Chapter 596 [Unpredictable Heart]

Above the main hall, although there were fire pots burning all around, the flames seemed unable to dispel the cold air above the hall.

And this coldness is not caused by the weather!

Above the palace, the regent Prince Chen, with a stern and gloomy face, sat on the throne and was silent.

Down below, dozens of important ministers of the empire gathered together, but everyone's face was as dark as water. Just because, on the steps, a palace etiquette officer was reading aloud the latest news from the front line with a nervous voice.

Battle report!

The palace etiquette officer's voice was originally loud, but when he was reading the battle report, his face became paler and paler, and his voice became hoarse due to being too nervous. At the end of the voice, he was faintly trembling...

"Report: On the afternoon of March 31, the enemy force crossed the river defense. Our Storm Legion's 6th Infantry Division, 9th Infantry Division, 3rd Cavalry Battalion and directly affiliated heavy engineering corps were stationed at the river defense. The eastern fortress was stationed at the river defense.

The squadron went out to fight on the river. In the fierce battle until evening, our fleet was completely wiped out and most of our sailors were martyred. In the evening, a total of 151 airships stationed in our eastern fortress engaged the enemy in the sky over the river defense, and 100 of our troops were killed.

Fifty-one airships were also shot down, and none of the 1,043 air force officers survived.

That night, when we were trying to cross the river, our Sixth Division suffered heavy losses, and the Ninth Infantry Division suffered more than 40% casualties. Due to the total loss of the fleet, we were unable to block the river, and we were unable to prevent the enemy from erecting a pontoon bridge to cross the river. A fierce battle continued all night

At dawn on April 1, the enemy forcefully crossed the river and occupied the shoal. Our troops were unable to resist and were forced to withdraw and defend the fortress.

In this battle, the air force and navy on the eastern defense line were completely lost. The 6th Infantry Division, from the division commander Major General Finck down, totaled 20,923 officers and soldiers, all of whom died in the battle.

! The Ninth Division suffered more than 40% damage and most of them were wounded. It has been ordered to retreat and reorganize. Now about 100,000 enemy troops have successfully crossed the river. The troops are stationed under the city. Before the message was sent, they had repulsed the enemy three times and suffered considerable damage.

Giant! I am the deputy commander of the Storm Legion and the Imperial Lieutenant General Dominguez. I sincerely apologize for the sin of defeat. However, the war in the east is urgent. My life and death are not a pity, and our soldiers on the eastern front are sworn to die to defend the city and co-exist.

.

The troops in the city are quite insufficient, and we request the military department to quickly mobilize reinforcements. If the reinforcements do not arrive within a month, I am afraid that the eastern fortress will no longer be owned by the empire!"

After reading to the end, the palace etiquette officer's forehead was covered with cold sweat. He couldn't help but wipe it with his sleeve twice. Then he took a deep breath and finished the last sentence: "Commander of the Eastern Front. Deputy Commander of the Storm Legion, Duo Ming."

Gus was so frightened that he paused and wrote a letter."

Wow, the battle report was finally put away. The palace etiquette officer seemed to be unable to stand upright. He quickly turned around and bent down to the regent, and presented the battle report again with both hands.

For a moment, the hall fell into an extreme silence. No one said a word. There was not even a sound of coughing. All the important officials of the empire held their breath, not daring to take a breath, and looked at the people sitting above quietly.

Regent, everyone is feeling uneasy waiting for this king to speak, fearing that what will come next is the thunderous wrath of the regent...

This silent scene lasted for nearly five minutes. The regent did not speak. How could anyone below dare to speak?

Finally, Prince Chen, who had been sitting there with a face as cold as frost, gradually twitched the corners of his mouth into a smile. Naturally, the smile was not joyful, but filled with infinite chill.

"Hehe...hehehehe..." There was a ruthless flavor in the laughter. Prince Chen slowly stood up, his eyes swept over everyone, and finally fell on the Minister of Military Affairs, Camisillo.

Opened his mouth.

"Very good! Very good! The Eastern Fortress, eight Sea Spirit-class warships, and thousands of naval forces perished in one battle! One hundred and fifty airships, and a thousand airmen, were completely wiped out! A reorganized empire's main battle force

In the legion's infantry division, 20,000 people died in battle, even the division commander was martyred, and a main battle division was completely crippled! I heard that the accumulated corpses blocked the river! The river was red and colored for many days.

Don’t retreat! Haha... This kind of disastrous defeat... Everyone, this has never happened to me since the beginning of the Augustinian Dynasty!"

As he spoke, he stared at Camisillo with a serious look in his eyes: "Camisillo, tell me, even in the war between us and the northwest prairie people thirty years ago, we never experienced this kind of situation.

Fail miserably!”

Camisillo's expression tightened. As the Minister of Military Affairs, he had to take a step forward. He coughed and said cautiously: "Your Highness is right. Thirty years ago, the empire went on an expedition to the grassland. The war lasted for nearly three years.

, the imperial army has never suffered such a disastrous defeat."

"The Eastern Fortress originally had three main battle divisions stationed there, as well as 60,000 garrison troops drawn from the local area, and 40,000 heavy engineering troops... The total strength of the city originally exceeded 200,000! But now, they are actually asking for reinforcements.

! Two hundred thousand people, with plenty of food, grass and weapons, can’t defend a city!!”

With the last sharp shout, Prince Chen slammed the table hard, and a cup in front of him was knocked to the ground, with a clang, and turned into pieces!

"What does your military do? I heard that the enemy troops have a race that can go underwater! I learned about this kind of thing a few months ago! But why have you never been prepared to deal with it! How come?

Thousands of sailors died tragically. Will tens of thousands of people die next time before your military starts to pay attention to it?! And the air force... doesn’t the frontline know that the other side has air combat units!!"

Camisillo also felt aggrieved, but as the Minister of Military Affairs, he had to stand here and bear the wrath of the regent.

But seeing Prince Chen's anger becoming more and more uncontrollable, his chest heaving and breathing rapid, at the end of the sentence, he suddenly swayed, took half a step back, reached out to hold the armrest of the throne, put one hand on his chest, and coughed violently.

Camisillo gritted his teeth and knelt down on one knee. He was tired of his patience and finally waited for Prince Chen to finish coughing. Then he slowly said: "Your Highness... the frontline strength, as the Imperial Minister of Military Affairs, I naturally have

An unshirkable responsibility. Just..."

"It's just? Just what?" Prince Chen's eyes were stern. He panted for a while, stopped coughing, and stared at Camisillo coldly: "Do you have any other difficulties? Humph, I gave the military department to you, now eat it

You want to shirk responsibility for losing the battle?!"

In the last sentence, the coldness in the tone was revealed. At this moment, the cold eyes made Camisillo couldn't help but shiver!

In memory, it seems that Prince Chen has not shown such a thunderous and angry side for a long, long time!

Since he came to power, he has always looked like an enigmatic emperor. He never showed his emotions, and on weekdays, he mostly showed a tolerant and gentle imperial attitude toward his ministers.

But don't forget... this Prince Chen is definitely not a kind-hearted and kind-hearted person! He started his career by relying on a coup! He killed his brother and put his father under house arrest, and took away his father.

A ruthless person who only ascends to the throne with imperial power!

Thinking of this, Camisillo trembled, but tried hard to calm down. He raised his head and looked at Prince Chen. Although his tone was respectful, it also had a hint of firmness: "Your Highness! I dare not shirk my responsibility.

Responsibility. As the Minister of Military Affairs, I am the most responsible person in the headquarters for making unfavorable battle plans and making mistakes. As the head of the military department, I naturally have the unshirkable responsibility and am willing to bear your punishment! But..."

"But what?" Prince Chen said coldly.

"But..." Camisillo felt that he was enveloped by the opponent's eyes, and a cold sweat flowed down his back. He said bravely: "But, this battle was lost. In my opinion, the main reasons are:

Two! First, the navy on the river was defeated! After losing the warships and water superiority, we were unable to block the river. Although the river was long, it was almost impossible to defend! At this point, although a few months ago,

We have already learned that the opponent has an underwater race. However, the headquarters has been planning for a long time. However, it has not been able to come up with a perfect countermeasure. As a result, it has been delayed until today! I am willing to accept the punishment! And the second one is the disastrous defeat of the Air Force!

"

Speaking of the pale white air force, Camisillo seemed to be more confident. He knelt there, his spine straightened, and facing Prince Chen's eyes, he bravely said loudly: "The air force suffered a tragic defeat, which is even more significant for this battle.

Extraordinary! After losing the river channel, we only lost the river defense. As long as we defend the city, although the situation is somewhat disadvantageous, there is still room for salvation. It is far from the worst. It is a disastrous defeat for the Air Force.

, and the enemy actually has a fighting race that can fly in the air. This kind of thing has the greatest impact on us! The opponent has such a power that can fly in the sky, coming and going like the wind... In this way, Kabbah on our front line

No matter how strong the Ski defense line is, it cannot defend against enemies in the sky! As long as the enemy is willing, their aerial combat race can easily fly over the front line and even reach the heart of the empire! Even if they raid the imperial capital, they may not be able to defend themselves against it.

…”

This last sentence was a bit too shocking, but at this moment, I had to say it. Camisillo gritted his teeth and said proudly: "I'm afraid it's not impossible!"

As soon as these words came out, the expressions of many ministers in the hall suddenly changed, and they couldn't help but whisper among themselves.

"Shut up!" Prince Chen suddenly glared and glanced at him with murderous eyes. Immediately, all the ministers lowered their heads and shut their mouths.

Prince Chen took a step down and stared at Camisillo: "Keep talking!"

"Yes, Your Highness." Camisillo paused, and then continued: "As for air combat, the airship force is a new weapon after all, and the air force is the first of its kind in the empire in a thousand years...

No, it should be said that it is the first of its kind in human history! This unprecedented new weapon and unprecedented new combat concept have only appeared for a few years after all, and this time the headquarters has officially taken control of this kind of thing and actually applied it to the empire.

During the war, everything was planned, but it only lasted more than ten months!

After all, this is a new weapon and a brand new concept. Although the military headquarters has many experienced imperial generals and many civilian staff members who are familiar with various strategies and tactics, after all, no one has been exposed to it before.

This new thing, let alone experience, has never been thought of. As a result, in this short period of time, it is difficult for the headquarters to completely control this new combat concept, and it is difficult to come up with it.

We are also slowly groping for a complete set of air combat methods. Your Highness, I dare to say that such an epoch-making new weapon and combat concept will definitely not be developed in just one, two or three years.

It can be controlled in five years! It may be a long process to explore a complete set of concepts and accumulate experience.

Therefore, the reason for the disastrous defeat of the Air Force is not that I shirk responsibility, but that I believe that the responsibility does not lie with the military department, nor with personnel affairs. It lies with current affairs! It is not that the commanders of the headquarters do not work hard, but that it is actually... us

I do not know!"

What he said is true. After all, if a new concept is to be fully controlled and integrated, it is indeed not something that can be achieved in a short period of time.

Although Du Wei created the Air Force, even in Du Wei's previous life, from the appearance of the first airplane in human history (1903), to the first air battle in military history (1914), to the first

How many years did it take for the concept of air combat to be used on a sub-large scale (in the late World War I)?

But how long did it take for airships to appear on the Roland continent? How long did it take for them to be used in the military field?

What's more, this is a direct jump from cold weapon warfare to air combat. This leap-forward progress lacks sufficient military theoretical basis for war. It makes those in the headquarters feel confused even if they want to work hard.

The feeling of not knowing where to start.

Everyone knows that this thing is good. But how to use it? How to use it well? This cannot be perfected in a day or two.

Prince Chen was silent. He was silent for a while. After all, he was also a wise king, not a foolish person. At this moment, he also understood that what Camisillo said was the truth.

"Then, what do you mean?" Prince Chen lowered his voice and stared at Camisillo intently.

Camisillo took a deep breath: "Your Highness! The air force's disastrous defeat has an impact on us that is not as simple as the defeat of this battle! The enemy's air superiority is so huge. If they desperately cross the defense line and attack the empire,

We must pay attention to these things, including the abdomen, and even the raid on the imperial capital! Now that I think about it, this field of air combat is really unpredictable, and those enemies seem to be much ahead of us in this regard. So...

"

"If you have anything to say, just say it. I don't blame you." Prince Chen's eyes flashed.

"So. I often think that I can invent this new type of weapon. And I think of applying it to the military field. Its founder, Duke Tulip, is really amazing and talented, and it is extremely admirable! And this
To be continued...