Gundam 00: Rise of China

"A victory built at the cost of lives is nothing more than another form of defeat."

"We have long since left behind the era in which wars could be decided solely by an iron will."

Sergei repeated Wang Ye's words aloud, pondering their meaning.

He stood there in shock, his admiration for Wang Ye growing stronger. In the old history, the People's Revolutionary Alliance had once been proud of its iron will for various reasons.

After entering the new era, the People's Revolutionary Alliance once caught up with and even possessed leading military strength.

However, due to some historical reasons, the People's Revolutionary Alliance fell behind again.

After several ups and downs, the People's Revolutionary Alliance paid increasing attention to the iron will, to the point that some generals harbored the idea that "one general's success is built on the bones of ten thousand."

They completely disregarded the casualties in the war!

"Major Wang Ye, your words are insightful!"

Sergei nodded emphatically, his face showing a look of satisfaction and admiration.

"I'm relieved that you think that way. What I fear most is that after a victory, everyone gets cocky."

"Yes, you created a miracle, but miracles cannot be replicated, and the threat of Gundam is far from over."

"The Celestials have suffered such a great loss, they will surely retaliate. And next time they come, they won't be so careless."

"Yes." Wang Ye nodded in agreement, looking out the window with a deep gaze. "The Celestials' actions will only become more and more cautious from now on."

"Especially when facing our People's Revolutionary Alliance."

Upon hearing this, Sergei looked at the frighteningly calm young man before him and his admiration deepened.

His long military service had shown him too many officers who became complacent after achieving military merits, and too many generals who were blindly optimistic.

People like Wang Ye, who can maintain a clear head and objectively assess the gap between themselves and their adversaries even at their peak, are extremely rare.

"Major Wang Ye," Sergei said, extending his hand with a solemn tone.

"It is our good fortune to have a soldier like you in the People's Revolutionary Alliance. From now on, we will fight side by side."

Looking at Sergei's hand in front of him, Wang Ye, with a gentle smile, reached out and shook his hand.

"Fighting side by side, Lieutenant Colonel Sergei."

Instantly, their two calloused hands clasped tightly together, the steely strength conveying their mutual recognition.

The two exchanged a knowing smile and remained silent. After waiting for a long time, the heavy wooden door creaked open.

General Jin was the first to step forward. His face was so ashen that it looked like water could drip from it. His military cap was pulled down low, and his jawline was taut as a straight line.

Clearly, he still couldn't gain any advantage over General Gao in the conference room. Instead, the other side took advantage of the momentum from the great victory in Ceylon.

The mobilization of the three divisions was definitively defined as a "necessary and wise decision."

So General Jin, feeling utterly resentful, left the meeting room.

As fate would have it, just as he was about to leave, his peripheral vision caught sight of Wang Ye and Sergei standing side by side on one side of the corridor.

He saw his most capable and trusted subordinate getting along well with the disciple of his mortal enemy.

General Jin's already gloomy face darkened even more. He abruptly stopped, his gaze sweeping over Sergei like a knife, then coldly glancing at Wang Ye, letting out a heavy snort.

"snort!"

The cold snort was loud and heavy, filled with undisguised anger, and everyone could hear it clearly.

Then General Jin said nothing, but glared at Sergei fiercely, his eyes filled with dissatisfaction and disappointment that were almost overflowing.

General Jin then turned and strode away, his leather shoes making a loud "thump-thump" sound on the floor, as if he wanted to vent all his anger on the floor.

From beginning to end, he didn't say a word to Wang Ye, nor did he make any signal to Sergei, who was waiting for him in the same spot.

Not to mention General Gao, who came out right behind him.

In short, General Jin angrily disappeared around the corner of the corridor.

Seeing this, Sergei showed a hint of embarrassment and helplessness, and bowed slightly to General Gao and Wang Ye who came out later.

He then gave a standard military salute.

"General Gao, Major Wang Ye, I'm sorry. General Jin... that's just his personality."

"Go." General Gao didn't care at all, and there was no displeasure on his face. He remained calm and composed.

"Old Jin has a fiery temper, he'll be fine in the future."

"Yes." Sergei saluted again, full of gratitude, and then quickly ran after General Jin.

Once the two figures had completely disappeared, General Gao couldn't help but smile, picked up his glass thermos, and took another sip of hot tea.

"See, what did I tell you? Old Jin's temper will never change; he just loves doing this kind of useless work."

Wang Ye did not respond to these words. Of course, he could see through General Jin's behavior just now.

Half of it was genuine anger, but the other half was probably just for show for the others in the meeting room.

Of course, General Gao said one sentence and then nothing more, only gesturing for Wang Ye to follow him, and the two walked side by side toward the exit of the military headquarters building.

The corridor gradually filled with people, mostly officers of various ranks who had just finished a meeting.

When they saw General Gao and Wang Ye walking together, everyone stopped and saluted General Gao, while looking at Wang Ye with a mixture of awe and curiosity.

After all, this major had just repelled the Celestial Beings.

Only after walking out of the military headquarters building and getting into the military car waiting at the door did General Gao put away his smile and get down to business.

"Wang Ye, there's something I need to tell you beforehand."

The car slowly drove away from the military headquarters. General Gao looked at the street scene rushing past the window and spoke slowly.

"A resolution was formally passed in the confidential meeting just now."

"In order to counter the threat posed by Celestial Being's mobile suits, the military is preparing to establish a special rapid reaction force."

Upon hearing this, Wang Ye's eyes flickered slightly.

"This unit possesses extremely high levels of independent authority," General Gao continued, very satisfied with Wang Ye's calm and composed demeanor.

"They have the authority to report directly to the Supreme Command and have priority in accessing any military equipment resources across the entire army, including all new weapons being developed by the Armaments Department."

At this point, General Gao turned his head, his gaze falling on Wang Ye's face, and said in an ambiguous tone.

"In other words, whoever becomes the commander of this force will control the core strength of the People's Revolutionary Alliance in its future fight against the Celestials."

"Of course, the same goes for progress."

"Understood, teacher."

While answering verbally, Wang Ye understood about 70-80% of what was going on.

Such an important position will inevitably lead to a bloody battle between General Gao and General Jin.

As expected, General Gao paused for a moment before continuing.

"Currently, there are two candidates for the commanding officer position: you and Sergei."

"At the meeting, General Kim strongly recommended Sergei, saying that he was experienced, had outstanding military achievements, and was the most suitable candidate."

"Of course, I highly recommend you."

At this point, a subtle sharpness appeared on General Gao's refined face.

"On the surface, this is a fair competition between two officers."

"But in reality, this is a contest between me and Lao Jin. Whoever's person becomes the commander will gain the upper hand in the future military structure."

The car drove into a tree-lined avenue, and sunlight filtered through the leaves, casting dappled shadows inside the car.

General Gao, holding a thermos in the car, gently stroked the inside of the cup with his fingers and spoke earnestly.

"Wang Ye, you are my most promising student. You won a great victory in Ceylon and made a great contribution. Your teacher is also proud."

"Please rest assured, General Gao, the student council will continue its efforts."

Having said all that, what else could Wang Ye say besides expressing his determination?

Besides, Wang Ye was very interested in the position of the commander of that unit.

"Hey, what title should we use between us? Call me teacher."

Nodding in satisfaction, General Gao looked at his prized student and said again.

"I've already set up the stage for you. From now on, you'll have to sing the rest of the show yourself."

"Sergei is an excellent soldier, very capable. Don't underestimate him, but I believe you can win!"

"teacher."

Wang Ye nodded respectfully to show his determination, and then began to share his speculations about the Celestial Organization's next move.