Mercenary I am the king

Chapter 1312 The Pentagon Debate

After leaving the headquarters building and getting into the car, Samir finally couldn't help but ask, "Do you think he'll speak up for us?"

"He's not a fool like Kurt."

Looking at the rapidly receding street scene outside the window, Song Heping said, "Duke is a smart man. Smart men know what is in their best interest. And the reasons we just gave him are enough to make him believe that supporting us is in America's interest."

"But what if the Pentagon doesn't agree?" Samir still seemed a little worried.

“Then let’s try a different approach,” Song Heping said calmly. “Without American support, things will be much more difficult, but not entirely impossible. Yusuf still has some connections in parliament, and the Persians are willing to offer assistance… but in that case, we will owe even more favors, and it will be more troublesome to repay them in the future.”

The car drove towards the airport.

At 10 a.m., they will take a helicopter back to Baiji.

The Pentagon in Washington, D.C., USA.

An emergency video conference was held four hours after Song Heping left Baghdad.

The oval conference room was filled with familiar faces—Lieutenant General Miller, several generals from the Joint Chiefs of Staff, senior civilian officials from the Department of Defense, CIA representatives, and Major General Duke, who was connected via a large screen.

"Gentlemen, this is the situation."

Duke had just finished a twenty-minute report, detailing the contents of his two meetings with Song Heping, especially the conditions and analysis proposed by Song Heping in their conversation this morning.

"Song Heping's demands are clear: support the integration of the 'Liberation Forces' into the Iligo Defense Forces and grant Samir the rank of Major General. In exchange, he will take over the defense of Hurmatu and promise long-term stability in northwestern Iligo."

A low murmur of discussion filled the conference room.

"Who does he think he is?" an air force general was the first to speak out. "A mercenary leader, daring to ask us for a price? And even helping his dog get a major general rank? Why doesn't he want a five-star general rank!"

“Calm down, Tom.” Lieutenant General Miller tapped the table. “Duke, what’s your take? You were there, you spoke face-to-face with Song Heping.”

Duke gathered his thoughts on the other end of the screen and slowly said:
"Gentlemen, I know this request sounds excessive. But we must analyze the current situation objectively. First, Song Heping does have leverage—he controls the Baiji oil refinery, western Mosul and parts of Kirkuk, and more importantly, he has blocked the key passage on the Siliya-Ilig border through Samir's 'Liberation Forces.' This is currently the most effective barrier to prevent 1515 from receiving reinforcements from Siliya."

He pulled up a map and pointed it out with a laser pointer:

"As you can see, the 1515 armed forces are now divided into two parts: the main force in the Silaraq region and Ahmed's forces in the Titrik-Ozam region of Iligor. There used to be several passages between these two parts, but now, the passage towards Mosul has been firmly controlled by Song Heping. If this passage is reopened, the two parts of the 1515 forces will merge, and the pressure on us in northern Iligor will increase exponentially."

An army lieutenant general frowned and said, "So we have to rely on Song Heping? Is there no other choice?"

"There are options, but none of them are ideal."

Duke frankly stated, "Option one: a large-scale troop increase to return to Iligo. But this means overturning the president's decision to withdraw troops, incurring huge domestic political costs, staggering military expenditures, and requiring at least three to six months of deployment time. During this period, 1515 may have already taken half of Iligo."

"Option Two: Rely on the Kurds. But the Kurds have their own political demands—independence. If we fully support them, it could accelerate the disintegration of Iligo, which is something the State Department absolutely does not want to see."

"Option 3: Rely on the Iligor government forces."

At this point, Duke couldn't help but smile wryly.

"Everyone has seen their performance in the Ozam direction. Corruption, inefficiency, and low morale. No matter how many resources are invested, it will be difficult to change in the short term."

A CIA representative interjected: "General Duke's analysis largely aligns with our assessment. From a purely strategic perspective, using Song to contain 1515 is indeed the option to maintain stability in northwestern Iriego at minimal cost. But the problem is, this man is too dangerous. His ambitions clearly extend beyond being a regional warlord. If his influence is formally integrated into the Iriego military and political system, in the long run, it could cultivate an adversary even more formidable than 1515."

“I agree with that concern.” Lieutenant General Miller nodded in agreement. “But we need to weigh the short-term and long-term risks. In the short term, 1515 is an imminent threat. Their goal is to establish a ‘caliphate’ spanning Syria and Iligo, and if they succeed, we will lose control of the entire Middle East. As for Song Hoping… at least for now, his interests overlap with ours—we both need to contain 1515.”

A Ministry of Defense civilian official raised the question: "However, supporting the formalization of a militia would set a dangerous precedent. There are dozens of militias of varying sizes in Iligo; what if they all demand the same treatment?"

“Therefore, we need to control the scope,” Duke replied. “We will only support the ‘Liberation Forces,’ and only in the northwest border region. We can set clear conditions: this force can only operate in this area, cannot enter the Khord Autonomous Region, and cannot participate in the political struggle in Baghdad. Furthermore, the reorganization process will be supervised by us.”

Will Song Heping accept these conditions?

“That depends on the game between us, and I think he will,” Duke said confidently. “Because that’s what he needs too. Samir’s ‘Liberation Forces’ is nominally a local militia organization, but in reality, it’s an armed force that he controls and invests in. It’s also in his interest to transfer this force into the regular army, to have a formal identity and stable supplies.”

The meeting room erupted into another argument.

Supporters see this as a pragmatic choice, while opponents worry that it could backfire.

Both sides have valid points, but the urgency of the situation compels a decision to be made as soon as possible.

The debate lasted for more than an hour.

Finally, Lieutenant General Miller looked at the screen: "Duke, what's your suggestion?"

Duke pondered for a moment and said, “I suggest a step-by-step strategy. The first step is to agree in principle to support the formalization of the ‘Liberation Forces,’ but require Song Heping to first prove his ability and sincerity—to hold Hurmatu and ensure that the northwestern border passage is not breached by 1515 within the next three months.”

"The second step, if the first step is successful, is to push the Iligo parliament to pass the relevant bill. This process may take two to three months, which will be a good time to observe Song Heping's performance."

"The third step is that after the bill is passed, the reorganization process must be supervised by our military advisors throughout to ensure that the force does not get out of control."

Lieutenant General Miller surveyed the conference room: "What are everyone's opinions on this proposal?"

After another twenty minutes of discussion and revision, everyone finally reached a basic consensus, and Duke's proposed plan was basically finalized.

Although the opposition still has reservations, it has no choice but to compromise under the strategic pressure of reality.

“Okay.” Lieutenant General Miller gave the final decision. “Duke, proceed with the negotiations with Song Heping according to this plan. Remember, make him understand that this is conditional support, not an unconditional gift. If he cannot fulfill his promises, then there is no point in discussing anything further.”

“Understood.” Duke nodded. “I will talk to him and make things clear.”

The video conference has ended.

Duke leaned back in his chair and let out a long sigh.

This game has only just begun, and he has already come to realize that Song Heping is more complex and dangerous than most people in the Pentagon have imagined.

But he had to admit that Song Heping's analysis of the situation was frighteningly accurate.

However, what he didn't know was that Song Heping's analysis and calculations about him had already taken three steps ahead of Duke himself.

　Second update.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)