Federal capital, open sea.

Nine battleships and 12 cruisers, flying full flags, slowly sailed through Fort Guard in a single column and stopped at the open sea.

The battleship opened the gun doors, and rows of 24-pounder, 12-pounder, 9-pounder, and 6-pounder guns rolled out of the hull, and the black hole of the guns pointed to the sea.

The flagship of the Navy, the battleship Lingwei guided the entire fleet to shoot.

The smoke of gunpowder rose into the air, and the fleet participating in the parade was like an erupting volcano, spitting out tongues of fire and shocking the entire sea.

On the central street of the capital, on the breezy wide road, there are rectangular red flags made of almost transparent cheesecloth, and in the white circle in the center of the red flag there is a black native badge or the Allied Star Bird, or the Führer's orca.

At the intersection of the Senate, the Führer's Residence, and the Consul's Residence, more flags were hung, like a raging river of red flags, interspersed with dozens of intricate coats of arms and military insignia—at the top of the long flagpole, a golden double-headed eagle perched on a bundu coat of arms wrapped around a wreath, one head to the east, looking at the Pacific Ocean, and the other to the west, looking at the Indian Ocean. The double-headed eagle is emblazoned with four Latin letters in Roman script SPQR, which means Senate and the people.

The 1st Division of the Army was paraded in front of the central street, the faces of the soldiers were young, resolute and cold, and the black leather boots stepped on the stone road, making a neat sound. The rifle was loaded with a bayonet, and the tip of the spear glowed with cold, like a tide of steel.

The frenzied crowd waved colorful flags in their hands and saluted the officers and soldiers of the Army.

In the evening, the procession lit torches, war drums imitated the sound of cannons, and bands played military music to the accompaniment of earth-shattering drums, their mouths singing new and old songs, their long leather boots rattling to a powerful rhythm on the road, and their torches, military insignia and coats of arms made the cheers of the people gathered on the sidewalks particularly enthusiastic.

Women danced with their hands and raised their right arms in salute the military insignia, some smiling, some laughing, and every pair of eyes filled with tears. Their feelings are more emotional than theirs.

Klaas Felhach, the senior Dutch merchant in the Confederation, watched the parade with a different feeling, closed the window and wrote in his diary: "The sea of fire flowed through the central street, and I watched with a heavy heart and foreboding as it passed under the embassy of the United Provincial Republic, and behind the frenzied procession there was a ghost looming over the country. ”

10,000 torches converged in the square in front of the Senate to form a sea of fire, torches lit up the night sky, and students and non-commissioned officers frantically shouted slogans of blood and earth.

The neat parade formation, the red battle flag, the sonorous military music, the black uniform and the shiny leather boots, in any era, people will easily fall in love with these things, easily.

An orchestra of up to 100 people played the "March of the Empire", and the main theme of the low, oppressive but determined theme seemed a little eerie on this night.

On the wide balcony of the Senate, Shou Zhi and Maiden stood side by side in the evening breeze.

Maiden's hand trembling as he held the glass, muttered, "Why don't I have a glimmer of joy at this moment?" ”

"Mr. Archon, tell me how you feel."

Maiden was silent for a while, and then said quietly: "Do you remember the last scene of the Battle of Eleuthera? ”

"Of course I do. Spanish captain Azonia leaned against the ship's mast with a bloody face, and shouted that he was waiting for us in hell, and then pulled the trigger. ”

Maiden took a long sip of his wine, "Since then, many nights, I have woken up from nightmares. ”

"What kind of nightmare?"

Maiden tilted his head and looked at the order steadily, "I made a pact with the devil. ”

The corners of Shou Order's mouth curled, first with a chuckle, then with a laugh, "Mr. Archon, are you saying that we have released a devil?" ”

Maiden stretched out his hand and pointed at the procession, "God, you knew it was going to work like this, didn't you?" ”

"Mr. Archon, if I'm not mistaken, God kills far more people than the devil in the Bible. ”

"That's because people are guilty......"

"It is not my intention to discuss theological explanations with you." "In Shandong, China, there is a mural handed down from the Western Han Dynasty of China nearly 2,000 years ago, on which the gods are all dressed in exotic animal skins, with four eyes on their faces, and they are fully armed from hand to toe. God the God of God sent the God of Thunder to send heavenly punishment to the world because of a mortal who was unjustly killed, and the mortals killed seem to be no less than your gods. ”

Maiden narrowed his eyes, "What do you want to say?" ”

"The logical consistency of the behavior of the gods of the East and the West suggests that this is not a matter of religious theology, Mr. Archon, it is a sociological question. God didn't rule by love from the beginning. ”

"By what?"

"Torture and fear, God's love and mercy are a little luxuries to give after killing millions of people in the palm of their hand."

Maiden took a sip of the wine, "If you were in Europe, you would definitely be crucified and enjoy the love that the stake brings." ”

"If that's the case, we'll all be burned at the stake, Mr. Archon."

The glass fell from Maiden's palm, fell to the ground, and shattered.

Shou Orderly stretched out his right hand, "Are you ready?" ”

"Ready."

"Let's go."

The two pushed the door open and walked into the Senate.

Under the dome of the Great Council Hall, a hundred elders sat neatly.

Maiden walked to the middle of the rotunda chamber and delivered his address for the day.

"Almighty Federal Senate, distinguished senators. The court of the Chinese has collapsed, and if we want to get farmers to fill our fields, strong prisoners of war to put into our mines, and sufficient labor for our factory machines, we can no longer be behind the allies in the Tatar wars, as before, and only a limited war with the Tatars will not work. The House of Commons passed the bill to declare war on the Tatars by an absolute majority, but the decision is in your hands, distinguished senators. There are 10,000 soldiers and young men out there waiting for your decision......"

Maiden expounded the necessity of declaring war on the Tatars and the feasibility of conquering China from the point of view of economy, nationality, civilization, barbarism, law, and human rights.

By the time Shou Xuan came to power, he had only one sentence left.

Shou Xuan looked around at all the patriarchs, smiled and said, "China under the rule of the Tatars is a big and ruined house, and if I kick the door of the house, the whole house will collapse." ”

Vote.

Half an hour later, Shou Zhi walked out of the senate with the resolution.

Under the high steps, the square of tens of thousands of people was silent.

Shou Xiang raised his right hand and said to the children he had rescued from the mainland: "Blood and earth, soldiers, stick your eagle emblem into the enemy's territory!" ”

The Führer's Guard repeated the words of the order, spreading them throughout the square.

Suddenly a voice rang out from the corner of the crowd, "Blood and dirt!" Long live the Führer! ”

Voices rose and fell through the crowd, and finally converged into a neat shout.

Tens of thousands of people raised their right arms and saluted the Roman.

"Long live the Führer!"

The night sky illuminated by the torch, and the huge black shadow of the order shrouded the pillars of the Senate.