Empire Conquest-Chapter 741 - 44 Dilemma on Advance and Retreat

The meeting had concluded, and by the time Zhou Yongtao returned to his study, it was already past 2 a.m.

However, it was not yet time to rest.

Lin Shiping had already been waiting there for over an hour, and even he hadn’t expected the delay to be this long.

"How did the meeting go?"

Zhou Yongtao merely nodded, sat down, and then closed his eyes, exhibiting an appearance of total exhaustion.

From early yesterday morning until now, except for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and the initial late-night snack, there hadn’t been a moment’s pause, he’d even been reviewing documents while using the restroom.

Lin Shiping waited patiently for a few minutes, and after noticing that Zhou Yongtao’s expression had slightly relaxed, he spoke: "We had anticipated reaching this point sooner or later, which is why you were chosen six years ago to lead the Empire in facing these challenges."

"If I had known earlier, I would have stayed at Navy headquarters."

Lin Shiping chuckled; he knew Zhou Yongtao was merely venting.

"Based on what was discussed at today’s meeting, after tomorrow morning’s Cabinet meeting, preparations for war will officially commence, from then on there will be no turning back," said Zhou Yongtao, letting out a sigh, then continued: "Although there are still some disagreements on specific issues, we’ve reached a consensus on the major ones. Even if we were willing to compromise and yield, given the current situation, there’s no stopping the outbreak of a Global War."

"The choice to fight or not is not in our hands."

"Nor is it in the hands of any one party."

"In any case, we didn’t initiate this war and haven’t..."

"What’s the point in saying that now?"

Lin Shiping paused then let out a bitter laugh with a sigh.

"Just as you said, this day was bound to come, and indeed, similar predictions were made a decade ago when I was chosen."

"The war hasn’t broken out yet, maybe it can still be prevented."

Hearing Lin Shiping say this, Zhou Yongtao furrowed his brows, his gaze filled with confusion and doubt as he suspected Lin Shiping was holding an ace up his sleeve.

Lin Shiping didn’t offer an explanation and simply glanced at the telephone on his desk.

Zhou Yongtao immediately caught on, and then, with a bitter smile, shook his head.

Lin Shiping was suggesting that he call Tiaoman Prime Minister Wolfgang Reinhardt.

"In any case, Reinhardt isn’t the kind of undiplomatic dictator that Hussein is; he at least listens to reason and there might still be a chance for negotiation."

"If there really was something to discuss, we wouldn’t have reached this point, and it certainly wouldn’t be up to me to make that call."

Hearing Zhou Yongtao say this, Lin Shiping couldn’t help but sigh.

Reinhardt indeed was a reasonable man, but the current situation was obviously not one that could be resolved by reason or a phone call.

The key was that Reinhardt hadn’t called Zhou Yongtao before issuing his statement.

That was a very clear signal—there was nothing to discuss.

"It’s getting late; you should go back and rest."

"Alright, I’ll get in touch when there’s new information."

After leaving the study, Lin Shiping encountered Luo Youbin, who had been waiting outside. He had intended to give Luo Youbin a piece of advice, but then reconsidered.

Luo Youbin was just a secretary; it wasn’t necessary to trouble him.

Actually, Lin Shiping had come to the Prime Minister Mansion and waited patiently for Zhou Yongtao for over an hour, all because he hoped that Zhou Yongtao would make the call.

Of course, Lin Shiping hadn’t come empty-handed.

Over the past ten days or so, he had established contact with Sims, the head of Tiaoman intelligence, through various channels and had received a positive response. He could reach out to Reinhardt through Sims, maintaining contact via the intelligence agency without worrying about outside awareness.

The prerequisite was that Zhou Yongtao had to be the one to call Reinhardt and propose this matter.

According to Lin Shiping, no matter what the future held, as long as contact was kept and negotiations were managed directly by the supreme Commander, there would always be a turn for the better.

The key point was that Sims had also expressed a similar willingness.

It wasn’t espionage deception nor was there any need for that since Tiaoman Empire’s motivation for waging war at this time was not to defeat the Liangxia Empire on the battlefield but to deflect internal conflicts. It could potentially control the situation and thus avoid escalating into a full-scale war.

At least to Lin Shiping, this was one way to prevent the outbreak of a full-scale Global War.

It was just unfortunate that Zhou Yongtao’s mood didn’t seem good, or to put it another way, he didn’t seem to think that Reinhardt would willingly work with him to prevent the war’s outbreak.

Lin Shiping didn’t insist on his point of view, arguing with a strong Grand Secretary wouldn’t achieve anything.

In fact, once Zhou Yongtao mentioned the outcome of the military meeting, Lin Shiping had realized that it was probably not Zhou Yongtao pushing the situation forward.

It wasn’t to say that Zhou Yongtao was under military control; within the Empire, there was no General capable of controlling him.

What drove Zhou Yongtao forward was only the "general trend."

To put it bluntly, at this critical moment, even Zhou Yongtao had to comply with the general trend, otherwise, the surging public sentiment would crush him to pieces.

This showed that the issue was not about choosing whether to fight or not.

It was after understanding these points that Lin Shiping didn’t persist in his opinion.

However, he also knew there still lingered a slim chance to prevent regional conflicts from escalating into a full-scale Global War; it wasn’t time to give up yet.

Actually, Lin Shiping wasn’t the only one with this thought.

After he left, Zhou Yongtao called Luo Youbin in.

In addition to arranging the morning’s full Cabinet meeting, Zhou Yongtao had another task for Luo Youbin: to contact Nong Chengpei.