I'm the boss because I have a harem of anime characters.

Page 83

"This is?"

"In the Middle East, near the Suez Canal, one of our troops clashed with the Chinese forces. The battle lasted for an hour. One of our tactical mechs was completely wiped out. We don't know the enemy's casualties yet, but judging from their performance, they were very few."

"What!?"

Cornelia could hardly believe her ears.

How could the China Federation of Liberation Army suddenly become such a terrifying enemy? This doesn't make sense!

"I know this sounds absurd, but that's the reality, Cornelia. We've fallen far behind the Central Alliance in some key weapons technologies. This means that in the event of war, we'd likely be left with no choice but to be on the defensive. This huge strategic disadvantage is unacceptable to the Empire. Don't forget, the Central Alliance is also a major industrial power. Having a technological gap with such a country means that our army on the field wouldn't be much better off than straw waiting to be harvested."

“I understand. So we can’t overturn the table. We have to make our moves on the chessboard set by the China League. This feeling of being controlled by others is really unpleasant.”

"Leave the technical matters to the technicians. What we need to do now is to stabilize the situation in Area 11 as much as possible and ensure the supply of Sakura Stone. If we can't even guarantee this, our subsequent plans will become very difficult."

"I understand, Your Majesty. Leave the matters on the battlefield to me."

"I still have great faith in the fighting capabilities of our British witches, but we should still be careful. After all, the Empire no longer has any technological advantage in this battle; we are going to have to take on the toughest challenge."

“What a coincidence, Your Majesty! I love tackling tough challenges,” Cornelia said confidently with a smile.

Section 176: Let's see who's more carefree

As a monarchical militarist state powered by modern technology, the Holy British Empire possessed considerable military strength and was highly efficient; however, the extent to which they could accomplish in Area 11 was quite limited.

Before Cornelia and Schneizel went to Area 11, the British Empire's navy had already confronted the Central Alliance at sea. The British Pacific Fleet's original mission was to blockade Japan and stop the Central Alliance's maritime transport, but it was bombed by a bunch of anti-ship missiles with nuclear warheads.

It feels so great to have something that you don't have, and to be able to use it freely.

Qin Shan explained the rules of the game to the Empire in the simplest and most straightforward way.

Japan is a chessboard, you can mess with it however you want, but if you dare mess with me, you'll be dead.

The Holy British Empire, in a fit of rage, erupted in a helpless fury.

What else could they do? They didn't have the technology to withstand a nuclear bomb without yielding, so the maritime blockade plan fell through. A submarine attack was also out of the question because the anti-submarine missiles of the United Nations were all nuclear-armed. Even if British submarines could reach supersonic speeds, they couldn't possibly evade the underwater shockwave of a nuclear bomb.

Therefore, the two sides could only engage in a bloody battle on the battlefield in District 11.

As things have developed to this point, Britain has come to realize that the United Nations must have made a major breakthrough in superconductor technology, or that they have discovered enough sapphire to last for hundreds of years. Otherwise, they would not be so desperate as to destroy Area 11 in order to drive British military forces out of their own doorstep.

If we follow a game strategy that maximizes interests, the Empire should negotiate with the Central Alliance, relinquish some control of Area 11, and reach a strategic mutual trust on the issue of troop deployment. In short, taking a step back will lead to a brighter future.

However, the competition between nations often involves more than just calculating interests; there are other factors at play.

Since Emperor Charles ascended to the throne, Britain has been on a winning streak in foreign affairs, displaying great strength against both the European Union and the Central Union. If Britain were to simply back down after being threatened by the Central Union, how could it maintain its rule in the future? Many of the countries that were colonized and destroyed by Britain are still resisting. If they were to see any hope of victory in their resistance, the cost of British rule would skyrocket.

What military empires fear most is the collapse of their invincible status.

In the game between the great powers, failure is failure, it doesn't matter. Those are high-level games, and ordinary people can't get into them. It's like how it's not shameful for the United States to lose to the Soviet Union, but it would be very shameful to lose to us when we had just been founded. It was a serious strategic loss.

Moreover, the Central Alliance does indeed possess weapons capable of threatening Britain. In such circumstances, Britain cannot afford to back down, as retreat would mean greater chaos and even cast doubt on the military deterrence within the British Empire, triggering a series of immeasurable negative reactions. Therefore, even if Britain knows it's a trap, it has to jump into the chessboard drawn by Qin Shan. Otherwise, they would face a full-scale war with the Central Alliance, and they might not be able to win. They would also likely be caught in a pincer movement by both the Central Alliance and the European Alliance.

As for Area 11, which was chosen to be the chessboard, nobody cares.

One could even say that Area 11 should feel lucky, as they still have value in the eyes of major powers. If they truly had no value whatsoever and were situated in a dangerous geopolitical arena, that would be the greatest tragedy.

Is it the Sude buffer zone? (laughs)

The intensity of the fighting in Area 11 began to rise sharply, especially after Cornelia and Schneizel, two pragmatic members of the royal family, arrived in Area 11. The Holy Britannian Empire significantly increased its reinforcements to the area, and the pressure on the Japanese army also began to soar. The defenses that were about to push through the Tokyo metropolitan area were forced to begin to retreat southward, and the Britannian side took the opportunity to launch a new landing operation.

After all, Area 11 is an island, and if we don't consider a large-scale military breakthrough, the entire coastline is an area that can be attacked.

The British then began a tactical landing to tie down the Japanese offensive, while the Japanese retaliated with anti-ship missiles provided by the Chinese. These long-range, jamming-resistant weapons decimated the British landing fleet. After all, the losses were warships, which were difficult to replace in a short time. The large-scale destruction of warships, especially landing ships, meant that the landing forces were trapped.

Britain's retaliatory counterattack was naturally fierce and brutal, but it was meaningless. Area 11 had almost no industrial capacity left. Their rear base was in Korea and the Central Powers, and their brains were in the Forbidden City in Luoyang. You could bomb Area 11's land as you pleased, even if you bombed it until it was charred inside and out, it didn't matter, since there was almost no production capacity there. Everything they needed was shipped from the Korean Peninsula. If they bombed the Central Powers, hehehe, you try it.

Britain had its share of "accidental bombings," but right after one bombing, the Chinese Communist Party launched three megaton-class nuclear bombs at Britain's military assembly points, instantly wiping out two cities and more than 400,000 British immigrants in Japan.

Britain did not respond to this, but strictly restricted the front lines from attacking any ships, planes, or tanks flying the Chinese flag. In short, no one was allowed to illegally resist China!

This is somewhat reminiscent of Chiang Kai-shek; it reveals the weakness of imperialism.

When you can truly pose a fatal threat to it, and it is powerless against you, then imperialism is just a ball of cotton, which you can manipulate however you like.

Moreover, Qin Shan genuinely doesn't care about Britain's reaction. Even if Britain were to use nuclear weapons now, he would still laugh and engage in a shootout with them. He can afford to lose, and he always has trump cards far superior to Britain's. But if Britain loses even once, it will be completely finished. At this moment, the more unscrupulous a person is, the greater the pressure they put on their opponents.

The current state of the Central Alliance is such that it has shown a very tough attitude towards Britain in any situation, but this attitude is based on Britain not abiding by the rules set by the Central Alliance.

For example, the large market that our China-United Nations is building cannot be disrupted by Britain. The countries we protect cannot be troubled by Britain. If you do not abide by the rules we have drawn, then very well, we will directly use nuclear weapons to decapitate the British nobility. We will specifically target your weaknesses, hoping that the British nobles can truly show their elegance and confidence in the face of death's scythe and calmly accept the truth of death.

However, based on the current test results, they don't seem to have learned this yet, which is a real shame.

In this situation, Britain could only strategically retreat in all aspects. This was not a problem that could be solved by an emperor being tough. A country is a huge community of interests. When the interests of most people in this system are harmed, even Qin Shi Huang and Emperor Wu of Han could only helplessly back down. This is a common trait of humankind. Britain, as a nation, has not yet transcended the three realms and is not outside the five elements.

The Empire cannot afford to lose Area 11. After all, since taking control of the area, the production of Sakura Stone has allowed Britain to develop recklessly in related fields for many years. The scale and industry are now incomparable to what they were before. All these mouths are waiting for the Sakura Stone mine to become scarce. Not to mention anything else, the annual maintenance costs of Britain's nationwide superconducting power supply network system are astronomical, all of which require Sakura Stone.

However, the current output of cherry blossom ore in Japan is only one-third of what it used to be. Apart from the Central Alliance, the related industries in the Empire and the European Alliance have been greatly affected. As a result, any country that can produce cherry blossom ore, even if it is only crude ore, can sell it for a good price on the international market. It is truly a case of Japan falling and everyone else getting a good deal.

What worried Britain the most was that the Central Alliance did not take a penny from the cherry blossom mines captured in Area 11, but instead sold them directly on the international market. The proceeds were then converted into military funds and used to pay for military supplies to the Japanese government. This gave the Japanese government, which was in deficit, a fiscal surplus. Who could they complain to?

That's all British money!!

The cry of the Jiajing Emperor resounded in the hearts of countless British capitalists.

But all they could do was shout; after all, if they couldn't win the battle, everything else amounted to nothing.

"This is really bad news."

According to the latest intelligence obtained by Schneizel, Zhonglian is carrying out large-scale construction of Tesla power towers. It appears that Zhonglian's wireless power transmission technology is mature and capable of producing better room-temperature superconductor materials.

In addition, based on the technical intelligence gathered so far, it is highly likely that China United Energy Corporation has made a major breakthrough in the energy sector.

Because of the reduction in electricity prices by China United Electricity, the price of residential electricity is only one-tenth of that in Britain, and the price of electricity for other production uses has also been reduced by half, resulting in a significant gap in energy costs between China United and Britain.

In addition, the missile technology of the United Nations is not afraid of the full-channel jamming technology currently used by various countries. The tactical mechs that Britain was once proud of are being phased out on a large scale by the United Nations. They are being replaced by a large number of individual powered armor and individual exoskeleton technologies, and production has been fully launched. It is expected that the equipment replacement will be completed nationwide within a year.

With this speed and efficiency, if you say that after the Chinese team changed its uniform, there were no other ideas, Schneizel believed that the European Union was unbreakable.

In short, it's bad news from all sides. In all border issues that have led to conflicts and friction with the Central Alliance, Britain has suffered losses on its own and will be relentlessly pursued and held accountable by the Central Alliance. There have even been cases where British troops have been forced to execute their own soldiers to apologize to the Central Alliance. Morale at the front has been severely damaged, making Britain increasingly weak in its struggle with the Central Alliance.

"Even now, we still don't have much intelligence about Regent Qin Shan."

Schneizel felt a headache coming on, and the battle reports from the front lines in Area 11 made his headache even worse.

More and more residents of Area 11 sided with the Japanese army. Oh, they were originally Japanese. Due to Britain's previous benevolent rule, the relationship between the locals and Britain was just like that between Israel and the Palestinian people – “nuclear evil”.

After all, after Britain occupied Japan, it did not kill, set fires, demolish buildings, or loot. It neither seized the farmland of Japanese farmers nor operated excavators on their sacred mountains, nor did it release poison gas everywhere to eliminate resistance organizations. The relationship between the British army and the Japanese people was so "close as family".

So much so that when the Japanese army began its counter-offensive, the local Japanese used every weapon at their disposal to entertain the British troops marching along the road. They even took out their treasured Molotov cocktails from their homes and threw them to the British soldiers from a distance of more than ten meters, as if afraid that the soldiers would be thirsty. To ensure the flammability of the liquor, they even lit it as proof, fully demonstrating the close relationship between the military and civilians of both sides. So much so that the local dogs would bark happily when they saw the British people. The British Empire was truly too good. The Japanese even wished they could repay the British army's kindness in the same way they had treated them.

In short, the relationship between the two sides is quite peaceful. Britain has been too good to Area 11, doing nothing bad. The British Empire is a great "person" (gritting teeth).

"Your Highness, this is today's battle report."

"Just tell me if there's any good news."

"At least there's no bad news."

"That's good news. It's truly pathetic that we've managed Area 11 for so long, yet we haven't been able to make it part of the Empire, even though it's so important. It seems we have no choice but to change our strategy towards Area 11, otherwise we'll only shed more blood here, and these sacrifices will hardly bring us the results we want."

"Your Highness means..."

"Since the people of Area 11 want freedom, then let them govern themselves."

Chapter 177: The Romance of Mechs Has Ended

"Truly intelligent people always use their intelligence in the right direction, making the war in Area 11 a piece of cake, right?"

According to the intelligence Qin Shan just received, Schneizel is preparing to suggest that the 11th District be autonomous, making the six families of Kyoto the top three of Japan's autonomous regions, and then organizing the local powerful and wealthy families to fight to the death with the government of the Republic of Japan.

It is indeed painful to consume one's own family's manpower, material resources, and financial resources, but if it is "I pay, you risk your life," many things become less unacceptable.

To put it bluntly, the Holy British Empire cannot accept that most of its armed forces are tied up in Area 11. This is because they provoked the whole world when they were doing well. They are at war with the European Union and in a quasi-war state with the Central Union. Moreover, as things stand, the European Union has already begun to cooperate with the Central Union in certain areas without prior agreement.

Latest frontline reports indicate that in the North African theater, the British forces, which had initially held the advantage, are now facing a counterattack from the European Union forces, and their front lines are now in grave danger.

Fortunately, they held on, but if they continued to fight the Central Alliance in Area 11 like this, no matter how many troops Britain had, they wouldn't have enough to fill the gap. Even if they worked themselves to death, they couldn't possibly hold all the places and defeat all the enemies.

It's important to understand that in order to stabilize the defense line, Britain began to redeploy troops from various regions. Now, resistance forces in Africa are rising rapidly. In the past, the British army stationed in Africa numbered over 300,000, along with a million auxiliary troops. However, now, more than 200,000 of the 300,000 are on the front lines in North Africa, and half of the auxiliary troops have been redeployed. Under these circumstances, trying to suppress the resistance forces below is somewhat like trying to have it all and ending up with nothing.

The resistance forces in Africa are just a disorganized mess, but they are not invincible. Moreover, Britain has been exploiting and oppressing the African region for so long that even if the locals are just looking to vent their anger, they can still tie down more than half of Britain's military forces in the region.

When Britain is unable to intervene, the other opportunists in these regions will start to switch sides again, and dealing with them will require another large expenditure. No matter how rich Britain's treasury is, it cannot afford to burn money like that.

What Britain really wants to see right now is internal strife within the Central Union. Your Regent's reforms are so radical, they're almost turning into a revolution. Aren't you going to resist? Are all the powerful figures in the Central Union cowards?

So is it possible that the powerful figures in the Central Alliance used every means of resistance they could think of, whether tangible or intangible, only to find that Qin Shan only knew one move—killing your whole family?

Simple, direct, effective, rapid, and with immediate results.

Previously, some powerful figures from the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China went to the British embassy to seek asylum, and then the British embassy was cut off from water and electricity. Since you want asylum, then you can just tough it out. We, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, will not storm the embassy, ​​but the water and electricity supply outside is our own. You can't say anything about it diplomatically. Anyway, everything we do is legal and compliant.

As for those who fled abroad, the person arrived in the morning, and a local building was gone by the afternoon. If we can't accurately determine where they are, then we'll just use a nuclear bomb to settle the matter.

Under such brutal nuclear anti-corruption measures, few of the powerful figures in the Central Alliance remain. Those who survived are keeping a low profile, trying to minimize their presence, and working tirelessly for the court, fearing that the Regent will question their loyalty.

Despite the terrifying centralized power of a single individual, the result of officials living in misery was the prosperity of all industries. All regions of the Central Government entered a period of rapid development, administrative efficiency soared, the proportion of honest and pragmatic officials in the administrative system steadily increased, many things became more humane, and the overall situation was developing in a positive direction.

It is foreseeable that Zhonglian's rapid rise will continue for some time before Qin Shan dies.

The simplest way was to kill Qin Shan, but all the assassinations failed. The worst time was when Qin Shan allowed him to empty his magazine in front of the whole world, and he was unharmed.

This matter cannot be explained by science or even metaphysics. In any case, it is incomprehensible to the vast majority of people in World Six, leaving only superstition as an explanation. As a result, Qin Shan's authority in the Central Alliance was further strengthened, and he was just short of being canonized at Mount Tai.

Having fully recognized the disparity between himself and the enemy, the actions of the second prince, Schneizel, were very clever and deserve praise.

"Admiral, should we stop it?" Lexington asked.

"No, no, no, there's no need. For the Central Alliance, as long as we control Japan, that's enough. Controlling half or the whole doesn't make much difference. The key is not to let the enemy benefit. So even if we destroy the whole of Japan, it doesn't matter. Anyway, we don't need the Sakura Stone Mine. Britain will be the one crying then. Oh, and maybe the European Union too."

Currently, the price of international cherry blossom ore has increased more than twentyfold, causing related industries to suffer greatly. Only China United Petroleum Corporation (CUP) is doing exceptionally well, and even has the leisure to continue lowering the prices of products essential to people's livelihoods.

The sense of happiness among the people of Zhonglian has greatly improved.

Previously separatist Indian autonomous states have now split apart, with each princely state crying out for rejoining.

Before the separation, there was no sense of it, but after the separation, India couldn't even maintain its integrity. The various princely states began to suffer from various forms of hardship, with uprisings, riots, and unrest following one after another, as if afraid that this land would not realize the importance of the alliance with China.

The region is so chaotic that even the British are unwilling to cause trouble there.

They had sent people before to try to establish contact with local factions, but all seven liaisons were taken advantage of by the Indians. Five of them were men. Because the process wasn't satisfying enough, the Indians even caught a few snakes and lizards to enhance the sexual experience.

In any case, after that incident, Britain abandoned official cooperation with the divided Indian princely states.

Damn it, what kind of monstrosities are in this cesspool!

Normal, normal. Before personally witnessing what the locals in India do, few people would believe that there could be such an outrageous place in the world. It's not even outrageous; it's completely absurd.

The current Central Alliance is an impenetrable giant, and any exposed weakness is a trap. Schneizel also keenly realized that Qin Shan himself did not care about Japan; he just wanted to keep British forces away from the core area of ​​the Central Alliance.

If that's the case, the two parties can still reach a deal through other means, even without meeting in person.

The way intelligent people communicate is truly amazing.

Soon, Schneizel's proposal was presented to Emperor Charles, whose reaction was simple: to hand it over to the second prince, who would just need to stamp it. In the current situation, this was the best option.

Thus, the six families of Kyoto were pushed to the forefront. These six families, who came from large landowning and financial families, had previously cooperated deeply with the Empire and now had more autonomy. Although they knew that they were taking the fall, if they did not fight for it now, they would have no right to fight for it in the future. Whether Japan was still Area 11 or not depended on whether they were willing to fight for it.

Of course, large families always hedge their bets and prepare for both sides. After the Kyoto Six Families were brought out, one branch broke away and openly joined the local resistance, severing ties with the Kyoto Six Families and making a sacred break. Judging from their posture, they are preparing to go after the government of the Republic of Japan. Now they are in the stage of showing their sincerity.

Under the manipulation of the Kyoto Six Families, the split-off "branch" took away a large number of classified documents. These documents were naturally fully utilized by the Japanese army. Taking advantage of the British policy adjustment, they launched a counterattack and pushed the front line to Mito in one fell swoop. At this time, most of the traditional Japanese urban area was in the hands of the Japanese government. The Japanese army also demonstrated strong combat power in this counterattack. With good equipment, adequate supplies, and a clear system of rewards and punishments, the Japanese army's combat power was no less than that of the British army. As the old equipment was worn out, the Japanese army also began to use some of the equipment newly produced by the United Nations, such as various missiles that were not afraid of full-frequency interference.

Britain's proud tactical mechs suffered a devastating blow. At a height of three to five meters, they were practically sitting ducks on the battlefield. Even Bismarck Waldstein, the first of the Knights of the Round Table, was nearly killed by the anti-tank missiles fired by the Central Alliance. This proved that individual bravery was utterly useless against an overwhelming barrage of bullets. What good was foresight? Within the limits of one's foresight, there was nothing but barrages fired by the Central Alliance, and there was no way to dodge them.

Animation is about exciting mecha battles, but in reality, explosions are the essence of art.

The era of Knights of the Round Table taking on dozens or even hundreds of opponents has come to a complete end, and this was when they were facing the Japanese army, not the main force of the Allied forces.

"What a pity, it was built, but it's already meaningless."

As the head of the technical department, Lloyd looked at his latest masterpiece, the tactical mech Lancelot, and could only sigh.

“Can’t we try a different technological approach?” Cecil, as his assistant, asked.

"No, no, this technology is outdated. From the day the all-channel jammer failed, these tactical mechs have been doomed. Zhonglian is ahead of the times, and when the times abandon a technology, they don't say hello to anyone."

"It's such a shame, we were ready to conduct real-world testing."

"Next, we need to change our research direction. For example, we need to focus on man-portable powered armor. The Zoomlion has already started to deploy it on a large scale, and I heard that the results are very good. I will switch to this area of ​​research in the future."

"Then there has to be a niche for large equipment to replace tactical mechs."

"The soldiers on the front lines have more to say on this matter. We just need to wait for feedback here. Hopefully, it won't be too late."