Ma Zhenling sat there as the Grand Marshal declared his intent to eliminate Jiang Kai, responding with a demand for the designations of two corps.
“Don’t push your luck! The designations for two corps means two Lieutenant Generals and over a dozen Major Generals! Does your Ma family even have that many qualified men?!” the Grand Marshal snapped, lowering his voice into a harsh hiss.
“Haha! Let’s get one thing straight first. When you say ‘eliminate Jiang Kai,’ my understanding is that you simply want to prevent him from being promoted to Full General. At the absolute minimum, prevent him from entering the High Command! However, you cannot strip him of his Combat Zone Commander position, and you certainly cannot take his life! I hope this is what you meant!” Ma Zhenling ignored Tang Long’s outburst and laid out his own bottom line!
“What are you playing at?! If we leave him as a Combat Zone Commander, won’t he just enter the High Command sooner or later anyway?!” Tang Long glared at Ma Zhenling, thoroughly dissatisfied.
“Tang Long, Jiang Kai is an officer of my Army! I’m still relying on him to hold the defensive line! If you simply want to block his promotion to the High Command, I’ll play along. But if you want to kill him, count me out!
“He’s still one of my Army men! If word got out that I, the Commander of the Army, conspired with you, the Grand Marshal, to murder my own subordinate… could I even show my face?! How could I continue serving as Left General?!
“Furthermore, Grand Marshal, you need to consider our country’s current situation! The Allied invasion is advancing at terrifying speed. If it weren’t for Jiang Kai, the Allied forces might have already pushed right up to our doorstep! Right now, I don’t have many generals under me who actually know how to fight!
“If you try to kill Jiang Kai, forget whether I agree or not—His Majesty will definitely investigate it to the bitter end! When that happens, neither of us will be able to bear the consequences!” Ma Zhenling stared fixedly at Tang Long.
“If we don’t eliminate him, how do you propose we keep him out of the High Command?!” Tang Long demanded.
“Transfer him to defend the Eastern line! The Allied forces on the Eastern line are incredibly powerful. If he goes there, his forces will suffer catastrophic casualties, and his line might even be breached! As long as his line is breached, his previous merit will only offset his failures, making promotion impossible! Your forces and my forces will take over the defense of the Central and Western lines!
“There aren’t many enemy troops on the Western line—just six corps! And they’ve already suffered casualties during their offensive. Therefore, as long as we defend that sector and hold the line, we’re guaranteed to accumulate merit!” Ma Zhenling laid out his scheme.
“That makes sense. But have you considered whether His Majesty would authorize such a massive redeployment? Transferring Jiang Kai all the way from the Central line to the Eastern line?” Tang Long nodded slowly, contemplating the idea.
“His Majesty wants the Eastern line stabilized, doesn’t he? Right now, the only person capable of stabilizing a collapsing line is Jiang Kai! When the time comes, you propose it, and I’ll second the motion. I believe His Majesty will agree! As for the Central line’s defense, we’ll hand it over to the forces of the Central Combat Zone and the Southern Combat Zone. Surely the combined forces of two Combat Zones can hold a single Central line, right?” Ma Zhenling smiled cunningly.
“Very well. That works!” Tang Long thought for a moment and nodded.
“Two corps designations!” Ma Zhenling reiterated his demand.
“You… what do you need so many troops for?! Your forces have suffered heavy casualties recently! You don’t even have that many generals left yourself! Why do you need so many general positions?!” Tang Long glared at Ma Zhenling furiously!
“Grand Marshal, I have to secure resources for my grandson-in-law, don’t I? You, the Grand Marshal, control so many of the nation’s troops and stand firmly behind the Crown Prince. I need to secure more troops for my Second Prince! Otherwise, how can he possibly compete with you?!” Ma Zhenling stated his intentions bluntly, without the slightest hesitation.
“You… One corps! I’ll give you the designation for one corps!” Tang Long offered.
“Then I must apologize. The Central line is far more important. Furthermore, transferring Jiang Kai’s troops from the Central line to the Eastern line will take a considerable amount of time. And whether his troops can even hold the line once they arrive is another question entirely!” Ma Zhenling smiled at Tang Long. The underlying threat was obvious: If you don’t agree to my terms, I won’t support transferring Jiang Kai to the Eastern line. Jiang Kai will stay exactly where he is.
“Fine! Two corps! But there are no authorized expansions right now! I’ll give them to you once an expansion is ordered!” Tang Long finally relented, glaring viciously at Ma Zhenling.
“Excellent! Then it’s settled!” Ma Zhenling stood up. “Notify me when you have news regarding the arsenals!”
“I will!” Tang Long nodded curtly.
Once Ma Zhenling left the office, Tang Long was seething with rage. He knew Ma Zhenling was extorting him while he was vulnerable, but he had no other choice. It was his own fault his position had become so precarious!
His Majesty’s sudden bestowal of a Viscount title upon Jiang Kai had caused many subordinate generals to hesitate in choosing sides, waiting to see if Jiang Kai would rise to the top. Meanwhile, the troops under Tang Long’s direct control were fighting terribly, and many young descendants of his aristocratic allies had already sacrificed their lives.
Therefore, Tang Long had to find a way to suppress Jiang Kai and prevent his ascension!
Meanwhile, Jiang Kai had no idea Tang Long was currently plotting against him. He was still agonizing over whose troops to send back. He had called Li Tianyuan of the 27th Corps, but Li Tianyuan claimed his troops were already several hundred kilometers away from Late City and wouldn’t be able to reach it for at least seven or eight hours.
“Commander, I suggest you call Hu Hao. Logically, Hu Hao’s troops should be the closest to Late City,” Sun Qinxue proposed, sitting across from Jiang Kai.
“I don’t want to send him! If Hu Hao receives a mission like this, that kid will curse up a storm! Remember how he tore into us for not blowing up those bridges earlier? Now you want to order him to go back and blow up arsenals? He’ll lose his damn mind! Besides, Hu Hao’s troops are currently retreating! They need to move quickly to evade the Allied forces pushing in from the west!” Jiang Kai hesitated.
It wasn’t that he hadn’t considered sending Hu Hao’s troops, but he simply didn’t dare tell Hu Hao, fearing Hu Hao would just start cursing him out over the phone.
“But if you don’t send Hu Hao’s troops, whose troops can you send?” Sun Qinxue pressed.
“Sigh! Motherfucker, those bastards in the High Command! They didn’t even think to blow up the equipment before the retreat!” Jiang Kai cursed, finally preparing to dial Hu Hao’s number.
“Commander, I feel there’s something suspicious about this. We had some arsenals in our previous sector too. Although they weren’t as large as the ones in Late City, the Grand Marshal never once called about them! And from what you just told me, the Grand Marshal emphasized the warehouses several times! Could there be something hidden inside those warehouses?
“I’ve heard rumors that the Grand Marshal and his faction have long been privately selling weapons! Many of the weapons we captured from the enemy were actually sold to them by our own people!” Sun Qinxue said to Jiang Kai.
Jiang Kai simply smiled bitterly and remained silent.
“Commander… you knew?” Sun Qinxue asked in shock, seeing Jiang Kai’s reaction.
“How could I not know? Which Combat Zone Commander doesn’t know?! Motherfucker! But what can we do about it?!” Jiang Kai retorted with a question of his own.
“Did you take a cut from the Grand Marshal?” Sun Qinxue asked bluntly.
“I didn’t take any personal cut. However, I used my silence to extort 200 tanks from the Grand Marshal! That was my ‘cut’!” Jiang Kai shook his head.
“Then why didn’t you report it to His Majesty and let His Majesty handle it?!” Sun Qinxue pressed.
“Let His Majesty handle it? Ha! Impossible! The Royal Family is deeply involved as well! Who exactly is His Majesty supposed to punish?!” Jiang Kai laughed bitterly.
“You’re kidding! The Royal Family is involved?!” Sun Qinxue was utterly stunned.
“Do you think His Majesty is truly oblivious? His Majesty isn’t blind; he knows about many things, but he simply can’t act against them. With so many Royal Family members, where do you think their massive expenses come from? Hmm?
“Selling captured enemy weapons is one thing. I suspect the weapons currently sitting in Late City are brand new—likely a private sale orchestrated by the Grand Marshal and some Royal Family members to a foreign nation! It has to be!
“I don’t know the exact quantities, but if there are weapons in those warehouses, they were definitely meant for sale. Many of our arsenals had halted large-scale production long ago and only recently resumed operations. When our Combat Zone expanded this time, all our weapons had to be transported from the rear provinces! Think about it yourself. Sigh, I’ll call Hu Hao. I expect that kid will start cursing the moment I tell him!” Jiang Kai said, dialing Hu Hao’s number.
“They can actually get away with this?! This… His Majesty can’t allow this to continue!” Sun Qinxue stared at Jiang Kai as he dialed.
“Can’t allow it? It’s been like this for centuries! Back then, who knows how many of our Empire’s first-generation rifles were sold off by Tang Long’s ancestors! And the Royal Family did the same! Otherwise, how do you think the Empire got so incredibly wealthy?! You know far too little!” Jiang Kai chuckled as he waited for Hu Hao to pick up.
Meanwhile, Hu Hao was standing inside a massive helicopter hangar, staring blankly at the perfectly aligned rows of aircraft, feeling somewhat dazed.
“Hao-ge, call from the Commander!” a communications officer jogged over with the phone.
“Ah, oh! Hello, Commander! This is Hu Hao!” Hu Hao immediately snapped out of it and answered.
“Mm. Hu Hao, where are your troops currently located?” Jiang Kai asked.
“Where are they? Uh… it’s pitch black out here, so I’m not entirely sure! I just know we passed Late City a little while ago. I have too many troops, and most of them are new recruits, so our movement is incredibly slow!” Hu Hao lied smoothly.
“You just passed Late City?! Why are you moving so slowly?!” Jiang Kai asked in shock.
“Commander, you have no idea! The roads are completely jammed! Furthermore, many of my new recruits are refugees, and the other refugees are currently following us! It’s slowing us down drastically!” Hu Hao fabricated an excuse effortlessly.
“That won’t do! Order your troops to accelerate! The Allied forces will undoubtedly reach your position very soon!” Jiang Kai urged frantically!
“I know! I’m anxious too! I ordered my tank units to drive straight through the fields, but my transport vehicles can’t move any faster! There’s a massive wave of refugees retreating from the west, and they’ve completely blocked all the roads!” Hu Hao continued weaving his web of lies.
(End of Chapter)