The Earl of Norton was in his study, thinking blankly. As the prime minister of the Desik Empire, although he is not a very important civil official in internal affairs, there are still a lot of things that the prime minister is busy with. However, in the past few days, rumors have been circulating among the upper nobles of De Rec that Earl Norton has contracted a serious illness and has not been out for many days.

Even the do-gooders boasted that he had seen Earl Norton go to the most famous Golden Tooth Tavern in White Rock that day, perhaps he had done something unspeakable and got sick.

Of course, the Earl of Norton himself knew that although he asked the emperor for sick leave, he actually had a "heart disease", and the decision he was about to make would probably determine the future direction of the Desik internal affairs and civil officials, and it would also affect the subsequent actions of the military. It's not a good decision.

In the back of Earl Norton's mind, the document that General King handed him that day kept coming back to him these days. It was a plan deduction, and General King was vague about the author of the document, but Earl Norton strongly suspected that the document was handwritten by General King's organization.

It is said that it is a deduction document, but it is more accurate to say that it is planned to evolve.

In the document, based on the current annual fiscal revenue, commercial trade income, and military expenditure of the Desik Empire, from the perspective of economics, what will happen if a war breaks out.

In the first 20 days of the war, the theaters will deplete the Empire's reserves for the year, and on the fortieth day of the war, the Empire's military reserves will be exhausted. On the ninetieth day of the war, the dividends from the first wave of attacks will also disappear. After about 60 days of "fighting to feed the war," on the 150th day of the war, the major theaters had to enter a state of austerity and lose the sharpness of their attacks.

According to the deducing situation in the front, the attack surface in three directions should reduce the domestic productivity of the empire by 40 percent, in other words, the supply and support capacity for logistics will only be 60 percent of the pre-war level, so the second wave of supply can only last 30 days.

In this way, if De Sik maintains an attack on three sides, the time window will be about 180 days, and according to the analysis of the frequency of combat rest time 1 to 3, the actual attack time will be about 45 days.

That is, to realize the preliminary operational plan of the "base camp", the Desik army, it was necessary to complete the main attack within forty-five days, and at the same time control the losses to more than a third. Otherwise, too many troops will lose their combat effectiveness, and the army that must ensure that the productive forces do not decline and cannot be replenished in time will lose its sharp attack power.

And for an attacking force, no matter whether the Desik soldiers are as strong as the base camp boasts, with less than 30 percent of the battle losses, it will not be able to accomplish the initial goal set by the base camp within forty-five days, let alone the final goal.

Well, the facts are already very clear, this conclusion has nothing to do with the strategic goals set by the base camp at all, no matter how elaborate and genius the tactical means they come up with, unless the attacking opponent does not resist and surrender, as long as there is a slight resistance, the entire Desik empire will be dragged into the quagmire.

So the question is, in the base camp, there are a group of nobles who are the smartest and wisest in the Desik Empire, how can they still make such a mentally retarded plan in this situation? Or do the senior generals in the base camp not consider the position of logistics in this war?

If there is no way to explain all this, then perhaps the most unlikely answer is the real answer, their purpose is to plunge the Desik Empire into the quagmire of war, to make the Desik people their slaves, and to make the glory of Desik the best footnote to their endless ambitions.

On that piece of parchment, what was finally thrown out was such a deafening question, that is, this question, that the Earl of Norton had to declare that he was not in good health to recuperate at home these days.

The military meeting of the base camp, that is, the military joint military meeting of the Desik military council, lasted for seven days, and after throwing the question to the Earl of Norton, General King has been at ease in the decision-making of his central general, and the dissent is dissent, and General King's personality requires him to give the best advice to the meeting as much as possible.

Just after the meeting was dismissed that day, General Jin stepped out of the tent and saw the familiar old man on the side of the street in the distance.

"What do you think?" Once again, they sat down in the private room of the Golden Tooth Tavern, the two facing each other, next to General King's young attendant, who looked at Earl Norton for a long time.

Earl Norton got straight to the point, "I'm not a fool, and you're not a fool, that document, what it says is true!"

General Jin smiled, "Of course it's true, it's not true, why should I show it to you." And the point is not that he's really real, but what to do?"

Earl Norton gritted his teeth, always feeling a little uncomfortable, "I want to know, who wrote this?"

"It's not me, anyway. ”

Earl Norton shook his head, "We can't cooperate with your attitude. I don't care where the article comes from, I care what the person who wrote it wants to do?"

"And what are you going to do?" General Kim asked rhetorically.

"I know there is a 'pacifist faction' within your military, and you are. If you wrote it, then I think it's because you want to win over a political partner. Or maybe it was written by the remnants of the crown prince, then I think they might just be trying to pull Edward back. Of course, it may also be written by the organization that has recently caused trouble on the mainland, so their purpose is even more pure. ”

"So, I don't know where this document came from, I can't make this decision, you know, General Kim. ”

Listening to Count Norton's words, General Jin narrowed his eyes, obviously he somewhat agreed with the Earl's words, "However, I want to make you regret, this document, one night, suddenly appeared in my study, the key time, the Kaiser has not given me the order to take the post of Central General, I am still a retired soldier living in seclusion in the countryside. ”

Earl Norton stared at General King carefully, "I have a hard time believing what you say. ”

"But, I'm afraid you have to believe it. ”

Earl Norton abruptly stood up and paced the room, and General King did not stop him, but picked up the wine glass in front of him and drank quietly.

The Earl of Norton went round and round, his mind full of thoughts, and the more he thought about it, the more difficult it became to decide.

The Kaiser was old and had limited influence. The heir, Archduke Edward, had unparalleled influence in the military, he had many supporters, and he was a loyal war-like man. And General Kim, known in the country that he was reluctant to start a war lightly, although his strength was weak, but he was the spokesman of the Kaiser to support him to balance the Archduke Edward. Then there is the internal affairs, which are basically the only ones who look ahead. Finally, there are the local governors and county guards, who basically have their own political pursuits.

Therefore, your own attitude is very important, whether you choose to be for the Desik Empire, or choose the future emperor?

"Earl Norton, at the level of you and me, is personal honor and disgrace really that important?" General Jin suddenly sighed.

"Yes, it's all for the Empire. The emperor will be wrong, the empire will not be wrong, General Kim, I know how to choose. The Earl of Norton seemed to have made up his mind.

Hearing him say this, the young squire, who had been nervous in the corner now, relaxed, and General Jin also relaxed, "I really didn't misread you, Earl Norton, since you have made a choice, then, I can show you the last page of this document!"

"What, there's still a page? The documents you showed me are incomplete?" said Earl Norton, furious, feeling that he had been deceived.

General Kim smiled and explained, "Don't worry, it's not a lie, the last page, it doesn't have much to do with the previous one, it's another thing to say." As he spoke, he handed over a piece of parchment.

Earl Norton took it and unfolded it, only to see a few lines on it, "If you agree with this idea, please go to 28 Docks Street in Black Harbor, then you will have like-minded partners waiting for you." ”

"Oh, is this the message of the man who wrote this?" said the Earl of Norton.

"To be honest, I don't know, because I haven't been there either. General Kim said honestly.

Earl Norton patted his head, "Let me think about it, next month, the Black Harbor Arsenal will deliver a batch of the latest weapons to the Imperial Capital Security Corps, the garrison and the palace guards, we can go there in the name of inspection, after all, the amount of funds in Black Harbor recently is too large, and it must be reviewed." I think the Imperial Treasurer would be more than willing to provide me with this excuse. ”

"As you wish!" General King stood up and stretched out his right hand, and Earl Norton looked at it and extended his left hand as well.

At this moment, there was a knock on the door.

"What's the situation, how can outsiders come to this place?" the young squire, hurrying to the door, opened the door a small crack, it turned out that outside the door was the coachman of the Earl of Norton, who had been staying outside. The coachman handed over a roll of parchment, which was well sealed, "The speed is handed over to the Prime Minister, the news from the base camp has just been delivered." ”

When the Earl of Norton heard this, he hurriedly stepped forward and took the parchment. The wax mud of the seal is intact, and the coat of arms of a steppenwolf's head is stamped on the sealing mud, "It is indeed an urgent official letter from the base camp, you should also receive it, you may not be able to find you for a while." Earl Norton turned to General King and said.

The two of them approached the parchment letterhead at the same time, looked at it carefully, and it read, "The Western Border Battalion will report that the Western Bridge and the Tarim Camp were attacked by the dark organization, and several soldiers were lost, and the Western Bridge was destroyed. The base camp ordered the Desik Empire to enter a state of combat readiness of three levels (Note 1), and officials at all levels kept order and waited for investigation. ”

"The dark organization, the dark organization again, these people, I really don't know what they want to do. General Jin looked at the news depressedly, "The Western Bridge has been destroyed for them, but they are really capable." ”

"Okay, it's just a level 3 combat readiness, just pay a little attention. "Earl Norton is much more stable," Let's go to Black Harbor as planned, and later, I will officially go to ask the Emperor for his life, and the matter here will give Edward a headache." ”

"That's it. General Kim nodded in agreement.

Note 1: The Desik Empire was a military country, so it often issued different combat readiness orders depending on the situation. Level 3 is the lowest level and requires increased vigilance on the part of various armies. The second level is medium, the soldiers cancel their leave, and the strategy of the internal affairs system should be closer to the military. Level 1 combat readiness, that is, on the eve of war.