"Jerry Pournelle - War World II - Death's Head Rebellion" - читать интересную книгу автора (Pournelle Jerry)

First there was the CoDominium, an uneasy alliance which kept the peace on Earth, but at a cost
greater than many were willing to bear. Then came the Alderson Drive, which gave mankind the stars;
and those who hated the CoDominium could leave, and many who did not want to leave the Earth were
exiled.
Mankind had the stars, but not wisdom; and when a hundred worlds were settled, the CoDominium
could no longer keep the peace. CoDominium became chaos, and from that rose the Empire, built on
dreams but held together by the Navy. And the Empire grew its own seeds of destruction, to dissolve
into the Secession Wars.
Through it all Haven endured. Then the Saurons came.

THE FACE OF THE ENEMY- DON HAWTHORNE

The Universe exists in chaos;
Man is the measure of the Universe. The ultimate chaos of man's existence Is the human endeavor
called War. By mastering War, we master the Universe.

Children's song taught in Sauron primary schools, Translated by Colonel Nigel McKeegan,
Director of Imperial Forces of Occupation, Secession Wars Historical Task Force, 2643

"What are we?"
The question was directed toward a viewport of the Sauron heavy cruiser Fomoria, but was
addressed to the figure behind the speaker, who blinked in surprise at the words.
The officer at the viewport stood with hands clasped behind his back, watching the immensity of
interstellar space before him as if he might actually discern something amid all that blackness. If any
human-spawned eyes were capable of it, his were. Vessel First Rank Galen Diettinger turned from the
viewport and fixed the young Soldier before him with a piercing stare. "I asked you what we are, Fighter
Rank Severin."
"Your pardon, First Rank, but the question is out of context. Are you referring to this ship and her
crew, or to you and me, or is the nature of the question metaphysical?"
Diettinger nodded slightly, seeming satisfied and disappointed at the same time. "The context is
immaterial, Fighter Rank Severin. You have answered the question." Diettinger took his seat at the desk.
"Sit," he ordered. Severin sat. "You commanded the reconnaissance flight to Tanith System this morning.
Report your impressions of the situation there."
Severin remained impassive, but inwardly he was disapproving. He was part of that group of younger
Saurons, born since the start of the Secession Wars, who believed personal interpretation of data to be
at best an outdated tradition and at worst a dangerous indulgence. Accurate information, in sufficient
quantities, made it unnecessary to "read" the enemy's intentions; whatever his intentions might be, his
actions would be dictated by the actions of the Saurons.
But Diettinger was of an older school, one that thought prudence to be as crucial as boldness, an idea
Severin's generation could barely understand, let alone embrace. The First Rank even had an Old Earth
antique in his office, something called a "sampler" from the Peninsular Campaigns of the Sauron role
model,Wellington, which read: "Discretion is the better part of valor." Whatever that meant.
"First Rank, enemy fleet dispositions at Tanith are three Chinthe-class destroyers, the light cruisers
Strela andKonigsberg, and the Imperial battlecruiserCanada."
Diettinger waited until the silence began to discomfit the Fighter Rank. "Ground force deployments,"
he said.
"Deployments, sir?" Severin was confused. "Sensors indicated one battalion of mechanized infantry,