Realm of Power

Admiralty Building, Port-Anse, Saland-de-January, January

The green vine-covered exterior wall and the simple and elegant mansion. Ever since the naval battle with Antoros, the people who usually walk here are commanders from various squadrons and civilian personnel coming and going with folders. But today But it's completely different. From the moment you walk into the gate of the mansion, there is a sentry every three steps, and a post every five steps. Patrol teams wearing cloaks and fully armed are walking back and forth from time to time.

Even at every corner of the hall corridor, there are heavily armed soldiers who are responsible for checking the documents of people entering and exiting.

These soldiers have serious faces, and they are not wearing the navy uniforms that the Navy Department is responsible for patrolling, but the black uniforms that truly belong to the suffocating Supervision Department. This is a sight that can only be seen in truly top-secret meetings.

The rare tense atmosphere made everyone who walked into the conference room feel a little nervous.

The fat man pushed open the marble door inlaid with white silver in front of him. The sound of steady and powerful footsteps made the air in the entire conference room freeze. The conference room was full of people. The appearance of the fat man immediately attracted everyone's attention. The low voice of En En The discussion stopped immediately, and all that could be heard was the sound of the cold wind blowing against the trees outside.

"All stand up"

"Boom!" The sound of standing up in unison shook the entire conference room.

Led by the Southern Governor Statunko, there were a dozen Southern Army generals sitting on the left side of the conference table, and more than thirty naval captains, headed by Navy Minister Dostelenko, sitting on the right side, just like The whole body was stretched straight like a spring that was suddenly released,

The large number of people and the enthusiasm almost filled the entire conference room. Whether it was the Confederate generals or the navy captains, their eyes contained unconcealable excitement and enthusiasm, as if they were being ignited. With a raging fighting spirit, His Majesty Falcon has visited the Admiralty in person for the third time this month. But this time, even the army gathered so neatly, which is enough to prove that,

His Majesty Falcon has made his final determination for the upcoming Normandy expedition. This is the clarion call for an all-out attack. In terms of the army, this is the first sign of the Southern Army's full-scale attack after half a year of silence. This is not the same as what was ahead. The expeditionary force sent out was composed of 20,000 Salanders. This was the real main force of the empire. In terms of equipment and fighting will, they are completely different.

Although most people believe that the empire's famous generals gather in the north, compared with their colleagues in the north who are decorated with medals of honor, the generals within the southern army are also full of covetousness and ambition for this attack on Oparo. , this will be the glorious battle of the Southern Army, and the light of the imperial constellation should be the first to shine on the land of Obaro, to some extent. This can be regarded as the fat man's compensation for the Southern Army's hard work over the past few years.

In terms of the navy, it was the largest operation of the Imperial Navy this year. More than 150 naval warships were mobilized and privateers were launched. The mainland, and even part of the Dylans Navy, dispatched more than 25,000 troops, not counting the army. The mobilized transport ships are difficult to calculate,

This is the largest gathering of imperial naval power, and some people expected it. This time, the strength gathered by the Admiralty in the early stage was enough to destroy the Nord Navy that had previously contended with it more than three times.

Look at these majestic and excellent naval ports, built like connected pearls on the coast of the Salander Sea, forming a huge and complete offensive and defensive strategic system. Watch the brand-new naval warships soar in the blue waves of the sea. On board, it quickly replaced the original old-fashioned naval battleships and gradually became the main ship type of the navy. Watching young people full of vigor and ambition filling the ranks of the navy from the army,

It is enough to show that in this short year, His Majesty Falcon's hopes for the navy and the military expenditures he invested have doubled. The rumors are not just groundless rumors.

According to a report from the Imperial Ministry of the Interior, when the Imperial Navy launched the battle against the Salander Navy in January, the only navy the Empire could use was three squadrons of privateer fleets, which attacked 40 battleships and some transport ships. The annual military expenditure was 4 million. gold coins. By the time the war with Nord began in June, in just five months, the annual military expenditures of the Imperial Navy had rapidly expanded to 7 million gold coins.

The number of battleships also exceeded 100 for the first time, and then the Imperial North Sea Fleet was formed to go north, the privateer fleet went south, the Dragon-class battleship was launched, and the navy's military expenditure finally exceeded the 10 million gold coin mark in October.

This is something that the Army has always had a lot of objections about. According to a joint letter from several army corps commanders, the Imperial Army is responsible for the main combat tasks and has nearly 300,000 troops. The annual military expenditure of the four major corps is only 2 The navy only has less than 30,000 people, and its military expenditure reaches one-half of the army. This is a very unfair phenomenon.

And the answer given by His Majesty Falcon was, "You are all full and holding on, right? If any of you can wade across the vast sea with your feet and plant the Falcon flag on the opposite continent of Oparo, I don't mind either." Give him an additional 10 million in military expenses! If he can't do it, hehe, don't say I'm merciless, everyone will go naked to Palavon for three times."

For this reply, several army corps commanders remained silent. The cunning Salon was the first to quickly say that the navy was the army's best combat partner and the empire's national sword. In fact, its defense zone had nothing to do with the sea, but the military leaders knew that the navy, the wings of the empire, would be the focus of His Majesty's future and an important guarantee for the army to continue to gain glory. Moreover, if His Majesty the Falcon took it seriously, he would understand that if he continued to toss like this, even the original military expenditure might be deducted.

For this meeting, in the Antoros Sea, the Minister of the Navy, Dustrenka, who was responsible for commanding the overall situation of the early operations, had returned to the Navy three days ago. All the navy members registered as belonging to the First Privateer Fleet The warships also returned to the base camp at the same time.

The warships gathered, and the army also set out for Yue'ans.

Everyone was waiting for this important moment. If the current sea battle was just a strategic deployment of the empire, this meeting would represent that His Majesty the Falcon finally decided to draw out the sharper sword of the empire and stab it hard on the continent of Obaro.

"Everyone, please sit down!"

The fat man came to the most important position in the middle and sat down. His eyes swept across the hot faces of the crowd, waved to everyone, turned over a leather scroll with a silver thorn flower emblem background, and said in a deep voice, "I believe everyone should have guessed the reason for this meeting. I won't say more. Now announce the combat order..." To be continued