Darkstone Code

Chapter 1222 - 1220: A Well-Intentioned Lie

At 9:45 AM Federation time, the Nagariel Empire envoy held a press conference at the Nagariel Consulate for the Federation Society.

In front of numerous Federation reporters and even world reporters, he criticized the Federation Government’s utterly foolish decision and accused them of obstructing the Nagariel Empire’s efforts to locate missing nobles, which led to conflicts.

Yesterday, the conflict escalated, turning into a brief battle that ultimately resulted in thousands of Federation casualties!

Subsequently, the Federation stock market plummeted, with some defense stocks catastrophically dropping by 30% in a single morning!

The Nagariel envoy seemed to boast about how weak the Federation’s army was, implying they were incapable of being a worthy opponent to the Nagariel army!

People wouldn’t believe that the Nagariel envoy was lying; there was no room for lying in such international events, which would only become lifelong scandals for individuals, and even national scandals!

Then, some media reported that at least tens of thousands of troops had been deployed and left port in recent days, and these reports were used as evidence after the announcement made by the Nagariel envoy today.

Soon afterward, even more shocking news began to spread, such as reports claiming the total annihilation of the 15th and 17th Army divisions, overall casting a pessimistic view on the battle.

Some people couldn’t wait to jump out and conclude this military action, even directing criticism toward the President!

Indeed, many might not have realized that the President’s term is soon approaching its halfway point!

In other words, in a year and a half, the election will begin...

Due to the announcement made by the Nagariel Empire’s envoy, which left the Federation Government in a passive position, at 11:00 AM, the President’s Mansion held a press conference.

The spokesperson at the conference acknowledged the "friction" between the Federation and the Nagariel Empire and admitted that the "friction" was rapidly escalating.

However, he stated that everything was still under control!

However, the Federation reporters and international news reporters present were not easily appeased.

Someone directly stood up and posed a question that the spokesperson couldn’t answer—

"If the Federation is in an advantageous position in the battle, why don’t you disclose the situation first and try to conceal it? Can we assume that the Federation’s losses are much greater than what you disclose?"

This question... it’s actually quite unreasonable, like "You don’t tell me, so you must be trying to hide/deceive me," which is equally unreasonable.

Though unreasonable, the public believes this judgment: if you don’t tell us, it’s because the reality is worse than you claim.

In truth, the spokesperson didn’t know much about the internal situation either; he just had a press release, a Q&A, and some core content.

He didn’t know how to answer this question, and just as he was about to show the expression "I really don’t know, maybe you’re right," Mr. Truman spoke up into the microphone.

"In fact, we have destroyed many more Nagariel troops than we have lost ourselves, and the reason we’re reluctant to disclose these numbers is that we don’t want the friction to continue escalating!"

With just one sentence, everyone’s attention shifted to Mr. Truman instantly.

He lowered his head, looking at a set of data, then he read from the document, "... as of 6 PM on the evening of x month x, approximately over 2,000 enemies were eliminated during the battle..."

"... as of 6 PM on the evening of x month x, approximately over 3,500 enemies were eliminated during the battle..."

While speaking, he raised his head, waved the material in his hand, then put it back, "This material, which was originally not intended to be revealed to you, tells us that within three days, we eliminated around 8,000 enemies!"

At that moment, a reporter stood up, and the spokesperson looked at Mr. Truman, implying whether to allow that damned jerk to ask questions or whether to kick him out, Mr. Truman slightly shook his head.

This news was too "explosive," and if they didn’t answer their questions now, they would surely fabricate stories themselves, seeking to captivate audiences and claim the so-called "first news time."

Some people, especially within the Federation, always wish for the Federation Government’s misfortune, as these people have historically had problematic thoughts.

Rather than letting them write randomly about the specifics of that battle based on their own ideas, distorting facts and truths, it was better to release some official news.

Mr. Truman held a red pen in his hand and was drawing a box in the upper-left corner of a blank sheet of paper, yes, the document he had just raised, or the document he was looking at, had no words on it—it was just a blank sheet.

But he had to do this. It wasn’t deception but a strategic move.

To make everything more realistic, he had to quickly hand-draw a "highly confidential" document.

Generally, a highly confidential document consists of a "box" and a standalone word "confidential," and he unobtrusively watched the reporter who stood up.

"Mr. Truman, if we achieved stunning results in the battle, why are we deploying at least fifty to sixty thousand troops to Nagariel?"

You stand in front of a group of people, if there are only a few people, you can see through them at a glance.

If there are a dozen people, you might need to count them.

If there are dozens of people, you can only guess approximately.

If there are hundreds or even thousands of people, you might just assume there are three or five hundred people.

If thousands gather together, the initial impression is one or two thousand people.

When it comes to "counting people," people instinctively compress their cognition, caused by their ignorance.

In reality, one hundred thousand ground troops were sent to Nagariel, but it’s impossible for people to count accurately, they just assume there are fifty to sixty thousand.

This issue is also crucial, but Mr. Truman already had a psychological plan, he responded quickly, "Because we do not wish to escalate friction, we remain rational, but we must prevent our opponents from losing reason and doing something terrifying."

"They are not going to Nagariel to compensate for previous battle losses but to prevent larger-scale combat outbreaks."

"We promise here to try our best not to spread the scope of the conflict or let it escalate, but if the Peng Jieao Empire attempts to challenge our bottom line, we do not suggest going to war with them at this time!"

The flashlights flickered more intensely, and people stood up to ask Mr. Truman questions. Among numerous questions, the most frequent one was "Are you implying a declaration of war against the Peng Jieao Empire?"

The conference room boiled over completely; if the Federation declared war on the Peng Jieao Empire, it could very likely trigger the second world war!

Be aware that the World Development Committee was just established not long ago. If large-scale military action happens now, it will certainly involve twenty-four countries together, if this isn’t a world war, then what is a world war?

Finally, Mr. Truman raised his hand to quieten, stood up and answered, "This is not a declaration of war, just a warning, a warning to our opponents!"

"The Federation never fears war; if you want to attack, you must be ready for full-scale war!"

As he spoke, he gathered his things, stood up and left. Perhaps in his haste, a corner of a document was exposed beyond the folder, stamped in bright red with "Top Secret."

This scene was captured by many reporters, and the afternoon special edition or supplement heavily referenced this photo with the "Top Secret" document pagehead to increase authenticity.

Returning to the office, Mr. Truman sat in his chair waiting for good news from the front line!

Meanwhile, the first bombing squadron began to take off; a total of thirteen planes flew toward the designated location. After ten minutes, the second squadron took off, followed by the third squadron...

Altogether, eight formations with one hundred and four planes carried two hundred and eight cluster bombs, tens of thousands of mini fragmentation bombs would explode within the bombing area, no matter where they hid.

In the woods, marshlands, and even rivers, there was no complete escape from these bombings, and they were sustained bombings!

As planes reached the designated area, suddenly the woods resounded with the "tongtongtong" sound of the machine cannons, dull yet full of power!

Machine cannon shells fired into the sky, one bomber was hit before it could drop bombs.

The aircraft started to smoke and "drop its nose," the pilot despairingly and angrily tried to climb, but clearly there were transmission issues, he couldn’t control the aircraft’s ascent or descent.

In his final despair, he opened the bomb bay and released both cluster bombs in one go!

With a huge burst of flames soaring, the first aircraft crashed.

"Ascend, quickly ascend!"

The radio communication was filled with terrified orders; the Peng Jieao people knew the Federation held absolute advantage in aircraft, so they equipped substantial anti-aircraft guns.

The entire dense forest seemed to shake and tremble, countless shells fired skywards from beneath the treetops.

Because of the treetop cover, pilots couldn’t locate where those anti-aircraft guns were and could only bomb slightly in advance.

Airplanes fell one after another, accompanied by the throwing of cluster bombs initiating an explosion and blood feast!

Crashing planes would erupt with flames, accompanied by bombardments like tremors, dense forests were destroyed in large swathes!

The bombing lasted more than three hours, besides the cluster bombs used initially, subsequent bombs were all standard aerial bombs.

Some might think this is "revenge," but it actually isn’t, or it could be.

After all, when Lynch and the Ministry of Defense settle accounts, it’s based on sortie numbers and bombs dropped; if planes just sit in the airfield, there’s no money to be made!