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

Chapter 193 The Choice and Fear
Night falls deep within the dark, underground caverns of the Imperial headquarters.

At this moment, under John's orders, all of their troops stationed on the Chokepoint front had arrived in the Dark Corridor, and officers of all ranks were also arriving at headquarters to join them.

After arranging for Samuel to lead 1,500 soldiers and officers from the original 1st Division to pre-prepared kayaks and travel down an underground river to the Kokobia rainforest to carry out a surprise attack on the enemy's rear city.

John then deployed Roderick's Raiders and Cambert's Special Operations Forces according to the original plan, in the Stone Forest area, which was full of stalactite traps, and the Illusionary Sound Area, which had many tunnels and had been modified to effectively affect the enemy's hearing, in order to prepare for the subsequent ambush.

As for the other similar traps and areas overrun by worm-like monsters, John planned to entrust the task of intercepting them to the Independent 3rd Division.

After all, with their combat capabilities, this is all the work they can do right now.

John never expected these soldiers to inflict much effective damage on the Allied forces. His purpose in sending them on this mission was to mislead Roxie with numbers, giving the enemy the illusion that he intended to settle the score here.

This was simply to provide cover for Samuel and his men who were going to launch a surprise attack on the enemy's rear.

Previously, on the Throat Peak front, due to the limitations of magical technology facilities, lowering the flight altitude would easily result in being shot down or even killed by Allied anti-aircraft guns. Moreover, the battlefield area was too large, and the reconnaissance company led by Lunebo could not cover the field of vision at all. In order to ensure the accuracy of intelligence, John had to have all the soldiers of the 1st Battalion act as eyes and ears.

As a result, the 1st Magic Battalion did not achieve many kills on the main battlefield in this battle.

However, thanks to the prior modifications made to the Dark Corridor by the functional corps, the battlefield is now capable of allowing the 1st Battalion's magic soldiers to unleash most of their combat power, or even their full strength.

After all, apart from the Explosive 1st Company, which takes explosive magic to its extreme, it is difficult to make use of its own strengths and can only shoot at the enemy.

The other four companies can all play important roles in this battle, including assault, sniping, information processing, and tactical communication.

Moreover, with the blessing of the magic eye, the magic soldier can ignore the darkness and conduct observations. Whether in ambushes or head-on battles, he can exert a combat ability far superior to that of ordinary soldiers.

Therefore, all things considered, although the 1st Battalion currently only has a little over nine hundred people.

However, if arranged properly, and combined with the terrain that has been thoroughly scouted, John felt that he could make the 1st Battalion perform in a way that surpassed that of an infantry regiment, or even two.

"Speaking of which, it's about time I selected a suitable candidate for the future Minister of the Air Force Department of the Fifth Military Intelligence Bureau of the Empire."

After all, once this front is over, the Cocobia rainforest will most likely be successfully controlled by our side under Samuel's surprise attack.

This arduous ground battle will come to a complete end after the team reunites with the Third Navy and, with the help of the Shadow Orcs who are likely to surrender, successfully destroy the Allied naval support ships.

Afterwards, all I need to do is manage Faoken, distribute post-war compensation and bonuses to the soldiers, and hand over control of the Faoken region and the new garrison troops sent by the Empire. Then I can lead my army back to the imperial capital, Eleno, as a victor.

This will allow him to realize his dream of going to the safe rear area to serve as a political official and truly benefit the people!
Although we will inevitably have to outwit and outmaneuver those idiots from the conservative party, it is nothing compared to this shitty frontline battlefield, which is full of crises and unexpected disadvantages that pop up from time to time. We now have to rack our brains to command every day just to barely survive.

In John's view, the underhanded tactics the conservatives might employ in subsequent reforms would be nothing more than minor skirmishes.

After all, he was now almost tied to the reformists, and his meritorious command this time not only killed the enemy general but also defeated the Morning Star Roxie.

At that time, in addition to his military rank being promoted, he will at least be promoted two ranks to become a colonel.

John felt that, barring any unforeseen circumstances, William would most likely grant him a noble title.

And after obtaining a noble title, even just the lowest rank of baron, based on John's understanding of the Conservatives...

Although these conservative nobles were almost all corrupt to the core, they still had some sense of face.

After he was granted a noble title, these people, for the sake of face and rules, would certainly not dare to openly attack him, but would resort to underhanded means such as assassination.

He only needs to be careful to get through it easily.

Moreover, after the establishment of MI5, in order to protect their own interests, those people's primary target would be the three new ministers he had appointed.

In this way, the danger he himself needs to deal with can be reduced by one point.

Now that the Minister of the Navy has been chosen, he plans to hand over the Minister of Army Intelligence to Serbia, in order to ensure that the latter will not be fooled into joining the Allied forces by Anna's subsequent appearance and persuasive words.

Currently, only one position remains vacant: the position of Director of Air Force Intelligence.

After careful consideration, John felt that there was probably only one most suitable person for the position of Director of Air Force Intelligence, and that person was:

"Barnapo Gustav".

John silently murmured the other person's name in his mind, his eyes sparkling.

The reason he chose Barnaboth instead of Lunepo, who was good at analysis, for that position is actually quite simple.

First, as half of the strategist of the 1st Battalion, Lünebo was very strong in data analysis, and his thoughtful personality was also very suitable for intelligence work.

The key problem is that this guy's combat ability is the weakest in the 1st Battalion, even weaker than Martha's.

If this person were to take up this position, he would likely die in an assassination attempt by the conservatives.

Moreover, in John's plan, when he later became the Minister of Reform and began to formally implement the policies, the sheer volume of information and intelligence would be difficult for him to handle, even if he were to send fifty more political officers.

However, with the help of the Lünebo supercomputing properties, John will not only be able to save more time to anticipate and improve policies, but will also have time to go to the pilot reform areas to investigate the situation, so as to set up a trap for the local nobles or to sow discord.

This will allow the division of local power to be completed and the reforms to be further promoted.

After the new law reforms are implemented, the conservative party will certainly not give up easily. At that time, they will likely send out a large number of assassins. At this time, the assault company and sniper company can be used to provide protection for him and to snipe targets who try to interfere with the new law. Therefore, these two cannot go to the intelligence department.

As for Martha, John currently positions this horse-faced girl and her functional unit as the Empire's new type of super civil engineer.

After all, compared to the fragile Naturals, the Magic Soldiers who have mastered the terrain modification techniques can exert a great advantage in both building construction and project implementation, completing tasks with an efficiency that ordinary Naturals cannot match.

This would effectively help him implement policies and quickly move on to the next region to begin governance. He is a crucial figure in the reform process, and John would never allow him to serve as the dangerous Minister of Intelligence.

In addition, the infrastructure construction task of the Functional Company is also John's attempt to create a new profession for the magic soldiers who will soon be forced to lose their jobs because the Allied forces will upgrade the magic workshop to the third stage and make the anti-magic device mobile.

In this way, even if explosive magic completely disappears from the era, he can still protect the lives of his subordinates, and even more magic soldiers.

This is to prevent these young cavalry from becoming human bombs like the 1st and 2nd Air Force Groups in the game, who, in the later stages of the game, were ordered by the Ministry of the Army to launch suicide attacks on the front lines to halt the Allied advance.

And so they become mere filler babies, dying meaninglessly.

Therefore, after comprehensive analysis, it seems that only the demolition company where Barnapo is located is unlikely to play a significant role in subsequent reforms.

It would be better to directly appoint him as the Minister of Air Force Intelligence.

Given the opponent's combat strength, coupled with their decent command and decision-making abilities, John felt that if it were Barnabo, they would have a high probability of surviving the attack by the Conservatives.

Of course, how to persuade the other party to accept this dangerous position is also a problem.

After all, although Barnapo was the most taciturn of his subordinates, his ability to command and execute orders in battle, as well as his personal resume, made him a smart man.

Otherwise, his former boss Olaf wouldn't have thought so highly of him.

As intelligent people, they tend not to put themselves in dangerous situations.

"It's troublesome..."

John sighed inwardly, but despite a headache, he eventually used the communication device to have Wendy call the person over.

"despair!"

“Captain Barnapo Gustav reporting for duty, Commander, what are your orders?” Barnapo, dressed in military uniform, remained calm and showed no displeasure at being suddenly woken up from his sleep.

His azure eyes were calmly fixed on John, who sat in the main seat. As if remembering something, a glint of something unfathomable flickered in his eyes.

"Sit down, Barnapo, don't be so formal."

John nodded slightly to the other person, and after the other person was seated, he slowly began to speak:

"In fact, the reason I called you here today is because there is something I want to discuss with you, and it is related to the newly established MI5."

"You've probably already learned about the nature of this organization from Wendy during our journey to Mad Fang City, so I won't go into too much detail."

John paused slightly, then met Barnapo's gaze and uttered a sentence that made the other man's pupils shrink:
"Let me be frank, Barnapo, I intend to appoint you as the head of the Air Force Intelligence Department of MI5. What do you think about this?"

"..."

Upon hearing this, Barnapo fell silent.

Seeing this, John didn't urge the other person. He simply poured two cups of coffee, used magic to send one of them to the other person's face, and then sat quietly sipping his coffee, waiting for the other person's answer.

To John's surprise, the situation he had anticipated—being rejected or asked why—did not occur.

After a long silence, Barnapo said something that had caught him completely off guard:
"Commander, may I ask you a question?"

"question?"

John raised an eyebrow, looking at the burly man in front of him with some surprise, but after a moment's thought, he readily answered:
"can."

"Thank you for your kindness."

Barnabo bowed in greeting, then took a deep breath and confided to John the question that had been lingering in his mind ever since he joined the 1st Battalion:

“Commander John, as the originator of the Maslow’s Quotations, with your wisdom, I think you should be well aware of the dangers of this thing.”

"Of course, I am not denying the theories you put forward. Rather, your views on the people, the aristocratic class, and even the entire empire have shocked and impressed me."

"But ultimately, I think you should know that once this dangerous rhetoric spreads, its impact on you could be fatal."

"For the common people to rebel against the nobles is tantamount to cutting off their own future. Any intelligent person would not do such a thing, but you did it anyway."

"So, Commander John Maslow, I want to ask you, what exactly was your purpose in making this choice? This question has been troubling me for a long time, and I would like to ask you to enlighten me!"

Barnapo stared intently at the black-haired youth in front of him, his gaze sharp.

He never believed that anyone in this world would unconditionally help a group of strangers.

They found it even more unbelievable that this genius from a top university would choose to declare war on the powerful nobles at the heart of the empire for the sake of a group of commoners.

This is a behavior that completely goes against human nature and is utterly illogical!

Although their long-term contact made Barnapo feel that John Maslow, as his superior, did indeed have a unique temperament, and that the other party was exceptionally bold in his actions, as well as possessing an almost astonishing confidence and strategy.

But the more this was the case, the less he wanted to believe that someone with such talent, who could so easily step into the highest power center of the empire and become second only to the emperor with just a nod, could so firmly resist the temptation of power.

As for the greed inherent in human nature, Barnabo, a commoner who had been serving as a servant in the baron's country estate since the age of eight, had seen far too many people who fawned over the baron for power, even going so far as to sell their daughters, give away their wives, or sell their dignity by barking like dogs in order to gain the baron's favor.

Among those people were successful merchants, renowned bards, and a mage who, in his eyes, was extremely powerful at the time.

These experiences in his youth made Barnapo realize something early on that his peers did not.

That thing is called—greed.

During the years that followed, after Barnabrück traveled extensively, married, had children, and started a business for his family, his understanding of human greed deepened.

I've come to understand more and more that even the kindest person can become a monster succumbing to the influence of a desire called 'greed'.

Therefore, ten years after the initial establishment of the Seventh Legion, those who passed the suitability test were forcibly conscripted to undergo the magic soldier transformation surgery and became magic soldiers for a full ten years.

Having experienced the baptism of war and death, and witnessed even more of the evil in human nature, Barnabo became increasingly silent.

He thought his life would continue like this until he died in the war or was forced to retire due to disability, thus returning to a peaceful life with his wife and daughters.

Everything should have been this way.

But everything changed after this young man appeared before her.

Initially, Barnapo wasn't particularly interested in the so-called "Maslow's Quotations" when the other party first brought it up.

In his view, this was more like a monkey show put on by the nobles to promote a top student from the academy.

It wasn't until his subordinates vividly recounted the contents of the book that he gradually realized that Maslow's quotes were not as simple as he had imagined.

At this point, John Maslow was nothing more than a sycophant in his eyes, and the reason he wrote such things was only to curry favor with General Dormammu in order to advance his career.

However, as this collection of quotes continued to expand, along with numerous seemingly ordinary yet, upon closer examination, statements that always evoked an indescribable sense of fervor, it became clear that this collection was being expanded.

Barnapo became somewhat interested in Maslow's quotes, and after extensive reading and research, he gradually discovered a truth that he found incredible, even absurd.

That is:
John Maslow, who graduated from a top-tier aristocratic military academy and whose background is kept highly confidential.

The real purpose of the other party in writing this quote was neither to curry favor with General Dormammu, nor to gain so-called power!

The other party wrote down these quotes that were so straightforward they couldn't be more so.

What they really wanted was to wipe out the entire aristocratic class!
Furthermore, this point has already been implicitly proven by the fact that John Maslow first seized Major General Tony's military power and now forcefully compels Lieutenant General Dolan to relinquish it.

Although Barnabo knew that John was doing this in order to win the war.

But he never saw any reverence for the nobility in John's face.

On the contrary, the other side seemed to be treating the nobles as tools.

One is a tool to help the other party realize their dream of whether it is heaven on earth or hell on earth!
This arrogance, which almost regarded nobles as ants, and his own predicament of being forced into the vortex, forced Barnabo to begin to worry and ponder.

The idea of ​​stopping the other party from continuing has even emerged!

After all, once this quote becomes widely circulated in the future...

John Maslow will not be the only one to be purged at that time.

It was the entire 1st Battalion, the entire 7th Army Corps.

It's not impossible that even any civilians connected to the Seventh Army could be involved!
So, are you an angel or a devil?
John Maslow.

Looking at his superior, Barnapo's gaze became more complex than ever before.

……

(End of this chapter)