The staff officers hugged Celestia through the barracks, and they kept saying something to Caterina along the way, but Sven, who came with Celestia, was subconsciously ignored by them. Because the positions around the eldest princess are crowded with staff officers, Sven can only be in the back, but this is nothing for him, the arrangements have been made, this time he came to borrow the identity of Caterina's eldest princess, thinking that Baron O'Brien will obtain the identity of commander-in-chief.

"How's the situation going?" asked Caterina as she walked to the staff officer beside her, "Is there any news of my father or the cabinet?"

"Not yet, Your Highness. A senior staff officer beside her wiped the beads of sweat from her forehead, and her voice trembled a little, "After His Excellency Guderian sent us a telegram that he had been attacked, the communication has been interrupted, and we have also tried to send reconnaissance troops to the city to check, but the current Deweide city is already in chaos, and there are a large number of people pouring out of every main road in and out of the city, we can only know that Deweide must be being attacked by the rebels at present, but the specific situation is not known." ”

Caterina frowned at the slender eyebrows, although she had a hard fight with Alexander before, they were father and daughter after all, and Caterina couldn't help but feel anxious when she thought that her father and her younger siblings might be in danger at the moment.

"Maybe we can send a rescue force, can we find a way to get them out of Deweide?"

Several staff officers glanced at each other, and their faces showed embarrassment. "Your Highness, we also very much hope to rescue His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and the ministers immediately, but at the moment, a large number of rebels are marching towards the camp, if we divide the troops at this time, we are afraid of ......"

"I'm afraid that your lives will not be safe?" Caterina glared at the staff officer who spoke, she was really angry that these high-ranking officers of the War Department were so greedy for life and afraid of death, "If you don't rescue the lord and protect the people, what's the point of the army?"

In the face of the eldest princess's questioning, the staff officers all bowed their heads in unison, but they still did not let go and promised to send a rescue force.

"Who's in charge here?" said Sven, who had been hanging behind him in silence.

The staff officers looked at Swain in unison, they didn't care much about this earl, after all, he didn't have the status of a member of the royal family, and he was so young, even if he had the merit of killing Michel VII, but that kind of thing would at most fool people who had never seen the world, for these staff officers who had worked in the War Department for so many years, Swain's words had no effect.

"We are under the orders of Minister Guderian, so naturally we obey the orders of the minister. Of course, the Minister had given us orders before the communication was interrupted, and if His Royal Highness the Crown Prince or Prime Minister Pitt arrived, we would follow their commands. ”

"That is," Swain narrowed his eyes as he stared at the group of staff officers, "you guys don't even count?"

The staff officers froze, Swain's words were indeed too direct, as if he had come to find fault.

"In that case, we should now choose someone who can make a decision, otherwise, when the enemy army attacks the position, you are still waiting for orders, and it will be useless at all. ”

"Count Jericho!" a staff officer shouted sternly to Swain, "this is a matter for the War Department, and you are not qualified to beak." ”

"Maybe I'm not familiar with the affairs of the War Department," Swain said, narrowing his eyes at the staff officer who had spoken, "but you seem to be about the same as me." ”

The staff officer choked on these words, and his eyes widened, and he almost wanted to attack on the spot.

"That's enough!" Princess Celestia snorted, and the staff officers who looked at Swain immediately lowered their heads, "Just do as Count Jericho wants, do any of you have any objections?"

The staff officers looked at each other, but no one dared to speak, it was obvious that the eldest princess and Swain were on one side, and if they dared to stand up and sing against each other at this time, they would definitely be hated by Her Royal Highness the princess.

"Since there is no objection, then so be it. Caterina didn't plan to dwell on it here, she continued to walk forward, this time she didn't just come to meet these staff officers, more importantly, she needed to meet with the generals who actually controlled the army, only by controlling these generals could she really control the 20,000 troops here.

Because of the small episode that happened just now, the staff officers did not speak much, these senior officers all had their own calculations, if the eldest princess and Count Jericho really wanted to meddle in their power, then the staff officers were not without a way to deal with it, after all, without them, no one could play the command function of the War Department.

But Swain has already had a solution to this problem.

When they came to the temporary conference tent, the commanders were already waiting here, and they had specially set aside a place for the eldest princess.

This time she came to the barracks, and the eldest princess had already decided to show a bit of a tough attitude, otherwise, these officers would not necessarily buy her account. Therefore, when the officers stood up and saluted her, Caterina did not mean to be modest at all, and sat directly on the main seat.

"This time the imperial capital suffered a second disaster, which is really a misfortune for the empire, but with the loyalty and dedication of all the generals, it is not enough to worry about it, and our Jia Ang family will be able to set things right with your help and restore peace to the imperial capital. ”

The eldest princess sat at the top, looking at this group of generals who were at least twice her age, and she didn't look timid at all, after all, she was a member of the Jean family, and she probably had a thirst for power in her bones.

Standing behind the Celestial Princess, Swain glanced at the generals present, and finally he turned his gaze to Baron O'Brien. Feeling Swain's eyes, the baron, who had already reached a certain tacit understanding with him, immediately understood, and said: "Please rest assured, Your Highness the Princess, although the rebels are powerful for a while, they will never be the opponents of the Imperial Army, and we will definitely defend Her Royal Highness the Princess to the death and help you restore the order of the past." ”

With Baron O'Brien at the head, the rest of the generals also immediately spoke out, expressing their willingness to dedicate their loyalty to the empire and the Giang family.

Caterina nodded in satisfaction, knowing that Swain had arranged it beforehand, she was still very happy that the officers were able to show their unanimous support for her in this way.

"Thank you very much for your loyalty, and I thank you all on behalf of my father and the family of Gion. Caterina bowed solemnly to the officers, but then, she changed her mind and brought up the matter of the commander-in-chief, "There is a rebel army of tens of thousands marching here, and the generals must already know the news. Therefore, before we can restore order in the imperial capital, we must first eliminate this rebel army. However, because Minister Guderian is still stranded in Tiamat Palace, our army currently lacks a commander-in-chief who can command the whole army. ”

The eldest princess didn't finish her words, but the meaning was already very clear, and the people here were not stupid, so they could naturally think of understanding what the eldest princess didn't say later.

The officers looked at each other, although they were all equal, but their prestige could not help but differ, especially now the commander who temporarily replaced General Sissel in command of the Connaught army was even lower than the commanders of the other two armies.

In the end, almost everyone's eyes were focused on Baron O'Brien, who had such a brilliant record before, and was from the O'Brien family, a famous general, and had the strongest combat effectiveness of the Munster army under his command, these conditions added up, and there was indeed no one more suitable for the position of commander-in-chief than him.

In the decades when the Guderian family dominated the imperial military, the officers of the War Department almost all relied on their noses, but correspondingly, the local officer factions were not very convinced of these "central armies", at least, they were not very convinced by these staff officers who had not personally been on the battlefield.

This can be regarded as a balance of power, Nicholas I relied on the Guderian family to run the imperial military, but at the same time to avoid their ties to the army too closely, the commanders of several major legions were never from the War Department, but were promoted by local generals, and the relationship with the War Department was not considered close. Therefore, when the South rebelled, the War Department learned about the changes in the Southern Army so late, so that Wei Ting seized the opportunity to take the Southern Army into the bag.

At present, the staff officers naturally prefer to wait for Minister Guderian to return to take charge of the situation, but they also understand, not to mention that the minister will not be able to return now, and the approaching rebels alone will not give them time to wait.

In the end, almost without disputing, Baron O'Brien was given the power to command an army of twenty thousand.

And behind all this, the ghost laughter that no one has heard is quietly sounding.

——————————————

On the other side, after Prime Minister Pitt escaped from Tiamat Palace with Alexander, the rest of the ministers also fled separately to avoid the target being too large and noticed by the enemy, or in other words, to disperse the target to cover Alexander's withdrawal. The carriage carrying Princess Anna and the two princes was ahead of them, and they headed for the camp in the western suburbs.

Alexander, who was forcibly dragged into the carriage by the soldiers, was at first very restless, and in his opinion, it was a shame for him to leave the palace of Tiamat like this, and as the crown prince, the future emperor of the empire, he would flee at the sight of the rebels, and retreat without firing a single shot, and his reputation would inevitably suffer greatly.

But Prime Minister Pitt preferred to have the soldiers tie up Alexander than let him go back. The old prime minister knew very well that with Beria's strategy, once he made a move, it would mean that this was his most sure blow, even if the enemy seemed to be only more than a thousand people, but Beria must have a back move, and he was not a person who would easily make mistakes. Moreover, the attack on Tiamat Palace by only about a thousand men only made Prime Minister Pitt even more uneasy, so small that one wondered why Beria did this.

The carriage did not leave through the main entrance of the Tiamat Palace, but detoured from the path to the north, and before leaving, Guderian had ordered the imperial capital garrison to come and meet him, and at the same time to secure the troops in the western camp in case Alexander could defend himself against possible pursuers when he arrived.

Prime Minister Pitt glanced back, and although the rebels didn't seem to have spotted them and hadn't sent anyone to chase them, for some reason, he was always a little uneasy in his heart.

Let's hope Guderian will be okay too. He silently said a word in his heart.

Retracting his gaze, Prime Minister Pitt looked at Alexander again, and now His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was blushing, and it was obvious that he had not calmed down his anger at this time.

Prime Minister Pitt sighed, the old prime minister knew that Alexander could not be blamed for this, the pressure he had been under during this time was too great, so that Alexander could not afford the dishonor caused by his escape, with such a stain, even if he defeated Beria and became emperor in the future, he would not be able to gather great prestige like his father Nicholas I, because of this stain, he would even be questioned and criticized by others for his succession.

"If you're to blame, blame me. Prime Minister Pitt said, "Guderian is buying you time to escape with his life, at least please understand his determination to die." ”

Prime Minister Pitt's words softened Alexander's face a little, but he still kept a straight face and did not unravel the gloom between his eyebrows. "I'd rather fight to the death than run away with dishonor. ”

"Your Highness, you need to know. Prime Minister Pitt looked at Alexander deeply and said earnestly, "Everyone's responsibilities are different, some people live to be responsible for others, and some are responsible for the way to keep others alive." ”

Prime Minister Pitt's meaningful words made Alexander stunned, and his emotions slowly calmed down, carefully understanding the meaning of this sentence.

"Well said. Manfred stood on the roof of a nearby building, looking down at the carriage passing below, "So, isn't it the best way to get revenge by letting this man who bears the burden of other people's hopes die?"