The Kus Air Port in the south of the Kingdom of Wessex is the largest military aviation base in the northern hemisphere, and the facilities here can accommodate the entire Wessex royal fleet for a long time, and it has a complete guard defense system, and its strategic position is second only to the capital city of Tik.

Since the crisis of North Fries, the large and elite main fleet of Wessex has been stationed in Coos, and except for the task force sent to North Fries, the rest of the ships have not moved a single step. In the huge airport, more than 100 steel ships are densely arranged. From the towering watchtower, they are as small as fish and shrimp in a stream, and as large as a giant whale in the waves, the scene is spectacular.

The flagship of the Wessex royal fleet was the Amethyst-class battleship Purple Star. This majestic and domineering appearance of the giant flying battleship can be called the pinnacle of Wessex's military industry, its standard tonnage is close to 36000T, equipped with an astonishing 73PIR (about 365mm) caliber heavy gun, the use of high-quality surface carburized steel and advanced protection design, and has a power output of up to 74000Z, the maximum speed in the windless state is 65M, when it is completed and put into service, it is recognized as the "strongest battleship".

As night falls, the bright lights add a strong sci-fi color to the painting style of Kus Airport. At the entrance of the boarding ramp on the side of the "Purple Star," hundreds of officers and men lined up in a neat queue with a strict military appearance. After a short time, a flying ship with a smooth and simple appearance and a body shape between the first and second class protection ships smoothly landed at the berth adjacent to the "Purple Star," and then, a group of brightly dressed cavalrymen, surrounded by a man wearing a silver helmet and a white cloak, came out of the hatch of the flying ship and went straight to the front of the "Purple Star" officers and men to greet the officers and men of the "Purple Star." The man in the white cloak was seen to turn over and dismount lightly, and when the commander of the royal fleet, Admiral Brasigliano, and a group of officers saluted him, he returned the salute in a standard military manner, and after shaking hands with the officers one by one, he ascended the gangway with a serious expression in the company of Brasigliano.

A few minutes later, in the Purple Star's operations boardroom, Wessex's Crown Prince Yurimus Nkuru Edra placed his silver helmet on the conference table, his eyes closed, and his hands rubbing his temples. When all the high-ranking officers were seated and the orderlies closed the door to the conference room, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince opened his eyes and looked around at everyone, and said in a posture of non-anger and self-esteem: "Due to the catastrophic defeat of the task force, the court is full of voices of withdrawal concessions, but fortunately, His Majesty the wise Edman II did not blindly follow the advice of the ministers, but continued to trust and support us. However, if the situation continues to deteriorate, the foundation of the country will be shaken, and even if His Majesty does not intend to do so, some variables will inevitably arise......"

Sitting directly across from the crown prince, the commander of the fleet, Brasigliano, was a veteran with "crane hair and a childish face" - he had white hair, but his skin looked smooth and full, and he was not only naturally beautiful, but he was also deliberately maintained. After His Royal Highness the Crown Prince finished speaking, he said respectfully: "Your Highness has met Your Majesty today, and you must have determined the countermeasures. ”

"Countermeasures?"

The crown prince glanced at everyone present again, and then said: "Your Majesty believes that we have the ability to expel the Normans from North Frees, but considering various political factors, the cost must be as small as possible, and the time should not be delayed too long, and the most important thing is ...... Make sure you win the battle. Judging from the available information, the Norman Empire did not send capital ships from their Eastern Fleet to reinforce the Northern Fleet for the time being, and most of the ships of the Northern Fleet continued to be stationed in their Alex Air Harbor. ”

"The Norman fleet only takes three or four hours to get from Alex to North Fries, and to annihilate their advance fleet must be dealt with quickly, and the number one question that plagues us at the moment is what the secret weapon that the Normans used before, how far is it, how powerful is it, and what are the restrictions on its use," said Brasigliano. Only by understanding these circumstances can we calculate the odds of winning different tactical strategies, otherwise the battle will be very difficult to fight. ”

Crown Prince Ulimus raised his eyebrows: "For generals, don't fight unprepared battles, I understand this military iron law, but if everyone strictly follows the rules, there will still be those classic examples in the history of war that people admire, and there will be so many admirable great commanders?" ”

Brasigliano did not answer. The reason why the Kingdom of Wessex chose him, a veteran with great achievements, to serve as the commander of the royal fleet with the high rank of flying admiral was because the country's industrial strength was the weakest among the three major powers, and the reserves and mining capacity of the Star Source Stone were also the lowest, resulting in the overall size of the aviation force never reaching two-thirds of the Norman Empire or the Ulster Free Federation. For strategic reasons, the Kingdom of Wessex has incorporated most of its combat ships into the main fleet, which has outstanding advantages and disadvantages, which can be summed up as both glory and loss. Therefore, in the use of the main fleet and the selection of fleet commanders, the Wessex royal family has always been very cautious, and as the commander of the fleet personally appointed by the King of Wessex, Brasigliano has a heavy responsibility on his shoulders, and before making any decision, he must weigh it repeatedly and consider it carefully.

Unlike Admiral Brasigliano's role, Crown Prince Yurimus is in the prime of his life, energetic, active, and proud of his name, which has been known as "Yurimus the Conqueror" in the history of civilization on the planet Orens. At the age of 18, he inherited the throne of a small slave state, and since then he has embarked on a legendary path of conquest. When he died, he was left with a vast slave empire that encompassed the southern part of what is now the Kingdom of Wessex, the western part of the Ulster Free Federation, the Kingdom of Fries, the Kingdom of Basel, the Kingdom of Kempten, the Kingdom of Falaline, and the eastern part of the Norman Empire, ruling over 15 million people – about one-third of the world's population at the time. At that time when the means of transportation were very primitive and productivity was quite low, it was quite a feat to be able to achieve such an achievement.

After Brasigliano's doubts, the commanders of the detachment and the commanders of the capital ships present did not say a word. Crown Prince Urimus seems to have gotten used to this and has dealt with it. He nodded to his aide-de-camp, and the imposing young officer took a document from the bag he was carrying with him and presented it to the crown prince.

"I have here a piece of information worth 1,000,000 gold ticks about the new weapons of the Norman army."

As soon as these words came out, most of the negative emotions in the eyes of the officers present such as confusion, worry, and pessimism immediately dissipated.

The fear of the unknown is the biggest obstacle in people's hearts.

The crown prince did not open the document or give it to Admiral Brasigliano or any of the generals present on the opposite side, but pressed his right hand on the document and said unhurriedly: "In fact, this valuable information does not provide us with specific data on the new weapons of the Normans, nor does it tell us specific methods of cracking or copying them. What does this intelligence do? I think it will reassure everyone that the Normans could not do magic, and that their new weapons were the product of technological developments, objects that followed the laws of nature. The most effective way to truly solve the mystery and find the right way to deal with it is to get the physical object of this weapon on the battlefield. ”

Admiral Brasigliano stared at the document pressed by the Crown Prince's right hand, and when he finished speaking, his gaze moved up slightly, and finally rested on the Crown Prince's right hand. After a while, the fleet commander, who was pinned on by the royal family and even the entire country, raised his head and looked at the prince opposite him, who was a young man in the army and a non-commissioned officer step by step to the rank of general in flight, with awe, expectation, and some indescribable emotions in his eyes.

After a pause, Crown Prince Urimus revealed to everyone in a calm tone that the synthetic star source stone was the secret of the Norman Empire's new weapon.

There was an uproar.

It's not that the elites of the Wessex royal fleet haven't heard about the synthetic star source stones, in fact, the Wessex Kingdom has also invested in this area, but there has been no breakthrough in technology research and development. In the eyes of the vast majority of people, the artificial synthesis of star source stones is only theoretically feasible, and in terms of the current level of industrial technology, it is not yet possible to realize the conversion from theory to reality. If the Normans were really superior to the synthetic Star Stone, they would undoubtedly be far ahead in this seemingly distant race, and in time, even if the Kingdom of Wessex and the Ulster Free Federation did their best, it would be difficult to curb the Norman Empire's ambitions for hegemony.

Admiral Brasigliano coughed twice, and the officers immediately fell silent.

"I understand His Highness's intentions...... Ladies and gentlemen, it would be our mission to drive the Norman army out of North Fries, and it would be our mission to capture their new weapons from the Norman army, and it would be great if both could be accomplished at the same time, but if the situation does not allow it, we should put the mission first. ”

After Brasigliano's statement, the crown prince had a satisfied look on his face, and he pushed the document in his hand in front of the fleet commander: "For this revolutionary technology, the Norman Empire has spent more than twenty years and invested hundreds of millions of dollars, and if we can reverse extract this technology from their weapons, the loss of the task force is nothing at all." ”

After a moment's pause, the crown prince quickened his voice: "On the way back, I heard that the fortress of Bergst had been attacked devastatingly, and the guards were already in a desperate situation. In view of the current situation, I believe that the fleet should go into battle as soon as possible, and I am afraid that the only time left for you to study countermeasures to defeat the enemy is tonight. ”

Although the crown prince did not say it explicitly, Brasigliano and his officers heard the implications. True, from a political point of view, what is the point of the Wessex army remaining in North Fries, if the main Wessex fleet does not dare to deal with even a small advance fleet of the enemy? It's better to just admit defeat and leave the game.