That was somewhat unexpected.
Yu Lian knew, of course, that the soldiers and civilians of New Jade Gate were still putting up fierce resistance. To honor their steadfastness, President Nishita had already begun handing out titles and promises of promotion to the troops left behind while he was still in office. In just two months, several generals of Sandfolk and Lumina descent had joined the Commonwealth Army's ranks.
After the Commonwealth government-in-exile was established on Nefi, they even appointed the remaining General Carter as Deputy Minister of Military Command and Chief of the General Staff.
It was said they had even considered promoting old man Carter to marshal.
The diligent, hardworking, unpretentious General Carter was less like a soldier than an old factory manager. He might genuinely have become a marshal of the Commonwealth while completely unaware of it, promoted remotely.
Of course, making someone a marshal in absentia without even being able to give him a baton was a little too makeshift. Besides, the death or capture of a marshal of his stature would be a severe blow to morale. So the idea was finally called off.
In short, although the New Jade Gate battlefield wasn't large, the density of senior officers alone made it a fairly high-profile affair.
But prestige was one thing, strategic value another.
The soldiers at New Jade Gate were putting up fierce resistance, to be sure, but there was no fleet or fortress in orbit, nor any elite ground forces on the surface. How much damage could the New Jade Gate garrison and the militia divisions, made up mostly of reorganized Sandfolk, really inflict on the Empire?
Besides, it was a relatively dry planet, with vast deserts and rocky terrain covering most of its surface.
There were naturally caves hidden underground and in the