Newland Huacheng, after 12 noon local time on October 11.

In the West Hall of the Gray Palace, more than a dozen staff members are ready, and several technicians are busy putting the finishing touches on the broadcast equipment.

In another half an hour, Lofos will be here, radio-broadcasting a declaration of war against the Liangxia Empire.

Although more than three years ago, at the second presidential inauguration, Lofos broadcast it on the radio, so that people throughout the Union of Nuland could hear the president's inauguration address at the same time, instead of waiting to read the next day's newspaper. But the declaration of war to be made at the meeting is much more important than the inaugural speech.

Almost twenty-three years ago, when Wilkins led the Nuland Federation into World War I, he only went to Congress to give a speech.

At that time, it was a sure thing to win.

Now, Lofos isn't even 50 percent sure.

In the bedroom, Lofos has changed into a formal suit, and the secretary Missy is fixing his hair.

A few days earlier, the first lady had gone to Los Angeles on the West Coast to participate in the election event in place of Lofus, so there was no way to come back to accompany her.

Nor is it required.

By the time Hale arrived, Lofoss was ready.

At 10:15 a.m., the two came to the oval study in the West Hall.

The staff walked out with great interest, and in the last moment, Lofos and Hale had a final discussion of the disputed wording in the speech.

The conclusion remains that there is no need for revision.

At 10:25 a.m., the staff returned to the study, and Hale went outside at this time.

He didn't go to the pantry where he was resting, he stayed in the corridor outside.

To say, Hale was more nervous than Lofus.

It's not that I'm afraid of defeat, but so far, I haven't received the most critical news, that is, the return of the Nuland Federation's ambassador to the Liangxia Empire.

Under international law, a formal declaration of war must include the submission of a declaration of war to the highest administrative authority of the target country.

This task has to be done by the ambassadors.

The point is that a declaration of war requires the severance of diplomatic relations before the declaration of a state of war between the two countries, and the cessation of compliance with international conventions and international law aimed at maintaining peace.

Actually, Hale's worries were a bit unnecessary.

Even if the ambassador did not deliver the declaration of war in time, and the two sides went to war after Lofos made a declaration of war, and it was the Nuland fleet that fired the first shot, it could not be said that it was an undeclared war, after all, Lofos issued an ultimatum a day in advance, and Xue Yuanzheng also made a speech on it.

In addition, Ambassador Nuland had sent a declaration of war to the Privy Council of the Liangxia Empire, but had not yet returned to the embassy.

At the same time, the credentials of the severance of diplomatic relations were submitted, as well as the granting of 48 hours of evacuation time to the diplomats of the Commonwealth of Nuland, as required by international law, and the facilitation of the evacuation operation, such as the passage of vehicles, ships and planes of the Commonwealth of Nuland.

All of them were normal and reasonable requests, and the Liang Xia Empire had no reason to refuse.

Besides, after the official start of the war, the Liangxia Empire had to withdraw its diplomatic personnel in the Nuland Federation, and it also needed the convenience of the Nuland authorities.

The next few days were busy for diplomatic missions on both sides.

While Hale was worried, Xue Yuanzheng was signing the first decree of the day.

It's still early in the morning, but it doesn't make a difference.

If it is distributed now, it will be published in tomorrow's morning paper. According to the deployment of the propaganda department, all the news agencies of the empire are on standby, and all morning newspapers have reserved front pages to ensure that the news of the war with the Nuland Federation can be published as soon as possible.

If I had to say, this level of attention is already very high.

When the war with the Narrow Emperor began, Xue Yuanzheng only issued a statement and did not let the national newspapers publish the relevant news.

After the Privy Council sent someone to send the declaration of war submitted by Ambassador Nuland, Xue Yuanzheng did not ask much and asked the secretary to call Liu Changxun.

At this time, it was 1:35 a.m. imperial capital time on the 12th and 12:35 p.m. on the 11th of Newland Huacheng time.

When Xue Yuanzheng's secretary called Liu Changxun, Lofus's secretary closed the door to the oval study of the Gray Palace.

At the Imperial Navy Headquarters, Liu Changxun called the confidential secretary in at the same time as he received the call, and then gave instructions to the confidential secretary.

Needless to say.

According to the arrangements that had been made before, more than a dozen communications groups in the communications center of the Navy Command used long-wave radio to send out the relevant news.

The message was very brief.

There is only one punctuation!

It's not an exclamation point, it's a full stop.

This full stop does not mean that the risk has passed, but that the feud with the Nuland Federation has ended, and the two sides have officially entered a state of war.

Because it was expected, there was nothing surprising and there was no need to use an exclamation point.

From Xue's expedition downwards, no one was shocked by the addition of a new enemy.

In the past few months, the Empire's propaganda apparatus has long portrayed the Nuland Federation as the leader of the great powers, and war with the Nuland Federation is inevitable.

Only by defeating the Nuland Federation can we achieve the final victory!

The 500 million emperors still have some expectations for this late opponent, after all, the Narrow Imperial State that took the lead in the challenge is too fragile.

According to folk sayings, the empire did not send troops to participate in the battle on the Saoyi homeland, because it did not want to defeat the Sayi Imperial State prematurely.

If you don't have an opponent, who else are you going to fight?

After the Nuland Federation entered the war, the problem did not exist.

Several task forces received the news at the same time, and Bai Zhizhan and Liu Xiangzhen had only issued an order for combat readiness, so that the fleet and aviation units were ready for battle.

It's just that Zhang Guozhu gave a battle order.

His opponents, four battleships of the 12th Task Force Nuland, were about twenty kilometers to the east.

Fifteen minutes before receiving the telegram, a Newland battleship also fired flares.

Of course, the secondary guns on the "Longxing" also fired a few flares.

If nothing else, the flares will be re-fired five minutes later.

The flares fired by the secondary cannon can burn for up to twenty minutes.

Prior to this, both sides had fired several flares every twenty minutes to ensure that lookouts at the top of the masts could see each other with binoculars.

Whether there is a radar or not is one thing, maintaining visual contact is a basic tactical requirement.

After giving the battle order, Zhang Guozhu also called the captain to tell him not to fire any more flares.

Flares illuminate enemies, and muzzle flashes can also expose themselves.

The key is that the search radar on the "Longxing" has been activated and has detected those Nuland warships.

Although the search radar temporarily installed on the top of the rear mast is mainly used for air alert, it is not suitable for detecting ships on the sea surface, and the ranging error is very large, but it is better than nothing, at least it can detect enemy ships at night, and it can continue to monitor enemy ships while remaining hidden.

Before the flare, it was not rude.

In Zhang Guozhu's words, if you don't do anything, you will be looked down upon by your opponents, and the enemy will feel that the Imperial Navy can't even bear to flares.

In the blink of an eye, five minutes passed, and the other party did not waste any more flares.

It was lively for most of the night, and suddenly it was quiet.

It seems that the war has broken out!

Zhang Guozhu was very emotional, but before he could finish his emotion, the battle alarm sounded, and it was still a hurry, very sharp and poignant artillery warning.

It's just a matter of just doing it!