After more than 12 hours of fierce fighting, the Allied ground forces with the 2nd and 7th Infantry Divisions of the English Army and the 51st Infantry Assault Division of the New United Kingdom Army as the main force have basically occupied the fortifications above the ground of this Scottish fortress. Or a very secluded and independent space, with complete ventilation facilities and material reserves, unless the defenders surrender en masse, otherwise the attacking side must put in a lot of effort and expense to clean these underground fortifications.

London, the new Buckingham Palace, King Edward VIII of England, who is over seventy years old, Betus of England and a group of magnates gathered in the council chamber, anxiously waiting for news from the front.

Soon after, a staff officer entered the council chamber and presented the telegram folder to Edward VIII.

Edward VIII opened the telegram folder and glanced at it, his face suddenly gloomy, and he threw the telegram folder to his eldest son, Hubertus.

Hubertus, who is 5 years older than the German Crown Prince Louis, wears an English Army general's uniform, which completely abandons the "khaki" of the British Army, and chooses a dark gray similar to the German Army, and many details also adopt a typical German style, although it looks very handsome, but it is resisted by the English people and even the army. For a long time, the morale of the English army was so low that it was difficult to accomplish even the normal march mission, let alone compete with the aggressive Scots.

After reading the telegram and seeking the opinion of Edward VIII with his eyes, Hubertus cleared his throat and read in pure and fluent German: "The 1st Guards Panzer Brigade and the 3rd and 4th Infantry Divisions launched a fifth attack on the Dumfries Line before dark, and the assault units of the 1st Guards Panzer Brigade broke through the defending positions and broke through the town of Dumfries, and then were forced to withdraw from Dumfries by stubborn resistance from the Scottish army...... General Volken believes that the troops involved in the war have been fighting for a day and the soldiers are very tired, and if the Joint Staff cannot send reinforcements, he will let the units rest for a night and attack again tomorrow morning. ”

After listening to the telegram that Hubertus had read, the crowd sighed.

The vast majority of the magnates here were Germans who came to England with Edward VIII, some of them were close relatives of the family, some were declining nobles, frustrated soldiers, in the process of establishing and consolidating the royal power of Edward VIII, they contributed money and efforts, and then the first to get the moon, or in the military and political circles, or in the business world, or became a rich landowner. Although these people have managed to assimilate into English society, there are fundamental differences that will be difficult to overcome in the course of a few generations.

Edward VIII suddenly slapped his palm on the table: "This is the result of an annual investment of 500 million pounds!" This, this is the result of a comprehensive reorganization! This is the result of the oath of allegiance by the soldiers of England! ”

There was silence in the chamber.

"That's it!" Edward sighed, "It's unrealistic to expect the English army to win such a tough battle, let's let the Irish gnaw these hard bones!" They have good teeth and good appetites, and as long as the dominance of Britain is ceded to them, it will not be easy to set foot in Scotland! ”

"But......" Someone wanted to say something.

"I know what you're worried about." Edward VIII said, "If the English army behaves well enough, I, the king of forty million Englishmen, need not bow down to my cousin, who rules only ten million Irish and two million Welsh." Compared with the potential interests of this country, we must put its stability and its security first, and only stability and security can be qualified to plan for the long term! ”

As soon as this remark came out, several people immediately praised it: "My king Shengming! ”

Edward VIII waved his hand a little annoyed, he had heard too much of this useless compliment, and if time could be turned back, he would prefer to choose a longer and more tortuous but more stable way, like the rule of Joachim I in Ireland, to establish his own kingship.

"Do you want to ...... Shall I go to find out the wind first? Betus asked.

The object of this probing is obviously the strongest king of Britain, King Joachim I of the new United Kingdom. Although the German Crown Prince Louis was watching the game in England at this time, it is not impossible to exert influence through Germany, but the efficiency and effect are unpredictable.

Edward VIII mused: "In this case, you will depart for Limerick early tomorrow morning and have a good chat with your cousin, England will not mind ceding the oil fields of the central and southern North Sea to the new United Kingdom for development, even if the oil fields are only 13 nautical miles from the coastline of England, we will never block them as the Scots do." ”

Betus agreed, and someone next to him asked, "What ......about the industrial economy of our England in the future?"

Edward VIII frowned: "200 years ago, Britain relied on the textile industry to rise to become an industrial hegemon, 200 years later, the competition in heavy industry is becoming more and more fierce, why can't we return to the light industry represented by the new textile industry?" As long as the economy develops and the country becomes rich, what does it matter if there is a first-class military industry or not? The stability of Europe and the peace of the world are maintained by those powerful countries. ”

This is also reasonable, and others cannot refute it.

On the left flank of the battle line, Dumfries, the coalition army did not launch another offensive after nightfall, they relied on the offensive starting position along the border line to organize the border defense, and properly deployed guard posts and patrols, and the night was peaceful, and on the right flank of the battle line, the attack and defense almost sleepless in the first half of the night, the coalition army organized a number of assault teams to attack and kill the defenders in the underground fortifications, but the complex environment and the desperate resistance of the defenders caused the attackers to have little effect and casualties, and at midnight, The defenders launched a sudden counterattack, they knew the terrain well, and with the help of some secret passages that the attackers had not discovered, they quickly recaptured the three remaining artillery forts and divided and surrounded the coalition forces.

For a time, all kinds of requests for help filled the front command of the coalition forces.

At this time, the German crown prince, who had an extremely regular schedule, had rested in a temporary camp more than ten kilometers away from the front line, most of the military observers had also gone to sleep, and the operation of the coalition front command had returned to its normal rhythm.

In the dim light, the staff officers were plotting the latest battle situation on the battle map, and in front of the north-facing observation post, General Norton, the commander-in-chief of the English Army, who was the commander-in-chief of the front, smoked a cigarette without saying a word. This powerful general, who participated in two major wars and led his troops to fight against the German and Irish armies many times during World War II, has personally experienced the whole process of the English army from its formation to many reorganizations, and he knows even better than anyone what kind of combat effectiveness the army under his command is. On the first day of the war, the Scots were completely devoid of temper by their powerful air and ground suppressive firepower, and even in this situation, the Coalition ground forces that advanced on three fronts, only the Irish 2nd Armoured Brigade, where the Irish 2nd Armoured Brigade was located, performed well in the middle, they broke through the two lines of Scottish defense in succession, and then encircled the defenders of Ellsden Fortress and Dumfries Line in a roundabout way, but the Scottish defenders did not flee as expected, but continued to hold their positions.

Not long after, a steady and vigorous footsteps came from outside the door. General Norton dropped the half-smoked cigarette, stomped hard, and turned to meet him.

Coming through the door was General Simon Bradley, Second Commander of the Allied Front Command, a new United Kingdom Air Force general with three-quarters Irish and one-quarter German ancestry.

The reason why the new United Kingdom appointed a lieutenant general of the air force to take up this role was obviously to tell its allies that they would have to play a leading role in the air and at sea in this war, and that it would be appropriate for England, with its large population base and large number of troops, to play the leading role in ground operations with large casualties.

After a brief introduction to the latest battle situation, Admiral Norton knocked on the door of his head: "I'm old, and it's hard to stay up all night!" ”

Bradley smiled: "We, the juniors, go to take turns first, and let your seniors stick to their posts, it's really gratifying not to go!" Okay, let's take care of these little troubles! ”

With that, Bradley sideways to give way.

Admiral Norton was a little unhappy about what his juniors and seniors were talking about, after all, few people were willing to admit that he was old. Fortunately, the other party said that he would solve the "little trouble" in front of him, which made his heavy brow stretch.

Norton pulled out his pocket watch, which was almost as old as himself: "It's 2 o'clock, I'm going to rest for 3 hours, and I'll be back at about 5 o'clock." Hopefully, we will hear good news. ”

Bradley rolled up his sleeves: "3 hours...... Time was a bit tight, and I'm not sure how it turned out, as we were up against the Scots, who had been able to fight since ancient times. ”

Norton had already walked to the door, but he still reluctantly "rebelled": "The Scots are good at war, but haven't they been conquered by us again and again?" ”

When the old man in England was far away, Bradley summoned his staff officer and ordered: "Luke, give the order to the 'Black Bat Squadron' and let them go out in 40 minutes!" Order the 'Daredevil Commando' to enter the fortified area, assist our troops in defending their positions, and launch a counterattack once the 'Black Bat Squadron' arrives! ”

At the end, Bradley said to the English staff officer who had stayed behind at the headquarters: "Colonel, let your troops withdraw to the periphery of the fortress for a while!" ”

The English colonel hesitated slightly, then hurriedly replied, "Yes, sir, our troops will be withdrawn as soon as you wish." ”

Bradley had no doubt that the English troops who had invaded the fortified area would faithfully carry out this order, and while such a deployment would weaken the attacking side's strength in the fortified area, the side with more troops would not necessarily have the upper hand in a night battle environment.

Immediately afterwards, he instructed his staff officer: "Luke, inform our combat troops that the English will temporarily withdraw to the outskirts of the fortified area to rest, and let them boldly do a good job!" In such a dark night, no one can stop them from moving forward! ”