Reston chose to compromise.
Precisely speaking, the Capital chose to compromise. Reston, the negotiation representative, spoke with the Captial for the second time and sat back down at the negotiation table.
"Celestial Trade must withdraw from MLL Islands… We can talk about independence."
When these words came out of Reston's mouth, Tate jumped up like a cat with his tail stepped on. His neck and face ballooned and reddened, and he cursed at Reston with spit flying.
"This is an obvious conspiracy! You betrayed your ally! Do you not feel ashamed?!"Reston looked at Jiang Chen without feeling phased and ignored the furious Tate. Eric, standing by the side, could no longer sit and watch. He played the role of the middleman and began comforting Tate.
"We can withdraw, but we will keep 100 Marines here in City K. We plan to establish aid stations here to fulfill our humanitarian duty," Jiang Chen said with self-righteousness.
That sentence almost made Eric choke. It was the first time he saw someone using the cover of humanitarianism to station troops.
"You can station 50 people at most, and you can't deploy fighter jets here," Reston said.
"100 people. City K is Moro's territory, and this is our agreement with another country. Do you have the right to intervene?"
Reston looked at Santos.
Santos exposed his white teeth and the deviousness unfitting of his muscular body."We don't have any issues. We welcome Celestial Trade to participate in the rebuilding of Kejia as well as investing in the industry of MLL Island."
"… Okay." Reston nodded forcefully.
"Then let's talk about Moro's sovereignty. Aside from the non-disputable MLL Island, what about the S Islands—"
"Not a chance." Tate interrupted Jiang Chen.
But Jiang Chen didn't seem to notice him and continued.
"S Islands are currently under the control of Moro's 11th Brigade."
"Control is one thing, sovereignty is another—" The United Nations observer, Eric, tried to speak before being interrupted by Santos.
"These are documents outlining the sovereign rights." Santos placed a stack of documents on the table.
"It takes time to review the legality of the documents." Reston's tone deepened. "Especially compared to sovereignty, isn't the voice of the S Islands people more important? In our view, human rights are above sovereign rights."
"Is that so? Your standards are always changing." Jiang Chen mocked him.
Reston's expression looked awkward; he coughed to divert the topic.
"Our discussion is about the Suf Islands problem."
"I suggest a referendum - that's the fairest," Jiang Chen said.
"No! Unless all citizens participate in the referendum, the territory of Country F should be determined by all citizens!" Tate stomped the ground and shouted.
The unruly citizens of S Islands wanted to separate for a long time, so they couldn't permit them to vote for themselves.
"Just as Tate said. It's like a house - you can't take apart his bedroom just because he wants to leave unless everyone in the house agrees." It was the first time Reston concurred with Tate's opinion.
S Islands was the gateway to the sea. Strategically, as long as Moro controlled the area, Celestial Trade's ships could freely enter the heart of Country F. Economically, S Islands were on the belt of the Pacific Ring, which contained a large reserve of rare metals. Control by Moro meant control by Celestial Trade, therefore Jiang Chen wouldn't give up on the possession of S Islands.
The first day of negotiations faltered because of the sovereignty dispute.
The two parties each took a step back and reached a ceasefire agreement and agreed to discuss other matters the next day.
The dispute regarding territorial claims wasn't easy to resolve, especially when the Aquino government wouldn't relinquish control by any means. Jiang Chen's method was very "immoral" - during negotiations, he signaled Santos to open a family visit channel to the 34,000 Country F government soldiers in the western MLL islands. Moro permitted family visitors to cross the border, stay for a maximum of two days, and visit their captured family under the supervision of Moro soldiers.
The captured soldiers' families could maintain their composure when they didn't see them. But when they saw their sons, husbands, and boyfriends captured in camp, their tears and despair could no longer be restrained. Although the captured soldiers didn't receive inhumane treatment, they more or less were injured because of the war.
Moro had a strong stance regarding the pleas to release the captured soldiers.
"We seek peace, but we will never compromise with the enemy. If you want to see your family go home, go beg your Aquino - the choice has always been in his hands. As long as he is willing to sign the peace agreement, we can drop our weapons and reunite with our families!"
We are also victims! We also seek peace! The villainous hat fit Aquino's head as a matter of course.
What happened next was predictable.
The soldiers' families who returned to Country F protested, cried for the end of the war, and blocked the Presidential Palace and Aquino's private home. From the experiences of the soldiers' families and wide support from other anti-war personnel and citizens who lost their income due to the war, the waves of protest grew strong and stronger. The emotion card Jiang Chen played achieved a superb effect in Country F, which was also burdened by a weak economy.
Only a minority of patriotic citizens refused to compromise and fight to the end, but their voices were already too faint. People were always changing - during peaceful times, they would probably support a war because of the pride in their hearts. But during wartime, most of them would change their minds after their quality of life began to fall.
Since the ceasefire agreement was signed, Celestial Trade joined the war for seven days, but Country F's currency depreciated by 20% while the price of goods skyrocketed by 50%. The people who demanded destroying Xin and making Pannu Islands the colony of Country F instantly calmed down and began to reflect on their lives and values.
Because of domestic pressure, the Aquino government lasted for half a month before returning to the negotiation table in humiliation.
Country F recognized Moro's independence. S Islands, MLL Island and part of the ocean territory would belong to Moro. Country F's five divisions would withdraw from the northern part of MLL Island.
At the same time, Celestial Trade's frigates and submarines withdraw from the area. Moro's two divisions withdrew from the islands north of MLL Island and returned the control of the territory to Country F. At the same time, Moro and Country F would unconditionally release all the captured soldiers.
Therefore, Moro's pursuit of independence finally succeeded and they became the 195th sovereign nation in the world. Country F, who lost their second biggest island, collapsed from this point onward.
And Celestial Trade, who made everything happen, became the "Sovereign State" of the area and the biggest winner of the war.
Because Celestial Trade intervened in the war on Saturday and the war ended within a week, this war was also referred to as the Saturday War by the international community.
