To defend the city, that is my first duty. The civilians who were forced to become the vanguard are innocent, alas, if I do not kill them, as a soldier, I have failed in my duty. Perhaps, the little city I am guarding is just a small one of no major consequence to the overall picture of the war, but as a general, I cannot think like this. I must do what I can to complete my task of defending the city, and to do so, I will not hesitate to kill and fight with all my might, down to the very last soldier.
If the enemy’s attack isn’t able to destroy the city, then during the night, I will pass on my duties to my vice commander, and go alone out of the city to attack the enemy, to take responsibility and revenge for the civilians outside. I will kill as many as I can. However, before I do so, I will ensure that the city has sufficient fuel and combustibles, and give my vice commander a final command. As soon as the enemy breaks into the city, then light up and burn the whole city, and fight to the death with the enemy. Even if the city is broken and everyone perishes, we will not leave them with a single grain of food, nor leave them with any living humans to use on the next city. Casualties are unavoidable in war, and I can only do the best I can to provide the best possible outcome in the final war. As to regards on how many people will die, I can only do my best to reduce it, but beyond that, I cannot do anything.
Looking at Zhou Weiqing’s answer, the teacher’s face grew ugly, feeling a sense of blood from it, he couldn’t help but cry out angrily: “Nonsense! This is absolute nonsense!”
Looking up at Zhou Weiqing, he said: “This is your ideal answer? I cannot imagine, if you truly become a general, how many people would die because of you. Your answer, gives me the images of mountains of corpses and blood. A general who doesn’t care about life, who can kill and cause destruction and doesn’t care about civilians, such a general would never be loved by the troops and civilians. Aren’t you afraid of a mutiny?”
Zhou Weiqing shrugged and said: “Mutiny? Why would there be one? Couldn’t I tell them those civilians are enemy troops in disguise? If I am the general, my duty is to protect the country, not just those particular civilians. I believe that no general in the world will be able to save every civilian. I do not need their love, I just need to ensure most of them stay alive. There are always sacrifices in war. What, should I have surrendered instead?”
The teacher cried out angrily: “Even surrendering would be better than your answer. No matter what your excuses are, I will give you a zero for this answer. In fact, from my perspective, I definitely do not hope that a young man with a character like yours will enter the academy and eventually go on the battlefield.”
Zhou Weiqing’s lip curled in scorn. “Pedantic fool.” Towards this exam, he had never expected much anyway. Zero, so be it. Besides, as long as he managed to get full marks for another paper, he should be able to pass. He was rather confident in the personal combat ability examination.
Just as the teacher was about to put a zero on the paper, all of a sudden, a clear voice sounded out. “Wait!”