Office of the President Mansion of Sam Country, the President looked somberly at the senior advisors, feeling extrely irritable. Five minutes ago, he received a mysterious email with no traceable path, not knowing who sent it, but the content made the President realize that his life was facing a huge decision. The difficulty of this decision even surpassed the final TV speech before the election discussing the future governance plan; a slight misstep and everything could be lost.
The video content was very clear, without a doubt its fabrication, but the President would rather it be fake. This extre disparity brewed so anger towards Jackson; taking care of an old friend's descendants was one thing, bringing political trouble was another. If the President did not know the inside story of the entire matter, he would have dismissed Jackson and sent him to a military court. A hundred people captured, this was a huge embarrassnt.
The President's somber gaze fell upon the chief of staff, who promptly understood and said, "Mr. President, the other party stated that the video will never be leaked unless we don't comply."
"So we can't stop them from leaking the video, how can you be sure they won't cause trouble afterward?" the President coldly questioned.
"Although they claim to be under the Aladdin Terrorist Organization banner, we all know they are actually from Huaxia Country, it's a governnt act. Huaxia Country will only harm their image and prestige in the international community by doing so. They have concerns; secondly, as long as we hand over the people, the video holds no value for them, at most causing us political trouble. But this trouble will result in anger, posing a greater threat to them, possibly escalating to war, which is unwise. If they were terrorists, they might not care, but they won't." The chief of staff quickly explained.
"Just hand them over, where is the nation's dignity?" A middle-ranked officer scolded discontentedly.
"If we don't hand over the people, the video will definitely spread widely, how will the President face the families' questioning?" The chief of staff retorted, his tone firm and unwavering.
The President knew both made valid points, handing them over would damage the nation's prestige. Although few know about this, there are no secrets in the world for long, it's just a matter of ti. If not handed over, the hostages will surely be killed, questioned by families, military morale will drop, and he'll be guilty of standing by.
Everyone knew the President was weighing the pros and cons, not daring to disturb. The chief of staff saw the President hesitating, pondered for a mont before suggesting, "Handing over the people is disadvantageous for us, not handing them over is disadvantageous too. However, handing them over can limit the disadvantage to a certain scope, even delay its eruption. Not handing over will disappoint soldiers, voters, possibly leading to the defeat of this war, causing endless trouble, more disadvantageous, choose the lesser harm."
Upon hearing the chief of staff's analysis, the President made up his mind, looked at everyone, seeing them all deep in thought, his anger rose. He coldly said, "Does anyone have a different opinion?"
"Our country's anti-terrorism policy is resolute non-compromise; compromising would be disgraceful, leading to passive situations in the future." The officer reminded.
"I have a proposal." The chief of staff saw the President looking toward him, organized his words and said, "First, secretly exchange hostages with the enemy, keep the inford circle to a minimum. As long as our people return, even if the enemy spreads the video, we can outright deny it. Second, provide reinforcents, decisively strike the enemy, establish national authority and anti-terrorism image through strong asures."
"What if the enemy plays tricks during the hostage exchange?" a senior advisor reminded.
"If the enemy plays tricks and kills our people, it will completely anger our troops, morale will rise dramatically. By strongly promoting the enemy's terror acts of killing captives afterward, the national sentint will be united, political situation favorable to us, making the reinforcents smoothly passed in Congress, very advantageous for us." The chief of staff analyzed.
Everyone found it reasonable, looked at the President, the matter was significant, the final choice still rested with the President. The President understood the seriousness of the situation; he had no choice unless he stepped down. Even if he stepped down, the new incumbent must consider the issue of handing over. In other words, Sam Country itself had no choice, not a personal choice issue, anger surged.
The dignified President of Sam Country, a single cough causing global tension, unexpectedly threatened with no choice but to follow the arranged path by others, infuriating but able to maintain calm, looked at everyone and said, "This matter is limited to those present, whoever leaks bears the consequences."
"Yes." Everyone quickly agreed, nobody dared ignore the President's threat.
"Chief of staff, arrange the matter well, arrange for reinforcents from the Ministry of Defense quickly. I hope for results within three days, I'm a bit tired now." The President said coldly, eyes full of anger.
"Yes." The chief of staff agreed promptly, walking outside, others seeing the President's suggestion to leave, also stood up and left.
Almost simultaneously, Luo Zheng sat in a trench in the prival forest canyon eating, roasted potatoes, roasted at, and porridge, the porridge made from rice donated by the country. These items were simple but a gourt al for Luo Zheng and others, precious to have on the battlefield.
Luo Zheng was satisfied, saw Hook rushing over, asked suspiciously, "What's wrong?"
Hook sat down next to Luo Zheng, grabbed a potato, broke it open to eat, looking starved, ate a few bites, drank so water, then said, "Outer troops contacted us, they are secretly lurking about twenty kiloters behind the enemy."
"Tell them to disguise well, rember to change human form, otherwise the enemy radar will detect them." Luo Zheng quickly reminded, thinking of the Hook Tribe's Ard, and Xiong Bi and Viper's two forces outside, each with around a thousand personnel, properly utilized they can be very effective.
"Notified them already, as you taught, whether they can fool the enemy radar is hard to say. Also, since we caused such a big stir here, will the enemy continue to reinforce and try to eliminate us in the shortest ti?" Hook asked gravely.
"Absolutely possible, so once the hostage exchange succeeds, I'll take bigger actions, rest assured." Luo Zheng said nonchalantly, confidently.
Hook was infected by this confidence, anxiously relaxed, smiled, "Alright, I'll follow your lead, what do I need to do?"
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