Chapter 298 War Escalates, General Mobilization Order
"Citizens of the Union living under the light of liberty!
Our great navy, under the command of Marshal Trafalgar, defeated the imperial invaders in the Myron system, crushing their ambition to invade our motherland.
Now, I can finally stand here in Freedom Square, which symbolizes the spiritual power of our federation, and announce to all citizens that we will officially enter the strategic counter-offensive stage!
Brave soldiers of the armed forces! Now the eyes of the entire free world are upon you! You will go to the battlefield with the hopes and prayers of all freedom-loving people!
Your mission will not be easy. Your enemies are well trained, well equipped and battle-hardened, and they will resist fiercely.
But everyone in the federation fully believes that you are brave, loyal to your duties, and able to fight well! We will not accept any outcome other than complete victory.
Wish ya'll good luck! Let us pray that the light of democracy and freedom bless us in this great and noble battle! "
As the federal president raised his hands in the air, cheers like a roaring tsunami suddenly erupted in the Freedom Square in the capital.
As far as the eye can see, there are fanatical crowds. These ‘elite citizens’ living in the capital have patterns of the Confederate flag on their faces and arms, while waving large and small flags in their hands.
At the same time, twenty-five HCPs equipped with atmospheric flight equipment flew over Freedom Square, and several huge projection devices on the ground also projected onto the smoke.
Soon, the five-color smoke pulled out and the huge projected logo slowly formed a huge federal five-color eagle flag in the sky.
The cheers of the crowd reached their peak at this moment, and you could no longer hear any sound in the entire Freedom Square, only 'Long live the Federation! ', 'Long live democracy and freedom! ’ Such slogans are drilling into your ears like crazy.
Brandon waved goodbye to the crowd in the square and returned to the Capitol building next to Liberty Square.
Under the guidance of the staff, he quickly returned to a lounge.
Inside the room, Secretary of Defense Miller, Chief of Staff Jayden and others were simultaneously watching the live broadcast on federal television.
After they and Brandon completed the induction ceremony of the mobile fortress, they returned to the capital system together.
After seeing Brandon come back, several people immediately stood up.
"Your speech was still so inspiring, Mr. President."
"No, no, no, my speech is just the icing on the cake. The media promotion during this period is the real part."
Brandon waved his hands, then sat in his chair and let out a sigh of relief.
"I haven't given a speech like this for a long time. I'm really tired. When was the last time you gave a speech in front of so many people?"
"When you gave your presidential election speech," the chief of staff began.
"Yes, yes, after all this time, our citizens are still as easily persuaded as they were back then."
At this point, Brandon looked up and glanced at Secretary of Defense Miller sitting opposite him. The old fox was staring at him with a smile.
"Mr. Minister, I know why you came here at this time."
"In that case, why are you still hesitating?"
"Minister Miller, do you think I am as easy to fool as the people outside? Operation Supernova has led to this. I don't know where your military got the courage to launch a war of annihilation against the empire."
"Any questions, Mr. President?"
Miller frowned, seeming dissatisfied with Brandon's words.
"The campaign goal of 'Supernova Outbreak' is to repel the empire's attack. Hasn't the campaign goal been achieved now?"
"But you destroyed almost all the unmanned fleets, and each of the remaining fifteen main fleets suffered losses. The most serious battle losses exceeded 80%!"
President Brandon's tone was a little excited. After seeing the report of fleet losses and casualties, others almost jumped over on the spot.
But when faced with Brandon's question, Minister Miller showed no fear at all. Instead, he raised his voice and said "righteously":
"Mr. President, you can't just focus on our losses. The empire has been systematically annihilated 4 fleets, and the remaining fleets suffered much more serious battle damage than ours. Even the Celestial Fortress was attacked. Don't you see this? Are you there?
Besides, with our current production capacity, we can launch an entire unmanned fleet in one month, and this speed will be accelerated by at least 30% after entering the general mobilization state!
What about the empire? They don't know how much time it will take just to replace so many missing crew members.
Isn't this the original planned use of the unmanned fleet? Use mature industrial products coming off the assembly line to consume the empire's precious crews, commanders and other effective forces? "
After these words, President Brandon was speechless. He wanted to refute something, but Miller did not give him this chance at all.
"Mr. President, the entire federation is now waiting for you to announce the implementation of this 'highly anticipated' matter. I believe that such public opinion will not appear again in our lifetime, so I hope you can think carefully about it."
The Minister of Defense showed the tough side that he had hidden in the past. Regardless of the presence of the chief of staff and others in the lounge at the moment, he said directly:
“You can also ask companies you have a ‘good relationship’ with to see what the military-industrial complex wants you to do.”
Oops!
Chief of Staff Jayden and others immediately showed wonderful expressions on their faces. They really didn't expect Defense Secretary Miller to say so boldly.
Although everyone present understood the twists and turns behind this, saying it in person was basically equivalent to a showdown with President Brandon.
"You"
Brandon was so shocked by Miller's words that he didn't know what to say. After struggling for a while, he finally leaned back in his chair and stopped talking.
Minister Miller silently thought of Marshal Trafalgar's evaluation of the federal president.
"Humph, just a puppet and a clown"
Hit the nail on the head.
——
A day later, the general mobilization order signed by the federal president was officially announced to the public.
For federal citizens who have not experienced war for a long time, war is a distant and glorious thing.
Under the brainwashing of politicians and the media machine, the dark and cruel side of war was passed over in a few words.
Instead, the keywords such as "serving the country", "sacrifice", "glory" and "spreading democracy and freedom" were widely publicized.
The so-called "holy war" launched by any religion in history may not necessarily be better than the strategic counterattack + annihilation war launched by the federation in terms of atmosphere.
The streets and alleys of the capital were full of people holding high flags with "counterattack" printed on them. Even the street shops and vendors were very "appropriate" and put such flags and five-color eagle flags on their stalls and store doors.
The well-dressed residents of the capital congratulated each other on the street, celebrating the arrival of the "liberation of the suffering people of the empire" and the "war to end all wars".
In the frenzy of war across the country (referring to the capital and the core galaxy circle), the federal state machine finally started to operate at full capacity.
Although this machine with a lot of problems was accompanied by bursts of "grunting" sounds when it was running, as if it would fall apart at any time, it still showed the strength that its huge size should have at this moment.
The military completely took over the country from the hands of civilians, and the military police entered all government agencies and units. All activities of the entire federation prioritized "war".
No opposition party dared to stop all this, because all actions were carried out in compliance with the framework of the "General Mobilization Law".
The newly built space docks of major shipyards began to produce warships needed by the unmanned fleet at a faster speed, while some slightly backward shipyards could only continue to produce conventional warships temporarily, after all, there were still a large number of fleets on the front line that needed to supplement the missing warships.
One by one, the conscription orders were also sent to the personal terminals of young and middle-aged people, requiring them to assemble at the specified time and place, and reorganize into troops in the following period of time, and then be deployed to the battlefield after training.
Before these new forces completed the training, the main combat pressure fell on the "standing army" on several military planets.
——
Almost at the same time when President Brandon picked up the pen to sign the general mobilization order.
In the conference room of the Grand Palace of Saint-Saunière in the capital of the empire, the imperial princess Agnes sat at one end of the round table, looking expressionlessly at the man opposite her-Regent Norton II.
Everyone, including the two "protagonists" at the center of the vortex of imperial power, might not have thought that they would sit at the same table at this moment.
Norton II really didn't expect that after seeing Amber's suggestion and combining it with a series of recent events including the "Miren Galaxy Battle", he would actually consider temporarily easing the tense atmosphere between him and the "Princess Party".
And the Imperial Princess Agnes didn't expect that her biggest enemy in the empire would come to the Grand Palace with only her staff when her father was critically ill and invite her to discuss important matters.
After all, in her imagination, this regent who was determined to destroy the Leon Dynasty should take advantage of this time to lead the army to the Grand Palace, which is in line with his "personality".
Finance Minister Jacques Vanco didn't expect that he was just visiting the old emperor, but he encountered such a "big drama" and was invited by Norton II to participate in the talks.
In a way, it was precisely because he, the finance minister who had always remained neutral, was present that Agnes was invited to attend the meeting.
The slightly awkward and anxious atmosphere in the meeting room lasted for a long time, and finally it was Her Highness Agnes who spoke first, breaking the suffocating atmosphere.
"First of all, thank you for visiting my father, Your Excellency the Regent. But I am still very curious. You suddenly invited me and His Excellency Jacques Vanco to come to talk today. Is there something important to discuss?"