"It is exactly for the consideration of the big picture of the Imperium that I cannot make such a statement."
Lei Chenghu said emotionlessly, "The so-called 'incident of the Blood Oath Alliance' is an absurd scheme. If it were not made by certain malicious fellows in the Council of Elders, it would have been made by the Alliance of the Holy Covenant, our most dangerous enemy. There is absolutely no room for me to compromise on the issue.
"There are several reasons why I refuse to make such a public statement. Firstly, the incident of the Blood Oath Alliance has not been fully investigated yet. We don't even know whether or not the Blood Oath Alliance did it. The Blood Oath Alliance is just an insignificant organization of young officers. How could it have planned such a precise and large-scale assassination and even completely controlled an assault warship?
"Forces of a higher level must've been involved behind the incident. It is certainly not as simple as the reckless actions of some radical officers in the frontline as you said!
"Secondly, the investigation report of your 'Guangtong' accuses the officers under my command of joining the Blood Oath Alliance in secret and contacting their comrades in the troops in the frontline. It is a complete distortion of the truth and full of loopholes!
"They are all very distinguished young people and the pillars of the Imperium's future. At such a critical moment, I will not be ambiguous about my position or make any suspicious statement that will corrupt the future of them and the Imperium.
"Thirdly, and most importantly, in both the Thunder Fleet and the troops in the frontline who have been fighting bloody battles, even if some of the officers and soldiers are dissatisfied with the dirty reality and establish some small-scale discussion groups, I personally feel that it is completely understandable and support them from a personal point of view.
"It is true that they are all soldiers, and it is their duty to obey orders. They should not be involved in dirty politics.
"But they are also Immortal Cultivators. The prosperity of the world, the hegemony of the Imperium, the future of mankind … They are all the natural responsibilities of the Immortal Cultivators, and they are duty-bound to shoulder the responsibilities!
"Therefore, even if the investigation proves that the Blood Oath Alliance planned and carried out the assassination against Elder Dongfang Tuo, I do not feel that it is necessary to expand the investigation and search. The crimes that the Blood Oath Alliance should shoulder should be limited to the Blood Oath Alliance and have nothing to do with the discussion groups of young officers such as the Thousand Cherry Society, the Assault Society, and the Black Clothes Society.
"On the contrary, not only do I not agree with expanding the investigation and search to other organizations of young officers, I even believe that those organizations should be allowed to surface so that the young officers and the Immortal Cultivators can talk to the Council of Elders openly.
"Faced with the dirty, dark situation in the rear, the soldiers in the frontline are all angry. it is not something that can be resolved simply by destroying one or two organizations such as the Thousand Cherry Society."
Dongfang Bai's eyes were glittering, as if he were both infuriated by Lei Chenghu's speech and delighted by the numerous "weaknesses" in the speech. Preparing to reinforce Lei Chenghu's outrageous remarks, he said with a fake smile, "I didn't know that Marquis Liaohai had such an attitude toward the radical organization of officers in the frontline. However, may I ask … what do you mean by 'the current situation in the rear is dark and murky'? Under the leadership of the Council of Elders and His Majesty, isn't the Imperium thriving and thriving at the peak of the past thousand years with a bright future?"
"Even such a sordid, shameless, and worthless scoundrel like you, whose legs are shaking when you see the people of the Holy League and who knows nothing but instigation and intrigue, can climb to the key positions in the base of the expedition army with your background and become a major general of the army of the Imperium. You can even meddle with the national affairs such as the reorganization of the expedition army. Is that not 'dirty, dark situation'?"
Lei Chenghu said coldly, "There's no need to set me up. I know that countless people are watching the absurd 'review meeting' right now. I will be responsible for every word that I said. Even if I am standing on the podium of the Council of Elders right now, I will still say the same thing!"
"You —"
Dongfang Bai gnashed his teeth so hard that even his eyebrows were rising. Rolling his eyes for a long time, he managed to put on a gloomy smile and said, "Marquis Liaohai, have you realized that the purpose of the review meeting is to prove your relationship with the Blood Oath Alliance and the other groups of young officers as much as possible? We are trying to defend you. We do not believe that you are the leader of the Blood Oath Alliance, nor do we believe that you will instigate the officers in the frontline to rebel. However, your words are full of sympathy for the Blood Oath Alliance and the young radical officers, and you are even vaguely endorsing their behavior. That is truly … a dilemma for us! "
"You're right."
Lei Chenghu stepped into the trap that Dongfang Bai set up openly without even glancing at it. He said frankly, "I do not agree with the Blood Oath Alliance's assassination of Dongfang Liaohai, an elder of the Imperium, nor do I want to see the glorious triumphant ceremony of the Imperium's army turn into a chaotic and bloody battlefield. However, I am not entirely against the ideas of the many groups of young officers in the frontline, including the Blood Oath Alliance.
"They are fighting in the frontline and know the situation of the frontline and the enemy best. The base and the Council of Elders in the rear must listen to them carefully. If we had done that earlier, the incident of the Blood Oath Alliance would never have happened."
Dongfang Bai grew excited all of a sudden. With a drop of cold sweat dripping from his forehead, he asked, "Marquis Liaohai, you said that you are not necessarily against the ideas of the radical officers. Can you explain it in detail? It must be noted that one of the core ideas of the radical officers such as the Blood Oath Alliance was to oppose the reorganization of the base of the expedition army. Instead, more soldiers and resources should be sent to the frontline incessantly so that the independence of the expedition army could be significantly enhanced!
"Just now, you turned down the post of 'minister of the Coalition Command'. So … you actually agree with the idea of the expansion of the expedition army too?"
"Yes."
Lei Chenghu said calmly, "The reason why I agreed to leave the Thunder Fleet and return to the capital with you was that I wanted to express my firm stance to the five hundred elders in the Council of Elders. The expedition army must not be reorganized or disbanded. Instead, the army should be expanded and the soldiers in the frontline should be given greater autonomy so that we can control the situation more flexibly and search for the main force of the Holy League for a final battle!
"I didn't expect that I would be sent to this place by you halfway.
"However, a lot of elders must be paying attention to the review meeting, right? Then, it makes no difference to talk here."
The air was as quiet as death.
The three inspectors were all dumbfounded. They did not expect that Lei Chenghu would say something that would make even the four Kurfürst families feel uneasy and restless.
The expedition army would not accept the reduction of its size. It would continue to be expanded!
Also, it would seek greater autonomy!
What was Lei Chenghu, the man who was praised as the "God of War" by countless soldiers in the frontline, up to exactly?
Dongfang Bai took out a handkerchief that was as smooth as silk and wiped the cold sweat on his forehead softly.
He had a lingering fear as if he had caught a shark.
"Why?"
At this moment, he grew more cautious and asked cautiously, "Marquis Liaohai, you should understand the delicate situation that the expedition army is faced with right now, right? We have secured an unstoppable victory in the Imperium's counterattack, and the support for the war from the rear has reached the limits. It is time for us to rest and digest the fruits of our victory.
"War is logistics, and our logistics can't support another ten years of war. It is time for us to take a brief rest and recharge ourselves.
"The young radical officers who are dizzy may not understand such a simple logic, but I don't believe that an experienced general such as yourself does not.
"So, what is the real purpose of continuing the expansion of the expedition army? Please explain it to the Board of Supervisors and the Council of Elders."
Staring at Dongfang Bai for a long time, Lei Chenghu suddenly burst into such laughter that tears were almost flowing out of his eyes. "Who told you that we secured an unstoppable victory? Even we, the soldiers who are bathed in blood at the frontlines, don't dare to say that. You fellows who only know how to brag at the back, fabricate some self-deceiving reports of victory all day long. Over time, even you are deceived by yourselves?
"I've been fighting with the Holy League for my entire life. I know their styles and approaches as well as I know them. In the Imperium's counterattack in the past ten years, except for the few battles that were designed to consume the available forces of our army, the fighting will of the Holy League was much weaker than before in most of the battles. Collapses were everywhere. They did not have the determination of the zealots who fought to the end without caring about their own lives at all.
"It does not make sense at all that the morale of the Holy League has plummeted to such an extent in only a few years. It is more like that they are preserving their strength.
"To this day, we seem to have recovered dozens of Sectors and hundreds of resource planets, but most of them were abandoned by the enemy voluntarily. Also, before they abandoned them, they destroyed all the infrastructure on the planets and took away tremendous resources, making it impossible for those planets to provide soldiers and productivity for the Imperium incessantly in the next three to five years.
"The soldiers, food, and resources of the Imperium were wasted, and the strategic depth was only increased to a certain extent. But today, when 'space jump' was the main mode of deployment, the so-called 'strategic depth' was not of much significance.
"Therefore, there was no such thing as a 'gratifying victory' at all. The Imperium at this moment was like a boa that had just swallowed an elephant, only to be coveted by a new enemy. It was at the most dangerous moment.
"Therefore, whatever the cost was, we had to continue projecting resources to the frontline and expanding the expedition army until the main force of the Holy League was found and completely defeated. Only when the enemy's main mobile forces were eliminated could we digest the fruits of victory in peace.
"The Imperium has' whatever the cost '!"
Dongfang Bai gnashed his teeth. "In order to support the super war that involved dozens of Sectors, too many people were killed in the farmlands and mines in the rear, and too many riots were raised!
"People die in wars. Now that the war has come to this point, what matters is whose will to fight is more resolute. If fifty billion people have to die in order to win the war, then fifty billion will die. If a hundred billion is required, then a hundred billion will be! Only in such a way can the remaining people survive and build a brand-new Imperium! "
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