In early spring, the snow melts and everything recovers. Located in the northern suburbs of Aocheng, the Batton Military Academy celebrated its 280th anniversary. Its birth can be traced back to the Ulster Dynasty before the establishment of the Free Federation, although it was the king of the feudal era who used the sword as a ploughshare to establish such a great military school, but its real glory is mostly written in the history of the Free Federation. Whether it is in the war of resistance in pursuit of freedom and democracy, or in the battles to defend the sovereignty of the Union, the officers trained by the Bathton Military Academy have always been the mainstay, and countless national heroes have emerged.

As an outstanding graduate of the Gaston Military Academy, the lucky and outstanding winner of the "Graduation Class in the Line of Fire", Weiss put on the military academy dress of "pressing the bottom of the box" and once again walked into the long-lost campus through the gate. At this moment, he hid his distant memories deep in his heart and regarded this great military school as his alma mater. The great man said that no matter how far a man goes, he should never forget the way he came. It is true that without the sharpening and forging of the Barston Military Academy, he could not have gone from a civilian to a warrior overnight, let alone survived the difficult journey from the northern border to Lorraine. At this moment, he was full of gratitude and respect for the Barston Military Academy.

In such a grand celebration, the "Bastonians" who were still alive came from all over the Federation. Among them, there are not only old generals with snowy sideburns, but also young men who are full of ambition, both former classmates and friends, and today's long-term bureaucrats. When they came here, they did not distinguish between ranks, positions, or honors, but only recognized a common role, that is, "Bastonians".

During the war, he carried the banner of the federal military reform, greatly improved the combat effectiveness of the ground forces of the federal army through the reorganization and training of the "national defense divisions", and laid a solid foundation for the great turning point in the middle of the war. Those who sacrificed their lives for the country "returned", and the names and deeds of each victim were engraved in the newly completed memorial hall for future generations to pay respects.

After a series of celebrations and commemorations, the hustle and bustle gradually dissipated. At night, Weiss sat on the steps in front of the memorial hall, reminiscing about the familiar atmosphere here, feeling the bits and pieces of the past, and melancholy about the future where he did not know where to go. Philosophers believe that time is the only "panacea" in this world. The long years can wipe away the most unforgettable pain and sorrow, even the "blood feud" accumulated by the corpses and bones will gradually fade away in the inheritance of generation after generation, until there is no trace. In just half a century, the countries on the planet Orense have experienced two full-scale wars with millions of casualties and untold economic losses, and those who survived the wars have borne unspeakable pain, sorrow and hatred, but since the day of the armistice, anti-war public opinion has firmly dominated the position, and after the discovery of "spaceship relics" in the north and the launch of international joint research and excavations, the voices calling for countries to deepen military and political cooperation have overshadowed everything. In the face of such a tide of the times, those inherent or new contradictions can no longer set off too many waves, even the attack on Bellacasser, which endangered the lives of the main members of the Norman royal family, was rarely calmly handled by both sides, and was not coerced by public opinion to escalate into a diplomatic or even military conflict.

On the one hand, the clouds of international war have dissipated and transnational military cooperation has escalated, which has made the overall self-defense capability of the planet Orensian develop in the direction of qualitative changes, and on the other hand, the post-war reflection will inevitably evolve into some form and degree of change, such as the military reform of the Free Federation and the political reform of the Kingdom of Wessex. In the Norman Empire, as Emperor Hohenstaufen IV became terminally ill, the constitutionalists began to openly build momentum for the "constitutional revolution", the purpose of which was to limit the power of the monarch through the constitution and parliament, with the aim of pushing the country from absolute monarchy to monarchical constitutionalism, and the monarch no longer had the final say on national affairs, but under the framework of the constitution, the parliament representing the will of the people shared power with the monarch. Historically, the replacement of absolute monarchy by constitutional monarchy is progressive, but not absolute—there are numerous cases of direct transition from absolute monarchy to a democratic republic. As for constitutional monarchy and democratic republic, at a particular stage of social development, there is no purely progressive relationship between the two, but each has its own advantages and disadvantages, and who survives and who perishes depends to a great extent on the historical evolution of the country and the circumstances of the times......

Before he knew it, Weiss had been governor of Lorraine for four years and had been re-elected without any suspense. In the past four years, Lorraine has transformed from a poor frontier province with resource exploitation and agricultural and animal husbandry production as its main industries into a dynamic new industrial region, with metallurgy and machinery manufacturing ranking second in the west and fifth in the country, medical and educational conditions have also been greatly improved, the unemployment rate has been close to zero for a long time, and social stability and public satisfaction are high, which has become the "Lorraine phenomenon" after the war of the Free Federation. Thanks to its leadership in the Lorraine Industrialists Union and its significant investments in mechanical engineering and education, the Clumber-Heisen family has quickly transformed from a well-known regional family into a powerful and dynamic local industrial family.

Behind this infinite scenery, it is needless to say that Weiss is not as "satisfied" with everything as outsiders think, and he does not sit back and enjoy the harvest with peace of mind, but has hidden worries, prepares for a rainy day, and does his best to race against time. All along, he and his companions, as well as the few people of insight in the military and political circles, have always regarded the Norman Empire, to be precise, the careerists who have or intend to control the Norman Empire, as the number one threat to the Free Commonwealth, and believe that their hypocritical face is a change from the previous strategy and a more roundabout and covert layout. However, until they have enough evidence to debunk the Norman layout, they can only prepare carefully in a rational way, as is the successful case of the engine-powered vehicle race that swept the Free Commonwealth. Through the benign operation of the competitive economy, the development of internal combustion engine technology in the Free Federation has been fully guaranteed under the condition that flying ships have regained their position as the core of military strategy, and on this basis, the technological research and development process of aircraft has also been maintained to the greatest extent.

Nicolas Leibold, a special "dropout" of the wartime graduating class, walked up to Weiss with two bottles of wine. Because of her special identity and sensitive nature, she deliberately avoided everyone's attention and came to participate in the celebration of the Barston Military Academy in the most low-key way. The class of Basston cadets she and Weiss belonged to went to the battlefield before graduating, and almost everyone threw their youthful blood for the fertile soil of the Federation, and more than two-thirds of them gave their precious lives before the end of the war - those vibrant faces are forever engraved under the relief of the memorial hall.

Weisburn didn't drink alcohol, and the "first time" he came to this time and space was when he accompanied Nikolai to relieve his fatigue during his time at the Barston Military Academy, when he drank alcohol at the risk of punishment, and now they sit in front of the memorial, half of them are paying tribute to their deceased classmates, and half of them are encouraging themselves to move on.

Drinking wine, Nikolai whispered: "Next month, the first large-scale military exercises after the creation of the Joint Staff will be held on the territory of the Kingdom of Fries. With the exception of the Fries, all the other countries are looking forward to this exercise, which will see the largest flying fleet ever seen, which is considered the strongest force to defend the planet Orens, hopefully ......"

At this time, there was no one around, and even if the dead robes could hear it, they would not divulge the secret, so Weiss didn't have to worry about anything, and also said in a low voice: "The first joint exercise, they should be very vigilant, the Normans will most likely not make a big move at this time, what we have to worry about is that after this kind of joint exercise becomes the norm, the Normans will suddenly attack one day while they are lax, and it will be a real disaster." ”

"Under the ice, there is an undercurrent surging, but no one knows when the ice will melt."

The "undercurrent" that Nikolai refers to is not primarily in the Free Federation, but in the Norman Empire on the other side of the Monamolin Mountains. Every festive day, all Normans must toast the health of "Our Emperor Hohenstauffen IV", and the Norman chieftain, who was repeatedly cursed by countless people in hostile countries during the war, surprisingly became the greatest guarantee of this period of peace. If he lived for another decade or more, it was likely that such a peaceful time would continue, but how long he would live was completely unpredictable to the outside world. He has not been seen in public for a long time since the end of the war, and it is said that only the most core members of the royal family and army generals have been able to get an occasional glimpse of what is going on, and it is through their expression that the emperor is still alive. As time passed, Crown Prince Albert and his brother Prince Barras became more and more firmly in control of the situation in the empire, and the value of the old emperor's life was quietly declining, even becoming a kind of obstacle, perhaps reaching a certain tipping point, and his health would become insignificant.

Weiss leaned back on the steps and looked up at the starry sky: "If there is a space fleet that suddenly arrives and threatens the security of the planet Orens, prompting all countries to abandon their existing interests and unite in the true sense, will it be a good thing or a bad thing?" ”

"Bad thing!" Almost without hesitation, Nikolai replied, "Those who are not right-minded, and when they see no hope of victory in the face of a powerful foreign enemy, will turn to the enemy in order to survive and help the enemy against his own kind." In my opinion, whether there is a threat from space or not, we have to fight against that type of people. ”

"You have a point!" Weiss agreed, "War is the inevitability of human greed, and it is also the function of historical inertia." As long as this group of people exists, as long as they continue to hold the tyrannical power of an authoritarian state, we must guard against them, confront them, and defeat them, rather than expecting them to lay down their desire to conquer. ”

Nikolai took a sip of the liquor and sighed: "Poor man, cherish this time of peace! Who knows how long it will last? ”

Weiss drank wine and smiled bitterly: "Ignorant people can cherish this time of peace, but how can we, who are painful and aware of the truth, be at ease?" ”

Nikolai turned his head to look at him, and said in a profound gesture: "There is a state called false sleep. The highest state of false sleep is like drunkenness, and people are not drunk. ”