"General Dong, I have some matters to attend to. Please, make yourself comfortable. I'll return shortly." Kong Xinhua cupped his hands in a gesture of respect.

Dong Hushan was a man of discretion. Seeing Kong Xinhua's expression, he assumed it wasn't anything serious and naturally wouldn't object. Besides, in his mind, Kong Xinhua was now an extremely important figure. He quickly responded, "Please, Mr. Kong, don't stand on ceremony."

Kong Xinhua smiled and left the room, hurrying to a small cubicle at the end of the corridor. These were usually for the attendants of distinguished guests. Now, only two people were inside: the man who had reported to Kong Xinhua earlier and Zhang Wei. Kong Xinhua had met Zhang Wei before and immediately stepped forward to greet him. Zhang Wei smiled and said, "Mr. Kong, what's the situation? I never expected to run into you here."

Kong Xinhua sighed. Seeing Zhang Wei's calm demeanor, he knew he must have checked the surroundings, and it should be safe to talk here. Still, he lowered his voice and said, "I've gotten myself into trouble. Although I've always resisted entering the Northern Liao bureaucracy, the task of delivering the airships has fallen to me. Currently, at the Nanmen military camp in Tanli, twenty airships are being assembled and will be ready for launch within an hour."

"Oh," Zhang Wei responded casually. "Airships can't fly at night, and they can't do anything even if they could. What's the problem?"

Kong Xinhua frowned, looking anxious. "The main force should be advancing in the next few days, right? If I cause any losses to the army, I'll never be able to atone for it."

Zhang Wei shrugged. "The main force has already advanced. If all goes well, they'll reach Tanli by early tomorrow morning. I don't think there should be any problems. We're planning to assassinate Dong Hushan and make some noise tonight. I'm afraid you might get hurt… Mr. Kong, please be careful. But our brothers will be watching out for you. Once the fighting starts, find a corner and stay there."

Kong Xinhua wanted to say more, to persuade Zhang Wei to eliminate the Northern Liao airship squadron to avoid unnecessary losses to the Dongping army's advance, but Zhang Wei simply waved his hand dismissively. He leaned closer to Kong Xinhua and said, "Mr. Kong, rest assured. When it comes to airships, no one is better than Marshal Ye. The army has prepared for everything imaginable. How can the Dongping army appear outside Tanli without its own airship squadron tomorrow morning?"

Although Kong Xinhua was still somewhat uneasy, since Zhang Wei had said so, and he wasn't familiar with military matters, he could only hope that Zhang Wei hadn't overestimated their strength.

"Mr. Kong… do you have any chance of controlling the military forces in Tanli? Even… just for today?" Zhang Wei realized that Kong Xinhua, in the eyes of Dong Hushan and his subordinates in Tanli, carried significant weight. After all, he came directly from Yanjing and brought the airship squadron. Although the airship squadron was directly under the royal family, in practical terms, he, who had contributed so much to the construction of Northern Liao's airships, definitely had a say. Even if he couldn't directly control the airship squadron, at least his suggestions would be taken seriously by the airship squadron, which was working feverishly to prepare for war. In the event of changes in Tanli, the airship squadron would value his opinion more than that of a certain commanding officer… especially an unexpected one. In this situation, if Kong Xinhua could control Tanli's defenses overnight, or even just have a significant say in the matter for a few hours, it would be very beneficial for the Dongping army that would be attacking in force tomorrow.

When it came to planning conspiracies, Zhang Wei, who had been doing raiding, assault, harassment, and sabotage work, was no match for Kong Xinhua. Understanding the implied meaning, Kong Xinhua merely frowned and sighed. "If I were to control Tanli's defenses for one night, I'd be a defeated general when the Dongping army attacked tomorrow. Back in Yanjing, people would probably criticize me. I haven't formally entered the Northern Liao court, so accusations wouldn't be directed at me, but there would still be some trouble. Look… you take action to eliminate Dong Hushan, and then I'll find a way to disrupt the situation… I realized the danger, but after a night of trying my best, I still couldn't convince the generals. Before dawn, I left in disappointment, and then… Tanli did indeed fall as predicted… Although I am filled with regret, there is nothing I could do. What do you think of this, Brother Zhang?"

Zhang Wei's eyes lit up, and he gave a thumbs up. He patted Kong Xinhua on the shoulder, cupped his hands in a gesture of respect, and left on his own. He and Kong Xinhua had too much to do tonight, and they were both on the edge of a cliff, unable to take a wrong step, or the price would be paid in blood. Although Zhang Wei expressed complete confidence in their own airship squadron in front of Kong Xinhua, knowing that the enemy also had an air force, he didn't forget to report this to his superiors. Through that communication channel, a brief message was sent out and, after two relays, would reach a house where telegraph lines were buried within half an hour. Then, this intelligence would be presented to the command center of the Central Army Garrison at the first possible moment. As for what decisions were made above, that was not Zhang Wei's concern.

Sniping Dong Hushan was much easier than imagined. In the past, assassinating a key figure often required a team of people, prepared to make huge sacrifices to succeed. But now, with sniper rifles and snipers, taking out a person remotely and then leaving safely became much easier. After all, the range of a gun is longer than that of a bow and arrow, and when a sniper rifle is fired, the sniper is lying down, presenting a very small target, unlikely to be discovered by the guards who are always watching their surroundings.

Dong Hushan had originally invited Kong Xinhua to the terrace of the restaurant to enjoy the night view of Tanli and to see how loyal and vigilant his personal guards were around the restaurant, but unexpectedly, a bullet passed through his chest, killing him on the spot. Kong Xinhua was "shocked," but after being escorted back to his room in the restaurant by his attendants, he "suddenly" thought of something. He immediately told Dong Hushan's deputy, who was in a panic, to immediately send people to protect the airship mooring field.

"This… this… what should we do?" A man like Dong Hushan was extremely confident in his command ability and didn't pay much attention to his advisors. And now, Tanli, where he was located, was at the forefront of the battle, likely to be attacked at any time. Before coming here, Dong Hushan had told Gao Senqi not to have too "clever" subordinates, and the deputy Gao Senqi arranged for him was loyal but lacked adaptability. If Dong Hushan was safe and sound, this was a very good combination. Dong Hushan could completely maintain his authority. But now, this deputy general named Sang Qingguo was somewhat at a loss.

"General Sang, you also know that the team escorting the airships is highly valued by the court. Now, Dongping scouts are already in Tanli. If something happens, I am not an official in the court nor a commander in the military, and I'm afraid I will be held responsible. General Sang, the most important thing now is to stabilize the situation, maintain the stability of Tanli, and then be on guard against the Dongping army, while also urgently reporting to General Gao," Kong Xinhua earnestly advised.

Seeing several squad leaders under Dong Hushan beginning to gather their troops and rush off in all directions to search, the surrounding neighborhoods became noisy. And Dong Hushan's personal soldiers were extremely loyal to Dong Hushan. At this moment, they were in no mood to extort money, but it was inevitable that they would act rudely and even resort to violence… Sang Qingguo was just a little slow to react. Being arranged to be Dong Hushan's deputy and being trusted by Dong Hushan, Sang Qingguo's ability was beyond doubt. He frowned, pondered for a moment, and immediately ordered, "Mr. Kong, I'm not familiar with the airship situation. The people who escorted the airship team from Yanjing came with you. Even if they are not under your command, they will at least give you some face. I'll have to trouble Mr. Kong to pay more attention to the matter of the airship mooring field. I will arrange for two people to be by your side, and you can instruct them if you need anything."

Kong Xinhua had no complaints about this arrangement, which was equivalent to acknowledging that he had temporary control over the airship squadron. Whatever happened or didn't happen, he had a complete excuse to disclaim responsibility. He cupped his hands to Sang Qingguo, said a few casual words, and hurried to the airship mooring site. With the airship squadron and the Imperial Guards who escorted the airships under his control, he could be fearless in this chaotic situation.

The situation indeed became chaotic. Sang Qingguo didn't want the news of Dong Hushan's death to spread too quickly. With the war imminent, if Tanli were to descend into chaos, it would be troublesome to clean up later. So, he personally led a group of soldiers to control Dong Hushan's personal soldiers. Before the news could spread further, he persuaded the squad leaders to stabilize the situation in Tanli first. However, rumors had already spread in Tanli that Sang Qingguo was colluding with the Dongping army, intending to surrender the city and seek personal gain, and had already set up a trap to assassinate Dong Hushan. At this time, raging fires were rising outside the city, illuminating half the sky… In less than an hour, news came that a unit of the Yunzhou army had attacked the military horse farm by surprise and then defeated a nearby cavalry unit that had gone to investigate… This news made the rumors finally seem real.

Kong Xinhua originally thought that he could take advantage of the chaos to try to control the situation in Tanli, or even take the opportunity to get rid of Sang Qingguo with the help of those who didn't trust him. But what he didn't expect was that neither Kong Xinhua nor Zhang Wei's troops could find a good enough opportunity again. Sang Qingguo actually visited the main officers of the various armies in Tanli alone, putting everyone at ease. Sang Qingguo had always been a nice guy, and everyone had a good impression of him. His actions quickly won the trust of the generals. However, since the forces capable of long-range assassination were still at large, everyone insisted that Sang Qingguo issue orders from the center, protecting him closely first. Only then did Sang Qingguo send someone to tell Kong Xinhua that a battalion of soldiers had been transferred to the vicinity of the mooring field… But because a unit of troops had gone out of the city to investigate what had happened at the military horse farm, the military strength in Tanli was slightly strained. For the time being, they could only let the Imperial Guards pay more attention to safety issues themselves. Kong Xinhua could only sigh that the best opportunity had been lost. He didn't expect that a person like Sang Qingguo could actually stabilize the situation. But Kong Xinhua wasn't too nervous. After a night of turmoil, when the dust settled, the sky was already beginning to lighten. Kong Xinhua knew that in an hour or two, the Yunzhou army would probably appear within sight of Tanli's city walls…

Kong Xinhua watched as the airships completed their preparations one by one. The Northern Liao airship soldiers, who had undergone a period of training, were nervous but very orderly as they boarded the airships, preparing to take off for their first aerial reconnaissance mission in Tanli. He cheered for the soldiers, praised the officers, and sneered inwardly, "Let me see whose sky this really is…"