"General Igoumensita..."
"Stop," the Greek said, "I know what you're going to say."
Igoumensita was standing now before a group of governmental leaders. They were representatives of all the nations in the Eastern Bloc. They were all ugly men and women in business suits and they were all scowling. Their spokesman, a Bulgarian, had just addressed Igoumensita before the other cut him off.
"You're going to say," Igoumensita continued, "That I had no right to pull our troops out of Germany. Then you're going to say that I should have held the occupied country at all costs, even unacceptable ones. Then you will slowly realize that our forces are stretched thin on numerous fronts, and that the occupying forces of Germany were too scarce to hold it.
"After that you will decide that the fact we have weakened the German army, shattered it's government, and executed many of it's more prominent citizens is an acceptable retribution for the cost in men the invasion took. Then you will squabble for a long period before coming back and telling me that as the Supreme General of the Eastern Army, it is my prerogative to move troops wherever I like, and that I do not answer to any government leaders. Then you will discuss whether I should answer to government leaders before deciding that things are fine just the way they are now.
"Following that you will tell me that I made the right decision in pulling our forces out of an unnecessarily occupied country, the defense of which would only have been a pyrrhic victory, and that I should disperse the occupying forces amongst the other fronts as I see fit. Some of you will grumble and others will congratulate me. Then you will dismiss me and go back to your own petty little countries."
The governmental leaders looked around at each other. Some of them were scratching their heads.
"Good. Now that that is over, I'll get back to conducting this war against the entire rest of the world, which I have been doing rather competently to date."
Igoumensita left the room.
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