Chapter 260: Why did Your Majesty rebel?
Perbov looked at the city in front of him with a calm expression.
Leroy walked up to him.
Perbov turned and looked at his old partner. One of his ears was wrapped in gauze and blood was oozing out.
His political commissar, Colonel Leroy, became permanently deaf in one ear.
But Leroy himself didn't feel anything about it and still had a smile on his face.
He turned to Perbov and asked, "What's wrong with you? You've been promoted, but why do you look so serious?"
What he said was that Perbov was once again confirmed as the commander-in-chief of the Alliance Expeditionary Force. Although the governor had arrived in person, he did not interfere with the military command and would still leave it to him to be responsible for.
Moreover, although his military rank has not been changed, the Governor has made it clear that when he returns, he will be promoted to the rank of general, a full-fledged major general.
In theory, this is something to be happy about. Perbov has been thinking about this title of general for a long time.
But when it was really within his reach, he felt that he was not that happy.
Facing his old friend's question, he sighed deeply: "I have never had so many people die under my command."
This sentence also silenced Leroy.
He followed along and recalled the scene when the expeditionary force set out on the Angry Owl Star.
Those young and vigorous faces boarded the spaceship in a heroic and high-spirited manner.
And now?
The 34th, 37th, and 38th divisions were now mostly disabled. More than 50% of the troops had been lost, and more than 70% of the armored vehicles and artillery had been lost. Most of the remaining survivors were injured.
Even if the ammunition was replenished, the three divisions would have little combat power left.
They had paid a huge price in the eight days of bloody battles. Later, regardless of whether they were frontline combat troops or not, all the engineering battalions, logistics battalions, and guard companies were pulled up to fight.
If these three divisions are to regain their combat effectiveness, it would be almost equivalent to rebuilding them.
Since the establishment of the alliance, the largest operations up to now have been the two wars to pacify the Qinggu region and the eastern provinces. Both Leroy and Perbov participated in them.
In those wars, the Alliance was always the dominant side and had never encountered a situation where three divisions were crippled in a single battle.
The tragic sacrifice left a lasting impression on these two military commanders.
But what could Leroy say?
In war, are there still immortals?
"A kind man cannot command an army." This was all he warned Pobov.
This sentence was a sigh of Gutera that he heard from the Governor.
Perbov nodded. "I understand. I just wonder if we could have done better in those days? Could fewer people have died?"
Leroy patted his brother on the shoulder and said comfortingly, "The past cannot be changed. All we can do is to do better in the future. Now, the newly arrived 1st Wind-Quiet Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, 13th Combined Brigade, and 36th Combined Brigade are all under your command. You are still the commander-in-chief of the expeditionary force. We cannot let down the soldiers' sacrifices, and we cannot let down the Governor's trust."
"Yeah." Perbov nodded and asked, "What about the matter we talked about before?"
"The Governor has agreed." Leroy said, "After the 34th, 37th, and 38th divisions return, they will definitely be rebuilt. Their numbers will not be revoked and they will be integrated into other units. They will also be awarded medals and numbers for meritorious units."
"Then I feel relieved."
"You don't have to worry about this." Leroy said, "These things are part of the historical heritage of a unit and part of its foundation. Even if we don't talk about these empty words, in terms of actual effectiveness, they can be used as internal propaganda materials and as a military history heritage. New soldiers who join these meritorious units in the future will easily feel proud of learning about this history, which will have a great bonus effect on the morale of the unit. Instead of dismantling these three teams, it is better to rebuild them."
Perbov gave an embarrassed smile: "Then I am worried about the worst, right?"
"You'd better focus on the things at hand." Leroy said, "We have to take this city beautifully."
"I already have an idea," Pobov said. "It's a good idea for you to come and take a look."
He began to explain the battle plan in detail to his political commissar.
The wounded soldiers of the 34th, 37th and 38th divisions were left in the suburban town, and the remaining several thousand troops were integrated together, barely enough to serve as two infantry regiments.
They were placed in front of the north gate of Pinser City, established positions twenty kilometers away, and began to bombard the city with artillery.
Of course, the main offensive action did not require them, who had already made huge sacrifices. They were mainly just playing supporting roles, and the main force was still the four new divisions.
The Xifeng Brigade is in the east, and the 13th and 36th Brigades are in the west. These three combined brigades will be the main attacking forces. They will use armor and heavy artillery to knock down the gates of Pinsel City.
The remaining 2nd Infantry Division was placed directly south of Pinser City. In addition to blocking the southern part of the city, their mission was to guard against the two major marquises of the Luman Kingdom in the south of the royal city.
"The movements of the two so-called marquises are a major unknown factor." Leroy seemed a little worried. "If they are determined to gather troops to interfere in the battle, they still have two Knight Titans, more than two hundred Sentinel mechas, and a maximum of 200,000 infantry that can be mobilized. Although those Luman infantry are just cannon fodder, their numbers are there after all, and they cannot be completely ignored."
"The Governor said he has sent out envoys," Pobov said, "I hope those two can understand what's best for them."
"But we can't put all our hopes on diplomatic efforts," Leroy stressed. "If you can't get what you can't get on the battlefield, you can't get it through diplomacy. This is also the Governor's wise saying. If we don't let those two ambitious marquises know that they can't interfere in the war in Pincel City even if they want to, they will not be too honest. The 2nd Division must be prepared for a fierce battle."
…
However, in reality, their worries did not come true.
After receiving a reminder from the headquarters, the commander of the 2nd Division dispatched a large number of reconnaissance troops to closely monitor the troops of the two marquises gathering in the south.
The focus is on the two Knight Titans.
And the Space Marines and the Alliance Air Force are on standby. Once these two things appear on the battlefield, the scene that has been staged twice before will have a chance to be staged again.
However, the attitudes of the two marquises were ambiguous.
On the one hand, they put strong pressure on the envoys sent by Gu Hang and spoke harshly; on the other hand, they did not take many actual actions. Apart from gathering troops, there was no further movement.
The two Marquises, Asago and Janvis, once again expressed their strong dissatisfaction and protest to the envoy from the Angry Owl Star. After watching the envoy leave, the serious and fierce expressions on their faces disappeared at the same time.
The two looked at each other and sighed.
Yasago said with a sad face: "Our protest is useless. The alliance's army should have already started attacking Pinsel by now, right?"
"What can we do?" Marquis Janvis said, "You don't agree to send troops. If it were me, we should just give it a try. There are only more than 10,000 Angry Owl people stationed in the south of Pinsel. We have 200,000 troops and 200 knights, as well as you and me. Are you afraid of these 10,000 people?"
Yasago said, "How long did it take for the royal family to go from ambitious planning to complete collapse? Only half a month! Half a month ago, Ness Luman was still thinking about how to permanently occupy the position of governor, and he was willing to put all his family assets on the line and got involved in the internal struggle of the Gu family. Now he can only beg us to save him. Do you want to experience the same fate again?"
Jarvis fell silent.
If he had the courage, he wouldn't be here complaining to Yasago.
To be honest, Ness Luman was not a bad king. In the past few years, this guy has been manipulating power and developing at the same time. He has attracted many nobles of all sizes to join the so-called Royal Knights. The power and treatment of traditional nobles have been continuously compressed. In their place, Ness Luman gradually strengthened the centralized rule.
This brought a lot of pressure to the two traditional marquis lords, Asago and Janvis. The biggest source of this pressure was the Royal Knights.
Four Knight Titans, four hundred knights, three quarters of the land and population were already under the king's centralized power. Even the two of them had to show respect to the king and reiterate their loyalty.
Such a king and such a royal knight group that had put so much pressure on their two major families were defeated by the Angry Owl people in just half a month.
Who wouldn’t be afraid of this?
Very scared.
But now, the two of them still have differences.
"If we sit back and watch, and those Angry Owls capture the city of Pinser and win the war, how should we deal with it?" Janvis asked a core question.
This is where they are caught between a rock and a hard place.
The envoy of the Angry Owl conveyed Governor Gu Hang's "goodwill" to them and offered conditions.
According to the messenger, they characterized King Ness Luman's behavior as "rebellion."
This word seemed quite absurd to the two marquises: Your Majesty is plotting a rebellion?
But they immediately realized that the "rebellion" that Governor Gu referred to was not betrayal in the conventional sense in their minds, but betrayal of the empire.
Nest Luman attacked the Gu family, a member of the Imperial Chamber of Commerce, which had an official license from the Empire. This hostile behavior constituted a betrayal of the Empire, and he must pay the price for it.
This is a major premise that cannot be discussed. Governor Gu’s meaning is already very clear.
No matter what the price that Ness Luman has to pay is, this premise is something that cannot be negotiated. The anger of the Gu family will not be extinguished by anything or any statement. They will catch King Luman. Anyone who dares to obstruct this will become the enemy of the Gu family and the enemy of the Angry Owl Star.
And under this non-negotiable premise, other things can be discussed.
The two marquises can still retain their titles and pass them down from generation to generation; they can still retain their own armies and control over their own territories.
The Luman Kingdom as a whole will be preserved, and they need to continue to be loyal to this whole.
From nominally obeying management to paying taxes and fulfilling military obligations.
What does this mean?
Do you want to give us a new king?
How is this...
Doesn't that seem unacceptable?
The history of the Luman Kingdom has been hundreds of years, and the Luman Dynasty has always been the ruler of this country. But in earlier times, there were also many countries fighting here, but the Luman family unified the entire country and maintained this unity for hundreds of years.
For hundreds of years, the people of this land seemed to have gotten used to and accepted that the Luhmann family had the right to rule over this land. But in fact, after removing this psychological barrier, people would find that changing a king was not a big deal.
Will life change?
This is true for ordinary people, and it seems to be the same for the two marquises.
After all, the conditions stated by Governor Gu's envoy were the same as the conditions when they had pledged allegiance to the Luman family before.
Just live the same way you lived before.
"No!" Jarvis shook his head and said, "The Luman family is fine, but how can we accept a group of alien visitors sitting on our heads? What's more, we are not without a chance. The army of the Angry Owl Star only has a total of tens of thousands of people. There are still Luman's troops in Pinser City. If we work together to drive those Angry Owl Stars away, the entire kingdom will be ours! The Luman family no longer has the ability to compete with us!"
"And it's not just us. Can those other countries accept the emergence of a country controlled by aliens on the Black Arrow Planet? We can win their support by sending envoys! At worst, we can cede some territory..."
As Jarvis spoke, he became more and more excited.
However, Yasago poured cold water on him: "By the time you invite foreign troops, the city of Pinsel would have been conquered long ago."
"Uh..." Janvis was stunned for a moment, then said, "This is the meaning of our existence! We have to march and hold back the troops of the Angry Owl Star. What's more, even if the city of Pinser is captured and Ness Luman is dead, it doesn't matter. We can continue the war. As long as we can win over other countries on the Black Arrow Star to our side, can those Angry Owl Stars still defeat us in our home court?"
Yasago continued to shake his head: "Yes, they can. We have the help of space warriors, and they also have the advantage of space. That Gu Ming is finished, and the interstellar power of the Gu family will be back in the hands of Governor Gu. The orbit of our planet will be controlled by them, and we must fight the Angry Owl under orbital strikes."
After a pause, he continued, "The largest foreign trade partner of the entire Black Arrow Star is the Gu family. Without them, our weapons would be gone, and even if a Titan was damaged, there would be no place to repair it."
At this point, Yasago finally gave a summary: "In short, I have made a decision. I will just sit here quietly and watch the outcome of Pinser City. I will not let my army attack the Angry Owl Star People. You can do whatever you want."
Jarvis frowned.
He had to admit that what Yasago said made sense.
What’s more important is that if Yasago doesn’t move, the troops he can mobilize will not be enough to carry out the plan he mentioned.
Even if the two families work together, they may not be able to handle it, let alone him alone.
He wanted to persuade her again, but Yasago didn't give him the chance and left.
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(End of this chapter)
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