When Tang Long heard the Emperor order the summoning of the senior High Command ministers—which meant the Generals of the Left, Middle, and Right, as well as the Vanguard General—he was inwardly thrilled.
This indicated that His Majesty was finally preparing to open the promotion channels, meaning their military clans would no longer have to sacrifice so many of their own sons.
“Take a seat, Tang Long. Tell me, can our Empire withstand the invasion of these nations? How long can we hold out? Will the Empire fall?” the Emperor asked as he gestured for Tang Long to sit.
Hearing such grave questions, Tang Long stood frozen, not daring to take his seat.
“Sit down and speak!” the Emperor ordered again.
Tang Long gingerly took his seat. He was at a loss for how to answer. He noticed how haggard the Emperor looked. His Majesty had always been a robust, well-proportioned man, standing 1.8 meters tall and weighing 170 catties. But now, he looked visibly thinner and drained.
“Your Majesty, we will undoubtedly withstand this. Our Empire has stood for over 800 years. Other neighboring nations have invaded us in the past, and we have always driven them back. Right now, it seems they have the upper hand, and we have lost more than half our territory, but we absolutely still possess the capability to mount a counter-offensive!” Tang Long answered carefully.
“Is that so? But you also know the Empire hasn’t fought a war in over a century. The last time we fought, we were using cold weapons. Now, it’s the era of firearms. We invest heavily in weapons research and development, allocating tens of billions every single year!
“We treat our generals better than anyone else, allowing you to pass your titles down to your sons. Yet, you have all disappointed me greatly!” the Emperor said, staring piercingly at Tang Long.
“Yes, we have disappointed Your Majesty. Our preparations for this conflict were inadequate!” Tang Long immediately stood up and bowed deeply.
“Inadequate preparations? When the Allied forces first invaded, I could understand inadequate preparations. But what about everything that followed? Still inadequate preparations?
“Furthermore, there were warning signs before the invasion even began. Why did such colossal failures occur? Right now, our citizens might not know this, but in the enemy-occupied territories, our people are being massacred in droves. The Allied forces use bulldozers to scoop up the corpses of our citizens and dump them into mass graves.
“Grand Marshal, tell me: if the citizens learn of this, will they tear me apart? Will they tear you, the Grand Marshal, apart?” the Emperor demanded, his voice rising in anger.
“Yes… we… we did not fight well,” Tang Long kept his head bowed, not daring to look up.
“Mm, ‘did not fight well.’ Just a simple ‘did not fight well,’ and nearly a billion of our citizens are enslaved in occupied territory, slaughtered and buried alive at the whim of the Allied forces?” the Emperor continued relentlessly.
“This is a dereliction of duty by the High Command. I beg Your Majesty to punish me!” Tang Long offered.
“A dereliction of duty by the High Command? I wouldn’t necessarily say that. The Air Force has fought exceptionally well, with immense resolve. Up in the skies, they annihilated massive numbers of Allied aircraft, forcing the enemy to scramble reinforcements from their home countries multiple times. They fought very well!” the Emperor countered.
Tang Long was completely lost now. First, the Emperor said they fought poorly, and now he was praising the Air Force.
“Your Majesty, the Air Force has indeed fought with incredible resolve. Our losses are significantly lower than the Allied forces’. However, we currently face a severe shortage of pilots, and we are heavily investing in training more. I have already approved a proposal from the Air Force to massively expand pilot recruitment!” Tang Long could only agree and follow the Emperor’s lead.
“And what of the Army? What of the Navy?” the Emperor demanded.
Tang Long broke out in a cold sweat.
“I ask you: we have over 60 corps in the Army. Between the Class-A and Class-B corps, we have over two million troops. Excluding the Northern Combat Zone and the Imperial Guard, who haven’t entered the fray, how many of the soldiers from the initial deployments are still alive? Are our soldiers fighting poorly?” the Emperor pressed.
“Your Majesty, this is the responsibility of High Command. We failed to deploy them properly in advance!” Tang Long repeated his defense.
“Failed to deploy them properly? Is that so?” The Emperor’s tone turned icy. Tang Long realized with mounting dread that the Emperor intended to pin the entire blame for the Empire’s defeat squarely on him.
“Tang Long, you have disappointed me far too much. I entrusted the citizens of this entire nation to you. I gave you immense power. And the result? In just two short months, half the Empire’s territory is lost, over a billion citizens are plunged into hell, and an untold number of soldiers have been sacrificed.
“Do not think I am blind. You illicitly sold weapons and ammunition. You nepotistically inserted the sons of your own clan into positions of power, forcing out the sons of the minor general clans who actually deserved those spots! I know it all. Why do you think I haven’t executed you yet? Hm?!” the Emperor roared, pointing an accusing finger at Tang Long.
When the Emperor mentioned the loss of half the nation’s territory in two months, Tang Long fell to his knees.
“I deserve death! I beg Your Majesty for punishment!” Tang Long groveled.
“Tang Long, you inherited your father’s position to help me govern this realm. Yet, you have managed it into this catastrophic state. Previously, when Jiang Kai requested opening the promotion channels, you vetoed it. Now, you are more eager than anyone to open them. Why? Because too many of your own clan’s sons have died?” The Emperor walked down from his desk and stood towering over the kneeling Grand Marshal.
“We have already lost over a dozen, primarily on the western front!” Tang Long confessed.
“Over a dozen. That’s not many!” the Emperor noted coldly.
“My primary concern was that those young men would be unable to hold the defensive lines with their troops, which is why I petitioned Your Majesty to open the channels!” Tang Long tried to explain.
“Ha!” the Emperor scoffed.
“Tang Long, tell me. How should I punish you? Say it yourself!” the Emperor commanded, looking down at him.
“I beg Your Majesty for punishment. I will accept whatever punishment Your Majesty deems fit!” Tang Long replied instantly.
“The rumor throughout the army is that as long as the Grand Marshal nods, there are no weapons that cannot be sold. As long as the Grand Marshal nods, there is no one who cannot be made a general. Though, of course, I know you have never helped a commoner become a general—only the sons of your own clan, correct?” the Emperor asked.
“Yes!” Tang Long answered honestly.
He didn’t dare lie. His military forces were all stationed outside the Imperial Capital. The Capital itself was guarded exclusively by the Imperial Guard, whose officer corps was comprised entirely of royal family members. Outsiders had zero chance of infiltrating their ranks.
If Tang Long dared to lie here, his entire clan could be purged in an instant. Even though he had his own guard battalion at his residence, they were nothing against the Imperial Guard stationed within the palace and the Capital.
“At least you’re honest!” The Emperor turned and walked back up to his Dragon Throne. Tang Long remained kneeling, not daring to rise.
At that moment, a guard entered and announced the arrival of the Princes and the High Command ministers. The Princes had been recalled from the front lines by the Emperor over the past two days.
“Let them in. Tang Long, you may rise,” the Emperor said as he sat down. Tang Long slowly got to his feet.
Soon, the Emperor’s five adult sons and the senior ministers of High Command entered the study.
“Greetings, Your Majesty!”
“Greetings, Imperial Father!”
They all bowed deeply upon entering.
“Rise. Grant them seats,” the Emperor ordered.
The guards immediately brought chairs for everyone.
“I have summoned you all because the Grand Marshal proposed opening the promotion channels. If he brought this to me, I assume all of you in High Command have already agreed to it.
“And to my royal sons, I want you to participate in this discussion as well. I ask you all: should we open the promotion channels? If we do, who is eligible for promotion, and who is not? I want to hear your thoughts,” the Emperor announced.
“Yes, Your Majesty!” they responded in unison.
“The situation in our nation is incredibly dire. I believe opening the channels is absolutely necessary. During my recent visit to the Southwestern Combat Zone, I discussed this very topic with Commander Jiang Kai. He stated that the channels should have been opened long ago. The scions of the military clans simply do not know how to fight, nor do they possess the courage to risk their lives.
“Therefore, if the channels remain closed, the meritorious soldiers below cannot be promoted. This leads to passive resistance and low morale. In some cases, if incompetent generals issue reckless orders, their own subordinates will kill them. This is happening across every combat zone.
“Our generals are incompetent, and our capable soldiers cannot advance. This has created a massive leadership vacuum at the division and corps levels, causing severe deviations in the execution of orders throughout the entire army. Therefore, we must open the promotion channels immediately!” the Crown Prince was the first to stand up and address the Emperor.
“Mm,” the Emperor nodded.
“Imperial Father, I also believe we must open them. If we delay any longer, our frontline units won’t have enough generals to command them! More importantly, keeping them closed will only exacerbate the conflict between the generals and the soldiers. In the Eastern Combat Zone, I’ve seen soldiers spit at generals. If a general tries to discipline a soldier, he is immediately attacked by dozens more,” the Second Prince added.
“Yes, it is necessary to open them now. Keeping them closed poses a critical crisis for our nation!” the Third Prince agreed.
“I concur with my brothers. They must be opened immediately. The situation is the same in the Western Combat Zone; many generals have been assassinated by their own men. Our Military Police don’t even dare to investigate, because doing so would spark an even larger mutiny!” the Fifth Prince chimed in.
“Old Four, why are you silent?” the Emperor asked, noticing the Fourth Prince hadn’t spoken a word.
Unlike his brothers, the Fourth Prince had not been deployed to a combat zone; instead, he had been assigned to inspect the military arsenals and factories.
(End of Chapter)