On his third day into the Duchy of Ryrin, Skye Hamm, commander of the 3rd Army Corps of the Western Military District, was greeted by his commander, Paul Chung. At the same time, less than 50,000 troops were defeated. These men, disheveled and discarded, appeared in front of the Third Legion, which was advancing in marching formation, and was almost beaten by the Third Legion as an enemy. If it weren't for the quick reaction of those who rushed to the front, raising the weapons in their hands and shouting at their own people, their own people, Skye Hamm might have become the first general to shoot at his own troops.

"Chadra is gone, the enemy has thrown in more than sixty steam cannons, and our platoon gun tactics simply cannot fight. I was able to come back alive because the guards were desperately pulled out. ”

Sitting in a makeshift military tent, Paul Chung, who he hadn't seen for a long time, was deeply tired and desperate in both his demeanor and tone.

"The enemy attacked too quickly, and many things were not brought out. But your family, we have withdrawn without pulling any of them, and this is one of the few prescient things I have done, and you can send someone to find it later. They were all in the middle of the line and safe. ”

Skye Hamm looked at the old man in front of him, and it was hard to imagine that this was the commander he once admired. Once upon a time, Paul Chung was so bold and wise that he never doubted his decisions, and his decisions never disappointed. But now, is this old man sitting in front of him to explain the aftermath really the commander who once led him to glory?

"Commander, we can talk about the family later, the key now is what we should do next?"

Tobias Paz, the commander of the Second Legion, who was standing aside, stepped forward. He thought the same thing as Skye Hamm. The key now is where they should go. The 50,000 who escaped plus Skye Hamm's 50,000 are already half the 200,000 who followed Paul Chung into the Duchy of Rylin half a year ago. The remaining 100,000 men, to the west, were the unstoppable army of the Negru Republic. To the east, there is the country they were almost betrayed. In this case, where is the way out for these 100,000 people?

"Now?" Paul Chung looked up, looked at Skye Hamm, and then at Tobias Paz, "What do you think?" ”

"When we came over, we saw that Bill Claflin's Fifth Regiment was building a border defense, and we could retreat into Ankenrein and build a line with them. Now the Negro Republic is fierce, they alone can't hold the border, we go back, even if they don't like it, we have to grit our teeth and pinch our noses and endure it", Skye Hamm came up with his own plan. In his opinion, returning to Anken Rein is not something unacceptable. And the current situation also gives them this opportunity.

"This will not work", Tobias Paz objected, "If we go back, the soldiers may be fine, but we will definitely not end well, and we will definitely not have a chance to lead the troops again." ”

"But if we don't go back, we have nowhere to go!"

"We can go to the Central Mountains!" , Tobias put forward his own thoughts, "In the current situation, it will definitely be a death to turn around and go back." Go on and go back to Ankenrein to fight, and a few of us won't survive. Rather than this, it is better for us to take our men to the central mountain range, where the terrain is complex and rugged, and neither cavalry nor steam artillery can be used. We have 100,000 people, and after arriving in the Central Mountain Range, it is easy to control a few small local principalities, and hide in the mountains to be your own little emperor, isn't it comfortable? ”

Hearing Tobias's suggestion, Paul Chung and Skye Hamm's eyes widened, and they both looked at Tobias with both surprise and admiration in their eyes.

"I haven't thought of this method before, but the Central Mountain Range is located at the junction of the four countries, and our 100,000 people, all of whom are soldiers, go directly to it, maybe it will be wiped out by the four countries," Skye Hamm put forward his own idea, in his opinion, instead of hiding in the ravine and waiting for death, it is better to stand up when Ankenrein needs it most.

"And, my lord," Skye Hamm continued, his reasoning, "Tobias is speaking only in general. Now the battle situation is so tense, these people are all our cronies, we have soldiers in our hands, and we are afraid that he will catch our little whip? ”

"There are soldiers, no money and no food, and the neck will be stuck when the time comes", Tobias also became serious, "Go to the Central Mountains, there are no enemies, and there is terrain protection, except for the three countries of Ankenrein, Negro is busy fighting Ankenrein, the Third Republic of Fern is said to be still in civil strife, and the archmage of the Alonte Empire is still fighting, how can they care about us?" We use this time to control the good position of the Central Mountains, build a state, and then we can live comfortably? ”

"But—"

Skye Hamm tried to tell, but was interrupted by Paul Bell. He waved his hand and motioned for his men to stop.

"Okay, that's the end of this matter, I've heard your opinions, I'll think about it. Now, we all need to take a short break and gather the line by the way. The enemy has just captured Chadra, and now there should be no interest in pursuing. Let's take a break before we decide what to do next. ”

Hearing Paul Chung's order, Tobias and Skye Hamm looked at each other and fell silent. They had a general direction on what the road should be, but Paul was the one who could determine the final course. Even if he is old and suffers defeat. But the two men were still accustomed to obeying his orders.

The commander fell silent for a moment, and the noise of soldiers chatting with each other outside came in from afar. Several generals and commanders looked at the spots of light on the ground and began to think.

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"Your Majesty, the latest news, the Western Theater of Operations has been defeated, the Principality of Rylin is occupied by the enemy, and the remaining troops of the Western Theater are retreating towards the province of Enspan. If nothing else, they will be able to fight the Third Legion, which has withdrawn from the province of Enspan. ”

The news brought by Emile Owen made Paul Gibson stunned for a moment. Yesterday, he had just received the news of Prince Wenfeng's first victory since he went into battle, and before his joy had passed, he heard this news that I didn't know if it was good or bad.

"Your Majesty?"

Emile Owen asked, his tone a little uncertain. From the point of view of the state, the news is bad. The war between Ankenrein and the Negru Republic, which has continued from last year to the present, is tilting the scales of victory and defeat. Unfortunately, Ankenrein was not on the winning side.

However, from the emperor's own point of view, it is not a good thing that the Western Theater of Operations, which has always been disobedient, ended in such a way. Having lost his last base, Paul Chung has few options. As long as he returned, then the emperor would be able to achieve the basic military unification of the country again without much effort.

"How did he lose?"

After waiting for a few minutes, Paul Gibson finally responded. The emir bowed in reply.

"It is said that the Republic of Neglo took out more than sixty steam cannons and destroyed their defensive lines. This weapon was very effective against the iron shield line and the formation of the line to shoot, which Paul Zhong could not hold. ”

"What about us?"

"This ......"

Emile Owen didn't answer directly, he paused before giving a vague answer.

"A war in which the whole nation is fought cannot be decided by one or two new weapons."

"Isn't that kid in Enspan Province also because of his advanced weapons that nearly 100,000 people can't do anything about him?"

Paul Gibson's thinking seems to jump fast, making it a little difficult for Emile Owen to keep up. However, Gastens was now a celebrity of great interest in Ankenrein's higher-ups, and he immediately realized where the emperor's thinking was.

Or weapons.

"Yes, his Glory Rifle, the Valor's Rifle, and the Thundering One and the Luoshan One gave him the capital to use that little mountain plain against the forces of our two legions. Although there are also factors of disunity, it cannot be denied that this kid is a genius when it comes to weapons. ”

"Not only weapons, but also tactical ideas," Paul Gibson frowned, "and he also came up with the tactics of lining up and shooting, and he also came up with new weapons." In his letter, Eliot said that he had also developed guerrilla warfare and skirmisher tactics, all tactics adapted to his new weapons. ”

With that, Paul Gibson turned around and walked towards the window, where the Emile followed him, listening to his thoughts.

"I don't know why, Emile," Paul Gibson's voice was not easy, "I always feel that if this kid is not controlled, he will become a big problem for us." ”

"Is it worse than the Republic of Neglo and Ronninger?" , Emir was a little surprised, "Although Gastens's technology is advanced, the foundation of the Elena Plains is too weak, and it is difficult for him to make it bigger. If the Negru Republic calls, if we don't help him, he will die. Does His Majesty think too highly of him? ”

"No, you don't understand," Paul Gibson said, standing by the window, looking at the silent Mage Tower in the distance, "it's a feeling that this kid and the mind he represents are the most terrifying thing compared to our old adversary and the dying Grand Duke of Ice." ”

"Then let's talk to His Royal Highness the Sixth Prince and kill him completely?" , the emile still does not understand where Paul Gibson's worries come from. However, as the prime minister, he naturally knows what to say and when.

"Liu'er has made him anxious to harass recently, how can he fight if he doesn't increase his troops? With more troops, what will happen to the soldiers of Negru? And that Paul Chung, we don't know exactly how he chose him. Although the second child has done well recently, the overall situation is still not optimistic. ”

"Your Majesty, the matter of the Western Theater may have to be decided quickly. If Paul Chung couldn't think about it for a while, he surrendered to the Negru Republic. That was a devastating blow to us. ”

"It's not about destruction, it's just harder to fight," Paul Gibson said, turning and sitting on the couch by the window. When the Grand Magus was still there, he often sat on this couch and did nothing, just looked at the mage tower in the distance and thought.

"Your Majesty, to Paul Chung, it is better to persuade him to surrender as soon as possible. Otherwise, he jumps off the wall in a hurry, and we will suffer a lot of unnecessary losses. ”

"It's okay, I'll write a handwritten letter and ask someone to bring it to him, as for whether he accepts it or not, that's his business", Gibson leaned back on the sofa, lazy, "but I know this man, although he doesn't like me, but he is not a person without a position." You don't need to worry too much. ”

"Understood."

The emir nodded, then asked.

"His Royal Highness the Second Prince has reported that he intends to wait for an opportunity to attack Mu Enze after recovering the Zidai Plain, and he hopes that we can provide more Glory Rifles. Now the production of the Glory Rifle is still limited, and most of it is given to the Six Princes. You see......"

"Give him fifty percent," Gibson waved his hand, "It's all sons, you can't favor one over the other, a bowl of water is even, let me see which of them can do better." ”

"Understood."

The emir nodded, and pulled out a new stack of papers.

"Your Majesty, this year's agricultural production ......"

In this huge, empty room, Anken Rein's supreme leadership, is deciding the future of the country. And in Elena's small conference room, the members of the Communist Party Council are also making decisions in a precious way.

"I'm against a capital partnership with the Mage Tower. The capitalists, especially the big ones, are our enemies, and we should destroy them, not embrace them. If we can accept even such capitalists, then we have no hostile classes in this world at all. So, sorry, head, I don't approve of this proposal. ”

As someone who worshipped Gastens as an idol, Ivan Warren rarely contradicted Gastens. However, on the issue of deciding whether or not to cooperate with the capitalists of the Mage Tower, he rarely insisted on his position.

"It's okay, I'm glad you have your own ideas", Gastens didn't show any dissatisfaction on his face, "I can't hold this matter anymore, so I took it out and discussed it with everyone." Like Ivan, tell me what you really think. After all, the most important thing is to maintain the openness, transparency, and unity of our party's opinions in the first place, compared to external forces, isn't it? ”

"Head, we're not short of money, and pyroxene is enough now. Even if there were huge undiscovered pyroxene mines in Enspan, they would not be able to be mined by us today. If the revolution wins, we can dig as much as we want, and we don't need the Mage Tower. If the revolution fails, we won't be able to dig it with the support of the algorithm tower. Therefore, the factor of pyroxene veins cannot be used as a bargaining chip for the Mage Tower. ”

Unlike Ivan, Daisy is trying to tease through the chips offered by the enemy to really be useful to her side. Although the terms of the deal offered by Martinez were very generous, she was now wary of the capitalists and was always worried about the pitfalls.

"I see, what about the other comrades, let me hear your opinions."

Gastens nodded and looked at his comrades, who had not yet spoken. Several comrades hesitated for a moment, and Zink stood up.

"Head, I also think I need to be cautious about this matter......