Chapter 1428: Aiding the Protestants

"The Lord's will?"

Ling Chen looked at her in confusion; a smile hung on the delicate features of the woman in the white robe, a faint smile.

"General, God says the believers in Austria must not be abandoned."

"Please, protect them."

Ling Chen fell into silence, not expecting this woman to make such a request.

Most of those who believe in Austria are Catholic, and Catholicism is viewed as heresy by other sects.

As long as they are discovered, these people must be branded as heretics, spreading the Bitter Remonstrance of an evil cult.

Protestantism and Catholicism have irreconcilable contradictions in their doctrines.

Therefore, the two sides fight to the death upon meeting, since they cannot convince each other with mouths and doctrines.

Then they use Physics to convince the other side, ending the lives of the heretics in their eyes to achieve the goal of convincing the other.

Longyan only dared to penetrate so deep into the heart of the European continent under the banner of aiding the Protestants.

So these Protestants are the target they want to help, and also the people they want to win over.

But the current strategic goal is to head to the ancestral land of Prussia as soon as possible.

To gather the Protestants there, gain a popular base, and establish a base area to assist Prussia in resolving their current crisis.

Provisions are running low.

If they continue to stay in Austria to protect the pitifully few Protestants here, that conflicts with the current strategic goal.

If they go rashly and the provisions are not enough...

A dilemma of choice.

If they do not go to aid these Protestants, the slogan the Longyan army put out is just empty talk, and they will certainly find it difficult to gain a foothold in Europe when the time comes.

But if they help these Protestants, with the current shortage of provisions, continuing to linger in Austria will not allow them to receive aid from the local residents of Prussia.

By then, the army led by Ling Chen will be an isolated army without support.

It will be completely wiped out by Austria within its own territory.

A dilemma of advance or retreat.

The woman in the white robe saw the difficult decision hidden in Ling Chen's eyes, and a trace of disappointment flashed in her eyes.

She smiled faintly and said, "If the General feels it is difficult, it is nothing; the Lord's will does not necessarily need to be completed right now."

It is just that those Protestants in Austria are already on the verge of life and death...

"I will still follow the Lord's will and become the guide for the Longyan army in Austria and Prussia."

"No!" Ling Chen said in a deep voice.

The eyes of the woman in the white robe brightened slightly.

Ling Chen looked at her moving cheeks and said solemnly, "We in Longyan have an old saying: a promise is worth a thousand gold. Since we have come to aid the Protestants, we will absolutely not watch any of the Lord's believers suffer."

Hearing these words, there was actually a trace of a blush on the face of the woman in the white robe.

Only then did Ling Chen realize that he was leaning too close to the other person's face, and his eyes were still staring at her.

Ling Chen hurriedly turned around and coughed twice, looking slightly embarrassed: "Wait a moment, then tell me where those Protestants in Austria are located."

Ling Chen turned his back, his face feeling hot for some reason; thinking of his actions just now, it was truly not in accordance with etiquette.

How could he just look at a girl's face while talking? But this European woman is really quite beautiful.

Thinking of this, Ling Chen's face felt even hotter.

Just at this moment, an ethereal and melodious voice came from behind him: "Let's reintroduce ourselves, my name is Diana."

"Diana..." Ling Chen repeated it several times in his heart.

He felt it was more and more pleasant to hear, and the corners of his mouth curled up unconsciously.

"General, do you not intend to tell me your name?" Diana asked with a smile.

"Ling Chen," Ling Chen answered simply.

But he never turned his head to look at Diana again.

Diana's beautiful brows furrowed slightly, and she shrugged.

A pair of beautiful eyes looked at Ling Chen, not knowing what she was thinking.

Not long after, Ling Chen heard light footsteps; it was Diana and the other two leaving.

For some reason, Ling Chen felt a sense of relief in his heart; having fought on the battlefield for many years, he had long since trained himself to have the courage to remain calm even if Mount Tai were to collapse before his eyes.

But he did not know why he felt nervous when facing Diana.

He did not yet know where this nervousness came from.

Ling Chen could not figure it out; he dispelled this trace of nervousness and began to think carefully.

What dilemma of advance or retreat.

From beginning to end, there was only this one choice.

If they do not save the Protestants in Austria, the slogan of supporting the Protestants that Longyan put out this time is not only empty talk.

It will also cause Liu Zheng and even Longyan to be branded with the infamy of not keeping their word.

Then they will face the condemnation of European forces, and the Protestants will also lose their trust in Longyan under this condemnation.

After all, Longyan chose to refuse help when faced with the Protestants' request for rescue.

Once this fact occurs, it will cause irreparable results.

Moreover, as long as this fact is established, it will be of no use for the Longyan warships not to head to the ancestral land of Prussia next.

This army of Ling Chen's can only become an isolated force.

Completely isolated in Europe, and it might even implicate the direction of the European battlefield.

After a while.

Diana came over to inform Ling Chen of the place where those Protestants from Austria were hiding.

Seeing the location Diana pointed out on the map, Ling Chen was slightly stunned, wondering if it was fate or a coincidence.

The location where these Protestants were staying was actually the same city he was planning to march toward next.

Ling Chen shook his head with a smile, and before long, he issued the order for the great army to set out, with the destination unchanged.

……

At this time, America, Yun City.

At the City Lord Mansion, Qingyang Shuo received secret letters from Wan Shang and Fang Dalong.

"Good, good, good. I didn't expect things to go so smoothly."

Qingyang Shuo stroked his beard, a smile blooming on his face.

The content of the letters was about what had happened to Wan Shang and Fang Dalong in France; to summarize it briefly:

They had already infiltrated the enemy forces, gotten close to the enemy high command, and had initially gained the enemy's trust...

"Developments have occurred regarding France, and things over in Britain should be soon as well. Hmm, no rush, let's drag it out for a bit first."

Qingyang Shuo sat in his wheelchair, pondering; in this way, the escalation of the conflict between France and Britain would be swift.

It would be no problem at all for Longyan to sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight now.

The situation is looking excellent.

However, there is still one issue at hand that must be dealt with as soon as possible: the construction of the Panama Canal has been initially completed.

The construction of the basic factories in Yun City is also nearly finished.

The architectural scale of Yun City is several times larger than that of Longyan City.

Moreover, the construction of the basic factories in Yun City is of the utmost importance; were it not for the fact that Longyan City is Longyan's central city in America and possesses an extremely special strategic position—

—located at the core of the current main transportation route—

—in terms of scale and productivity alone, Yun City is even stronger than Longyan City, and its military strength is also greater than Longyan City's.

Qingyang Shuo looked toward the future; if the Panama Canal were successfully built, Yun City would be Longyan's second-largest maritime transportation hub city in America.

It would directly connect the two great oceans.

Its strategic value would be even greater than that of Longyan City!