"It seems that the enemy has no intention of attacking for the time being, and they are holding all the roads leading to the city, perhaps blocking our access to the city. ”

Baron O'Brien, after assuming the position of commander-in-chief, immediately began to arrange the defensive line, and the vanguard of the Beria side, the Southern Army, also arrived in the western suburbs after the initial completion of Baron O'Brien's defensive line, and confronted the Munster army from a distance.

At this moment, Baron O'Brien was looking at the map on the table, analyzing the battle situation with his staff officers and thinking about tactical plans. And in his command post, in addition to the officers who came and went, there was also a particularly conspicuous person.

Sven leaned back in his chair and watched coldly as the officers came and went, hurriedly delivering orders to the various troops. No one approached him, and no one wanted to talk to him, for he was dressed in a black gown, which naturally looked out of place in a crowd of people in military uniform, and besides, his status here at the moment was uncertain to the officers. They knew that the Count was the Celestial Princess's confidant, but what exactly he was doing here could only be imagined by the officers themselves.

"The enemy blockade of the road may also be an attempt to prevent His Highness Alexander and the members of the Cabinet from coming to join us. A staff officer said with an ugly face, although he knew the number of the other party before, but according to the report of the reconnaissance unit, the enemy obviously carried a large number of heavy weapons, which was quite different from what the staff officers had expected, and the equipment of the Southern Army was not so luxurious, and according to their intelligence, the rest of the troops were some military police units of the Ministry of the Interior, so it should not be a concern. But now it seems that things are a little different from what they thought.

"Is there any news from Beria?" Baron O'Brien frowned, he also got the report of the reconnaissance unit, so his face was not very good, "Who is the commander of the other party, is it Beria personally commanded?"

"It's not clear, but even if Beria were on the front line, he probably wouldn't interfere in the command. ”

"In that case...... Baron O'Brien pondered for a moment, "is the commander of the enemy really still Viting?"

"There are only 10,000 men in the Southern Army, and Wei Ting can't control those troops of the Ministry of the Interior, and if he takes command, the other party's actions will definitely seem very uncoordinated. Sven, who had been watching from the sidelines, suddenly spoke, "If you want to guess who the enemy's commander is, you might as well first consider which force the enemy's main force will be, generally speaking, there is no reason to let the commander of the division be the commander-in-chief of the whole army in the future." ”

"It's not like I haven't thought about it......" Baron O'Brien frowned, although the other staff officers were dissatisfied and even disdainful of Swain's sudden interjection, but Baron O'Brien knew Swain's ability, so he also attached great importance to his words, "However, if it is commanded by the commander of the army of the Ministry of the Interior, who will it be?" We have never heard of a general with experience in leading troops who has been transferred to the Ministry of the Interior, and we do not know anything about the invading troops of the Ministry of the Interior, and we do not know the composition and composition of the opposing forces. ”

"The Ministry of the Interior has more or less some troops in each region, just like the Imperial Capital Garrison. Swain took a sip from his teacup, as if he were in his own living room, not at the headquarters of the army, "Therefore, it is not surprising that the weapons and equipment of these troops will exceed the level of the regular army, and we all know that since Beria took over the Ministry of the Interior, he has been relying on the favor of the emperor to equip his subordinates with the latest weapons, many of which are not even equipped with some front-line troops." Therefore, what is facing us now should be an army at the level of the imperial capital garrison, which may be slightly lacking in combat effectiveness, but it should not be underestimated. ”

Several staff officers glanced at each other, and they couldn't help but wonder why Swain knew so much about the affairs of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. However, when they thought about who Swain's father was, these staff officers were also relieved, although they had always heard that Jerichault's father and son were not on good terms, but this was an information channel after all, even if they took a step back, if Swain was really on a close relationship with Viscount Jerichault, then it was understandable that Swain knew so much about the department where his enemy was located.

"In other words, our opponent is not 10,000 regular troops and more than 40,000 gendarmerie troops, but should we treat our opponent as 50,000 regular bureaus?" Baron O'Brien roughly understood what Swain meant, but this level of intelligence still seemed insufficient, "But we still don't know who the commander of the other side will be, after the incident of the Ministry of the Interior, the organ system of the Ministry of the Interior should have collapsed, right, can they really afford to command the whole army?"

The battlefield command never decided who the commander-in-chief was, and an army of tens of thousands of people could not be commanded by one person alone, so Minister Guderian had to move some of his staff officers to the camp in the western suburbs in advance, just to facilitate overall planning and command, otherwise, relying solely on the armies of the western provinces would not be able to quickly organize an effective command system.

"I can guess a little, but to be on the safe side, I need to confirm further before I can tell you, otherwise I would be misleading. Swain looked directly at Baron O'Brien, his gaze untouched that would normally make anyone who looked at him feel a little uncomfortable. However, Baron O'Brien knew some of Swain's secrets, so when he saw Swain staring at him like this, he probably guessed what Swain meant.

"I see. Baron O'Brien nodded, although several of the staff officers were very upset that Swain was only half talking, but Baron O'Brien was not on the same side as these staff officers. On the battlefield, they naturally have to work together, but outside the battlefield, intrigue between factions within the military is always inevitable.

"I hope you will visit Her Highness Caterina again later today. Swain stood up and picked up his cane at the same time, looking ready to leave, "Her Royal Highness is very relieved to hand over the power of the whole army to you, so I hope you can also respond to Her Royal Highness's high expectations and bring her some reassuring news." ”

Baron O'Brien pondered for a moment, then replied with a smile, "I see, I'll be visiting Karin Castle in the evening." ”

"Then I will have a sumptuous dinner ready for you. Swain put on his top hat and bent slightly, "I hope the enemy won't come and disturb our meal at that time." ”

After Swain left, the eyes of several staff officers, who were not restrained, became even more dissatisfied, although it did not match their expectations for Baron O'Brien as commander-in-chief, but Baron O'Brien had a prominent family background and a recognized record after all, so the staff officers were not dissatisfied. However, for Swain, this young guy who has nothing to do with the army is involved, they are very dissatisfied, even if Swain is the confidant of the eldest princess, but it is only the eldest princess, for the staff officers, the eldest princess is worthy of respect, but not worthy of their allegiance.

"This earl is a little too self-righteous!" said a staff officer, looking at Swain's departing back, "and judging by his tone, does he think he knows how to fight?"

"He didn't have a beak to lay out the battle. Baron O'Brien glanced at the staff officer faintly, "He just provided us with some valuable information. ”

If anything, do you staff officers who have never been on the battlefield know how to fight?" Baron O'Brien thought to himself.

"Then he didn't need to interject. The staff officer didn't seem convinced, and added, "This is the staff officer's job! ”

You know it's your staff's job!Baron O'Brien was tempted to say this, but he held back, after all, this was not the time to argue with these War Department staff.

He said a few more words lightly, and the matter was revealed, and the staff officers, who saw that the commander-in-chief did not want to talk more about this matter, also knew the current affairs, and did not say more.

——————————————————

"Looks like those staff officers are unhappy with you. Caterina chuckled as she listened to Swain's report from Command, "But what's the solution, who makes your tongue so annoying?"

Only those who do not know the times will be disgusted with others, and they will show this disgust on their faces. Swain didn't react at all to the eldest princess's teasing, and there was still no expression on his face, "It's been four hours since the telegram from the attack on Tiamat Palace, and under normal circumstances, this time is completely enough to get from Tiamat Palace to Karin Castle, since His Highness Alexander has not arrived here yet, it is estimated that there was an accident on the way." Although it should not have been captured by Beria's people, but now that all the roads from the city to here are blocked by the enemy, I think that unless we defeat the enemy army in front of us, His Highness Alexander should not be able to reach them. ”

Katerina's smile immediately retracted, although she was not without thoughts in her heart, but she was genuinely worried about her family in danger.

"Can't you do it?" she looked at Swain, her eyes full of anticipation, "since you have escaped from the siege of Pritton, it shouldn't be too difficult to rescue my father and them, right?"

"If I am given a little time to find His Highness Alexander, I can indeed take them out of the city. ”

Celestia's eyes lit up at once, the young earl had never made her so happy since she had known Swain.

"But if I go to rescue His Highness Alexander, then there will be no defense here. ”

"Defenses here, we have 20,000 troops by our side, how can we not have defenses?" asked Caterina suspiciously.

Princess Celestia had never been exposed to the world of magicians, and even though she had seen Swain fight against the pirates on the Vincent, she still couldn't fully understand how powerful magicians really were.

"Those armies do seem reliable, even the most powerful magicians can't stand up to an army of 20,000 men, but ......" Sven stared at Caterina tightly, his eyes made Princess Celestia feel uncomfortable, "It's like I can save your father from the enemy's pursuit, and once they know I'm not here, they can easily sneak in, capture you, and kill our commander by the way." ”

Katerina was stunned for a moment, and her instinct told her that what Swain said was true.

"So, what do you choose, do you choose your own life, or your family's?"

Caterina was stunned by Swain's sudden question, and as she had been on the Vincent before, she had never been able to be as hard-hearted as Swain.

However, she will not admit defeat so easily, as the princess of the empire, she also has her own pride.

"It's not up to me to choose, Count Jericho. Caterina looked at Swain without fear, the discomfort in Swain's eyes had disappeared now, "Would you be willing to save my father and them?"

Swain didn't speak, he looked at Caterina for a moment, then stood up and prepared to leave Princess Celestia's room.

"What, can't you speak?"

"I'm glad I'm glad you've grown. Swain turned his back to Caterina and didn't stop, "It's just late." ”

Caterina froze in place, she seemed to understand something, but it seemed too late.