Counterfeit Hero

People gathered together, discussing the current situation.

Outside the Command Department building, there is a wide isolation zone, and hundreds of stern-faced guards and national security personnel make the building seem as silent as usual. Inside the building, voices of various discussions are everywhere.

What exactly does Lord Hastings want to witness on the sidelines? This time, won’t he take action? If his little ally fails, I’m afraid the entire Fei Alliance will be turned on its head!

The heavy meeting room door opened, and Francis quickly walked into the room.

The leaders of various countries, who had been waiting in the meeting room, all stood up in unison to welcome this President of the Fei Alliance, the Supreme Commander of the Command Department.

After shaking hands with the leaders one by one, Francis sat down at the head seat, looked around, and said, "Gentlemen, it’s clear we have encountered a big problem."

He gestured to Admiral McKinley: "Admiral McKinley, you explain."

"Yes, Mr. President." With a serious expression, McKinley stood up, walked to the interstellar map on the wall of the meeting room, and began to explain the new wave of military actions marked by the appearance of the Sheldon Fleet in the Central Leray Star Domain. From the Southeast Battle Zone to the Eastern Theater, then to the north, west, and currently the Karsdon Battlefield.

As McKinley explained, the already grim faces of the country’s leaders grew even grimmer.

Before coming here, they were well aware of the attacks their countries had suffered, but now it seems that it was merely the beginning of a series of Western Alliance military operations. Judging by the fall of various national jump points on the interstellar map and the current distribution of Western Alliance forces, the situation is actually more severe than the current encounters.

"The sudden offensive by the Western Alliance has exceeded our expectations," McKinley said heavily, "The Command Department must admit that we have made errors in estimating the strength of the Western Alliance forces."

"This estimation was made based on years of intelligence and the economic and military conditions of all Western Alliance countries," questioned a president from a small country in the west: "How could there be such a large margin of error?"

This president, who was once a renowned General in the Western Star Domain, obviously had a much keener military insight than many of the politicians present, some who had never even handled a gun. He questioned, "Based on the current offensive of the Western Alliance, they would need to increase their military strength by nearly forty percent to launch such an assault across the interstellar map. Such a massive military force certainly cannot escape the sight range of our intelligence officers."

"Currently, we are conducting a new assessment," McKinley nodded and said: "That is precisely what confuses us. The only explanation is that the Western Alliance has completed the integration of its member states’ forces, with unified deployment, unified command, unified action, exerting greater combat power. The appearance of different serial-numbered Western Alliance units in the major battle zones also supports this hypothesis."

"Can troop integration increase their attack strength by forty percent?" Marshall, the Defense Minister of the Ryan Republic, frowned, his fingers tapping the armrest of the soft redwood chair, loudly said, "There are thirty-six member states participating in the Western Alliance, among them, each country’s geographical location, military strength, economic logistics capability, weapon configuration, and troop quality are all different. Not to mention, their Space Fleet spans at least three generations. The oldest still uses fleet models from sixty years ago, relying on numbers to win. The most modern are newly ordered warships from the Naga Federation and Binart Empire. With such a complex composition of military forces, who can integrate them together? How to unify logistics supply and command systems? Not to mention enhancing their combat effectiveness by forty percent!"

Marshall’s words drew approval from the leaders of various countries. It seemed that to everyone, this hypothesis was entirely unfounded. Leading a nation’s army already requires countless people working in concert. To integrate all of the Western Alliance’s military forces, with unified command, unified logistics supply, unified coordination, is equivalent to concentrating separate chessboards onto one massive chessboard. The workload involved is astronomical.

Not even the world’s largest staff department, nor the most powerful SkyNet, could complete such a task. Without a unified SkyNet, even with countless great generals under Sobel’s command, facing unfamiliar military forces of various countries, it’s impossible to command them effectively.

"President Francis," Marshall stood up and said sternly, "In light of the current severe situation, we request Marshal Hastings to give an explanation. As the chief commander of the Alliance Command Center, he should be responsible for the current situation. If he does not fulfill his duties, he should not continue to hold his position!"

Marshall looked around, gazing into the eyes of the leaders of various countries, and said emphatically, "We need a leader, to lead us to win this war!"

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"How is it, reached the limit?" Hastings’ withered fingers quickly tapped on the virtual keyboard of the simulation computer. On the huge virtual screen in the center of the oval room, the red and blue forces were fighting fiercely.

"Nonsense," the Fatty across, already sweating profusely, was tense as he maneuvered the troops, scrambling on the hundreds of kilometers long frontline, resisting Hastings’ onslaught, while yelling, "Unfair, how can you play like this, you disregard casualties, yet require my casualty rate not to exceed ten percent."