Winter in Kyiv ended earlier than in Moscow, and although the wind was still strong, it was no longer a cold and biting wind, but a southerly wind full of moisture.

Napoleon stood on the banks of the Pripyat River, feeling the spring breeze in his face.

The river ice has thawed, and large chunks of river ice collide with each other on the Pripyat River, making a "click" and "click" sound.

Although just over a month has passed, the situation on the battlefield has changed dramatically.

The first was the defeat of the Prussian army in the area of Vyazma, which did not affect the French army on the southern front.

During the month, the French army continued to advance on the front.

It has regained large tracts of land lost in the last year, and even three days ago, managed to retake Kharkov.

A little to the north, the combined forces of Israel and Austria-Hungary, relying on their superiority in numbers, are storming Kursk.

The war is tense and stalemate, but it is believed that after a period of time, it can only be recaptured after paying a certain price.

The whole front was in full swing when the Ottoman army suddenly landed in the Crimea.

This made Napoleon nervous for a while, but soon the Israeli army was able to contain the continued expansion of the Ottoman army.

If it weren't for the Ming Dynasty's overly powerful naval firepower as a backup, it would have driven the Ottoman army off the Black Sea by now.

Although the Ottoman army was not an opponent, their move still involved a lot of Israel's strength.

At least 100,000 Israeli troops, trapped on the Crimean peninsula and unable to move.

Compared with the idle Prussian army on the northern front, the French army on the southern front could be regarded as a succession of victories.

But behind the successive victories, Napoleon was very uneasy.

Because in the course of the battle, it was rare to see the Ming army. Even the planes that often dangle around their heads are less!

The troops annihilated on the front line are more Russian troops.

"Your Majesty, General Leclerc has returned from the front." The attendant cautiously walked up to His Majesty the Emperor.

Ever since His Majesty the Emperor returned to the front, his temper has become a little irritable.

These attendants were worried all day long, for fear that one day if they didn't get it right, they would offend His Majesty the irascible emperor, and then they were sent to the front line as cannon fodder.

"Oh!" Napoleon nodded, turned and left the riverbank.

His headquarters was on the banks of the Pripyat River, a three-story villa that was said to have been the private property of a former count.

"Your Majesty the Emperor!" Seeing Napoleon walk in, Leclerc hurriedly gave a military salute.

As a new general, Leclerc was very grateful for Napoleon's promotion.

If it weren't for Napoleon, he would have been just a colonel of an infantry regiment who was on the front line and fought desperately with an infantry regiment.

"Hmmm! It's hard to go to Kharkov this time, how is the situation at the front? Napoleon sat down in his seat, saw that Leclerc was still standing straight, and pointed to the seat next to him.

"When I went to Kharkov this time, I saw the same situation as in the war report.

On the battlefield, not a single corpse of a Ming soldier was seen.

In addition to the Russian army, it is still the Russian army.

I personally interrogated some of the Russian prisoners, and they also said that they had not seen the Ming army for a long time.

One of the captains said that the Ming army had withdrawn to Tsaritsyn.

It was also said that the Ming army went to support the Kursk battlefield.

Anyway, there are a lot of sayings. But the whereabouts of the Ming army are still a mystery. ”

After Leclerc sat down, he briefly talked about what he had seen and heard about his trip to Kharkiv.

Napoleon sent him this time in order to find out the whereabouts of the Ming army.

Without aerial reconnaissance, he was afraid that his troops would be suddenly surrounded by the Ming army.

The Prussians' lesson in Vyazma was very painful, and the distance of only a dozen kilometers was actually the distance between heaven and man forever.

The French were now acting with great caution, with the troops almost in a group, rolling forward.

This offensive was safe, but it was moving slowly.

Many times, it is because of too much caution that the fighter plane is delayed. A good war of annihilation turned into a defeat war.

"Oh yes! This is the rations of the Russian army, I brought some back. Check it out! Leclerc brought over a coarse cloth bag, which was bulging.

This shows Leclerc's cleverness and success in drawing Napoleon's attention to the Russian army's rations, rather than blaming himself for not finding out the movement of the Ming army.

"Oh, the rations of the Russian army." Napoleon took the bag and untied the noose.

Reaching out, he pulled out a handful of white, slightly yellowish things from the bag.

"It's ......!" Napoleon looked at Leclerc with some hesitation.

"This is a kind of field ration invented by the Ming people, and they call it fried noodles.

It is to fry the flour in a pan and add some salt to it.

There is also butter, mutton fat or lard fried and it becomes this thing.

This stuff is very shelf-stable because it has dried up the water.

Moreover, this kind of pocket is easy to carry on the body.

It's just ......, the taste is a little worse, it's too dry! ”

Leclerc's introduction intrigued Napoleon.

He reached out and grabbed a handful, trying to shove it into his mouth.

"Ahem, ahem, ahem......!" A violent cough was heard.

The fried noodles in your mouth squirt out so far!

Napoleon choked on fried noodles and coughed so much that his face turned red.

A group of attendants were so frightened that they hurriedly gathered around, some patting them on the back, and some questioning Leclerc what he had eaten for His Majesty the Emperor.

Others are already looking for guards to arrest Leclerc.

"Water!" Napoleon shouted with difficulty.

"Water...... Water......! A group of attendants shouted.

Already the guards had run in and held Leclerc at gunpoint.

Finally someone brought a bowl of water, and Napoleon snatched it and took a sip of it.

In the desert of Egypt, I never drank water like this.

After drinking the water, Napoleon leaned back in his chair and panted violently.

"Let him go, and you'll all get out." As soon as he had caught his breath, Napoleon drove away all his attendants and guards like flies.

"Your Majesty the Emperor!"

Leclerc's face turned white, and he regretted his actions. really ate His Majesty the Emperor out of a good way, and his whole family didn't want to live.

"Don't worry, it's just choking. This thing, too ...... It's fucking dry. Napoleon, who almost choked on the fried noodles, looked at the bag of fried noodles on the table with palpitations.

"This thing needs to be licked and eaten little by little with the tongue, and the soldiers will grab a handful and lick it slowly when they are resting on the march, or when they are fine.

It is said to be a staple food, and the way to eat it is closer to a snack. ”

Leclerc said cautiously.

"What did you do?" Napoleon drank another glass of water.

"The Russian soldiers all eat in the snow.

A bite of fried noodles and a mouthful of snow, so that it doesn't dry when you eat it.

There are also people who mix this thing with snow.

Then put it on the chest in a warm place, and soon, the two things merge together.

It tastes a little weird, but it's a filling. ”

"The Ming people really think that this kind of military food is easy to carry, more convenient than our bread."

Napoleon was not talking about the fluffy bread on his table.

Rather, it is a hard, stone-like baguette, which is also extremely dry and easy to store for a long time.

It's just that eating that thing, it's very wasted teeth.

A lot of people have to wet the bread with saliva to gnaw down a layer.

It's disgusting to eat!

"The Russian army is very fond of such rations, they say that they used to eat only potatoes and corn on the cob.

Before that, they could only eat bread mixed with sawn foam.

This kind of military ration was also distributed more than a month ago. ”

"Huh! Corn and potatoes must have been supported by the Ming people.

Do you know?

In Daming, no one likes corn and potatoes.

They eat flour-milled wheat or rice and things like that.

They call these fine grains!

Things like corn, potatoes and sweet potatoes are used to feed pigs.

They are using Russian soldiers as pigs to raise. ”

Napoleon shook his head helplessly, the wealth of the Ming Dynasty is really incomparable.

During the war, not only was it possible to ensure that its own citizens would not go hungry, but even many families in big cities had meat for their meals.

According to the information sent back by the Ming Dynasty, in the countryside of the Ming Dynasty, there were even large pig farms that raised thousands of pigs.

Their pigs eat better than their own people.

Thinking of this, Napoleon felt a little sad in his heart.

All of France is tightening its belts to get by, and the ever-increasing military spending has weighed down the finances almost breathlessly.

Prussia was already about to issue a second round of war bonds, and the Minister of Finance, Le Maire, had advised Napoleon to issue war bonds before the Prussians issued them.

Otherwise, the funds raised from the war bonds will be greatly discounted.

Napoleon was already thinking about it, but he knew it.

Once the decision was made to issue additional war bonds, it would mean a new compromise with the Hebrew consortium.

I have to be forced to give more rights and interests.

In any case, as an emperor, this is something that is difficult to accept.

"The captain I interrogated said that the military rations of the Ming people were extravagant.

Every soldier receives a canned food called luncheon meat every day.

If you're on the front line, you'll be able to get a dry biscuit.

They also have a field biscuit called compressed dry food, which is said to be made with milk, peanuts, and flour.

There is also a mysterious thing added to it, what is it called...... Chocolate.

I don't know what it is, anyway, the Russian captain said he had eaten it, it was a rare delicacy.

Under normal circumstances, every soldier in the Ming army can still eat one egg a day.

Oh yes, and their soldiers get an apple a day. ”

"Eggs?" Napoleon's eyes widened.

If he could have said that he could have said something like a compressed biscuit, he was surprised that the eggs were too hot.

Everyone knows that transportation can be bumpy.

How did you get the eggs?

It is certainly unrealistic to rely on the Russians to solve it.

The Russians themselves are running out of chickens!

"Eggs!

They even have the capacity to deliver things like eggs to the front lines.

My God!

How could the Ming people be so rich. ”

Napoleon only knew that the Ming Dynasty was very wealthy, but he did not expect that the Ming Dynasty would be so rich.

This kind of wealth has seriously exceeded his imagination.

"Your Majesty, forgive me for taking the liberty of it!

If this war continues, it will not do us any good. When Leclerc said this, he subconsciously looked around.

Finding that the attendants had been kicked out by Napoleon, he continued: "

If we continue like this, we will win the war.

The debts of the war will also allow the Hebrews to control us to the death.

Rather than that, it would be better for us to end the war sooner. ”

"Leclerc, how do you end the war?

The Ming people will not negotiate with us, and even if they do, the condition is to send me to the gallows.

Can we say yes? ”

Leclerc hurriedly shook his head.

"If Da Ming wins the war, people like you and me will all be sent to the gallows.

Would you like to? Napoleon pointed to Leclerc's nose and then to his own.

"No!" Leclerc hurriedly shook his head.

"So, if we want to keep fighting, we have to win.

Otherwise, we will all die.

Do you think it is better to lose all rights to the Hebrews than to go to the gallows?

The Hebrews only want our money, while the Ming people want our lives.

Leclerc, your idea is naïve and ridiculous.

You know? ”

At critical moments, these subordinates must be cheered up.

Otherwise, their mentality collapses, and the morale of the troops below can be imagined.

"Yes! I understand His Majesty the Emperor! ”

Leclerc hurriedly nodded, this must be on the same front as His Majesty the Emperor.

"Kharkov has been taken, let's stabilize it first.

After all, we have not yet found the main forces of the Ming army. ”

Napoleon's stars year after year, or where is the main force of the Ming army.

Kharkov was defeated, but the main force of the Ming army still did not appear, which made Napoleon very bottomless.

"When I was interrogating the Russian army, I heard a message."

"What?"

A Russian major said that the Ming army seemed to have moved north.

From Kharkov to the north, that would definitely be Kursk.

There, the Israeli army and Austria-Hungary are storming the positions of the Russian army.

Are they going to go against the Israelis and Austria-Hungary? ”

"I'll tell you the latest news, Prussia's internal affairs have changed dramatically.

Frederick died, and so did Bismarck.

Now in the position of prime minister is a guy named Adolf.

In a short time, Prussia was unlikely to attack. ”

"When?" Leclerc's eyes widened, and he couldn't believe it was true.

"It was a week ago, and now the news hasn't spread. You don't go around talking about it either! ”

"Yes!"

"Da Ming must also be able to know about this matter, then it is ......, and the Ming army will not worry too much about the northern front.

In such a situation, it is very likely that the Ming will attack the Israelis and Austro-Hungarian forces on the central front. ”

As a battle-hardened emperor, Napoleon was keenly aware of the value of this message.

"Shall we inform the Hebrews and Austria-Hungary then?"