Chapter 141

  Emperor Frederick IV is dead.

  There are only three candidates with the right to inherit the throne, all of them grandsons: five-year-old Grand Duke Alexei Nikolaevich is the son of the former emperor's only son and is a direct heir, so his accession would be quite proper. However, he is still small, and there are no powerful relatives to support him, which puts him in a very unfavorable position.

  In this case, the daughter of Duke Brunswick-Bevern and his wife - sixteen-year-old Elizabeth, or the daughter of Marquess L?wendal and his wife - fourteen-year-old Sabina (note: both wives are princesses), with her father's wealth and power as backing, becoming empress would be a natural thing to do, and there have been historical precedents before. If this were done, the young empress' father would become regent.

  But what supported Elwes was the Imperial Secretary of State, Marquis Littoria Rad, however, this marquis did not have strong military support, and political power was worthless in front of the army. The other two also didn't directly control the imperial regular fleet, but as reserve marshals or full generals, they had a considerable number of regular troops at their disposal - they were mutually restrained.

  Neither of them could single-handedly resist Reinhard, who was said to control half the Imperial Fleet - a fleet that had already been halved.

  The political mind of the Golden Lion is still not bad, especially with the addition of a strategist with a fake eye. "Your Excellency! The Emperor died without designating an heir, and in the future, the three grandsons will inevitably fight for the throne. No matter who decides to inherit now, it's only temporary. It will end in bloodshed eventually..."

  "You're absolutely right!" The young Imperial Marshal revealed a sharp and ruthless expression, nodding in agreement.

  "Of the three, choosing any one of them would be closely related to my fate. But which of the three will extend a friendly hand to me? Aubestan, I'd like to hear your opinion!""It's probably Duke Lichtenlade. The other two have fixed military strength, but Lichtenlade doesn't, he must be eager to get Your Excellency's military support!""Indeed!""Reinhardt burst into a brilliant smile, this kind of smile was different from the one he usually showed Gilfiyas."

  Then! It's going to be sold to him at a very high price!

  On the other side of Odin, in a place generally considered to be the aristocratic hunting grounds in the distant suburbs. This place is 400 kilometers away from the imperial city, surrounded by centuries-old primeval forests, mountains and hills, lakes and rivers, and wild animals everywhere. A solitary highway winds its way from the imperial capital for 400 kilometers to the center of this area, "Hofsmoog's Nest", where there is a large manor with many buildings, which was built by Viscount Fafnir, a spendthrift of a certain generation. That generation of viscounts indulged in throwing money at all sorts of luxurious buildings, but since the land in Odin was too expensive and not so big, that generation of spendthrifts built this manor in the distant hunting grounds - spending a large sum of money, fortunately dying early, otherwise that generation of Fafnir might have gone bankrupt completely.

  In the "Hofsmoog's Nest", Count Fafnir, a one-star general and his friends sat in high-backed chairs in a large hall, holding fine wine and discussing how to sell their fleet at a high price. "Gustav, now that the two outsiders are absolutely impossible to unite, but if they don't unite, they can't resist the blond boy's military power and the old prime minister's political power alone. So which side should we offer our price?" Fafnir asked with a smile, shaking the rum in his cup.

  "This, Rudolf. Let's see who among them will be the first to extend an olive branch to us. Will it be Duke Lautrec himself who will unite with us? After all, that old man seems to dislike Blondel as well."

  "I think it's going to be tough, after all, the Golden Hair has more troops than us. Although his losses are not small, he can reasonably request replenishment and is likely to recover to over 60,000 ships soon. Moreover, he is after all the one who claims to have won against the 'rebel guys', so there's still some military morale leaning towards him, especially among mid-to-low level officers and soldiers. So, that old cunning Littoral is very likely to go find him instead of us. However, he might also release some goodwill towards us, who knows, maybe there will be a surprise..."

  Soon, the Marquis of Liedtendijk, the Duke of Brunswick and the Marquis of Lienden all threw out bids to General Count Favynille, two high nobles' offers were roughly the same, some unimportant chatter and promises that would probably not be kept.

  "Marry my daughter to you? They really dare to make a reckless offer! It's clear that they're taking us for fools! This is definitely empty talk that will never be fulfilled!" General Schwerdtfeger shouted after hearing the message.

  "Come, let's see what kind of offer Marquis Littoria has made to us. Hehehe, he really is sincere! Alright, I agree!" After hearing the words of the marquis' messenger, Favniel stroked his chin and thought for a while, exchanging a glance with Shuttek before responding.

  Reinhard von Lohengramm was promoted to the rank of Margrave by Kaiser Friedrich IV and appointed as Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Space Armada, while Kaiser Friedrich himself was promoted from Margrave to Duke. However, almost simultaneously, Count Rudolf von Goldenbaum was also promoted to Imperial Marshal for his achievements in the Battle of Amritsar and became Vice-Commander-in-Chief of the Space Armada, replacing the retiring Admiral Alexander Sigismund von Ahlenbock with Admiral Ernest Meinhard von Mecklenburg. From the beginning, Reinhard had been wary of Lohengramm... Interestingly, this appointment and promotion were also approved by the two heads of the noble factions.

  When the news of Elwes Yushew's accession was released, the aristocratic families led by Duke Brownback were shocked, disappointed and finally furious!

  However, the central authority established by Li Dian and Reinhard, who were motivated by mutual benefit, turned out to be unexpectedly solid and strong. One of them had a foundation in military force and the civilian class, while the other had national authority and influence within the imperial court. The two men used the new emperor's authority to the fullest extent possible to consolidate their own positions and powers. Although they were unable to make up for the cracks that existed between them from the start, these were covered up in the same struggle for position and power.

  The coronation ceremony of Elwes Yushov II was attended by two senior officials representing the civil and military, who swore allegiance to the infant emperor in his nurse's arms. The civil representative was Regent Grand Duke Litvinov, and the military representative was Imperial Marshal Rheinhardt. The gathered nobles, bureaucrats, and generals were dissatisfied with the new system formed by the two, but they could do nothing about it.

  The gate nobles also gained a lot of power and status in it. The two great nobles, under the intentional or unintentional indulgence of Marquis Littoral, got some power over the imperial army: for example, many warships and military factories belonging to logistics, management of internal star system defense facilities within the empire, etc. However, the nobles would never be satisfied with these. "Does that blond kid and Littoral think we are dogs? Throwing out a few bones can calm down our anger?" Undercurrents were moving under the surface.

  Littorio had been wary of Reinhard's growing power from the start, and Reinhard was not one to spare fuel. He promoted Hildegard von Mariendorf to Fleet Admiral and launched an impeachment motion demanding that Paul von Oberstein resign as Vice Commander of the Imperial Space Armada, with Hildegard succeeding him.

  "Golden boy! Now everyone is a marshal! What do you mean by launching this impeachment? Want me to resign as deputy commander-in-chief? What benefits will you give?" In the end, Faherner and Rostmeyer compromised under the mediation of Marquis Littoria, Faherner resigned as deputy commander-in-chief and was appointed as the commander of the Imperial Southern Galaxy Fleet, taking away more than three fleets of the Empire, establishing an independent command system outside of Rostmeyer's, theoretically directly under the dual leadership of the Imperial Military Ministry and the State Department.

  "Lord Ragnarkram! Political compromises are necessary. We have successfully obtained the command of the Imperial Space Fleet, although Marshal Favniel took away part of the fleet, but he has now been successfully removed from the center and must exhaust his energy in the noble fiefdoms of the southern empire! Before that, please lead us to strive for our goal." General Oberstein said to Lord Ragnarkram, who was suffocating with anger.

  Soon, Marshal Fafnir led a fleet of 40,000 to leave Odin and head directly to the fortress of Gremisson in the Chihoysha star system. "Slowly, soon there will be a good show!" Marshal Fafnir said coldly as he looked at the planet Odin when leaving.

  Fyodor Patrovich Vittenhof had just left when Siegfried Kircheis was appointed deputy commander of the Imperial Fleet. Oberstein, who was worried about this order, was promoted to lieutenant general and concurrently served as chief of staff of the Imperial Fleet and chief of staff of Marshal Reinhard's headquarters. One day, he visited Reinhard and spoke frankly.

  "Whether it's a childhood friend or a uniquely talented deputy, combining the two is very dangerous. I think there's no need to install a deputy commander at all, and Gilfieth and Midasmya, Rostantel should be on an equal footing!"; "Obestan! Too much talk is useless! I've already decided!"; The young Imperial Space Fleet Commander-in-Chief shut the mouth of his chief of staff with an impatient response. Although he appreciated Obestan's wit, he didn't consider him a confidant.

  Reinhardt and Guilfoyle finally reclaimed the reason they had taken this path in the first place - Countess Anne Rogers Greville.

  On the side of the alliance, personnel adjustments were also made accordingly. All members of the Alliance's Supreme Council resigned.

  The prestige of the war faction plummeted, while that of the anti-war faction soared. The three councilors who voted against the expedition were highly praised for their opinions and were retained. Before the elections of the following year, Trunyevich, chairman of the defense committee, temporarily seized power.

  In his study at home, Trueniwest raised a glass to celebrate his foresight, and the word "temporary" would soon be deleted from his title.

  In the military, both Chief of Staff General Sitre and Commander-in-Chief of the Space Fleet Admiral Lobos resigned. Some say that Lobos finally brought down his rival Sitre with his own defeat.

  The late General Upton and General Petre were specially promoted to the rank of Field Marshal. General Greenhill was transferred from the front line of Imperial military operations to become Minister of Inquiry in the War Office, Ministry of Defence. He was succeeded as Chief of the Imperial General Staff by General Cubitt, who was promoted from Lieutenant-General and had previously been Commander-in-Chief of the First Fleet.

  Yasui did not participate in the Battle of Austerlitz or the Battle of Jena. Therefore, he does not have to take responsibility for the defeat. During his tenure as Commander-in-Chief of the First Fleet, responsible for capital security and domestic security, he also performed well in suppressing the long-standing space pirate organization and maintaining national security.

  At the time of his excellent graduation from military academy, although everyone believed that he would one day climb to the pinnacle of a soldier's aspirations, even he had no idea that his promotion would be so rapid.

  The commander of the First Fleet was succeeded by Vice Admiral Pait, who had been wounded in the Battle of Astarte and was still recovering. Vice Admiral Biku was promoted to full admiral and took over as Commander-in-Chief of the Space Fleet, a position that suited his seniority, and this personnel order received unanimous praise both within and outside the military!

  Ulanfu will still be the commander of the 10th Fleet, and Borodin will still be the commander of the 12th Fleet. The 11th Fleet has also been replenished and is still commanded by He Lando.

  Yang Weili's treatment was not immediately decided. More than 70% of the officers and men of the 13th Fleet he commanded survived, with a relatively high survival rate. However, no one would accuse him of hiding in a safe place to escape disaster. The 13th Fleet held out until the end in the chaotic battle before leaving the battlefield, and it can be said that they did their best. Commander of the Iselrun Fortress, Commander of the Iselrun Mobile Fleet, and Member of the Supreme Staff Conference of the Allied Forces. This is Yang Weili's latest identity. His rank has also been promoted to General. Although there are precedents for generals in their 20s, it is unprecedented for a general to be promoted three ranks within a year during his tenure as an officer.

  "It seems that a showdown with the nobles is unavoidable after all, and it may even escalate into a war that splits the Empire in two." Gillfieth nodded in agreement to Reinhardt's words.

  I have discussed this with Admirals Midas McAllister and Roentahl, and they share the same idea that it is necessary to make a battle plan. However, there is one thing that worries me... What if the rebel army takes advantage of the situation and launches an attack? Exactly. When the Empire was divided into two factions - the Latrielle-Roentahl axis and the Brownback-Lahm camp - when these two major forces fell into a state of internal strife, would the Allied Forces take advantage of the opportunity to launch an aggressive war? Even Gilfieth, who is confident in the battle plan against the aristocratic families, cannot help but feel uneasy about this.

  The blond young man smiled gently at his red-haired friend: "Don't worry, Gilfeather! I have a plan. No matter how formidable Yang Wei's army is, I have a way to make him unable to take a single step out of Ishelren!" "What method?" "...It's..." The water-blue eyes sparkled as Lainhart began his explanation...

  Fawneil remained in the Chihoyosa star system, but his eyes were still fixed on Odin's every move. He also used his fleet to launch several forced seizures, putting the warship factories and weapons factories within the nearby star systems under his own control. The political struggle in the Odin star system was raging like a fire, and no one had any spare time or energy to pay attention to his actions.