a temporary camp. The narrow and crowded passage was expanded to a width that could allow three people to walk side by side in just two days.
Even in order to speed up the construction efficiency of the fortifications, various signs and street signs appeared in the maze-like trench network - "Cannonball Street" is next to "Banpai", and opposite the "Public Restaurant" is the "Card Club"; Outside the newly expanded area, there are also signs with the words "under development" and "be careful with your feet".
The muddy and dirty trenches are turning into a lively "city" full of life.
Ludwig, who was originally worried that it would take a lot of time, soon found that he might be thinking too much - as long as they can guarantee that these soldiers will not fight, plus two meals a day, they will be able to dig the trenches to thunder in twenty days. under the walls of the fort.
But Brigadier General wasn't proud or proud of it, not even the slightest joy in seeing the dawn of victory; on the contrary, his mood was even more pessimistic at the moment.
It is better to dig trenches than to climb out of the mud pit, even if the probability that the enemy will fire is very small, rather than risk the risk of being bombarded by artillery shells in the siege position - what a cowardly army!
Is it really hopeful that this kind of scum will be destroyed in one round of enemy raids on a foggy day, to regain Fort Thunder? !
For this, Anson is rather optimistic.
It doesn't matter if the level of your own army is low, as long as the enemy is worse.
According to Captain Carl Bain's evaluation, the Imperial infantry was not only tactically rigid and rigid, holding phalanxes and lining up to be shot, but morale was a false proposition - there may be a guarantee when the commander is still alive, and once the officer is killed, he will be disintegrated on the spot. ,with no exceptions.
The result of the battle for the artillery base basically proved his statement.
What really makes the Herid Empire proud of is their powerful artillery, cavalry and knight officer corps - so as long as the defending imperial army can't take advantage of their artillery, they can only rely on a small number of elite knights in the siege battle. And the imperial army of infantry, the shortcomings will be exposed.
There is still hope for victory in the battle on the bright side, the next hand-to-hand battle that is really dangerous, and the old gods who are planning something behind their backs.
So as long as he didn't know what the Old Gods wanted to do, even if the civil works were completely completed, Anson would still make every excuse to delay Ludwig's attack plan.
Because the risk is really too high.
Even if you have to take risks, you must at least wait until you have basically mastered the power of blood and have the capital to protect yourself, and try to avoid the possibility of taking the blame for Ludwig...
"You're back, my captain?"
Anson, who stopped in his tracks, raised his head, leaning against the dirt wall with his arms in his arms, and Carl Bain staring at him helplessly.
"Something happened?" Anson asked casually.
"Why are you asking me about everything? I'm just a small battalion commander, not your adjutant." Carl snorted coldly, "I'm not like a certain adjutant, I don't want my life for the sake of my rank!"
Looking at Carl who was not angry, Anson, who felt a little inexplicable, was stunned in place for a while, and suddenly laughed:
"You... aren't... jealous of me, are you?"
"I'm not jealous of people who are about to die!"
Carl stepped forward abruptly, the timid army captain who was waiting to be driven to some ghost place to be a militia company commander, but now grabbed Anson's collar, murderous. stare at him:
"I ask you, the archbishop's own son has spared no effort in praising us. Do you know why?"
"I know."
Anson chuckled and nodded, raising his hands as if he had something to do with it.
"Then the lieutenant colonel title he gave you, do you know why?"
"I know."
"Then you are still actively courting death, and you want to pull our group?!"
Carl was stunned.
"This is not courting death, this is the best way to survive." Putting away his smile, An Sen said calmly:
"You saw Ludwig on the day he came. The son of the archbishop, he will never give up until he retakes Fort Thunder!"
"Even if he had to exchange human life for cannonballs, he wouldn't frown; although he should never be able to do it...but even so! I don't want to bet my chance of survival on one who can win at all costs, On a lunatic who has to catch any life-saving straws... I'd rather trust myself."
"Are you satisfied with this explanation, my adjutant?"
An Sen raised his hands and asked in a deep voice.
With a tangled face, Carl stared at Anson's face, swallowing with a twitching throat, loosening his collar bit by bit.
"Lieutenant Colonel Roman sent a batch of weapons and new recruits, saying that you wanted it... I advise you to check it out quickly." Karl leaned weakly against the earth wall with a sad expression and pointed behind him.
The next second, he suddenly seemed to remember something, and shouted at An Sen's leaving back:
"Also, I'm not your adjutant!"