When the nearly exhausted Kal Bain and the equally exhausted half of the Stormtrooper Lee finally arrived outside Blackreef Harbor after going through all kinds of hardships, the battle was over.

No one could have imagined that facing the already crumbling defense line of Black Reef Port and flanking raids by less than a thousand infantry, the counter-insurgency army, which still had thousands of elite regiments and more than 20 artillery pieces, would retreat hastily.

The speed was so fast that even the stormtroopers were stunned.

But for Bernard Molwes himself, he actually had no choice.

First, there was a flank attack by the advance army, then the three infantry regiments were mired in the main battlefield on the western front, and the attack and retreat routes were blocked by cross-fire artillery. Finally, with the reinforcements of the Storm Division close at hand, the advance army launched a surprise attack...

But these are actually not the most important reasons.

The straw that broke the camel's back was the sudden escape of the cuirassier battalion!

This not only took away Bernard's most elite and "loyal" troops, but also took away half of the hussars and two infantry regiments, completely exposing the flanks of the army.

If Bernard makes a desperate all-out attack at this time, the heavy casualties will be secondary. If the attack is frustrated, he will allow the advance army to attack his flanks and artillery positions wantonly, and then be blocked by Clovis reinforcements...

After weighing the left and right, the colonial minister decisively chose to retreat - saving the vital artillery regiment, four intact infantry regiments and half a hussars regiment, while taking all local industrial owner representatives present as hostages.

With these capitals, he is still the colonial minister; if he puts all his bets on a victory, he will not get any benefits if he wins.

In order to ensure that he would not be pursued by the Storm Division - or simply forget about it - Bernard did not send any signal to the Western Front battlefield during the retreat. More than 2,000 Imperial line infantry in three regiments were regarded as abandoned, and under artillery fire

On the hillside position for days, the defenders of Black Reef Port were locked in a fierce battle.

Oblivious to their own situation, and full of hope for reinforcements and artillery support, they relied on the positions and fortifications they had already occupied, deployed defenses layer by layer, and fought position by position with Alexey, who launched a counterattack.

When the surface fortifications are destroyed, hide in the "fox trenches" created by artillery shells and fire cold shots; when the trenches cannot be defended, drop grenades or light the fuse boxes of ammunition as you retreat; when the ammunition is gone, hide in the corners of the traffic trenches

, when the defenders rush up, they draw their bayonets and fight hand-to-hand...

Alexei, who fully thought that his moment of glory was finally coming, almost turned his counterattack into a counterattack, and even he was ambushed and attacked by three cold rifles and five imperial soldiers with bayonets and grenades on their bodies.

If it weren't for the power of his blood, he might have been blown up into the sky together with his unlucky lieutenant.

Until the advance guard of the surprise attack was blocked by cuirassiers and forced to return to the defense and rush to the western front position, replacing the golden iris flowers with bloody unicorns, the desperate imperial line infantry finally raised their hands and surrendered.

At 16:50, when Karl, who was determined to die, finally arrived at Black Reef Port, he was just in time to clean up the battlefield after the war; more than two thousand hungry Stormtrooper soldiers were inexplicably captured by their colleagues in the advance army and used as coolies.

, cleaning up the ruins that were bombed everywhere by the empire.

"...So strictly speaking, Bernard and his army were not defeated, but were scared away - and they scared themselves away?"

With a cigarette butt dangling from the corner of his mouth and his feet soaked in a basin of hot water, Carl Bain was leaning on the bed and said feebly: "Otherwise, even if we arrive in time, Black Reef Port may still be destroyed?"

"nonsense!"

Lieutenant Colonel Alexei, commander-in-chief of the advance army, agreed with the Chief of Staff's well-founded and penetrating analysis and judgment - with a 10,000-eye roll:

"The total number of gunmen in Black Reef Port and the Storm Division is just over 10,000. Opposite us are 10,000 imperial troops plus several thousand servants. They have cavalry and artillery. They are experienced and have high morale. What do you want us to take?"

beat?!"

"About this question, I think you asked the wrong person." Karl snorted a few times and fumbled around the bedside table with his right hand:

"It's not me who made this 'perfect plan', and... well, what's the matter with the injury on your left shoulder? I remember that the power of your blood is not..."

"I don't want to answer that!"

Alexei waved his hand and said in an irritable tone: "Can we talk about something else? For example, how did you suddenly decide to leave your baggage and march over to rescue us - the entire Black Reef Port was blocked by the empire, you should have to

No news, right?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Karl, who was lying on the bed, froze instantly, and his right hand that was groping around stopped in mid-air.

Looking at his face that seemed to be petrified, Alexey suddenly had some kind of enlightenment:

"You don't want to talk about this either?"

Karl did not answer, but silently turned his eyes to one side.

So Alexey also tacitly avoided talking about it.

"By the way...what should we do next?" Karl changed the question again:

"The Empire has been defeated, but it has not been completely defeated - if the information about the 'big victory' in Black Reef Port reaches the ears of the people in the rear Confederacy, they will definitely be so excited that they can't wait to take Sail City tomorrow, right?"

"But if we don't take this opportunity to pursue and give the enemy a chance to breathe, the current situation is almost the limit of regaining Gray Pigeon Castle before winter. How can we completely drive the Imperial people out of the New World?"

"I don't know, you asked the wrong person."

Alexey sighed: "You are the one who has been with the Commander-in-Chief the longest among all of us. You must know his habits better - the perfect plan he talks about is basically the same as the "Eagle" unless it comes to the last minute.

"The Battle of Kakua Castle" is just as fantasy."

"So he really said it?" Karl was keenly aware of something and raised his head suddenly.

"I mentioned it once when we were robbing the pirate ship, so I don't have to worry. Someone else will take care of it in Sail City. As for who, why, and why, I didn't say anything at all." He twitched the corner of his mouth impatiently:

"I asked, can we talk about some questions that I can answer clearly?"

"Okay."

"Tell me, I will tell you everything I know."

"Just one—where did you hide the wine?"

"...I've finished my drink long ago. You drunkard Chief of Staff insists on taking mine? There is the Commander-in-Chief's inventory in the cabinet next to you!"

"You think I don't know? Miss Thalia was touched when she came - four bottles of golden rum! Four bottles, is he going to take this to take a bath?!"

The two aggrieved men glared at each other, finally sighed, slumped back, and fell completely unconscious.

……………………

Anson, who was lying on the bed with a slight smile on his face, was holding a glass of ice-cold golden rum, both physically and mentally in a state of great relaxation.

As the commander-in-chief, he has great magnanimity and doesn't take it seriously - especially when he just took a hot bath and lay down on the ground.

While drinking wine on the already made bed.

This is called enjoyment, this is like life.

Probably because it was too comfortable, Anson even had the urge to write a diary, but considering that no one would like to read such a boring daily routine, he gave up decisively.

More importantly...who wants to bother writing when you can lie in bed, drink wine, listen to the crackle in the fireplace, look out at the scenery outside the window, and look forward to dinner?

At this moment, he suddenly felt that there was hope in his life, the world was given meaning, existence proved its existence, and everything was so prosperous, full of vitality, vitality, and sweet.

"Anson, let's have dinner~"

Accompanied by the elegant burnt aroma, gentle and playful words sounded from outside the door; someone who just collapsed into a pile of mud quickly stood up, quickly put the wine glass on the bedside, and pretended to cough deeply:

"Please come in."

As soon as she finished speaking, Thalia, who was wearing a light yellow silk dress and with long hair, walked into the room carrying a dinner plate; she looked at the empty wine glass on the bedside table, and then looked at her weak face, from the inside to the outside.

Anson, who looked a bit tired, still smiled:

"You feel better?"

"Ahem, cough, cough...I'm getting better already."

After deliberately coughing a few more times, Anson complained slightly in a tired tone: "And I've already said, I'm not sick or injured, I'm just a little tired."

"Tired... is a spell caster's biggest enemy, especially when you have not yet become a blasphemous mage and still have to make your existence follow the will of this world." Thalia shook her head slightly, with a hint of toughness in her gentleness:

"And Thalia is Anson's fiancée. It is Thalia's job to help Anson recover physically and mentally from the exhaustion of the day as soon as possible."

"The most important thing is, dinner is ready, aren't you ready to taste it?"

Faced with such a sincere invitation from the girl, Anson certainly couldn't refuse.

Swallowing his throat gently, he was a little impatient and tried to scan the dazzling array of delicacies visible to the naked eye before Thalia put down the plate...

"What's this?"

Anson raised his head expressionlessly and pointed at the dazzling array of dishes on the bed.

"Dear Anson, this is your dinner." Thalia still smiled:

"Not satisfied?"

"This has nothing to do with satisfaction or dissatisfaction, it's mainly... it's so shocking!" Anson paused, then nodded seriously:

"May I know who did this?"

"Well... you can guess."

The smiling Thalia didn't look back, but her eyes kept pointing to Anson in the direction of the door: "But what Thalia must explain is that Thalia did not give any help during the whole process, just for this

Delicious food provides a little... theoretical guidance.”

"And these delicacies are also the result of the other party's final learning after a lot of practice; if dear Anson cannot give a fair and objective evaluation, it will leave an indelible mark on a little soul who is passionate about food.

trauma."

Before he finished speaking, a certain figure hiding behind the door trembled slightly and hid in the blind spot behind the wall using a standard tactical move.

So he suddenly understood and immediately changed his words: "Dear Thalia, could you please introduce me to today's dinner?"

"It's a great honor. Which one will Anson start with?"

"Let's start with...soup."
To be continued...