1865 Face to Face

Soldiers are always the busiest people in war.

If it weren't for Mr. Trueman's visit, Peleus might still be at the headquarters.

Even if he is back now, he will still go back after dinner.

He had only one hour left for Mr. Trueman to eat, and no more time.

The dinner was a sumptuous, meat-based meal, mainly to combat hunger, as the commanders on the battlefield believed that the ensuing battle would break out during the night.

The Federation has a certain lead in military equipment, coupled with the support of gunboats on the shore, if the battle is held during the day, Pengeo will be at a relative disadvantage.

Even if they have a geographical advantage, they can only try their best not to lose more space, but it is difficult to drive the federal people into the sea or inflict heavy damage on them!

Therefore, they are likely to use the darkness as cover to launch an attack and not give the Federals much time to prepare for the next battle.

Tonight's battle is very important. Once you fail to defend and are driven into the sea, the difficulty of landing again will increase exponentially.

Some scholars and experts believe that the biggest difference between modern war and ancient war is that the core factors that determine the direction of war are different.

The core factor in ancient wars is morale. As long as the morale is high enough, even a small group of people may perform miracles when facing an enemy that is twice their own strength and well-equipped!

After all, ancient wars were mostly cold weapon wars that required soldiers to kill each other face to face. Once someone died on both sides of the front-facing soldiers, their morale would quickly drop.

The death of friendly troops immediately on both sides of a soldier may cause the soldier to lose his will to fight, leading to the possibility of timidity, retreat, and escape.

So in ancient times, morale came first.

But in the era of modern warfare, due to the emergence of thermal weapons, whether it is killing or being killed, it is often very far away.

The enemy rarely gets too close, so it will not cause too much psychological pressure on frontline soldiers. Therefore, for modern warfare, the core factor that can affect the war is the degree of training.

To put it simply, raise the gun, aim, shoot, load the bullet, and then to the more complicated calculation of the impact point of the cannonball, then align the coordinates, fill in the form, and launch...

The feedback of all behaviors is not timely. Without too much psychological pressure, whoever trains more, moves faster, and aims more accurately will be able to achieve the final victory.

But in fact, these experts are right and wrong, because war is always complicated. How many experts from the Federation have been on the battlefield?

Their understanding of war is limited to certain "reference only" materials. Morale is still very important in modern warfare.

Just like in this landing battle, well-trained training is indeed very important. How to run, how to rush after the soldiers get off the ship, and how to use the terrain to establish counterattack positions, all of which must be trained many times.

But morale is also indispensable. The corpses of those companions continue to fall beside them. They step on the bloody sand with every step, even stepping on the corpses of their companions.

Without strong psychological endurance and strong morale, there is simply no way to support them rushing to the beach.

If they are repulsed tonight and return to the sea, they will lose morale and it will be even more difficult to land again!

There must be no problems in tonight's battle!

Dinner was eaten at the Federation Navy Headquarters. Like Gaevra, the Federation military is mainly based on the navy.

Of course, the air force has now become a core force that cannot be ignored, but the overall structure of the military is built around the navy.

In Peleus' room, the two sat at the dining table.

There is only a plate about fifty centimeters in diameter and ten centimeters deep on the dining table.

The plate was piled high with beef pieces, large pieces of beef with many tendons visible.

There is a basket outside the plate. Half of the basket is filled with lettuce leaves and half is filled with fist-sized meal bags.

In addition to this, there are some simple condiments.

Peleus took a fork and picked up a fist-sized piece of beef and took a bite. Then he grabbed a few lettuce leaves with water droplets and stuffed them into his mouth, crunching and chewing.

In fact, these beefs are not particularly delicious. They are simply cooked in water with spices added. They taste a little salty and have a hint of spices.

From a gourmet taste perspective, these cuts of beef were not tasty at all.

But Peleus ate quickly and in large mouths.

"Aren't you hungry?", he looked at Mr. Trueman sitting opposite and asked casually.

The soldier poured him a glass of wine, and he drank it in one gulp.

Mr. Trueman didn't answer him immediately. He sat in a daze for a while, then took off his coat and started eating.

He hasn't eaten like this for many years, ever since he left the army.

Peleus was very good at eating since he was a child. Some people say that his strength is related to eating these beef with tendons.

When the federal people select beef, they prefer the fat beef. Before cooking, if they are a little particular about cooking, they will also trim the film and tendons in the beef.

Then beat to loosen the gravy, and finally fry.

They did not like to eat beef that could not be chewed, but Peleus liked it very much.

Not just him, he has a very elite army under his command, just like him.

Everyone's daily meal consists of a few pounds of large pieces of beef that no one would choose if they were given away in high-end supermarkets.

Tasting this strange-tasting beef again, Mr. Trueman had a very special emotion, remembering the past, and looking forward to the present and future.

The beef is very chewy, the lettuce is very fresh, and the meal bag is a little hard, but it becomes much softer when soaked in the beef soup under the beef plate.

He ate a big piece and a small piece, which made him feel a little stuffed, and he thought it weighed about a pound and a half.

In the process, Peleus had eaten more than two pounds of beef and was still eating.

He eats about five to six pounds, not including lettuce and meal kits.

"Your appetite has become smaller." Peleus glanced at Mr. Trueman who put down his knife and fork to show that he was full.

Mr. Trueman sighed, "I sit at work every day and don't consume much. This is enough."

Peleus stopped talking and continued to enjoy his dinner, while Mr. Trueman said, "I heard that several thousand people died today?"

Peleus nodded as he ate.

After he swallowed the chewed beef and lettuce in his mouth, he had time to reply, "In fact, the casualties are more serious than what you see..."

"Why is it so serious?" Mr. Trueman didn't quite understand this. "The Ministry of National Defense said before that there would be no more than 5,000 people, and we would be able to gain a foothold."

Peleus smiled, "Because we didn't expect that they found a way to hide their layout before. The previous series of victories made us a little careless."

"But it doesn't matter. The Pengeo people taught us a lesson today. If they want to do something so simple next time, it will be impossible!"

The Federation's high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft flew over the coastal areas of the Pengeo Empire every day, and even a pig knew that he had to find a way.

They adopted the most commonly used and best-used routine in world wars before the Air Force was created by Lynch - digging trenches.

These deep trenches are called trenches, but they are actually wider and larger than trenches.

The top is covered with an imitation-colored fabric to create some camouflage.

These are all conducted at night. High-altitude reconnaissance aircraft are of little use at night, so there are relatively few night reconnaissance missions.

Moreover, once a small area is dug out with this digging method, the rest can be excavated under the nose of the reconnaissance aircraft.

In fact, in the final analysis, I still suffered from lack of experience.

The military has also summed up a lot of experience, which is actually a good thing. At least they will not fall in the same place in the future.

Mr. Treman asked about some things that happened during the day, "I heard that there will be huge casualties later. They told me that there may be hundreds of thousands of people."

In fact, the officer's original words at that time were two to three hundred thousand, maybe more, but now he has lowered the number a bit, and he hopes it is false.

But it's a pity that Peleus still nodded in agreement and said something that even made his scalp itchy.

"This is a relatively conservative estimate. We will invest about 2.5 million to 3 million troops in the Eastern Continent. We calculated it based on the battle loss ratio when we fought with them in the Nagaril area."

"About 300,000 people, but this is just a conservative and optimistic rough estimate."

Peleus ate two more large pieces of beef while he was talking. He picked up the dinner bag that had been cut a slit, cut it off in the middle, pinched half of it, dipped some broth on the plate, and stuffed it into his mouth.

While chewing, he said, "If estimates are not optimistic, there may be 500,000 to 600,000 people staying there forever."

"After all, that is their territory, and they have more advantages than us in such a war."

"Some advantages we can make up for through some strategies and tactics, and some we can't!"

He stuffed the other half of the lunch bag, which was also full of broth, into his mouth, then wiped his hands and stopped eating temporarily.

He needed a little rest.

Mr. Trueman felt a stone pressing on his chest when he heard such a big number. Before, he always felt that the president of the Federation was too weak.

Including the former president, he needs to give orders for small-scale armed conflicts that are not even wars.

And now, he finally felt a pressure.

One decision may cause many people to die because of it. Except for tyrants and perverts, not everyone can enjoy it.

"There are some things we can get at the negotiation table, and it doesn't necessarily have to cost the lives of young people!" He stared at Peleus and said this in his heart.

He believes that the current federation has the strength to speak loudly at the negotiation table, and maintaining relative restraint is not cowardice!