Chapter 637 Chapter 596 Unpredictable Heart

Above the main hall, although there were braziers burning all around, the flames seemed unable to dispel the cold air above the hall. And the cold is not caused by the weather! Above the hall, Prince Regent Chen looked stern and gloomy, sitting on the throne, groaning silently. But below, dozens of important ministers of the empire gathered together, but everyone's face sank like water.Just because, on the steps, a palace etiquette officer is using a tense voice, loudly reading the latest battle report from the front line! The voice of the court ceremonial officer was originally loud, but when he read the battle report, his face became paler and his voice became hoarse because of being too nervous, and his voice trembled slightly at the back...

"Report: On the afternoon of March 31st, the enemy forces forcibly crossed the river defense. The Sixth Infantry Division, the Ninth Infantry Division, the Third Cavalry Battalion, and the directly subordinate Heavy Engineering Corps of our Stormwind Legion were stationed at the river defense. The eastern fortress was stationed The squadron went to battle on the river. In the fierce battle until evening, our fleet was wiped out, and most of our sailors were martyred. In the evening, a total of 151 airship brigades stationed in our eastern fortress engaged the enemy in the sky above the river defense. Fifty-one airships were also shot down, and none of the 1,043 air force personnel survived.

It was night, during the defense of the first crossing river, our Sixth Division suffered heavy losses, and the Ninth Infantry Division suffered more than 40% casualties.Due to the complete loss of the fleet, we were unable to block the river, nor could we prevent the enemy from setting up pontoon bridges to cross the river. The fierce battle lasted until dawn on April 1st. The enemy forcibly crossed the river and occupied the shoal. . In this battle, the air force and navy on the eastern defense line were completely lost.Belonging to the Sixth Infantry Division, from the commander of the division, Major General Fink, there were a total of 20,923 officers and soldiers in the division, all of whom died in battle!The Ninth Division was injured more than 40%, and most of them were injured. They have been ordered to retreat and reorganize.Now about 100,000 enemy troops have successfully crossed the river, and Chen Bing is at the bottom of the city. Before sending the letter, they have repelled the enemy's attack on the city three times, and the damage has been huge!The deputy commander of the Storm Corps, Lieutenant General Dominguez of the Empire, is sincerely afraid to plead guilty. Ten thousand deaths are not enough to offset the crime of defeat. However, the war in the east is urgent.

There is a shortage of troops in the city, so please ask the military department to send reinforcements quickly. If the reinforcements don't arrive within a month, the eastern fortress may no longer be owned by the empire! " At the end of the reading, the court etiquette officer's forehead was covered with cold sweat, and he couldn't help wiping his sleeve twice before taking a deep breath, and finished reading the last sentence: "Commander of the Eastern Front, Dominic, deputy commander of the Storm Legion Gus wrote in fear and trepidation." Wow, the battle report was finally put away, and the court etiquette officer seemed to be unable to stand upright, so he quickly turned around and bent down to the regent, and presented the battle report with both hands.

For a moment, the hall fell into an extreme silence, no one said anything, not even a cough.All the important ministers of the empire held their breath, and they didn't dare to breathe. They quietly looked at the regent sitting on it, waiting for the king to speak—everyone felt uneasy. The fury of thunder... This silent scene lasted for nearly five minutes. The regent did not speak. How could anyone below dare to speak? Finally, Prince Chen, who had been sitting there with a frosty face, smiled little by little at the corner of his mouth—that smile was naturally not joyful, but filled with infinite chill.

"Hehe...hehehehe..." There was a sense of ruthlessness in the laughter, Prince Chen stood up slowly, his eyes swept over the crowd, and finally fell on the Minister of Military Affairs Camisiro. I opened my mouth. "Very good! Very good! The eastern fortress, eight sea soul-class warships, and thousands of navies were killed in one battle! One hundred and fifty airships, one thousand air forces, all annihilated! A reorganized main battle of the empire In the infantry division of the legion, 20,000 people died in battle, even the commander of the division was martyred, and a main battle division was completely maimed! I heard that the accumulated corpses blocked the river! The river was red for days Don't retreat! Haha... This kind of fiasco...Everyone, since the beginning of my Augustinian dynasty, it has never happened in the past years!"

As he said that, he stared at Camisiro with serious eyes: "Camisiro, tell me, even thirty years ago, in the great war between us and the grassland people in the Northwest, we had never experienced such a thing. Lose miserably!" Camisiro's expression tightened. As the minister of military affairs, he had to take a step forward, coughed, and said cautiously: "Your Highness is right. Thirty years ago, the empire went on an expedition to the grassland, and the war lasted nearly three years. , The imperial army has never suffered such a fiasco." "The eastern fortress originally had three main battle divisions stationed there, as well as 60,000 garrison troops drawn from the local area, and 40,000 supply engineering soldiers... The strength of the entire city had already exceeded 200,000! But now, they actually came to ask for reinforcements." 200,000 people, with plenty of food, grass and weapons, can’t even defend a city!!”

With the last shout, Prince Chen slapped the table vigorously, and a cup in front of him was shaken to the ground, and it shattered into pieces with a ding! "What is your military department doing? I heard that those enemy troops have races that can haunt underwater! I learned about this kind of thing a few months ago! But why haven't you been prepared to deal with it! Several times Thousands of sailors died tragically, is it true that you will let tens of thousands of people die next time, and your military department will start to pay attention!! And the air force...doesn’t the front line know that the other side has air combat units!!”

Camisiro was also wronged, but as the minister of military affairs, he had to stand here at this moment, bearing the anger of the regent. It's just that Prince Chen's anger became more and more uncontrollable, his chest rose and fell, and his breathing became short of breath. At the end, he suddenly swayed, took half a step back, stretched out his hand to hold the armrest of the throne, stroked his chest with one hand, and coughed violently. Camisiro gritted his teeth, knelt down on one knee, held back his patience, and finally waited until Prince Chen finished coughing before he said slowly: "Your Highness... As the Minister of Military Affairs of the Empire, I naturally have Unshirkable responsibility. It's just..."

"Just? Just what?" Prince Chen's eyes were heavy, he gasped for a while, stopped coughing, and stared at Kamisiro coldly: "Do you have any other difficulties! Hmph, I handed over the military department to you, and now eat Losing the battle, you want to shirk responsibility?!" In the last sentence, the coldness in the tone was revealed. At this moment, the cold eyes made Camisiro couldn't help shivering! In memory, it seems that Prince Chen has not shown such a thunderous and angry side for a long time! Since he came to power, he has always looked like an inscrutable emperor, never revealing his emotions easily, and on weekdays, he mostly shows a tolerant and gentle emperor attitude towards his courtiers.

But don't forget... this Prince Chen is definitely not a simple, kind and kind person!He... made his fortune through a coup d'état!What a ruthless person who killed his elder brother, put his father under house arrest, and took away the imperial power! Thinking of this, Camisiro shuddered, but managed to calm down, raised his head, and looked at Prince Chen, his tone was respectful, but also firm: "Your Highness! I dare not shirk my responsibility." Responsibility. As the Minister of Military Affairs, I am the most disadvantaged in the formulation of the battle plan in the headquarters. As the head of the military department, I am naturally duty-bound and willing to bear your punishment! But..." "But what?" Prince Chen said coldly. "But..." Camisiro felt that he was covered by the other party's eyes, and a cold sweat ran down his back, and he said bravely: "However, in my opinion, the main reasons for the defeat in this battle are: Two! First, the navy on the river was defeated! Without the warships and the superiority in the water, we could not block the river. Although the river is long, it is almost impossible to defend! On this point, although a few months ago I have already learned that the other party has an underwater race, but the high command has been planning for a long time, but they have not been able to come up with a perfect countermeasure, and the result has been delayed until today! I am willing to accept the punishment myself! And the second is the fiasco of the air force! " When it comes to the paleness of the air force, Kamishiro seems to be more confident, kneeling there, his spine straightened, and facing Prince Chen's eyes, he boldly said loudly: "The air force suffered a disastrous defeat, and this battle is even more meaningful. Extraordinary! Without the river, we just lost the river defense. As long as we defend the city, although the situation is a bit bad, there is still room for salvation. It is far from the worst time. It is the air force's disastrous defeat , and the enemy actually has a combat race that can fly in the air, this kind of thing has the greatest impact on us! The opponent has such a force, can fly in the sky, and come and go like the wind... In this way, Kabbah on the front line No matter how strong the Ski line of defense is, it cannot defend against the enemy in the sky! As long as the enemy is willing, their air combat race can easily fly over the front line, and even reach the inner land of the empire! Even if it is a surprise attack on the imperial capital, it may not ..." The last sentence was a little too shocking, but at this moment, I had to say it. Camisiro gritted his teeth and said proudly: "I'm afraid it's not impossible!" As soon as these words came out, the faces of many ministers in the hall suddenly changed, and they couldn't help but whispered to each other. "Shut up!!" Prince Chen glared suddenly, his murderous eyes swept over, and all the ministers quickly lowered their heads and closed their mouths. Prince Chen took a step down, staring at Camisiro: "Go on!" "Yes, Your Highness." Kamisiro paused, and then continued: "Air combat, airship troops are a new type of weapon after all, and air troops are also the first of its kind in the empire for a thousand years... No, it should be said that it is the first of its kind in human history! After all, this unprecedented new type of weapon and unprecedented new type of combat concept has only appeared in a few short years, and this time the high command officially controls this kind of thing, and it is actually used in the empire. During the war, it's only been a dozen or so months since it's full of fights and calculations! After all, this is a new weapon, a brand-new concept. Although the military command has many experienced imperial generals and many civilian staff who are familiar with various strategies and tactics, after all, no one has come into contact with it before. This kind of new thing, let alone experience, has never even been thought of.As a result, in such a short period of time, it was difficult for the high command to fully control this new combat concept, and it was also difficult to come up with a complete set of air combat methods.We are also slowly groping.Your Highness, I dare to say that such an epoch-making new weapon and combat concept, I am afraid that it will definitely not be able to be mastered in just one to two years or three to five years!It may be a long process to explore a complete set of ideas and accumulate experience. Therefore, the fiasco of the Air Force this time is not because I shirk responsibility, but, I think, the responsibility is not with the military, not with personnel, but with current affairs!It's not that the princes of the command department don't work hard, but it's really...we don't understand! " What he said was true.After all, if a new concept wants to be fully controlled and mastered, it is indeed not possible to do it in a short period of time. Although Du Wei created the Air Force, even in Du Wei's previous life, from the appearance of the first airplane in human history (1903), to the first air battle in military history (1914), to the first How many years did it take for the second large-scale use of air combat concepts (late World War I)? How long has it been since airships appeared on Roland Continent?How long has it been used in the military field? What's more, this is a jump from cold weapon warfare to air combat. This kind of leap forward lacks sufficient theoretical basis for war and military theory, so that those in the high command, even if they want to work hard, are kind of confused. The feeling of not knowing where to start. Everyone knows this thing is good, but how to use it?How can I use it well?This is not something that can be perfected in a day or two. Prince Chen was silent, he was silent for a while - after all, he is also a wise king, not a fatuous person, and at this moment he also understands that what Camisiro said is the truth. "Then, what do you mean?" Prince Chen lowered his voice and stared intently at Camisiro. Camisiro took a deep breath: "Your Highness! The disastrous defeat of the air force does not affect us as simply as the loss of this battle! The enemy's air superiority is so huge, if they cross the defense line recklessly and attack the empire The abdomen, and even the raid on the imperial capital, these things are what we must pay attention to! Now that I think about it, the field of air combat is really unfathomable, and those enemies seem to be far ahead of us in this respect. So... " "Just say what you have to say. I don't blame you." Prince Chen's eyes flickered. "So, I often think that I can invent this new type of weapon, and think of applying it to the military field - its founder, Lord Tulip Duke, is really amazing and talented, and it is extremely admirable! And this new type of field, the defeat on the front line is not because the air force is useless, but because we don’t know how to use it. Therefore, I think that in the field of air combat, no one else can do it. I’m afraid only Tulip The most effective way is for the Duke himself to preside over it! After all, he invented this thing, and he was the first to use it in military affairs! No one else is as good at this field as he is. Moreover, the Duke of Tulip is very heroic, and he is in Pingding He made great achievements in the northwest and in the war against the steppe tigers and wolves for the empire, and he was also a good minister with outstanding military achievements..." As Camisiro spoke, he vaguely felt that many colleagues around him were looking at him with all kinds of suspicious and complicated eyes, and even the regent above looked at him with more and more ambiguous eyes. Get weird. But at this moment, he didn't hesitate at all, he could only grit his teeth, and said generously: "I would like to recommend the Duke of Tulip, Mr. Duwei Rollin Rudolph, and recommend him as the commander of the eastern front of the war zone. The front is in charge of the overall situation, clean up the corrupted battle situation!!" hum! When the last two sentences were spoken loudly, everyone in the hall suddenly changed their colors, and everyone in the hall immediately became noisy. For a while, everyone in the hall sighed and whispered to each other. The court etiquette officer next to him kept reminding them, but they couldn't stop these big bosses. their discussion. Recommend the Duke of Tulip to the front line as the coach? Camisiro... Is this guy stupid?A few days ago, the royal family made it clear that they had conflicts with the Tulip family.Even if the regent is still nostalgic, he still has some favor and appreciation for Duke Tulip—but in this situation, no matter whether it is public or private, even if it is just to avoid suspicion, then Duke Tulip is absolutely inappropriate to hold military power anymore! ! In this situation, it is best for the Duke of Tulip to stay in the imperial capital obediently and be honest.Otherwise, once he is allowed to be in power, and it is still the military power on the front line, then once there is a situation where the monarch and his ministers are suspicious... Everyone thought that this fellow Camisiro must have lost his mind to come up with such an idea!Moreover, some people think that Camisiro deliberately pushed Duke Tulip onto the fire to roast! At this time, it's too late to hide. If you want to seize power again, it will be the way to seek doubts! There was discussion in the hall for a while, but no one dared to speak up.On the other hand, Prince Chen seemed to ponder for a moment, the heavy expressions on his face finally turned into a faint smile on the corner of his mouth. After a long time, he raised his hand and shouted in dissatisfaction: "What are you arguing about! Could this be your own banquet hall!" It was only because of his anger that the hall became quiet again. Prince Chen walked down the steps, but this time he walked directly in front of Camisiro, and stood in front of him, condescending, staring at Camisiro who was kneeling there.Prince Chen's eyes flickered, he paused every word, and said in a deep voice: "Camisiro, you are recommending Du Wei to go to the front to preside over the overall situation, isn't it?" "……yes!" Prince Chen seemed to think it wasn't enough, took a deep breath, and repeated it again, this time deliberately deepening his tone: "You mean, you want Du Wei to be the commander-in-chief and go to the eastern front to command the front-line troops?" "...Yes!" Camisiro was already sweating profusely, but he suddenly nodded, gritted his teeth and said, "Yes, that's what I meant." In the main hall, there was complete silence, and everyone stared nervously at Prince Chen. The regent closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened his eyes again, there was a strange light in his eyes, and he slowly spit out a word! "allow!" ... After the meeting ended, Camisiro walked out of the main hall and came to the palace square, but his whole body seemed to have collapsed. He only felt that his legs were fluttering and limp, and he couldn't even walk steadily.And when the cold wind blew, my body shivered, only to feel that my underwear was already soaked in sweat! No matter how…… He subconsciously turned around to look at the palace hall behind him, and clenched his fists uncontrollably. No matter what...my bet was right. However, I couldn't help but smile bitterly in my heart. Old Prime Minister... You taught me what it means to recommend Du Wei to take control of the military in public today... I remember the battle report, in fact, I read it first last night.Last night, at home, the old Prime Minister Robeschell stared at him. At that time, the old man looked serious, but without hesitation, he told himself resolutely: At the meeting tomorrow, don't worry about it, just recommend Du Wei directly! At the same time, the old man also said something inscrutable: "Don't be afraid, let alone worry that the regent will suspect you! At a time like this, if you openly recommend Du Wei, it will only make your 'clearance' more obvious! And...if I guessed correctly, I'm afraid even if you don't say it Well, in a few days, the regent will also send Du Wei to the front line." Sure enough, that dying old man guessed right!