Conquer Europe from the West

Chapter 99 [Target: Verdun]

Perij officially surrendered to the Empire!
This unprecedented news was sent to the entire continent by the Empire in the form of an honorary communication almost at the moment Abel I put pen to paper.

The pillar of light of honor that soared into the sky radiated from Antwerp to the entire territory of the Kingdom of Periguet.

When this information was delivered to the Empire and even the Pei-French border, intelligence agencies from across the continent and even around the world immediately decoded these honor communications at the fastest speed and sent them back to their home countries.

As the former overlord of the Kingdom of Perijie, the United Kingdom learned the news even faster than the Emperor of the Empire!
When the spy they had planted next to King Perige was "politely" escorted out of the Antwerp City Hall from the venue where the document was signed by the imperial soldiers, and completely lost all his privileges in the Kingdom of Perige, the imperial soldiers immediately provided a standard United Kingdom telegraph in accordance with General Delevingne's orders.

“FUCK!!!!!!!”

In the meeting room of Buckingham Palace, Winston Churchill was almost immediately driven mad by this telegram.

He completely changed his usual calmness in front of the king and waved his cane wildly. The chair he was sitting on tilted and fell to the ground. The teacup on the table was smashed into pieces of porcelain with gold rims. A sip of untouched black tea spilled all over the floor, leaving a dark mark on the white and gold carpet.

With the sound of wood snapping, Churchill's cane broke.

The tip of one end flew two or three meters away and hit a porcelain vase that was over a hundred years old. George V looked at the acting prime minister who had helped him manage the country for half a year slumped on the ground in horror, with only deep regret in his heart.

He shouldn't have insisted on sending troops to Perijie.

It was precisely because of his persistence some time ago and the support of hundreds of members of the House of Commons and the House of Lords that this loyal minister of the kingdom was forced to end up in his current state.

But what is more important is the kingdom’s current situation.

George V was a king who came to the throne in a hurry, so he was not familiar with politics and was not very proficient in military affairs.

But he was well aware that with the peace agreement signed between the Kingdom of Perijie and the Empire, the United Kingdom would completely lose its springboard to the European continent.

What's even worse is that the two battlecruisers and an entire reinforced Marine brigade previously sent to the Kingdom of Perije will also be considered prisoners of war by the Empire under international law.

Unless the United Kingdom could pay a price sufficient to satisfy the Empire, they would have to wait until the war was over before they could return home.

This will inevitably cause dissatisfaction among the vast majority of the Kingdom's members of parliament and almost all citizens.

And the consequence is exactly what George V expected - they will hold rallies, marches, and do everything they can to make George V pay for his mistakes.

"Winston, we need to remedy this immediately!"

Surprisingly, George V spoke with astonishing determination.

He stood beside Churchill and, together with the guards, helped his prime minister up from the ground and led him to the sofa nearby.

But Churchill didn't look at him, but just kept muttering to himself.

"It's all fucking over now!!"

"Damn those Ampel barbarians! They've torn my carefully planned plan to pieces!"

Seeing this, George V could only temporarily give up persuading the prime minister of the kingdom. He just waved to the guards beside him and made a gesture to go out.

As the door closed, the king, who was not young but had only been in power for four years, quietly sat back on his throne.

This will be the worst day in the history of the United Kingdom.

It will also be the worst day in Buckingham Palace's history.

He firmly believes in this.

————————————————————

Resistance from the Kingdom of Perij has not disappeared.

As the sky brightened completely, removing the last trace of darkness from the earth, Ryan had already completed the occupation of Ostend Railway Station with his two platoons.

The Perijie Kingdom's troops, equipped with standard United Kingdom military equipment, were almost defeated on the spot when faced with the assault company soldiers equipped with customized P08 carbines.

The dense rain of bullets destroyed the fighting spirit of these soldiers in just three volleys, and the mechanical behemoth that made a ruthless roar in the sky became a nightmare that crushed these kingdom soldiers.

The 40mm howitzer made a dull bang and immediately destroyed the temporary shelter built by the soldiers.

The soldiers who were directly hit lost their lives instantly. The worst-hit one was hit in the stomach by an unexploded bomb, breaking his spine and collapsing to the ground powerlessly.

The secretion of adrenaline kept him awake for the last time, but what he saw was a group of comrades who were running away from him because they were worried that they would be affected by the grenade explosion.

Upon seeing this, the platoon leaders of the fifth and sixth platoons immediately ordered their soldiers to advance, and quickly collected the weapons of all the troops who had given up resistance and put them aside. Then they piled the sandbags scattered on the roadside to a position five or six meters away from the kingdom soldier.

A red light appeared on the northern horizon.

Ryan looked at the red light, then at the two blast-proof walls his men had built, then at a communications officer from the sixth platoon beside him. He sighed and said, "Warrant Officer, lend me your service pistol."

"Yes!"

The young man with braces handed Ryan his standard P08. Judging from his expression, he seemed to have no idea what Ryan wanted to do.

The platoon leader of the sixth platoon, who also saw the red light, immediately stepped forward and pulled the little guy, who was extremely excited because it was his first time participating in actual combat, into a corner.

Ryan took a look at the two of them, shook his head, unloaded seven bullets, and loaded the last one.

Then he took out two quick-acting painkiller injections from his medical bag, turned around, stepped over the explosion-proof wall that was only knee-high, and walked to the side of the kingdom soldier.

The surrendered soldiers of the kingdom turned their heads away almost immediately, and the timid ones even squatted on the ground.

The six rows of soldiers in charge of guarding them immediately raised their guns, their eyes full of contempt.

the other side.

Ryan squatted beside the soldier and inserted a painkiller into his arm. He asked calmly, "Can you speak Imperial?"

"Fuck you!" the soldier gritted his teeth, but his expression was no longer as ferocious as before. "You are a bunch of running dogs of the empire!"

"It seems he's still somewhat conscious."

Ryan didn't react to the boy's insults.

He just shook his head helplessly and gave the second shot. After the man stopped breathing heavily, he pressed the P08 into the hand of the young man who looked less than twenty years old. "The Empire has reached a peace agreement with your King. You are the last soldier to sacrifice in this war."

Ryan's voice sounded somewhat helpless, because just now, he saw a red beam of light emerging from the distant horizon.

That was a beam of light appearing from the direction of Antwerp, representing the formal alliance between the Empire and the Kingdom of Perijie.

Ryan said, "There's a bullet in there that'll make you feel better."

The soldier obviously saw it too, but he stopped talking and just looked at the sky with his pale golden eyes.

Bright red blood flowed out from under his body, mixed with mud and dust, and stuck to Ryan's boots.

"I……"

The sound that seemed to come from a broken bellows reached Ryan's ears.

He saw that the soldier's eyes could no longer focus, and the fuzzy beard at the corners of his mouth trembled slightly in the sea breeze.

"He's almost unconscious."

Ryan stood up and looked at the kingdom soldiers who were covered in blood and mud.

He grasped the Luger in his hand and pointed the handle at the highest-ranking man among them—a lieutenant in the Kingdom Army. “This is the commander’s job. Let him go.”

Everyone looked at the lieutenant.

There was indifference in the eyes of the soldiers of the assault company.

The eyes of the kingdom's soldiers were filled with resentment, fear, and all kinds of complex and indescribable emotions.

But the lieutenant showed no sign of doing anything.

He didn't even look at Ryan, but just lowered his head and looked at the ground under his feet, as if everything had nothing to do with him.

Everyone remained in a stalemate until the captain of Z332 appeared beside Ryan with a telegram.

"Major Flig," the captain of Z332 handed the telegram to Ryan. His voice was clear enough for everyone to hear. "Abel I signed a peace agreement with the Empire at the Antwerp City Hall."

"They are our allies now."

Ryan took the telegram, glanced at it, and said coldly: "Everyone, lower your guard and return your weapons to the friendly forces."

The soldiers of the sixth and fifth platoons immediately folded the butts of their Luger rifles and retreated while maintaining minimum alert.

The soldiers of the Kingdom of Perije who could not understand the Imperial language looked at each other, and then learned the news of the king's surrender from their comrades who could understand the Imperial language.

Ryan saw a Royal Army chaplain in his early twenties leading a corporal towards him after a few words.

"Are we allies now?" the military chaplain asked in the slightly unfamiliar Imperial language.

Ryan nodded: "Legally speaking, yes."

His gaze returned to the soldier who was barely breathing. "What's your relationship with him?" "We're from the same village, sir."

The pastor hesitated when he said the word "sir" before asking, "Can he be saved?"

"Hopeless."

Ryan raised the Ruger, the shadow of the bent handle imprinted on the pastor's face: "This is not my responsibility."

The pastor was stunned for a moment and looked at his companion beside him.

Then, as if they had discussed it beforehand, the chaplain stepped back and let the corporal take the pistol.

They took a few steps forward, crossed the blast wall, knelt beside the young soldier, and used water from the canteen to wash the blood off his face.

Ryan heard the corporal, who didn't speak Imperial language, chanting prayers with the chaplain in several languages, and then heard a dull gunshot.

The soldier lost consciousness.

The chaplain and the corporal helped each other to get up from the ground. They dragged the sandbags around them to the side of the soldier and piled them together like a coffin without a lid.

Ryan saw the last red dot go out.

The battle of Ostend ended here.

"What to do next?"

The captain of Z332 held a simple pipe he had carved himself in his mouth, his pair of inverted triangle eyes staring at the red beam of honor communication, and no one knew what he was thinking.

Ryan thought for a moment and said, "Gather the troops, send out a rescue ship, and guide the two United Kingdom warships back to port."

"We took their men off the ship and put them with the Marines and waited for the prisoner transport train from the mainland to come and take them away."

As he spoke, Ryan reached out and took out a cigarette, lit it with a match, and turned to look towards the sea.

With the peace agreement signed between the Empire and the Kingdom of Perijie, the Empire no longer needs to worry about threats from the northern border.

From now on, the United Kingdom's troops would also lose the excuse to land at the ports of the Kingdom of Perij.

Although they will definitely find ways to attack us with their warships later, the earliest that will happen will be two weeks later.

Even if the Empire could deal with the prisoners of war on these marines and the two warships, the United Kingdom government would inevitably eliminate all thoughts of declaring war on the Empire in the kingdom for a long time to come because of the need to take into account the feelings of the people.

What the Empire needs to face next is how to complete the construction of the front line against Farlan as quickly as possible under the condition of a complete ceasefire on the northern front.

The problem was that before the troops set off, Marshal Moltke the Younger ordered the withdrawal of several main army infantry regiments from the Western Front.

This would cause the Empire to lose its numerical advantage over the Farlan army on the Western Front.

The steamroller-like army planned by Marshal Schlieffen no longer existed, and the Empire would no longer be able to successfully send its troops into Palu.

This is the same thing that happened on Earth during World War I.

Ryan was not going to interfere in the affairs of the General Staff, and he didn't have the mind to do so.

The reason was that Ryan did not want Moltke the Younger to continue serving as Chief of the Imperial General Staff.

This guy is timid and cowardly, and in crucial battles he often becomes the fatal weakness that holds the troops back.

But he happens to be in a high position and has great power.

Any attempt to remove him from the position of Chief of the General Staff would require the failure of a large-scale operation.

Once successful, the empire would be able to completely break free from the shackles of Moltke the Younger.

but.

The so-called failure must not be a complete failure.

Ryan must use victory in a local war to ensure the stability of the empire's subsequent front line.

The key point is that when the Empire and the Farlans are scrambling to seize each other's flank battle zone, a victory will ensure the safety of the left wing of the Imperial forces.

During World War I, Germany was bogged down in the famous Race to the Sea because it lacked sufficient strength on its left wing.

It was after the end of this battle that the battlefield of World War I completely formed a warfare form characterized by defending trenches.

Interestingly, in this battle towards the sea on Earth, its northernmost end point at the European continent is Ostend, Belgium.

That is where Ryan is standing now.

"It couldn't be more coincidental."

He sighed instinctively.

"What a coincidence?" The captain of Z332 looked at Ryan curiously.

"Nothing, just feeling a little sad."

Ryan changed the subject vaguely.

The captain of Z332 also sighed and said, "After all, no one knows when the war will end, right?"

Ryan instinctively said, "Just survive. Be the last one standing. Kill all the enemies and survive."

The captain's tone was filled with obvious helplessness: "Major, you are right."

After saying that, he took a breath and asked, "What else should we do after the friendly forces arrive?"

Ryan: "Return to the imperial capital and prepare for the next battle."

"Have you made plans for the next battle?" The captain of Z332 looked at Ryan curiously.

The Air Force never lets the same fleet carry out such intensive and heavy combat missions. After each operation, there must be a one to two-week rest period, not only for the troops to recuperate, but also for equipment maintenance.

Ryan shook his head: "Not yet."

He was not planning to tell anyone about the next battle plan so early. Currently, the only person in the entire empire who knew about the future actions of the 502nd Airborne Infantry Regiment was Lieutenant General Draven.

Ryan did not even inform Field Marshal Schlieffen.

Even Lieutenant General Draven only knew that Ryan would deploy the full strength of an infantry regiment in the next battle, and the battlefield location where his troops would be heading.

As for the rest, I know nothing.

Inside the train station.

Throwing the cigarette butt in his hand on the ground, Ryan took a last look at the two kingdom soldiers who were still piling sandbags next to their dead compatriots, took out two grenades from his belt, and placed them next to them.

There are several ways to remove unexploded bombs, but for this type of small-caliber grenade, the simplest way is to detonate it with other explosives.

The corporal, realizing what he meant, looked at Ryan with a complicated look, but then continued to pile up the sandbags.

"Let's go, Lieutenant Colonel."

Ryan didn't look at them. He wiped his bloody hands and went into the airship with the captain of Z332.

A few hours later.

As the empire's largest air battle fleet flew out of the control of the Kingdom of Perije and landed at the airport outside the imperial capital, which also served as the camp for the 502nd Airborne Infantry Regiment, Lieutenant General Draven, who was in charge of negotiations with King Perije, finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He looked with curiosity at the 502nd Battalion camp, which had been set up in less than two days, as it left the airship under the escort of the Royal Guards.

and.

Just when Lieutenant General Draven was about to leave here and return to the imperial capital to report the results of the negotiations to the emperor.

The commander of the Second Battalion drove his car directly in front of Lieutenant General Draven and his entourage.

The guards immediately and nervously protected Draven, but were ordered to leave by Draven.

After they all left, the Second Battalion Commander handed an envelope to Draven and said:
"Report! Lieutenant General Draven! Major Flig asked me to give you this letter before leaving!"

"Major Fleagle's?"

Draven was surprised.

He immediately opened the envelope, but saw only a row of crooked letters written on it.

【Ziel: Verdun】

[Target: Verdun]

(End of this chapter)