Chapter 867: Surpa.s.sed!
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
This question instantly caught everyone’s attention, including the First Marshal. He also wanted to know whether Ling Xiao actually had a reason to insist on sending reinforcements or perhaps he was just doing all this to save his own son. If that was the case, for the countless soldiers, he couldn’t support Ling Xiao.
Ling Xiao looked at General Lu with a half-smile. How could he not know that the Second Marshal was planning on letting him take on the responsibility of sending the reinforcements? Although the Second Marshal wanted to save his grandson, he still didn’t want to take on the reputation of being selfish and not caring about the lives of his soldiers…
However, Ling Xiao didn’t think that it was wrong for him to think about saving Ling Lan. If he was going to heartlessly abandon his own flesh and blood, he would be considered a terrible father! He would be worse than a beast if that was the case.
Ling Xiao nodded at He Xuyang.Then, He Xuyang immediately sent the list of names of 250 Ace Mecha Clan to all of the communicator of each general and the hard drive of the mainframe.
Soon, the large screen in front of them showed all the names of the mecha operators in 250 Ace Mecha Clan, along with their mecha operating level, military rank, position, merits…
The reporters began to gasp in surprise as they continued looking through the list of mecha operator names on the large screen. They noticed that there were many well-known veteran mecha operators in the clan. Some older reporters had even once had the chance to interview some of them who had made ma.s.sive contributions in previous wars. However after a few years of their rise to fame, these mecha operators who made countless contributions to the Federation for some reason had disappeared from the public eye, never to be seen or heard for the past few years. These reporters weren’t aware that they had all gathered in General Ling Xiao’s 23rd Division.
It was probably because of General Ling Xiao’s position in the hearts of many. After establis.h.i.+ng the 23rd Division, his public image was boosted significantly, causing all kinds of strong mecha operators to actively join in… These ace operators probably didn’t even care that they would just enter a standard ace mecha clan, and with all that, they still wanted to follow in General Ling Xiao’s footsteps.
All of the reporters looked towards Ling Xiao with pa.s.sionate gazes. His expression became even more heated and honest as he continued to argue back. Back then, the Third Marshal had purposely put Ling Xiao up as an idol in front of the public and soldiers to anger the people of the Federation for his loss. After 20 years of building this idol figure, they had some lost control over him…
Ling Xiao’s cold voice rang once again, “For this mission, my 23rd Division sent 250 Ace Mecha Clan to Planet Haijiao to be stationed at Base 013. The background of the members of 250 Ace Mecha Clan has already been shown on the big screen… These mecha operators are all outstanding and top-level individuals from all division. Many of them are even mecha operators who have already reached the halfway point of entering the imperial level. They have also acquired military merits and gained achievements for the Federation in the past. In the countless battles they had partic.i.p.ated in, they never lost once. In terms of merits, we can clearly see that it is not the first time that they are fighting a battle with less military strength!”
After Ling Xiao said all this, he looked at all the other generals with a half-smile. “Generals, you’re all probably very familiar with the top performers who had worked under you for all these years without losing a single battle, right? I, Ling Xiao, am very grateful that each general has helped me greatly by sending such outstanding and excellent ace mecha operators to my aid.”
Ling Xiao said those words laced deep with sarcasm which made all the general break out in cold sweat. Back then, they had indeed used the name of helping 23rd Division to send those useless mecha operators to Ling Xiao, who had no clue of the truth of the condition those mecha operators. This series of dumping their burdens onto Ling Xiao forced him to create 250 Ace Mecha Clan which wasted the already limited resources they had to support those useless mecha operators.
Now, those useless mecha operators were once again brought out into the light by Ling Xiao in this setting. This made the generals feel like they were stepping on their own foot. After all, on paper, those mecha operators were indeed the best of the best ace mecha operators in the Federation. If they didn’t send reinforcements, the billions of citizens of the Federation would definitely be angry at their ruthless decision. The soldiers in the military currently might also lose their morale to improve themselves if they see their own superiors abandoning soldiers who had more merits than them. What did they get in return for fighting to protect the safety of their country with their lives? As soon as something unfavorable happens, the soldiers on the front-lines would be heartlessly abandoned by the military…
Ling Xiao’s move was without a doubt a disgusting move. Those mecha operators were clearly useless individuals with not much military strength. Thus, they shouldn’t have the capabilities to hold on for three more weeks. However at that moment, they couldn’t tell that truth to the public… The Third Marshal was regretting it somewhat. ‘Why did I agree to have reporters join the conference? Now, I have no way of reb.u.t.ting Ling Xiao’s lie. Even if I was to speak the truth about those mecha operators, the reporters outside will definitely not believe me. They would only think that the military is refusing the rescue and is deliberately trying to make Ling Xiao look bad.’
Compared to the Third Marshal’s worked up frustration, the Second Marshal, although knowing that Ling Xiao was lying, wasn’t fixated on that. Instead, the Second Marshal wanted to know who could take the blame if things were to go wrong. As for the First Marshal, he instantly frowned when Ling Xiao used the members of 250 Ace Mecha Clan as his reasons. He could understand that Ling Xiao wanted to save his own son, but did not like the fact that Ling Xiao would lie and hide the truth for his own selfish gains. He believed that Ling Xiao wasn’t the kind of person who wouldn’t care about the lives of millions of members in the reinforcement group…
“Ling Xiao, although the mecha operators from 250 Ace Mecha Clan are quite strong, their numbers still just amount to a number for a large battalion. Thus, they don’t have the strength to endure constant attacks from both the enemy and the G.o.d-Killers for more than three weeks.” The First Marshal said calmly. “Do you have any other reasons to back up your suggestion?”
If Ling Xiao didn’t have enough reasons to persuade him, he would not agree to send reinforcements even if he was to hurt Ling Xiao’s feelings.
Hearing this, the Third Marshal smirked. He was willing to agree with the First Marshal because the First Marshal usually stood on the side of justice. He would definitely not blindly agree to someone even if they were of his own faction. Of course, this way of doing things was also the reason why the First Marshal could sit on the throne for all this time. He placated both the Third and Second Marshal at the same time.
The First Marshal’s unexpected words stunned all the reporters. ‘Does this mean that even the First Marshal doesn’t support the idea of sending reinforcements?’ The reporters all knew that General Ling Xiao was in the First Marshal’s faction…
“Must all 280 million citizens from Planet Haijiao be abandoned? General Ling Xiao, you must persuade the First Marshal!” All of the reporters clenched their fists because of the anxiousness. They placed all of their hopes on Ling Xiao. These reporters knew very well that the only general that actually supported the idea of sending reinforcements was Ling Xiao and no one else.
The First Marshal’s words made Ling Xiao’s eyes flicker. He slowly stood up and put his hands on the table. He leaned forward with his eyes gleaming with concentration.
“Do I have any other reasons?” Ling Xiao smiled proudly, “Of course, I do. My main reason for sending reinforcements is because the regiment commander who is leading them, Ling Lan, is an imperial operator! He was just 21 years old when he entered the imperial level and he is also an imperial operator who surpa.s.sed my existence.