Lille, France.

At this time, Lille was like an island, the whole of Europe was already at war, and even Switzerland was increasing the number of troops and mercenaries for its own safety.

Only Lille, the northern French town, and the surrounding lands belonging to its traditional territory, are still in a state of peace.

But this state of affairs is almost untenable.

The refugees who had fled had already marched through the streets because of hunger, but the goddess who ruled the area, Charlie, simply couldn't provide enough food to the people - there were already too many "people" gathered in her domain.

It is clear that Lille will not be able to continue in this state of affairs in the future, and it will inevitably be drawn into the war that is intensifying.

And Charlie? Morality? Lille is well aware of this.

**

Xia Li sat on the sofa in the office, holding a teacup, enjoying the afternoon tea time.

On the radio, a passage from the first act of Wagner's opera "The Wandering Dutchman" was being sung. Charlie didn't really like this part, so she put down her teacup and stood up, and walked to the radio to change the channel, when the opera lyrics suddenly stopped and replaced them with an impassioned march.

Charlie couldn't help but stop, she was receiving the German propaganda radio station, which was under the control of the German government's propaganda department, and they always liked to play this march when they broadcast the news of victory.

Sure enough, after the march was played for a while, the volume became quieter, and it was replaced by the "radio tone" of the female announcer, which was created by strict training: "The High Command of the Republic has just issued a briefing on the situation of the war, and my brave air force fighters are ...... on the surface of the North Sea."

Xia Li listened to the radio and roughly simulated the location of the longitude and latitude reported by the announcer in her mind, and found that it was not particularly far from the coastline controlled by Lille. The Luftwaffe had extended its activities to the doorstep of the British, and it seems that the situation faced by the British was indeed not good.

To be honest, Xia Li didn't expect the war situation to become unfavorable to Britain so quickly, when she heard the German radio about the sinking of the Hood and the British King George V, Xia Li's first reaction was "This is Lin Youde's deceptive operation", but then the actions of the British made Xia Li realize that the British Royal Navy had indeed suffered heavy losses.

But at the time Charlie thought that the Royal Navy would not be intimidated - and they did not - and that it would be difficult for the Germans to achieve more decent results. But Charlie was wrong, since the Germans sank those ships, they no longer regarded the Royal Navy warships as their targets, but they continued to attack the British transport ships, forcing the British to carry out supply transportation at night.

And now, they are also launching increasingly fierce air raids on land, and the targets of the strikes are still the logistics of the British.

Xia Li felt more and more that in Lin Youde's military ideology, the logistics of striking the enemy were far more important than the living forces of the enemy. A careful examination of the series of campaigns he led and carried out in the past shows that none of them were aimed at encircling and annihilating a large number of the enemy's living forces, but all of them emphasized inserting into the enemy's rear and destroying the enemy's supplies.

However, Xia Li understands Lin Youde's reason for doing this, modern warfare does have a tendency to gradually turn into a logistics war, no matter how bright the exchange ratio at the front is, logistics can't keep up with that vain.

Charlie plucked out the German radio station that was playing Wagner's operas again and replaced it with a Belgian radio station that was playing English songs, and then moved to a map of Europe hanging in her office.

She looked at the map and thought with regret that when Lin Youde visited France, she should have had a war game with him, so that she could test her understanding of his military thoughts. Of course, wargames do not have a situation in which the air force inflicts heavy damage to the British fleet or the air force smashes the enemy's supplies to a sparse ground - the referees will not allow such a situation that seems impossible to their minds. However, the Guò Wargame still provides insight into a commander's way of thinking.

Xia Li was thinking about this when someone knocked on the door.

"Come in."

As soon as Charlie finished speaking, her butler entered the room and said to Charlie respectfully: "The British have sent a message that an envoy will arrive in Calais this evening, and I hope you will sign the order to let her go." ”

"It's finally here." Xia Li sighed, "Sure enough, it makes them very uncomfortable that supply ships have been sunk at sea all day, especially just now, the Luftwaffe has been active near the north entrance of the English Channel, and it feels a little frustrated." ”

"Well...... "Maybe there are really housekeepers in the world who can help their masters command wars, but Xia Li's housekeepers are not one of them.

Xia Li ignored the housekeeper's voice and continued: "The occupation of the Netherlands will not only open up land supply lines and make the British troops in Germany have no worries, but also drive the German air fleet away from the airports in the Netherlands, at least ensure the safety of their own doorstep." By all accounts, this is the best option the British can adopt in recent times. ”

Xia Li paused, thought about the map for a few seconds before continuing, "And to send an envoy to contact us means that their sea capacity is dwarfed. ”

If the capacity of sea transportation exceeds the land transportation capacity of the port, a large number of materials will be piled up in the port, which is a waste of transportation capacity. The reverse is also true.

The British were looking for closer ports, which meant that if they were to unload directly at Belgian ports, the capacity would not be enough to saturate the port's sending capacity, and the supply efficiency of the front-line troops would be greatly reduced.

After saying her reasoning, Xia Li clasped her hands on her chest and stared at the map in deep thought, and for a moment the entire office was only echoed by the singing voice on the radio. The butler stood quietly behind Xia Li, waiting.

Finally, Xia Li put down her hands and turned to the butler: "Do you know what Lin Youde will do after discovering the actions of the British?" ”

"I don't know, miss, I haven't met that Mr. Lin at all, and I don't know much about him."

"I think," Charlie picked up a pencil and gestured on the map, "that he will send an army from here to penetrate the Belgian ......"

"It looks the same route as the Germans chose in the last war."

"That's right, he will act after the British army enters the Netherlands and cut off the British army's rear route. Now that the British besieging Hamburg were undersupplied, the battle should not have been particularly fierce, and he must have had a large number of reserves, and his favorite armored units did not show up. I bet his armored forces are either deployed here......"

Charlie made a cross behind Hanover.

"Otherwise, it's here."

Charlie made another cross in Bonn, south of the Ruhr region in Germany.

"I think it is the most likely to be in Bonn, after all, the battlefield in the north is too small, and the density of gods and warriors is too high for his armored troops, and his armored hunters are very suitable for the appearance here - provided that the composition of the so-called armored hunters is about the same as I estimated."

"But, miss, I don't know much about military affairs, so I don't see the purpose of deploying offensive forces in Bonn."

"The aim, of course, was to give the Revolutionary Army a blow by launching an offensive when the situation was unfavorable to the French Revolutionary Army. And, I think he probably expected that the British would open up the lines of communication by land when the war was not going well, and his troops were deployed here to deal with the situation. Xia Li pushed back a little, and her eyes scanned the map from top to bottom, "At this stage, the center of gravity of this battle seems to be Hamburg, but in fact, Belgium in our north is about to become the main battlefield of real decisive importance. ”

The butler looked at the map and waited for a while to confirm that Xia Li had finished speaking before asking, "Your judgment is wonderful, but how should we reply to the British?" ”

"I will approve the disembarkation of the envoy," Charlie replied crisply, "and then I will greet the German representative here, saying that a British envoy has arrived." ”

"You...... Do you want to remain neutral? The butler looked a little surprised, "You can't stay out of it forever. ”

"I know, I know." Xia Li smiled at the butler, "It is precisely because I know that I have to make an attitude of continuing to adhere to neutrality, and not only that, but I also want to tell the British and German countries that I want to give the refugees who have trusted me to flee here as much peace as possible." Only then will I be able to get the highest possible offer. ”

The housekeeper looked at Xia Li and did not speak.

"You don't think even you think I'm a good man and a woman, do you?"

"No, how could it be. Mademoiselle, I must remind you that I have taught you some of your cunning parts. ”

Xia Li laughed again, and that smile was indeed enough to make Raymond salivate "the most beautiful smile in Paris", which made the old butler who had taken care of Xia Li since he was a child couldn't help but be moved.

"First of all, let's look at the British's offer," Charlie said, returning to her desk, "and at the same time make the Germans anxious." I believe this is the best thing to do for me, and for France. ”

**

That evening, the ship carrying the British envoy docked in Calais.

The leader of the battle queen squad who was sent by Xia Li to greet the envoy couldn't help frowning slightly when he saw the ship.

It was a cargo ship, and it was obvious that there were things in the hold, and the cargo was covered with canvas, so that the real face could not be seen. But it was unreasonable to carry so much cargo as a ship carrying envoys, even if the British were trying to hide the traces of the envoy's visit, which was a bit too much-because the excess cargo made the ship conspicuous, and if it were not for the fact that the German navy no longer had submarines, the ship would have become the preferred target of submarines.

The captain's suspicion was greatly heightened when he saw the number of people disembarking from the ship—if the cargo on board was to disguise the ship's transport of envoys, then the crowd would undoubtedly reveal that there were important people on board.

Immediately afterwards, the team leader saw the envoy himself - to be precise, no one told her that it was the envoy, but the team leader felt that the possibility of the envoy being someone else was completely zero.

Because she saw Queen Isabella walking down the gangplank.