The Emperor sat there, his face devoid of any readable expression. He simply sat in a daze. Tang Long and the others stood nearby, unsure of how to comfort or advise him.
“Dismissed. Everyone is dismissed!” After sitting for a while, the Emperor suddenly waved his hand. He then stood up. Seeing this, the Crown Prince immediately stepped forward to support him!
“Return to the palace!” the Emperor ordered.
The Crown Prince nodded. The generals of High Command watched as the Emperor departed.
Once the Emperor was gone, Luo Xin fixed a hard stare on Tang Long.
“Luo Xin, what is the meaning of this? Anyone with eyes can see that Hu Hao and Jiang Kai harbor rebellious ambitions, yet you still defend them?!” Tang Long pointed an accusing finger at Luo Xin.
“Tang Long, as to who is right and who is wrong, I believe all the generals in High Command know perfectly well in their hearts. Forget it, I don’t want to argue anymore. We all know you have His Majesty’s deep trust, and you are the Crown Prince’s father-in-law. But, General Tang Long, if the Empire falls, will you still have those honors?!” Luo Xin countered, pointing back at Tang Long!
“Hmph, the Empire cannot fall! We have prepared so many troops—millions of them! How could the Empire fall?! Furthermore, a second wave of ten million troops is already being conscripted! We might not be able to win right now, but as long as His Majesty is still here, our Eastern Spirit Empire still has hope!” Tang Long declared self-righteously.
Inwardly, however, he sneered. Even if the Empire fell, his own family would be perfectly fine!
“Alright, alright, stop arguing! Things are chaotic enough as it is!” Yu Hongyu, the other Vanguard General of the Army, intervened. He was essentially the resident peacemaker here, never wanting to offend anyone!
…
Meanwhile, the Emperor and the Crown Prince were walking the path from High Command back to the Imperial Palace. Father and son walked in silence for a long time.
“The Empire originally had a glimmer of hope!” As they neared the Emperor’s office, the Emperor suddenly broke the silence.
“Imperial Father, have you truly never considered why the two of them are acting like this? Are they truly harboring rebellious ambitions, or is it… is it that they are genuinely disillusioned?” the Crown Prince asked, supporting the Emperor.
“Disillusioned? As Tang Long said, I have not treated them poorly!” the Emperor retorted immediately.
“True. However, they also want to achieve victory. The Allied forces are currently invading us and slaughtering our citizens. I imagine they are thinking: if even our Royal Family, with all our troops, cannot hold the line, how can Hu Hao and Jiang Kai possibly hold it?
They only have so few troops under their command. At the very least, our Northeast, North, and the vast majority of our Northwest regions are still secure. Those areas are constantly funneling supplies and manpower here.
Our Royal Family controls the vast majority of the Empire’s resources. If even we cannot hold off the invasion, then even if Hu Hao and Jiang Kai rebelled, could they hold it off?
Therefore, I do not believe Tang Long’s claims that Hu Hao and Jiang Kai will rebel. Even if they were to rebel, it wouldn’t be now. It would only be after the Empire has completely defeated the Allied forces and the Allied forces are no longer invading the Central Region.
But by that time, we will have produced many more capable generals. Hu Hao and Jiang Kai only control the troops of two Combat Zones. If we consider each Army Group to be the equivalent of a Combat Zone, our Empire still has the troops of thirteen Combat Zones firmly in hand! Would they dare rebel then?” the Crown Prince reasoned as he supported the Emperor.
“Hmm?” The Emperor stopped in his tracks and looked at the Crown Prince.
“Imperial Father, they are generals commanding hundreds of thousands of troops. They are generals fighting on the front lines. They know very well that if the Empire falls, no one will survive. Rebelling at a time like this offers zero chance of success.
Perhaps… they truly are disillusioned. And Tang Long, for his own selfish interests, is viciously attacking Jiang Kai and Hu Hao. I feel Tang Long’s actions are highly unwise!” the Crown Prince continued.
“Tang Long is your father-in-law. Is this truly how you view him?” the Emperor asked.
“I have communicated with Hu Hao several times. Hu Hao’s strategic vision has always been excellent. If he weren’t genuinely disillusioned, he would never have done such a thing, much less blatantly ignore High Command’s orders.
Imperial Father, think about it. In all of High Command—aside from the three Air Force generals and the Navy generals—out of the six Army generals, who knows how to fight a war?!
The Air Force generals are focused on aerial combat; they are completely unfamiliar with ground warfare! And on the Army side, we have Tang Long. Back when Hu Hao sent that video, Tang Long was the first to attack him. They completely failed to deduce such a massive strategic opportunity from Hu Hao’s footage! Therefore, Imperial Father, High Command needs a change of personnel! We desperately need new blood!” the Crown Prince urged.
“Hmm. Replace them with whom?” The Emperor neither agreed nor disagreed with the Crown Prince, instead asking who he favored!
“According to my personal thoughts, Hu Hao should be appointed Grand Marshal, and Jiang Kai as General of the Left. However, considering Hu Hao’s youth, having them swap positions is acceptable as well!” the Crown Prince suggested.
“And Luo Xin? Luo Xin is the most loyal to the Empire. He was just promoted to Grand Marshal. Although he keeps saying he hopes to yield the position to Hu Hao, having him step down isn’t appropriate!” the Emperor countered.
“Then let Jiang Kai serve as General of the Left and Hu Hao as Vanguard General! Tang Long and that Yu Hongyu are completely unfit to remain in High Command!” the Crown Prince replied after a moment’s thought.
“Let us discuss this in the office!” The Emperor still didn’t express his stance, instructing the Crown Prince to wait until they were inside. Soon, father and son were seated in the office!
“Imperial Father, right now Jiang Kai and Hu Hao are merely emotional; they haven’t made any substantial moves against us. There is still time to pacify them! Furthermore, Imperial Father, I am extremely dissatisfied with Tang Long’s recent performance.
Tang Long constantly claims Hu Hao and Jiang Kai will rebel. I don’t believe it. I believe very few generals in the entire Empire believe it. The current reality is that we must resist the Allied forces, otherwise, we will all die.
My suggestion is to pacify Jiang Kai and Hu Hao. Regarding Tang Long’s previous suggestion to link up with Hu Hao… I have considered it, and it is feasible. Have Jiang Kai come to High Command, or have Hu Hao take control of the entire central front! At the very worst, one of them must be brought into High Command! Only then will our Empire have hope!” the Crown Prince continued to persuade the Emperor.
“Jiang Kai will not come. He fears we will kill him!” the Emperor shook his head. The Crown Prince sighed upon hearing this. The Emperor spoke the truth. After everything that had happened, Jiang Kai would not lightly come to the capital to take up a post!
“Sigh. I will consider what you just said. I was indeed somewhat remiss before; I failed to consider the bigger picture. Tang Long… he truly shouldn’t have been in High Command for a long time now!” the Emperor admitted from his seat!
“Mhm. Right now, we need to pacify Jiang Kai and Hu Hao. Everything else can wait. Regardless, I refuse to believe those two will rebel!” the Crown Prince nodded.
“Tell me, would it be useful to notify Jiang Kai and Hu Hao to have a joint video call with us? A calm discussion! I want to know their true thoughts!” the Emperor asked the Crown Prince.
“That… I don’t know. But we have to try!” the Crown Prince thought for a moment before replying.
“Then notify the two of them. Tonight at 8:00 PM, I want to speak with them privately! Li’er, you see this matter more clearly than I do. I truly am getting old, worrying about personal gains and losses. This won’t do!
In the future, if you have any suggestions or views regarding High Command’s affairs, tell me immediately! This world will be yours sooner or later! If you had the support of Jiang Kai and Hu Hao right now, I could pass the throne to you immediately! But we are in an era of chaos, and the military is paramount! Without sufficient military support, things would be very troublesome!” the Emperor told the Crown Prince.
“I understand!” The Crown Prince nodded.
Meanwhile, Hu Hao and his troops had already arrived in Guyi City. Currently, Guyi City was garrisoned with five armored infantry divisions, three tank divisions, and two artillery divisions, all to defend the northeastern gate of Gunan City! As long as Guyi City didn’t fall, Gunan City would be secure!
Upon arriving in Guyi City, Hu Hao handed over command of the troops to one of the division commanders, Li Nan, ordering him to oversee the headquarters. Hu Hao wanted to lead the Special Operations Regiment troops to Dingze City to gather intelligence!
“Hao-ge! Hao-ge! Biao-ge forwarded a telegram. It says His Majesty wants to have a video call with you and Commander Jiang Kai tonight after 8:00 PM! Also, Commander Jiang Kai just sent a telegram asking for your thoughts on the matter!” Li Nan ran over to Hu Hao holding two telegrams!
“Why are you delivering telegrams personally? Just have a runner bring them over! You need to be in the headquarters!” Hu Hao reprimanded Li Nan from his seat.
“I know, but… but the thing is, Hao-ge, I don’t feel confident! There are almost two corps’ worth of troops here right now, and you want me to command them?! This… hehe!” Li Nan rubbed his hands together and admitted sheepishly.
“What are you afraid of?! I told you to command, so command! In the future, all of you division commanders will have to command corps-level forces independently in battle! I will do my best to create these opportunities for you! Do you understand?! Go! Go back to work!” Hu Hao ordered him.
“Should we reply to the telegrams?” Li Nan asked.
“Hmm, sigh! Let me think about it!” Hu Hao waved him off. The Special Operations Regiment troops were all nearby, and several Squadron Leaders and Platoon Leaders were sitting around him.
Dong Qipeng had just rushed over from the main command center to join Hu Hao. He was participating in the combat operations alongside Hu Hao this time.
“Hao-ge, shouldn’t you see what he has to say? We can’t just stay in this stalemate forever, right?” Dong Qipeng suggested to Hu Hao.
Hu Hao looked at Dong Qipeng upon hearing this.
“Biao-ge told me to say that. He said I should try to persuade you. Just do what you have to do, as long as it looks passable on the surface! When it comes to the Emperor, deal with him if you can; if you can’t, just ignore him!” Dong Qipeng smiled and revealed the truth. These were the exact words Zhang Debiao had instructed him to pass along.
(End of Chapter)