Chapter 86 Soldiers
Marineford Strategic Command Room
Sengoku frowned, flipping through the pages of the troop deployment plan in his hand, and finally slammed the table:
"Once all Whitebeards are deployed, we'll need at least 100,000 elite marines to defend Marineford. Otherwise, our defenses won't hold!"
Rogge stood in front of the huge sea chart, fiddling with the battle power symbol in his hand. His eyes were as cold as ice, and he said lightly:
"100,000? We don't need that many soldiers buried with you for your political reasons."
Sengoku took a deep breath, as if to release all the depression in his chest. He stood up and said in a deep voice:
"Rogge, do you think... I don't know how many soldiers may not come back from this battle?"
"Do you think I want to see them die?!"
He turned around abruptly and pointed at the huge sea chart on the wall, his eyes bloodshot:
"But this is war! An all-out war with the world's destiny at stake!!"
"Without sacrifice, how can there be victory?! How can there be future peace?!"
Rogge looked up, his eyes like swords staring straight at Sengoku:
"Marshal, our goal is to completely annihilate the Whitebeard Pirates, but we will never use the blood and flesh of our soldiers to build an altar of victory!"
"In a true high-level battle of strength, elite soldiers are nothing more than ants that can be easily crushed by a powerful opponent."
"The aftermath of a battle between powerful men will kill them in droves!"
Rogge looked at him calmly, slowly walked to the nautical chart, and pointed at "Marineford".
"Marshal, there has never been true 'peace' in this world."
"As long as the Pirates are not completely exterminated, the so-called peace is nothing more than a brief respite bought with one victory after another, a false illusion built on mountains of corpses and seas of blood!"
"What I want—"
He suddenly raised his hand and pointed to the distant sky: "This is a new era led by true 'justice', where soldiers can return with glory, not as cold and forgotten sacrifices!"
Sengoku's face froze and he opened his mouth, but no words of rebuttal came out.
Sakazuki nodded solemnly, his face blazing with rage like lava: "I agree. Real war relies on fists and will, not cannon fodder sent to die!"
Rogge continued, "From these 100,000 marines, we will screen out half based on the three criteria of strength, willpower, and psychological endurance, leaving only the strongest 50,000 elite."
"These people are the ones who are qualified to stand on the battlefield of this war and have the best chance of survival!"
"Victory will be won with their blood, not with their corpses!"
Rogge glanced coldly at the crowd present: "A truly powerful person should stand firm at the forefront of the battlefield like a rock—crushing the enemy with absolute strength and forging victory with an iron will.
They shouldn't hide in the rear, leaving those soldiers with faith to fight monsters with their flesh and blood!"
"The meaning of strength has never been to pave the road to victory with the corpses of soldiers. It is to use one's mountain-like body to build an insurmountable barrier for every soldier behind you!"
The air froze for a moment, and Sengoku closed his eyes for a long time, feeling bitter in his heart.
Shocked by these words, he was speechless for a long time, his expression complicated. Looking at Rogge's resolute and stern back, he realized for the first time:
"Since when did I stop caring about the lives of the lower-ranking Marines?"
This genuine regard for the lives of soldiers actually makes people tremble.
[Inside the Marine Corps: Soldier Barracks]
These words quickly spread privately in the army:
"Have you heard? Vice Admiral Rogge directly rejected the order to transfer 100,000 troops, saying that our lives are not to be sacrificed!"
"Vice Admiral Xuanlin is actually trying to defend us ordinary soldiers?!"
"After hearing this, Laozi decided to accept death in this battle!"
"Rogge Vice Admiral said, we must come back alive from this battle!"
"He didn't treat us as cannon fodder!! This is what a true general looks like!"
For a moment, countless soldiers were moved to tears, veins bulged in their hands as they gripped their weapons, and they vowed to fight to the death!
Especially at the G-5 base, no one flinched. Even though they knew the screening was extremely strict, they still shouted:
"We are under the G-5 Blade of Rectification!"
"For justice, I will die without regrets!"
This heart-stirring and passionate oath spread like a raging fire throughout Marineford.
For a time, the soldiers' morale was greatly boosted. Regardless of whether they could pass the screening in the end, they all volunteered to participate in this war known as the "ultimate showdown between justice and evil."
After many rounds of screening, more than 60,000 elite soldiers volunteered to stay, especially at the G-5 base - all the members were selected and vowed to fight to the death!
In the sunlight, the cloak of justice billowed like a blazing flame. Tens of thousands of warriors raised their sabers and roared in unison:
"Clear the Pirates!"
"Never retreat!"
At this moment, the soldiers are no longer weak victims, but true warriors fighting for justice.
Rogge stood on a high place, looking down at the elite troops lined up in the square. His eyes were as calm as the sea, but they concealed a hint of unprecedented solemnity.
Sakazuki walked up to him and they looked at each other in silence, neither of them spoke.
Lei Te crossed his arms and chuckled, "Boss, they will remember you after this battle."
Enel's golden eyes flickered slightly: "If God had intervened, there wouldn't have been any casualties in this war."
Rogge said slowly, "I don't need them to remember this. This is their choice, and it is also the ultimate test of this era."
"I promised them... that they would return with glory!"
Sakazuki stood beside Rogge, his hands behind his back, and spoke each word with great force:
"In this battle, victory belongs to justice!"
Finally, Rogge whispered, "This time, their blood will not be shed in vain!"
[Marineford Marine Soldier Barracks]
The afterglow of the setting sun cast a red glow over the entire training square.
The soldiers who were about to go to the battlefield sat quietly beside their luggage bags. Some lowered their heads to polish their weapons, while others unfolded yellowed papers and picked up pens to write down the softest concerns in their hearts.
A young marine bit the pen, his wrist trembling slightly, and wrote in childish but neat handwriting:
"Dear Mother:
My son is about to go to the front line to fight the enemy. I am afraid he will not be able to come back after this battle.
But please don't be sad, fighting for justice is the highest honor.
It would be worth it if I could see the sea clear and the children playing freely in the harbor.
—Your unfilial son, Bailey."
Not far away, an old soldier's rough fingers struggled to smooth the paper. He dipped his pen into ink several times but couldn't put pen to paper. In the end, he only wrote a short sentence:
"My dear, if I don't come back, I will still marry you in my next life."
By the campfire, a soldier quietly put the addressed envelope into his chest pocket, looking firmly at the towering mast of a warship in the distance.
[Command Room]
Rogge stood in front of the holographic tactical sandbox and summoned Kizaru and Enel in a deep voice.
"Borsalino Admiral, Enel."
Rogge's voice was unusually volatile. "In this war, the soldiers have pledged their lives. I don't ask for them all to return alive, but I do ask that—if a high-level battle breaks out—you evacuate the frontline soldiers to a safe area as quickly as possible."
A rare moment of deep thought lingered in Enel's golden eyes. "The maximum range of our mind network can completely cover the battlefield. I will continue to monitor the battlefield situation."
Kizaru lazily took off his sunglasses and smiled helplessly: "Oh my...Rogge Vice Admiral, you're making an old man like me run around."
Rogge smiled faintly. "If Admiral Borsalino was really lazy, he wouldn't have single-handedly wiped out the Pirates' hideout in North Blue."
A complex emotion flashed across Kizaru's eyes before he finally nodded, "Alright, I'll just move a little this time."
Rogge saluted the two men solemnly and said, "Guard them back safely on my behalf."
Kizaru looked at Rogge who was so serious, and a trace of fluctuation flashed in his eyes.
[Marineford Marshal's Office]
Sengoku stood alone in front of the huge floor-to-ceiling window, overlooking the heavily fortified Marineford.
A cup of tea turned cold, he slowly closed his eyes, but his thoughts seemed to go back to that youthful age.
At that time, he, Garp, and Zephyr were full of vigor and ambition, and they were determined to change the world with their own hands while chatting and laughing.
At that time, the belief in justice was simple and pure, requiring no complicated schemes or heavy compromises.
"Since when did I stop feeling sorry for the most ordinary soldiers?"
Sengoku slowly exhaled, his gaze crossing the distant Justice Square where the battle was about to break out.
——Yes, he is old now. He can no longer walk back to that simple path of justice.
And that young figure wearing a cloak and standing under the scorching sun was exactly the ideal he had always dreamed of - but now, he could only entrust it to Rogge.
"Rogge...I'll leave it to you."
The wind rises and the flags flutter.
The ultimate battle between justice and evil, survival and destruction is about to begin