Flower Moon 2nd.

Nearly eighty percent of the world's people are bathed in the sunshine of peace, and all of them are full of optimism and beautiful hopes for the future.

What reason is there to doubt the present peaceful world? Charlemagne's negotiations with Albion are proceeding smoothly, the Castilian front is calming, and the news from the north is repeating day after day the dry phrase "there is no war at the front." Charlemagne's large mail ship "Starlight" sailed out of Burdigalla and sailed for Plymouth under the name of "Second Evacuation Ship". Among the 148 passengers were 35 foreigners, including the wife of the Chargé d'Affaires of Serres in Charlemagne. Charlemagne was known throughout the voyage as an official "symbol of goodwill between the two countries," and with the Navy announcing a holiday, at least 3,000 officers and sailors took to the streets of Lüders, with bulging wallets in their waists, to have fun in the bustling capital. The merchants who had learned the news early were gearing up to make a big profit, and the horse-drawn carriages that had purchased goods were almost paralyzed by traffic. Even the fleet was anchored in the harbor, with only a few training ships training in the ocean, and the destinations were also distant southern colonies.

In such an atmosphere, who would have the leisure to question the peace in front of them?

Only a handful of people know that the hypocritical peace in front of them is nothing more than a smoke screen used to cover up the departure of combat troops.

The crew of the "Starlight" were all issued guns, and in the event of a war, they would control the foreign passengers on board and let the ship return home. The so-called naval officers who were going to Lüders were all cadets and cadets of the Naval Academy. The mobile unit, disguised as a training ship, is keeping silent and secretly heading north. Except for the captain, even the deputy commander of the ships did not know that this was an important military operation, and the officers and men of ordinary ships, after looking at the cold-proof equipment loaded on the ship, only thought that they were going to the North Sea, which is bitterly cold all year round, for long-distance training.

As early as the 3rd of the first month, Jean-Armand de Maile Blazer, the chief of the Naval Command Department, issued to Tourville the "Sea Order No. 1" (i.e., the abbreviation of "Base Camp Navy Order No. 1") concerning the operation against Albion. "In order to survive and defend itself, the kingdom is in a position where it has to go to war against the United Duchy of Albion, Castile, and Rus'." In view of this, it is necessary to complete all preparations before the beginning of the flower month. "The battle plan guidance "Sea Finger No. 1" was also issued at the same time.

Charlemagne and Albion's final date was 1 of the month of the Flower, so Tourville considered the choice of a specific date for the start of the war, "X-Day": First, because Drake was training a newly formed fleet in the Southern Colonies. The fleet stationed at Scapa Bay was placed in the hands of Admiral Charles Madden, the acting commander of the fleet, who always moored the fleet in the harbor on weekends, so that all ships would be in the harbor on Sunday morning, and only half of the officers and men would remain on board, and would not be put into combat readiness.

Secondly, the route for launching a sneak attack had to pass through the far north, where the sea conditions were harsh, and the window for fleet formations to sail was only early summer. In addition, the Strait of La Manche, which runs between the two countries, has a harsh climate all year round, and it is a special sea area with no wind and three feet of waves. As long as the first surprise attack is successful, more than half of the strength of the Grand Fleet is wiped out, and the land battle goes smoothly, then as long as the summer survives, the bad sea conditions in the autumn and winter are enough to make any landing counterattack battle plan come to naught. Charlemagne could digest the results of the war while consolidating coastal defenses and strengthening the fleet, forcing Albion to accept withdrawal from the mainland and acknowledge the fait accompli of Charlemagne's domination of the continent. The next step is to get the northern front done. Finally, Tourville repeatedly reminded that military action must be coordinated with diplomatic action. "Not a second should be advanced," and the entire attack must be "dignified" and "justified."

By the morning of the 23rd of the first month, the mystery was finally revealed, and in the captain's room of the flagship "Bayarn", Commander Tourville and Vice Admiral Gablet's chief of staff announced to the commanders, staff, and captains of the various units the battle plan: the mobile unit would approach Scapa Bay on the rough and rarely navigated Far North route, and release two waves of attack teams 80 nautical miles north of the target. Conduct air raids on the main forces of the Royal Fleet and shore facilities in the harbor. If necessary, additional attacks should be carried out on shipyards, cannon foundries, gunpowder warehouses. At this point, the truth of the "training" that has been foggy for a long time has finally been revealed.

The next day, the commanders and flight captains of the air formations took turns to board the Béarn to receive a lecture. The unbearably agitated commander-in-chief used such terrifying words as "an unprecedented air battle," "the glory of a lifetime," and "a life-and-death stake" to demand that the attack teams "unite sincerely." Work together and donate generously to repay Jun's kindness. As for whether there is an emergency response plan in case the surprise attack fails, and whether the main force of the fleet is "for the sake of serving the same kingdom, pull brothers along". At the critical juncture when he can only cheer up and not be discouraged, of course, the commander, who has no bottom in his heart, will not give the answer.

Charlemagne's small actions did not completely hide from Albiang, but the royal fleet had a serious misjudgment of Charlemagne's offensive intentions. On the 27th of the first month, Admiral Fremantle, Chief of Naval Operations, said in a war warning that judging from the personnel and equipment of Charlemagne's ground forces, as well as the composition of the Marine Corps, the enemy's intention may be to launch a coordinated army-naval operation against the overseas colonies and southern Castile. There is no mention of the possibility of an attack on Scarpa Flow. Walsingham's intelligence service, analyzing the location of Charlemagne's ship, also deduced that "the main force of the enemy fleet was in the home port", but Tourville's mobile force was sailing murderously north.

In contrast to Charlemagne's covert actions, Albiang's paralysis and carelessness, Alfheim's pre-war appearance was calm and tense.

Li Lin knew very well that the "Yellow Plan" was a product of the "Schlieffen Plan" of the German Imperial Army before World War I, and the core idea of both was to seek to use a powerful corps to quickly break through the enemy's defenses, cut off the enemy's lines of communication, and then encircle the enemy's heavy army group in a roundabout way, and strive to annihilate the enemy's main force in a frontal decisive battle. On this point, the consul of Jarfheim and the chief of the General Staff of the Imperial German Army coincided. Trapped by the limitations of national strength and objective geographical environment, they all pinned their hopes on the mobility of the large corps.

However, as a latecomer, Li Lin also knew very well where the Earl's mistake was.

First of all, at the strategic level, Schlieffen was a mess of the wrong. Unlike the old Moltke, who led the Prussian army to win the Franco-Prussian War, the new generation of soldiers represented by Schlieffen received a good professional education and were modern professional soldiers in the true sense of the word. But the excellence of their profession also prevented them from looking at themselves and even the war from a broader perspective. Moltke Sr.'s philosophical speculative ability did not exist in them, let alone Clausewitz's statement that "war is a continuation of politics". There is no interest in political issues other than war, and they are not included in strategic considerations.

After all, this is a group of war maniacs who have undergone a rigorous military education and are born for war. The seeds of Moltke's misalignment of the relationship between the military and the civilian government eventually bore fruit for his successor.

It was on the basis of this superficial understanding of war that Schlieffen formulated his plan for the Great War. Or rather, a military essay is more vivid. It is based on arithmetic, maps and railway schedules, rather than on the international environment and the means of counter-attack that the adversary may use - a typical staff blind spot. They are purely technocratic soldiers, a product of the Industrial Revolution, who see war as a large-scale violent duel based on simple calculations, rather than a violent means in the service of politics.

Based on this mentality, Schlieffen can exclude a qiē political consideration in order to execute his own battles perfectly. He rashly decided to allow his troops to march on France through neutral Belgium and the Netherlands, without considering the consequences of such a trampling on a neutral country, and especially how the British would react to it.

Strategically it's already a mess. The tactics are also full of loopholes.

As a technologist, Schlieffen worked out every detail of the plan, almost setting the time of the meal and where to find the butterpaper-wrapped parts in the event of a train breakdown. Clausewitz had already pointed out the uncertainties in war, and Moltke the Elder always focused on the deployment of troops before the start of the war, and the subsequent actions were determined by the development of the form. Schlieffen's battle plan, which was based on the railway timetable, was huge and complicated, and if there was a mistake in its implementation, it would inevitably lead to a chain reaction. In the end, the whole plan fell short. The measure he took to compensate for this deficiency was to formulate more detailed and complex directives to restrain the actions of millions of troops. The intention is to exclude the interference of uncertainties. However, he could not grasp the enemy's reaction at that time, let alone predict the possible reaction of his own army to the enemy's actions. Eventually, those directives can only be reduced to unrealistic dogma.

It turns out that railways can indeed be used in offensive operations, but only in defensive operations can they really exert their energy, as long as the enemy forces retreat to destroy railways, bridges. The troops could only maneuver on the feet of the infantry and on mules and horses. At this time, the mobility of the enemy and us is roughly equal, and the legs of the infantry cannot pass through the vast enemy territory before the opponent reacts, and in the end the strategic goal of outflanking the enemy cannot be achieved, and can only form a confrontation with the enemy after achieving a certain breakthrough.

At the end of the day, Schlieffen ignores the human element. He can fiddle with lifeless wargames on the map at will. The speed of the army's offensive could be deduced from the railway timetable. After all, those who can carry out the plan are living people full of uncertainties, and any unforeseen situation will be reflected in the real war. He could not have predicted the reaction of the Belgians and the British, much less the reaction of the officers and men of his own army when they encountered unexpected problems. It is precisely because of the ignorance of the human factor and the neglect of uncertainty that the Schlieffen plan is blinded at the strategic and tactical levels. This was the root cause of the failure of the Schlieffen plan.

With the German Empire as a specimen, Li Lin and the elven camp would naturally not make that kind of low-level mistake again.

Needless to say, the various military preparations are not to be mentioned, but at the strategic level, the previous arrangements are beginning to play a role, and the situation is gradually developing in favor of the elven camp.

Once a war breaks out, at the beginning stage, relying on surprise attacks, Charlemagne may have some advantages, but going to war everywhere will inevitably bring the problem of dispersion of combat forces. In addition, Albion and the United Principality of Rus are considerable opponents, the former has the strait moat as a barrier, relying on the "blood transfusion" of overseas colonies and the characteristics of naval warfare, it can always be relieved. The latter have a vast land area and a large population, and "exchanging space for time" is their best strategy. Fighting against any of the above countries will inevitably lead to a constant war of attrition, let alone a war at the same time. It can be said that even if the elven camp does not come out to make trouble, Charlemagne will not be able to escape the fate of destruction.

Of course, at the beginning of the war, with years of accumulation, Charlemagne will inevitably have a considerable advantage. There are not many people who can see that as long as they persevere, they will surely usher in victory. At the critical moment when the kingdoms are in danger, who is the white horse knight who defeated the ferocious Charlemagne and turned the tide - Sheravheim?

With Charlemagne, the number one thug, at the front, the tolerance of the two camps of humans and orcs towards independent elven countries will be greatly improved. Taking a step back, almost no one welcomed the country except the elves themselves - the defeated Charlemagne wanted revenge, the United Rus' Guild lamented the loss of political influence within Charlemagne, and even Albion, who had previously been like a glue with Alfheim, was suspicious of the newly rising elven camp. But after going through that kind of war, after seeing the powerful military power of the elven camp, what can they do? With military deterrence and diplomatic skills, it is not impossible to create an external environment favorable to the elven camp. After that, you can take a slow time to recuperate and wait for the next opportunity.

Before that, there was no room for half a pip cuò.

"So, has anything changed about him lately?"

Tapping on the desktop with his left hand, Li Lin asked towards the communication interface.

"I am preparing to submit a written report......

"I'm going to hear your thoughts directly. ”

Li Lin said as if he saw through the hesitation in his heart, and the feeling of being understood by the other party made the girl shrink for a moment...... But her owner continued to ask in a tone that pierced the hearts of others:

"What do you think of his appearance in this incident? ”

"He is a man of integrity, and he is not suitable for politics. ”

The spider straightened up and asserted.

There is no room for hesitation at this moment. Monitoring Roland's movements and evaluating them is one of her main tasks. Wasted time without evaluation or dragging your answer is immediately perceived as incompetent or disagreeable. According to the experience of spiders, people who get both evaluations will have a tragic end.

"Affected by the incident itself, I am somewhat unstable, and I have some doubts about the consortium and Your Excellency, but there is nothing particularly abnormal in my mind or body. ”

“...... Is that so? ”

Li Lin's smile distorted into a wry smile.

This is an extremely rare sight for spiders.

She rarely saw Li Lin's expression other than smiling, on the one hand, this was due to the relationship between the owner and the property, and on the other hand, Li Lin did rarely show a rich expression.

Was this some kind of omen, or did he perceive something?

"Just keep the status quo and remember to report regularly. ”

Just as the spider was thinking, Li Lin had disappeared from the communication interface, and the girl who felt trembling took a deep breath, driving the fear away from her body little by little, and after a few seconds, she asked to the side:

"Is that okay?"

In the blind spot that the vision of the communication device could not reach, Roland, who had been silent, nodded. (To be continued......)