At the beginning of 1708, a meeting of the Imperial Cabinet of Valstad was held in the chamber of the Golden Lake Palace.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Earl Southgate, stood up and spoke: "Your Majesty, we have received news from the embassy that the Sylvinian Empire has declared war on our country. ”

The chamber became noisy, ministers and ministers whispered, and many looked worried.

"Please keep the venue quiet!" The court master of ceremonies raised his gentleman's staff and slammed it on the ground.

Langford, the Chancellor of the Empire, asked: "When and how was war declared?" ”

"Yesterday morning, the Emperor of the Sylvinian Empire, Maximilian Habsberg, summoned his ministers to the court of that day, summoned our diplomats to his face, and then made a formal declaration of war on my country in the presence of many ministers."

"This does not surprise me," said the Empress, "a few months ago, in the presence of our diplomats, he gave a grand memorial service to King Victorio, and enshrined the condemned sinners of our country as victims in the Holy Church, which was a grave act of hostility, and he had long wanted to declare war, but was only waiting for the opportunity." ”

The prime minister asked, "How will other countries react?" ”

The Foreign Secretary responded: "They haven't responded yet, but our spies have heard some rumors that the Papal States and the Knights may have signed a mutual assistance agreement with them, and if we invade the territory of the Sylvinian Empire, the three countries will immediately form an alliance." ”

Empress Zhengse said: "This is not an accident, they have long wanted to organize a second coalition to attack our country, this time we must be extra careful to deal with it, I will not take the initiative to attack, wait for the other party to strike first." ”

The Foreign Secretary approving: "Your Majesty is wise. ”

After another month or so, the enemy finally made some moves, but the goal was not to attack the peninsula itself.

In the streets of the Valstad Empire, newspaper sellers shouted explosive news in a hoarse voice: "Look at the newspaper! Read the newspaper! The Sylvinian Empire has attacked our colonies in the New World, and Her Majesty the Empress has responded to the war. Buy a newspaper and read it! ”

This was the first head-to-head confrontation between the two empires since the unification of the peninsula, but when you walked into a tavern, everyone still had a drink as usual, and you didn't feel the terrifying atmosphere of the approaching big war.

This is because the country has strengthened, the people of Valsta have become more confident, and thanks to the new policy of the Empress, the country's industry and commerce have developed rapidly, and there is prosperity everywhere.

As soon as they heard the news of the war, a long queue quickly formed in front of the Empire's recruiting office, these people were not only tempted by the lucrative military salary, but also hoped to obtain a knighthood by joining the army, which was the most convenient way for commoners to enter the upper class.

But the civilians did not know that the Valstad Imperial army seemed to be invincible, but in fact it was extremely lacking in high-level commanders, and the older generation of soldiers such as Field Marshal Simon, Prince Orsengray, and Count Baptiste were old and facing retirement.

The young talents represented by Marshal Leopold and Marshal Lanfield gradually took over the command, but unfortunately, due to the widespread spread of the recent epidemic, these young senior generals were sick in bed and were not physically able to travel far away, so that the Imperial Army had to temporarily face the dilemma of being unavailable and unavailable.

Who will lead the army across the oceans to the New World to fight a powerful enemy? This becomes a tricky problem.

Simon Gallieni, president of the National Military Academy, recommended to the Emperor his protégé, Marquis Dali Einfurt, an old classmate of the Empress and an Elector who currently serves as an advisor to the General Armament Department.

Although he had recently been in civilian work, he had shown great talent in his previous military career, not only in the art of army command, but also in navigation, and his amazing memory impressed everyone, and he was known as the "moving library".

The Empress quickly decided on the candidate, and she quickly organized a colonial expeditionary force of more than 10,000 men, and the Elector, Marquis Dalí Einfurt, was promoted to the rank of Field Marshal of the Imperial Army, serving as the commander of the expeditionary force, and Dalí's old subordinate, General Gavin Malcolm, naturally continued to serve as his deputy as chief of staff of the expeditionary force. Another of Dali's old subordinates, General Powani Faris, also joined the expeditionary force.

Admiral Valero led the Royal Navy fleet as an escort, responsible for safely escorting a large number of troop carriers to the New World colonies.

Before going to the barracks, Dalí kissed his wife Jane Ning and his young son William goodbye in his manor, and promised to bring gifts for them.

After arriving at the harbor barracks, two generals outside the headquarters were arguing loudly, and it was none other than Dalí's old friends, General Gavin and General Puigani.

"I said I would take military discipline seriously! Places on the ship are precious and limited, and you let the soldiers carry so much wine! Oh, my God! Thanks to me, I checked the soldier's backpack, what kind of mess is this? Playing cards, chess, metal whistles, pet dogs, folding fishing rods......

Forget it, there was a sergeant whose backpack was full of cigars! This guy shamelessly told me that he was going to sell these cigars at a high price on the ship, and when he returned home, he would be rich, to hell with it, Puigny! Are your people going to war or going on outings? ”

"! You boring fellow! Why are you searching their backpacks? If you take care of your own people, why should you control my people?

Tell you, Jiawen, the two of us are at the same level, and it is not your turn to dictate to me, to fight so far away, of course, you have to bring more things to play, otherwise you won't have to die of boredom? Of course, you dead wooden head doesn't know what it means to be entertained and relaxed. ”

"Bastard! You dare to defy military discipline! I'm going to take you to court-martial! ”

"Oh! Come on! As for you? ”

Dalí stood from a distance and watched them with a smile, and the sight of the two generals arguing aroused a fond memory in Dalí's heart, since his wife gave birth, his busy family and government affairs took over his life, so he did not have time to see his old friends.

The personalities of the two people in front of them are almost completely opposite, Gavin is serious and Poigni is free and romantic, but they have one thing in common, they are both excellent commanders, and they have already proven their worth on the battlefield.

"Hello!" Dali walked over and said hello.

The two immediately stopped arguing.

"Your Excellency the Elector!" Jiawen returned a standard military salute.

"Oops! Isn't this Dali? Powani greeted him with a smile.

"Good brother!" Dali hugged the two cordially, "You two don't quarrel anymore, I hear you all arguing about something, give me a face, can you each take a step back?" ”

"Dali, you are the commander-in-chief of the expeditionary force, you have the final say, since you say so, okay...... I will no longer hold him accountable...... But military discipline still needs to be rectified, and it's not okay to be too casual! ”

"Don't say it, Gavin, I admit that I was wrong, I haven't fought for too long, haha! I'll ask my subordinates to be more restrained, don't look at these guys who like to play around, in fact, they are all good soldiers, and they are definitely trustworthy when they go to the battlefield. ”

"Don't talk big, Puigny, I'll keep an eye on their performance, and I won't show mercy if I make another mistake!"

"Wow! You guy! You're still going crazy down the stairs, haha! ”

Dali smiled: "Our trio is really tacit, you two are arguing almost every time, and I am always a peacemaker, and then you two guys quickly reconcile as if they had discussed in advance."

Haha, unconsciously, six years have passed, we have all grown up, and as a father, I really miss those days in the past, although it was hard, but it was also happy. ”

Puigny hugged him again, "Our trio of the 153rd Infantry Battalion are reunited!" We're going to win another victory, and we're going to drive all those Sylvinians out to sea!" ”

Jiawen smiled and said, "You guy finally said something serious!" Dalí, the troops are ready, when are we leaving? ”

"Don't worry, let's catch up here first, rest for a few days, and wait for the royal fleet to come to the port to pick us up."