Extreme Cold Era: Shelter Don't Keep Waste-Chapter 510 - 480: The Almost Dropped Thermobaric Bomb

The battle of over two hundred Steam Knights truly stunned everyone who understood the situation.

After all, this was the first time in human history that so many Steam Knights had been deployed in combat on such a large scale.

To describe the exaggerated disparity, it would be akin to deploying Cold War-level steel forces during the Napoleonic Wars.

In fact, by counting the number of Steam Knights deployed in combat, they were equivalent to the size of a Soviet tank division during the Cold War. It should be noted that during the Cold War, even a smaller Soviet tank division might not have had two hundred tanks.

As for the combat power comparison between the two sides... tanks during the Cold War might be stronger than Steam Knights, but not by much.

At least with the correct tactics, Perfikot did not believe her Steam Knights would lose to tanks.

Therefore, it could be imagined, five infantry regiments from the Napoleonic era facing a Cold War tank division could only result in a cruel outcome.

Although Perfikot did not really want to do it this way, using two hundred Steam Knights to accomplish a task that could be done with twenty Steam Knights, Perfikot was not so idle.

Yet she could not stop it, as she was attacked by rebels, and her knights came a long way to rescue her, she had no reason to blame her knights.

Moreover, this incident brought another benefit. The Revolutionary Army, which previously had reservations about the peace talks, now fell completely silent. No one dared to voice objections to Kallen and Perfikot’s negotiations.

After seeing five infantry regiments crushed in front of them, and with eighteen brigades from two Knight Orders standing there, the Revolutionary Army people were afraid to speak too loudly for fear of displeasing these Steam Knights.

After all, these were the two Steam Knight Orders that had just crushed five infantry regiments! They were enough to make anyone who had thoughts reconsider.

Perfikot, however, didn’t have time to deal with these nuisances. She merely sent a brigade of knights aboard a Flying Airship to escort the Governor back to the Empire for trial, while the remaining knights were mostly sent back to the Northern Territory, leaving only two brigades from each of the two Knight Orders as well as the Flying Knights by her side.

She herself brought four brigades of Steam Knights, along with the Flying Knights, aboard a Flying Airship to New Shaker City.

With the Governor’s rebellion, the New Continent colony had descended into chaos.

Especially in New Shaker City, where the flying airship fleet headed by the Behemoth had completely sealed off the city. These Flying Airships constantly broadcasted ultimatums not excluding the use of Thermobaric Bombs, almost terrifying the inhabitants of New Shaker City to death.

If Perfikot had arrived any later, or if there were no other authoritative figure to handle the matter, they might indeed have dared to drop those Thermobaric Bombs.

After all, the captain of the Behemoth was Perfikot’s cousin, William, who showed considerable anger over the attack on Perfikot.

As an Imperial war hero who had dropped a Thermobaric Bomb in the capital of France during the Seventeen-Day War, he had every confidence in taking the responsibility for dropping a Thermobaric Bomb on New Shaker City.

So for the Behemoth and the entire flying airship fleet, the Thermobaric Bombs they carried were not just for show; they were truly poised to drop them for Perfikot’s revenge.

Fortunately, Perfikot’s personal arrival provided an explanation, preventing the situation from sliding towards the worst-case scenario.

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"In light of your violation of my orders and the unauthorized mobilization of Thermobaric Bombs without my consent, all ship captains’ ranks are hereby reduced by one level. They are suspended for three months, with positions temporarily assumed by deputy captains during this period." Inside the Governor’s mansion in New Shaker City, Perfikot looked at the two rows of flying airship captains standing before her, feeling a headache: "Does anyone have objections to this decision?"

"No, Count," the captains responded in unison.

Although the demotion and suspension were indeed uncomfortable, they understood the severity of unauthorized mobilization of Thermobaric Bombs and contemplating dropping them in an Imperial city.

Perfikot merely demoted them, which was already considered exceedingly lenient.

After all, if this incident reached the Military Department, the entire fleet might end up being disbanded, with all commanding officers called to the military tribunal and dishonorably removed from service.

Someone like Perfikot’s cousin William, as the primary responsible party, would likely be executed if not for the protective halo of a war hero.

Phrasing it tactly, they acted out of excessive loyalty to their master. In a fit of rage, they made irrational decisions.

But, to put it bluntly, this was a military insurrection and loss of control, directly involving strategic weapons!

If in the original world, a nuclear-capable unit went rogue and threatened to use nuclear weapons on a city, imagine how harshly such a unit would be dealt with!

This incident was already extremely vile in nature and very serious in consequences.

However, thankfully, with Perfikot’s timely arrival, everything was covered up.

She immediately dispatched someone to return all the Thermobaric Bombs back to the Northern Territory and publicly declared that the fleet was not actually carrying Thermobaric Bombs, and they were merely conducting strategic deterrence.

Though everyone knew this was not the truth, when Perfikot said so, neither the Military Department nor the Imperial Center disputed it.

Moreover, her handling of the flying airship fleet was just barely supplemented by the Military Department with additional penalties: all officers were docked one month’s pay.

The Military Department and the Imperial Center accommodated Perfikot primarily out of fear.

After all, these were Thermobaric Bombs, and the Military Department and the Imperial Center had personally witnessed the effects of their deployment. They fully understood what it meant for a flying airship fleet carrying Thermobaric Bombs to be prepared to drop them.

Now, since Perfikot voluntarily smothered the incident, if someone insisted on uncovering the truth and angering Perfikot, what do you think she’d do? Would she rather send her fleet with Thermobaric Bombs to have a heart-to-heart with the opposition?

So the matter was laid to rest, and any further actions regarding the treatment of the flying airship fleet’s officers and future repercussions were postponed for later discussions.

The immediate priority was to swiftly resolve the issues stemming from the Governor’s rebellion on the New Continent colony.

Indeed, the New Continent colony had first experienced an upsurge by the workers’ movement led by Kallen, followed by a large-scale disturbance by the Revolutionary Army, and now the Governor had turned into a rebel attacking the Lord of the North, prompting the Northern Army to march south. This chain of events had made the New Continent colony an absolute mess.

Therefore, Perfikot’s foremost task was now to stabilize the entire New Continent colony.