General Yuan stepped onto the stage and spoke calmly to representatives seated before him, “The 23rd division is an official division of the Federation. It’s not a small mecha clan with only a few thousand soldiers. It’s not an independent army either. It’s a standard division with the proper number of members. One single order from the general could affect the lives of millions of soldiers. In times of war, the general has to be responsible for the safety of all his soldiers. In the end, Major General Lan still doesn’t have any experience in management or commanding. During peaceful times, the 23rd division could still function as a division with such a general. But, with the Federation’s current troubled state, Major General Lan is not suitable to be the representative of the general. Caesar and its alliance nations are still eyeing us like vultures, and no one knows when the next war will occur. As an official division, once a war starts, it’ll need to go to the battlefield. May I ask how Major General Lan is going to command the 23rd division during a war?”
“We shouldn’t let our emotions take over our thoughts and ignore the lives of millions of soldiers in the 23rd division which are at stake here.” General Yuan glanced at the representatives below sharply.
The people who were moved by Lan Luofeng’s speech felt as though cold water was poured over their heads. They started wondering if they were being too emotional.
Lan Luofeng pursed her lips when she heard his dismissive attitude about her. But, what he said was truly her fatal weakness. Moreover, there was no way she could refute what he said as what he said was all true. If she wasn’t Ling Xiao’s widow, she might not even have the right to enter this conference room, much less prove her ability.
The host glanced at the First Marshal again. The First Marshal seemed to sense the gaze and opened his eyes. Then he turned his gaze to look at someone.
It was Zhang Ruolin, one of the ten great generals of the Federation. He was the commander-in-chief of the military zone of the North-east planetary sector.
Most of the time, a general would hold the position of commander-in-chief of a planetary sector. This was a different commanding system from being a general of a division. In theory, the commander-in-chief and the general of a division would garner equal power in the military. However, with commander-in-chiefs being mostly great generals, generals of division would usually have to bow their heads down before a great general as they were still of a higher rank than normal generals
This arrangement was to prevent conflict over the position of the commander-in-chief when a division worked together with a planetary sector during a war.
About this arrangement, Ling Xiao was an oddball. He was the general of a division while being one of the great generals. However, the military didn’t find a problem with it because this had to do with the location of the 23rd division. It was stationed at the South Pole planetary sector. The South Pole planetary sector was a new planetary sector that the Federation was developing so there wasn’t any official commander-in-chief placed there yet. There was no official appointment but the entire military recognised Ling Xiao as the commander-in-chief of the South Pole planetary sector.
Besides the support from the generals and regiment commanders from his faction, the First Marshal had the support of these powerful people too. That was how he could sit in his position stably. Zhang Ruolin was one of those people supporting him.
“General Yuan makes sense. We can’t lose our rationality because of our emotions. However, we mustn’t be too logical until we ignore our emotions.” Zhang Ruolin suddenly broke the silence. “You must understand that our soldiers have emotions too. They’re not war machines. It’s understandable that they want to find mental support. It’s alright to agree with them sometimes.”
The representatives who were still wondering whether they were too emotional immediately felt understood when they heard General Zhang’s words. They looked at him gratefully. If they could, they wanted to give in to their emotions to comfort General Ling Xiao’s spirit. They hoped that he could see his 23rd division shining brightly under the lead of his son.
“General Zhang, what do you mean?” General Yuan narrowed his gaze. He didn’t expect this great general to step forward and suppress the presence he made just now.
“Don’t reprimand them. We should solve this problem while caring about their emotions.” Zhang Ruolin looked at General Yuan with a sharp gaze. The invisible pressure caused General Yuan to frown. He couldn’t think of a reply.
“How should we solve it? Please explain clearly.” The general of the 11th division suddenly interrupted them. He belonged to the Third Marshal’s faction. The situation was already against them so the Second Marshal and the Third Marshal’s factions decided to work together.
“That will require the help of everyone here. There are so many people here. I’m sure that we can solve this insignificant problem.” Zhang Ruolin immediately pushed the question back to everyone. As a sly old fox with many years of experience in the military, he wasn’t stupid to become the center of attention now.
The people from the second and third faction felt frustrated when they saw Zhang Ruolin backing out naturally. They couldn’t tackle the first faction because there were too many sly old foxes there. They wouldn’t let anyone get hold of their tails no matter what they say or do.
After Zhang Ruolin spoke, the representatives below started discussing. They started thinking about how they would solve this problem if Ling Lan became the general of the 23rd division.
“Actually, Lieutenant General He Xuyang from the 23rd division is not too bad of an option. When General Ling Xiao wasn’t present, he led the 23rd division and won the fight against two armies from the Twilight. He can be the commanding officer during a war.” Someone suggested a workable option.
Many people agreed with him. There were many outstanding commanders in the 23rd division. They were just overshadowed by Ling Xiao in the past so no one noticed them.
“How can you make sure of that without the general suppressing them. Are you sure the people below won’t become greedy?” Some coldly doubted, “Moreover, we don’t know if the soldiers are willing to listen to He Xuyang.” When General Ling Xiao was alive, the people below had nothing against He Xuyang commanding them. They cooperated with him fully. But, now, General Ling Xiao wasn’t present to suppress these people. He Xuyang was just a chief of staff with the rank of lieutenant general. There were many soldiers with the same rank as him. Would these people be willing to listen to someone with the same rank?
Everyone turned dead silent. If He Xuyang wasn’t an option, no one else would be able to take the position. No one was able to think of any solutions.
The people from the second and third faction watched them from the sidelines quietly. They weren’t so kind as to solve this problem for Lan Luofeng and Ling Lan. As long as Lan Luofeng couldn’t solve her fatal weakness, Ling Lan wouldn’t be able to sit in that position. That meant that their candidates would be able to get the position.
At this moment, a cough broke the silence.
Everyone looked up. The commander of the Flying Dragon Special Forces, Ren Feiyu, was covering his lips and coughing.
He gave a helpless smile when he saw everyone looking at him. He seemed to be thinking that he coughed at a bad time.
