Chapter 596

On the main hall, although the fire pots were burning all around, the fire seemed unable to dispel the chilly air above the hall.

And the cold is not caused by the weather!

In the palace, Prince Chen, the Regent, sat on the throne, silent and cold.

Below, dozens of imperial ministers gathered together, but everyone's face was as deep as water. Just because, on the steps, a court ceremonial officer was reading out the latest battle report from the front line in a tense voice!

The Royal ceremonial officer's voice was originally loud, but now when he was reading the war report, his face became whiter and whiter, and his voice became hoarse because he was too nervous. When his voice came to the back, he trembled faintly

"Report: on the afternoon of March 31, the enemy forces crossed the river defense. The sixth infantry division, the ninth infantry division, the third cavalry battalion and the Logistics Corps of our storm corps were stationed in the river defense. The eastern fortress's fleet went to battle. In the evening of the fierce battle, our fleet was completely destroyed, and most of our sailors died. In the evening, a total of 151 airships stationed in our eastern fortress fought against the enemy over the river defense. All 151 airships were shot down, and 1043 officers and men of the air force were still alive.

It was night, the sixth division of our department suffered heavy losses, and the ninth infantry division suffered more than 40% casualties. Due to the loss of the fleet, we were unable to block the river and prevent the enemy from crossing the river by setting up a floating bridge. We fought fiercely all night until dawn on April 1, when the enemy crossed the river by force and occupied the shoal. We were unable to resist. They were forced to withdraw and defend the fortress.

In this battle, the air force and navy of the eastern defense line were completely lost. There are 20923 officers and soldiers in the sixth Infantry Division under major general Fink, the division's head. All of them died in the battle! More than 40% of the ninth division were injured, and most of them were injured. It's been ordered to retreat and reorganize. At present, about 100000 enemy troops have successfully crossed the river. Chen Bing was under the city. Before sending the letter, he had already repulsed the enemy's three sieges. The damage was huge! Dominic domingues, deputy commander of chenfengfeng legion, was afraid to plead guilty. His death was not enough to offset his defeat, but the war in the East was urgent. It is not enough for me to live or die alone, and my officers and men on the eastern front will die together with the city.

There are not enough troops in the city. I am responsible for asking the military headquarters to dispatch reinforcements quickly. If reinforcements do not arrive in January, I am afraid that the eastern fortress will no longer be owned by the Empire! "

Read to the end. The court ceremonial officer's forehead was covered with cold sweat. He couldn't help wiping it twice with his sleeve. Then he took a deep breath and read the last sentence: "commander of Chendong line. Dominguez, deputy commander of the storm corps, was terrified and immediately wrote

Wow, finally put away the war report. It seems that the court ceremonial officer could not stand straight. He quickly turned back to the Regent and bent down, presenting the war report with both hands.

For a moment, the Hall fell into an extreme silence, and no one spoke. Not even coughing. All the important ministers of the Empire held their breath. They did not dare to breathe. They quietly looked at the Regent sitting on it and waited for the king to speak. Everyone was afraid that the next thing was the Regent's thunder

The silence lasted nearly five minutes. The Regent did not speak. Who dares to speak below?

Finally, the prince Chen who has been sitting there is as cold as frost. The corner of the mouth bit by bit pulled out a smile, that smile is not joy, but with infinite chill.

"Ha ha... Ha ha..." with a fierce smell in the laughter, Prince Chen slowly stood up, his eyes swept the crowd, and finally fell on the military minister camisilo, he just opened his mouth.

"Good! That's good! Eastern fortress, eight sea soul class warships, thousands of navies, died in the first World War! One hundred and fifty airships, one thousand air forces, all destroyed! An integrated infantry division of the main battle corps of the Empire, 20000 people died in the war, even the division head died, and a main battle division was completely crippled! It's said that the accumulated corpses have blocked the river course! The river is red, the color will not fade for many days! Ha ha... This kind of fiasco... Ladies and gentlemen, since the beginning of the Augustine Dynasty, I have never seen it in the past years

With that, he stared at camisilo: "camisilo, you can tell me that even in the war between us and the northwest prairie people 30 years ago, we didn't experience such a tragic defeat."

Camisillo looked tight. As the Minister of military affairs, he had to take a step. He coughed and said carefully, "Your Highness is right. Thirty years ago, the Empire expedited the grassland. The war lasted for nearly three years, and the imperial army had never suffered such a tragic defeat. "

"The eastern fortress used to have three main combat divisions, 60000 local garrisons and 40000 Logistics Engineers... The strength of the whole city had already exceeded 200000! But now, actually came to ask for reinforcements! 200000 people, plenty of food, grass and weapons, can't defend a city

With the last sound of Li He, Prince Chen slaps the table hard, and a cup in front of him falls to the ground. Ding, it turns into pieces!

"What do you do in the army! I've heard that those enemies have races that can roam underwater! This kind of thing was known a few months ago! But why has not been ready to deal with! Thousands of sailors died miserably. Next time, tens of thousands of people will die, and your military department will begin to pay attention to it!! And the air force... Doesn't the front line know that the other side has air as a field service? "

Camisiro was also wronged in his heart, but as the Minister of military, he had to stand here and bear the anger of the Regent.

Just see Chen Prince anger more and more can't restrain, chest heave, breathing short, say finally, but suddenly the body in a flash, backward half step, stretched out a hand to hold the throne of the armrest, a hand to caress the chest, acutely coughed up.

Camisillo clenched his teeth and knelt down on one knee. Finally, when Prince Chen finished coughing, he said slowly: "Your Highness... The strength of the front line, as the Minister of the Imperial Army, I naturally have an unshirkable responsibility. It's just

"Just? Just what? " Prince Chen's eyes are deep. He gasped for a while, stopped coughing, and stared at camisiro coldly: "do you have any trouble! Hum, I'll give you the military headquarters. Now that I'm defeated, do you want to shirk responsibility? "

The last sentence, the tone of the cold, in this moment. That cold eyes, let camisillo can't help shivering!

In memory, it seems that Prince Chen has been for a long time, did not show this side of thunder and anger!

Since he came to power, he has always been an enigmatic emperor, easily never showing his emotions. On weekdays, he shows a tolerant and gentle attitude towards his ministers.

But don't forget... Prince Chen. But it's definitely not that kind of person who is warm and kind! He started with a coup! At the beginning, he killed his brother, put his father under house arrest, and took the imperial power!

Thinking of this, camisillo trembled, but tried to calm down. He raised his head and looked at Prince Chen. Although his tone was respectful, it was firm: "Your Highness! I dare not shirk my responsibility. I'm the Secretary of state. As the head of the military, I am duty bound to bear your punishment! But... "

"But what?" Chen Prince cold way.

"But..." camisillo felt that he was covered by the other side's eyes, a cold sweat on his back flowed down his spine, and said: "but, I lost this battle. In my opinion, there are two main reasons! One is the defeat of the Navy on the river! Without warships and water superiority, we will not be able to block the river. Although the river is long, it is almost impossible to defend! On this point, I learned a few months ago that the other side had an underwater race. But the commander-in-chief has been planning for a long time. But also did not come up with a perfect countermeasure, the result delayed to today! I'm willing to take the blame myself! And the second one. It's the fiasco of the air force! "

When it comes to the whiteness of the air force, camisillo seems to be more confident. He kneels there and straightens his back. Facing Prince Chen's eyes, he boldly says: "the air force's defeat is of great significance to this war! If we lose the river course, we just lose the river defense. As long as we defend the city, although the situation is somewhat bad, there is still room for saving, far from the worst. But the air force's defeat, and the enemy can fly in the air to fight race, this kind of thing, the biggest impact on us! The other side has such a strength that it can fly in the sky and come and go like the wind... In this way, no matter how strong the Kaspersky defense line on our front line is, it can't defend the enemy in the sky! As long as the enemy is willing, their air fighting race can easily fly over the front line, or even directly to the hinterland of the Empire! Even if it's a raid on the imperial capital, I'm afraid it's also... "

The last sentence was a little too shocking, but at this moment, I have to say that camisillo clenched his teeth and said: "I'm afraid it's not impossible!"

As soon as these words came out, many ministers in the hall suddenly changed their faces and could not help whispering.

"Shut up!" Chen Prince suddenly stares at a drink, the eyes of homicide swept past, immediately those ministers all quickly bowed their heads and closed their mouths.

Prince Chen took a step down and stared at camisillo: "go on!"

"Yes, your highness." After a pause, camisi rowton continued: "the airship troops are a new weapon for air combat, and the air troops are the first in the history of the Empire in a thousand years... No, it should be said that they are the first in the history of mankind! After all, this unprecedented new weapon and unprecedented new fighting concept has only appeared for a few years. This time, the commander-in-chief officially controlled this kind of thing and actually used it in the Imperial War. It was only more than ten months!

After all, this is a new weapon and a brand-new concept. Although the military headquarters has many experienced imperial generals and many civilian staff who are familiar with various strategies and tactics, after all, no one has ever come into contact with this new thing, let alone experience, even thought of it. In this way, in such a short period of time, it is very difficult for the headquarters to completely control this new operational concept, and it is also very difficult to come up with a set of perfect air combat methods. We are also slowly groping. Your highness, I dare say that such epoch-making new weapons and operational concepts can never be controlled in just one or two or three or five years! To explore a complete set of ideas. I'm afraid it will be a long process to accumulate experience.

Therefore, the tragic defeat of the air force this time is not my shirking of responsibility, but, in my opinion, the responsibility really lies not in the military headquarters, not in personnel. It's current affairs! It's not that the generals in the headquarters don't work hard, but we really don't understand

What he said is true. After all, if a new idea wants to be completely controlled and understood, it really can't be achieved in a short time.

Although Dewey created the air force, even in his previous life, how many years did it take from the emergence of the first aircraft in human history (1903), to the first air war in military history (1914), and then to the first large-scale application of air combat concept (after the first World War)?

But on the continent of Roland. How long has airship been around? How long has it been used in the military field?

What's more, this is a leap from a cold weapon war to air combat. This leap forward is lack of sufficient military theoretical basis for war. Let those people in the headquarters, even if they want to work hard, have the feeling that they can't figure out what to do.

Everybody knows it's good. But how? How to make good use of it? This is not perfect in one day or two.

Chen Prince silent, he was silent for a while, after all, he is also a bright King, not fatuous person, now also understand that camisillo said is the truth.

"What do you mean, then?" Prince Chen lowered his voice and focused on camisiro.

Camisillo took a deep breath: "Your Highness! The impact of the air force's disastrous defeat on us is by no means as simple as the defeat in this war! The enemy's air superiority is so great that if they are desperate to cross the line of defense. We must pay attention to these things: attacking the inner belly of the Empire and even the imperial capital! Now I think that the field of air combat is really unfathomable, and those enemies. It seems to be a lot ahead of us in this respect. So... "

"Say what you want. I don't blame you. " Prince Chen's eyes flashed.

"So. I often think that I can invent this new weapon. And think of it to use in the military field, its founder, Duke tulip, is really amazing talent, talent, people admire! In this new field, and now the front line is defeated, it's not that the air force is useless, but that we can't use it well. Therefore, I am afraid that no one else is competent in the field of air combat. I'm afraid only by inviting Duke tulip to preside over it, can it be most effective! After all, it was invented by him and he was the first to use it in military affairs! Others are not as good at this field as he is. In addition, Duke tulip is outstanding. He has made great contributions to pacifying the northwest and resisting the prairie tigers and wolves for the Empire. He is also a good minister with outstanding military achievements. "

When camisillo said this, he felt vaguely that many colleagues around him were casting all kinds of suspicious and complicated eyes at him, and even the Regent's eyes were getting more and more ambiguous and strange.

But at this moment, he didn't hesitate at all. He could only grit his teeth and say in an impassioned voice: "I'd like to recommend Duke tulip, Lord duverolin Rudolph, as the commander of the eastern front of the war zone, and go to the eastern front to preside over the overall situation and clean up the rotten war situation!"

Hum!

At the end of the two sentences, Lang Lang said that everyone in the main hall changed color and immediately began to make a noise one by one. For a moment, everyone in the main hall sighed and whispered one after another. There were court etiquette officials next to them to remind them, but they couldn't stop their comments.

Recommend Duke tulip to the front line as commander in chief?

Camisilo... Is this guy stupid? A few days ago, the royal family made it clear that there was a conflict with the tulip family. Even if the Regent is still nostalgic in his heart, he still has some favor and appreciation for the Duke of tulip. But now, in this situation, whether it's public or private, even if it's just to avoid suspicion, the Duke of tulip should never be in charge of military power again!!

Now this kind of situation, tulip Duke had better be obedient to stay in the imperial capital, honest. Otherwise, once he is in power, and still in the military power of the front line, then once the monarch and his officials suspect each other

Everyone thinks that camisilo must be out of his mind to come up with such an idea! Moreover, some people think that camisillo deliberately pushed the tulip Duke to the fire to bake!

At this time, it's too late to hide. If you want to take power again, it's the way to doubt!

After a long discussion in the hall, no one dared to speak. The prince Chen seemed to ponder for a moment, with a heavy expression on his face, but at last he turned into a light smile at the corner of his mouth.

For a long time, he raised his hand and cheered discontentedly: "what are you arguing about! Is this your own ballroom? "

With his anger, the hall became quiet again.

Prince Chen went down the steps, but this time he went directly to camisillo, standing in front of him, looking down at camisillo kneeling there. Prince Chen's eyes flashed, word by word, and said in a deep voice: "camisilo, you are recommending Du Wei to the front line to preside over the overall situation, aren't you?"

"... yes!"

Prince Chen seemed not enough. He took a deep breath and repeated it again. This time, he deliberately deepened his tone: "do you mean that you want Du Wei to be commander in chief and go to the eastern front to command the front army?" " Yes Camisillo was already sweating, but he suddenly turned his head, gritted his teeth and said, "yes, that's what I mean." On the main hall, there was a complete silence, and everyone was staring at Prince Chen nervously. 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 a word slowly came out of his mouth“ Sure After the meeting, camisillo walked out of the hall and came to the Palace Square, but his whole body seemed to have collapsed. He just felt that his legs were floating and soft, and he couldn't even walk steadily. When the cold wind blows, I shiver and feel that my underwear has already been soaked with sweat! No matter how... He subconsciously turned back to see the palace hall behind him, and clenched his fist. No matter what... My bet is right. However, I couldn't help laughing bitterly in my heart. Old Prime Minister... You taught me to recommend Du Wei in public today to take over military power. What's the meaning? I remember the war report. In fact, I read it first last night. Last night, at home, the old Prime Minister robustscher looked at himself. At that time, the old man looked serious, but he did not hesitate to tell himself firmly: at the meeting tomorrow, let him not worry about it and directly recommend Duwei! At the same time, the old man also said: "don't worry, don't worry that the Regent will suspect you! At this time, if you openly recommend Dewey, you will become more and more detached! And... If I guess correctly, I'm afraid that even if you don't say it, the Regent will send Dewey to the front line in a few days. " If so, the dying old man guessed right!