Chapter 12: Jiang Bai is specially appointed as Commander of the Seventh Division of the Zhenwei Army and granted the rank of Major General!

"That's right, I'm going up too. At worst, a man dies and his soul soars to the sky. If not, he lives for ten thousand years!"

"Commander Sun, times have changed. We're no longer in the era of pigtails tied at the back of our heads. Now we're facing the Japanese devils with their foreign rifles, foreign cannons, and foreign—"

"Foreign my foot! I was playing with guns while you were still playing with mud..."

...

In terms of overall strength, the Chengyun provincial army far surpassed the Guan-Chengyun forces.

But having recently clashed with the Shuifang faction's troops, their vitality had taken a hit.

Should war break out again now, they were highly likely to find themselves beset on two fronts.

For the Chengyun faction, this would undoubtedly mean facing an even more complex situation.

"Enough! All of you, shut the hell up!"

The hall fell instantly silent.

Wang Lin furrowed his brow, remained silent for a moment, then turned to Jiang Bai and asked,

"Jiang Bai, what is your view on this matter?"

At this critical moment, Wang Lin actually called on Jiang Bai? All present were slightly taken aback.

With those words, every gaze shifted in unison to Jiang Bai, who had been sitting quietly in the corner, and whose rank was only captain.

Who among those at this table was not a figure whose mere stomp would send tremors through Chengyun Province? All were senior military or political officials with real power in the faction, their positions illustrious.

Their relationships might be distant, but at least each knew something of the others.

Yet the name Jiang Bai—apart from Wu Sheng and Wang Lin, nearly none present knew who this man was!

The puzzled expressions of the military and political elite were precisely the outcome the old marshal desired. At last, his frown eased.

Now they entered the domain in which the old marshal excelled: the realm of human affairs.

To speak frankly, for a schemer like the old marshal, who had risen from the bottom to the very summit of the new regime, assassination attempts had long since ceased to surprise him.

The anger he had shown just now was both genuine and feigned.

His true anger was at how, after so many years of developing the Chengyun faction, it was still worth nothing in the eyes of the Japanese devils; they would bomb him at will.

His feigned anger was to test the minds of his subordinates—those who charge blindly die blind, those who cower die cowardly, those who are foolish die foolishly; in a word, none were of true use.

If it weren't for Jiang Bai, if old Wang had really been killed in the bombing, could this ragtag group truly steer the great ship of the Chengyun faction?

Alas, old Wang was left bitterly disappointed, which is why he cast the question to the one he pinned his hopes on: Jiang Bai.

Feeling the marshal's gaze, Jiang Bai's expression remained severe and resolute. He did not falter, despite the high rank of those present.

His voice, neither servile nor overbearing, neither cold nor warm, echoed through the conference room.

"In my humble opinion, we must fight. But we must also avoid direct conflict with Japan. We should—"

"Good!"

"Good!"

"Good!"

Just as Jiang Bai was about to elaborate on his strategy of 'war and avoidance,' Wu Sheng's three thunderous shouts cut him off.

"Ha! In Chengyun Province, everyone calls me Scholar Wu. I've heard it so much, I almost believed I was full of learning. But now I see that in front of Scholar Jiang, I'm not worth a damn! Ha ha!"

Wu Sheng awkwardly scratched the back of his head, then glanced at the old marshal, who replied with a meaningful look—their coordination was seamless.

This seemingly abrupt outburst from Wu Sheng was in fact prompted by the marshal's cue.

For Jiang Bai's grand, strategic perspective had genuinely startled the old marshal. To be honest, Jiang Bai's rank was so low he barely counted as an officer, hardly qualified to set foot in the marshal's residence, yet he could deliver such sweeping, soul-stirring remarks?

The old marshal was moved, to the point that his eyes became moist.

Jiang Bai was not only capable in battle but also talented. Looking back over three thousand years of history, such a rare genius could be counted on one hand.

The marshal was tempted, truly tempted—if possible, he would entrust the future of the Chengyun faction to Jiang Bai.

But the finest steel is the quickest to break. If Jiang Bai were allowed to steal the spotlight at the highest-level meetings, not to mention whether the various internal cliques could tolerate him, the Japanese devils would instantly elevate his assassination target to the same level as the marshal himself.

Could Jiang Bai, so young, withstand the Japanese devils' twenty years of assassination expertise?

He was too young, too inexperienced.

The old marshal's brow relaxed, the knots in his heart unbound, and his expression turned solemn. Suddenly, an oppressive, bandit-like aura filled the room.

But unlike the murderous air of bandits who robbed and killed in mountain valleys, the aura exuded by Wang Lin was the same as that of an emperor or a leader—a manifestation of power at the highest level, expressed through different life experiences and perspectives.

If the meeting had been quiet before, now the silence was absolute; even a pin drop could be heard.

"Gentlemen, allow me to introduce the young officer who just spoke. His name is Jiang Bai—as in 'river' and 'white.' Jiang Bai is the very man who saved my life during the military train explosion, as well as Governor Wu's. Yet Jiang Bai is still too young, and some things he does not yet understand. What he just said was entirely mistaken. This is not an economic or political meeting, but a military council. Here, things are black or white, war or no war, with no room for ambiguity."

"I order as follows." The marshal stood straight up.

"Everyone, stand!"

At the marshal's movement, the orderly immediately called the command.

All present—the conservatives, the reformers, even the Lu faction—instantly snapped to attention.

Unless one was there, the suffocating tension at that moment was impossible to imagine.

"By special order, Jiang Bai is hereby appointed commander of the Chengyun Army's Seventh Division, with the rank of major general, to assume office upon receipt of the commission.

"By special order, Commander Jiang Bai is to lead the Seventh Division, after one month's rest from today, and within three months eradicate the bandits along the River in Chengyun, returning clear skies to our province.

"By special order, all Chengyun forces currently engaged in or preparing for combat within the province are to immediately withdraw outside the pass for rest, and unconditionally support the Seventh Division in its mission to eliminate the bandits."

Wang Lin finished, saluted the assembled high officials, and strode out.

The secretary then announced:

"Stand, salute!"

"Meeting adjourned!"

...