He said: "The most important thing now is to cut off the source of this incident."
"Lieutenant Colonel Li, take your team to the place where we sent the supplies. If it's under the control of the Zerg, we'll have to find a new wormhole."
Lieutenant Colonel Li couldn't help but say, "...If it's controlled by the Zerg, shouldn't we take back the wormhole?"
"If we can't take it back, we must destroy the wormhole!"
Qiu Shenju immediately said, "Lieutenant Colonel Li is right! Then this mission is up to you!"
Having said that, he sent Colonel Li out without further explanation.
However, after Lieutenant Colonel Li left, a new lieutenant colonel and major stepped forward and urged him to agree to send troops immediately to support the outer asteroid belt that was currently being besieged by a Zerg regiment.
Those who support and lend support account for about 70% of the middle and senior military officers.
Only 30% of the middle and senior military officers either kept silent or had flickering eyes, and refused to agree to send troops to rescue.
Qiu Shenju watched calmly, but he was also angry in his heart.
Only 30% of people support him!
If Captain Rong Shengwei was here, would these people act the same way?!
He suppressed his anger and said calmly, "The Zerg are clearly launching a surprise attack this time. They won't stay to occupy our asteroid belt."
"Once they're gone, we'll send some more Space Marines to garrison there, and distribute more anti-aircraft weapons and conventional mechas. That way, we'll be fine."
A lieutenant colonel who advocated for rescue said in a deep voice: "What now?!"
"We have 1,200 Space Marines stationed on our 120 outer asteroids. Are we just going to ignore them?!"
Qiu Shenju said in a deep voice: "They sacrificed their lives for the country, so of course we must reward them handsomely!"
"Give orders to double their pensions, allow their families to join the army, and inherit their military achievements."
"The military merit will also be doubled! I won't be stingy with the rewards I deserve!"
The officers stared at him. They really didn't expect that Qiu Shenju would say such a thing!
The lieutenant colonel who had just argued loudly said, "That's the military merit earned by the Star Marines at the cost of their lives. It's not something anyone can reward!"
This was a slap in Qiu Shenju's face.
Qiu Shenju was also annoyed that he had said the wrong thing. He suppressed his shame and anger and said sincerely, "I was wrong. This is the military merit of the Star Marines, not a reward."
"However, my words still stand. Their military merits will be doubled!"
"Pensions and rewards will also be doubled!"
"Write this down immediately and let the entire army know!"
In fact, even if the rewards and pensions for the Space Marines were doubled, they would not be much.
This is something that does not need to be discussed for all major interstellar fleets.
Only a few officers expressed regret.
Because of the abolition of Catch-21, they could no longer exchange their Star Marines' military merits for promotions...
Otherwise, how much military merit would be gained from this Zerg attack!
Some people even couldn't help but wonder, if they led their men to the rescue when the battle was almost over and the Zerg were about to retreat, wouldn't they be able to get some real military merit?!
But what if the Zerg haven’t left yet?
If we take people there, we'll be walking into a tiger's mouth...
I was hesitant for a moment.
The confidential secretary over there was quick-witted and had already sent the news that Qiu Shenju was going to double the pensions, rewards and military merits for the Star Marines to the entire Beichen Empire's military communication channel.
…
Xia Chujian of course knew nothing about the meeting here at this time.
If she knew, she would probably come over with a big knife and overturn the table.
At this time, she had more than 400 space marines under her command, all of whom were rescued from nearby asteroids.
The Zerg sent out forty wing-class fan-shaped aircraft to attack fifty asteroids and captured a total of 490 space marines.
Among them, ten people were contaminated by Zerg genes and have been killed by Xia Chujian.
The remaining 480 people were rescued by her and participated in the subsequent battle.
In the battle with the Zerg, another fifty Space Marines died.
The remaining 430 Space Marines were either unharmed or slightly injured.
Xia Chujian watched the last Black Mantis soldier fall before she put away her sword and calmly ordered, "Count the results of the battle and report to the higher-ups!"
…
In the most heavily guarded conference room of the Starry Sky Mothership, just when everyone was either angry, secretly delighted, or regretful, Qiu Shenju looked at everyone with a smug look and wanted to adjourn the meeting.
But at this moment, his secretary brought another piece of intelligence and said with a strange expression: "...Captain, this is the new battle report."
Qiu Shenju glanced at him and felt that this secretary was somewhat incapable of reading people's expressions.
Does he look like someone who is concerned about the battle report?
In Starfleet, promotions have never been based on military achievements.
However, although he was dissatisfied in his heart, he did not show it.
He just glanced down at the new battle report.
Just one glance and his expression became solemn.
He seemed unable to believe his eyes and could not help but rub them with his hands before looking again.
You read that right.
Written on it in official language was this: "Xia Chujian, Captain of Squad 044, Squadron 144, 4th Division, 5th Interstellar Fleet, led 489 Space Marines to recapture 50 asteroids attacked by the Zerg."
"Killed 4,080 medium-sized Zerg soldiers and leaders, completely annihilated."