"You held meetings for three days and this is what you came up with? Kindergarten kids could rehearse a dance for three days and then go straight onstage. Yu Lian froze for a moment, but then felt his blood pressure start shooting up.
"Good grief... The grown-ups on Earth discussed this for three days and came to this conclusion?"
"It's not a conclusion, but a proposal. It hasn't become an order yet." Marshal Paris raised his voice a little, then lit himself a thick cigar the size of a thumb. Yu Lian remembered that the old marshal hadn't used to smoke.
"So you haven't even reached a conclusion that everyone can tentatively agree on. Is that right?" Yu Lian felt that it wasn't just his blood pressure shooting up anymore. His blood sugar and uric acid were probably rising too, though that certainly wasn't the fault of the lollipop, ice cream, and wheat soda he'd just had.
Marshal Paris explained that after the Mugu White Agreement was signed, the expeditionary fleet had indeed begun an orderly withdrawal back home. The eight Yinglong-class battlecruisers and four large carriers that had originally belonged to the Solar System Fleet had been undergoing maintenance at the Martian shipyards since returning.
With those ships as its core, plus four of the latest Main God-class dreadnoughts, the Solar System Fleet could at least be rebuilt.
"After the battle at the Ring of Miracles, we lost two-thirds of our capital ships. The country's military strength was instantly cut in half. That left Earth completely exposed."
"Not exposed, just feeling insecure, right?" Like pulling a blanket over your feet, it was a childish, instinctive fear. In reality, it didn't make any difference.
Yu Lian shook his head. "But in the Southern Heavenly Gate direction, the Outer Ring Fleet