On the 11th day of the month of the pastor, the Supreme Council of Alfheim.

Since the consul was elevated to dictatorship, the council has become increasingly weak, and has recently even been regarded as a nursing home, but at this moment it is rare to straighten its back and question the military, which has become more and more vocal and shows a tendency to meddle in national affairs.

If you think that the old grandfathers only called the senior military generals to the sacred council venue to denounce the meeting for the sake of power distribution and suppression of opponents, you are really underestimating their open-mindedness. In the history of the elves, the line between civil and military officials is actually quite blurred. During the Old Kingdom, when the rebellion of different races was suppressed, and after the fall of the kingdom, the crisis of extinction was faced every day, and the general environment determined that the bureaucratic class of the elves must be both civil and military, or at least have the quality and ability of military attachés, in order to deal with various situations to the greatest extent. Due to this special background, the civil and military disputes, hereditary aristocracy, and emerging military aristocracy, which are common in other countries, are still a rare new trick in Alfheim.

The reason why they were in a hurry to summon the military top brass to a questioning meeting was that the situation on the front line had deteriorated so rapidly that it had reached the point of burning eyebrows.

"This is an extraordinary state of affairs. ”

Speaker Wissbach clenched his white hands, and his face was so heavy that he could wring out water.

"All of you here already know what happened at the Iserlohn battery a few days ago, so I won't repeat it here. What the members of the Council now want to know is the military's opinion on the fall of the Iserlohn battery and the future of the war. ”

Even when he was in a hurry, the speaker remained as calm as a mountain. In contrast, the conservative parliamentarians who have nothing to do with the flowery words "war", "dedication", and "sacrifice" inevitably look a little unbearable, and the impassioned faces of the usual days are either pale or abnormally flushed at this time, and it seems that the pride and enthusiasm of the past have disappeared with the loud bang of the Iserlon battery.

-- What kind of system.

Resisting the urge to roar, to lament, to rush up and grab them by the collar, and then nail those mouths with a stapler, and then to solder them with an electric welding torch, Brunhill put the pen on the table for the fifteenth time, and the upright and virtuous female lieutenant general smiled slightly.

"Ladies of the Council. ”

Rising, saluting, and standing upright, Brunhill said in a perfect liturgical tone:

As of 10 o'clock this morning, our army has successfully built and sorted out a new line of defense, and the first line of defense has been fully dealt to the advancing enemy forces and has successfully achieved its operational objectives. It has now successfully retreated to the designated line of defense. ”

"Well, it's not 'going in'. ”

The contemptuous muttering was met with an approving sneer.

Since Charlemagne's royal army first coined the term "transfer", this term has become synonymous with covering up ugliness and embellishment, and it is naturally a satire of the military report to be brought up here.

Brunhill certainly knew what the lawmakers wanted to hear, but she had no idea of fulfilling their wishes.

The main reason for this is that Charlemagne's overall strategy has been kept in a high degree of secrecy, and only a few people in the General Staff know the full picture of the "Yellow Plan." If these big-mouthed congressmen had known, there would have been no need to do any secrecy and anti-espionage work, and the contents of the operation would have spread to all corners of the world long ago, and the enemy would have saved even the effort and funds for collecting intelligence. In addition to this formal reason, Brunhill also has some selfishness of "not wanting laymen to interfere".

She is not a military standardist who advocates that "politicians should not meddle in wars," and she is not a militarist who advocates "everything centered on the military." She has a clear understanding of the relationship between the government and the military, and has no intention of changing or breaking the existing structure.

Why, then?

Presumably many people will ask this question, and the answer is actually very simple.

Everyone has a list of priorities in their hearts, and in Brunhill's heart, there is an existence that takes precedence over military duties and military and political subordination, and she just acts according to this order list.

Either they know this, or they don't know it at all, and the parliamentarians, who are impatient with conversations that don't have any intersection, don't have the leisure to continue posturing. "What if the retreat is successful!", "This is not what we want to know!!" and other thoughts hung on their faces bluntly, and several people with bad tempers were about to take the case, and Shengsheng was forced back by the stern gaze of the speaker.

In fact, the old speaker of the parliament has been unhappy with the military and the dictator for a long time, but that is mainly a difference in major policies and ideological lines, not a life-and-death political dispute. It doesn't hurt to fight the dictator in domestic affairs, but to pull that back leg in a military matter is to die in every sense of the word – the bottom line for Speaker Wiesbach is this.

But what should be clearly explained must be made clear, otherwise what is the difference between Alfheim and Charlemagne, who publishes reports on the brain supplement in parallel worlds all day long.

I saw him glance to the side, and immediately a civilian official raised his hand.

"The Ministry of Finance would like to say a few words. ”

The military, which had always been serious and deserted, immediately entered serious mode, and several parliamentarians could not help but bite their handkerchiefs in their hearts and turn their complaining gaze to the representatives of the Ministry of Finance. This kind of differential treatment really makes them feel envious, jealous and hateful, but the grandfathers have nothing to do about it, who makes the family manage the money.

The treasurer had no sense of appreciation or pride, but saw him say word by word with a straight face:

"I'm sure you've all seen the financial statements for the latest quarter. Up to now, although China's economic situation is not as pessimistic as falling into recession, it is by no means a state of optimism, and the impact of the war on the economy is becoming apparent little by little. The Ministry of Finance is compelled to warn that if the war becomes protracted, it is necessary to mobilize the country as soon as possible and implement a wartime economic system. Failure to do so will lead to economic and social problems that are difficult to ignore. In addition, if you can't achieve an early decisive battle, you can reap the dividends of war. Even if we win, there will be long-term fiscal holes that will be difficult to fill, and in the worst case, the country's foundations will be shaken. ”

The treasurer's voice was undulating, full of transactional coldness and mere formality, and no one in the room dared to ignore his speech.

Fighting a war is burning money. Everyone understands this simple truth. Charlemagne is a vivid example of the collapse of people's livelihoods due to the long war, and no one here, regardless of political views, wants their country to embark on this road of no return. Even from a purely economic point of view, Yalfheim could not afford any kind of war other than an early quick victory.

As a new industrial power, Yalfheim's economic growth is highly dependent on exports, which is no different from all the emerging powers of the other world since the industrial age. However, unlike the rise of Germany and Japan, when the colonies and markets were carved up by the great powers, and unlike the lighthouses and the eastern powers, the huge domestic demand market formed by a vast territory and a huge population was sitting. The country has sufficient overseas colonies and access to resources, but what it lacks is a stable market with sufficient spending power.

Never put all your eggs in one basket. This is a wise saying that all economists know, and it has been put into theory and action by the economic planners of Alfheim. History and humanity aside, those so-called allies are not stable markets in the long run, and may one day even become targets of a trade war.

Of course, it is impossible for elven scholars to quote the "great president of the country who has fallen from heaven" as a specimen and tell the audience that "the ruler of a superpower can start a trade war with his biggest trading partner, and he will not hesitate to cause a stock market crash and increase the cost of living by at least 10 percentage points." Even if they had heard of such a thing, they would have refused to quote it because it was too atypical (the archon himself was atypical...... ）。

The times are changing, the thinking mode of the people and the country is also changing simultaneously, the rise of nationalism and nationalism will inevitably bring about national egoism and trade unilateralism, and the implementation of action is local trade protection and tariff barriers, so as to block Yarfheim's commercial dumping of the country and the nation, and support the development of the national industry. At this time, Yalfheim's strong industrial production capacity became a sharp edge to hurt itself, losing the market of other countries, and unable to digest such a huge amount of industrial products, and finally could only sit back and watch the economic crisis erupt. At that time, the tragic scene of the Great Depression of the 30s of the 20th century on the planet will be played out in Alfheim.

Even to avoid the periodic economic crises of capitalism, the war against Charlemagne must be fought and won. Only by taking down Charlemagne and securing the market and labor before the war excessively affects its own economy can Yalfheim be uncontrolled and calmly deal with it in the future international game.

If it turns into a long-term war, production and resources will inevitably be tilted towards the military industry, and the share of people's livelihood products will be squeezed out, which will not only cause people's livelihood to wither, but also be detrimental to the post-war economic recovery and development. As for defeat, then don't think about anything.

Both government officials and the military are aware of these things, and the so-called "allies" are more or less aware of them.

"Yesterday, the Albiang side asked us whether the present is the right time to discuss an armistice. ”

The stinking Foreign Ministry official didn't know whether he had eaten too much Albion court cuisine or was disgusted by the face of his "allies", and said angrily:

A similar opinion was made by the United Principality of Rus. ”

Some scavengers seem to think their chance has come and can't wait to jump out of their mouths.

Brunhill sneered and put the pen up again.

That being the case, we must be more determined to win.