The officers were originally silent and indifferent, but when they heard the words' His Majesty ', it was as if they were struck by an electric current. With a whoosh, all of them stood up and performed a military salute in unison, shouting loudly, "Long live His Majesty!"
His voice echoed in the empty command room and did not disappear for a long time. The officers, who had been tortured by years of war and homesickness, were about to go crazy. Even if they were not really excited, in front of their colleagues, their faces were still red. It seemed that if they did not do this, they would not be able to show their fanatical loyalty to His Majesty. Unfortunately, one of the officers could not hold back his coughing, and the continuous coughing slightly diluted the fanaticism in the room.
"Norman, if you're sick, just rest. Those things will naturally be taken care of by the ground forces. If it really doesn't work, those few pitiful warships in space can still chase after them."
After the officers sat down, the old general looked gently at the coughing officer and said this. But from the corner of his eyes, he noticed that the officers under him had returned to their previous numb expressions.
The Federation soldiers in the south dreamed every day of reconstructing The Glory Of The Charter in the northern hemisphere, sending out satellites and electronic surveillance equipment regardless of the cost. The Imperial expeditionary force in the northern hemisphere fought every day, and the two sides seemed to have formed some kind of tacit agreement. Every time at a fixed time, they would put on a show of air guns and air balloons.
The old general did not blame the numbness of the officers under him. No matter who it was, to stay on a planet so far away from home for so many years, fighting a war that was not tragic but particularly lingering every day, they could only gradually fall into a state of boredom.
"I'm fine." The officer called Norman had the most common surname in the Empire. He coughed twice, walked in front of the old general, and said, "General, the clearing of the forest today is a little slow. Should we send out the backup mecha battalion?"
To prevent the Federation from reconstructing The Glory Of The Charter, other than the spacecrafts and satellites in space, what was more troublesome for the Imperial expeditionary force was the small automatic electronic surveillance equipment that the enemy used the large transport aircraft to spread in the forest. Although they could find and destroy these annoying little things through frequency detection, there were too many of them. Three mecha squadrons were needed to clear them out every day.
"Do as you see fit. If we don't clean up, we won't be able to sleep peacefully." The old general smiled gently.
The computer system in the command room suddenly beeped. An officer quickly walked over and submitted an enemy intelligence report. According to the electronic surveillance, eleven minutes ago, a light warship under the escort of a Federal Fleet landed at Zeqiu Airport in the southern hemisphere.
The old general put on his spectacles, which had been badly worn out, and read carefully for a while. Then, he shook his head and said with a smile, "Which big shot of the Federation do you think is in this warship?"
"I can't guess, but it shouldn't be their reinforcements." The Norman officer shook his head.
"You should pay more attention to the Federation's news, even though their language is a bit difficult to learn." The old general smiled and said, "The one who came today should be their national girl. I didn't expect that the venue of the concert would be here."
The old general said, "That's not important, but there has been a lot of activity in the south recently. They should be sending more troops."
A hint of vigilance flashed through the pale blue eyes of the Norman officer as he asked, "What should we do?"
The old general smiled and said, "We won't do anything."
…
…
This circular defense base was the largest military base of the Imperial Expeditionary Force on planet 5460. The headquarters of the Maplewoods Alliance was located here. In the Empire's military system, the Alliance had five brigades under it. Its military strength was basically equivalent to an army of the Federation. As for special wartime equipment like the expeditionary force, it had more people.
The old general who had just walked out of the command room and was walking toward the edge of the forest with the accompaniment of an orderly was none other than the commander of the Imperial Expeditionary Force's Maplewoods Alliance, Lieutenant General Ambly.
This was the northern hemisphere of the planet, close to the glaciers that had only slightly melted once every three thousand years. Although the base was at the edge of the forest, it was still cold, and most of the trees were coniferous.
It had snowed last night, making it extremely difficult to walk. Ambly refused the help of the orderlies and walked with great difficulty, one step at a time.
As one of the most important military leaders of the Imperial Expeditionary Force, he knew very well that the Federation was preparing for a major operation. In the past few months, the frequency of warships taking off and landing in the southern Federation base was clearly much higher than before.
However, this general was as stable as a snowy mountain and did not intend to do anything. With the current situation of the expeditionary force, he could not do anything. The expeditionary force's auxiliary space fleet could at most defend the northern skies, but they could not stop the enemy's reinforcements.
In fact, if it were not for the fact that the Federation was already lacking in crystal resources, this old general really could not imagine how many days his lone army could last under the continuous bombardment of the Federal Fleet's main cannons.
The Empire had been sparing no expense in its huge financial and material resources to bypass the Night Scorpion Nebula and send an endless stream of soldiers and weapons to the front line of the West Woods. However, the old general knew in his heart that the Empire's interstellar transportation capacity had long been squeezed to the limit. If the domestic production capacity could still support such a costly expedition, then the interstellar transportation, which was already behind the Federation to begin with, was on the verge of collapse.
Old General Ambly turned around and looked at the glaciers and snowy peaks behind the base, deep in thought.
Since the first day the Imperial expeditionary force occupied Planet 5460, the four commanders of the Maple Forest Alliance had been continuously digging into the glaciers, seeking strategic space and survival space. The old general firmly believed that in this foreign land, even if his army was at a disadvantage in all aspects, as long as he did not make any strategic mistakes, he would definitely be able to persevere.
The question was, how many more years did he have to persevere?
…
…
Strolling in the snowy forest, along the way, countless officers and soldiers saluted this old general, and he warmly returned each and every one of them.
The people of the Empire had long hair and were naturally more resistant to the cold. Their eyes were basically blue or brown, and they fought bravely and coldly. Therefore, in the Federation's propaganda, the people of the Empire were often referred to as beasts.
Towards this kind of propaganda, the old general would only laugh it off and would not be angry at all. In his eyes, these children who were far away from home were all good children worthy of respect.
Walking into the coniferous forest, there was no one else besides his own orderlies. Only then did General Ambly's dark brown eyes reveal a hint of homesickness. The people of the Empire were indeed resistant to the cold, but who would be willing to spend the cold years by the glaciers?
Looking at the coniferous leaves above his head and the squirrels running through them, General Ambly suddenly missed the blazing maple forest of his hometown. It had been twenty years since he left his homeland, and seven years had been wasted in the vast expanse of space. Then, there was the continuous war in a foreign land. During this process, he saw too many subordinates, colleagues, and even superiors die …
Being far away from the Empire and fighting alone was not a good feeling, especially when there was no hope in sight.
General Ambly had always believed that if it weren't for the fact that communication could pass through the nebula, the expeditionary force would be able to hear the majestic voice of the emperor from time to time. If it weren't for the fact that the imperial instructors used the dry and isolated environment to thoroughly educate the expeditionary force officers and soldiers to be patriotic, the expeditionary force in the last three star systems would have probably surrendered to the Federation long ago.
"I wonder what the maple forest of my hometown looks like now. The standards of the Federation and the Empire are about the same. The two rows of maple trees behind the room should have grown by now. "
The old general took off his gloves and lightly patted the Federation's winter trees. Thinking about the red leaves of his homeland, a hint of warmth appeared on his aged face. However, he knew that he would probably never be able to go back in this lifetime, and he would never be able to see the red leaves of his hometown again, unless what those idiots in the military said … was true.
"Let's go." The old general turned around and walked towards the direction of the base, but he saw an injured rabbit struggling beside the snow. He smiled and said, "The animals of the Federation are very fortunate. They were raised by them for so many years, but now they are all eaten by us."
The orderlies behind him couldn't help but rub their heads and laugh.
The Empire had long grasped the technology to extract hydrogen energy. Relying on the iceberg behind them was equivalent to relying on a huge energy warehouse. That was why the Empire's fleet was able to put most of its transport capacity into the supply of soldiers and supplies. Otherwise, relying on the few protein meat production bases of the expeditionary force would definitely not be able to satisfy the needs of so many troops.
What made the soldiers of the Imperial expeditionary force the most excited was that this planet was actually filled with countless wild animals. Although they couldn't be used as rations, it was still a wonderful thing to occasionally have a sumptuous meal.
…
…
On the way back to the base, General Ambly encountered a group of sentinels. This group of sentinels was supported by three Moon mechas. They had just captured a Federation scout in the forest.
In the current era of modern warfare, scouts were very rarely used. Even if the Charter Network in the northern hemisphere was completely destroyed, the Federal Army would rarely send scouts unless it was to confirm some extremely important information. Only when the military intelligence department didn't dare to completely trust the surveillance equipment would they send scouts to take the risk.
The Federation scout had delicate facial features and didn't look very old. When he saw Ambly's military uniform, he instantly knew his identity. He opened his mouth and hurriedly said a few words in pure Empire language.
Ambly listened quietly for a moment and exchanged a few words with the officer who had finished interrogating him. He smiled at the Federation scout and said, "We have never taken any prisoners between us. You should know that we, the Empire, don't have any extra food."
A look of perseverance flashed across the face of the Federation scout. He forced himself to stand up from the ground, but before he could completely stand up, a gunshot rang out. Blood spurted out of his head, and he fell forward heavily into the snow.
General Ambly didn't even look at this common scene. He had already walked forward and asked the orderlies beside him with a smile, "What do we eat tonight? I think that rabbit just now was pretty good. "
Before he entered the base, the old man's dark brown eyes flashed with a trace of coldness. This was because he noticed that the Norman officer and many people in the command room had walked out of the base. They seemed to be waiting for him.
"Emergency military report." The Norman officer handed over a top-secret electronic document.
General Ambly glanced at it. His expression was extremely gloomy. The old fingers holding the electronic document trembled slightly. He said in a low voice, "When did the military have the right to give orders to the expeditionary force's specific military operations? A bunch of idiots! "
The Norman officer had already forgotten to cough. He said in shock and helplessness, "This … is His Majesty's order."
…
…
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
