Martin Variety in American Comics.

Chapter 572 Sacrifice and the Next Step (Please subscribe and read further, and recommend with monthly tickets!)
As the frontline troops dealt with the last remaining enemy, Martin and Diana's discussion finally reached the question of how to deal with the fallen.

The Justice League's attack on Kolank went smoothly, but that doesn't mean they suffered no casualties.

With the Alliance's field medical capabilities, as long as the injury isn't something like losing a part of the body, they can generally be saved. Once they're kept alive, they can be evacuated and transferred to a field hospital for more comprehensive treatment.

But medical measures are only a guarantee; deaths are inevitable on the battlefield.

In order to quickly capture Kolank and complete preparations for the attack on Savage, the alliance directly deployed a full-strength division with tens of thousands of troops.

According to online data reported by various units, the death toll has just exceeded 100, but the number of wounded is several times that of the dead, and not all of them occurred on the battlefield.

"The good news is that none of the wounded soldiers are seriously injured, and even those who suffered accidents due to their own actions are not overly negative. The bad news is that a hundred casualties is not a small number, and how to deal with their sacrifice is a problem."

A death toll of 100 to 10,000 isn't actually that high, but this war is just the appetizer. When they attack Savage, the unit will face even more brutal fighting, and the number of casualties will increase rapidly.

If we fail to use this victory to instill a positive understanding of sacrifice in the troops, the troops will face even greater casualties, which will trigger uncontrollable ideological fluctuations.

"I think you're overthinking it. This unit was carefully selected; it's not that fragile."

Diana disagreed with Martin's view, feeling that he was too weak in this matter.

When the Justice League formed its new force, only a few officers were directly ordered to deploy them; the rest of the soldiers were volunteers who had undergone rigorous training. How could they be so fragile?
Martin shook his head and said, "For the Alliance, the most trustworthy members are those who worked with Clark to build the city, because they changed their minds through their actual work and labor."

However, not all of these people joined the army; most remained in the new city to maintain the operation of the Alliance headquarters' industrial and other departments.

Even those few who joined the army all became officers, and most of the remaining Alliance soldiers were still influenced by liberalism and had a generally poor ability to adapt to the battlefield.

The Amazon warriors, however, were not free from pre-modern influences; their views on dying in battle were overly skewed, even regarding death as an honor, failing to realize that the purpose of war is victory.

"These two schools of thought can be described as two extremes. When they are separate, they can coexist peacefully. But now these two groups have come together, and they will be influenced by each other, thus becoming more extreme."

Although Martin didn't explicitly say what the outcome of the clash between these two types of people would be, Diana knew that the result would definitely not be good.

"For the warriors of Paradise Island, dying on the battlefield is indeed an honor, which is certainly unacceptable to modern people."

Diana let out a sigh.

She doesn't think that modern people lack the courage to sacrifice everything for their ideals, but rather that the view of death on Paradise Island is not actually separate from the gods, nor does it endorse the ideals of the Justice League.

In such a situation, if this matter is not dealt with quickly, a conflict between the troops is indeed foreseeable.

"Then what are you going to do?"

Diana's military abilities were beyond question; persuading one or two people was not difficult for her, but she struggled when facing an entire army.

As for using divine authority, that's not a good idea either, not to mention that her divine authority can only link people together, but cannot forcibly change their will.

Even if Diana could change this army, she couldn't change the Justice League's forces forever.

Indoctrination theory is used for those who want to change but don't know how.

If someone doesn't want to change at all, no matter how much you try to force them to, it won't work.

"There is no other way. Ideological work can only be done slowly. We should start with the victims of this incident, first unify the thoughts of the troops, emphasize anti-aggression, and not focus on the deaths."

Being forced to sacrifice oneself and actively seeking death are two different things. If possible, Martin would certainly prefer that all his soldiers live.

"Therefore, I suggest that the troops rest on the spot for a day to do this work, and then go to attack Savage."

"Is this appropriate?"

Diana hadn't expected Martin to be in such a hurry: "Leaving aside whether we can complete this unification of ideas in a single day, Savage, knowing we're coming after him, certainly won't sit idly by and wait for us to come to him; he'll take the initiative."

"If we miss the opportunity and let Savage come, we may suffer a great defeat."

"First, we can transfer the soldiers' consciousness into the consciousness space, thereby buying more time to unify their thoughts and eliminate the trauma caused by the war."

Martin first answered the question that Diana had skipped over, and then explained the issue of operations: "Secondly, if the ideological problems of the troops are not resolved, even if the troops set off immediately and use the momentum of victory to suppress ideological conflicts, it will be useless. Because a division is certainly not enough to defeat Savage. All assaults will inevitably turn into a protracted war."

“If that’s the case, we might as well stay in Kolank and switch to defense. Being behind a complete defense system is more reassuring than launching an attack without any support. Even if the ideological problems can’t be solved in a short time, they won’t all come out.”

"Finally, given the current situation, Savage may not leave his stronghold to attack us directly."

Martin gave three reasons in a row, and Diana listened and quietly considered the reliability of these reasons in her mind.

The first two points are not problematic. Consciousness space can indeed change people's perception of time, after all, it is a world without matter, while time is constructed by space and matter.

Attack and defense are actually two equally feasible options, both of which face certain risks; it all depends on how they ultimately choose.

Diana was really puzzled by the last point: based on more comprehensive intelligence, Savage was not someone who couldn't afford to gamble.

The surveillance troops she sent out before attacking Kolank kept sending back messages proving that Savage was also mobilizing troops and had revealed all her trump cards.

Savage's territory was completely shrouded in darkness, like a place where monsters were created, with ghostly figures everywhere. Anyone who stumbled into it without knowing the situation would surely feel as if they had entered a corner of hell.

"Savage is undoubtedly a gambler, and there's no doubt that he has the courage to go all in. The problem is that gamblers stay at the table because they're caught in a cycle of winning and losing."

“If we were the only enemy, Savage would certainly keep the bet going until one of us loses completely. But once others join the bet, Savage might not have the courage to do so.”

After Martin finished speaking, he handed the message from headquarters to Diana.

According to various sources, they can confirm that the coalition forces composed of European and American troops have arrived near Kolank.

As the Justice League's army set off in force, the Western countries with actual control over Africa also mobilized. The United States immediately deployed its two carrier strike groups to the waters near Kolank. The Saltwater Nation's warriors watched the large ships swim overhead, but only refrained from attacking due to orders from headquarters.

French troops stationed in West Africa, Israeli and its allied forces, and troops from several countries that had sided with the United States all contributed a portion of their army, forming a force of tens of thousands of men, and marched directly toward Kolank.

These countries have also opened their military facilities to the United States, intending to use the area as a transit point to transfer U.S. troops to the vicinity of Kolank.

"Alfred reports that some members of Congress are lobbying domestically to persuade Congress to pass the 'Justice League Act,' which aims to designate us as an enemy of the United States and exclude us from the world order."

The Justice League had anticipated this day, after all, their job was to undermine American television.

The alliance wants to unite global forces to combat the Apokolips invasion, and naturally, it must eliminate political groups like the United States that profit from global turmoil—this was already a certainty.

However, they did not expect that this matter would collide with the league's efforts to eliminate Savage.

"This Savage is truly insightful; he was able to persuade the Americans to go to such lengths."

Diana was neither afraid nor flustered; she simply found the whole thing somewhat ridiculous.

The Justice League warned Americans to be wary of the threat from Apokolips, but they remained unmoved. Yet, when it came to dealing with the Justice League, they were unusually enthusiastic, which is truly baffling.

"Do these guys really think they can surrender to Apokolips?"

"As I said before, Apokolips is far away, but we are right here in front of us, so of course they will be eager to help. But that's not the point."

Martin didn't care how many troops the Americans sent; in terms of pure military strength, the United States was no match for the alliance.

"The key issue is that the Americans might be able to give Savage a false sense of security and make him pause his offensive. After all, he has been in the dark for too long, and he may not be able to make a firm decision when other options are available."

Martin said this because the league is prepared to defend in place, so it doesn't matter if Savage really gambles.

"Since the enemy is coming on strong, we can't be so relaxed and carefree."

Diana immediately took action, starting to unify the thinking within the troops and planning the next phase of the operation.

……

"The Justice League forces have stopped?"

Savage received the report from his subordinates and had the illusion that he was dreaming.

The enemy so easily defeated Sazara, and the army quickly wiped out the Kolank forces. According to the general rules of war, now is the time to press the attack and catch the enemy off guard.

If it were Savage, he would have done the same.

But now, the Justice League's forces have stopped?

Savage knew very well about Wonder Woman Diana's command abilities, and he knew even better that Martin was currently attacking Kranko's army. Neither of them would make such a terrible decision.

Therefore, this action may mean a trap.

"What do you think?"

Savage also established a staff system, otherwise he could not control his army.

Although he has fully mastered Apokolips' biotechnology and his forces that attacked the Justice League several times were composed of bio-weapons, his true power is actually a force composed of natural humans.

"Your Majesty, we have just received news that the coalition forces, led by the US military, are heading towards Kolank, and their two carrier strike groups have already arrived in the waters off Kolank."

"Although the Justice League brings together forces from Themyscira and the Sea People, its main force is still composed of American superheroes who have an inseparable connection with the United States. Their attitude towards the US must be very complex, and it's unlikely that anyone would be willing to go to war with their homeland."

Savage knew very little about the Justice League. With Martian Manhunter, a character with almost superhuman abilities, almost no undercover agent could escape his notice.

Savage's men didn't have that capability either, so they could only try to get in from the outside or bribe their own people.

However, under the surveillance of Martian Manhunters, these operations are often cut off by the League as soon as they begin, and even those that survive become bait for the Justice League to use as bait.

In this situation, Savage's advisors could only rely on limited intelligence to determine the direction of the Justice League.

We're all human, so how different can our thoughts be?
Savage's staff, with this in mind, offered their opinion to Savage: "We believe that Martin halted the offensive because they needed to deal with differing opinions about the United States within the military."

Although these advisors' reasoning process was completely wrong, their final results were still quite close to the correct answer.

"So what do you think we should do next?"

Savage did not comment on what the staff officers said, but instead asked directly for more specific operational plans.

The staff officers exchanged silent glances, unsure of Savage's thoughts, and unsure whether they should speak up.

The key issue is that they did not reach a consensus, and reporting it in this way would inevitably result in punishment from Savage.

'These people just don't have the decisiveness of the Justice League!'

Savage asked this not because he really wanted to take their advice, but simply because he wanted to clear his own confused thoughts.

But the reactions of these people greatly disappointed him.

But with the enemy at hand, he ultimately did not take any drastic measures against these people, and simply repeated the question he had just asked.

"Now that the enemy has already reached the door, what else can't you say?"

(End of this chapter)