I, who was eager to retire, became an Imperial General.

Chapter 116 The Conservative Party is Not All One Family
"Is this the discipline of the Independent 3rd Division? Seeing is believing, I've really learned something new."

At the gates of Mad Fang City, John, who had led his troops to Mad Fang City, saw from afar that the soldiers who should have been patrolling the city were not diligently patrolling.

Instead, the scene shows people sitting in the pavilion drinking and chatting.

He couldn't help but fall into deep thought.

Although John had already realized, after being reminded by Conrad, that this elite force of Lieutenant General Dolan would inevitably become quite lax in discipline after enjoying the good times for too long.

But he never expected that the Independent 3rd Division would be so lax.

Especially the two soldiers at the gate, who, although standing guard, looked completely disoriented.

Seeing the two men's blank expressions, John only needed to use his magic eye to analyze them briefly to determine that they had just finished using leaves.

With lax discipline, drug addicts among the soldiers, and commanders lacking any military acumen, it would be a miracle if such an army had any fighting capacity.

No wonder Conrad hinted that he shouldn't ask the 3rd Independent Division for help; if the 3rd Independent Division's troops were all of this caliber.

Even if the other side dared to come to their aid, John wouldn't dare to put his back to them.

After all, who knows if these sluts who are high on marijuana might hallucinate and mistake them for enemies to shoot in the back?

Now he can only hope that the other units of the Second Army won't be in such a sorry state.

Just as John was silently sighing in his heart.

As footsteps approached from ahead, a lean middle-aged officer wearing a military cap soon arrived in front of him with several soldiers.

"You must be Major John Maslow, commander of the 1st Magic Mobile Battalion, 3rd Air Force. I am Lieutenant Colonel Toby Bright, commander of the 3rd Independent Division Guard Regiment. As instructed by Lieutenant General Dolan, I am in charge of liaising with the 1st Battalion regarding support for the Faoken front."

Toby scrutinized the black-haired youth in front of him. Just when he thought that after hearing his words, the other party would salute him and then head straight to the battlefield at his command, Toby was surprised.

But the other party's reaction the next second was beyond his expectations.

“I’m sorry, Lieutenant Colonel Toby, my mission is to meet up with Lieutenant General Dolan and provide support based on the situation on the front lines in Faoken. Your role is not part of the mission, so please forgive me for not being able to follow your instructions.”

John replied expressionlessly. After arriving in Mad Fang City and seeing the state of the Independent 3rd Division, he had already concluded that this unit had no value other than being used as bait to lure the enemy.

Therefore, he was too lazy to continue this superficial work with the other party.

What he needs most right now is to maintain the troops' ability to operate independently. Only in this way can he ensure that he won't be killed by the tasks that Dolan, that idiot, casually assigns him.

As for the claim that disobeying orders from superiors will be punished.

Don't forget, his organization is in the Third Air Force Group, which is not a branch of the Army.

The Empire's military management laws clearly stipulate that combat operations between different branches of the armed forces can only be coordinated, and cross-branch command is not allowed.

Even if Lieutenant Colonel Toby, who was a rank higher than him, were to come, John would still not give him any face.

Therefore, he completely ignored Toby's unpleasant expression and immediately spoke in a cold voice:

“Lieutenant Colonel Toby, according to the support mission, I need to speak with Lieutenant General Dolan immediately and confirm the specific situation on the Faoken front. I will not accept any informal orders from outside the Third Air Army Command before meeting with Lieutenant General Dolan. Please cooperate with my work. If you have any questions, you can report them to my superiors. I believe Marshal Dormammu will be happy to give you a reply.”

"This……"

It seems that he did not expect that the air force major who was sent to his death would be so brave, daring to confront him head-on even though he was one rank lower than him.

The feeling of being provoked instantly made Toby's face turn somewhat ugly. He wanted to angrily rebuke the other party for disrespecting his superior, but after meeting the other party's calm eyes...

Seeing the coldness hidden in those eyes, he took a deep breath and kept telling himself not to bother with someone who was going to die; it wasn't worth it.

Barely suppressing his anger, Toby forced a smile and replied:

"Major John, it's not that I'm not cooperating with your work, but Lieutenant General Dolan has just led his troops out to support the front lines and is unable to return to talk to you. I'm just following orders, so please don't make things difficult for me, okay?"

"Please watch your words, Lieutenant Colonel Toby. I was just following the mission procedures; there was no question of making things difficult for you."

"Oh, I'm sorry, I misspoke. Please don't mind."

Toby responded with a forced laugh, but in his heart he was already cursing the other person to death.

But through John's actions, he realized that the young major in front of him was not as easy to fool as he had imagined; on the contrary, he was an extremely troublesome character. If the other party insisted on meeting the general, there was nothing he could do but let him into Mad Fang City and wait for Lieutenant General Dolan to figure out a solution.

But the key question is, is this air force major, who immediately used the mission as an excuse to give his superior a hard time upon meeting him, really the kind of person who can settle down?

Furthermore, if the major were to discover and report that his superior had been secretly mining and refining the Golden Lion Territory ore veins without the knowledge of other units in the Second Army, what would happen?

Even if you think about it with your backside, Toby understands.

Lieutenant General Dolan, who is always greedy for food and money, will certainly not let his incompetent adjutant get away with it after losing a large amount of resources.

Damn it, isn't this a dead end?

For a moment, Toby felt a cold sweat break out, and he had never felt so helpless.

Just as he was about to bite the bullet and tell the troublesome Air Force Major that he could have someone bring a radio so the other man could speak with Lieutenant General Dolan, he was about to speak with him.

The plan was to try to shift the trouble to the general and let Lieutenant General Dolan make the decision.

The next second, John's voice slowly entered his ears:

"Of course, considering that Lieutenant General Dolan is away on a mission, I can't force him to change his plans just because of the report, so there's no need to send the general back with his men."

"How about Lieutenant Colonel Toby inform me of the current frontline deployment in Faoken Bay, as well as the contact numbers for the radio stations of each division, so that I can decide on the initial support location based on the specific situation on the current front?"

John stared blankly at Toby, not caring whether Dolan was going to get corncobs or actually go fight orcs.

In fact, he never intended to meet with Dolan to report on his work.

After all, he knew the other party's background very well, and he also knew that even if he met the other party, the situation would be similar to what it was now, just a show of face, and he wouldn't get any useful information at all.

Instead of wasting time on the opponent, he might as well take over Faoken's current battle line distribution map directly. This way, he could gain some initiative and prepare for a subsequent counterattack.

After his recent show of force, as long as Lieutenant Colonel Toby wasn't a brainless idiot, the other party should have accepted his suggestion.

Just as John had predicted, Toby hesitated for only a moment after John agreed, then quickly relented.
"No problem, no problem, Major John, please wait a moment. I'll bring the layout diagram and radio wavelengths over right away. You can decide on the target for support yourself."

As long as the troublesome Major John Maslow isn't allowed to remain in Mad Fang City, thus preventing the General's secret money-making scheme from being discovered, let alone John only wanting the layout map, even if the other party demands some command of the troops.

Toby believed the general would be able to agree.

After all, soldiers are not as important as gold and mithril. Moreover, apart from the fact that the entire Independent 3rd Division was made up of their own people, most of the other troops were put together by the Wolf family who followed Prime Minister Wolf.

This group of people is not like the 1st Legion of the Rhine Military District, which are all soldiers personally led by the Marquis of Beatrice. It is hard to say whether they are even one of their own.

Otherwise, General Dolan wouldn't have deliberately kept the mining operation a secret.

The purpose is still to prevent this matter from reaching Prime Minister Wolf's ears, which would lead to the need to give up a large amount of resources!
As for the idea that conservatives are all one family, haha, just listen to that nonsense.

If the Castel family truly considered the Beatrice family as their own, why did they ultimately promote the Lart family member to Minister of Defense, while his maternal uncle, the Marquis of Beatrice, only received a sinecure as Minister of Foreign Affairs?
To put it bluntly, isn't it just a matter of different levels of closeness?

Toby had even heard General Dolan complain about Prime Minister Wolf when he was drunk.

However, Toby could understand this.

After all, the Beatrice family had made so many sacrifices for the Conservative Party, not only turning against Duke Mosilis, but also having the Marquis hand over military power in the Rhine Military District in order to secure his seat in the Conservative Party council.

In the end, he only received a puppet lieutenant general position and a sinecure as foreign minister.

Even with only a tiny bit of real power, Toby wouldn't be happy about it.

However, he dared not, nor was he qualified to, participate in the conflicts between these important figures.

All he could do was try to figure out what Lieutenant General Dolan was thinking and then, as his adjutant, perfectly cater to him.

Toby sees this scene as an opportunity to gain the appreciation of Lieutenant General Dolan.

Thinking of this, Toby immediately stopped hesitating and bowed to John, then quickly ordered someone to fetch the layout map and hand it over to him.

……

(End of this chapter)