Empire of Shadows

“Yalan is the core key to defending the interests of the Federation in the East Ocean!”

“We need to deploy more naval bases on the East Ocean to build a war network that can cover the whole world!”

“When we have a resolution, a certain phone’s signal is sent and connected. Within six hours, the firepower of the Federation’s fleet can cover any place in the whole world!”

“We are no longer just participants in this game of the world, but the rule-makers, and the final referee!”

Lance, who was speaking in the most conspicuous place in the crowd, seemed to be glowing. The next moment, the people in the hall all began to applaud.

Everyone’s shoulders were carrying “heavy” epaulets. The lowest rank here was a major, and they could only do service work.

This was not a suburban senator’s manor, but the private residence of a big shot in the federal military. The people gathered here were also high-ranking military generals, or their representatives.

With the formal declaration of war, the entire country had entered a state of mobilization and war. The generals had long been gathered here. With the final “integration” of the three departments of the Presidential Palace, Congress, and the Department of Defense, they were about to go to different battlefields.

Admiral Miles had brought Lance over, and Senator Cleveland was also very much in favor. The relationship between the senators and these military generals could only be said to be an acquaintance, not to mention how deep the friendship was.

The vigilance of politicians towards military personnel is higher than their vigilance towards capitalists!After all, if a capitalist wants to obtain the political power in the hands of a politician, they must at least let the politicians eat their fill.

When they are really full, and the conversion of power and capital is also over, it is hard to say whether they have really lost it or not.

But military personnel are different. If these military personnel want the power in the hands of politicians, they only need to pick up the phone and tell their officers “you can act,” and they can subvert the regime.

More than one country in this world has had a similar situation, with the army subverting the regime to establish a military government.

So the politicians of the Federation and the military do not have a very good relationship. The various military committees that Congress has specially established for the military are not established to serve them!

Lance’s plan involved the military. If the military side did not agree, even if the congressional side agreed, although it could be carried out, it would be very embarrassing on the surface.

If another person with a bad brain directly flipped the table, the entire Congress would fall into a passive position.

So someone was needed to persuade the military people to stand with them. There was so much money that it could be shared together. This could also be considered a small contribution made by the political world during the war to ease the relationship with the military.

Lance carried this responsibility, and also the opportunity.

He appeared in the residence of the military generals and, in front of everyone, stated this plan that could bring great benefits to the military. Whether it was the navy or the army, they all seemed particularly excited!

Among them, an admiral with a full head of white hair also had a slightly excited look on his face. He was an admiral of the Federal Army, but he was very old, and at the same time, he was also the president of the Federal Central Military Academy.

Whether it was the generals of the navy or the army here, many of them could be said to be his “alumni.”

He could feel that the set of things that Lance had said had a huge impact on the future development of the military!

Once the federal military had a large number of overseas military bases, then they would be less constrained by Congress.

It wasn’t that the old general was planning to overthrow the corrupt federal capital politics and be his own master, but to be able to not rely heavily on Congress was undoubtedly good news for the military, for their own future development.

His son was a lieutenant general, his grandson was a major general, and he also hoped that the descendants of his family would be generals for generations to come, and could all dedicate themselves to the Federation!

Congress and the federal government had always been trying to weaken the factionalism in the military. This had always been the most worrying thing for these military generals.

They were not born generals either. It was because the ancestors of their family, the founding generation, were all generals, that they were generals.

The army, the identity of a general, was more like a glorious family inheritance.

Now the federal government wanted to strip these “family glories” from them. How could they possibly accept it?

The conflict between the two sides itself could also be seen as one of the inducements for the Federation to decide to participate in the war and launch a foreign war.

They were not clear how to walk the road ahead. The distance of the road was also covered by fog. But now, someone was holding a lamp, dispersing the haze on the road ahead, allowing them to see farther.

The old general thought of many things. He walked to Lance’s side and patted his arm. “What you said is very inspiring. How about it, are you interested in joining the army?”

This was not a whim of the old general, but a mature idea that had been born after he had listened to Lance’s thoughts.

At least in the current “think tank” of the military’s top brass, no one could come up with such a method.

They relied on the decisions of Congress for everything. The annual military budget, the scale of the army, and even the daily drills all had to be approved and nodded by the congressional side.

Of course, Congress would not deliberately make things difficult for them and not agree, but the feeling of having your lifeline always in the hands of others was really not good!

What if one day the conflict between the two sides could not be reconciled, and Congress directly cut off the support of military funds? The soldiers might be willing to “be loyal” to the military generals, but you still have to pay them, right?

They can give up their lives, but you are not willing to give them a salary, or you can’t afford to. Why should they sell their lives for you?

The theory of overseas garrison proposed by Lance, with the local providing financial support, could alleviate the military’s being constrained by Congress.

The more overseas military bases they had, the less they would be constrained by Congress. As long as the number was large enough, they could even directly confront Congress on some issues.

This suggestion, which could preserve the “family glory” and “inheritance,” was very important to the old general and everyone here.

Others couldn’t think of it, but Lance could.

And to think of it in such a systematic way could only mean that Lance was a talent, a talent who could provide them with more value!

Facing the old general’s invitation, Lance smiled and shook his head. “I am honored that you think so highly of me, but I’m sorry, I have no intention of joining the army for the time being. After all, I still have my own business to do.”

The old general was not angry and continued to raise the stakes. “Come on, I’ll make you a general!”

This sentence was spoken very smoothly, without any regard for Congress and the Department of Defense, as if the military were his own family’s.

If he said he could be a general, he could definitely be a general.

The other generals looked at Lance with a trace of envy and jealousy in their eyes, but they did not say anything of dissatisfaction or other negative emotions.

The army is a centralized, dictatorial, and independent system. For a soldier, they can question the orders of their superiors, but they must obey.

Questioning is a matter of questioning. Even if they feel that this order is not right, as long as the superior’s order is formally issued, no matter how unwilling they are, they must execute it.

This is its dictatorial place. The old general, in the entire military, can be said to be at the top of the pyramid. Although he cannot control the entire army like an emperor, the vast majority of high-ranking generals, without their interests being harmed, will give the old general face.

So if he said it was a general, it was definitely a general!

Lance’s eyes were a little astonished. He had a brief hesitation, but in the end, he still shook his head.

“I am very tempted, to be honest, but I still have to refuse, because I have my own business, and a group of brothers who believe in me.”

“I am very grateful for your high regard. If there is anything I can do to help, anything, I will help!”

“This is my promise to you!”

The old general had no dissatisfaction, nor would he ask again. He just felt a little regretful.

He felt that this might be a good thing, but from Lance’s perspective, once he joined the military, he would become very unfree, and he was not like the generals here.

They were not from a military family. The federal army was founded by their ancestors, or they had graduated from the central military academy. Their alumni were all over the military, and they also had a background of a relationship like the “old principal.”

Lance was a pure “person.” He had no network of relationships in here. Because he was pulled into the army by the old general, although people would be close to him, they would not be excessively close.

The old general could still live for a few more years, but this kind of thing was also uncertain. It was fine while he was alive, but what if one day the accident came before tomorrow?

At that time, it would be very difficult for him to get along in the military.

So it’s better not to get involved.

If he could get involved, the federal government would not have put military skin on the politicians in the Department of Defense, nor would they have not yet mixed sand into the military.

Compared to joining the military and gaining what seems to be greater but completely dependent on others’ power and status, being outside, the power might be a little worse, but at least it’s freer, easier to turn around, and safer.

Lance’s refusal was not so unacceptable. The old general smiled, and he patted Lance’s arm again. “I’m not as petty as you think!”

As he spoke, he looked at the others. “You guys have someone record what Lance said. We’ll have to study it later.”

“This war is an opportunity for the Federation, and at the same time, it is also an opportunity for us!”

This small gathering soon ended. Of course, Lance did not leave. He, along with Admiral Miles, and a few other admirals and the old general, had a separate chat about his idea.

“Provide wine for the soldiers?” The old general looked at Lance with an expression as if he were looking at a madman, but then he fell into deep thought.

At first, when Lance had said this idea, he had thought it was not a good idea, but after Lance had once again shown him how much “two ounces” was, he thought it was a genius idea!

Two ounces, for him, was like drinking water. He couldn’t feel any intoxication at all, but the feeling of relaxation brought by the alcohol was real.

In fact, the army was very unhopeful about the initial performance of this war. The Federation had not participated in such a large-scale war for many years.

The last time a single battlefield had more than ten thousand people was sixty or seventy years ago. These new recruits, besides shooting rabbits, had never faced an enemy with the weapons in their hands.

Their think tank did not have any good results when they were evaluating. Many people thought that there would definitely be a not-so-good performance in the early stage.

But as the war continued, the soldiers who could hold on would become the new “skeleton,” supporting the entire military.

At that time, they would split the old soldiers into the new recruit companies, take on important work, and lead the new recruits to fight.

Fear, tension, anger, helplessness…

They had to face many problems, the most of which should be tension and anger.

They actually didn’t have any good solutions. Now some of the troops had started live-fire training, and the soldiers were also visibly getting nervous.

On the battlefield, I’m afraid it will become even more tense.

But if they could be provided with some wine…

The old general looked at the others. These admirals were also thinking about this matter.

The old general’s seriousness about this matter was much more serious than on the senator’s side. He looked and looked, and finally his gaze fell on an army general.

“This time, your side will be in charge of the vanguard. So you guys try it first.”

“Lance, can you get some samples out first, so we can actually test its effect on the soldiers?”

Lance nodded. “No problem.”

He did not agree at once. After all, for these generals, these soldiers were their bargaining chips, their foundation.

They were very cautious.

Although money is very important, you can only have money if you have a foundation.

If they lost what they had now, even if Lance or others could give them more money, this money would not fall into their hands.

On the contrary, if they could maintain everything they had now, then even if they did nothing, in the future there would be people like Yellows, Reds, who would take the initiative to send them money!

The army general nodded. “Okay, I’ll pick a company.”

The old general knew that Lance had come to talk about this matter with the consent of the congressional side. The people on the congressional side, as long as they were given enough money, they would not object even if they were asked to sell out the country.

These sons of bitches are always worried about the military having problems. In fact, it is them who are most likely to have problems!

However, the old general did not show any dissatisfaction. After all, what Lance had said did have value, and it could indeed bring them huge benefits—

Without affecting their basic base, they could completely cooperate.

Lance did not raise any objections to this, especially when he communicated with the congressional side on this issue, he had proposed to let the soldiers go and fight first.

Let them feel the atmosphere on the battlefield. Anyone would feel uneasy and nervous because they could lose their lives at any time.

At this time, they would not protest against including “tension relievers” in the basic military supply order.

After some more talk, the old general had someone send Lance back.

This was not Lance’s last battle, because next he had to go to the Department of Defense to talk. This time, it was with Major General Bruney.

The Department of Defense was a hundred times easier to talk to than the military. After all, these people were just politicians in military uniform. In their bones, they were no different from the senators in Congress.

It was just that in order not to let the military have an allergic reaction to the Department of Defense, they were made to wear military uniforms.

The generals of the Department of Defense, having heard that there was a share for them in this, and that it was on a scale of tens of millions or hundreds of millions a year, each of them became enthusiastic.

This sum of money had to be taken by at least a few hundred people, but as long as the money was enough, the amount that people could get was still an astonishing number.

The Under Secretary of Defense who received Lance directly told him that as long as the military and Congress had no problem, they would include “tension relievers” in the single-person military supplies and distribute them to the entire army.

The Presidential Palace side did not need Lance to run. According to Tom, it was the Majority Leader who had gone to talk.

The congressional side actually also had many people who wanted to share this money. Of course, the number was definitely much smaller than on the Department of Defense side. Like Senator Cleveland, in the early stage, he might be able to get a share of one or two million a year, but as the war continued to break out and more troops were put in, his final annual income might be twenty million a year!

With this money, let alone running for president, it was enough to run for anything!

During this period, there was also an interesting little incident. A photo of Lance in handcuffs was sent back to Golden Port City, which caused some small commotion in Golden Port City.

Someone had spread a rumor that Lance had already been arrested in New Golden City, and would soon be prosecuted and would sit in prison for the rest of his life.

This news caused a huge shock, and there were even some riots in the society. Mayor Williams had to make several phone calls before he could get through to Lance.

After confirming that there was no problem with Lance, the Lance Family cooperated with the police to act quickly and directly suppressed a small group of opportunists.

Their bodies dyed a beach in the Bay Area red. Everyone knew what had happened, but no one dared to say anything.

After all, the rule of the Lance Family was still continuing…

Besides this matter, it was that Lance had opened up some ground in the upper-class circles of New Golden City. Many people knew that Lance could enter and exit the manors and residences of various senators. Some brokers and speculators took the initiative to come to his door, wanting to talk about cooperation with him.

There was all kinds of cooperation. For example, asking him to help bring people to see a senator, and after it was done, he would be given a sum of money.

There was also asking him to find a way to lobby a certain senator to make a compromise on a certain proposal. If it could be done, he could be given a great benefit.

Lance did not agree to any of them, but it did not prevent him from attending the various gatherings and the like that he was invited to, which could be considered a preliminary contact with the circle of New Golden City.

On January 18th, the federal government announced that the first batch of 200,000 army troops would be sent to the side battlefield. The whole world realized that the federal government was serious this time.

At the same time, the Dantra Republic and its military alliance declared war on the Federation. The atmosphere of the entire Federation became a little tense.

After all, this was the first time that many people of the Federation had encountered a state of war and a war in their lives. They were also somewhat confused about the future…

(End of a Chapter)