When several people saw the emperor coming, they immediately stood up and saluted him.

The two sentries didn't dare to say more because of Franz's reprimand just now.

The Emperor was wondering why no one answered him, when he suddenly felt familiar to the person in front of him.

The thought of Franz's notice instantly lifted his spirits.

"Marshal Kuster? Welcome back. ”

Franz flattered him by giving Kuster a warm hug.

But he was not alarmed, and after calmly returning the salute, he followed Franz into the palace, leaving only the two startled sentries standing in front of the door.

Franz laughed disdainfully, like a clown, snorted and walked in.

"How are you doing on the Turkish and German side?" Franz asked as he walked.

"All is well, but I don't want our allies to fight while we're watching from the other side." Kuster replied.

Franz didn't feel anything but a little guilty, but Franz behind him was ashamed, and he lowered his body like an ostrich and buried his head.

"Who said that? Aren't we in a confrontation with the Italian army? "The person who spoke was Portiorek, an old acquaintance of Kuster. He retorted in a rather snarky tone.

This "ink general" in charge of the Balkans had no position after the Greek resistance stopped, and he had to return to the imperial nest.

However, his former subordinates have now become his bosses, which makes him quite dissatisfied, but the issue of promotion is not what Kuster said, so what's the use of finding fault with him.

Kuster also responded in his usual innocent tone:

"If you say we're playing against the only European country that can be defeated by African countries, that's a good thing."

Always putting on a solid posture, this is what he is best at in politics.

Portiorek really couldn't find any flaws, but that didn't prevent him from pressing from elsewhere:

"Do you want us to fight the enemy without adequate preparation?"

The Emperor and Franz were fascinated by their argument and stopped to watch.

"Oh!" Kuster suddenly became interested, and deliberately raised his voice and said:

"If I'm not mistaken, Russia wasn't prepared before the war began."

While thinking, he came up with a sentence and said:

"Before the war, they were still in the process of reform, and the standing army was only 1.42 million. They plan to expand to three million or even four or five million in a few years! ”

He turned abruptly and looked directly at Portiorek:

"But even so, the Russian army, which was unprepared, or completely unprepared, still gave us a blow in the face."

"My marshal, you'll have to dig through the information. You don't know how terrifying their mobilization ability is, 5 million people were mobilized just after the outbreak of the war! ”

Portiorek said awkwardly, his face full of contempt.

"I never read the information when I fight! I only look at intelligence and the war situation. I don't even need the enemy's position, I just need to remember where 'I' are—because my army will open a wide path for me. ”

Kuster said quite confidently. When he spoke of his army, a look of pride hung over his face, and an intimidating smell emanated from his body.

"Are you bragging about not making drafts?"

"Who brags about the draft!"

"Haha!" The Emperor's hearty laughter interrupted the argument between the two. Apparently amused by the mouth full of Custer, but he didn't say anything, waved his hand to stop, and continued to go deeper.

The time without dialogue apparently passed quickly, and it didn't take long for several people to come to an end.

After the guards opened the gate for them, they all went in and found a place to sit.

"What are you doing here? Conrad didn't come, shouldn't you, the governor, run the Balkans? ”

As soon as Portiorek was about to sit down, he was pulled up by Kuster and dragged out.

He shook off Custer's hand, and said very angrily:

"What about you? Shouldn't you go to the Rhine front! ”

"Uh......" Kuster hesitated, letting go of his grip and taking a few steps back until he was seated, still pensive. Obviously stumped, but quickly figured it out.

"Is the Rhine our territory?"

He asked. It's clear that he's a very sovereign person, and it's just a little out of place.

Lo and behold, the faces of the Emperor and Portiorek, who had just sat down, were darkened.

"It may have been, but it certainly isn't." Franz explained intimately.

The faces of the two men darkened.

Potiorek barely managed to hold his mind and said emotionlessly:

"But Germany is our ally, shouldn't you help them?"

"Who are they? Who am I? I used to count on them to help me a lot of times! ”

Kuster said with some annoyance. He did not seem to be happy with the Germans, especially with their style. He could vouch for the fact that he would not like even anyone in Germany except Kaiser Wilhelm.

"That's once!" Potiorek emphasized:

"Shouldn't you help them now, but you haven't done your job completely."

He continued to press.

"If the empire can help, I think it will be hundreds of times stronger than my own strength, and the war will end soon, and the benefits will be very huge."

Kuster suddenly calmed down and replied calmly. Leaning forward, elbows slightly forward, he leaned towards Portiorek and stared at him closely.

Potiorek was very surprised to see that he was no longer running the train, and he thought that this old man could only run the train except for the train. Now, it seems, he can still tow trains; Or rather, he can pull the rails on the way to the train.

However, his words were indeed a little difficult to deal with, and Portiorek couldn't think of anything to deal with for a while.

"Alright, let's talk about formal." The emperor coughed again and again, interrupting them again:

"Potiorek doesn't have any work lately, and it just so happens that he has a lot of publicity skills, so he came."

"It turned out to be an idle official! Why, do you have so many troops that you can't stop the Bulgarian offensive? ”

Kuster is embarrassed. He even described Portiorek's attack as a filibuster, which was no ordinary provocation.

When Portiorek heard this, he was quite angry, and stared at Kuster through gritted teeth. But he just didn't want to say anything, because he was indeed inferior to Kuster, and if he refuted it, he would only lose even worse.

"I don't want me to cough again!"

The Emperor snapped. The eyes are like eagles, even if it is the twilight of the year, the spirit of the year is still there.

Seeing that he was so angry, the two of them didn't make any more mistakes, and obediently waited.