Conquer Europe from the West

Chapter 104: Big Construction! Big Construction!!!
In fact, Ryan saw the two commanders of the Second and Fourth Armies.

When he was about to enter the General Staff Headquarters through the back door, Ryan saw through the glass door that the two men were hiding in the stairwell, shaking their fists and saying something about 20,000 rounds at a time.

But because the expressions on both of their faces were extremely ferocious, he immediately gave up the idea of ​​entering the staff office through the back door and instead went through the main door.

This time he didn't run into the two men, but he saw General Constantine of the Fifth Army.

Then he found that the commander-in-chief of the Fifth Army seemed to be in a mood that was both happy and heavy.

Not normal anyway.

So he immediately hurried to the small staircase on the side and strode towards the second underground floor.

Unlike the last time I came, the General Staff Headquarters didn't seem as lively this time.

Whether it was the staff officers and officers on the first floor of the ground building, or the guards underground, almost all of them had serious expressions on their faces, and their complexions were a little dark, and it was obvious at a glance that they were tired.

The only ones who smiled were probably the aunties and girls sweeping the floor.

This almost immediately made Ryan guess that the General Staff must be busy preparing for the next battle these days.

Those staff officers and guards probably haven't had a proper rest for several days. The girls and aunts are happy, probably because the staff is working overtime, so they can earn some extra money by cooking.

This is a bit like the Pentagon with the bald eagle across the sea every time the Ministry of National Defense of the University of Tokyo holds a press conference or the troops conduct military exercises in the future - people don't deserve to sleep, and pizza shops are running around the clock on their own initiative.

But these are not the main points.

After passing through four consecutive blockades of guards, Ryan finally arrived at the door of a conference room called the typing room.

After checking Ryan's ID one last time, the guard at the door did not report or knock on the door. Instead, he took Ryan's gun and opened the door.

This action made Ryan feel very strange, but he immediately focused his attention inside the conference room.

The decoration of the conference room was not as luxurious as the one he had met with Field Marshal Schlieffen before. It had simple wooden floors, metal bookcases and two desks. Although simple, it did not feel shabby.

At the deepest part of the room was a standard staff conference table. Three generals in uniform sat at the table, with cigar smoke drifting past them from time to time.

Ryan walked slowly into the room, but then he found something wrong.

The two generals' uniforms were of different colors.

The guy with his back to him and wearing the uniform of a field marshal was very young and obviously not Schlieffen.

Ryan, who thought he was here to discuss the next steps in the war against the United Kingdom with the naval commander, almost immediately realized that something was wrong.

the reason is simple.

There are currently five people in the empire who can be called marshals.

They are the current commanders-in-chief of the imperial navy, army and air force, plus Marshal Moltke the Younger of the General Staff and Marshal Schlieffen who has retired.

Among them, the work of the General Staff is to coordinate the three armed forces to carry out national defense tasks, while the commander-in-chief of the three armed forces is responsible for specific front-line command.

The ones Ryan knew so far were Schlieffen and Moltke the Younger, and he had only met the other three at meetings.

But the guy in front of him, wearing a marshal's uniform and with his back to him, was obviously...

Ok?
Suddenly, Ryan frowned and realized that something was wrong.

This empire currently has only five marshals.

But this does not mean that there are only five people who can wear the marshal's uniform.

After realizing this, Ryan almost immediately tensed all the muscles in his body.

Because he finally recognized who this guy in the field marshal's uniform was with his back to him - the emperor of the empire.

Almost the moment he understood this, Ryan immediately gave the most standard military salute: "Commander of the 102nd Air Force Special Service Fleet, Lieutenant Colonel Ryan Flegg, greets Your Majesty."

The emperor didn't turn to look at Ryan, but simply said, "I heard that a lieutenant colonel's troops don't need to salute the commander?"

"Yes!"

No explanation, no need to explain.

The emperor of the empire did not have authority exceeding that of a marshal in managing the troops, so Ryan was not actually worried that the other party would do anything outrageous.

as predicted.

As Ryan's voice fell, the emperor immediately stood up and turned to look at Ryan: "Yes, you are indeed different from your contemporaries."

This was Ryan's second time meeting the emperor, but the last time was in the palace. The golden surroundings were so blinding that he couldn't see what the emperor looked like at all.

But now he could see clearly.

Very similar to William II, but a little different.

But Ryan was not a fool. He just took a quick glance at what the emperor looked like, then immediately looked away and looked at the other two marshals.

When on Earth, Germany II had formal air forces, but they did not have an independent air force in the true sense.

Like the air forces of other countries, Germany's air force was subordinate to the army. It was not until 1916 that it separated from the army and established an independent air force.

On the contrary, the empire, which owns a large number of airships, had already mastered an air force composed of airships more than a hundred years ago, so it separated the airship force very early and gave it the name of an independent military branch.

This also meant that Ryan was not familiar with the Air Force Marshal.

But he was very familiar with the other person.

The classic bald head with a big beard divided into two parts, one on each side.

Without a doubt, it must be Alfred von Tirpitz.

At the same time, the Emperor of the Empire also noticed Ryan's gaze.

He instinctively glanced at the two marshals behind him, thinking that Ryan was wondering whether to salute them.

This made the emperor think for a moment, then he walked up to Ryan and patted the young lieutenant colonel on the shoulder: "Lieutenant Colonel Flig, from now on, I specially allow you and all officers and soldiers of your unit to not salute anyone."

"That's really..."

Ryan, who had never thought that he would get such a big benefit so easily, didn't even react and subconsciously prepared to raise his hand to salute.

But his hand was immediately pressed back by the emperor.

The Emperor, who looked to be in his early forties, sat back in his chair and turned to look at Ryan. "Lieutenant Commander Flig, according to General Draven, your Excellency seems to be quite interested in the United Kingdom's navy?"

The Emperor of the Empire was a man who attached great importance to naval power, so his first question was to ask Ryan what he thought of the United Kingdom.

But this is unwise.

Because the whole world knows that the United Kingdom cares very much about its maritime hegemony. No matter which country, including the empire, they have consciously slowed down the construction of their naval power because of the existence of the United Kingdom.

To put it simply, they don't want to use their weak spots to touch the thorny iron bone of the United Kingdom Navy.

And if Ryan said anything here that might support the expansion of the navy, he would be hung on the street lamp by everyone who knew about it in the future.

So Ryan did not answer the emperor immediately, but turned his attention to the Empire's Air Force Marshal.

Ryan didn't know the man, but Field Marshal Schlieffen had a good relationship with him. Furthermore, Schlieffen had already greeted him some time ago, so the Air Marshal nodded almost immediately, signaling Ryan to continue. "What Vice Admiral Draven said is not entirely correct," he said calmly. "I am only interested in the United Kingdom's airship fleet, not its naval fleet."

This is the absolute truth.

"Oh?"

The Emperor was surprised by Ryan's words. He began to sizing up the young officer in front of him, his tone tinged with anger. "Why do you say that? Your Excellency, don't you think the Empire should have a powerful naval fleet comparable to that of the United Kingdom?"

As a person who urgently hopes that the empire can become the world's most powerful country, the emperor of the empire began planning to expand the navy many years ago.

But unfortunately, he had been on the throne for less than a year and was unable to make decisions on many major issues.

In addition, the then Imperial Marshal Schlieffen repeatedly obstructed the development of the empire's navy, which prevented it from being formally developed.

Ryan had done a lot of research on this, so he immediately replied, "Your Majesty, what the Empire needs is a navy that can win battles, not a navy that has size but no strength."

"Oh?"

The young emperor pricked up his ears at the novel remarks. He looked at Admiral Tirpitz and Air Marshal behind him with a delighted expression, as if he felt that Ryan's words were actually supporting his efforts to vigorously build up the naval forces.

But his naval marshal did not show any joy about this. He just looked at the emperor with a complicated expression, and then looked at Ryan.

As someone who had discussed the direction and route of military development with Schlieffen a long time ago, Tirpitz knew very well why the United Kingdom had not chosen to declare war on the Empire until now - the Empire could not threaten the United Kingdom at sea.

Therefore, even though the United Kingdom's two battlecruisers had been captured by the Empire, along with an entire reinforced Marine brigade, and their vassal state had been taken away, they still did not make the decision to declare war immediately.

This is already a huge concession for the United Kingdom, which was extremely arrogant in the past.

It was precisely because of their concession that the emperor of the empire had the opportunity to go to the General Staff and specifically to Ryan's report meeting with the marshals of the navy and air force to have a say.

The Emperor was no fool. He noticed this almost immediately and turned his gaze to Ryan: "Lieutenant Commander Flig, what's the difference between what you're talking about and expanding the Imperial Navy?"

"There is a great difference, my Lord."

Ryan glanced at Tirpitz calmly and explained to the emperor.

"The total tonnage of the United Kingdom's navy is 2,250,000 tons, nearly twice the total tonnage of the Imperial High Seas Fleet."

"Even if the Empire invested its entire national budget for the next ten years into expanding its naval fleet, we would not be able to build a high seas fleet more powerful than the United Kingdom Navy in such a short period of time."

"A navy not only needs ships, but also needs enough excellent sailors to maintain its operation."

"Therefore, I believe that there is no need for the Empire to waste huge amounts of funds on meaningless large-scale construction. This is equivalent to tap dancing on the head of the already nervous United Kingdom. It is wild and may fall into the abyss at any time."

As soon as these words were spoken, the emperor's expression improved a lot, but it was obvious that Ryan's explanation was not enough to satisfy the emperor.

The young emperor pressed the issue, "What about the navy you just mentioned, which is capable of winning battles?"

"Yes, Your Majesty."

This time, Ryan looked at the Emperor. "Based on my experience on the front lines in the Kingdom of Perijie, the easiest way to have a fleet capable of defeating the United Kingdom is to have the air force and navy conduct operations together."

"Our naval fleet is responsible for providing the air force fleet with supplies and any necessary assistance, while the actual combat content can be handed over to the air force's airship fleet."

"?"

Before Ryan finished speaking, a question mark popped up in the emperor's head.

"Lieutenant Colonel Flig, did I hear correctly?"

The emperor leaned forward slightly, and in his marshal's uniform, he looked like a majestic senior officer. "How can the air fleet cooperate with the navy? Are you going to let their airships take off from battleships?"

He looked at Ryan with an incredible, even disbelief, look, but he could only see Ryan's serious expression.

But before the Emperor could finish, Tirpitz, who was sitting at the table, spoke.

"His Majesty."

The marshal with a full white beard said slowly, "We have won the approval of Marshal Schlieffen regarding the cooperation between the navy and the air force."

"Since Your Majesty disagrees with Lieutenant Colonel Flig's remarks, why not calm down and listen to what he has to say? I believe this should be a satisfactory answer for you."

Apparently, the words of an Imperial Marshal were enough to calm the young emperor.

Before Ryan could speak, he saw that the emperor had turned around and stopped interrupting.

Seeing this, Tirpitz followed up with, "Your Majesty, as you know, Lieutenant Commander Flig captured two of the United Kingdom's latest strategic cruisers for the Empire just a few days ago. If he was able to lead his troops to such a victory, it must mean that he has mastered an effective tactic to counter the naval fleet."

The emperor immediately realized that Tirpitz was trying to save face.

It was only at this time that he remembered that he was an uninvited guest to Ryan.

This made him think of Schlieffen. If Schlieffen knew that he was interfering in the affairs of the army without authorization, he would definitely face the disgust of the General Staff.

Helplessly, he could only soften his tone: "Since Marshal Tirpitz has said so much... you can speak for yourself, Lieutenant Colonel Flig."

"Yes."

Ryan breathed a sigh of relief and said.

"As Marshal Tirpitz just said, my 102nd Special Air Service Fleet employed a much simpler tactic in the battle a few days ago than the previous battles of giant ship against giant ship, artillery against artillery."

The emperor still looked uninterested, as if he just wanted to hear Ryan say, "We want the big ship."

But no one would follow the emperor's wishes at this time.

The fundamental reason why the empire's army has been able to hold out until now is that the emperor only has the power to declare war and guide overall goals, but does not have the power to directly command and interfere with the troops.

Ryan began to focus his attention on Tirpitz and the Air Marshal, and put forward all the views he had prepared to put forward at this meeting.

"Based on my combat experience, the naval vessels of various countries currently lack the means to attack air units."

"Therefore, what the Empire needs to do most right now is to quickly increase the total buoyancy tonnage of the Air Force's airship fleet and further strengthen investment in the research and development of military aircraft."

"The newly produced airships and military aircraft will become the eyes and spear of our Imperial Navy in future wars. They will be able to undertake most reconnaissance operations and launch attacks on the so-called invincible fleet of the United Kingdom from locations that are beyond their reach."

"Once the enemy fleet is thrown into disarray by our air strikes, our fleet will then swoop in and, before the United Kingdom's fleet can react, destroy the enemy's naval forces with a swift and precise strike."

"Only in this way can the Empire do its utmost to ensure the survivability of its warships when facing the blockade of the United Kingdom's fleet, and ultimately seize the opportunity to turn defeat into victory!"

After saying that, Ryan immediately took out all the combat reports of the Wave-class airship in Ostend from his briefcase, and focused on sending the report of the airship responsible for attacking the two "Lion" class battlecruisers to the Emperor and Tirpitz.

He submitted the battle reports of Z331 and Z332 to the Air Force Marshal.

Firstly, Ryan had not yet obtained Marshal Schlieffen's permission, so he could not submit the content including the deployment of infantry units by airships to the emperor for confirmation. Secondly, he also had to ensure that he could completely and quickly shut the emperor up so that things could get back to the point.

The emperor looked at the report in his hand and asked in confusion, "What is this?"

Ryan raised his eyebrows and said.

"This is the battle report summarized by the 102nd Air Force Special Service Fleet after the last operation."

"Although our forces enjoyed the advantage of preemptive strikes in this operation, the key point is that, relying solely on two airships, we were able to achieve the remarkable feat of completely rendering the two United Kingdom battlecruisers unable to resist and rendering them unable to sail!"

(End of this chapter)