Shadow Empire

Chapter 872 Pressure and Click It
As a general, even though Admiral Miles is under investigation, he does not need to live in a jail or holding cell.

He still lives in his single-family villa in the military area.

Yes, within the military zone, there are single-family houses and villas specially provided for officers. Admiral Miles’ villa is at the innermost one and is also the largest and most luxurious.

He sat on the sofa with a calm and composed face, showing no frustration or decadence at being interrogated.

On the other side of the sofa, there were three naval admirals sitting.

"I got the news from Old Wood. Among the several charges they have in hand, the one that could have the greatest impact on you is probably the crime of malfeasance."

"They said you did not follow the wartime regulations to disperse the patrol ships to the surrounding waters and failed to provide timely warnings."

"This crime can be serious or minor. We will continue to work hard to ensure that you are not affected too much!"

Admiral Miles closed his eyes slightly, "I heard that they actually knew that the Dantra people were going to attack Jingang City a long time ago."

When he said this, the other three admirals in the room were stunned for a moment, and then they frowned, "Don't say these things carelessly."

"If other people find out and keep chasing you, you'll be in even bigger trouble than you are now!"

What the speaker means is that if there is no evidence, then there is no need to say anything.

Moreover, even if you know this kind of taboo information, it is best to pretend not to know it. Once others know that you know it, they will be curious about how you knew it.

Why do you want to find out state secrets? What is your purpose?
Maybe it's just a crime of dereliction of duty now, but when he tells others that he knows some things behind this matter, it will not only be a crime of dereliction of duty, but also the crime of stealing state secrets and intelligence, which is a more serious crime and he may go directly to the electric chair.

Therefore, if he can avoid saying anything, it would be best not to reveal any information about the intelligence he knows to the outside world. Once someone catches him, he will be in big trouble.

Of course, in addition to these, Admiral Miles is willing to believe that all this may not be acting, but is real!

After the attack on Jingang City, the Federation quickly set up this joint investigation team, which made Admiral Miles feel like he was being targeted.

Because this matter did not happen to others, others might act indifferent, but he had no way of acting indifferent.

He used a lot of favors and connections and got a not-so-certain news that the federal government may have known for a long time that Dantra's joint fleet might have combat missions in the Eastern Ocean, but there was no news from the Ministry of Defense.

But as for any actual evidence, the person who passed the news to him could not provide him with any evidence.

Every step in the handling of top-secret intelligence like this is recorded and can be traced. Once the intelligence is leaked, the intelligence department will investigate it layer by layer.

If you can leak intelligence to people in the Federation today, can you leak it to people in other countries tomorrow?
So the insider gave him an ambiguous answer, forget about any evidence, this is already the limit!
It was precisely because he knew that it was meaningless, even if he really had evidence, it would be useless, at this time Admiral Miles sighed, shook his head and said nothing more.

"I won't tell anyone."

Another naval general also didn't want to delve into this topic. They just wanted to gain more control over the war, not... become enemies of Congress, so they didn't want to talk about this taboo topic.

"We'll talk about this later. The most important thing now is how to keep you safe."

Admiral Miles pursed his lips and said, "I will arrange a few officers of sufficient weight to sacrifice themselves."

What he meant by "people of sufficient weight" were the family members in his army. If the federal government wanted to take down Admiral Miles, the military stronghold, there were two simple ways to do it.

Either Admiral Miles should be removed from this position. No matter who replaces him, these important positions cannot be allowed to be firmly controlled by Admiral Miles's people.

Military superiors have absolute ruling power over their subordinates, and the new commander-in-chief will certainly replace people in all key positions in a very short period of time. The conflict thus becomes a conflict between the new commander and Admiral Miles, while at the same time solving the problem of Admiral Miles's firm grip on the power of the naval fleet.

But there is also a disadvantage to doing this, which is that it won't take long for the new commander-in-chief to establish his own territory.

This is a bit inconsistent with the federal government's thinking. They don't want to get rid of Admiral Miles and then have another admiral appear, so this is not a smart choice.

Another method is relatively simple, which is what Admiral Miles considered. He cleared out some important positions within the military and placed people from the federal government and the Department of Defense in them, thus achieving the ultimate goal of throwing sand into the entire naval fleet.

Every move of the army will be watched by these officers and reported to Congress.

There will be many people around him who are monitoring him all the time, and will try their best to make him make mistakes, big mistakes, and then "punish" him.

This was already the biggest concession he could make, and it also made him look very unhappy. If the army could not form ideological unity, some new factions would soon emerge within it to compete with him.

It was obvious that Admiral Miles was in a bad mood, and the other naval commanders did not say anything.

After a while, he said, "Wait until the public opinion is over, and then find a way to send them to the front line. The fighting is so intense at the front line, and if something unexpected happens, it can be accepted by the people."

Admiral Miles nodded and responded, "This is the only way."

He sighed, "I am the one who has dragged you down with this matter. If it weren't for me..."

The oldest of the three generals laughed heartily and said, "Miles, don't think too much. Even if nothing happens to you, they will find other ways to cause trouble for us."

"They won this time, but next time, it may not be them!"

"Besides, the federal government's desire for a cleaner military is not new. Even if you are gone today, can you hide from us tomorrow or the day after tomorrow?"

"Cheer up! We'll need you in the next war!"

In times of crisis, these words are most useful and can reignite people's fighting spirit, and their conversations soon turn to the war itself.

"The Ministry of Defense has approved additional military expenditures for the Army, and this time the number of soldiers in the Army will increase dramatically again. They plan to fight to Dantra!"

"Some soldiers have called for the flag of the Federation to be planted on the roof of their tallest building. The army is getting stronger, but we are still spinning in circles."

Admiral Miles comforted the naval commander in return, "Once the new warships are launched, the navy will usher in an unprecedented huge expansion!"

Another admiral shook his head. "That alone is not enough."

"If we cannot shift the main battlefield from land to sea, we will never be able to defeat the Army."

"Do you know the Wallace brothers?" He suddenly mentioned a name that Admiral Miles was not very familiar with. The others were also not very clear about it, and they all shook their heads.

The admiral continued, "The Wallace brothers were the first to come up with the idea of ​​using airplanes for warfare, and the Department of Defense was going to try it."

Speaking of this airplane, it is actually nothing new. It is just that due to the limitations of technological development of the times, the airplane's carrying capacity is very limited.

It can't have a very large load-carrying capacity. Considering the driver, engine, and fuel, there is not much space and load left for it.

People have always wanted to apply it to the field of warfare, but so far it has only been used for land reconnaissance.

Occasionally, you can see it on the front ground battlefield. It will fly a circle over the battlefield and then go back.

Its short range and low carrying capacity limit its use as a weapon of war.

"Wallace Brothers recently introduced a new engine that will allow the pilot to carry an extra seventy to eighty pounds on his airplane."

"And then they made a rail and hung the mortar shells on it..."

Before he could finish his words, the person next to him asked, "Then why don't I just use the mortar?"

"This is more convenient. At least we don't need to build a runway for the plane, nor do we need additional supplies."

Admiral Miles nodded in agreement. He also thought that this plane did not seem to have any good effect on the war.

Whether it is a close-range attack or a long-range attack, artillery can do the job.

Perhaps precision strikes can provide some value, but precision strikes often make aircraft disposable. As long as it comes down, rifle bullets may be able to hit it, and machine gun bullets will definitely hit it, which makes the aircraft always very embarrassed.

Seeing how dismissive they all were, the admiral who first said this could only shrug and spread his hands, "Well, this matter needs further study."

When these people were chatting enthusiastically, a captain came over quickly and said, "Admiral Miles, your Excellencies, something happened. Some soldiers and officers were taken away by the investigation team."

The person who was speaking looked anxious, which made Admiral Miles vaguely feel that something was wrong. He quickly asked, "Why did the federal government arrest them?"

The captain who spoke had a gloomy expression on his face. "They said these people were involved in corruption."

When the generals in the room heard the news, their expressions finally changed.

As for the crime of dereliction of duty, for the superior, as Admiral Miles just said, he can find a few key figures to take the blame for him.

Isn’t the federal government now saying that the patrol boats that were supposed to patrol and guard the sea area were not sent out?

He could have easily pushed the blame onto the officer in charge, saying that he had given the order, but the officer was negligent and it was the officer who did not do it, not him.

In this way, Admiral Miles was charged with a crime that was much less serious than malfeasance: dereliction of duty.

It was just a dereliction of duty. Just apologize and deal with the matter.

But corruption is different. Whether it is corruption among officials or corruption among military officers, it is a major case and a serious crime in the federal government. There is actually no difference between embezzling one dollar and embezzling one million dollars.

After hearing this, they all knew that this time Congress was fully intending to kick him out, and Admiral Miles's face became particularly ugly.

He asked the captain to leave, then sat on the sofa with his eyes closed for a while, then stood up suddenly and said, "I'm going to make a phone call. Gentlemen, you guys chat first."

If he could sit still before, now he can't sit still.

Of course, even though corruption is a federal felony.

But this charge is unlikely to bring down senior government officials and military generals.

At their level, such as Admiral Miles and Senator Cleveland, ordinary laws and even the Constitution have no binding force on them.

In fact, let alone them, the wealthy people in the Bay Area were already out of control of the law and acted recklessly a few years ago.

Even if they kill people every day, it is not a crime. In the eyes of people of the same level, it may just be their unfriendly taste.

The only thing that can truly bring them down is political oppression and the failure of political struggle!

They lost the struggle, so a minor crime that may seem insignificant to many people can bring them to justice, such as false accusation and unzipped pants.

They did not really make mistakes, or their crimes were punished by law, but they failed in the political struggle.

Just like criminals facing the executioner, they cried bitterly, confessed their crimes and begged for people's forgiveness.

It's not that they really realize they are wrong, they are just afraid of death.

Admiral Miles could not be brought to justice in the corruption case, but the exposure of this corruption case actually represents the attitude of Congress, which is to bring Admiral Miles down.

Can't you be held accountable for dereliction of duty?

Okay, we arrange a corruption.

Corruption can't handle you?

It doesn't matter, we can arrange another charge for him, he can't possibly defend himself against all of them.

If he makes one mistake, he will face the abyss and hell!

He needed to talk to someone else now.

The sound insulation of this villa is not particularly good. For example, some sound can still be transmitted through the gap between the door and the floor.

Several generals sitting on the sofa heard Admiral Miles' angry roar from the study, and their mood became much depressed.

They were also dissatisfied with the actions of the federal government and the army.

Everyone was just fighting for control of the war, and they actually carried out such retaliation?
This gave the naval generals some additional thoughts - this matter is not over yet!

At the same time, in Indeno Province, after half a year of attack and defense, the Lance family has completely established a foothold in the eastern part of Indeno Province, and they began to supply goods to more distant places.

This is bound to affect the local leading enterprise, Jinbiao Wine Industry.

Gold Label was also supplying alcohol to the gangs in order to obtain more substantial and surprising returns. Their scale was also expanding, and under Mr. Richard's operation, there were several gangs who were completely obedient to Gold Label and worked for them.

Frictions between the Lans family, these gangs, and Gold Label Wines began to occur frequently, and Gold Label Wines soon introduced a capital competition model and engaged in a price war.

"...they've reduced the price of their low-end whiskey by a total of eleven dollars since February, and I heard they're going to reduce it by another dollar starting next month."

Alvin reported to Lance about some of the situations that had occurred in Indeno State during this period, and Lance listened very carefully.

“Our goods are transported from Likalai State, and the cost itself is higher than theirs.”

"And because we have to share the bills with the politicians, it's hard to reduce our costs now."

"Now they have figured this out and have lowered their prices to a very low level. If we continue to compete with them on price, we will lose one to two dollars for every bottle of wine we sell."

"In the cities under our control, some gangs also buy goods from them, and it is difficult for us to control this behavior."

The gangs are organizations driven by the most primitive desires. Their purpose is actually exactly the same as that of capitalists, which is to make huge profits.

It’s just that capitalists use better disguises, while gangsters’ methods are generally more brutal.

After listening to this, Lance asked, "What about the Prohibition Bureau?"

"They may have found the key person. Now the Prohibition Bureau is either catching someone or not. We don't have any advantage."

State Prohibition Commissions are not state-run departments in themselves; they are departments that are directly vertically managed by Congress and they report directly to the Federal Prohibition Commission.

Lance is not the only one who can find connections. Gold Label Wines has been in business for so many years, so they can also find connections.

Originally, the Prohibition Bureau would inspect Gold Label's wines, but now that they are not interfering, they will not inspect them. Or if they inspect Lans' wines, they will definitely inspect a batch of Gold Label's wines to be fair and just.

How can a foreign high-cost enterprise compete with local low-cost enterprises in a fair and just environment?

Erwin couldn't handle this situation, so he could only ask Lance for help.

Lance didn't have much time to think about it. "Let's sell them off. This way, we don't have to worry about them lowering the price further."

After hearing this, Erwin couldn't help but laugh and asked, "Is this appropriate?"

"I heard you say at the family meeting that we are more than just gangsters!"

Alvin and some other people couldn't come back, but they all knew what Lance said in the meeting, so they received this call.

Lance also smiled and replied, "Indeed, we can't just be gangsters, but we never said that we are not gangsters!"

(End of this chapter)