I, the prince in distress, send money

Chapter 319 Frame-up
Things always develop in unexpected ways and don't always go as planned.

Chris and Dirac speculated that the situation in the Kingdom of Minicia was relatively stable, and even if a civil war were to break out, they would make some preparations.

At least the high-ranking nobles within the Kingdom of Minicia will go through the motions of assassination, political deals, factional divisions, and courting neutrals. Only after all the participants have determined that they cannot resolve their differences peacefully will they resort to force.

Anyone with a brain should know that once a civil war begins, the cards will be reshuffled, and all those who have vested interests will be losers. Only those who have nothing will profit from this reshuffle.

However, with a month left before the end of the sweltering heat, the players who were originally engaged in small-scale street battles with the enemy in Tavitsky City, turning a city defense battle into a counterinsurgency war, suddenly seized the city.

The reason why players suddenly complete the mission and achieve victory is quite simple... the opposing Minisian Seventh Legion has quit.

The retreat of the Seventh Legion, which still retained at least half of its combat strength, was very sudden. They withdrew from the battle with the players in the early hours of the morning and ran away without looking back. They even abandoned the supplies left in the outer camp and left with only weapons and equipment.

The players did not give chase. On the one hand, at least half of them were sleeping or AFK at the time and had not yet logged on. On the other hand, the players who had been playing for most of the summer were tired and their weapons and ammunition were scarce.

They can manage in the city, using cover and complex terrain to maneuver, fight guerrilla warfare, or engage in defensive battles.

If a pursuit is launched and the Minisians turn around and attack, things will be very bad.

In open, unprotected terrain, whether it's a volley of bullets or infantry versus cavalry, even seasoned veterans who are skilled in tactics and not afraid of close combat generally feel they can't win.

Therefore, the player does not pursue the enemy but watches them leave.

However, the retreat of the 7th Legion of Miniscia did not go smoothly, because when the entire army withdrew outside the city, an army that also flew the flag of the Miniscia Scimitar Whale attacked them.

It was the 5th Legion of the Minisian Army, stationed at the border fortress from the direction of Bagnia.

This was a brutal massacre in which the Seventh Legion was almost powerless to resist.

At that time, the soldiers of the Seventh Army Corps, dragging their exhausted bodies, had just been relieved to have gotten rid of the elusive and fearless Bagnian barbarians in the city, and their tense nerves were beginning to relax.

They were convinced that once they embarked on their journey back to the heart of the kingdom, they would be able to regroup and escape the nightmarish city of Tavitsky.

However, this brief respite was utterly shattered by his comrades shortly after the darkness receded before dawn.

The Fifth Army's attack was swift, precise, and ruthless; they had been lying in ambush behind the woods not far from the city.

They seemed to know that the Seventh Army was going to retreat, and the ambush site was conveniently located right next to the choke point of the latter's route, allowing them to wait in ambush.

As the Seventh Army's ranks stretched out and became chaotic during their hasty retreat, and the exhausted soldiers didn't even have time to form an effective defensive formation, the Fifth Army's light cavalry, like a red-hot dagger, pierced their weakest flank first.

Iron hooves trampled, spears thrust, and scimitars drew deathly arcs in the dim morning light.

Caught off guard, soldiers of the Seventh Army Corps fell in droves, their screams instantly shattering the relatively calm atmosphere of the retreat. The shouts of the infantrymen who were attacked could not stop the attack from their comrades, who wore the same uniforms but had a white towel tied around their arms.

Only after the officers gave the order did the Seventh Army Corps launch a counterattack with heavy gunfire. However, the hastily organized firepower was chaotic and inaccurate, and it was no match for the Fifth Army Corps' long-planned charge.

"Lieutenant General Norton Perrier, are you insane?!"

The adjutant to the Seventh Army Commander, Alston, was furious. Riding on a white horse, he recognized the figure in magnificent armor under the Fifth Army's command flag on the wooded hillside.

Commander of the Fifth Army... Lieutenant General Norton, Marquis Peril.

Alston roared, his voice filled with unbelievable anger and despair.

"We are comrades, the kingdom's army! Who are you wielding your sword against?!"

Lord Norton stood on a slightly higher slope, coldly watching the one-sided massacre below.

His face beneath his helmet remained impassive, though a barely perceptible hint of shame lingered. But this shame vanished completely upon hearing Alston's roar, replaced by the cold resolve born of political struggle.

"Alston!"

Lieutenant General Norton's voice was loud and clear, deliberately drowning out the noise of the battlefield, carrying a sense of declaration. The officers and messengers around him shouted loudly, amplifying the momentum.

"Kingdom? Comrades? Look at who you've pledged allegiance to! William Stuart, that eldest prince who murdered his father, usurped the throne, and colluded with foreign enemies—he is the true traitor to the kingdom!"

His words struck the chaotic battlefield like a hammer blow, causing many Seventh Army soldiers who were resisting or hesitating to freeze in place. Parricide? Usurpation? The impact of these words far exceeded the simple accusation of "treason."

"Nonsense! His Highness the Crown Prince is the rightful heir designated by the late King!"

Lieutenant Alston trembled with rage and tried to argue, but his voice sounded weak and powerless under Peril’s deliberately amplified announcement.

"What nonsense?"

Lieutenant General Norton's voice suddenly rose, filled with cold sarcasm and a confidence that he possessed absolute evidence.

He suddenly raised his hand and pointed directly at a closed carriage in the middle of the retreating Seventh Army Corps, pulled by four strong horses and covered with a thick black tarpaulin.

The carriage tried to speed away in the chaos, but its path was blocked by the fleeing soldiers and the attack wave of the Fifth Legion, making it seem particularly abrupt.

"Alston!"

Lieutenant General Norton's voice was like a sharp, icy blade, piercing through all the noise.

"Then tell me, where is General David? As the commander of the army, why isn't he with you?!"

He questioned the other party sternly, giving them no chance to breathe, and then dropped the fatal bomb.

"And how do you explain... why our beloved King died in Tavitsky?! Isn't his body lying right now on that damned carriage behind you?!"

boom! ! !
The effect of this statement was no less than detonating a bomb on the battlefield.

"what?!"

"His Majesty the King...is dead?!"

"In Tavitsky?! How is that possible?!"

"The body...is in that carriage?!" Not only the soldiers of the Seventh Legion, but even some soldiers of the Fifth Legion who were attacking paused for a moment.

Countless gazes, filled with extreme shock, fear, and disbelief, were all directed at the black carriage that had been identified!

The color drained from Alston's face instantly, his eyes widened, and his pupils contracted sharply in extreme horror. He instinctively and uncontrollably turned his head to look at the carriage.

Because Albert III's body was indeed in a carriage, surrounded by ice, being personally escorted by his trusted guards, a carriage that was strictly forbidden to anyone approaching and was to be given absolute priority protection during the retreat.

Logically speaking, what was in the carriage was an absolute secret, and only a handful of officers who were also close confidants of the general would know about it.

How could Lieutenant General Norton know such a confidential matter?

There's a traitor!!!
However, Alston was shocked to the point of almost losing his ability to think, and in that instant, the Marquis Peril seized this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!

"Warriors of the Fifth Legion!"

Peril's voice once again echoed across the battlefield, filled with inflammatory grief and indignation.

"Look! This is the crime of William Stuart! He not only imprisoned the loyal General David, but also ordered Lieutenant Alston to send men to assassinate the King and his father!"

To cover up his crimes, William Stuart also instructed Alston to attempt to secretly smuggle the late king's body out of the city!

How can such depraved and heinous beasts be worthy of being our king?!
Seventh Legion, are you still loyal to such traitors?!

"For His Highness David! For the legitimacy of the kingdom! Reclaim the remains of the late king!"

Lieutenant General Norton was the best actor at that moment, trying his best to play the role of a loyal patriot, roaring at the top of his lungs and slashing down with his longsword!
"Reclaim the late king's remains!!"

The soldiers of the Fifth Army Corps were in a frenzy.

Lieutenant General Norton's pointed accusations and order to "reclaim the body" instantly elevated this political purge to a sacred level of acting on behalf of Heaven and eliminating traitors for the country!

Fear and hesitation were replaced by fanatical rage, and like a flood bursting its banks, they rushed even more frantically toward the core of the Seventh Legion... that black carriage!
The soldiers of the Seventh Army were thrown into complete chaos.

The news of the king's death came like a bolt from the blue, and the accusation that his body was among their own ranks threw them into complete disarray. Many people stared at the carriage that was the focus of the attack, their eyes filled with confusion, fear, and unease.

Are they protecting the prince's secret? Or are they transporting evidence of the regicide? What are they truly loyal to?
As Lieutenant Alston watched the Fifth Army soldiers pounce like wolves, saw the wavering eyes of the soldiers around him, and looked at the black carriage that symbolized great misfortune... a huge sense of despair and coldness instantly engulfed him.

He understood that Lieutenant General Norton not only wanted to eliminate the Seventh Legion, which supported the eldest prince, but also wanted to solidify the eldest prince's guilt of patricide!
This carriage is the key piece of irrefutable evidence. No matter what's inside, Lieutenant General Norton will do everything in his power to seize it!
"Defend the carriage! At all costs!"

Alston screamed almost instinctively, knowing he had fallen into a trap meticulously set by Lieutenant General Norton.

But at this moment, he had no choice! If the carriage was taken away, regardless of whether it contained the king's remains or not, Lieutenant General Norton and the second princess could use it to their advantage and completely nail Prince William to the pillar of shame!

However, his orders seemed so weak in the face of the immense chaos and collapse of morale. The elite assault teams of the Fifth Army had already torn through the last weakest line of defense around the wagon like sharp knives.

An officer from the Fifth Army broke through the weak and feeble blockade of the Seventh Army soldiers, rushed to the side of the carriage, and slashed the ropes pulling the carriage with his sword. Another soldier used his spear to tear open a corner of the thick black oilcloth on the carriage!
stab...

Under the watchful eyes of countless people, the tarpaulin was torn apart, revealing inside... a corner of a coffin covered with brocade bearing the Stuart royal coat of arms!
Time seemed to freeze at this moment.

Although it was only a fleeting glimpse, the coat of arms symbolizing supreme royal power was so dazzling in the rising sun that it silently confirmed Marquis Peril's appalling accusations!

"king……"

A soldier from the Seventh Army muttered in disbelief, and his weapon clattered to the ground.

"Really are……"

The soldiers of the Fifth Army Corps also let out suppressed gasps.

A cold, triumphant glint flashed in Lieutenant General Norton's eyes.

He didn't need everyone to see inside the coffin; he only needed them to see the symbolic coffin and royal coat of arms. The sight itself was the most lethal weapon!
"The rebels have concealed the late king's remains; their crime is compounded! Take them back!"

Lieutenant General Norton's voice rang out again, carrying an unquestionable authority and a sense of justice.

The Seventh Legion's will to resist crumbled completely at this moment, along with the glaring royal crest.

Lieutenant Alston looked at the exposed coffin, then at the desperate, numb eyes of the soldiers around him, and finally at Peril's cold face on the hillside. He felt only endless sorrow.

He knew that the Seventh Legion was finished, and the eldest prince's reputation... was finished too. This was not just a military defeat, but a devastating political blow.

Alston's adjutant cried out in despair.

"The late king's death had nothing to do with the eldest prince; it was the work of the Bagnian assassins. Don't believe them, don't listen to them!"

However, Alston's appeals went unheeded, and his words were useless in the first place, because "facts (lies) speak louder than words (truth)."

Soldiers only believe what they see, rather than making judgments based on reason.

The 7th Army of Miniscia suffered a crushing defeat.

All of this was seen and heard by players hiding not far away.

However, because they were a bit far from the center of the battlefield, and because of the shouts of so many Minisians, the sound was somewhat distorted, so they didn't hear it very clearly, but it was enough for the players to understand what was happening on the scene.

"Ah, Albert III's death was the work of his eldest son?"

Wearing a green cloak, Ye Aohe, perched on a tree, stared at Barbarossa, who was in the same position beside him.

"I remember we were the ones who killed them, right? This plot isn't working."

"Uh, this is probably a frame-up."

"Damn it, this bastard game planner is using NPCs to steal our kills!"

(End of this chapter)