Florentin could see this as a victory, but victory, defeat, it was all the same to him. He had grown numb during the war. All he cared about was an excuse to throw a party. While good for diverting attention from the melancholy of life, parties were also useful to get to know relevant people better.
Oui. Bien sur. I would like to arrange a party aboard the Antibes to celebrate this monumental decision, if you are all interested.
Félix smiles politely at Florentin. His war-scarred features turning what would have been a handsome face into a grim reminder of war.
I would not be against rubbing elbows with some of the more p-...
Félix interrupts himself, jerking his head slightly to one side.
Influential individuals of Gallia... However I do believe Fontainebleau would be a better station for we Seigneurs to partake in a little social gathering, no?
Upon finishing the sentence, he would look around until he met Leclerc with his gaze.
I did not mean to be carried away with the talks of food and of gatherings.
While I do agree with you, the construction of border fortresses will indeed hold off another attack for sometime. We have in the past decade lost a considerable amount of naval forces with conflicts both at home and abroad. We cannot look past how the loss of such assets is what weakened us enough in the first place to allow Kusari to strike at us with such destruction.
None shall dare attempt to strike us again if we once more had enough ships to block out the sun of their Capital planets.
Le Maréchal concurs with the investment to fund further food production on both Planet Marseille and Planet Orleans.
Le Maréchal would like to remind the Seigneurs that there are more topics to discuss, and the allocation of the remaining fund should be decided on swiftly.
Leclerc was carefully listening to every single word Félix said, he noticed his determination and a sign of arrogance in his voice. That's gonna be a tough competitor for Bartholomieu's ideals and plans. Leclerc glanced around the table and each participant and then back at Félix.
We've got enough operational facilities to compensate loss of our fleets in last few years. Even if the construction will be a little bit slower, it won't change much at all. How many capital ships is one shipyard able to build in 6 months? Would be this number of built capital ships higher by... One capital ship, if we upgraded one station for the loss of Fourchambault?
Invasion of Naval forces was a disaster because defenders didn't have enough time to regroup and strike invaders swiftly. And this very much needed time for RV can be bought by these defense fortresses. Also don't mind me saying it, but you are sitting on your chair in Orleanais, literally the last system to meet any invaders from Sirius, while I am sitting right at the door.
Florentin originally wanted to suggest that the party takes place at Cannes, but Cannes was operated by the Navy and the frequency of military officials there disturbed the local freedoms of gambling, nox and prostitution.
Excuse me if you mind my intervention, mesieurs, but I am a soldier by profession and I have an expertise in military matters. Border fortresses, no matter how strong, are immovable, unlike battleships. If the enemy wishes, he can simply go around them. And if our records are correct, our nation had a humiliating experience with such very long ago. It was indeed long ago and it is not pleasant to remember, oui, but forgetting it would mean repeating it. I don't like this fascination of yours with this anciently disproved concept, but it is not my direct concern and its execution could, I must admit, benefit Provence indirectly.
If this assembly still decides to build a fortress, I might have a solution for the project's financial problems. For some reason, Cannes Resort Station is still operated by the Navy. A resort station ! Are we at some war that I was not informed of ? Non, the naval personnel have already been the subject of complaints by disappointed tourists. If the Navy can sell Cannes to Bouvet, then they might have the budget to squander irresponsibly on experimental projects.
Eleónore would raise a brow, surprised by the sudden shift in topic from warships to resort stations. She'd tut lightly and cast a shrug toward Florentin.
It wouldn't surprise me if your name became a forbidden word amongst the officers of the Navy, Florentin. Taking away their fun like that, I've heard the parties on Cannes are legendary. However you aren't wrong, the extra revenue raised from the sale of such a station would be of enormous benefit for the Navy, although I would have to agree with the assertations around so called 'Border Fortresses', while it sounds impressive it doesn't have much practical use. Minefields worked for the Kingdom, if you wanted physical barriers that would be the way to go.
Otherwise I would still strongly support financial assets being pushed toward ship construction, our battleships are already veritable fortresses and are far more mobile.
Leclerc suggests the invasion was a disaster purely based on the lack of time - not least because we were caught with our undergarments around our ankles and had not anticipated such a move from Kusari. If anything it would seem perhaps our intelligence department is somewhat lacking, and perhaps we should do something to encourage better reports from our agents in the field?
Félix rolls his eyes, the talk about the resort station being something he does not consider worth the effort and time of the Seigneurs. Although he seems to be in agreement with Eleónore's deduction in comment to Leclerc.
Just sell the station. We already have a number of alternative locations for the officers to enjoy themselves, and these are not just planet side either.
Eleónore has perhaps described perfectly the situation we had faced, in doing so offered up another problem we must address. The failure of our intelligence services to anticipate the attack. While I could find an understandable reason for this, due to our own instability and the Enclave operating just outside our borders, the Office of Intelligence just did not keep up with potential threats from the Sirian Houses. We should address this fully.
The latecomer presented himself in the assembly of the lords, Counter-Admiral Franchet d'Esperon Seigneur of Champagne. A man of simple life who had grown up in the heart of the house of Gallia and its prodigious industry, he was a serious man, grave and sensitive to the interests of his house.
"Ladies and Lords of Gallia, good evening and excuse my late arrival, I had some administrative business to settle before I could depart.I have heard about the last discussions and I am saddened to see, as you do, the deplorable state of our house.
Concerning the current projects, I would recommend to help absolutely the planet Metz not to avoid the famine, these citizens have already suffered a lot from the last war against Kusari and not to help them in priority could bring the disorder in a system in difficult reconstruction.
For the shipyard, the main thing is to increase the capacity of Gallia's shipbuilding, building defensive fortresses is only to slow down the enemy if we want. You all know as well as I do how deeply Kusari invaded our systems, especially in Burgundy, with mobile and powerful fleets, it was our own fleets that successfully stopped the invasion, I saw it with my own eyes.
The important thing is to rebuild, modernize and double our offensive capacity in ships, to obtain a strike force that is both defensive and offensive to be able to deploy on our various borders, and remember the old military capacity of the old kingdom I think we should achieve this level and it must be the priority for protect Gallia.
Having a powerful fleet will also allow us to consider reasserting our presence on our borders, especially in the Tau systems, since we signed two disastrous peace treaties for our influence in the Sirius sector. If we regain a significant presence in the border systems any new invasion will have less impact on our Gallic systems with a series of buffer systems that can be devastated by war before our own territories.
Champagne may be ready to contribute to the construction of warships, a great fleet again if your support is effective."
With these words Franchet stopped and let his colleagues speak, while taking his place among the assembly.