CHAPTER 1556: CHAPTER 1473: A WAY OUT

"What do you expect us to do? Go back in disgrace? We might not be greeted by our family, but by a group of armed soldiers!" Sun Guang gritted his teeth and said.

He felt that this pardon was essentially a ruse to sow discord. If they went back, the Great Tang Empire would certainly capture them all and hang them to serve as a warning to others.

Of course, from a personal standpoint, returning in such a manner was indeed embarrassing. If the Tang Army had been defeated in Dorne and he was pardoned, returning to his homeland would have been with pride and a sense of achievement. Even if it meant death, he would be at peace with it.

But now, having fled to Dorne as a general of Qin Country, he could hardly say he had achieved anything. That defense line had not been battle-tested and was nowhere near completion.

In Sun Guang’s view, this line should be three times as strong! At least a million coastal defense troops from Dorne should take fifty thousand of the Tang Army with them in their demise to be considered successful.

But now? Sun Guang actually knew a bit about the state of that line. Many sections had not been constructed to standard requirements, and even less than ten percent met the standards.

The original plan was to place a machine gun bunker every thirty to fifty meters, but most areas had not achieved this: many places only had machine gun positions without reinforced concrete bunkers.

Even so, the density of machine guns was reduced from one every 30-50 meters to approximately one every hundred meters. Only core support fire points occasionally used 50-meter spacing for machine guns.

Many of the essential ammunition storage tunnels were simplified into things like eaves. Many ammunition depots were even empty because there simply weren’t enough arms to fill them.

Now, it was obvious that someone in Dorne hoped Sun Guang would disappear forever with these so-called huge liabilities! As long as Sun Guang left, even if he didn’t die, these problems would be pinned on him, giving him a bad name so others could be absolved.

But Sun Guang was unwilling to do that. Damn it, he fled all the way to Dorne, thinking of continuing to fight for Qin Country, to win more opportunities for Qin Country.

It’s just a pity that he failed. Before he could achieve anything, the Great Qin Empire he wanted to save had already fallen.

Now Qin Country no longer exists, and the former Emperor Qin Ying Duo has become the Duke of Qin of Great Tang. Rumor has it that this Duke is recently forming a soccer team for the People of Qin, a classic example of someone indulging in trivial matters.

It is said that the People of Qin have also given up on any struggle for restoration. They are led by officials in Tang Country to dig canals, build dikes, extend roads, construct factories... Beneficiaries are numerous, and those grateful are as common as fish in a river.

No one misses the old, backward, poor, and harsh Qin Country anymore. Everyone calls themselves Tang People, and the term Qin Territory seems to be something everyone avoids mentioning.

In such circumstances, what Sun Guang did was somewhat out of place. Dorne kept him around merely to prove to the world that Tang Country was still unpopular in Qin Territory. But as time passed, even this little remaining effect seemed to have disappeared.

His entire being out of tune with the times was ultimately going to be swept into the dustbin of history: Dorne planned to use his identity as a person from Qin one last time, to stage a final act of separation.

"Oh... You intend to make me the scapegoat, so those Nobility who contracted the project but cut corners would not be held accountable, those conscripted soldiers wouldn’t need to be discharged, and only my reputation would be sacrificed!" Sun Guang realized everything, suddenly enlightened, and pointed at himself.

Mike Ravel blushed immediately; he had anticipated this when he came. Dorne’s involvement in the coastal defense project was too significant, significant enough that even Dorne the First dared not uncover this scar.

So Dorne the First came up with this ’brilliant plan,’ shifting the blame onto an unrelated person, and then it would be over, ending the whole fiasco.

As for the later correction and repair, that’s a story for another day. Anyway, Dorne has no more money to continue spending on coastal defense lines; it’s enough if it can intimidate the Tang Country on that side.

"General Sun! Our emperor is not without human feelings, he guaranteed me that as long as you are willing to leave, he would absolutely not obstruct you." This was the last condition Mike Ravel managed to secure for Sun Guang.

After all, for such a major issue, if Sun Guang didn’t leave, he would definitely be executed. So Mike Ravel came here to notify Sun Guang, so he could escape before Dorne decided to make a move.

But what Mike Ravel didn’t know was that Dorne the First wasn’t so kind-hearted. Secretly, Dorne the First had already arranged warships and submarines, waiting to fire and sink Sun Guang as soon as his ship left the port.

There’s no way he would let Sun Guang return alive to Great Tang: Leaving Sun Guang as a survivor could potentially leak Dorne’s defense line secrets, and it might also give Sun Guang a chance to defend himself. From any standpoint, Dorne the First must kill Sun Guang.

And the pardon document brought by Mike Ravel from the Great Tang Empire for Sun Guang was merely the catalyst for the entire incident.

Sun Guang wasn’t a fool; he obviously knew what he knew was crucial to Dorne and the Great Tang Empire.

If he could make it to the Great Tang Empire alive, perhaps he really could provide some useful intelligence, in return for a chance at survival.

"Your Emperor is assured of my departure? With so many of your secrets to Tang Country?" Sun Guang laughed, sneeringly questioning in a tone full of disdain.

Mike Ravel said nothing, knowing clearly that his claim was overly wishful. At sea, anything could happen, and his so-called guarantee was utterly worthless.

At that time, blaming it on the ship encountering hidden currents or even shifting the blame onto the Tang Empire’s Navy, what could Mike Ravel possibly do? Confront his emperor over such trivial matters? In the end, he’d just have to play deaf and dumb, right?

"Looks like I really should leave." Sun Guang smiled self-deprecatingly, then made a gesture for Mike Ravel to leave: "Goodbye, my friend. I hope one day I can see you again."

He watched until Mike Ravel left the room, and the moment the door closed, he clenched a business card in his pocket.

A few days ago, a newspaper boy had delivered it to him, with only a phone number and a name even Sun Guang was quite familiar with: Pan Yiping.

In Dorne, there weren’t many who could get such a business card, but for Sun Guang, it might be his only path to survival. He considered his life already ruined and insignificant, but he felt he at least ought to send those Qin sailors back to their homeland...

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Family matters have been consuming my time lately, so updates will be ensured, and any backlog will definitely be caught up with.