Iron Cross Fire

When several people saw the emperor coming, they immediately stood up and paid tribute to him.

The two sentries did not dare to say anything because of Franz's scolding just now.

When the emperor was wondering why no one answered him, he suddenly felt that the person in front of him was very familiar.

When he thought of Franz's notice, he instantly became energetic.

"Marshal Kuster? Welcome back."

Franz gave Kuster a warm hug, which flattered him.

But he did not panic. After returning the salute calmly, he followed Franz into the palace, leaving only two shocked sentries standing in front of the door.

Franz laughed disdainfully, as if looking at a clown, snorted and walked in.

"How are you doing in Türkiye and Germany?" Franz asked as he walked.

"Everything is fine, but I don't want us to watch from the other side while our allies are fighting." Kuster replied.

Franz didn't feel anything except a little guilt. On the contrary, Franz behind him was ashamed, lowering his body and burying his head like an ostrich.

"Who said that? Aren't we confronting the Italian army?" The person who spoke was Potiorek, who could be regarded as an old acquaintance of Kuster. He was retorting in a rather sarcastic tone.

The "Ink General" in charge of the Balkans had no more duties after Greece stopped resisting, and could only return to the empire's home base.

However, his former subordinates have now become his superiors, which makes him quite dissatisfied. However, the issue of promotion is not decided by Kuster, so there is no use in finding fault with him.

Kuster also responded in his usual innocent tone:

"If you say we are facing off against the only European country that can be defeated by an African country, that's pretty good."

Always assuming an impregnable posture, this is his best trick in politics.

Potiorek really couldn't find any flaws, but that didn't stop him from pressing in from elsewhere:

"Do you want us to fight the enemy without sufficient preparation?"

The Emperor and Franz were attracted by their argument and stopped to watch.

"Oh!" Kuster suddenly became interested and deliberately raised his voice and said:

"If I remember correctly, Russia was not prepared before the war started."

While he was thinking, he thought of something and said it:

"Before the war, they were still in the process of reform, and their standing army only had 1.42 million people. They plan to expand it to three million or even four to five million in a few years!"

He suddenly turned around and looked directly at Potiorek:

"But even so, the Russian army, which was unprepared, or completely unprepared, still gave us a blow."

"My Marshal, you need to read the information carefully. You don't know how terrifying their mobilization capabilities are. They mobilized 5 million people as soon as the war broke out!"

Potiorek said awkwardly, with contempt on his face.

"I never look at information when fighting! I only look at intelligence and battle situations. I don't even need to know where the enemy is, I just need to remember where 'I' am - because my army will open up a path for me. A wide road.”

Kuster said quite confidently. As he spoke of his troops, a look of pride filled his face, and an intimidating smell emanated from him.

"Are you bragging about not drafting?"

"Who is bragging about drafting!"

"Haha!" The emperor's hearty laughter interrupted the dispute between the two. Apparently he was amused by Kuster, who was talking about trains, but he didn't say anything, waved his hand to stop them, and continued walking deeper.

The time without dialogue obviously passed quickly, and it didn't take long for the few of them to reach the end.

After the guard opened the door for them, they all went in and found a place to sit.

"What are you doing here? Conrad isn't even here. Shouldn't you, the governor, be responsible for managing the Balkans?"

Just as Potiorek was about to sit down, he was pulled up by Kuster and pulled out.

He threw away Kuster's hand and said angrily:

"What about you? Shouldn't you go to the Rhine Front!"

"Uh..." Kuster hesitated a little, let go of his hand, and took a few steps back until he sat on his seat, still contemplating. He was obviously stumped, but he quickly thought about it.

"Is the Rhine our territory?"

he asked. Obviously, he is a person who values ​​sovereignty very much, but he is just not suitable for it.

Lo and behold, the faces of the Emperor and Potiorek, who had just sat down, turned dark.

"Maybe it was before, but it's definitely not now." Franz explained thoughtfully.

The faces of the two people became darker.

Potiorek managed to calm down and said without emotion:

"But Germany is our ally, shouldn't you help them?"

"Who are they? Who am I? I used to count on them to help me many times!"

Kuster said angrily. He seemed dissatisfied with Germany, especially their style. He can guarantee that except Kaiser Wilhelm, he will not like anyone in Germany.

"That was once!" Potiorek emphasized:

"Shouldn't you go and help them now? Besides, you haven't done your job completely."

He continued to press.

"If the empire can help, I think it will be hundreds of times stronger than my personal power. The war will be over soon, and the benefits will be huge."

Kust suddenly calmed down and answered calmly. He leaned forward, his elbow slightly forward, leaned towards Potiorek and stared at him closely.

Seeing that he was not driving the train, Potiorek was very surprised. He thought that this rough guy could only drive the train. Now it seems that he can also tow the train; or, in other words, he can move the rails while driving the train.

However, his words were indeed difficult to deal with, and Potiorek couldn't think of anything to respond to for a while.

"Okay, let's talk about the formalities." The emperor held his forehead and coughed repeatedly, interrupting them again:

"Potiorek has no work recently, and it happens that he has a good propaganda ability, so let him come."

"So he is an idle official! How come you can't stop Bulgaria's attack with so many troops?"

Kust asked. He even described Potiorek's attack as obstruction, which was no ordinary provocation.

When Potiorek heard this, he was very angry and stared at Kuster with gnashing teeth. But he just didn't want to say anything, because he was indeed not as good as Kuster, and if he refuted him, he would only lose more miserably.

"I don't want me to cough again!"

The emperor said sternly. His eyes were as big as an eagle, and even though he was already in his twilight years, his high spirits still existed.

Seeing that he was so angry, the two stopped making trouble and waited obediently.

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