18: Suggestions from the Command Center

The first high-level collective meeting of the army group was convened.

Fang Le put forward the general policy: "We must occupy the entire Australia within one year."

"And this occupation cannot be short-term; it must be continuous."

"Everyone is welcome to share their thoughts."

As the Commander of the army group, Yue Hanshan was the first to speak:

"First, we need to clarify who the American military is."

"Australia is only the superficial American military; behind it is the U.S. Military and the entire Western world. If the war escalates, we might face opposition from nearly half the world. Therefore, we should try to keep the American military as few as possible."

Fang Le nodded, allowing him to continue.

Yue Hanshan: "Then, who are our friends and who are our allies?"

"Currently, we have no friends, and virtually no allies. These all need to be discovered and even created as the situation unfolds."

"Finally, a comparison of strengths."

"Without powerful allies, we are fighting alone against the world's largest military alliance, which possesses a variety of advanced weapons. Therefore, we cannot be overly ambitious or reckless just because we have a large number of Mechanical Warriors that have not yet been materialized. We must believe that the American military also has many hidden trump cards they can use."

Fang Le applauded: "Very good, hitting the main points."

Then the others continued to speak.

Political Commissar Zhao Gang directly pointed out Fang Le's mistake:

"Commander-in-Chief, you have already made a wrong decision."

"You should not have hastily occupied this base and killed so many U.S. Military personnel. This will cause us to incur the hatred of a powerful American military from the very beginning, and it will also reduce much room for negotiation."

Fang Le was ashamed.

After calming down, he had indeed thought about whether this base should have been occupied, at least not in such a violent manner.

But at the time, he just wanted to escalate the situation as much as possible, to create the necessary conditions for a rebellion.

Luo Hui, the Commander of the First Division, Chen Guangming, the Commander of the Second Division, Li Dakui, the Commander of the Third Division, and others also spoke successively, and debates arose.

"Since the time limit for liberating Australia is one year, this duration is neither too short nor too long. Our overall strategy should be to seek victory steadily, taking risks when necessary, but not being eager for quick success."

"Our step of occupying the Darwin Military Base was already a misstep; we must take remedial measures afterward."

"I suggest using synthetics to replace the killed base soldiers to cover up the fact that the base was violently breached and massacred."

"I object to doing that. Impersonation can only last for a short time and can easily be exposed. It's best to use other methods to beautify it."

"I, on the other hand, think our thinking is still limited."

"Why must it be us who destroyed the base and killed the U.S. Military personnel?"

"Can't we say that the people of Darwin City killed them?"

"You make it sound simple. By common sense, how could the citizens of Darwin City have the ability to capture a military base? By relying on tens of thousands of disorganized people charging in?"

"Of course not. The base might not be able to be breached, but the people in the base can actively go out!"

"Hmm, that's a good idea, I agree."

"I agree."

"I also agree..."

As the discussion deepened, how to proceed next gradually became clear in the minds of everyone in the command hall.

And with a direction, everyone quickly agreed on specific implementation strategies, involving many planning details.

As the meeting host, Fang Le watched happily.

Yes, this is how it should be: brainstorming, offering advice and suggestions, to maximize the reduction of his team management costs as the Commander.

Soon after, the Darwin Air Force Base sent a communication back to the Pentagon across the ocean (because they had previously sent a message inquiring about the base's situation).

The general content of the communication was:

All is well at the base, but the situation in Darwin City is unclear and unfavorable. In addition, there have been small-scale disturbances by unidentified elements around the base. The base has decided to send armored teams to leave the base and go into the city for investigation, and to suppress the rebellion if necessary!

It is estimated that the Pentagon will not be satisfied with this response.

But sending it out achieved the purpose.

Soon after, military vehicles, armored vehicles, and even helicopters departed from the Darwin Air Force Base.

All the drivers of the armored vehicles and the soldiers in the military vehicle beds were wearing the regular uniforms of the U.S. Military at the Darwin Base.

These combat personnel in U.S. Military uniforms were naturally the synthetics with professional military skills that Fang Le had materialized.

Thus, a mighty regular army left the base gate and headed south towards Darwin City.

And Darwin City remained in darkness, with no signs of the street riots subsiding.

The entry of the base's armored forces into the city immediately triggered a chemical reaction.