In mid-April 848, civil strife in the Republic of Neglo was put down. The former Grand Magister and the new President Piru Manino issued Presidential Decree No. 1 to launch a war of revenge against the Ankenrein Empire, which was named - Glory.

"Fuck the Glory Wars!" , the commander of the Western Theater of Operations, Paul Chung, in his residence in the capital of the Principality of Rylin, once again dropped his glass. Ever since he trained with Emperor Paul Gibson, Grand Duke Charlie Ronin, and Brooklyn Arquette, the archduke of the Mage Tower, the spokesperson of the capitalists of the Mage Tower and the manager of the pyroxene veins, he knew that Rossville was no longer a safe place, and all of his cronies and descendants were transferred to the Duchy of Ryrin, uniting the half of the Duchy of Tulucas that he had occupied before, and becoming a de facto warlord. If, if the Negro Republic does not launch this so-called glorious war, then he, Paul Gibson, relying on the superior force of more than 200,000 troops in his hands, can definitely be a good place hegemon and live a comfortable life. But now that the Negro Republic is moving, Paul Gibson finds himself a hapless man with an enemy on his back, unable to advance or retreat.

"My lord, when we decided to support the army and stand on our own feet in Lai Lin, we knew that the Neglo Republic would fight back sooner or later, and we also had a corresponding response plan. This incident is actually expected by us, so please don't be in a hurry and calm down. ”

Skye Hamm, commander of the 3rd Army in the Western Theater, comforted Paul Chung while planting a flag on the sand table. Tobias Paz, the commander of the Second Legion, and Rove Helm, the commander of the Fourth Legion, who had followed Paul Chung to Ryrin with him, stood on the other side of the room, silent.

"You mean the plan where we will first symbolically fight, then declare independence and make way for the troops of the Neglo Republic to pass?" Paul Zhong stretched out his hand and wanted to drop the cup, but found that he had no cup to drop, "Although I don't like Paul Gibson's style of doing things, I also don't want to be a traitor." Charlie Roning, that old dog, can throw away the glacial line for a civil war, I can't do it! ”

"But ...... your lordship," said Tobias Paz, the commander of the Second Legion, stepping forward, "we don't have the advantage of our forces right now. Many of the previous veterans were sent back by the emperor to help Prince Eliot fight Ronninger. Although we have done everything possible to keep some, but now that new recruits and veterans are mixed together, the combat effectiveness of the army is worrying. ”

"I know," Paul Chung sighed, "but we are still nominally Ankenrein's army. And, to make matters worse, our logistics are not yet independent. Last year's war disrupted agricultural production in Rylin and Tulukas, and we are still relying on the Ankenrein military headquarters for food. It's also Gibson who still has a little conscience, and he didn't cut off our food, otherwise we wouldn't have been able to stay in Rylin at all. ”

"But my lord, didn't he give us food, didn't he want us to die?" The commander of the Fourth Legion, Rove Helm, spoke out against it, "Why are we going to give him the life and death of the Gibson family?" Last year's Battle of Tulucas, we fought so badly, and he still wants to punish us, this person is too merciful, there is no need to care about the benefits he gives, right? ”

"Okay, okay, I know what you mean," Paul Chung waved his hand impatiently, "Tell me below, no matter what, the Thorny Hills defense line must be held." That's our biggest chip! Then, I will communicate with Gibson that the matter of the Battle of Tulucas last year must not be kept in his hands all the time! ”

"Whoa!"

Seeing that Paul Zhong had already made up his mind, several generals did not say anything more and were ordered to retire. Paul Chung sat in the room for a while, changed his clothes, got into an unmarked steam car, and went out the door.

The steam car, imported from the Third Republic of Fern, left the Grand Duke's palace with a regular roar. It made its way through the somewhat lonely streets of Chadra's post-war era and stopped at the back entrance of a richly decorated hotel. Dressed in a black trench coat, Paul Chung stepped out of the carriage and entered the hotel with the help of the guards, and in the suite on the top floor of the hotel, he found his ally, Miguel Martinez, the manager of the mage tower pyroxene vein and the spokesman of the mage tower capitalists.

"You look like you're in a bad mood?"

Miguel Martinez sat at a small table next to the balcony with a small porcelain plate in his hand, "I have this year's trout roe here, would you like to have some?" ”

"No," Paul Chung waved his hand impatiently, opened the wine cabinet familiarly, found a bottle of vintage champagne, opened it with the corkscrew hanging next to the wine cabinet, took a Lauren Robles-style gilt carved square cup, poured it half full, and dried it in one gulp. Martinez watched him finish this routine before chuckling softly.

"Do you know that you drank half of my steam car with that sip?"

"Lao Tzu cares so much about you!" Paul Zhong scolded and sat down in front of Martinez, "Where's the roe?" ”

"Whoa."

Martinez pushed a small saucer on the small table in front of Paul Chung. The dark, pyroxene glow of the roe is placed on a carefully grilled slice of bread and topped with a little lemon juice to look very tempting. Paul Zhong looked at the roe for a second, then reached out to pick it up, put it in his mouth, chewed it carefully, and showed a satisfied expression.

"What, deflated?"

Paul Chung shook his head, closed his eyes and savored the feeling of the plump roe popping in his mouth, and it took a long time for him to breathe.

"It's not easy to do, Negro wants to fight, and a few of his subordinates are cowards, and they don't dare to fight. If we don't fight, how can we have our own place? ”

"Also, peace is always fought, and if you want to be independent, whether it's with Negro or Ankenrein, you have to fight."

"Don't say it so ugly, I'm still the general of Anken Rein after all. Just because I don't like Paul Gibson doesn't mean I don't like Anken Rein. ”

"You have a point, after all, we are all children of the Falling Star", Martinez took a small glass jar in ice next to him, scooped out a small spoonful of fish roe from it, smeared it on the bread slices placed on the pyroxene oven, sprinkled a little lemon, and handed it to Paul Zhong, "But the children of the Falling Star also want to live." ”

"I know," Paul Chung said, taking the roe, but not eating it, "I now have a headache about how far and how far I can go." Now the civil strife in Negrus seems to have subsided, but the internal contradictions have not been resolved. Piru Manino was the president who was forced up by the Workers' Party, and in essence he was only a mediator to balance the contradictions between the two sides. The war he unleashed was the only one that could ease the social contradictions of the Neglo Republic. So, he will definitely fight with all his might. And we, who were already backward in equipment, had little advantage left in terms of strength when the civil war broke out, and more than half of the soldiers who fought in the Battle of Tulucas last year were transferred to Eliot's side, even if I wanted to fight and defend, but the things in my hand were very stretched. ”

"You can see it," said Miguel Martínez, getting up, taking the bottle of champagne that Paul Chung had just opened, and pouring himself a glass, "but you also said that this war was used by the Negro Republic to settle internal conflicts. If we win, we have nothing to say. But if it loses, or if it doesn't go well, do you think the Negru side will have so much patience to continue to push this war? ”

Paul Chung was silent, he ate the roe, leaned back in his chair, thought for a moment, and came to a conclusion.

"At the end of the day, you still have to be able to win."

"You don't have to win, but you have to hold it", Miguel Martinez raised his right hand and waved his fingers, "The Iron Shield Breastwork has proven its strength, and the battles of Windersburg, Moon and Oridry have proven that the only way to break through the Iron Shield is to use more advanced weapons to win." The terrain of the thorny hills is unobstructed, and there is no place to break through such as Changfeng Mountain. Your defensive line has been built since last winter, and it is much stronger than Charlie Ronin and Wen Feng's urgency. Even if there are more powerful weapons on the other side, they can't compare to Prince Eliot's steam cannon. That iron shield defense line can even block the steam hand cannon, what else do you have to worry about? ”

"If you only do defense, it will be a long-term defensive battle, and you will have to take human lives to fill it", Paul Chung's expression was still entangled, "and Tulucas is so big, they really want to make a detour, and they can get around." Although the Iron Shield Hill defense line extends to both sides, our garrison is insufficient to completely divide Tulucas. ”

"So you're still going to win, right?"

"You're light!" Paul Zhong was impatient, he leaned over and took the jar of fish roe, wiped a slice of it himself, and got straight to the point, "Say, you must have something to come this time, otherwise you won't come." ”

"I'm so sad to say this, now Gibson doesn't like us, and a lot of assets under the mage tower have been lost, and I don't come to you, and I have nowhere to go?"

"He doesn't dare to offend you gold lords now, say, what's the good news?" Paul Chung no longer went around in circles, he knew the merchant in front of him, and knew that he didn't have the goods, so he wouldn't come to Chadra at this critical time.

"Have you heard of Gastens Warren?" Martinez sat down again and poured Paul Chung a full glass of wine.

"You say."

"He is a serf under your Sixth Legion, and he is very clever enough to defect to the Six Princes. He designed the previous modified Welsh II Steam Rifle, as well as the Elliot and Glory rifles that you recently issued. He now has a plot of land in the province of Enspen, and he has set up his own factory to produce weapons. ”

"The Glory Rifle is useful, but it's not enough to change the tide of battle", Paul Chung frowned, "What the hell is this Gastens doing?" ”

"About two weeks ago, he had a falling out with the Six Princes, and the Six Princes sent two regiments to seize his power, and he killed him with six hundred people and lost his armor, and the weapon he used was called the Brave One."

"A new rifle?"

"A new rifle that can change the shape of warfare", Martinez stood up and moved a crate out of the room. Paul Chung joined him with a look of disbelief and opened the box.

"I didn't say that, it was Elliot himself," Martinez said, taking the weapon from the box, holding it in his hands, and handing it to Paul Chung. The swarthy Valorant's rifle, armed with a high-pressure cylinder and magazine, is the most beautiful work of art in Paul Zhong's eyes.

"This gun is good", Paul Chung tried it in his hand, looking at the magazine, "what's so special?" ”

"Breech-loaded, pneumatically actuated, rifled inside, equipped with a ten-round magazine, effective range of one hundred and fifty meters, and a hundred meters to break through enemy armor", Martinez took the gun from Paul Chung's hand, held it a little awkwardly, and pulled the trigger towards the wall of the room.

"Hey!"

As soon as Paul Chung tried to stop it, he was frightened by the sound of gunfire. The steam backpack of this gun has obviously not been opened yet, and it has not been warmed up, how can it be possible to shoot bullets?

"This gun uses high-pressure gas cylinders, not water vapor to drive bullets directly. So you can shoot at any time, and only when the air pressure of the cylinder is insufficient, you need to start the steam backpack to inflate the cylinder, how about it, genius design, isn't it? ”

Paul Chung stopped talking, he took the gun, studied it carefully, and checked the gun's steam backpack to confirm the authenticity of the weapon. He put down his gun and asked Martinez a question.

"How much? I want them all! ”

"Hey, don't be in such a hurry", Martinez habitually waved his fingers, "This gun was specially produced by Gastens for Elliot to attack Ronninger, the production capacity is very limited, and the price is also very expensive-"

"I don't care about the price, how can I get it?" , Paul Zhong obviously ran out of patience, "Ronninger's civil war is just a civil war, and a stalemate is a stalemate, and now the enemy is going to hit the door, and this weapon should be given priority to supply our border defenders!" ”

"Supply you, disobedient border warlord?" Martinez smiled, "The emperor can't decide where this gun goes, and Elliot can't decide either, only one person can decide, whether you can get it or not." ”

"Gastens? How did you get involved? What conditions does he have? ”

"You don't have to worry about this, and his conditions are not difficult", Martínez put away the jar of fish roe from the small table, carefully closed the lid, and put the ice back in, "He wants you to stop the army of the Negru Republic outside of Enspan Province." ”

Paul Chung was silent, and Martinez did not speak. The spring wind shines through the curtains of the balcony and makes a soft sound.

"This kid...... I have some ideas, too. ”

Paul Chung muttered, looking at Martinez.

"Since ancient times, heroes have come out of youth, and we are all old."

Martinez shrugged and waited for Paul Chung's answer.

"I don't have a problem, you can negotiate the specific price and payment with him, as long as the weapons are in place, I can definitely hold the Thorn Hill!"

When Paul Chung said this, he finally regained the momentum of the former iron-blooded commander, but Martinez beat him back to the prototype with a word.

"Or will we help you out first?"

"That's nature, that's nature, aren't we a family?"

Paul Chung grinned and poured Martinez a glass of wine. Martinez was not polite, took the glass, and drank it all. If the way generals control the world is soldiers and weapons, then as capitalists, the way to control the world is capital.

There is no other way.