Without warning, the 200,000-strong army of Maqi Khan, led by two famous generals, launched a surprise attack on the neighboring country with lightning speed, and in just one week, the two neighboring countries were incorporated into his territory. And the surrounding powers did not even have time to react, and could only watch as the army of Maqi Khan wreaked havoc on the lands of the neighboring countries.

On October 26, Nottingham, the foreign minister of the Macedian Khanate, arrived in Zhongzhou, the capital of the Tang River Empire, and called on the foreign minister of the empire, Saridan, to report on the basic situation of the military action taken by the Macedan Khanate against its southwestern neighbor, and explained the reasons for the military action, hoping to gain the understanding and support of the Tang River Empire.

On the one hand, Sariden expressed strong indignation at the Macedhanate's blatant contempt for the existence of the empire, and on the other hand, he strongly protested against the Maqi Khanate's act of ignoring international conventions, trampling on the relevant agreements of sovereign states, and adopting despicable means to carry out sneak attacks, and demanded that the Maceden Khanate immediately stop its military aggression, immediately return to the original borders of various countries, and resolve the dispute between the two countries through political and diplomatic means. Nottingham said that he could not accept it, and at the same time sincerely expressed his unwillingness to affect the healthy development of relations between the two countries because of this incident. Sariden said that the matter was so high that it had to be reported to His Majesty the Emperor before it could be ascertained, and the two parted unhappily.

On October 27, the Kingdom of Milan, the countries of the South Seas Alliance, the Grand Duchy of Mahad, and the Principality of Andako all lodged the strongest protest with the envoys of the Macedan Khanate through their diplomatic departments, demanding that the Macedan Khanate immediately cease its military operations and adopt other means to resolve the contradictions between the countries. Louis XI, King of the Kingdom of Milan, issued a national mobilization order, declaring a state of emergency throughout the country, calling up reservists to join the army, and sending the Royal First Cavalry Infantry Mixed Regiment to quickly move to the border with the Maceder's Khanate, and the Royal Second Infantry Regiment also quickly entered a state of readiness and assembled in the direction of the capital. At the same time, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Milan made an urgent visit to the Tang Empire to discuss the deteriorating situation in the southern part of the Eastern Continent.

The small neighboring states to the west of the Macede Khanate were even more frightened, they did not dare to openly protest to the Maceder, for fear of angering the Macedian Khanate and leading the war to their own country, so they sent envoys to visit the Tang River Empire and Sanjiang County and Tiannan County, on the one hand, hoping to seek the empire's intervention to stop the invasion and expansion of the Maceder's Khanate through diplomatic means, and on the other hand, they also hoped to obtain the help of other local powers with strong military strength adjacent to them.

On October 28, the central government of the Tang River Empire convened an emergency court meeting to discuss the invasion of the Ankun city-state and the kingdom of Jemero by the southern neighbor Mache Khanate.

"At present, Lopez, the lord of Ankun City, has surrendered, and the Maqi Khan [***] team has also occupied all the territory of the Jemero Kingdom except for the capital Jemei City, and is launching an attack on Jemei City, and it is estimated that Jemei City will not be able to support it for long. Ma Zhengfeng, director of the Intelligence Bureau of the General Administration of Military Affairs, seemed a little lacking in confidence, and his voice was a little hoarse.

"Why is our intelligence department so sluggish? The Machihans have taken such a large-scale military operation and we are unaware of it?!What the hell are the Imperial Intelligence Directorate and the Military Intelligence Directorate doing? Every year you shout about lack of funds and lack of personnel, but see for yourself what you have done? Even I blush for you!" Situ Mingyue, who was on the throne, was obviously very angry about this matter, although the military action of the Maqi Khanate was aimed at other countries, but as a major power in the Eastern Continent, it was unaware of such a big action in advance, which was indeed a little unreasonable.

His Royal Highness's people were dumbfounded, the Imperial Intelligence Minister Tie Neng lowered his head, and the Minister of Military Affairs, He Zhiqiu, also felt that his face was very uncomfortable.

The Imperial Intelligence Service is divided into two systems, one under the General Directorate of Imperial Intelligence and the other under the General Military Administration. The General Intelligence Administration of the Empire is responsible for the collection, collation and analysis of political, economic, diplomatic, military, ethnic, religious, cultural and other aspects of intelligence of the countries of the whole continent, while the Military Intelligence Bureau is mainly responsible for the collection and collation of intelligence on various [***] matters on the mainland, focusing on the countries that have close relations with the empire in the eastern continent and the military intelligence that endangers the security of the empire.

In addition, a large number of elite troops of the Maqi Khan, which were originally stationed in the border area with the empire, withdrew and only retained a small number of regular troops, which greatly reduced the military pressure of the empire in the south, while the two major feudal towns in the north and west of the empire and the two major feudal towns in the country acted abnormally, attracting a lot of energy from the imperial intelligence department。

"Huh, why are you all dumb? Aren't you usually talking endlessly?" Situ Mingyue continued to ridicule His Highness's ministers in a contemptuous tone.

Seeing that the words had already been said to this point, He Zhiqiu really couldn't sit still, and he stubbornly stepped out to play: "Your Majesty, the minister has an unshirkable responsibility for this matter, please punish Your Majesty." ”

Seeing that He Zhiqiu was listed to ask for guilt, the Minister of Intelligence, Tie Neng, also hurriedly came out to ask His Majesty the Emperor to punish him. Situ Mingyue took a breath and slowly sat back on the throne, "I'll talk about your punishment later, let's talk about how to deal with the current grim situation first." ”

Seeing that His Majesty the Emperor's tone gradually softened, His Highness's ministers secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

"Ning Aiqing, tell me your opinion first. Situ Mingyue set her eyes on Ning Yuanping, the first deputy minister of the empire on the left in the hall, who is now in charge of the work of the Imperial Administration and can be said to be the first person among the civil officials of the empire.

"Returning to Your Majesty, in the humble opinion of the ministers, this military operation of the Maqi Khans should have been planned for a long time. They deliberately befriended our country in the early stage, vigorously improved relations with our country, and at the same time transferred military forces to other regions, this should be a major adjustment of the strategic direction, by no means a whim, the minister judged that they will continue to use troops against the surrounding small cities and city-states, this is not only a challenge to the authority of our country, but also the greatest scourge of the war in the eastern continent, the minister believes that it is necessary to take effective measures to stop their bold actions, otherwise our country's prestige will be greatly damaged, and it will also fuel the arrogance of the Maqi Khan. Ning Yuanping's words immediately won the approval of most of the ministers present, and they all nodded their heads in support of Ning Yuanping's opinion.

Situ Mingyue also nodded, "Lu Aiqing, talk about your opinion." ”

"The minister's view is similar to that of Lord Ning. The Maqi Khans made careful preparations for this military operation in advance, and not only concealed it from the target country, but also kept the surrounding countries, including China, in the dark. Although the area of Ankun City is not large, it is rich in copper resources, and the presence of the Maqi Khan people here will greatly promote their industrial development, and also have immeasurable support for their national finances. Most of the territory of the Kingdom of Jemero belongs to the plains, and the territory is not only suitable for the cavalry operations of the Maqi Khans, but the most important thing is that it is an important grain-producing area in the southern part of the Eastern Continent. Everyone knows that although the Macedhan people are the descendants of the nomadic people, but a considerable number of their people have gradually adapted to agricultural life, the country's demand for grain is quite large, and the central part of its territory is desert, the desert is surrounded by grasslands and forests, only the north is close to our country and their eastern and southern border areas have suitable land for cultivation, and their population has increased rapidly in the past ten years, and the economy has developed rapidly, but the food problem has never been solved, and every year has to import a large amount of grain from our country and other surrounding countries, which is also the main reason why the original Maqi Khanate has been eyeing China's Wuhu County。 ”

After a pause, he continued to express his opinion: "And importing grain not only costs a lot of money, but also is easy to be controlled by people, Bi Xili and Lei Juetian are both far-sighted people, and they must have seen this. The only way to solve this problem is to think of another way. The surrounding countries rich in grain, in addition to our country and the Kingdom of Milan, there is only the Kingdom of Jemero, needless to say, although they are developing fast, but it is far from enough to compete with our country; although the strength of the Kingdom of Milan is not as good as theirs, it cannot be underestimated, not to mention that the Kingdom of Milan has a close relationship with our country, if we use troops against Milan, our country will never sit idly by, so the target is only the Kingdom of Jemerlo. Since our country does not share a border with the Kingdom of Jemero, and its relations are average, as long as special measures are taken to quickly resolve the matter and create a fait accompli, the Mackenihans probably think that we will not make a big deal about it, and other countries cannot pose a threat to the Maqihans at all. ”

In the end, Lu Wenfu sighed and said: "The minister thinks that according to the current actual situation in our country, we should adopt various ways and means to negotiate with the Maqi Khans and force them to withdraw their troops. The last few words, Lu Wenfu himself felt too weak, but the actual situation of the empire is there, although the Southern Military Region has more than 200,000 troops, but it is not ready for war at all, not to mention that there is a big trouble within the empire of the Lin family of Sanjiang County, and the Tiannan Lang family is also unpredictable, which is incomprehensible, and the Maqi Khan people have 400,000 troops, in addition to the 200,000 troops who went out, there are 200,000 troops including 100,000 elite royal guards stationed there, once a war is provoked, the consequences are really unpredictable.

Situ Mingyue also heard Lu Wenfu's voice, as the emperor of the empire, how could he not understand the current situation of his country, if he wants to use force to solve or threaten the Maqi Khans to retreat, I am afraid it will be difficult to achieve the goal, the Maqi Khans are deliberately taking various means to achieve the kingdom of Ankun City and Jemero, now that the wood is in the boat, it is indeed difficult to let them spit out the fat in their mouths again. However, if the empire turns a blind eye to this matter, it is equivalent to giving the green light to the aggression of the Macedhans, then it is very likely that the Macedhans will become more rampant, and the surrounding countries will suffer from their aggression, and the prestige of the empire in this region will no longer exist, which the empire will never tolerate.

"He Aiqing, what do you think should be done at present?" Situ Mingyue's eyes finally fell on He Zhiqiu, although there was a negligence in the intelligence bureau of the military department this time, He Zhiqiu had a certain leadership responsibility, but he was responsible for the operation of the entire emperor [***] team, it was impossible to do everything, everything was covered, and there was really nothing to talk about in terms of specific responsibilities, not to mention that there were more important things to solve now.

In fact, when His Majesty the Emperor asked Ning Yuanping, He Zhiqiu was already thinking about how to deal with this sudden change in the situation, and it would definitely be quite difficult to take military action, but if it was only to take other means such as diplomacy and economy, let alone let the Maqi Khans withdraw their troops, it was difficult to say whether the Maqi Khans would not continue to use troops against their neighboring countries, and this was indeed a bit difficult to do.

Seeing that His Majesty the Emperor asked him, He Zhiqiu hurriedly came out, "Back to Your Majesty, the ministers agree with the opinions of Lord Ning and Lord Lu. At present, the army of the Maqi Khans has basically occupied most of the territory of Ankun City and the Kingdom of Jemero, and it is believed that the fall of Jemei City will be sooner or later, and it is not clear where their goal will be. And we are not ready on all fronts, so we need some buffer. The diplomatic mission of the Maqi Khans has arrived in Zhongzhou and visited our diplomatic department, which shows that they still have scruples about our country. Therefore, the minister suggested that the following measures could be taken: first, the diplomatic department immediately protested and issued an ultimatum demanding that they immediately stop military operations; second, the 5th and 6th Army Corps of the Southern Military Region should immediately enter a state of emergency to intensify military preparations and exert pressure on the Macedhans; third, they could cooperate with the Kingdom of Milan, the Nanyang Alliance, Fourth, the Grand Duchy of Mahad and others could be contacted and asked them to cooperate in military preparations, believing that they did not want to see such a great change in the political pattern of the region; fourth, they could order Sanjiang County and Tiannan County to also carry out military mobilization and cooperate with the central government of the empire to exert pressure on the Maqi Khans; and fifth, order all customs offices to immediately stop exporting grain, medicines, cloth, weapons, armor, and other military strategic materials to the Maqi Khans. In addition, His Majesty can also send a special envoy to visit the Macedite Khanate to hold specific talks with Bi Xili and Lei Juetian. He Zhiqiu did it in one go, and laid out his own response plan and inventory.

He Zhiqiu's plan immediately won the unanimous support of almost all the ministers present, and Situ Mingyue also nodded with satisfaction, "Very good, He Aiqing, your plan is very realistic, I agreed, everything will be handled according to your opinion, and all departments will immediately arrange the deployment, and there must be no mistakes." In addition, Jing Zezhong (Imperial Vice-Foreign Minister) served as my special envoy and immediately visited Maqi Khan. ”

Although the court meeting was dispersed, He Zhiqiu did not let go of the stone in his heart, Lei Juetian is not a mediocre person, he must have considered all aspects before acting, since he dared to implement it, it means that he must have thought about how to deal with the possible consequences, only take one step at a time.

"Princess Sophia, please calm down, His Majesty the King has gone, I hope you will be able to mourn and pass by. "In a palatial mansion in the center of Siem Moon City, the capital of the Siem Kingdom of the Nanyang Alliance, here is the villa of Xihe, a famous member of the Siam State of Siam, talking is a well-dressed young man, next to an extraordinary middle-aged gentleman standing aside, looking at the chestnut-haired girl who is sitting on a delicate rattan craft chair and crying with a regretful look on his face.

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