3042, Houyi Action (15)
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The flagship of the Imperial 11th Fleet, a small conference room of the USS Empire space carrier, around the round table in the room, sat a group of well-dressed Imperial officers, including Fleet Commander Vice Admiral Billis and his three henchmen, senior staff officers and staff, the captains of two space carriers, the Empire and the Feenock, and a fast battleship, the Wendeks, the commanders of the cruiser and destroyer fleets, and the commander of the 323rd Air Force.
Although the number of people present here is not large, only ten people, they hold the core power of this fleet, and at the peak of power is naturally the commander of the fleet, Vice Admiral Billis, at this moment, this vice admiral is speaking.
“....... It was more or less the case that His Excellency the Marshal asked us to rush to Corcoran as soon as possible to join the battle, and that the time limit should not exceed seven hours, otherwise the court martial would be in charge. It's military law again, what a great crime, everyone, it seems that over the years, our fleet can often hear this word! ”
There was a slight mockery in the lieutenant general's tone, as if he was a little disrespectful to His Excellency the Imperial Marshal Steve, but no one present was surprised or stood up to express any protest, and people seemed to be surprised, which has to be said, it was really a bit abnormal and weird.
This is not surprising, thanks to the defection of Risson, Schneier, and later Major Tulle, and the ignorance of General Billis, the 11th Fleet has long been the main object of suppression, exclusion and attack in the imperial army, ships and warplanes have been transferred in large numbers, and the losses have not been replenished, so the strength has plummeted from the level of six space carriers and seven battleships at the peak to two space carriers and one battleship today, and the security examiners are endlessly investigating, talking, and interrogating. The whole fleet had already been terrified, and those who had a relationship with His Excellency the Imperial Marshal, and who cooperated with the security personnel, had already left the fleet, and in addition to the last battle with the rebels, and lost many well-trained pilots, and now most of those who remained were a collection of so-called troublemakers, thorns, hopeless people, people waiting for early retirement, newly assigned ignorant rookies, etc., demoralized, and rumors flying all over the sky, It's no longer just the people below who are discussing issues in private. All human beings have a mental number. When this fleet will be disbanded depends on when Vice Admiral Bilis retires, and it is believed that after the recent defeat in the Corcoran system and the failure of the Fifth Independent Mobile Fleet to pursue the rebels, this day will not be too long.
No one will mention the issue of replacement or reorganization of the 11th fleet, and even if it does, it is useless, for one reason the Reich Marshal does not like this fleet, so its fate is already sealed.
Right now. To expect these people to be respectful to the authority of the Empire, to the Marshal of the Empire, that would be hell of a thing.
In this situation, it is also conceivable what the combat effectiveness of the fleet is, don't look at the book figures, although the 11th fleet still has the strength of several hundred interstellar fighters on paper, but the actual combat effectiveness is obviously not flattering, of course. The emaciated camel is bigger than the horse, and no matter how bad it is, it is still a fleet, and it can play some role in more or less containing the rebels. It's still fine, and when it gets another crushing blow, it's time to disband.
Of course, this was nothing more than wishful thinking in the mind of the Imperial Marshal, and sometimes things did not turn out as he imagined.....
Lieutenant General Bilisy carefully watched the reactions. He nodded inwardly. Satisfied with their attitude, he glanced at the two henchmen standing by the door. Now it's time for the next step.
"However, I have not summoned you here today to inform you of this order." The lieutenant general said slowly, "but for another discussion." ”
His expression became serious, "We will discuss the future and fate of this fleet, but I would like to introduce a few people to you first. ”
Another side door of the conference room opened, and several people walked in, in front of him was the captain of the cruiser Columbus, Colonel Canaris, everyone knew him, but it was not surprising, the one in the middle, several people who knew him, looked at this person in surprise, wasn't he already missing? And the last one, dressed in a major's uniform, was unrecognized.
"Canaris is no stranger to everyone, and this one, not too strange, Captain Clark, the former squadron leader of the Thunderbirds Squadron Columbus, was shot down in the last battle at Corcoran and judged to be missing," Lieutenant General Billis smiled with a hint of playfulness, "but it is clear that he is not missing, and has now become a member of the rebel alliance, and along with his colleague, Major Ralph, the audacity is back." ”
"What?" The lieutenant general casually introduced, as if it was an insignificant trifle, and people were stunned for a few seconds before they reacted, rebels? Over here? There was a moment of consternation in the conference room, and people looked at each other in disbelief.
But that's all, at least no one pulled out a gun, no one stood up, or shouted guards or traitors or the like, people quickly accepted this fact with incredible speed, much faster than His Excellency the Lieutenant General expected, the people sitting here are not fledglings, since it is His Excellency the Lieutenant General who introduces these two rebels to everyone, combined with the future and fate that the Lieutenant General said just now, what does it mean?
It is impossible to continue in the Imperial Army, and that kind of slump and anger is unbearable, maybe it would be good to change the door and identity...... People began to seriously consider some kind of thought that they had before but did not dare to go deeper, and besides, those who knew the times were handsome, and since Lieutenant General Biliss dared to be so picky, those who did not know the interest, people glanced at the two guards by the door, and they were afraid that they would not even be able to get out of the door.
The room fell silent and embarrassed for a while, some people were thinking, some people were waiting......
Although the vice admiral was still smiling, he couldn't help but sigh secretly in his heart, the silence and cooperation in front of him fully proved the fact that the hearts of this fleet had long been dispersed, if the previous fleet could still fight, after the defeat of the previous battle and the setback of the pursuit, the fleet with low morale to the bottom is now just a group of rabble with no appearance, and the all-pervasive rebel intelligence department will really seize the opportunity to take advantage of the large number of original fleet personnel captured in the previous battle, After fully grasping the real situation inside the fleet, he actually contacted Colonel Canaris through Captain Clark and came directly to the door, so bold that he looked fearless.
Thinking about his own reaction at that time, the lieutenant general shook his head, and when he heard that Colonel Canaris was going to introduce him to a few rebels, he was only slightly surprised for a moment, and then calmly agreed and accepted, as calmly as if he went to the street to buy a pack of cigarettes and smoked casually, and the others .....
His heart moved, and he carefully looked at his subordinates, even he, the commander of the fleet, was like this, they were probably not much different, and even, since the rebels could find him, they wouldn't go to anyone else? It's not impossible at all, and from their quick acceptance of this fact and their cooperative attitude, God knows how many of them had been in contact with the rebels before coming here?
"All right, guys," said Lieutenant General Billis, after Captain Clark and Major Ralph had stiffly greeted and sat down with the servants, "Two, uh, gentlemen of the League, have come here at all lengths because they have a few requests for our cooperation, Mr. Major," the lieutenant general emphasized, "there are no security inspectors here, and none of the people sitting here are outsiders, so please repeat what we talked about before." ”
"Yes, Your Excellency." Major Ralph had long since lost the apprehension and uneasiness of coming, and he knew that the matter had come to this point, and through bargaining, after passing the lieutenant general's hurdle, it was basically settled, and everyone was summoned to sit here, but it was just a situation, and of course, there was some taste of more security.
"Gentlemen, I believe that His Excellency Lieutenant General has just introduced that it is very clear that our army is currently fighting in the Corcoran system, and our army has successfully paralyzed the space folding and jumping system of the Omega base, and the next step is to attack this base......" Major Ralph briefly repeated the success of the alliance, which was the key to this negotiation, and it was Resson's smooth paralysis operation that made Lieutenant General Billis, who had been hesitant before, see that it was possible for the alliance to reverse the entire passive situation before, which led to a breakthrough in the negotiationsOtherwise, even if he is angry in the Imperial Army, he will no longer be willing, but if His Excellency the Lieutenant General believes that the defeat of the Alliance has been decided, it is impossible for him to join the defeated side anyway, and if he stays in the Imperial Army, even if he is forced to retire early, he can always enjoy his old age and receive a pension without worrying about food and clothing, but if he joins the Alliance and the Alliance fails, then everything is over. “...... The Alliance's request is simple, we don't need you to immediately change your position and join the Resistance Alliance to fight against your former colleagues, all we need is to hope that your fleet can delay the pace of advance a little...... "This is also the result of a compromise, Vice Admiral Bilis's insistence, it is good for them, they can sit back and watch the tiger fight, if the Alliance wins, the 11th Fleet will logically join the Alliance battle sequence, if the Alliance fails, then the 11th Fleet is still the fleet of the Imperial Army, as for the delayed arrival, There are many excuses, and it is not easy to make one? It's a big deal about military punishment, and when it's his turn, it is estimated that it will be an immediate retirement ending, at least much better than staying in the loser's camp and never recovering.
Of course, the lieutenant general also knows very well that for his wall-to-wall choice, even if he reaches the alliance in the future, he will definitely not get any important arrangements, and he will not be completely trusted, but he can't take care of it, and this is the best decision when he is unwilling to gamble.
“...... For the cooperation of your fleet, the conditions we can provide are......."
This discussion ended quickly, and then, from the bridge of the USS Reich, an order was issued, the whole fleet, move forward at half speed!!