Staring at the military convoys in the holographic sand table that were continuously entering the portal and heading to another world, Edward held his hands on the edge of the sand table. Although the expression on his face was not solemn, it could not be said to be full of confidence.
"Your Majesty, half of the 1st Mechanized Infantry Division of the Guards has entered another world. But now that the overall situation of the empire has been decided, I hope your Majesty will think twice about transferring all the Guards troops to protect the royal family."
Glancing at the army general beside him who was bowing and saluting, Edward frowned slightly and said in a tone that left no room for doubt: "I have handed over the city defense work of the imperial capital to the major legions in the central theater. The security of the palace is the responsibility of the Changsheng Army. That's enough. This expedition to other worlds is a top priority for the empire, so I don't need to mention my advice on conserving strength again."
"My lord, I will obey the Holy Order!"
Faced with the emperor's almost scolding attitude, the normally steady general couldn't help but tremble. He bowed again and silently retreated to his colleagues, with cold sweat oozing out from his broad forehead.
Unlike many powerful empires that once flourished on this continent, the Hughes family, with the Star Group as its backer and trump card, firmly controls everything in the country.
From the farmers on the border of the empire to the various factions in the court and the Guards Corps deployed in major cities, satellites and missionaries of the Star Group are closely monitored. The airtight spy network will originally require dozens of people. The century-old process of centralization was shortened to a month or even less, and the emperor's own power was strengthened as never before.
Therefore, let alone rebellion and rebellion, as long as Edward thought about what the ministers and generals had for breakfast today and the color of their underwear, the relevant information would soon be handed over to him by the Star Hub.
With such a high-pressure environment as the background, even if the emperor is gentle and treats others fairly, the generals have to be insecure for fear that one day the entire clan will be killed for some unknown reason.
As the earliest ace unit in the empire, the 1st Guards Division has been guarding the royal family since its establishment. In order to better fulfill their oath, they have the most stringent selection requirements second only to the Immortal Army Special Forces among the entire empire's military forces, and have the highest priority equipment allocation and material supplies.
Including the total strength of more than 40,000 support personnel, the First Division is not inferior in size to any military-level unit in any theater in the empire, and the treatment of soldiers and officers is also extremely honorable.
Transferring such a strong army to another world at this time of urgent need for manpower was certainly not Edward's whim, but a decision he and Yang Tianyi made together after discussing it.
Shortly after the group defeated the Arasaka Company, captured the Beluga aircraft carrier and occupied the world in Area 9, as the victorious party, they naturally obtained the exact coordinates of all the worlds of the defeated party.
But what makes Yang Tianyi a little disappointed is that the loser only has two worlds in his hands. One of them is undoubtedly a cyberpunk world with relatively advanced technology, while the other world was also confirmed by subsequent reconnaissance to be the "Mad Max" world, a doomsday wasteland world with poor resources and no order.
Considering the extremely advanced network hacking technology in the cyberpunk world, Yang Tianyi believes that a rash attack is not the best option. Apart from sending a very small number of agents to implant the Star Hub subroutine into the broken Internet of the world, he does not intend to complete it in the short term. Conquest of the cyberpunk world.
First, the world under the control of the group has reached the size of a palm. Before the large population and resources in these worlds have been fully integrated and utilized, further expansion will only make the group's already somewhat inconvenient cross-border system more bloated.
Secondly, Arasaka Company is very likely to have plans in the Mad Max world. In order to eliminate the roots without leaving any future troubles, the group must first take over this wasteland world and use it as a springboard to attack the cyberpunk world.
After discussions at the top of the group, CEO Harland, head of the Stars Division Garneau, and Army Secretary Ramsay agreed that the war in the wasteland should be solely handled by the Hughes Empire.
The reason for the former is that the resources in the wasteland world are too poor. Once the group's war machine is activated, the astronomical military expenditures required for the mechanical army will only make the group's finances unable to make ends meet. It would be better to let the Imperial Guards attack on your behalf, and the saved military expenses can also be used to build the infrastructure of Xius Samsung.
While the CEO's reasons were more economic, Ramsey and Garneau's reasons were more military.
"An army that has not fought tough battles is incomplete. Only the polishing of blood and fire can forge the will and soul of the army. The gap between the Group Army and Arasaka Company is too big, and the confrontation between the two sides will definitely be unilateral to our army. Suppressing the enemy will not serve the purpose of training troops at all. Therefore, it is reasonable for the Imperial Guard to go into battle, after all, it is rare to have evenly matched opponents."
Faced with the two people's extremely sufficient reasons, Edward, who also wanted to test the true strength of the empire, naturally would not refuse.
After receiving Yang Tianyi's verbal promise to provide support when necessary, the smug emperor immediately issued a mobilization order to his people. The assembly lines of the Royal Arsenal were once again running day and night with the efforts of countless workers to prepare for the upcoming war. The war produced tens of thousands of tons of military supplies.
If nothing else happened, the 40,000 men of the 1st Guards Division were just the beginning. Edward was not confident enough to think that tens of thousands of soldiers could conquer a world that once had nuclear weapons, not to mention the Arasaka Company hiding in the dark and watching eagerly.
After the 1st Guards Division wipes out the Zhanlang Gang under Immortal Joe and takes over the few water resources in the wasteland world, there will be hundreds of thousands or even millions of Guards soldiers drawn from various war zones. Filling the battle line, using its huge size to completely crush Arasaka Company's hope of turning defeat into victory.
"You are all loyal ministers of the empire, and I will not easily question your loyalty and ability. But I will say something ugly first, although the intensity of this war will be much higher than every battle that your generals have ever fought. , but if anyone’s improper command causes the empire to suffer unnecessary losses..."
After Edward said this, he did not continue. The generals here are all smart people, and there is no need to make some words too clear.
In short, in the face of an enemy with slightly higher technical capabilities, the emperor allowed his generals to defeat the enemy after paying a certain "learning cost", but he would never allow the mediocre people in the empire's command system to continue to remain in their positions. Go down.
Edward knew very well that Qunxing Group did not support idle people. Even if he had a close relationship with Yang Tianyi, if the Xius Empire could not create enough value for the group, then his future would probably end in the atmosphere of Xius Samsung.
After glancing at the dwindling countdown on the sand table, Edward said with a solemn expression: "Give me an order. The officers and soldiers of the 1st Guards Division who have arrived at the destination will immediately deploy their formations, build fortifications, and launch an attack as soon as the personnel and equipment are available. Six In an hour, I want to see Immortal Joe’s head hanging on the top of Zhanlang Fortress.”
The sudden change of plan immediately made the generals in the conference room look at each other, but in the end no one dared to refute the emperor's will.
Looking at the senior generals under his command who were accustomed to fighting with favorable conditions, Edward sighed softly, secretly thinking that the empire would probably have to pay a high price this time for a group of outstanding generals to stand out. Thinking of it, the emperor here seemed to have seen the bloody battles. The casualty figures came into view.
So he sighed softly, raised his hand and waved away the crowd, saying, "I'm a little tired. Today's combat meeting ends here."
...
"Buzz buzz..."
At the other end of the portal, as trucks loaded with baggage drove into the temporary field warehouse, the quartermaster responsible for counting and receiving supplies wrote down the storage time on the record board with a look of satisfaction on his face. There was a quizzical smile.
"The ammunition that has arrived in the past few hours is almost equivalent to half a month's consumption of a group army during the Unification War. I wonder what kind of enemy can make the empire go to war in such a big way?"
"Boom, boom boom..."
Just a few minutes later, before the quartermaster could prick up his ears and carefully identify the direction from which the gunfire came, the commander of the 1st Guards Division, who received the latest order, waved his hand and deployed hundreds of large-caliber guns in all directions of the ammunition depot. The howitzers let out their first roar after arriving in the new world.
Thanks to the precise coordinates provided by the special operations team, the headquarters expects that in the next hour-long fire preparation, all the peripheral defense facilities of Immortal Joe's Zhanlang Fortress, Gas Town and Bullet Farm will be completely destroyed, and will be destroyed due to losses. Most mobile forces are unable to support each other.
"While maximizing the damage to the enemy, tell the boys to save ammunition and avoid civilian casualties as much as possible. The empire is now full of waste, and precious resources such as population cannot be wasted."
Throwing the pencil aside, the commander of the 1st Guards Division, who was not used to the turbid air in the wasteland, coughed slightly and said to himself: "The real enemy has not yet revealed his whereabouts. Is it really wise for us to alert the enemy like this? ..."
"That's all. If you don't have time to think about it, why not let the logistics department transport another million rounds of artillery shells."
