The impurity of the means inevitably leads to the impurity of the ends.

- Mahatma Gandhi (the founding father of modern India, India's greatest political leader, founder of Gandhiism)

Because of the sudden attack of the orc army, the eastern provinces such as Brosiansson, Mendan, Lyon, Toulon, and Grenoble were all captured by the orc army, but the province of Nice was not captured by the orc army, nor was it 'touched' by the white peak who had recovered the lost territory.

The nearly two years of imperial warfare have gradually made the province of Nice a transit point for the transportation of imperial materials to the eastern provinces, and at the same time, it has also gradually separated the province from the eastern provinces.

In essence, all the provinces of the empire were an integral part of the empire, and there was no such thing as regional differences or distinction between far and near; the verbal division of the six northern provinces and the four northwestern provinces was in fact just a colloquial term that could not be formally put on the table.

For example, during the Republic of China period in Chinese history, the warlords of all over the country appeared on your side, first the Anhui faction, the Feng faction, the direct faction of the Beiyang government, and then the Central Army, the Northwest Army, the Northeast Army, the Jin Sui Army, the Gui Army, the Yunnan Army, the Sichuan Army and other forces of the National Government.

Although the names of these factions and forces are widely known to the world and are called by countless people, they do not exist in the real official statement; the former and the three factions are the Beiyang Government Army, and the latter are collectively known as the National Revolutionary Army.

The same is true of the Celestial Dragon Empire, where each imperial province is an imperial province and is not divided into any regions, so whether or not the province of Nice belongs to the soon-to-be-formed Eastern Metropolitan Prefecture depends purely on Charlemagne's mood.

If Charlemagne made a big stroke, there would be six provinces in the eastern part of the empire, including the province of Nice, and if Charlemagne made a big stroke, there would be only five provinces in the eastern province under the rule of the Metropolitan Government of the Empire, not including the province of Nice.

In fact, Bai Feng was not very concerned about whether the province of Nice could be subsumed under the rule of the Eastern Metropolitan Governor's Office, on the one hand, because Bai Feng's concern was useless, and on the other hand, because Bai Feng's roots in the eastern part of the empire were far away from the province of Nice.

The Thundercloud Base located in the territory of Brojansson Province is where Bai Feng's foundation in the east of the empire lies, and at this moment, the Thundercloud Base, formerly known as the Wind Blasting Base, has been stationed with 20,000 elite city defense troops and the Thundercloud Knights secretly formed by Bai Feng.

Of course, it is impossible for the 20,000 city defense troops and the Thundercloud Knights to play much of a role; what really deserves Bai Feng's attention is the large-scale equipment manufacturing center with an astonishing production capacity formed after the integration of the two major equipment manufacturing centers in the Thundercloud Base.

After Bai Feng personally set up the equipment manufacturing center in Broyangsson Province and Besançon Province, it quickly restored its original production capacity after it was transferred to the Leiyun base; today, the output of new weapons and equipment in the Leiyun Equipment Manufacturing Center has reached 8,000 sets per month!

The output of 8,000 sets of new weapons and equipment in a month means that the Thundercloud Equipment Manufacturing Center can produce the weapons and equipment needed to arm an army of 100,000 in one year! Considering the quality of the new weapons and equipment, the production capacity of the Thundercloud Equipment Manufacturing Center is not inferior to that of the Imperial Military Department!

The output of weapons and equipment in the empire is naturally not comparable to that of the small Thundercloud equipment manufacturing center, but the equipment manufacturing department under the control of the imperial military department can produce a small number of sophisticated weapons and equipment every year, and most of the weapons and equipment they produce are shoddy weapons and equipment.

A soldier who does not want to be a general is not a good soldier, and in the same way, a blacksmith who does not want to build excellent weapons and equipment is not a good blacksmith;

In the final analysis, the Imperial Military Department cannot be entirely blamed for the fact that the Imperial Equipment Manufacturing Department always produces inferior weapons and equipment; the Imperial Military Department, which has limited military spending every year, must use shoddy methods if it wants to solve the problem of equipping all the officers and men of the standing army in the Empire.

Otherwise, what would the Imperial Military Department use to arm the Empire's three million troops with limited military spending? With the current number of troops in the Empire, if it weren't for the Royal Legion's weapons and equipment specially crafted by the royal blacksmiths, I'm afraid it would be difficult to guarantee the weapons and equipment of the Royal Legion.

The quality of the weapons and equipment provided by the Imperial Military Department was too poor, forcing Bai Feng to find his own way to solve the problem of weapons and equipment for the army under his command;

After leading the army back to Besançon Province, Bai Feng first arranged for his army to be stationed outside Besançon County, and then led two teams of silver shield infantry into the city accompanied by the Marquis of Besançon.

"Your Excellency Duke, is the content of the secret letter you sent to me before accurate and reliable?" As soon as the two of them stepped into the study room of the Governor's Palace, the Marquis of Besançon couldn't wait to ask: "Imperial Military Department, do you really want to limit the size of the city defense army in each province?"

"I can't tell you the source of this information, but I can assure you that the content in it is absolutely accurate and reliable!" Bai Feng, who understood the mood of the Marquis of Besançon, explained to him: "It is not the Imperial Military Department that wants to limit the size of the provincial city defense army, it is Charlemagne. ”

"Whether it's the Imperial Military Department or Charlemagne, does it have any impact on me?" Marquis Besançon, who smiled helplessly, said in a slanken tone: "It's just a pity that the soldiers under my command will lose their identity as the city defense army." ”

"I don't think so. Bai Feng, who had other plans in his heart, looked into the eyes of the Marquis of Besançon with extremely serious eyes, and asked him, "If I can help you restore their identity in the future, are you willing to lose them for the time being?"

"What do you mean......" Marquis Besançon, who realized something, met Bai Feng's sincere eyes and quickly made a decision: "As long as you can let them recover their identity one day, even if it is for me to lose them permanently, I am willing!"

"Why? They are your loyal subordinates, are you really willing to lose them forever?"

"It is precisely because they are my siblings that I am willing to trade my loss for their future, and I owe them so much from life and death to never leave them, that I really have nothing to repay them except to fulfill their heart's desire. ”

Looking at the tears faintly flashing in the eyes of the Marquis of Besançon, Bai Feng's heart said that it was false not to be moved, but it was unrealistic to say how moved he was; in this regard, his attitude was: "You select seven thousand soldiers to stay as soon as possible, and I will take the rest of the soldiers with me." ”

Bai Feng, who had never liked or was accustomed to putting promises on his lips, did not promise anything to the Marquis of Besançon after all, and the Marquis of Besançon, who had long been loyal to Bai Feng, also chose to believe in Bai Feng and handed over all the 13,000 soldiers under his command to Bai Feng.

On the third day after Bai Feng led his army to Besançon, the 13,000 soldiers who had been wearing the gray uniforms of the city defense army the day before were transformed into soldiers in black uniforms, and before returning to the province of Bronjancson, these 13,000 soldiers were temporarily incorporated into the personal guards by Bai Feng.