In the northern part of Villefranche, there is a large woodland with dense vegetation, which looks like the lungs of the city from the air, bringing a fresh and eye-catching element to this metropolis of high-rise buildings and cobwebbed streets.

The Fledged Defence Committee for the Free Ulster is located in this woodland. Its main structure is located deep underground, and it is difficult for even the most powerful flying warship to destroy this hidden but strong underground fortress directly.

At dusk, the twilight was dreary, and the huge metropolis was as busy and peaceful as ever, while in the conference room of the Bundeswehr Council, the Deputy Chairman of the National Defense Committee, General Walker-Leandro, the Minister of Defense, Colonel-General Mario Giordano, the Chief of the General Staff of the Joint Staff, Colonel-General José Gulam, the Commander of the Army, Colonel-General Ruben Nichols, the Commander of the Air Forces, Colonel-General Francis Wolbida, the Commander of the Reserves, Lieutenant General Garred Alonso, the Quartermaster Lieutenant General Carles Valverde, Commander of Military Intelligence, Lieutenant General Godfrell-Punk...... The bigwigs of the federal military circles all looked solemn, so that the atmosphere in this conference room was extremely depressing.

Blitz on North Frees, besiege the fortress of Bergst, crush the Wessex fleet, and in just two days, the Norman army stunned the world with a sharp manner. As an old adversary of the Normans, the Ulster Free Confederation paid great attention to the Norman army's military operations into the North Friesian region, and learned about the situation through diplomatic and military channels from the Kingdom of Wessex and the Kingdom of Fries, but for one reason or another, the two countries with close ties to it provided only partial intelligence information.

In the years after the war, the Ulster Free Federation's investment in the field of military intelligence has increased year by year, and overseas intelligence points and spy personnel have also increased day by day, but the free Federation's global intelligence network is still far from the requirement of "controlling the field." In the 12 hours after the exchange of fire between the Norman fleet and the Wessex fleet in North Fries, the Federal Military Intelligence Department received only one report about the battle from the intelligence points of the Kingdom of Fries, and the intelligence officers stationed in the Norman Empire and the Kingdom of Wessex did not react to it!

At this time, a full day had passed since the Norman fleet and the Wessex fleet fought in the North Friesian area, and the federal military had finally pieced together a more reliable battle report based on intelligence information from all sides, and presented it to the senior generals in the form of war games.

One of the belligerents is the Norman fleet with 4 flying warships, with a total tonnage of 23,000+, and the main combat power is two modernized Griffin-class armored ships, and the other side is the Wessex fleet with 6 flying warships, with a total tonnage of 27,000+, and the main combat power is two cutting-edge Caburg-class armored ships. On paper, Wessex had a clear advantage, but judging by the military traditions and past records of both sides, the Normans were not left behind. What is surprising is that in such a battle in which both sides could win or draw, the Norman fleet won a landslide victory. According to the Friesian soldiers and civilians who witnessed the battle, in less than a quarter of an hour, the Wessex fleet lost three ships, two more were wounded and caught fire, while the Norman fleet lost none. After that, the Wessex fleet retreated in disarray, and the Norman fleet pursued it for a while before Mingjin withdrew.

In the case of a relative disadvantage in hard power, it only took ten minutes to beat the opponent into doubt, and no matter how the think tanks of the Federal Army's Joint Staff reviewed and analyzed, they all came to a conclusion: the Norman warship used a powerful new weapon.

After the staff officers completed the review of the war games, the chief of the general staff, General Ghulam, took the lead in "throwing bricks": "The Normans are definitely not good at coming this time, and the strong strength they showed in the battle is enough to show that they have been secretly fighting in recent years, and have made great progress in military technology." Objectively speaking, whether we or the Kingdom of Wessex are going to be very difficult to fight against the Norman Empire alone. If we are to avoid a recurrence of the predicament we had at the beginning of the last war, we must ...... Join forces with the Kingdom of Wessex...... Against the Norman Empire! ”

The commander of the Army, General Nichols, was the oldest of the men present, having served as battalion commander, regiment commander, and division commander as early as the last war, and was appointed acting commander of the 29th Corps at the end of the war. The white-bearded veteran was known to be straight, and he immediately responded, "That's right! At this stage, we must no longer tolerate and condone the Norman military operations in North Fries, and we must give them a stern warning. If they ignore it, then it is necessary for us to make them realize that our position is firm and unquestionable. ”

The Chief of the General Staff and the Army Commander spoke one after another, but the remaining senior generals were not in a hurry to express their positions. After a while, the stout Minister of Defense, General Giordano, said in a straight voice: "Ladies and gentlemen, there are two prerequisites for the two countries to join hands to resist the enemy, one is that the two countries have a common enemy, and the other is that the two countries voluntarily join forces. Judging from the feedback from the Friesian Kingdom, the Norman Empire responded to the request of the Friesian Kingdom this time to help the Fries Kingdom maintain its territorial integrity in the form of force, rather than directly targeting the Free Federation. Judging from the feedback from the Wessex Kingdom, they are very dissatisfied with our interference in North Fries' affairs, and even threaten to dissolve the alliance in order to make us stop. For these reasons, I believe it is necessary to deal with the current exceptional events in a cautious and thoughtful manner. In fact, the most important thing at the moment was to find out how the Normans had beaten the Wessex fleet to the ground with two modified old armored ships, and that their ground forces had captured several of the heavily fortified outposts of the Wessex forces in just one day, and they must have used some special technical and tactical means. ”

The last two sentences, Giordano said by looking at the "head" of the military intelligence department, Lieutenant General Punk. The implication is that the Military Intelligence Department should shoulder its responsibilities and take the initiative instead of passively explaining all kinds of objective reasons.

Lieutenant General Punk immediately took over the topic: "Military decision-making, intelligence comes first." We must admit that there are still great deficiencies in the building of our intelligence network and in the collection of intelligence information, and although there are some well-known objective reasons for this, I myself cannot escape the blame. In order to reverse this unfavorable situation, we are sending elite intelligence officers to North Fries, and I recommend that the National Defense Council approve our dispatch of the reconnaissance ship 'Murget' to gather intelligence. ”

"Are you talking about the rather expensive independent reconnaissance ship equipped with high-powered telescopes and advanced radio monitoring equipment?" The vice-chairman of the National Defense Committee, Admiral Leandro Milio, muttered.

"Yes, Your Excellency. The Murget' was indeed about the same cost as an old armored ship, but its role in military reconnaissance was unmatched by any combat ship. It has a powerful power of 26600Z and can fly at a top speed of 107M in the windless state, which ensures that it can calmly withdraw from any enemy ship. Three sets of 18P-Z telescopes equipped with flight stabilizers allow operators to observe the battlefield from 40 miles away, and the Gruss 7 two-way transceiver is the latest and most powerful radio detection equipment......"

Before Lieutenant General Punk tirelessly introduced his wishful treasure, Admiral Leandro Millio waved his hand and interrupted him impatiently: "Since it was built at such a great cost, it was to make it useful one day, what do you think?" ”

Everyone exchanged glances, and the Minister of Defense, Admiral Giordano, said: "As long as the crew can remember their identity and mission, and grasp the law of neutrality and freedom during the operation, why not?" ”

Both bigwigs agreed, and the rest had nothing to say. The dispatch of technical reconnaissance ships to the North Fries region was thus finalized and only had to be submitted to the Chairman of the National Defense Committee, President Lebold, for approval. In fact, the technologically advanced reconnaissance ship "Murget" is a secret of the military of the Ulster Free Federation, and even within the military, only high-ranking generals are aware of its existence. To carry out special tasks under special circumstances, it is natural that the less people know about them, the better.

The Minister of Defence, Admiral Giordano, then said in a low and slow tone: "This morning, I asked General Tiseran whether the Wessex side had any intention of reactivating the Joint Staff mechanism, and I received a meaningless reply. From this point of view, the defeat of the Wessex fleet in North Fries did not make the upper echelons of the Wessex Kingdom feel fear and despair, and they may be actively mobilizing troops to prepare for the Norman Empire. So, General Punk, the 'Murget' must set off as soon as possible. In addition, Admiral Wolbida, I propose to raise the alert level of the First Fleet, and at the same time strengthen border patrols, and test the readiness of the Norman Empire with reconnaissance ships. ”

Admiral Wolbida, who was in charge of the Federal Army's aviation units, responded: "I very much agree with your suggestion. ”

"Although the possibility of war between us and the Norman Empire is very small, I think it is necessary for us to prepare for it in advance - how about activating Level 5 combat readiness?" Giordano set his sights on Leandro del Milio.

Without waiting for the chairman of the National Defense Committee to answer, the Chief of the General Staff, General Ghulam, muttered: "How can the fifth level of combat readiness be enough? I think it's best to activate the three levels of combat readiness, mobilize the reserve forces as soon as possible, increase the production of armaments, and make the army and the people realize that the current situation requires us to unite and use our attitude to win Wessex back to us. If necessary, I am willing to go to Wessex and talk to General Tiseland in person, and I believe it will be fruitful. ”

Defense Minister Giordano and Vice Chairman of the National Defense Council, Leandro de Miglio, glanced at each other, and their expressions were calm and even a little cold. According to the military system of the Ulster Free Federation, President Leibold is the chairman of the National Defense Committee and the nominal supreme commander of the federal army, but the real military decision-makers are the vice chairman of the National Defense Council and the secretary of defense, and then the commanders of the services who hold military power. As for the chief of the General Staff of the Joint Staff, his task is to provide strategic advice to the president at the top and to coordinate tactics among the various branches of the armed forces, and he cannot directly deploy even a single soldier.

Seeing that the two bigwigs were silent, the commander of the army, Admiral Nichols, said: "I personally agree with the chief of staff's suggestion, no matter what the Normans intended, we should be prepared in advance." ”

Leandro del Milio looked around at everyone, and then spoke in his usual calm tone: "To deal with the current external situation, level 5 combat readiness is enough. If Level 3 Readiness were to be activated, I fear that it would create unnecessary panic and make people think that we are already threatened with war. In fact, not only should we actively communicate with the Kingdom of Wessex, but we should also test the attitude of the Norman Empire, after all, our two countries have re-established normal communication channels. On this point, I will consult with President Leibold tonight and agree incidentally on the choice of military representatives to be sent to both countries, so you need not be overly worried. ”

At this point, the upright chief of the General Staff and the army commander could only subordinate themselves to the overall situation and no longer argue, even though they had all kinds of concerns.