Edinburgh, the capital of the Führer.

Since taking power, Griol has renamed the former presidential palace the Führer's House. Due to the merger of the functions of the president and the prime minister, important departments that had previously housed the prime minister's office had to be relocated to this location, and the three-story building in the shape of a zigzag was overcrowded, and even the former utility room was used.

In the wee hours of the morning, many rooms in the Führer's House were still brightly lit, especially in the chamber, which is usually used for high-profile meetings, where the military and political leaders of the Scottish Republic were lined up, and the cabinet members, the chiefs of staff of the three services, the commanders of military districts, and the staff of the Führer's Office, including two special military advisers from the Imperial Japanese Army, artillery expert Kiyoji Yamazaki and tactician Yuichi Miyata, sat or stood, bowed their heads in contemplation, or exchanged ears.

"All back to their places!"

The attendant officer greeted him, and the military and political dignitaries and senior staff members returned to their respective offices, shaking their spirits and maintaining an upright posture. After a few moments, the head of state, Griol, accompanied by the Minister of Defense, General Hugo Elces, walked into the chamber.

Once seated, Griol cleared his throat, "Okay, guys, now for the meeting." With regard to the new United Kingdom ultimatum, as previously agreed, we will hold an official press conference at 8 a.m. and I will make a national radio address at 9 a.m. to announce the contents of the ultimatum and our country's official position to the world, and to try to create a favorable trend of public opinion in our favor. Next, we have to decide on another key topic...... General Elsceth, please! ”

The Minister of Defense put on his gold-rimmed glasses, held a thick stack of documents in his hand, and said loudly: "Ladies and gentlemen, the current military power of the Scottish Republic must be relatively clear to everyone, while our opponents, many people, have only a vague idea, that is, they are very powerful. Recently, we have mobilized all the intelligence forces deployed in Ireland, Wales and England to gather a great deal of military intelligence. In the event of a war, we will face an attack by at least 550,000 coalition troops, who have deployed more than 4,600 combat aircraft, 3,200 combat vehicles, 5,500 armored vehicles, 9,000 artillery pieces, and 450 ships on all fronts. ”

With that, General Elsceth paused slightly, and he looked around at the crowd, as if observing everyone's expressions. The high-spirited government officials drooped their eyelids one by one, like a flock of chickens suffering from the plague, and the mood of the army generals was not high, but the two Japanese military advisers held their heads high and their chests held high as usual, and there was no fear on their faces.

"If all diplomatic means fail, our battle plan is: the troops deployed on the border defense line will retreat to the A line in an orderly manner, relying on rivers, lakes, mountains, highlands and cities to block the enemy's attack, each division must hold on to the designated defense area for more than three days, the main force will retreat to the B line on the night of the fourth day, and the guerrilla troops will hide between the AB defense line, waiting for an opportunity to attack and disturb the enemy's supply line. Line B, we have to hold on for at least four more days, which adds up to a week. It was enough week for the international community and the League of Nations to respond as they deserve to the invasion of the new United Kingdom and to exert pressure on the new United Kingdom and its allies from the outside. We accepted the good offices of the League of Nations or Germany at the right time, and accepted the demands of the other side to quell the war, and on the surface, we lost the war, but we will win the respect of the whole world, which will lay a solid foundation for us to open up the international trade market in the future. ”

The Scottish generals present had already participated in the discussions of this battle plan at various levels, so no one would raise objections at this time.

Griol was well aware of this, of course, so he set his sights on the two Japanese generals with black hair and yellow skin, white broad-collared shirts and dark green military uniforms.

Among the two, the taller one stood up, bowed to Grimol, and then said: "With what we know about the armies of both sides, the Scottish army should not have much problem holding on to Line A for three days, and holding on to Line B for four days may be a little reluctant, but it should be able to hold on to it by gritting its teeth." However, given that the response of the international community has always been slow, and that the League of Nations is likely to be even slower, after these seven days, the Scottish army will have to fight desperately in Edinburgh and Glasgow if it is to continue to resist the coalition forces, and whether you win or lose, your capital and industrial center will be reduced to ruins. ”

General Elsceth frowned: "There is no doubt that Edinburgh and Glasgow are two cities that have a stake in the fate of Scotland, and we will never give them to the enemy, nor will we let them disappear from the map." If there is no hope of defending the city, we would rather retreat to the northern highlands and delay time with the all-people guerrillas! ”

The Japanese general looked a little disappointed: "So, you still plan to abandon Edinburgh and Glasgow instead of holding the city?" ”

Elceth said: "Whether you hold on or retreat, the purpose is to delay time. Without the intervention of the international community, we will never be able to defeat our adversaries. ”

"No chance of winning? Ha! I think you are all cowardly and cowardly! The short Japanese general spoke in oddly pronounced English and sneered contemptuously: "Since ancient times, there have been many examples of defeating the strong with the weak and winning more with less, and the gap in weapons and equipment can be made up by wisdom and strategy, but if the generals lack courage and the soldiers lack courage, even if the Napoleonic Emperor, whom you Europeans admire very much, is the commander, it will be powerless." ”

This short officer is Yuichi Miyata, he is not only an expert in tactics, but also a master of kendo, he has been in Scotland for almost two years, and has never been defeated in any kendo competition, plus the success of helping the Scottish military to carry out large-scale military reorganization and officer training, so that the combat effectiveness of the Scottish army has been significantly improved, and when he talks to Scottish generals, he more and more reflects his oriental superiority.

"General Miyata, it cannot be said that the territory, population and economic conditions of Scotland are here, and we have no advantage over our opponents except for unwavering patriotism. Besides, the first teams participating in the Welsh exercise have not yet been evacuated, they either have a military alliance agreement with the new United Kingdom, or they are driven by it, once the war starts, Scotland will have to fight against many powerful countries on its own. Although wisdom and strategy can make up for the gap in military strength, how can we not feel sad that the enemy's commander is a once-in-a-century genius commander? General Elses argued.

"That's it!" John Adam, commander-in-chief of the Scottish Air Force, chimed in, "Our pilots are brave and fearless, but we have only over 400 new fighters, less than a quarter of the new United Kingdom, and our combat experience is not comparable to that of Joachim I's army of the great conquests." Once a war starts, our air force will never flinch, but this also means that we will soon be depleted by the onslaught of the enemy. ”

General Gordon, chief of staff of the army, also said: "General Miyata, we respect the brave spirit of your ** team, and we also look forward to the early arrival of the volunteer regiment sent by your country, but even if this new force can arrive in time, it will only increase our ground combat strength by one or two divisions, and there is still a huge gap between the enemy and our troops and equipment." To fight the enemy knowing that there is no hope of victory is not heroic, but stupid. ”

Seeing that the senior generals of the Scottish military were colluding on the issue of the enemy, Miyata snorted coldly: "As a soldier, you must either be determined to fight to the death, or accept the enemy's ultimatum as soon as possible, and honestly be a turtle with a shrunken head, why hesitate like this?" ”

Humiliated by this, Elsceth immediately took the case: "You ......"

"That's it!" "Dictator" Grior slammed the table, "Please come, not to listen to your quarrels, but to discuss matters with you." General Miyata's words are biased, but they do have a point, and I think that many of us suffer from Irish-phobia and feel that the Irish army is invincible, and this belief should be completely corrected regardless of the outcome of this dispute. ”

Without waiting for the Scottish soldiers present to speak, Miyata got up and bowed deeply to Greole and said, "What Your Excellency the Führer said is very true! At no time should there be a fear of the enemy, otherwise we will be defeated before we fight. ”

Griol nodded at the nodding Japanese advisor, and then looked around at the group: "There is no doubt that with the current strength and combat readiness of the Scottish army, it would be extremely unwise to choose to engage the enemy coalition forces. However, I am confident that after the publication of this ultimatum, the international community will have a clearer understanding of the belligerent nature of the new United Kingdom, and that we will be able to regain the initiative in the diplomatic tug-of-war that follows. ”

"In other words, we accepted the ultimatum on the surface, but in fact we continued to delay and finally resolve the dispute through diplomatic negotiations."

Elsceth answered. The defense minister's military literacy and organizational skills are lackluster, but this does not mean that he is a useless wreck, and he has certainly not been bad in insight and flexibility to get from a junior officer to the position he is today.

Griol nodded, "Yes, the battle plan is just a plan for the unexpected, not a current decision. Once the contents of the ultimatum and our position have been disseminated through various channels, it will be up to the international community and the heads of state to react. Before the ultimatum deadline arrives, we wait and see what happens, and at the same time be prepared for situations such as...... Is it possible for the enemy to carry out intrusive aerial reconnaissance against us? Is it possible to conduct a fire test in the border zone? Is it possible to deliberately provoke some form of conflict? In the face of these circumstances, we can neither weakly retreat nor allow our opponents to seize the excuse for starting a war, which seems simple to say, but it is not at all easy to do, like a tightrope in a vaudeville show, and we must be careful. ”