Chapter 1506 - 1504: National Security Above All Else!

Chapter 1506: Chapter 1504: National Security Above All Else!

"I think we need to follow up on this issue..."

The speaker was a Lieutenant General of the Air Force, also the first Lieutenant General since the Federation Air Force was established.

The Navy wanted to make the Air Force part of the Navy, and the Army thought the same way. Both sides argued back and forth, and in the end, an Air Force was established.

However, it wasn’t just about simply dividing the Federation’s military into Army, Navy, and Air Force; it became more complicated.

For example, there were land-based air forces and sea-based air forces, which is to say air force units under the Army, and air force units under the Navy.

Similarly, the Air Force also has its own ground combat forces, namely the Airborne Corps.

Of course, they currently don’t have a space-based Navy, but it might be possible in the future. With the development of large transport aircraft, maybe it could happen... possibly!

Among the planes ordered from Lynch, only a portion made it into the hands of the Air Force, and the reasoning was quite sufficient.

Firstly, the Midway Plan is a Navy military plan. There’s no reason to suddenly transfer it to the newly established Air Force, which hasn’t even fully established its framework yet. So, taking at least a third to half of these planes and giving them to the Air Force should be fine, right?

Then the Army also needs some for deploying defenses on the Northern Front Line, which requires aircraft for early warning and attacks, especially with the military pushing forward with an integrated land-sea-air strategic advancement model.

So, the planes left for the Air Force aren’t that many—just a few hundred.

Even though there are other aircraft from companies such as Lanying’s bombers and transport planes, they are ultimately the minority.

Darkstone Airlines and their Flight Research Institute have already proven that they are the experts in aviation, so the Military is unlikely to waste a lot of money on Lanying.

Unless they can surpass Darkstone Airlines’ models in terms of technology and performance, the Military is unlikely to increase orders for Lanying.

After all, the upcoming period is wartime, and all aircraft need to be piloted by soldiers into battle. Buying some less advanced, or insufficiently advanced planes at this time is a waste of the Federation taxpayers’ wealth.

It is also an affront to those soldiers who are loyal to the country and willing to go to the battlefield for it!

Lanying is well aware of this and has completely abandoned research on fighter jets, turning instead to strengthen research efforts in bombers and transport planes where they have already achieved some results.

They are trying to avoid Darkstone Airlines’ core competitiveness and find some profit points from the sidelines.

In total, the number of operational aircraft the Air Force owns is not more than the Army and Navy, which seems a bit unreasonable, doesn’t it?

So, should the Air Force also supplement some various types of aircraft next?

When facing these choices, if you don’t stand up for your own interest, no one else will speak up for you.

Everyone is eyeing the budget, and if you get more, others will get less.

The President paused for a moment, then he vaguely realized something, glanced at the Air Force Lieutenant General, and nodded, "Give me a detailed written report once you have the results."

He intended to lend a helping hand in this regard. The President knew he couldn’t avoid it; after things cooled down, some people would bring up those issues again.

Interfering in other people’s marriages and destroying families, even if you are the President, cannot be forgiven by people!

Moreover, the party committee already had a decision; without any accident, Truman had a great chance to advance further.

So, to sum up, he had to retire.

Although it was regrettable, it was something that couldn’t be helped.

Sometimes people can’t control themselves entirely, and in a moment of uncontrollable impulse, things get ruined completely.

As for regretting or not, he didn’t really care. During his tenure, he had significantly restored the Federation’s economy. Although not back to pre-Great Depression levels, it was much better than when he took office.

Military, livelihood, diplomacy, almost a perfect answer sheet, he didn’t consider himself to be leaving in disgrace. At least, he wasn’t a failure.

Before leaving, he thought while he could still do something and had a bit of power, why not make things easier for others?

Perhaps others might make things easier for his family, his children, or relatives later on.

This is how upper society in the Federation operates, isn’t it?

You help me, I help you...

After leaving the Ministry of Defense, the President’s car headed directly outside the city. Chris and her husband had been captured.

When the Duncan Clan fell, this couple realized something bad was happening and had already fled.

In fact, their relationship with the Duncan Clan wasn’t deep, more like mutual utilization.

But from an official perspective, there were large financial transactions between them, which inevitably meant something was going on.

Moreover, they had once been "invited" to the Duncan family estate and had met Mr. Jeruno alone; they might have participated in the Duncan Clan’s crimes.

A few days ago, when they were planning to leave the Federation, they were captured at customs and subsequently sent back here.

Before being sent to the Bureau for investigation, Chris wanted to see him.

Originally, he didn’t want to meet this couple, but later... he was willing to meet them, at a deserted villa in the suburbs.

When he saw this woman again, the President wasn’t as angry as before.

When problems arose, he needed to shoulder some responsibility; it wasn’t entirely Chris’s fault.

But she indeed betrayed him. Clearly, he should hate this woman, yet seeing her in distress, he wasn’t so angry anymore.

He sat down next to the sofa, lit a cigarette, "I heard you wanted to see me."

Chris’s face showed fear for the future. She wanted to approach the President, but the glance from the security personnel beside her stopped her.

She didn’t know where to place her hands, just like her uneasy heart at that moment.

"They want to take us back..."

The President nodded, "Yes, we all make mistakes; since we’ve made them, we ought to accept the responsibility."

The logic is sound, everyone understands it, but not everyone is willing to pay for it.

Chris pleaded, "We did nothing wrong..."

"These were all Jeruno... forcing us to do it. We were victims too!"

At first, this couple found Mr. Jeruno and the Duncan Clan quite formidable, but they quickly fell.

This terrified them; every now and then, a member of the Duncan Clan was executed.

As core participants in betraying the President, they were very frightened, uncertain about their future.

Perhaps they would die?

In the Federation, various conspiracy theories about the upper echelons of the state constantly emerged with new variations; assassination theories of power were even more common assumptions.

They might want to overthrow the President, so would they kill them before the President stepped down?

The President looked at Chris with a smile; he could still imagine the softness of her body and her skin, but at that moment, he felt no lust, only an elevated, detached view.

"I won’t take my anger out on anyone because of this. I just said, we made mistakes, and we can’t avoid responsibility for them."

"Chris, don’t blame yourself; the one who made a mistake was me. I shouldn’t have done those things."

"I should have kept control over myself, so no matter how I’m punished in the future, I won’t resist."

"This is the best judgment for the mistakes I’ve made, and the same goes for you."

He said as he extinguished his cigarette in the ashtray, patted the dust off his pants, stood up to adjust his clothes, "I’m glad we could meet again. I won’t harm you, I won’t use my power to harm you, but for the crimes and mistakes you’ve made, you’ll have to bear them."

Saying this, he turned and left. Actually, at this point, the President himself had accepted it.

A mistake is a mistake, and killing these people wouldn’t reverse everything; maybe he’d feel a slight temptation.

But ultimately, that isn’t feasible. Killing them won’t change his situation, but will cause more errors. He wouldn’t continue making mistakes.

Sitting in the car, he asked his assistant, "What responsibilities will they have to bear?"

He wasn’t entirely aware of these things, but he believed this couple wouldn’t walk away unscathed.

The President’s assistant had been following these matters and briefed him about the actions of Chris’s husband when he was the State Supreme Court Justice.

Things like accepting bribes and showing favoritism to those who paid him were quite "common" occurrences.

He had also engaged in legally dubious activities, such as objecting to legally effective evidence and dismissing key evidence.

When he was the State Supreme Court Justice, he had his own mentor above him, and Chris formed a solid network using her body as a link; all questionable but not quite illegal matters had been ignored at that time.

But now that they are being brought up again, it means they won’t be overlooked.

The assistant simply summarized, "The lady’s husband may face thirty to fifty years of imprisonment, with some punitive measures included."

"...The Chief Justice believes that only by making people aware of the severe consequences of such actions can they warn more judicial workers to take their tasks seriously and impartially!"

The President listened and nodded, "Very reasonable!"

The assistant then mentioned Chris, "That lady could face over twenty years in prison for revealing state secrets."

The President slightly raised his eyebrows, "More severe than I imagined!"

He changed his tone, "The awareness of national security should surpass personal safety, and we need to make more people understand this!"

The assistant slightly bowed, "I think I know how to proceed from here."