The last ray of sunset gradually disappeared on the sea level, and large areas of dark clouds blocked the last few glimmers, making the night come early and gloomy. As the night falls, the trauma of Tongbes Port, which has been traumatized by the war, gradually lit up the lights.

Facing the cool sea breeze, Lieutenant General Daniel stood alone on the wide terrace at the top of the castle. Looking at his feet, the entire city was divided into two completely different parts with the central castle as the dividing line.

Although half of the city near the coast is also full of devastations and traces of war disasters, barricades, craters, corpses and homeless vagabonds can be seen everywhere, they are at least generally intact. The other half of the city near the inland has been completely burned into a large area of ​​charred, hideous, ugly, and foul-stenched ruins. The once prosperous block seems to have been burned in a crucible, and even on the warships in the harbor, a choking smell of burnt can be clearly smelled. Countless naked charred corpses are hunched in a ball among the smoke-filled rubble. In some remote places, there are still scattered flames jumping between the ruins. Around the huge crater that has not been cleared, human flesh, mind and intestines splashed on the walls together. The scene is so tragic that people hardly dare to look directly.

Even so, the military and civilians who survived the war still dragged their scarred bodies and searched through the hellish streets and alleys, trying to clean up their already dilapidated homes - no matter how the times change, this life must continue, right?

However, even if it is such a bleak life, how long can it last?

Looking at the hazy moon shadow hidden behind the clouds, Lieutenant General Daniel sighed with concern.

In the banquet hall behind him, there was a noisy scene of lights, wine, wine, and singing and dancing. Although the performance of the defending troops on this day was really unsatisfactory, in order to boost the morale of the army, the temporary palace stationed in Tongbes Port still did its best to form a very good celebration banquet. Under the bright and dazzling crystal chandeliers, the officers who had just left the battlefield changed their best ones.

The dress, holding the beautiful palace maids who are rare in ordinary times, danced with the accompaniment of the palace band. The golden barbecue piled up into hills, the fried sausages and ham slices, the tempting and sweet cream seafood soup, the colorful tropical fruit platter, and a variety of exquisite desserts, high-end cigarettes and extremely luxurious ice cream in the tropical regions, make people feel no trace of material deficiencies in the war era.

Delicacies and sea flavors from all over the world, and cellars. They have hidden the top famous wines for centuries, noble and elegant pretty female officials, dazzling military medals, gorgeous gilded gems and swords, expensive spices obtained from the Nanyang Islands, high-quality silk and tea produced by ancient Far East countries, as well as various magic props and rare elixirs collected by the royal family for many years... In order to reward and inspire these "warriors" who at least insisted on fighting to the last moment, the elf royal family took out all the good things around them without hesitation. The number is so abundant that even the lowest-level ordinary soldiers can still go through it after experiencing layers of deductions.

The "special supply" of cheese, jerky, sausage, tobacco and candied fruits were all supplied open this time; the wine, sugar cane wine and high-end canned food stored in the cellar were all divided; boxes and bags of shining gold coins, bars and even gold bricks were distributed to every soldier as quickly as possible, and their value was enough to match their normal salary for ten years. These "special medicines" that are almost all civilized society have successfully comforted the soldiers' fighting will on the verge of collapse, making them even excited to look forward to future wars - of course, in order to obtain richer rewards.

However, as the biggest contributor to leading the suicide squad to defeat the enemy, Lieutenant General Daniel had no intention of enjoying the fine wine and food and flattering. After barely playing the first song with Princess Alanita, he casually found an excuse to sneak to the terrace to blow the wind. At this moment, looking back at the laughter and cheers in the floor-to-ceiling window, the bright lights, Daniel couldn't help but come up with a difficult poem in his oriental scholar describing the doomsday scene in his book: A clear song in the leaking boat, and drinking under the burning house!

The victory in the day was actually just a use of the attacker's unexpected destruction opportunity under the command of the attacker, barely defeating the opponent's first wave of attacks, and even the enemy's living power did not kill much, but the force of our side had been weakened to the point where the front line could hardly be maintained. As for the battle situation in the entire Mazka continent, the power balance between the enemy and us was still a desperate one. To put it bluntly, such a tactical victory was just a suspended death penalty. Is it time to celebrate?

"Oh, Mr. Daniel, why are you hiding here alone? Today, you are the protagonist!"

As his old partner, Major General Gilbert crawled out of the hall at some point and said with a cigar in his mouth, "Her Majesty the Queen just praised your tenacity, perseverance and courage in public, and announced that he would award you the highest gem, Bay Leaf Medal before the end of the banquet. According to the rumors of the court female officials, you may be promoted to Army General... I will say congratulations in advance here!"

"Gem Bay Leaf Order? Promoted to Army General? Your Majesty is really 'generous'!"

Hearing this good news, Daniel just smiled faintly and pointed to the miserable ruins outside the castle. "Looking at the current situation, it is still hard to say how many days we can last. Not to mention medals and promotions, what if I immediately stuff a marshal's staff inlaid with diamonds? Will it bring me skilled soldiers and qualified officers?"

"Oh, I knew that you would be unable to eat with such a dead mind!"

Gilbert sighed and shook his head, put his right hand on Daniel's shoulder, "Don't look at some guys making such a crazy fuss at the banquet, everyone actually knows that today's victory is basically a free time and cannot change the overall situation much. But this disrupted the deployment of the Inca army and won us a breathing time... What's more, we are not alone. As long as we persist for up to ten days, the 150,000 elite troops of the Chevrolet Church will arrive one after another. By that time, everything will be fine!"

"150,000 reinforcements from the Chevrolets Church? Haha, the whole army seems to be counting on those guys, believing that they are saviors, hopes, and decisive forces to save this country! Even our respected Queen probably thinks so!"

Facing the comfort and persuasion of his old partner, Daniel was quite dissatisfied, "Yes, once this powerful new force and with absolute naval advantages, we can immediately turn the situation around, completely defeat the "Immortal Bird" Tkumse and his newly recruited mobs, and drive them out of the coastal areas. But what about next? Let's stop there, guarding these unpreserved port cities and transportation lines passively beating, waiting for all kinds of messy resistance organizations to launch a comprehensive guerrilla warfare like a vast ocean? Or grit your teeth and cut off the weeds, continue to advance inland along the Mamali River, and organize a new expedition?"

The Lieutenant General spread his hands and smiled slightly sarcastically, "Hehe, no matter how you choose, as long as you cannot completely calm the war in the short term, or at least control the intensity of the battle to a lower range, our last new force will gradually fall into endless tug-of-wars and clearance wars, and will slowly be consumed... At that time, where should we find the next life-saving straw?"

"The situation should not be as pessimistic as you said!" Gilbert retorted with some confidence, "Recently, the government has been planning the mobilization of the national war, recruiting new recruits, reserves, retired veterans, church armed forces and guards, and plans to require the vassal states and servant countries to provide more troops and supplies... According to the plan formulated by the Ministry of Defense, in about six months, we can organize a new field force of 350,000 people. Even if it is not enough to directly hit the plateau hinterland of the Inca army, at least there should be no problem in regaining and suppressing the eastern tropical rainforest that has just been lost recently! When Marshal Sofia Learton conquered these areas, the total force used seemed to be less than 100,000!"

He reached out and scratched the length of the head oil that was obviously worn out, and added with uncertainty, "According to the news I have found, the Ministry of Defense seems to have even formulated a combat schedule for how to use these new army, and is preparing to solve the Mazka mainland problem within three months..."

"Combat schedule? Solve the problem within three months? Well, this is really the standard style of the Ministry of Defense. Since the old experienced officers were originally cleaned up in the Glorious Revolution, the rookie staff who have just graduated from military academy or even dropped out of school seem to have not yet figured out the difference between sand table deduction and actual combat..."

Daniel shook his head slightly, sneered and sneered again, "The times are constantly changing. What we could easily do with a hundred thousand troops more than two hundred years ago does not mean that we can copy it simply again in more than two centuries! Wake up! Our enemies have changed. They are no longer the small group of corrupt nobles who were scathing, ignorant and arrogant, no longer the farmers who temporarily conquer and mercenaries who fought for money, nor are the Stone Age "warriors" wearing animal leather shoulders to fight against big sticks. Instead, those rebellious foreign troops who were trained by us, familiar with our army's various tactical strategies and advanced equipment, as well as underground resistance organizations that have been lurking in the dark for many years, good at suicide terrorist attacks, and have crazy dedication! And behind these enemies, there are most other powerful countries who are secretly supporting them! It is much more difficult to conquer them than in the past!"

"Let's talk about the newly built huge army. 350,000? Humph, this is indeed a very scary number, but this number on paper cannot explain any problem at all. After repeated civil unrest, mutiny and melee, our country has long been ruined. It is almost impossible to maintain such a huge new army for a long time and ensure their high-intensity combat. Even if the country sells its products, it can barely raise a military expenditure. However, a comprehensive war mobilization can quickly find enough strong men and produce a large amount of arms, but it cannot immediately generate so many experienced middle and lower-level officers and non-commissioned officers, and it is even more impossible to train artillery, cavalry, magic troops and other technical troops that require long-term training within a few months - qualified artillery officers will need at least two years of training, let alone magicians and priests. This is definitely not a problem that can be solved by just one order."

"As for those servants who were originally forcibly subdued by us by force, today's situation is definitely full of a atmosphere of wavering and betrayal. Even if these countries are willing to continue to abide by the alliance and obey our orders, the troops they provide to our country will definitely be very unreliable - even more unreliable than the foreign local soldiers who were dispersed at the last battle today. It is very likely that before joining our army, they would have made up their minds to find opportunities to turn against and rebel!"

"In fact, if we really want to make the most rational decision, we have only one choice at the moment, which is to completely shrink the front line, withdraw the expatriates, completely abandon those colonies and vassal states that are already difficult to control, and recognize their independence or autonomy in order to minimize isolation and reduce the enemy. Thus, we can liberate the last little precious force of our tribe to defend the land we have not lost..."

Speaking of this, Daniel sighed and shrugged again, "Although this means that our world hegemony that has maintained for more than two hundred years has come to an end, it can at least win a more decent peaceful environment... Unfortunately, Her Majesty the Queen seems to have overestimated the chips at hand and underestimated the enemy's determination, strength and appetite. Although some abandonment and concessions have been made to both the inside and outside, in general, it is still far from enough. We are still struggling in the quagmire of invisible hope, and there is also excessive luggage on our shoulders that is far beyond the actual bearing capacity!"

"Ba! Ba! I'm glad to see you still keeping a clear mind, Daniel's dear!"

Accompanied by a clear clapping, Queen Akdina, dressed in graceful formal clothes, suddenly leaned out of the shadow of the corridor, and then walked slowly towards her with elegant small steps. "But you seem to have made a mistake. I did not overestimate the pitiful chips at hand, nor did I underestimate the enemy's determination, strength and appetite. I also knew that the expansion and hegemony of our elves were about to come to an end..."

He ignored the two generals' apology in fear and fear after a brief shock. Queen Akdina waved her hand with a delicate and gorgeous feather fan, while calmly expressed her views with a graceful voice that seemed to be sighing. "...However, unfortunately, the comprehensive contraction strategy you just mentioned is certainly safe and rational, but it is the choice that any ruler is least willing to make - do you know that the life and vitality of any great empire comes from continuous conquest and expansion?"
Chapter completed!