Russell walked out of the Naval General Staff Headquarters with a grim expression.
Looking up at the sky, gloomy beneath a thick blanket of clouds, Russell let out a deep sigh and shook his head, his eyes full of resignation.
No matter how impassioned or earnest he had been just now, Chief of Staff Isore had never shown any agreement with his ideas.
He had even bluntly dismissed Russell's final proposal as absurd!
"Absurd? Perhaps..." Russell gave a bitter smile. He did not find Chief of Staff Isore's reaction surprising.
Anyone who heard Russell suggest that the Imperial Navy disband all its existing fleets and replace them entirely with Xinfei Merchant Guild escort ships would surely have found it absurd as well.
Although the Candel Empire's naval fleets had never received as much attention as its army, more than six hundred years had passed since the navy's founding. It now had four fully organized fleets, nearly two thousand ships of all sizes and types, and more than a hundred thousand personnel.
Wanting to abolish such an enormous organization in one stroke was pure fantasy. It was simply impossible.
Of course, Russell knew perfectly well that this idea could never be realized. His actual recommendation was therefore for the Imperial Navy to cut part of its existing establishment and use the savings to purchase Xinfei Merchant Guild escort ships, forming a new type of naval squadron.
But even this idea had failed to win Chief of Staff Isore's support.
"Cut part of it? Fine. Which part?"
Chief of Staff Isore's question left Russell speechless.
As Deputy Chief of Staff of the Naval Staff Department, Russell naturally understood the Imperial Navy's situation far better than most people.
He knew very well that although the Imperial Navy nominally had only four fleets, those