The reason why General Engel was disturbed by the unusual calm of the Far Eastern Air Force was actually very simple - if the Far Eastern commanders really believed that their own air force was not too superior to easily prevent the Imperial transport airships from dropping troops on the east coast, where would they have the confidence to launch a full-scale counteroffensive? Could it be that the so-called "all-out counteroffensive" is just a remark of great joy made by the Far Eastern Regents without careful consideration, and the Far Eastern military has no practical plan to match it, and does not intend to launch a counteroffensive in the near future?

If this is the case, Roland Khoras will be just an unscrupulous politician who does not keep his word, and sooner or later he will lose the trust of the people and the support of the officers and soldiers.

The Imperial Military Intelligence Department had a team dedicated to collecting Roland Kolas's deeds and sayings, and General Engel had read through it in general and had a confident understanding of Roland Kolas's personality and style. Judging from the life of this person, although he always makes astonishing remarks, he will always prove that his remarks are in line with reality afterwards, and the public declarations are fulfilled one by one without exception and without discount, which shows that he is by no means a politician who is grandiose and rejoices in his achievements. According to Roland Kolas's approach, General Engel has reason to believe that his counteroffensive rhetoric yesterday in Cold Creek was not a blank check, and that it is likely that it has the full support of the Far Eastern military, and will be fulfilled by a large-scale military operation in the near future.

Under these conditions, General Engel could only assume that the Far Eastern military was ready to seize positions on the eastern bank and was confident that the counteroffensive would succeed. Based on this premise, the first possibility mentioned above cannot be established. The reason why the air force was not sent to block the Reich's transport airships from dropping troops to the east coast is more likely to be because the Far Eastern military believes that these additional forces are not enough to stop its upcoming offensive, and the Reich will now send more troops to the east bank, and will pay greater sacrifices in the future to add more results to the counteroffensive operations of the Far Eastern side.

"Could it be that the Far Easterners are really deliberately indulging our efforts to increase troops on the east bank, so as to cut off their retreat route by taking advantage of the Turbidity River, and trying to encircle the original garrison on the east bank with the new troops, so as to achieve the strategic intention of killing and injuring the living forces of our army?" General Engel was puzzled.

These apprehensions tormented General Engel's mind. Whether to continue to increase the troops, and to what extent the increase is just right, he stayed up all night thinking about it, but he could not make up his mind, so he could only remain silent, and the generals below also carried out the plan he had formulated to increase the troops step by step, and did not question him whether this move was risky.

That night, General Engel was so exhausted that his heart was filled with remorse. He recalled the youthful years when he served as an operational staff officer under Field Marshal Sigmunt, and His Excellency the Marshal still treated him as a proud protégé at that time, and warned him more than once to put his identity right, soberly realizing that the "command" and the "general staff" are two completely different systems, and that the "commander" and the "staff officer" are two completely different roles that require different talents and qualifications.

Staff officers need to receive a systematic military academy education, and they must be involved in the history of war, military theory, weapons and equipment, hydrology and geography, logistics and supply, and even specific military skills. Commanders do not necessarily have to be professionally educated, and more important than theoretical knowledge is to be able to win the love of generals and officers and soldiers, to be able to make decisive decisions among many options at critical moments, and to have the courage to bear all the consequences for the decision.

If measured by the standards of the Empire's outstanding staff officers, those guys who have never studied military school, can't read a lot of big words, and usually look mediocre are not qualified to be commanders at all, but the famous generals who have left a glorious page in history are often generals from this kind of wild road. As for those high-achieving students who have scored full marks in their homework at military academies and have memorized theoretical knowledge fluently, it is not difficult for them to become excellent staff officers, but they may not be able to be qualified for even a small company-level commander.

Field Marshal Sigmund believed that a genius who could be both commander and chief of staff of the corps was like a "pearl on the beach" and was very rare. He had seen countless young officers with the title of "genius", but the people who really met the above criteria could be counted on one hand, and the one who impressed him the most was Rudolf Kolas. His Excellency the Field Marshal also made no secret of the fact that, regrettably, Franz Engel, who was called the "Twin Star" along with Rudolf Kolas, was not among the five people he favored.

It seems that from that day on, Engel developed a strong hatred for his former classmate Rudolf Kolas, and at the same time a grudge against Marshal Sigmunt who underestimated him, and secretly vowed to prove that he was not only an excellent staff officer, but also capable of commanding the imperial army.

More than 20 years seem to pass in a blink of an eye. Now that General Engel has fulfilled the oath he secretly made at the beginning, the commander-in-chief of the Imperial Expeditionary Corps and the chief of the general staff have been at the same time, and he has also been complacent about this, and he is deeply proud in front of the old and losing Marshal Sigmunt.

However, His Excellency the Marshal still did not change his original prejudice, and even asked Engel to send a letter before he set out on the expedition to pour cold water on him.

"Engel, you really shouldn't have led the army. In fact, you are more suitable for politics than in the military. ”

Engel was in the midst of the spring breeze at that time, and he was sneering at the cold words of His Excellency the Marshal, and only tore the letter to shreds as if it were the grudge of a defeated dog.

On this dreary and hot night, when General Engel had a premonition that a great battle was about to decide the fate of himself and the Crusade Corps, and he was hesitant to win or lose, he could not help but recall the teachings of Marshal Sigmunt. General Engel couldn't help but imagine what would be the decision of Field Marshal Sigmund in the face of this complicated battlefield information if he were in his current position.

It is not difficult for General Engel to imagine that the old marshal would sit in an armchair with a pipe in his mouth as usual, pick up the battle plan that he and all his colleagues in the General Staff had stayed up all night to sort out, casually glance at the potential threats and corresponding strategies he listed in red pen, and said calmly:

"Engel, thank you for your hard work, the data collection is very complete, the analysis of the enemy situation is also very reasonable, and you also helped me list all the countermeasures and corresponding risks? Hmm, so I'm just going to pick one of the many options you've listed? It's very simple, just pick this one. ”