Chapter 669: Regiment Commander!
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
The adjutant of the Second Staff Officer called just now and asked if Ling Lan had arrived. It looked like Ling Lan had gained the attention of the higher authorities. He would have a bright future ahead of him. The colonel thought to himself. He started treating Ling Lan and her friends better.
In order to become an officer at the staff officer department, you are required to be smart and know what are your superiors’ intention. Hence, the colonel knew that Ling Lan was going to be promoted and wouldn’t do anything stupid such as offending her. He stopped what he was doing and brought Ling Lan to meet the Second Staff Officer. Since his superior was in such a hurry, he didn’t dare to waste any time.
As for the other five members of Lingtian, they didn’t have the right to come. The Second Staff Officer only asked for Ling Lan. They were brought to the side and waited there for Ling Lan.
Tong Zhiying just finished settling a doc.u.ment when he heard his adjutant said, “Ling Lan is here.”
Tong Zhiying nodded slightly and asked the adjutant to bring Ling Lan in.
Ling Lan came in with Colonel Yu. She saw a major general who looked the same age as He Xuyang. He was sitting behind an office desk and looking at her with a stern face.
Ling Lan just entered the division so she didn’t have the chance to meet many high ranking officers. However, she interacted with her father, General Ling Xiao, all the time. Ling Xiao looked gentle but his aura was intimidating. If she was not afraid of him, why would she be scared by Tong Zhiying.
She calmly greeted Tong Zhiying. Her actions were clean and sharp. There was no hesitation or fear in her actions. This left a good impression on Tong Zhiying.
Tong Zhiying asked the two of them to sit down. Ling Lan sat up straight. Tong Zhiying saw her cold and serious face and felt satisfied once again. He liked soldiers who had dignity and were neither arrogant nor humble.
Tong Zhiying’s gaze turned gentle. He opened his mouth and said, “You are Ling Lan, right? I called for you because General Ling Xiao has a letter of appointment for you.”
Ling Lan immediately stood up. “I’m ready to accept the order.”
Tong Zhiying stood up too. His adjutant past him a doc.u.ment. Tong Zhiying opened it and said slowly, “Senior Captain Ling Lan of Lingtian Battle Team has performed exceptionally well in the mission. You will be given the first rank merit and the Purple Cloud Medal of Honor. At the same time, you are appointed as the Regiment Commander of the 250 Mecha Clan. Your rank will be upgraded to a major and you will take over your new position immediately. Person of Appointment: Ling Xiao.”
Ling Lan was stunned. She thought that she would only get merits such as the Purple Cloud Medal of Honor. She never expected her father to break the tradition and give her the position of Regiment Commander of the 250 Mecha Clan. She was just a recruit… this time, her father really used his position for his personal matters. Why did she feel so touched?
Ling Lan felt her father’s love for her. Her heart was moved. She took a deep breath and shouted, “Thanks for trusting me!”
Tong Zhiying saw Ling Lan’s change of emotions. He nodded in satisfaction when he saw how well she controlled her emotions. Ling Lan indeed had great potential.
Although the letter of appointment didn’t state what mission it was, Tong Zhiying knew that Ling Lan gained the merits by her own effort. The Purple Cloud Medal of Honor and the attention given by General Ling Xiao proved that all these merits were not gained through connection. Tong Zhiying fully recognized Ling Lan this time.
The meeting lasted for a few minutes. Tong Zhiying was really busy so Ling Lan and Colonel Yu left his office after she got her letter of appointment.
“Congratulations, Regiment Commander Ling!” Colonel Yu congratulated her sincerely. He knew that this young man had a bright future but he didn’t expect him to rise in rank so quickly.
Ling Lan’s status only had a small change. She rose to become a major. Most people were able to become a major if they had good mecha piloting skills and a stable realm. An example would be Zhao Jun and Li Lanfeng. People who made contributions to the military would also be given the major t.i.tle too. For example, Li s.h.i.+yu.
As for those people who held positions that didn’t need to fight, they would be given a major position after a certain number of years. Although Ling Lan was considered young, there were still many majors like her in the military.
However, there was a difference between a real military rank and a fict.i.tious military rank. A fict.i.tious military rank just meant that this person could enjoy the benefits given to a person in his rank. These positions didn’t hold much power.
This was why Ling Xiao was more powerful than the ten G.o.d-cla.s.s operators. He had real power and had control over a division.
Since Ling Lan was the Regiment Commander of the Mecha Clan 250, this meant that her status was a real military rank. She had control and power over a mecha clan. This was why the colonel was shocked.
Even though a mecha clan was the smallest unit in a division. Ling Lan was still more powerful than Li Lanfeng, Zhao Jun, and Li s.h.i.+yu.
“If the 250 Mecha Clan needs anything, you can look for me.” Colonel Yu smiled. He would not give up the chance to befriend a powerful regiment commander.
“Thank you.” Ling Lan thanked the colonel. She didn’t reject his offer.
Although she could ask He Xuyang to help her, she didn’t want to trouble him for all kinds of small businesses. After all, He Xuyang belonged to her father, not her. If she could maintain a good relations.h.i.+p with Colonel Yu, she wouldn’t need to trouble He Xuyang all the time.
Ling Lan was a cold person but she knew what to say. After exchanging some words, their relations.h.i.+p got better.
It was lunchtime so Ling Lan invited the colonel to have a meal with her. Once they started eating, she didn’t need to care about Colonel Yu anymore.
She brought her team members with her. How could they not enjoy a free meal? Hence, all five of them started befriending Colonel Yu and made him comfortable. Zhao Jun and Li Lanfeng chatted and drank with him. Relations.h.i.+ps between men are built through drinking. The more you drink, the better your relations.h.i.+p was.
Yes, this was why I wanted to be a boss. My men would do everything for me! Ling Lan smiled. She held her gla.s.s of tea and looked at her friends happily as they drank with the colonel. The colonel drank until he was in a daze. He asked them to spare him.
After the meal ended, they dispersed. The colonel made friends with Zhao Jun and asked him to drink with him whenever he was free. He would introduce his friends to him too…
Ling Lan was happy that they settled an important person within the staff officer department. After bidding farewell to the colonel, Ling Lan didn’t choose to return to Ling Xiao’s house to rest. She went directly to 250 Mecha Clan.
“Boss, what shall we do after we go back?” The slightly drunk Zhao Jun asked in the hover car.
It was not easy to be the Regiment Commander of Mecha Clan 250. The mecha operators in Mecha Clan 250 were all useless. A mecha clan without any combat ability could not be considered a real mecha clan.
Ling Lan was resting when she heard the question. She rubbed her fingers and opened her eyes. “What do you all think?”
“Get new recruits. The mecha clan lacks people anyway. We can just let the veterans remain as they are.” Li Yingjie knew the origins of the mecha operators in 250 Mecha Clan so he knew it was better to let them remain in the mecha clan.
“Li Yingjie’s suggestion is doable. As long as we keep the number of logisticians in check, we can build a powerful mecha clan,” Lin Zhong-qing agreed.
“However, we need at least three to five years to train the recruits. I want to go onto the battlefield as soon as possible.” Qi Long remembered something and gritted his teeth in anger. “The despicable Twilight Empire did many things recently. Everyone knew that the battle with the Twilight Empire will occur soon. I’m afraid that if we get new recruits, we will be placed in the secondary army.”
Just as the name suggests, the secondary army would only go on the battlefield after the main army had all been killed. However, there was almost no chance of happening. That meant that they had almost no chance of fighting and could only become logisticians who cleared up the battlefield.
The moment he said this, everyone, even Li Yingjie, dismissed the suggestion. They were all hot-blooded young men. It was a tragedy for them if they couldn’t fight in a battle.
Ling Lan looked at Li Lanfeng. Li Lanfeng smiled bitterly. “It will be impossible to get other mecha operators from other mecha clans unless General Ling Xiao gave an order… however, I believe that he will not do it.”
“Since we don’t want to get new recruits, we have to find decent mecha operators from the current operators in the mecha clan. I hope that Li s.h.i.+yu’s medicine was able to cure some mecha operators.” Li Lanfeng knew that this was a difficult task. Their own mecha clans had given up on these mecha operators. No matter how powerful Li s.h.i.+yu’s medicine was, it would be hard to cure them.
Ling Lan knocked her fingers on the handle and went into deep thought.
Mental illness? Psychology barriers? Useless people?
She smiled. A sinister look flashed past her eyes.
Since that is the case, let’s see if these people really are useless!
The most extravagant training ground built in the 250 Mecha Clan was finally put to use. During this month, it welcomed its first batch of mecha operators.
Jiang Enhua was an ace mecha master. He was only 33 years old. To become an ace mecha master at this age showed that he was quite a talented person. Although he had many achievements on the battlefield, he was too average compared to the ace mecha masters of the North and South stars. He didn’t stand out among ace mecha operators.
Jiang Enhua used to have a bright future. Unfortunately, everything was destroyed in a mecha battle with the Twilight Empire. He was tormented by elite mecha operators of the Twilight Empire. His entire mecha was destroyed. Only his c.o.c.kpit remained unscathed.
He was found by the logisticians who were clearing up the battlefield. Everyone thought that he was lucky to survive. Only he knew how he remained alive. His opponent broke his psychological barrier and he pleaded his opponent to spare him. He couldn’t forget how haggard he was at that time. His opponent sneered at him and mocked him. Ever since then, he didn’t have the courage to operate a mecha anymore. He wasted his days and in the end, he was thrown into 250 Mecha Clan by his division.
When he underwent Li s.h.i.+yu’s medical treatment, he couldn’t bear with the pain and begged Li s.h.i.+yu to let him off after 15 minutes. He told Li s.h.i.+yu everything that happened to him. Li s.h.i.+yu looked at him with contempt. He didn’t want to waste his medicine on a weak and useless person. He threw Jiang Enhua to Luo Lang and told him to torture him properly.
However, Jiang Enhua had already given up on himself. There was no way he could endure the training. He either pleaded with them to let him off or just fainted on the spot. Towards the end, he would hug the railings at the side of the running track and refused to train. In the face of these mecha operators who gave up on themselves, Xie Yi and Luo Lang didn’t know what to do. Even Li s.h.i.+yu’s medicine couldn’t help them.
Any kinds of psychological issues could be cured. However, it was difficult to treat those people who had given up on themselves. Unfortunately, most of the patients in 250 Mecha Clan had the same illness as Jiang Enhua. Once one of them gave up, other people followed. Very soon, a whole bunch of people stood at the side of the training ground. No matter what the Lingtian Battle Team did to them, they didn’t want to continue training.