Another World: Naval Storm

Chapter 137 Honors

The ornately decorated hall was filled with two former Navy Ministers, the retired Field Marshal Piltz, Admiral Beck who had resigned in disgrace, the Army Chief of Staff Schlieffen who was criticized for the stalemate in the war, and many generals and officers from the Drake Empire's army and navy. The Emperor of the Empire, wearing solemn ceremonial armor, was watching the people in the hall from the podium.

"Leo, some people say that I have a hot-tempered and warlike temper. In fact, sometimes you are more reckless and bold than me. In fact, you are more suitable to be the commander of the Ocean Fleet." Vice Admiral Leon, who was standing next to Apewen and Leo, said with a smile.

Later, when he heard the emperor's call, he immediately straightened his military uniform, strode onto the carpet and approached the podium, then stood before the emperor and saluted.

Lieutenant General Leon, no, now he is an admiral. He is the second son of a declining noble family. As an officer, he is loyal to the emperor. He is a brave warrior of the Draco Empire, but this does not mean that in his eyes, the interests of the emperor are greater than the officers and the empire.

After the promotion ceremony, Admiral Leon walked down the stairs with a cold face. It seemed that the Admiral's shoulder straps, the First Class Iron Cross Medal and the Black Eagle Medal pinned on his chest could not bring him happiness. Even the appointment letter of the commander of the Ocean Fleet, who had the highest power in the navy, was just tucked casually under his arm.

"Today is a special day for the Ocean Fleet. It proves that the Royal Navy can be defeated! Under the leadership of new commanders, the Ocean Fleet will fight for the Empire!"

Marshal Apewen led Leo towards the platform. Under the gaze of everyone, Apewen and Leo gave the emperor a standard military salute.

The emperor looked at him inexplicably and said, "You are so good, Apewen. You didn't intend to let Leo go on stage to receive the honor and promotion. You still brought him with you. Are you trying to defeat my army?"

"Admiral Apewen, to thank you for everything you have done for the empire, I promote you to marshal and appoint you as the Imperial Navy Minister!" the emperor announced loudly, and then the hall burst into warm applause, louder than the one just given by General Leon.

"Thank you, Your Majesty! Thank you for the trust of the empire! I will devote my life to the empire!" Apeven took the letter of appointment from the Minister of the Navy and walked down gracefully with the medal.

Only Leo was left standing on the stage, and everyone's eyes were focused on him, the 41-year-old lieutenant general, a senior officer who had sunk dozens of ships.

"A 41-year-old lieutenant general, will His Majesty promote Leo to general?" Many people in the hall had this doubt. Although everyone had no doubt about Leo's ability, it was still too fast.

"That's impossible. He's been promoted very quickly. How old are they when they were promoted to major general or lieutenant general?"

"He's in his thirties. He was promoted from colonel to lieutenant general in just a few years. Think about it, when you and I were his age, we were only lieutenant colonel staff officer or colonel captain?"

"You're pretty fast too. When I was his age, I was still a major captain of a light cruiser!" Many officers who were over fifty years old and still had the rank of major general or colonel were whispering.

Wearing the military uniform of a lieutenant general, Leo moved his feet under the gaze of everyone and stepped onto the solemn stage.

Leo slowly raised his right hand and saluted the Emperor who was looking at him fiercely.

"Lieutenant General, at your age you should know the meaning of the word prudent. Don't act rashly anymore!" The emperor took a first-class Iron Cross medal from the aide-de-camp, pinned it on Leo's chest, and said softly.

"Of course, Your Majesty, I will follow your will!" Leo, who had been vaccinated, had expected that the emperor would not let him go any closer. Well, as the tree that stands out in the forest will be destroyed by the wind, and now Leo is already at the center of the storm, so it's better for him to take it slow.

"It's not over yet, don't rush to go down!" The emperor stopped Leo who wanted to go back.

"Your Majesty, do you have any other orders?" Leo was very confused. Wasn't it almost done?

"Lieutenant General Leo, you have made many outstanding achievements since joining the army! To thank him for his contribution to the empire, I hereby confer the title of Baron to Leo Severns!"

As soon as he finished speaking, thunderous applause broke out from the audience. There are five ranks of nobility: duke, marquis, earl, viscount, and baron. Giving Leo the title of baron was already very good. It was a step into the ranks of the nobility, which was something many people could not do for several generations.

The emperor's move was very clever. You have to know that in the era of dreadnoughts, armor technology made great progress and the displacement of battleships was easily 20,000 or 30,000 tons. It was a very difficult task to sink a battleship above the battlecruiser level.

In the previous Battle of Dogger Bank, the sinking of just one battleship made the world exclaim in horror. In the Battle of Jutland, Germany lost an old battleship and a battlecruiser, and Britain lost three battlecruisers, which was enough to scare the world.

In this world, Leo sank three battlecruisers and two dreadnoughts of the Talen Royal Navy, so any reward from the Drake Empire would not be excessive.

"Thank you, Your Majesty. I will continue to work hard to help the empire!" After completing all the procedures, Leo took his leave to the emperor.

"The best way to relieve the empire's worries is to behave yourself!" the emperor suddenly joked.

Leo didn't reply and didn't care. Marshal Piltz was still waiting for him. What were Marshal Apewen and Admiral Leon discussing? He really wanted to participate!

Most of the army and navy officers in the hall had envious expressions; oh, those guys were all die-hard royalists, I was wondering why their eyes were so vicious?

Why are the subordinates still cheering? Isn't this just stirring up hatred? Go down and educate these bastards, Your Majesty, just enjoy yourself!

"In your previous life, you were a manic lunatic and had been locked up in a mental hospital long ago! How could you live well in this magnificent palace now! The Drake Empire is not just yours! It's also mine and ours!" Leo stepped down the last step and glanced obscurely at the groups of land and naval generals.

The war is going badly. The army officer corps headed by Hindenburg and Ludendorff is now leading the Drake Empire in its fight against the Allied forces, with the navy providing assistance.

The power of the once invincible Emperor Wilhelm of Drake has now been largely stripped away by them. If there were not many troops still under the control of the royalists and if the navy did not want to rebel, the German Emperor would probably have become a puppet at the mercy of others.

However, the cooperation between the army and navy is now deepening, unlike before when the army had to surpass the navy in everything.

After the awarding ceremony, Platinum held a celebration ceremony. All the streets, squares, and lawns were crowded with Drake people who came after hearing the news. They sang the Drake national anthem and the naval song "We Are Going to Albion" which they were not very familiar with.

People sang and danced, and the celebration lasted from the evening until the early morning. Platinum could not sleep tonight.

The Drake people had every reason to celebrate. After the brutal war broke out, the Drake Empire and its army did not succeed in achieving a quick victory. The stalemate in the trench warfare made life increasingly difficult for the Drake people.

The victory in the Battle of Shipburial Bay awakened the Drake people's desire for victory.