She changed Europe

Page 173

“Hmm.” Gisela nodded. “That’s right. They probably want to gather a group of magic users, open up a land supply line, and then continue their attack. I was indeed being presumptuous just now.”

Gisela looked at the map again.

"I think we've guessed the Russian army's plans pretty accurately. Anyway, what the Russian army has to do on the battlefield right now is to retake Sarai, and the general direction is definitely right. The remaining question is, if the Russian army really sends magic users to clear the way for the counterattack force, how should we respond?"

As Gisela muttered to herself, Jeanne's expression darkened.

The way the Magic Warriors and regular troops deal with the Magic Warriors' attacks is basically to trade their lives for the Magic Warriors' morale and equipment. Improvements in skills and tactics only affect the exchange ratio.

Moreover, since the beginning of modern times, there has never been a case of a fully equipped magic user being killed on the battlefield by a purely conventional army or magic user unit. At most, they would go back to resupply and rest after exhausting their resources, and then be able to make a comeback after a period of time.

Magic users are valuable strategic resources and are not usually used lightly. However, conversely, once such a strategic resource is deployed, it will definitely yield corresponding results—unless the opposing side also deploys equally valuable magic users to counter it.

Jeanne's expression probably darkened because she was thinking about these things.

Silence filled the room. After a moment, Jeanne said, "I think if we ship my armor and yours from the country now..."

“It’s too late. The magic-powered armor is too bulky to be airlifted. The Russians’ last armor will arrive in Sevastopol the day after tomorrow, and it will be transported to our coast by ship this week along with the magic-powered warriors. We simply don’t have time to transport the armor.” Gisela sighed, looking extremely frustrated. “The original plan was not to deploy our magic-powered warriors at all, but to leave them entirely to the Turks to deal with. In the current geopolitical context, this was a perfectly reasonable decision.”

As for Gisela's personal intervention, that was not even a consideration. After all, the Empress was different from the princesses of the past; she was the head of state and, in effect, guaranteed the stability of the current power structure of the empire.

Therefore, Gisela cannot possibly commit Jeanne to the war in Turkey at this moment. The so-called magical armor that was transported to Turkey was a fake; Gisela only hoped to use it to strengthen the Turks' resolve to resist the Russians.

This so-called "battle of justice" made it impossible for Gisela to demand large profits after the battle, so she could not continue to invest, otherwise she would be using her own resources to benefit others.

“We have no choice but to ask the British for help…” Jeanne said to Gisela. “The British also seem to want to hold Istanbul now, so perhaps we should make a request…”

“They want to hold onto Istanbul, but I think they would also be happy to see the Russian magic users wipe out all our tank units and severely weaken our strength,” Gisela said through gritted teeth. “Those troublemakers rely on the protection of their navy to be complacent and always do these kinds of things on the continent. That damned continental balance policy is simply a reflection of the dirty hearts of the British.”

Gisela paused, then cursed viciously, "One day I'll blow that bunch of troublemakers' capital to smithereens, then swagger across the land and trample their queen under my heels at Buckingham Palace."

Jeanne raised her eyebrows slightly, a true reflection of her rational mind in response to Gisela's words. In the past, Jeanne would have thought Gisela was a boastful madman, but now, she simply raised her eyebrows and pretended not to hear Gisela's words, after all, this fox always kept his word.

Gisela bit her nails, her brow furrowed as she stared at the map.

After a long silence, Gisela said, "There's no other way. To avoid unnecessary losses of troops, we'll retreat."

"Retreat?" Marta put down her cup and looked at Rita, who was holding the telegram. "Are you serious? No, is she serious?"

"It seems so," Rita sighed.

"What's going on? We just launched a full-scale propaganda campaign according to his instructions. And now they're starting to retreat? Isn't that just contradicting themselves?"

"But why retreat?" Marta still looked puzzled. "Didn't she say so in the telegram?"

Rita shook her head and casually tossed the telegram onto Marta's table. Marta picked it up, glanced at it, and then shook her head as well.

“That’s strange, but judging from what happened before and after, it must be because of the telegram we sent him.” Marta stood up and picked up the fruit on the table.

At this point, Rita said, "If you keep eating like this, be careful you don't overeat like you did the other day and end up rolling on the floor in pain."

"Last time it was because I ate cookies that make my stomach bloated. Who knew those cookies were so strong that I bloated so badly?" Marta said nonchalantly as she started munching on fruit. "Besides, even if I get stuffed again, you can always help me gag myself and I'll just throw it up."

“You threw up all over me last time, and I still feel nauseous thinking about it. I will absolutely never help you gag yourself again! Never!” Rita said firmly. “If you want to gag yourself, do it yourself. You can throw up as much as you want!”

"Hey, don't put your hand down your throat like that, it's scary!"

"Lady Mata, there's no point in you pretending to be innocent in front of me!" Rita snapped, it seems the psychological trauma from last time was really powerful.

Marta pursed her lips.

PS1: I hate going to work!

Chapter 625 The Turkish Symphony of the Vienna Rose: Capter 123 The Necessary Sacrifice

"Tch, even Miss Rita has started calling herself 'Old Lady' in such a vulgar way." In Marta's eyes, Rita had always been a symbol of elegance and good manners, but perhaps due to a lot of trivial matters lately, her mood had also soured.

Marta waved her hand: "Alright, alright, let's leave that topic at that. Back to the main point, why do you think the fox ordered the troops to retreat?"

Rita still looked somewhat dissatisfied, but she answered Marta's question seriously: "I think... I think she might have reached the same conclusion as you."

"You mean, she thinks, like me, that the Russians are deploying new magical energy to the battlefield?"

"If we consider both things together, this one is the most likely, isn't it? She might withdraw her troops to avoid our forces being lost in vain. No, considering her telegram instructing us to keep the withdrawal a strict secret, I think that's the case. To avoid the needless loss of troops, she would withdraw most of her forces, leaving a small group of die-hards to fight to the end, and then fabricate a tragic story of the Russian army using magic users to massacre our soldiers, in order to cover up the fact that we abandoned Sarai on our own initiative."

Rita's expression darkened after she finished speaking.

"Abandoning an army is something she's certainly capable of, and it's not the first time. After all, war is ultimately just a continuation of political status." In the last Austro-Prussian War, Gisela, in order to get rid of troublemakers, allowed her political enemies' army to enter Silesia ahead of time. As a result, they were routed and suffered heavy losses by Hindenburg's troops, who were then rising stars in the Prussian army.

Marta nodded repeatedly, then patted Rita on the shoulder. "Don't do that. If we withdraw all the troops at once and the Russians find the place empty, they won't send in any magic users. That would remove our fig leaf, and the people and our lovely British allies would know that we voluntarily abandoned our defenses. Gisela was simply balancing the sacrifice of lives with our interests. As a leader, sometimes you have to treat human lives like a simple number; otherwise, you can't govern a country at all."

The trolley problem is indeed a problem from the perspective of human conscience, but from the perspective of rulers and national interests, it is just a numbers game of more or less people.

Rita sighed.

"I understand that. I would probably make the same choice if I were in Mia's shoes. I'm worried that this might have a negative impact on her."

“Ah… this…” Marta frowned. “That makes sense. To sacrifice a portion of the troops for such a purpose, knowing they would be slaughtered by magic users, and even when there was a possibility of saving them… it is indeed a bit excessive and hard to accept for children.”

Then, both of them fell silent. After a while, Marta clapped her hands and said, "There's no point in thinking about this. Let's just focus on providing support. Let me think... If we want to fool the Russians, I should release some false information to create the impression that we're fighting a desperate battle with the Russians in Sarai. The domestic propaganda should keep up too, with messages about defending Sarai to the death. And we should have those female celebrities that Gisela had her eye on shoot a series of posters with pictures of girls encouraging their husbands on the front lines. Hmm, that sounds like a good idea."

"Then, I'll start supplying the front lines with the materials needed to make fake cannons, fake machine guns, and fake dummies. I'll airdrop them directly to the area around Sarai, without letting the British see them—well, Sarai has British magic users, that's troublesome..."

"Why don't you just send letters and gifts to the soldiers at the front, and mix in propaganda encouraging them to hold out for Sarai? That way you can also help the fox lull the British magicians in Sarai into a false sense of security."

“Hmm.” Rita seemed quite reluctant to accept Marta’s suggestion. “You’re right.”

Then Rita stood up, looked at her watch, and saw that it was already past ten o'clock at night.

"Lately, I seem to have gotten used to working late into the night."

Rita's words made Marta laugh: "Yes, thinking about it, it's been more than half a year since we've enjoyed our vibrant nightlife. If this war could end sooner, we could all have some free time. Little Rita must be longing to get intimate with the fox, right?"

"No, that's not true. Lady Mata, it's more important to do your job well and not cause His Majesty any trouble!"

"Hahaha, I clearly hit the nail on the head! Don't change the subject!"

Meanwhile, also late at night, Gisela looked at Jeanne with a nervous expression, her daughter also present.

Whether the two tactics of leaving a portion of the troops to die and deceiving the British magicians would be effective remains to be seen.

Jeanne looked down at the floor, her hands clasped tightly together on the table, her fingers intertwined, and she looked extremely hesitant.

Gisela wanted to say something to break the silence, but then thought that might make things worse, so she simply kept quiet and waited for Jeanne's judgment.

Finally, Jeanne raised her head and looked at Gisela: "Putting aside the success rate of your plan this time, did you really feel no guilt when you made these decisions?" Although Jeanne did not care much about the deaths and injuries, Richelieu, whom she once admired, was a person with a strong sense of justice, so this also led to some changes in her views. Now that the same situation was in front of her, she wanted to put herself in Richelieu's shoes and see how Gisela would convince her.

Gisela opened his mouth to answer "Of course," but Jeanne's direct gaze made him change his mind, and he decided to tell the village girl his true feelings.

"No, not at all. I have already reduced the casualties by doing this. Without my decision, many more people would have died under the swords of the magic users. And if we hadn't left these troops behind and hadn't deceived the British magic users, the losses we suffered might have had a chain reaction, indirectly causing more people to suffer losses."

There are no perfect solutions to most things in this world; everything has flaws. We can only choose solutions with fewer flaws whenever possible.

After Gisela finished speaking, she calmly looked at Jeanne, waiting for her response.

"Isn't there any other way?" Jeanne changed her tone. "For example, releasing information that I and my magical armor were transported to Sarai..."

“That will only make the Russians more determined to commit magic users. Because your presence in Sarai means that it’s impossible to capture the city with magic users and regular troops. In the history of world wars, it’s not uncommon for one side to send magic users to garrison cities that the other side has to capture, thus escalating the war into a magic user war.” Gisela paused. “Originally, I might have misjudged that the Russian army didn’t intend to use magic users to launch an attack, but with what you’ve done, the Russian magic users will definitely come up to fight.”

PS1: Could you please give me some tickets?

Chapter 626 The Turkish Symphony of the Vienna Rose: Capter 124 Jeanne's True Feelings (Seeking Votes)

There's a tradition in this world: if the magic users on both sides of a war are used as a deterrent and remain on the sidelines, then the war will be considered a medium-intensity conflict. No matter how fierce the fighting gets, neither country will see it as a complete falling out, and negotiations and a ceasefire are always possible.

If the magic users of both sides were to directly confront each other, the war could be viewed as a full-scale conflict between the two nations, and could escalate into a war of annihilation that would bankrupt both sides.

—Of course, this is only a possibility. In the case where neither side invests in magic power, it will absolutely not escalate into a full-scale conflict.

As conventional military force increases, this tradition will gradually change, but now, it is clear that this concept, which has continued for more than 300 years in the modern Western world, still has a certain market.

That's why Russia and Britain and Austria-Hungary can so happily "play" in Türkiye under a different guise.

Gisela felt that Russia would likely try to avoid contact between Russian and Anglo-American magic users, but if the Russians were pushed too far, they probably wouldn't care anymore—even a rabbit will bite when cornered, let alone the Russians, who are known as a fighting nation.

Gisela Fang Sanlin 4 ( 9) Fin 4 face does not want Na to fight the Russians, for a simple reason: at present, she only has two magic users under her command, and that is still considering her own situation. She has no advantage on the battlefield. Now her status is different from before, and she will not attack unless absolutely necessary.

After all, her record on the Ticino River speaks for itself; her attack means it's time to flip the table.

Gisela didn't tell Jeanne these things explicitly, but Jeanne probably understood.

The girl lowered her head again, looking at the tabletop of the map.

At this moment, Mia listened to the conversation between the two and understood her mother's current predicament. She realized that even her mother, who was all-powerful in front of her, had to make painful choices.

Finally, Jeanne shook her head.

“I understand.” Jeanne’s expression matched her words—it suddenly became a little serious.

Jeanne sighed and continued:

“You convinced me. It turns out that Richelieu’s chivalry is not suitable for me. I still think you are right.”

Gisela breathed a sigh of relief, thinking, "Don't scare me."

“I accept your request and allow you to continue following me as an ordinary follower. At the same time, I sincerely apologize for my actions that forced you to betray your agreement with Richelieu.”

Jeanne shook her head.

“You bear no responsibility; you made what you believed was the best choice. You don’t regret your decision, and neither do I.” Jeanne pressed her hand gently to her chest, her eyes fixed on Gisela. “I, Jeanne de Dalque, choose to continue following you out of love and respect, and I have no regrets.”

Gisela stared at Jeanne's face for a long time. This time, Jeanne actually said the word "admiration" directly, without any shyness. This made Gisela feel that he had seen the girl's frank side.

“Then, Jeanne, my love, please help me devise a complete plan to deceive the enemy—or rather, a plan to deceive both the enemy and our British allies.”

"Yes, I'd be happy to assist you."

Gisela and Jeanne studied all night and finally came up with a detailed plan to deceive the enemy. The core of the plan was to use the return transport convoy to transfer important supplies that were not easy to move to in advance, leaving only troops in Saray who could get on the trucks and leave immediately. At the same time, they would continue to send supplies to Saray that would not be a big loss even if they were all destroyed, so as to continue to create the illusion that they were going to fight a decisive battle with the Russian attacking forces in Saray.

The key to the plan is to begin the retreat just before the Russian attack, making reconnaissance of the Russian forces paramount.

To this end, Gisela ordered the International Volunteer Force Air Group to begin preparing a complete reconnaissance plan, while increasing the number of reconnaissance aircraft sorties that took off daily from Istanbul toward the Black Sea—as long as it could be confirmed that the new magical energy enabled armored transport ships to join the Russian fleet on the sea, it would be basically certain that the attack was about to begin.

On the other hand, Gisela ordered the re-deployment of Task Force 141, which was still resting, to infiltrate and reconnoiter the Russian army, and to determine the timing of their attack by observing the preparedness of the Russian regular troops.

After the plan was finalized, it was already dawn. Gisela was exhausted, but she had to attend the award ceremony in an hour and didn't have time to rest. So she simply put the chairs together, lay down, and took a nap with her head on Jeanne's lap.

The awarding ceremony proceeded as scheduled, and after Gisela offered some words of encouragement, she embarked on her journey home—she didn't want the British magicians she was guarding to notice anything amiss.

Gisela drove for two days and finally returned to Herrelis on the evening of the second day. When his convoy arrived in front of the Herrelis International Volunteer Force headquarters, unexpected people appeared in the welcoming party.

"Hey!" Marta burst out of the headquarters building with the air of a young girl welcoming her idolized older brother, running towards the convoy, radiating youthful energy. But as soon as she reached Gisela, she was given a sharp flick on the forehead.

"Miss Marta, what are you doing pretending to be a teenage girl!" Gisela quickly retorted.

Looking at the headquarters gate, he asked Marta, "Where's the other one?"

“Miss Rita is probably in that palace in Hofburg right now, reading the note I left behind…”

At the same time, in Vienna.

"You despicable vixen!" Rita slammed the note on the table. "You've done this behind my back again! I can't believe you, I'm such an idiot!"

After saying that, Rita glared at Hebert, who had handed her the note: "She took a plane this morning! And you're only informing me now!"

“Lady Rita, we truly didn’t know she left by plane. That cunning woman, like a vixen, is our country’s intelligence chief. Her actions have long since escaped normal surveillance. I have no idea what they’re doing.” Hebert’s expression was not good. “I must admit, that lady is a professional.”

The queen of European intelligence is not just a pretty face or a figurehead.

“It’s Miss Marta!” Rita glared at Hebert. “She’s a mage, and your boss too! I’m the only one you can’t call her a shrew!”

"Yes, you're right."

After saying that, Rita waved her hand, dismissing Hebert. Once Hebert was gone, Rita immediately adopted a helpless expression and sighed softly, "This guy, I don't know what to say about her. She embodies both the traits of a brute and a strategist. I really don't know how she does it."

I'm getting a bit overwhelmed myself. How about I get Miss Hannah transferred over to help me?

PS1: Little Jeanne Alter is easy to handle

Chapter 627 The Turkish Symphony of the Vienna Rose: Capter 125 The Empty City Stratagem from Marta's Perspective (Seeking Votes)

"Rita is probably saying with a helpless expression right now: Marta is such a jerk, I don't even know what to say about her." Marta imitated Rita's tone and expression perfectly.

Gisela raised an eyebrow, indicating that Marta was badmouthing her Rita behind her back, and then said in a somewhat serious tone, "Instead of coming here for that, are you sure you're doing a good job with intelligence gathering?"

“No problem, no problem.” Marta waved her hand. “Intelligence organizations need to have a high degree of independent operation. An intelligence organization that drops the ball as soon as I leave Vienna is definitely not qualified. Besides, I didn’t come here on a whim. I thought you might need support at the front. Let’s talk about the details when we go inside.”

Gisela nodded.

Five minutes later, Gisela's "family" took their seats in a separate meeting room—calling them a family isn't quite accurate, because the little fellow countryman somehow followed them in and sat in the chair furthest to the side.

“We have confirmed that the Russians are indeed using magic-powered armor.” As soon as the conference room door closed, Marta got straight to the point. “The basis for this is the daily procurement list of the kitchen at the magic-powered armor maintenance base in Murmansk Oblast, Russia. From the list, we can infer that the number of people eating at the base has decreased by about a hundred, which is exactly the number of technicians required for the entire maintenance chain of a magic-powered armor.”

“I see.” Gisela nodded. “So you guys came to the same conclusion, huh? The Russian army is mobilizing new magic users to join the war or something…”

“It’s not us, it’s me,” Marta corrected, her face full of pride and self-praise. “It’s the brilliant me who thought of the same thing as you.”

"Okay, I understand."