Paul's face was flushed red, but he had to endure: "Past actions can be blamed on misjudgment and miscommunication. We can offer compensation, the border dispute areas can be re-discussed, economic compensation can also be negotiated, but now, we must stop internal conflict!"
"Compensation? Negotiate?"
Hopkins sneered, "Mr. Stuart, it seems you still haven't figured out the situation. Now you are the ones asking for a ceasefire, not us. Want to negotiate? Sure, first pull your troops back twenty miles on Highway 42 in the north, hand over the Rockford checkpoint you occupied last month, and then we'll see if the gentlemen in the Louisiana Parliament are in the mood to listen to your proposal."
Withdraw twenty miles? Hand over strategic points? This would leave the northern defense line of Texas wide open!
Just as he was about to roar out, some commotion seemed to come through the phone, and someone said something urgently to Hopkins.
