Chapter 1 The Dragon City Rises

Hua Lei Town, inside a private room at the battlefield hospital.

A Black colonel staff officer, around fifty years old, wearing a green military uniform, entered the room and looked at Zhao Wei Hu in astonishment, asking, "You're injured?!"

"Yes, Colonel Hazar," Zhao Wei Hu looked up at him. "I demand that the headquarters explain this incident."

Hazar paused for a moment, pulled up a chair, and sat down, saying with a very guilty expression, "Zhao, it's the headquarters' dereliction of duty, we didn't supervise your troops well..."

"We're old acquaintances, no need for these platitudes," Zhao Wei Hu interrupted. "Tell me directly, why did Tang Zhengde dare to do this?"

"It should be with the tacit approval of the Second War Zone Command," Hazar replied. "I came by helicopter. Tang Zhengde made a request."

"What request?" Zhao Wei Hu asked.

"That you bring Gui Mengjun back here and hand him over to him personally, and this conflict can be resolved." Hazar frowned as he replied, "Their goal is very obvious, to force you to cut ties with Chinese-funded enterprises. To put it more bluntly, they may have secretly taken funding from the First War Zone government."

At this point, the enemy's motives were very clear.

The Southern Mo People's Army had been winning battles for more than a year, and had recovered large areas of no man's land. So, when the Chinese-funded enterprises came, the First War Zone, which had been secretly observing, also made its move.

The mutual game and pulling between the two major war zones involved all the small warlords in the Southern Mo region. Therefore, Tang Zhengde and his direct superiors may be taking the side of the First War Zone, and may not even be so eager to see the rebel army wiped out completely.

If the rebel army was gone, the military's say would gradually diminish, and the civil administration system would rise, beginning to restore the economy and rebuild. Therefore, some warmongers do not want the rebel army to be completely wiped out, because then they would have no way to profit from both sides.

Zhao Wei Hu's Chi Army (尺军) was the only Chinese armed force in the Southern Mo region, and in the past year or so, it had also established a connection with the Old Triangle, the Chinese region. Therefore, the First War Zone, through the complex struggle in the Southern Mo region, aimed to contain him, or even eliminate him. The motive was strong, because there was no possibility of Zhao Wei Hu being co-opted.

Inside the hospital room.

Zhao Wei Hu said with a frown, "I can't possibly hand Gui Mengjun over to him! If I do that, I'm cutting off my own escape route. If I offend the boss behind Gui Mengjun, I won't be able to do any arms deals, then what foothold will I have here in the future?"

"Tang Zhengde is just a pawn being pushed out, his purpose is to force you to cut ties with Chinese-funded enterprises. As long as you're not on that side, the First War Zone won't bother to move against you, you understand my meaning, Commander Zhao?" Hazar asked.

Zhao Wei Hu frowned and looked at him, "Is this your idea, or the commander-in-chief's idea?"

"No, no, you didn't understand me," Hazar waved his hand. "This is neither my idea, nor the commander-in-chief's idea. Because we support contact with Chinese-funded enterprises, as you Chinese say, 'befriend distant states and attack those nearby'. But the problem now is that Tang Zhengde has the support of the Second War Zone, he has no scruples. If you don't agree, he will attack Hua Lei Town."

Zhao Wei Hu was silent.

"My meaning is, you agree to him first." Hazar looked at his watch, "The headquarters has already deployed the First Army of Xiluo to move towards this side, and will arrive on the left side of Hua Lei Town in three hours at the latest. We'll stall him, and when the main force arrives, he won't be able to fight even if he wants to."

Zhao Wei Hu narrowed his eyes and looked at Hazar, "I want to know, if this plan you're talking about works, how will the headquarters ultimately deal with Tang Zhengde?"

"Good heavens, Commander Zhao!" Hazar shook his head helplessly, "When we consider something, we can't think of it as simply black and white, right?! Wasn't what I just said clear enough? Tang Zhengde can't be touched for the time being, he has people from the Second War Zone backing him up, he can find a hundred reasons to tell the headquarters why he did this. For example, Gui Mengjun is suspected of reselling military supplies to support the rebel army, so the war zone command ordered him to arrest the person. Or, for example, you may be colluding with bandits...!"

Zhao Wei Hu was silent.

"When the cannons fire, the truth is hard to discern, that's a timeless law, Commander Zhao!" Hazar added with a frown, "Our commander-in-chief is already seventy years old this year, he's been seriously ill for many years, and his life is coming to an end... At this time, let's not create trouble for him, and trust in his political wisdom. Sooner or later, he will avenge your dead soldiers!"

Zhao Wei Hu turned his head to look out the window, and after thinking for a full three or four seconds, he nodded and replied, "Okay, let's do as you say. I'll have someone send Gui Mengjun back, but I will definitely not hand him over, that's the bottom line!"

"Of course, that's our common bottom line, the route set by the commander-in-chief must be to accept Chinese-funded enterprises." Hazar stood up, "I'll go find Tang Zhengde now and negotiate with him, you immediately send a helicopter to bring Gui Mengjun back."

"Okay." Zhao Wei Hu nodded.

"That's it." After Hazar finished speaking, he turned and left the ward.

Zhao Wei Hu watched him leave with a gloomy look, and after a moment of silence, he shouted, "Notify all officers above the regimental level to come here for a meeting, immediately!"

...

Five minutes later.

Inside the ward, Zhao Wei Hu, with one arm in a sling and medical tape on his head, swept his gaze like a knife over the dozen or so core officers, and said in a sonorous and forceful voice, "Tang Zhengde stabbed me in the back, and wants me to hand someone over, I can't accept these conditions!"

Everyone was silent.

"What did we run out here for?! It's to fight for a breath, to fight for freedom, to stand tall and be human! Otherwise, wouldn't it be better for us old brothers to be directly recruited by the First War Zone?!" Zhao Wei Hu slammed the table and roared with gritted teeth, "I've been fighting the rebel army for so long, and I've never suffered such great losses as today, I can't swallow this anger. Officers above the regimental level, draw lots now."

Upon hearing this, the guard immediately tore a dozen pieces of paper according to the number of people present, and wrote numbers on them.

A few minutes later, a dozen or so paper balls were thrown on the table, and the officers took one each without saying a word.

Everyone lowered their heads and glanced at it under the light. The one-eyed dragon Chang Fei saluted and shouted, "Reporting, Commander, I drew the attack lot!"

Zhao Wei Hu turned around, "Any difficulties?"

"No!" Chang Fei shook his head.

"You might die!" Zhao Wei Hu shouted again.

Chang Fei saluted, "The Second Regiment of the Chi Army (尺军), fears no death!"

"Gather your men." Zhao Wei Hu waved his hand, "Everyone else, send off the brothers of my Second Regiment in ten minutes."

"Yes!"

All the officers saluted collectively.