From cannon fodder to sweeping across thousands of stars.

Chapter 406 The Frustrated General

"Amber, do you know something?" Seeing Amber pondering for a long time because of the old emperor's question, Isabel couldn't help but ask.

"No, nothing. I just think it's a little strange. It's obviously not normal that no news has been revealed for such a long time."

Amber shook his head and replied. He naturally couldn't say that he had read the original script and knew that under normal circumstances, the Star Dragon Empire would have mourned for the whole country by now.
"Does the Intelligence Analysis Center need to strengthen its intelligence gathering on the Star Dragon Empire, especially the imperial family and high-ranking officials?"

"Okay, you can turn some of your attention there first. The old emperor's situation gives me a feeling that something will definitely happen inside the empire. Regardless of whether it will affect Atlas or not, it's definitely a good idea to plan ahead and collect information."

Isabel nodded thoughtfully, then lowered her head to operate her personal terminal, and finally looked at Amber again and said:

"I just did a quick assessment and if we need to start this work, we may need more technical support."

There was a hint of hesitation and uncertainty in Isabel's tone. She had actually noticed that under the 'shadow' of Atlas, there had always been a powerful being with extremely strong network technology capabilities providing support.

This "powerful man" almost single-handedly supported the digital construction of Atlas and also provided powerful network intrusion support.
At first, Isabel thought that this "powerful person" was Amber herself, but as the company expanded rapidly and Amber's affairs became increasingly busy, Isabel knew that there must be someone else.

But since Amber didn't say it on her own initiative, he must have his reasons and considerations, so she didn't intend to ask.

However, if the intelligence gathering work on the imperial family and high-level officials is to be carried out now, the Intelligence Analysis Center will inevitably need the technical support of this "powerful man".

On the other hand, Amber actually knew that Isabel might have noticed something. As her bedmate, she was one of the people who knew most of her secrets.

But this smart woman never asked about this, which was very gratifying to Amber. He had to sigh that this imperial female spy whom he met by chance on Robert IV did a good job in this regard.
"No problem. I will arrange more technical support for your intelligence analysis center, and I will also let you control the autonomous information collection devices deployed in the empire through the 'communication cooperation business'."

"OK, I will deploy there and start gathering intelligence as soon as possible."

Isabel casually tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. This feminine gesture made Amber stare at her a few more times unconsciously.

After noticing Amber's gaze, Isabelle couldn't help but chuckle and then put her hand on her chin.

"Do you want to continue listening to the report, or..."

"Listen to the report." Amber said firmly, without any hesitation in her words.

"Hmph~ boring"

Isabel rolled her eyes in annoyance, then looked at the next item. "According to the information collected by the Public Relations Department, the Federation should impose sanctions on us in the near future, and several major military industry giants seem to be planning to start targeting us in the military equipment market."

"I expected this. I would be surprised if they didn't take any action~" Amber was not surprised by the news. On the contrary, he would have found it unusual if the Federation had not made any move.

"So what measures should we take to deal with it?"

"No, we can just operate as normal. If the federation announces sanctions, we can just make a public statement of protest just for show."

"what?"

"Believe me, they are the ones who are anxious now."

Amber smiled, as if she remembered something funny, and continued, "When they get anxious, they will naturally get confused. We just need to deal with them as they move."
-
Federation, Capital, Army Headquarters.

In the office of Army Commander-in-Chief, five-star General McLean, the atmosphere was somewhat tense.

Army Lieutenant General Van Fleet, who had just returned to the capital star system a few days ago, was looking at Merion, who was also his teacher and old leader, with an unwilling look on his face.

"teacher"

"I've told you so many times, you have to refer to your position when you are outside."

Merion put down the cup in his hand, with an irresistible tone in his voice.

"Okay, Commander! I know I am a defeated general and I shouldn't be obstructing the headquarters' decision. But... even if you demote me, let me be a brigade commander or battalion commander and continue to fight on the front line! At worst, I would accept being demoted to a private, but now you want me to manage logistics and supervise the production of army equipment."

Van Fleet began to complain to McLean like a bamboo tube pouring beans. After the hearing held yesterday afternoon, the Army Lieutenant General received a new transfer order early this morning.

This transfer order did not allow him to return to the front line to command the battle, nor did it strip him of his star. Instead, it allowed him to stay in the rear and supervise and guide the production of army equipment in major military industrial enterprises as an official supervisor.

The reason is that he has gained a wealth of practical experience on the front line, and has a macro-level view of the actual performance of many weapons and equipment on the battlefield. He can assist major military industrial enterprises responsible for supplying equipment to the Federal Army to optimize and upgrade their products.

It seems to be a relatively important logistical position, but in Van Vleet's view, such a decision is just to hide him, the defeated general.

That's why after receiving the transfer order, he immediately went to the Army Headquarters to seek an explanation from Commander McLennan.

"Look, he's in a hurry."

Mileen looked at his former student and couldn't help but point at him as he did in the past.

"No, Commander, I admit that I did make a major mistake in the conflict with the Atlas Group, but in the previous landing operation against Pyla IV, even if I didn't have any credit, I did work hard, right?
The attack force that the headquarters allocated to me was less than two-thirds of the force used in the pre-war simulation, but even with this lack of manpower, I still managed to take down Pella IV, right? "

"Van Fleet."

"Yes, Commander!"

McLean's voice was not loud, but Van Vleet stopped his endless speech reflexively.

"No one will forget your contribution, but you should know that your capture by Atlas has had a great impact on the Federation in terms of public opinion, and the conflict on Pyla IV has also directly affected the Federation's strategic layout. Do you know how many people in Congress want to send you to a military court now?"

"I"

"Van Fleet, I left you behind to protect you. The public's memory is very short, but now you are at the center of the storm, you know?"

Without giving Van Vleet a chance to speak, McLean continued:
"The front line is always short of people, especially commanders. You will always have a chance to go back. So what you have to do now is to accept the transfer order and stay behind honestly. Don't cause any more trouble for me! If there is any problem again, even I may not be able to save you!"

The old leader's words blocked all the words Van Vleet wanted to say. Although he still felt unwilling, he also knew that he could not cause any more trouble for McLean.

"I understand, Commander."

Finally, the somewhat frustrated Army Lieutenant General stood up, saluted McLean, and walked out of the office.

After the office door was closed again, Merion stared at the door for a long time with a complicated look, and then dialed a number without a contact signature on his personal terminal.

"I'd better stay here. I don't want my own students to be sent to a military court, so you guys better pay more attention over there and don't let him find out anything." The person on the other end of the call seemed to say something that immediately made Merion's brows frown together, and his voice became low and angry.

"I don't need to report so much to you when I do things."

On the other side, Van Fleet walked out of the Army Headquarters and looked up at the sky. The planetary environment of the federal capital was very well managed. He rarely saw such clear and clean blue sky and white clouds on the front line.

But such a scene did not improve Van Fleet's gloomy mood. A military-licensed executive car stopped at the door of the Army Headquarters building, and Van Fleet's orderly quickly got out of the car and opened the door for him.

"General, where are we going next?"

"give me"

Van Vleet was about to say "Send me home", but a new message popped up on his personal terminal, stopping him from saying anything.

The sender of the message was Vice Admiral Guterres, who was sent back with him by Atlas. The content of the message was also very simple:
"Do you have time? Let's meet and chat?"

An address was attached to the message.

Van Fleet stared at the message for a moment, finally sighed, and then said to his orderly:

"Take me to a place. I've sent you the address."
-
"You navy guys really have the leisure time. Even in this situation, you still have the mind to find a bar."

Van Vleet looked around the bar he was in and couldn't help but exclaim:

"With this decoration and this location, the prices shouldn't be cheap, right? I'm really curious about how this bar owner is so capable that he could open a bar in this capital city, where every inch of land is valuable, and in the administrative core area."

“I own this bar.”

Guterres, who was sitting opposite Van Vliet, spoke calmly, but a hint of joy in his eyes revealed his inner joy at the moment.

"?" Van Vleet was stunned when he heard this. It took him a long time to react, then he slapped the table and said:
"No, where do you get so much money? The navy's salary isn't much higher than our army's, right? It can't be some kind of gray income, right?!"

“My parents’ legacy.”

For some reason, Guterres' temper was surprisingly good today. After hearing Van Vleet's question, he did not show any sign of anger. Instead, he picked up a bottle of expensive-looking wine and poured it for Van Vleet.

"My parents were once well-known businessmen, but when they died in an accident, I had just been admitted to the Federal Naval Academy and had no intention of dropping out to run a business, so I cashed in the inherited stocks and sold the group for a large sum of money, which I used to open this pub. Thanks to the care of my colleagues in the navy, the business is pretty good."

"Then why do you continue to stay in the Navy? If that's what you said, wouldn't you be financially independent?"

"When you suddenly have a sum of money that is more than you can spend normally, you will want to start looking for the meaning of life. Besides, things like giant ships and cannons are obviously not something that ordinary people can own just because they have money."

Guterres spoke in a steady tone, like a philosopher.

Van Vleet, who had just taken a sip of wine from the glass opposite him, raised his eyes uncontrollably after hearing his words.

"The first half of your sentence makes people want to punch you."

"Then I'm really sorry."

Van Fleet, considering the fact that the other party had given him a lot of valuable wine, suppressed the urge to punch the vice admiral in front of him, and said seriously:

"Forget it, let's get down to business. What's the matter that you suddenly came to me for?"

Seeing Van Vliet getting down to business, Guterres tapped a few times on the terminal, asked all the waiters to leave, and activated the 'black box mode' of the box.

"Did you not receive any proper punishment, but were left behind?"

"how do you know?"

"Because I am too." Guterres tapped his chest.
"Marshal Trafalgar told me personally in the remote communication that he hopes I can stay in the rear for a while and be responsible for supervising the construction of new warships for the navy."

Upon hearing this, Van Fleet immediately laughed and a gloating expression appeared on his face.

"Oh, you were also sent to take care of logistics?"

"It seems to be similar to what I thought." Guterres did not directly answer Van Vleet's question, "Our two defeated generals were directly hidden."

After hearing this, Van Vleet was obviously a little disappointed again. He picked up the glass and drank it all, then complained:

"If I had known I would be treated like this when I returned, I might as well have stayed in Atlas."

"Van Fleet, be careful with your words."

"That's right. Although we were caught off guard this time, the front line did not provide us with any valuable intelligence about Atlas, and we didn't know they had so many equipment that had already begun to have a technological gap. We were completely caught off guard."

"I mean, Atlas didn't say he wanted to invite you to stay, did he?"

"."

Seeing Van Vleet choked by him, Guterres rarely smiled. He picked up his glass and clinked it with Van Vleet, who had a black face, and continued:

"But I think the military may have other reasons for leaving the two of us behind to oversee the production activities of these military-industrial enterprises."

"Elaborate."

"According to my sources, Atlas has received a large number of orders for various equipment recently. To a certain extent, this has had an impact on the old military-industrial enterprises, so these enterprises are now trying to develop various new equipment," Guterres said slowly.

"So what does this have to do with the two of us?"

"The largest business target of these military-industrial enterprises is the federal army. I guess the military may be worried that they will make some illegal moves in their production and research and development activities in order to pursue progress, so they asked the two of us to keep an eye on them."

"Does this mean that our new positions are not just empty positions?"

"Most likely."

(End of this chapter)