Chapter 181 - 180 Decision-Making
"The form of war has changed, we must be clear about that. War is no longer conducted in the familiar situations and manners we know. What is this war now? It is a massacre of an advanced species against a backward one."
"The form of war has changed, but the essence of warfare remains the same. War is ultimately about the elimination of the enemy’s living forces. And since the enemy’s fundamental goal is to occupy the entire planet, we can determine that what we’re really fighting over is national power and technology."
"We can now confirm that the enemy’s technological capabilities are on a completely different level than ours. With this premise in mind, the strength of a nation’s power also completely loses its significance. Even if the Serpent People only send two large spacecraft, the enormous technological disparity renders concepts like numerical advantage meaningless."
"I think that better hiding our strengths and better preserving ourselves is key to our ability to engage in a protracted conflict with the enemy. Our fundamental goal now is to survive. Survive first, then talk about making key breakthroughs in certain technologies. To talk about counterattacking, we must survive first. If we can’t hide ourselves well and the Serpent People discover the existence of the Supreme Command, then we will lose our last chance of survival."
A genteel-looking general with glasses finished speaking, but another general immediately said, "I admit, what you’re saying makes sense, but have you considered that Xinghe said the second wave of Serpent People will arrive in more than three hundred years? So we do have time. Since the invasion began, a very distinct character trait of the Serpent People has become apparent. You fight your war, and I fight mine, epitomizing asymmetric warfare."
"So far, the Serpent People have employed three methods of warfare. First, they released a virus. Second, they prevent any of our aircraft or missiles from taking off, so as not to pose a threat to their spacecraft. Third, in the Battle of Stonegate, the Aliens deployed the Armored Beast for the first time. We can assume that with these three tactics, the Serpent People are already able to achieve their goal."
"No, I completely disagree with your point of view. You just said that the Serpent People used three types of weapons, namely viruses, microwaves, and alien bioweapons. So why wouldn’t the Serpent People use a fourth or a fifth weapon?"
"What I mean is, if after employing three types of weapons the Serpent People are sufficient to complete the occupation, then they won’t pay too much attention to human activity on the ground. Xinghe said it: the Serpent People’s usual practice is for the vanguard to finish preliminary work, and by the time the main body of the Serpent People arrives, the invaded planet is already unable to resist. They simply take over. Therefore, I believe we should take advantage of this precious breather to use every means possible to grow and expand our own strength."
"That’s right, developing and strengthening our capabilities is essential, but precisely because of this, we cannot agree to let Gao Yuan leave the Supreme Command to go to Ji City to rescue survivors whose fate is unknown. I too hope to rescue all the survivors, but is that realistic? Moreover, since Gao Yuan is so valuable to us, he shouldn’t be allowed to go to Ji City. His own safety and the risk of exposure – if we agree to let him go to Ji City, I think that would be utterly irresponsible, both to Gao Yuan and to our entire command."
This was a very small closed meeting to discuss a minor matter.