Translator: _Min_ Editor: Caron_
The militants’ offense lasted for eight hours. It wasn’t until dawn that the control of the airport fell in the hands of the civil militants. Seeing that the situation was irreparable, the Ukraine forces and Arrow mercenaries were forced to withdraw from Dnepropetrovsk and hand over the strategic center of Europe’s third-largest river.
The news of the Dnieper River’s victory spread to every corner of the world. It was so fast that some people didn’t even get a hold of this sudden “accident”.
As for the result of this battle, some were happy while others were worried.
Russia sent a congratulatory message to the militants, and at the same time urged the Ukraine government to make a choice to adapt to historical trends. The UA sent warnings to Russia, militants, and Celestial Trade, warning mercenary organizations not to add fuel to the situation in Ukraine…
After receiving the good news, Jiang Chen, on Coro Island, had a good night’s sleep.
Although the victory was expected, there was nothing more joyous than listening to the celebratory trumpet.
Of course, while it was an effortless win, it had a high cost.
In just eight hours, Celestial Trade unloaded more than 2,000 guided tungsten rods to the enemy’s frontlines. The bill for the space-based weapons alone was as high as 100 million XND. Of course, the majority would be footed by the Russians, so Jiang Chen wasn’t in too much pain.
As Jiang Chen expected, the victory on the Ukraine battlefield directly affected the revolution thousands of kilometers away. Militants crossed the Dnieper River and ignited war across the originally peaceful part of Kane. The country’s capital located in the upper reaches of the Dnieper River was no longer safe.
Ukraine was standing at the intersection of history—the decision to head east or west became the focus of the world. It was about whether NATO’s frontlines would be in Ukraine or at its doorstep in Poland.
“Useless fools!”
The battle report was slammed onto the table.
The office was silent. Other than Carmen’s heavy breathing, there wasn’t a single decibel of sound. Johnson and the executives of Arrow lowered their heads, terrified.
Carmen’s chest violently pumped and his bloodshot eyes covered any haze in his eyes, replaced only by madness.
“I gave you the best weapons. A division couldn’t stop two brigades. Were your fortifications made out of paper?”
Sardes lowered his head. As the CEO of the Arrow Company, he wanted to argue for the soldiers on the frontlines. Against “space-based weapons”, their fortifications and tanks were basically made out of paper.
The real reason for their failure wasn’t because of the terrifying space-based weapons, but it was because air supremacy was never in their hands. Even F35s couldn’t gain an upper-hand against Aurora-20s, let alone the old MiG-29s and the second-hand F-18s from Western countries.
However, Sardes didn’t open his mouth after all. He knew that his boss was fuming. It was more effective to lower his head than to raise his head and argue.
The silence lasted for a long time. Carmen took a deep breath and calmed his emotions, speaking slowly: “How’s the situation in Frankberg?”
“It’s not good…” Johnson hesitated, gritted his teeth, and finally said, “The 10th Armored Division is fighting the rebels in Bava. Although it’s achieved victories, the number of rebels actually increased. Yesterday, at noon, the 23rd Mountain Infantry Brigade was blocked by a human-formed wall when it entered the city. The 12th Armored Brigade was attacked with Molotov cocktails. If the situation persists, we will probably lose control of Bava…”
“We absolutely can’t lose control of Bava.” Carmen seemed to have recovered his rationality. He calmed said, “Add a division of mercenaries to Bava.”
“We don’t have that many people,” Sardes buried his head and said under immense pressure: “Our combat power has been contained on the Kane battlefield. If we dispatch troops from Ukraine, we can’t stop the attack from militants and Celestial Trade, and we may lose Ukraine entirely…”
Frankberg couldn’t lose Bava. Europe couldn’t lose Ukraine. For Carmen, it was a dilemma.
After a moment of contemplation, Carmen made a decision.
“It seems that the Frankberg military service system needs to be adjusted. Since they don’t want to be soldiers, then we will change our recruitment system to a conscription system, and the army size will be expanded from three divisions to ten divisions.”
Johnson and Sardes looked at each other and saw each other’s concern in their pupils. Everyone standing in this office knew it was a bad idea to amend the law at this time, but no one dared to say anything at that moment.
If this was two years ago… No, even if it was a year ago, Carmen would never have made such a reckless decision. But now, his ambitions began to outgrow what he controlled or the strength of the Freemasonry.
“The Federal Senate is unlikely to pass this proposal to amend the law. Earlier, the Minister of Defense raised the possibility of this change, but it was rejected by the Speaker. We have influence in the Senate, but some people have begun to question us—” The middle-aged man standing next to Sardes tried to convince Carmen from a reasonable point of view, but he was interrupted by an undeniable voice.
“I will convince those who are sitting on the fence,” Carmen said emotionlessly then eyed Johnson. “Make them understand who’s the master of this country.”
Johnson was secretly relieved. He nodded, turned and left the room where he didn’t want to stay for a second longer.
The middle-aged man no longer said anything, but he took a deep breath and looked around subtly then said, “Peter is still on a diplomatic visit to Sweden… I will tell him to come back.”
“Mhmm, go.”
After receiving permission, the middle-aged man left the room with relief.
There were only three people left in the room aside from Sardes, the CEO of Arrow. The other two were the managers of Arrow in Ukraine and Frankberg. From the start of the meeting, neither of them had said a word.
“Nate.”
“Yes.” The burly man with an obvious Jewish accent took a half step forward and answered.
“My only request for you is to protect Kiev.” After a pause, Carmen smiled and lowered his voice. “Remember, this is your last chance.”
Nate’s muscles trembled involuntarily, and fear flashed across and quickly disappeared in his eyes. He knew very well what the last chance meant for him. The cold sweat gradually oozed down from his forehead. Being pierced by Carmen’s gaze, he squeezed a word out of his throat.
“Yes…”
“Good, go on.” Carmen nodded, indicating that he could go, and he turned to the other manager. “Mr. Derek, step forward.”
Derek didn’t hesitate to take a step forward and quickly said, “Guaranteed to complete the mission!”
“Yes? Not even asking the task? Very good.” Carmen nodded with satisfaction. “At least your attitude is pleasing to me.”
Just as Derek felt relieved, his boss suddenly took out a pistol from his pocket and fired at his forehead.
There was a spark and his blood stained the cashmere carpet.
Derek couldn’t dodge. His eyes were widened and frozen in shock before he collapsed on the floor.
He didn’t understand why he died.
Carmen quickly answered the confusion in his heart, but he could no longer hear it.
“It’s understandable to lose against Celestial Trade. After all, the weapon differential is there. But you can’t even deal with a group of mobs—what would be the use in me keeping you?” Carmen slowly spoke, raised his chin, then gently place the silver-plated revolver on the table.
Sardes felt that his legs were weak. He didn’t dare to look at his boss, and he didn’t dare to look at his colleague lying next to him.
“Sardes.”
“Yes, yes!” Because he was trembling, Sardes’ tone even changed.
Carmen smiled and whispered: “Take him out, and congratulate the deputy manager of the Frankberg branch for me—he got promoted.”
“Yes…” Sardes gulped then his stiff waist and knees bent down and he put Derek on his shoulders.
“Right—by the way, remind him for me again.” Looking at Sardes, Carmen stopped him at the door and said with no emotion: “He only has one month. I need to see results in one month. Otherwise, the person on your shoulder will be his role model.”
