After two days and two nights of fierce fighting, the Union forces finally recaptured the fortress of Belakaser and the pass of Belakaser from the Normans. In this battle, the federal army successively invested five divisions, with more than 80,000 troops participating in the battle, and the overall casualty rate was 24 percent. In addition to the massive casualties of the Norman Empire and its allies, the 11th Division also managed to capture the Norman battleship Divacayo. Although it was a reserve ship that did not carry the Starstone, and the power and fire control systems were devastated, it did not prevent it from making an important contribution to boosting the morale of the Union military and civilians, strengthening the defense of the Belakaser Pass, and allowing experts to study the construction performance of the Norman capital ship in detail.

The capture of the Norman battleship brought considerable rewards to the 11th Defense Division, with more than 60 people from the division commander Rear Admiral de Luca and below receiving gold and silver medals of freedom, more than 400 people receiving gold medals for battle wounded, and Hartbauer, who had been promoted to the rank of captain for more than five years, also received his wartime promotion. However, Weiss, who was lying on the hospital bed and recuperating, was waiting for neither the news of his regularization, nor the gold Medal of Freedom and the Gold Medal for War Wounded issued to him by the Western Front Command, but a special investigation team led by a senior inspector with the rank of colonel.

The reason why he was investigated, of course, was not because of a hurried glance with the "old man" on the battlefield - according to Weiss's side, the Norman Flying Commodore used an alias, and no one on the Union side knew his true identity.

The investigation team, which reports directly to the Supreme Military Council of the Federation, was based on the clue that the Norman battleship "Diwa Cayo" was carrying an artificial star stone manufacturing machine.

At first, Weiss thought the investigation was just an investigation, but the senior inspector who led the team, with his eagle-like sharp eyes and aggressive attitude, made him feel like a prisoner under interrogation.

During the conversation, the arrogant senior inspector made no secret of his thoughts: since Weiss and Keith had discovered the Norman artificial star stone making machine and had taken control of the chamber for a time, it was their duty and mission to defend it at any cost, and no matter how bad it was, they should find a way to keep a physical object or detain the enemy technicians. However, in the end, all that was left for the Federation was a pile of broken and worthless parts, and in view of this, the two of them were seriously negligent in this battle, and even suspected of collaborating with the enemy and betraying the country.

What makes Weiss angry is not the other party's mentality and tone. After that battle, Keith's remains were found on the penultimate level of the Norman battleship. Judging from the location of the remains, after the federal troops blew up the breach in the stern, he continued to fight with the officers and men on board, and it is very likely that he wanted to recapture the important compartment with the boarding troops, but unfortunately died when the Normans detonated the explosives, which shows that he tried to seize the artificial star source stone making machine for the federal army both subjectively and practically, but the investigation team believed that the existing evidence was not enough to prove this, and they forcibly withheld the medal awarded to Keith and froze his first-class death qualification- Without this certification, his family would not be entitled to a federal pension.

Although his body has not yet recovered, Weiss has not hesitated to find evidence to clear his guilt for himself and Keith. He re-boarded the captured Norman battleship, carefully searched for favorable physical evidence, obtained testimony from the surviving Union soldiers, and obtained explanations and explanations from the divisional officers of the 11th Defense Division about the process of formulating the battle plan - although Weiss had been in the 11th Defense Division for a very short time, the contributions and performances before and after the Battle of Belakaser Pass were there, the division commander, Major General De Luka, and the divisional chief of staff, Colonel Butich, argued for him vigorously in front of the investigation team, and the division officers wrote a joint letter, But it didn't happen. Weiss's painstaking collection of evidence did not change the attitude of the investigation team. After a week of repeated tossing, using various investigations, interrogations, and even near-interrogation methods, the arrogant and self-righteous senior inspector came to the so-called investigation conclusion: Weiss and Keyes, in order to protect themselves, made the Federation miss the excellent opportunity to seize the artificial star source stone manufacturing machine, which caused immeasurable losses.

Soon after the withdrawal of the investigation team, Weiss recovered and was discharged from the hospital, but within a few days of returning to the division headquarters, the official investigation conclusions and disposition results came down: Keith was recognized as an ordinary fallen soldier, the pension was only one-third of that of a first-class fallen soldier, and the gold medal of freedom and the corresponding material reward were deprived; Weiss was dismissed from his position as an operational staff officer of the 11th Defense Division, demoted from acting captain to acting second lieutenant, and transferred to the 340th Reserve Regiment as a training instructor.

Upon hearing the bad news, Weiss's reaction was surprisingly calm. When he tried his best to explain to the uncles and young masters of the investigation team to no avail, he was already completely desperate for this group of guys who had always pointed their guns at their own people. Even if they tried to turn to Nikolai and his father to change the outcome of the matter by means of authority, they could not dispel the darkness that shrouded this land of freedom. The reason why this war has come to this point is not only the result of the inflated ambitions of the Wessex royal family, but also the manifestation of the accumulated shortcomings of the Free Federation. If you want to counterattack, it is not enough to rely on the resourcefulness of the officers and the courage of the soldiers.

At the height of the night, Weiss began to understand and recognize his brother's motives for defecting to the Norman Empire. It is enough not to seek glory for the traitor, nor to soar to prosperity, but to seek a relatively fair environment and opportunities!

Before investigating the incident, Weiss would 100% refuse if the cheap brother invited him to change jobs, but now, he was shaken by confusion and loss, and he even wanted to meet him again to hear his analysis and advice.

When dawn came, Ze Klumber Haysen did not miraculously appear, and Weiss locked all the negativity in the box in his heart. He silently packed his bags, bid farewell to the commanders and colleagues of the division headquarters, and embarked on a new journey of life alone.

The victory in the counterattack at the Belakaser Pass convinced the Federated top brass that the new division could effectively improve the combat effectiveness of the Union Army, allowing them to compete with the formidable Norman army on the battlefield. There are as many as 12 newly formed third national defense divisions, and the 340th Reserve Regiment has been fully integrated into the 23rd National Defense Division, and the training site is at the Hoffentis military base, which has complete training and living facilities.

Returning to Hoffentis, Weiss found the new unit with ease, and then, like a new man who had just graduated from a military academy, completed the registration formalities in an orderly manner, and then followed behind the regimental staff officers and met with the officers of each battalion and company.

In regimental-level combat units, the task of training instructors is to assist regimental commanders and regimental staff officers in organizing training, and their role is equivalent to that of training staff officers at division headquarters, but unlike staff officers, training instructors are not in the command succession sequence of the troops, and even if all the officers are killed, senior non-commissioned officers rather than instructors take over the command of the troops.

Even for such an inconspicuous character, on the first day of Weiss's report, the division inspector went to talk to him. Although this indifferent middle-aged man was not as brutal and obnoxious as the previous team leader, his ideas were not fundamentally different from those of his peers. He said that he had received some information related to Weiss from the higher inspection department, and whether or not the results of the previous investigation were realistic, it was already an established fact. A rational soldier should let go of the past and move forward bravely, so that he can get out of the haze of setbacks and finally achieve a meritorious career.

Weiss patiently listened to these nonsense, and also understood the other party's words, and he calmly said that he had no intention of causing trouble, but only wanted to do a good job of training instructors seriously and contribute to this arduous war.

In the days that followed, Weiss devoted himself to his work, as he had promised, using the knowledge and skills he had learned at the Batton Military Academy and the Delefig Higher Staff Academy, as well as the lessons learned during the Border Campaign and the Bellakaser Pass Counterattack, to assist the officers of the 340th Reserve Regiment in organizing training for the newly recruited Union soldiers to master as much as possible the skills of survival and combat on the battlefield. Day after day of training, the officers and men of the reserve regiment gradually became impressed by this young, rigorous, and capable leader, and privately called him "a little man who can do anything."

The victory of the counterattack at the Belakaser Pass allowed the Union Army to stabilize the situation on the Western Front, blocking the mighty Norman Confederate army on the front line of the Monamolin Mountains, but the overall situation of the war did not ease. The Norman army, which had moved south from the north, had consolidated their long supply lines and relaunched the offensive with heavy forces. In the central hinterland of the Federation, the Federal Army had no danger to rely on, and relying on rivers and urban fortifications not only required a large number of troops, but also the results were very unsatisfactory. In order to reverse the passive situation, the top brass of the federal army forced the aviation units to support the ground forces in a large-scale defensive counterattack, despite the fact that the reserve ships and the newly built ships had not yet fully formed their combat effectiveness. At the beginning of the counterattack, the Federation Army quickly regained the fallen territory in the western part of the Alsa Federal State and advanced the front to the territory of the Federal State of Yakmallen. The two armies fought fiercely around City, the offensive and defensive forms were reversed, and the Federation Army still failed to take advantage, but the Norman fleet suddenly exerted its strength, and severely damaged the Federation fleet in the northwest of City, and then the Norman army counterattacked, they advanced in three directions, advancing rapidly, and it took only four days to wipe out all the results of the Federal Army for half a month, and took advantage of the situation to break through the defense line of the Carten River that the Federation Army focused on, and the front quickly approached the Hoffentis military base.

Although the third batch of national defense divisions was well-staffed and well-equipped, unlike the previous two batches of national defense divisions, which had absorbed a large number of remnants of their own troops participating in the battle, most of the officers and men came from reserve units, and the vast majority of soldiers lacked sufficient training and had zero actual combat experience. On the battlefield, these divisions were quickly beaten to pieces by the elite Norman army, and they fought and retreated, all the way south, even the Hoffentis military base.

In this retreat, the 23rd Defense Division was reduced by more than half of its strength, and it was not until it reached the Sambara River north of Aocheng that they reluctantly stopped, and together with friendly forces, they laid a defensive line along the river. The battle to defend the federal industrial town of Aocheng also began......