XI

"Marshal Radetz Govar, Minister of Defense of the Julok Directory Army, is dead. ”

The news caused a stir in the military and the government – even more than the uproar caused by the destruction of a tenth of the "Lenny Detection Network" in the pursuit.

Not to mention the aftermath, the issue of merit and accountability alone has made the whole system tense. Whether it is the Southwest Army system or the Fathes Army system, they are involved, and no one can escape responsibility. Admiral Betsy was largely responsible for the erroneous concentration of his main forces at the North Gate and the approval of the use of the implosion rifles, but Hull, who ultimately decided to send Lieutenant Naymen Soleton in pursuit, could not escape accountability. Lieutenant General López, who has always been shrewd and capable, was in a trance for some reason, which aggravated the level of the commotion.

In the midst of this chaos, Hull only had time to add Namen's military membership to the file before he was summoned by the council's inquiry council. The exact process of this inquiry meeting is not known to the lieutenant who is waiting for the verdict at the headquarters of the military building, but it is known to the cerebellum that it is an extremely fierce political transaction meeting.

The final decision was not kept secret, and Lieutenant Colonel Hull returned that evening with the final decision.

The original military district system was abolished, and the field forces were regrouped. "Given that neither candidate is fit to perform his duties at this time", they brought out former Field Marshal Conti Fox – now not a former Marshal – to take the helm of the Council of Staff. He will be in direct command of the new formation known as the "Central Army," which will go to receive and reorganize the troops of the former Northern Army. Former Lieutenant General López's Southwest Army was changed from a temporary establishment to a formal Western Army, and the rank was raised to that of general, responsible for the defense of the entire West and the South. The Fates Army was reorganized into the Eastern Army, and they allocated some units to the Central Army and the Southwestern Army.

Eighteen years after the end of the Fourth Freedom War, the Free Army finally had once again a marshal, two generals, three corps, twelve free divisions, and six reserve divisions.

Western Army: Admiral López. At present, it has jurisdiction over the 5th "Italian-American" Division, the 10th "Lenny" Division, and the 6th National "Spear-throwing" Division. It should be under the jurisdiction of the 6th "Maitebusi" Division, the 7th "Southwestern" Division, and the 4th National "Morning Star" Division.

Eastern Army: Admiral Betsy. At present, it has jurisdiction over the 3rd "Fates" Division, the 9th "Central Mountains" Division, the 11th "Great Wilderness" Division, the 12th "Oss River" Division, the 2nd National "Trident" Division, and the 3rd National "Double-edged Sword" Division.

Central Army: Field Marshal Fox. At present, it has jurisdiction over the 2nd "Interre" Division, the 1st National "Scimitar" Division, and the 5th National "War Halberd" Division. It should be under the jurisdiction of the 1st "Republic" Division, the 4th "Shengsen" Division, and the 8th "Julok" Division.

The three armies appear to be the same, but in fact both the Western Army and the Central Army are still in the Directory at least half of their strength. For this reason, the existing forces of the 3rd and 9th Divisions were strengthened to López to form a new Lenni Division, so that he could barely gather a lineup of more than 20,000 men, and soon he was about to leave for the southwest to accept the surrender of the 7th Division. The Interre Division would also arrive in two or three days, and as the main force of the Central Army, it would go to Julok to receive all the troops of the former Northern Army.

"That's probably the case. As for you...... The final decision above is this. The Medal of Freedom, 3rd class, is awarded for the final killing of Govar, but due to the large number of friendly casualties caused by the destruction of the 'Lenny Detection Network' during a combat mission, this medal will be written down until a year later or the next time you do it. Next, you may want to transfer to the Central Army. Hull flipped through the thick minutes of the meeting, picking out the few places that involved Naimon.

Naimon was slightly taken aback: "Central Army, why not the Western Army?"

"Ah, that's because Robert took my place in the Western Army. The new 10th Division was formed by the forward forces of the Phaetes, and it needed someone familiar with the troops to straighten out the formation. I joined the Central Army for the same reason: both the Scimitar and Halberd divisions were originally subordinate to the Southwest Army. It is not difficult for the army to change the supreme commander, but the general staff is not so easy to change. ”

The lieutenant colonel rummaged through the desk drawer and pulled out a piece of paper from it.

"I can send you the letter of appointment now, Lieutenant Soleton. You'll be able to report tomorrow, right?"

Naimon nodded: "Yes, tomorrow will do." But can you let me think about it? If you want to go to the Central Army......"

Hull smiled kindly, "Do you still want to go to Admiral López? Going to a few different units will be good for your future. If you stay with a commander with whom you have a personal relationship, others will think that you are an incompetent guy who climbed up through nepotism alone. Truth be told, you've done a great job before, and you need to prove it to the other commanders as well. ”

Seeing that Naimon was still hesitating, he continued, "To be honest, the Central Army is a good place for officers with great ambitions, especially those who know magic. Marshal Fawkes, though an old-school officer, doesn't trust magic as much as Betsy does. General Betsy would rather bring an extra hundred anti-magic scrolls than use any new magic items that 'have a certain chance' of failing. He trusted in the white-knuckle charge and the platoon gun. And General López is too strong in personal ability, and he will overshadow the brilliance of his subordinates. As a staff officer here, you have plenty of opportunities to get ahead. ”

Naimon looked at the confident lieutenant colonel in front of him. If you get ahead...... This man must have done it. As a "real" lieutenant colonel, he could become a general at any time - if a division commander dies in battle. Or, if appropriate, he might even be promoted to temporary corps commander.

"Well, the Central Army doesn't sound bad either. ”

Hull rummaged through the folder. This time, the folder he took out was dark gray, and the cover was stamped with a striking red "top secret" stamp.

"You worked in the logistics department of the rebels, right? and concurrently served as an assault company commander? quite a good resume. ”

"Yes. Do I still have to work in the back office?

"I don't think there will be any firebirds in a year. To be honest, logistics is a good location, safe, although not easy to contribute. You can't be a company commander at the same time, but you can be a company mage at the same time. Hull's quill pen dipped twice in ink and scurried across the letter of appointment, "Fifth National Division, Halberd Division." The chief of the logistics department, the arcane mage of the 1st Assault Company, the alternate member of the Central Army Staff - are you satisfied, lieutenant?"

Naimon thought for a moment and replied, "No problem, sir. ”

"Congratulations. Report for duty tomorrow morning at 8 a.m. ”

Leaving the military building, he happily took the letter of appointment and walked in the direction of home.

That night in the orphanage, he and all his relatives drank until late at night. The wine is not very good, but it is enough to indulge in a groggy and beautiful drunken world.

At this time, he did not have time to think about the new position he had been given. It sounds like a good position, with little risk, meritorious service, and a good future.

It wasn't until he reported to work with a headache the next morning that Naimon understood why Hull had tried so hard to sell him last night. He began to regret why he did not hear clearly about the troops assigned.

The place where he was in office was not a regular freelance division at all. It was a National Guard division – a unit that the mean media called a "motley unit" or a "militia division."

The officers are almost all third-rate officers who have been eliminated from the autonomous division. The soldiers were supposed to be all volunteers recruited by López in Lenny and the surrounding area, but in reality, a quarter looked weak and listless, and the other quarter looked like ruffians or beggars. According to the state of "training", about a quarter of the soldiers still exist only on the payroll. He forced himself to ignore the "soldiers" who were crouching on the ground with pipes in hand.

Naimon suddenly understood why the soldiers, who were also recruited at Lenny, were divided into two divisions. It is clear that Clad picks out the really good volunteers, leaving behind the soldiers who volunteer but are not good, good but not volunteer, and even not good and not willing to guard Lenny.

And now, he's going to take up his post in this unit, provide them with logistics, and lead -- no, this time -- to follow the "assault soldiers" selected from among these people to make a difference.

Looking at the "training" of these soldiers, the concentration of alcohol in his blood seemed to increase, making his stomach juice bubbling and churning, and his head became more and more painful.

"It seems that you shouldn't drink so much alcohol even if you just turned eighteen......"

With that in mind, he pushed open the door to the back office. There were only two desks in it, and one was empty. It was worse than the informal establishment office he had in Fortiburg: there were still five or six people there to clean up the logistics of the entire fortress, and it wouldn't be so unpunctual. Anyway, it's a regular teacher.

Naimon sat irritably behind his desk and began to look at the organizational chart of the department and the General Staff, waiting for his adjutant to arrive.

Lieutenant Colonel Hull Tedwood's name is prominently written, with a lieutenant general and two major generals above him, and Naimon himself two floors below him. Many, many lieutenant positions were vacant—they never seemed to have been filled, including his lieutenant position. Maybe he didn't have to wait for this non-existent person at all.

"Good morning, sir. ”

The man who came in was completely undisciplined: she didn't knock on the door, and she didn't ask for his permission. But hearing this voice, he no longer had time to pursue these small problems.

"You...... Aren't you a reserve officer? Aren't you going back to taking care of business?"

"Oh, I've taken care of it. Anyway, I'm just a little housekeeper, and the group won't have a problem without me. ”

The blonde female ensign, still wearing the bright red Interlite uniform, walked in. She walked in with a large suitcase and a women's satchel in tow, dropping everything on the table across from him. Magically—or maybe really magically—she pulled out all sorts of knick-knacks that Naimon had never seen before, and in an instant the table was almost full. When she was done, she found the thin piece of paper and slapped it on Naimon's desk.

"Anne Sefir, Second Lieutenant of the Interre Division, was seconded to the Logistics Department of the Fifth National Division as an adjutant logistician on the basis of this letter of appointment. She's here to report to you, sir. ”

Naimon leaned on the table with his head in his hands, staring at the letter of appointment. He didn't know how long it took Anne to make this decision or how much it cost her, but he knew that her unfortunate military career must have just begun. He did not deny that Anne was a very capable person, but at some point the girl's nerves were as thick as the central pillar of an early Coman building. She's in this kind of army with bad military discipline...... He was a little afraid to think about it.

"Are they going to throw sheep into the wolves? or...... On the contrary?"

He began to wonder if it was a terrible mistake for him to choose the military as the direction of his life.

***

There are still six people left in the huge team who have escaped the "collapse of the Great Detection Network".

With the two knights active, all of Danica's team escaped the frenzied magic fluctuations that caused paralysis, fainting, and physical damage, while only Captain Edith Magnum escaped the magic effects on the receiving side. They carried four unconscious men with them, which severely slowed down the group's journey.

"Fortunately, we left a spare horse in advance and escaped the explosion. I didn't expect the Stone Wall Technique to cause such a terrible effect......" Xiu Lan muttered to herself, thinking back to the disaster just now,

"I'm sorry, it's our chief's fault. He just thought he should find something to stop the terrible magic. Edith, who was chatting with Frazor Rasta, turned around.

"But why would that lieutenant know about it? Implosion is a magic that rarely has the opportunity to be used, and even the Imperial University research council has not discovered the potential danger of this magic. If we knew that this magic might cause the magic circuit to collapse, we wouldn't be so unguarded......"

"Forget it, Xiulan. Thinking about the past doesn't help either. Rasta replied, "The key question now is how to gain the understanding of the Julok army without rescuing Marshal Govar and inflicting heavy casualties...... Right, Miss Captain?"

"Hmm. If I go back like this...... I think the morale of the army will be unstable, and there is a possibility of mutiny. What's more, Lieutenant Colonel Eugen and I also have a lot of responsibility for causing this situation. Edith's face was heavy, "But if you have to say it, it's not impossible to stabilize the morale of the army." ”

Xiu Lan slowed down his horse and asked, "What way?"

Edith glanced at Danika, who was riding alone behind everyone, and said slowly, "Then we need the help of the Grand Magician, Miss Vilen, and our Royal Highness the Princess." ”

Hearing this, Rasta jerked the reins of his horse and nearly fell off his horse. "So you, you are ......"

"Sorry I didn't contact you before. That guy at Constance is a genius counterespionage, and I'm going to wait until he betrays him. ”

Edith stopped her horse, took off her blue FreeArmy hat, and saluted Olya with it on her chest, "I'm sorry I didn't reveal my identity until now. ”

"Wait a minute, what are you talking about?" asked Olya Hugh Kirman, confused.

Xiulan was confused for a while, and then suddenly understood, and explained to her: "That's right, the captain in front of us is the most outstanding agent of the empire in the south. ”

"My code name is 'Fog Hawk'. In the absence of Isaac Newton, the interim director, I hold the decision. Edith smiled, "Now, please let out the backup you have saved, Your Highness the Princess." I know you're here to stay. ”

"Backup? you mean...... Goval's?" Olya was also very quick to react.

"Your Highness, you've got the point. When I saw that the rest were my own people, I thought I could do this. Edith said as she stared at Danica.

Danica's hand shook and she frowned. Seeing that her face was embarrassed, Xiulan interjected: "Wait a minute, we have to respect Denika's personal will. After all, there is a great risk in pretending that Govar is still alive. ”

"To be honest, right now we don't have any other options. Without Marshal Govar's control, we probably wouldn't have been able to return to Kengrad alive. Edith calmly analyzed, "Our troops ran out two-thirds of them last night. If they don't do anything else, they will mutiniate before they reach Vodkagrad. You are still valuable as a captive or as a corpse. ”

Her analysis was completely emotionless, and it was an analysis from a calm and objective point of view. Shuran and Rasta frowned at the same time, a style that reminded them of the infamous Imperial Minister of Security. Sometimes it can be very tiresome to be calm and objective.

"Needless to say, I understand it. Danika waved her hand to stop her, "I'll do it, just with one condition." ”

"Say it, please. "Hulandau.

"I have only one request: we can't start a war. So, it's up to me to play that role. I'm not going to accept any demands that would cause war, okay?"

"The goal of us ordinary people is the same, and no one wants war. Edith looked around at everyone, and everyone nodded, "Deal." ”

"Deal. Danika jumped off her horse without hesitation, "Olya, please project the final appearance of Lord Govar. ”

When everything was ready to stop, they returned to the road and went with Radetz Govar to the woods where the last remnants of the 10th Division were hiding. Their destination was Kengrad, the center of the remnants of the Directory.

In that city, in the capital of the Julok Republic, a new assistant treasurer had just been sworn in—a man who wielded the same magic as Danica. Bonnie Seiffel took away the glory of Denica as "the first civil servant in the history of the republics to be dressed as a man"—if there was any glory in it.

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