“What?! The governor of Gaota Province has been dismissed!”
“Wasn’t it just a resignation? The newspaper said Chief Henry had health issues and went to recuperate, didn’t it?”
“The man is still an elder of the Alliance establishment, so he deserves some respect. Being dismissed sounds so harsh, voluntarily stepping down to rest is a bit more dignified.”
“Oh… I see. But how could such an elder be dismissed?”
“Perhaps it’s because he was ineffective at his job. Earlier, the newspapers were talking about the progress of the Alliance’s first phase infrastructure projects. Gaota Province’s progress was barely better than that of Tea View Province, which was only established less than two months ago. The governor must have been dissatisfied.”
“You can analyze so much from the newspaper?”
“Of course! I was one of the first batch of refugees who escaped from Green Valley to Weixing City. I had already obtained official citizenship long ago. This time, I came back to Green Valley because I saw the results of the Alliance’s infrastructure efforts and made up my mind to set up a transport team.
My application plan was supported by the Beiqing Valley Province Agriculture Bureau, and I received investment. Look, I’m not just a transport driver; my fleet already has sixteen vehicles, running this line and linking more than two hundred farms…”
The sounds of people talking passed through a vehicle.
It was a modified Iron Bull truck, its bed extended and covered with a tarp, with a few windows opened for ventilation, resembling an armored transport vehicle.
About twenty people sat inside, listening to the driver boast.
The vehicle sped along a hardened road in the plain area of Beiqing Valley Area. On both sides were lush green fields characteristic of summer. The breeze carrying the sun’s warmth and the scent of early summer blew through the windows of the canvas, making Cohen Puliya feel almost intoxicated.
The pain from his forced retirement, after losing his right arm, right eye, and right ear, seemed to diminish significantly.
He was from Green Valley and had enlisted during the campaign by the Alliance to pacify the Green Valley Region half a year ago.
However, he had enlisted a bit late and barely caught the battles in Green Valley. After spending several weeks in the recruit camp, he was transferred to a regular unit.
But unlike most who joined the units of the Green Valley Group Army stationed there, he was sent to the Central Army Group 2nd Infantry Division and subsequentially returned to Central Province, before moving eastward to fight in the Eastern Provinces.
The combat in the Eastern Provinces was relatively easy, but that ease referred more to the overall situation. Specifically, at the level of each platoon and each soldier, it didn’t mean there was no danger at all.
At the time, Cohen Puliya’s platoon was ordered to eliminate a resistant bunker.
The heavy artillery bombardment wasn’t very effective, so soldiers had to go in and deal with it.
Cohen Puliya was on the assault team.
His squad’s attack went relatively smoothly, and under machine gun suppression, they approached the bunker’s entrance and blew it up. Once inside, they eliminated many of the enemy obstructions, incurring only four casualties.
But at that moment, they encountered a homemade bomb set by the enemy. An explosion burst beside him, and he passed out immediately.
His comrades did not abandon him and rescued him back to the field hospital in the rear.
After an amputation surgery, his life was saved, but he lost everything below the elbow of his right arm; his right eye was blinded forever, and his right ear was also blown off.
With such severe injuries, of course, he couldn’t return to his unit.
The unit promoted him by one rank and let him retire as a private first class.
In the strict sense, Cohen Puliya’s military career of barely three months ended just like that, marred with disability.
He was very despondent and hopeless.
He had come from a family of serfs, and after coming to the army, he experienced a life previously unimaginable.
Despite facing combat and danger, he loved his comrades from different places, enjoyed the squad leader’s rough but caring shouts, loved the brotherhood with his fellow soldiers as they fought side by side, and appreciated the ramblings of the company political instructor, which often included lessons and stories.
He didn’t want to retire.
But there was no choice, his current physical condition simply didn’t allow him to continue in the army.
However, the generous treatment the Alliance gave to retired soldiers and disabled veterans gave him hope and a light in the darkness.
First was the promotion to the rank of private first class.
This promotion was significant, as the retirement pay of a private first class was one level higher; and, when he transitioned to civilian status on the spot, he was directly granted the E9 civil service rank.
This amounted to a guarantee for the future.
Moreover, he was not just retiring normally but retiring due to disability. This meant that in addition to the standard retirement pay, he would also receive a generous pension.
Additionally, he had a third-class combat medal.
Speaking of which, it should be mentioned that the Military Administration Department designed three new levels of combat medals, ranking below the Revival Medal and the Extinguishing Wind Medal.
These medals represented not only honor but also an additional lifetime stipend.
All of this together, the pension and retirement pay, allowed Cohen Puliya to have a substantial sum of money after retirement to improve his life and to support himself for a long time; the E9 civil rank meant that as long as he followed the arrangements of the Military Administration Department Veterans Affairs Bureau and did some simple work, he could achieve a middle-class living standard.
This included food rations, housing subsidies, medical care levels, and education for descendants. The stipend from the E9 rank combined with the stipend from the combat medal could provide a nice additional quality of life on top of his basic living needs…