How Could Something This Absurd Happen in This World!

"What should we do next?"

After thinking for quite a while longer, Sankara arrived at a preliminary idea and said:

"The National Liberation Alliance suddenly retreated along the entire front. With our lack of intelligence, we don't know exactly what medicine they're selling in that gourd. Under normal circumstances, we certainly shouldn't rashly attack the areas they control.

But these are precisely not normal circumstances! Because of the United Anti-Government Army's presence, we can't deal with Claude and the others immediately, for the sake of overall stability.

If we let them sit idle, given the resources they currently have, the forces under their command will undoubtedly swell to an unprecedented size during this period. That will only make them harder to deal with.

So we can't let them sit idle. We should order them to attack the National Liberation Alliance's territory immediately and recover our lost ground.

That way, we can continue weakening Claude and the others while finding out what medicine the National Liberation Alliance is selling in its gourd."

In essence, Sankara's method was no different from having Claude and the others defend Nijia against the National Liberation Alliance's attacks.

But precisely because there was little difference, their habitual thinking would keep Claude and the others from refusing.

It was the same as those so-called excuses: "They're already dead," "We're already here," "It's the New Year, after all," and "The child's still young." Before their brains caught up, Claude and the others would actually think along those lines too.

"Oh!"

After hearing Sankara's idea, Katelai also thought of a method and spoke with some excitement, as though trying to redeem himself through meritorious service:

"Mr. President, we can't issue promotion orders directly to Claude and the others, but could we issue them to the officers and soldiers under their command who have fought bravely?

The fighting strength of old-style armies rests on these core personnel. Most of the rest just muddy the waters and eat their fill without doing any work. With the wind at their backs, they run faster than anyone, and with the wind against them, they also run faster than anyone.

As long as we transfer those core personnel away, their units probably won't have much fighting strength left!"

Upon hearing Katelai's words.

Sankara's eyes instantly lit up.

This was indeed a good method too!

One could only say that Katelai was certainly no fool. On the contrary, he was very clever. Sometimes, his thinking simply failed to turn the corner, or, as mentioned earlier, he habitually approached problems with a warrior's mindset.

So Sankara immediately replied:

"This method could certainly work! But we shouldn't issue too many promotion orders at once. If we transfer too many people in one go, Claude and the others will definitely object.

We'll transfer just three or four each time, slicing their flesh with a blunt knife. A few dozen more cuts will do. That way, even if Claude and the others know our aim, they won't be able to object outright. They'll only be able to let us slowly slice them to death.

As for the officers and soldiers transferred out, have them all enroll in the Army Senior Officer School. They're all rare talents. We can't waste them!"

The Army Senior Officer School.

It was a military school that Sankara had the Ministry of National Defense take the lead in establishing after he came to power, intended to train officers for the army.

The investment was enormous, nearly two billion North African francs.

Originally, the Ministry of National Defense had opened its mouth like a lion and demanded five billion, only for the Ministry of Finance to reject it outright.

Nearly half the funds were intended to hire instructors from the Soviet Union. Only the remaining funds were for building teaching facilities.

By now, all the foundations had been laid, but it might still take another six months to finish construction!

During those six months, all cadets admitted to the Army Senior Officer School were housed in an army barracks by the Ministry of National Defense for their classes.

At present, 98 cadets selected from across the country were studying the world's most advanced military concepts under Soviet instructors.

Moreover, Sankara also planned to spend heavily on sending the ten best cadets from each class to the Soviet Union for further study.

If possible, he also wanted to send them to a certain great Eastern power to learn a thing or two.

For certain widely known reasons, that great Eastern power's army was universally acknowledged as having the world's strongest light infantry!

They were an existence that gave the American Union State's soldiers nightmares just from seeing them!

Before Katelai could answer, Sankara spoke again:

"Forget it. How many good ideas can just the two of us come up with? Go summon all the Ministry of National Defense's staff officers. We'll pool everyone's wisdom and try to work out a practical plan before tomorrow!"

"Yes, Mr. President!"

At the same time.

The Fourth French Republic, Élysée Palace.

The North African Strategic Intelligence Bureau.

It was still that familiar conference room.

And still those familiar intelligence officers.

Only, in the luxurious conference room, the warm air blowing from the expensive air conditioner warmed the intelligence officers' bodies, but could not warm their hearts.

At this very moment.

Every one of their hearts was ice-cold!

It was as though someone had tossed them into the Arctic or Antarctic, freezing them solid into blocks of ice that couldn't even be cracked with a hammer!

"Can someone tell me? Why did this happen?"

The director, seated at the head of the table, asked.

From his eyes, one could tell that he was somewhat on the verge of breaking down, though what filled them most was anger.

"..."

All the intelligence officers lowered their heads. No one was willing to step forward and answer.

After the director's voice faded, the vast conference room fell so quiet that it seemed haunted, making one's hair stand on end.

Seeing that no one was willing to answer, the director pointed at someone at random and said:

"You! Yes, you. Stand up and answer my question!"

"Uh... well... I..."

The intelligence officer stammered and hesitated for a long time before finally standing up.

But he looked like a condemned prisoner heading to the execution ground, prepared to lose his head.

The intelligence officer organized the words in his mind, then cautiously answered:

"According to our current intelligence, because they couldn't withstand such enormous daily casualties, the mercenaries we sent to the National Liberation Alliance killed the Alliance's senior leaders who opposed retreat in a fit of anger, then led the National Liberation Alliance in retreat."

"???"

The director thought he had mentally prepared himself for everything, but after hearing what this intelligence officer said, he suddenly realized that perhaps he wasn't ready after all.

The faction he had backed had resolutely carried out his orders, only to have its leaders all killed by the people he himself had sent?

How could something this absurd happen in this world!?

So only films and novels needed logic, while reality needed none at all!?

Now, his heart was not merely ice-cold.

It also began to seize with waves of pain, as though someone had suddenly squeezed it with their hand.

"Such enormous daily casualties? Tell me straight. Just how many people were killed and wounded every day to make even the men we sent unable to bear it, to the point of mutiny!"

The director demanded furiously.

"According to our current intelligence, over the past few days, the National Liberation Alliance has averaged roughly 150 to 200 dead and around 400 wounded per day. And the mercenaries we sent have averaged over forty dead and over 150 wounded per day."

"???"

Hearing those figures, the director froze completely.

Were they sure they were fighting an African country?

If he hadn't been the one directing everything behind the scenes, he would have thought they were fighting some industrial nation with a powerful military!

Was this still the Republic of Burkina he remembered?

Could it be that he actually hadn't woken up yet and was still dreaming!?

"How could the casualties be so high? Are you sure these figures you received are accurate? Could those people below be underreporting them?"

After questioning his entire understanding of life for a long while, the director was ultimately still unwilling to believe those figures.

"Uh..."

The intelligence officer hesitated for a moment before finally replying helplessly:

"We didn't want to believe them at first either, but the people we sent to verify them gave us figures even more outrageous than these."

"..." The director.