The National Liberation Alliance retreats on all fronts: How should Claude and the others be handled?

"The United Anti-Government Army hasn't retreated. In fact, after the National Liberation Alliance withdrew, they launched another full-scale offensive."

Katelai answered.

This was also what puzzled him. Both the National Liberation Alliance and the United Anti-Government Army were backed by France-or rather, the North African Strategic Intelligence Bureau.

There were even mercenaries from France in the National Liberation Alliance.

Then why!

Would the French allow the National Liberation Alliance to retreat, yet urge the United Anti-Government Army to attack?

Lacking the relevant intelligence,

Katelai and the officers of the Ministry of National Defense had all failed to make sense of this.

"?"

Sankara was puzzled too when he heard Katelai's answer.

After killing off a heap of brain cells, he arrived at a rough guess, but he could not be certain.

In the end, Sankara could only decide:

"It looks like we'll have to ask the magical Soviet Union."

If the United Kingdom's intelligence agency was the Sleeping Dragon, then France's intelligence agency was the Young Phoenix.

Because MI6's other name was the "KGB's British branch," while the Directorate-General for External Security's other name was the "KGB's French branch."

The two of them truly were a rare pair of Sleeping Dragon and Young Phoenix in the history of human intelligence!

If the French and British intelligence agencies discovered any important intelligence,

Their president and prime minister might learn the specifics several hours earlier by calling the Kremlin in the Soviet Union and asking!

After Sankara began cooperating with the Soviet Union,

Whenever intelligence involved the Republic of Burkina, the Soviet Union was always willing to share it if Sankara asked. Sometimes, they even volunteered it to him.

"Let's hope it's good news when the time comes."

Katelai hastily added that, then asked:

"Mr. President, now that we've fully recaptured Nijia, should we give Claude and the others the billion we promised them? Why don't we simply not pay it? We've already given each of them a billion anyway!"

Back then,

Claude and the others had rushed to Nijia, spurring their horses on, precisely because they had been tempted by this extra bonus of one billion North African francs.

Later, the Ministry of National Defense had also used the fact that Nijia had not yet been recaptured as grounds to refuse to pay them this billion, urging them to attack the National Liberation Alliance and recapture Nijia as soon as possible.

This billion was just like the carrot Afanti dangled in front of his donkey: visible, but out of reach!

"Well..."

After pondering for a while, Sankara answered:

"Divide this billion into four shares according to the contributions of their respective brigades, and pay it to Claude and the others! Our central government still needs to keep its word!"

In the end, Sankara still decided to give them the billion!

Because, at its core, this issue involved the credibility of the government and Sankara.

You could dangle a carrot in front of someone once, but if you wanted to do it again, it probably would not be so easy!

At the same time, this incident would cause other factions and individuals to lose trust in Sankara and the government, leaving them unwilling to believe anything Sankara or the government said.

Besides, for Sankara now, one billion North African francs was merely a hair off nine oxen. He had already poured in a trillion North African francs. Did he still need to worry about this billion?

So there was absolutely no need to pick up this sesame seed only to lose the watermelon that was so important to both Sankara and the government!

"Understood!"

Katelai nodded and continued asking:

"Then how should we handle Claude and the others?"

In Katelai's view, the military, as the state's instrument of violence, could only remain in the hands of the central government and the supreme leader.

To put it more bluntly, it could only remain in Sankara's hands.

Anyone else who tried to lay a finger on the military had to be dealt a heavy blow, annihilated in both body and spirit!

Previously, they had had no choice. The circumstances were special, and they could only tacitly accept the existence of warlords like Claude and the others.

But now that they had the ability, Katelai, as minister of national defense, naturally wanted to reclaim their military authority for Sankara!

Seeing that Sankara did not answer immediately, Katelai hurriedly added:

"Why don't we at the Ministry of National Defense simply draft promotion orders for them and transfer them to the ministry? If they agree, we can take the opportunity to assume control of their troops.

"If they refuse, we'll order the 1st Light Armored Brigade and the 2nd Infantry Brigade, together with the air force, to wipe them all out in Nijia."

Along with raising the question, he had offered his own solution.

In Sankara's view, however, while Katelai's solution was quite feasible, it was somewhat too crude, and-

"The idea is very good, but the timing is wrong!"

Sankara shook his head and explained:

"The war in Nijia is over, but the war in Bugani isn't. Nor is there any sign that the United Anti-Government Army will withdraw anytime soon.

"If Claude and the others accept your appointments, everyone will indeed be happy. If they refuse, and then, as you said, we simply wipe them all out.

"Leaving aside how many casualties that would cause, how would the four local brigades stationed in Bugani react if they heard the news?

"Do you think they might defect to the United Anti-Government Army then? I think that should be possible, shouldn't it? And the chances aren't small!

"If they really did defect, our troops might not suffer particularly heavy losses, provided they ran fast enough, but we certainly wouldn't be able to hold Bugani!

"Once the strategic stronghold of Bugani falls, there'll basically be no defensible terrain behind it. More than twenty thousand United Anti-Government Army troops, along with nearly thirty thousand rebels, would attack us together.

"Even the National Liberation Alliance might stage a comeback. I don't think I need to say any more about what the consequences would be then, do I?"

In fact, if not for the four brigades in Bugani, or if not for the United Anti-Government Army,

Now would indeed have been a good opportunity to deal with Claude and the others.

Each of them had one billion North African francs, and with the extra bonus they were about to receive, once they caught their breath, the forces under their command would rapidly expand.

At that point, their ambitions might well stir again, even though they had already been cowed into submission!

But the trouble with things in this world was that they simply would not follow your wishes. All sorts of reasons and unexpected developments would force you to compromise.

"Uh..."

Katelai froze. He really had not thought that far ahead, and now that he had heard Sankara explain it, he instantly broke out in a cold sweat.

Thank goodness!

Now, Katelai felt profoundly fortunate-fortunate that Sankara had spotted the problem with his plan at a glance and had not accepted it.

If the president had failed to spot the problem and instead accepted the solution he had proposed, and events then unfolded as the president had described,

Wouldn't he, Katelai, become a sinner against the country and its people!?

"I'm sorry, Mr. President! I proposed this plan full of holes without thinking it through carefully. I'm truly very sorry!"

Katelai said, filled with self-reproach.

"?"

Naturally, Sankara knew nothing of Katelai's elaborate inner turmoil. He simply smiled, shook his head, and comforted him:

"What is there to apologize for? You're not a god. How could you be all-knowing and all-powerful? It's perfectly normal for a proposed plan to have problems. Don't my own plans have all sorts of holes too?

"As long as we all sit down, communicate, and discuss things together, we can identify these problems and arrive at a better plan!"

"Phew-"

Seeing that Sankara did not blame him, Katelai instantly let out a breath of relief, then asked:

"Mr. President, what do you think we should do next?"