Lieutenant Colonel Eleanor Bonaparte was in excellent spirits, not just good, but great.
Perhaps it was because at the tender age of 25, she was taking over command of all of Tulon's city defenses and over three thousand soldiers, and was about to decide the fate of seven hundred thousand citizens within the city; she radiated glory.
Elinore decided to work overtime to celebrate, so she spent the night inspecting the city defenses, monitoring enemy movements, and contacting the outlying garrison stations. By now, she hadn't closed her eyes for a full twenty-four hours.
You might ask how a Chief of Staff who had only been in office for half a year became the supreme Commander? Of course, it was because Commander Colonel Hull went on vacation last month, and Deputy Commander Lieutenant Colonel Hamm 'suddenly' got acute gastric ulcers three days ago, and 'accidentally' broke his little finger when he went to the hospital, and is now recuperating in the hospital. So, everyone decided to let Tulon's only Moon People, Miss Bonaparte, who was supposedly just getting gilded, formally take over the city's entire defense.
Miss Elinore neither showed humility nor recited poetry; she took office quite calmly.
"Anyway, rather than letting those gophers mess things up, I'd rather do it myself," Elinore explained to Major Dorset.
The latter was the Commander of Tulon's Armored Grenadiers, with 300 men under his command, the only elite unit in all of New Yumen fully equipped with AS-56 Dragoon-type power armor. Furthermore, these guys were legitimate Marine Corps personnel, commonly known as 'Marine Corps Gorillas,' and were much higher in the military's pecking order than 'Security Force grunts.'
If Elinore wanted to control Tulon, these people had to be won over.
Fortunately, Major Dorset was quite respectful to the Chief of Staff, which had nothing to do with him having served as Security Director for Elinore's father, General Caron Bonaparte, in the past.
Definitely nothing to do with it!
"But no matter what, the enemy has gathered over a million troops; satellite and drone monitoring results confirm this. Adding the reinforcements returning from the garrison stations outside the city, the entire city only has over three thousand people, and we don't know if the Outer Rim fleet's reinforcements can arrive on time... We are going to face a tough battle!"
Major Dorset, forty years old this year, spoke with seasoned prudence, but Elinore found it all to be nonsense. However, since the other party was someone her father had brought up, and she used to call him "Uncle Louis" and he used to call her "Miss" when she was a child, she still had to give him some face.
"Just over a million primitives, and who knows how many old, young, women, and children are among them just to pad the numbers. You understand the primitive mode of warfare."
"Even a million pigs, when they charge, are like a flood! And, hasn't the intelligence already said they have firearms, they have chariots... Just now, drone reconnaissance showed they are setting up positions on Archey Hill 6 outside the city; they should be building artillery positions! We can't determine the model yet, but if they are heavy siege cannons, I don't know how long Tulon Port's shield can last."
Elinore nodded: "The reconnaissance department finally did something useful... Heh, over a million Sand People gathered from all directions, forming a large army, and only then did they think to report it. Just for that, their Commander should be shot."
"Uh, Lieutenant Park Yong-nam, the head of the reconnaissance department, was just shot by you yesterday..."
Elinore pretended not to hear, impatiently twirled the ponytail draped over her shoulder with one finger, and casually asked: "What about Yuli's side... Uh, are there no messages from any of the garrison stations that lost contact?"
Dorset, of course, knew what the Miss wanted to ask. After a moment of hesitation, he gritted his teeth and said: "No, also... The satellite scan report just now confirmed that the 12th Garrison Station has been completely destroyed. The internal members should have successfully broken through."
The Major's later addition didn't help much; Elinore became even more agitated, striding away with her beautiful long legs.
"Where are you going? Governor Yamadera said he wanted to see you."
"Tell him I'll wait for him on the parade ground."
About ten minutes later, Governor Yamadera scurried to the parade ground. This short, stout Japanese man in his fifties was clearly not athletic; he was already drenched in sweat. When he arrived, he found that all the 'senior officers' from Captain upwards were Present. Miss Elinore was in the midst of everyone, openly fiddling with an AS56 air-to-ground combat mech.
The youngest officer Present was about ten years older than the Chief of Staff, but now, watching this 'little girl' with a smile on her face and a murderous aura about her, fiddling with firearms, they were all as quiet as cicadas in winter.
This crazy woman isn't going to execute me by cannon with that power armor, is she? The Governor chuckled twice, unable to resist pulling out his handkerchief to wipe his sweat. In front of Elinore, he truly couldn't put on the airs of a Governor. Her education, ability, and background were one thing, but more importantly, Elinore was an officer appointed by the Commonwealth Headquarters, directly subordinate to the Universe Fleet as a Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel, paid by the Defense Committee, and not comparable to the 'Security Force grunts' appointed by the Governor's Office.
Economic dependence determines personal allegiance! This wasn't said by Mr. Lu Xun, but taught by Teacher Li.
"...Um, Lieutenant Colonel Bonaparte. Is there something we should discuss privately?"
"Let's talk here, Governor. As you can see, your subordinate is dull-witted and preoccupied with military duties. Besides urgent military matters, I truly have no mind for anything else. It's good that everyone is here; if there's anything, we can speak freely."
Governor Yamadera hesitated for nearly a minute, during which Elinore had already begun preparing to polish and wax the power armor.
"Lieutenant Colonel, can Tulon truly be defended?" The Governor finally asked the question.
"That, I can't say for myself; you can ask them." Elinore fiddled with the gun barrel on the power armor—this wasn't a defective item used by the Security Force, but the main equipment of the Marine Corps, with a 9mm Vulcan cannon as its primary weapon.
The officers swallowed. The dark-skinned Major at the front, who looked the most like a soldier, stood at attention and saluted, loudly declaring: "Under the wise leadership of Officer Bonaparte and Governor Yamadera, the city's defenses will certainly be foolproof!"
The Governor noticed that he placed "Officer Bonaparte" before "Governor Yamadera" and almost fainted from exasperation. It was worth noting that this Major Sangjia was personally appointed by him as the Commander of Tulon's defenses.
"Lieutenant Colonel, what I mean is... The Sand People are numerous and powerful. We, uh, we really don't need to stand firm here! There are still two merchant ships in the spaceport; we can still leave now. This, while there's still time! I heard the Sand People are setting up artillery positions outside. Once they set up their anti-air interception, we won't be able to leave."
The Governor actually knew the Sand People were setting up artillery? Elinore glanced at the officers, who quickly lowered their heads.
Well, no matter how the Chief of Staff managed to gain everyone's allegiance through her excellent personal (coercive) charm (and intimidation), the time was still too short to truly brainwash these cunning old foxes, each with their own agenda.
"Lieutenant Colonel, let's retreat. As the Commander, shouldn't you preserve the living forces?"
"You've given me a new understanding of military command," Elinore said with a smile, nodding. "However, if we retreat, what about the six hundred thousand citizens in this city? What about the seven hundred thousand Commonwealth citizens of New Yumen?"
"This, this is also unavoidable. But after so many years, the Sand People are no longer uncivilized barbarians. We can solve this through diplomatic means. May the universe spirit bless them, they will surely be fine."
"You've also given me a new understanding of diplomacy and faith," Elinore said with a smile, shaking her head. "In any case, a soldier's duty tells me I cannot flee here. However, this is already a war zone, Governor, and as a civilian official, you can, of course, leave. Your subordinate will not stop you, nor do I have the authority to stop you!"
Me? How can I escape? If I really escape by myself, how can I find someone to take the blame? Do you think I'm asking you to escape with me because you're pretty? Isn't it because you're the military chief and if we escape together, I can then say I 'fully trusted the military chief's judgment' when we escaped, ah no, when we retreated together?
You're a young lady from a prominent family and a top student from the Defense University; at most, you'll be sidelined for a few years and then be fine, right? But I'm different! If my 'desertion in the face of the enemy' is confirmed, losing my position would be the least of it. Can't you understand a common person like me, who worked hard to climb to this position?
Of course, Governor Yamadera couldn't say the words above. He weighed his words, still preparing to say something, when he saw two soldiers dragging a Lieutenant into the parade ground. The Governor stood dumbfounded, not understanding, but a moment later, he finally recognized the Lieutenant's face and was instantly shocked and horrified.
"Lieutenant Al Kruse?" Elinore continued to fiddle with the armaments on the power armor, asking casually.
This Lieutenant, in his early thirties, was almost scared into a puddle of mud. He looked at Miss Bonaparte, trembling all over, his lips mumbling but unable to speak, looking pleadingly at the Governor, who had started sweating again.
"I ask you, after three full days since Command HQ issued the reinforcement order, not a single soldier from the 12th Garrison Station has arrived. But why is it that you, who were assigned there, and your airship, are in Tulon?"
Major Dorset glanced at Elinore, then continued to stare straight ahead, pretending to be a statue that heard nothing.
"I, I, your subordinate, I, your subordinate..." Lieutenant Kruse repeated himself like a broken record for half a minute before finally remembering what to say: "I, I also did it for a living! Hauling a ship of spices earns 5000 each time! That's all it was, really only that much, I'm willing to hand it all over! Please, sir, I still have family, I still have children, I have three children to support... Boo hoo hoo, Governor Yamadera, save me, save me!"
The short, stout Governor suddenly let out a loud shout, completely overriding Kruse's pleas: "Miss Lieutenant Colonel, I believe we should demonstrate humanity's unyielding spirit and bravery, and persist in resisting! We must never compromise with the primitive natives; this is international common sense!"
