In the small town of Hualei, in a single room of a field hospital.
A black colonel in his 50s wearing a green military uniform entered the room, looked at Zhao Weihu in astonishment and asked, "Are you injured?!"
"Yes, Colonel Hazar." Zhao Weihu looked up at him and said, "I now ask the headquarters to explain this incident."
Hazar paused for a while, pulled a chair and sat down, and said with a guilty look: "Zhao, it is the fault of the headquarters. We did not supervise your troops well..."
"We are old acquaintances. There is no need to say these clichés." Zhao Weihu interrupted and replied: "Just tell me, why did Tang Zhengde dare to do this?"
"It should be the tacit approval of the Second War Zone Command." Hazar replied: "I came here by helicopter. Tang Zhengde made the request."
"What's your demand?" Zhao Weihu asked.
"You bring Gui Mengjun back here and hand him over to him personally, and this conflict can be resolved." Hazar frowned and replied, "Their purpose is obvious. They want to force you to cut ties with Chinese companies. To put it more bluntly, they may have secretly received funding from the District 1 government."
At this point, the enemy's motives have become very obvious.
The Monan Min Army has been fighting more and more smoothly in the past year or so, and has recovered large tracts of uninhabited land, so Chinese-funded enterprises have come, and District 1, which has been secretly observing, has also taken action.
The mutual game and tug of war between the two regions involved all the small warlords in the Mo'nan area, so Tang Zhengde and his direct superiors might take the side of one region and might not even be so eager to see the rebels wiped out.
If the rebels are gone, the army's voice will become increasingly scarce, the civilian political system will rise, and begin to restore the economy and construction. Therefore, some warmongers do not want the rebels to be completely wiped out, because then they will not be able to play both sides and gain benefits.
Zhao Weihu's Chi Army is the only Chinese armed force in the Mo Nan area, and in the past year or so, it has been in contact with the Old Triangle and the Chinese District. Therefore, District One has sufficient motives to contain him or even kill him through the complex struggles in the Mo Nan area, because there is no possibility of Zhao Weihu being recruited.
In the ward.
Zhao Weihu frowned and said, "I can't possibly hand Gui Mengjun over to him! If I do that, I'll be cutting off my own escape route. If I offend the boss behind Gui Mengjun, I'll have no chance in the arms business, and what place will I have here in the future?"
"Tang Zhengde is just a cannonball that was pushed out. His purpose is to force you to cut ties with Chinese-funded enterprises. As long as you are not from that side, District 1 will not bother to touch you. Do you understand what I mean, Commander Zhao?" Hazar asked.
Zhao Weihu frowned and looked at him: "Is this your idea, or the commander-in-chief's idea?"
"No, no, you didn't understand me." Hazard waved his hand: "This is neither my meaning nor the commander-in-chief's. Because we support contact with Chinese companies. In your Chinese words, it is to make friends with distant countries and attack nearby ones. But the problem now is that Tang Zhengde has the support of the Second War Zone. He has no scruples in his heart. If you don't agree, he will attack Hualei Town."
Zhao Weihu was silent.
"I mean, you should agree to it first." Hazare glanced at his watch. "The General Headquarters has already moved the First Army of Xiro here. It will arrive on the left side of Hualei Town in three hours at the latest. We will hold him back until the main force arrives. He won't be able to fight back even if he wants to."
Zhao Weihu narrowed his eyes and looked at Harza: "I want to know, if the plan you mentioned works, how will the headquarters deal with Tang Zhengde in the end?"
"Oh my god, Commander Zhao!" Hazar shook his head helplessly. "When we consider something, we can't think of it in black and white, right?! Wasn't what I said just now clear enough? Tang Zhengde can't move for the time being. He has the support of the people in the Second War Zone. He can find a hundred reasons to reply to the headquarters why he did this. For example, the Guimeng Army is suspected of reselling military equipment and supporting the rebels, so the war zone headquarters ordered him to arrest people. For another example, you may be in collusion with bandits...!"
Zhao Weihu was silent.
"When the cannon sounds, the truth is hard to discern. This is an eternal law, Commander Zhao!" Hazar frowned and added, "Our commander-in-chief is already seventy years old this year. He has been seriously ill for many years and his life is at its final stage... At this time, we should not cause him trouble and believe in his political wisdom. Sooner or later, he will avenge your dead soldiers!"
Zhao Weihu turned his head to look at the window, and after thinking for three or four seconds, he nodded and said, "Okay, let's do as you say. I'll have someone send Gui Mengjun back, but I will never hand him over. This is the bottom line!"
"Of course, this is our common bottom line. The route set by the commander-in-chief must be to accept Chinese-funded enterprises." Hazard stood up and said, "I will go to Tang Zhengde and negotiate with him now. You send a helicopter to pick up Gui Mengjun immediately."
"Okay." Zhao Weihu nodded.
"That's it." Halza said, turned around and left the ward.
Zhao Weihu watched him leave with a gloomy look. After a long silence, he shouted, "Notify all cadres above the regimental level to come to my place for a meeting, immediately!"
…
Five minutes later.
In the ward, Zhao Weihu had one arm in a sling and his head was covered with medical tape. He swept his eyes over a dozen core officers and said in a sonorous voice, "Tang Zhengde stabbed me and wants me to hand over someone. I can't accept this!"
Everyone was silent.
"Why did you run out?! Just to fight for your freedom and to stand up straight! Otherwise, wouldn't it be better for us brothers to be recruited by District 1?" Zhao Weihu slammed the table and shouted with gritted teeth, "I have fought the rebels for so long, but I have never suffered such a heavy loss today. I can't swallow this. Cadres above the regimental level, draw lots now."
When the guard heard this, he immediately tore off a dozen pieces of paper and wrote down the numbers according to the number of people present.
A few minutes later, a dozen paper balls were thrown on the table. The officers picked up one each without saying anything.
After everyone lowered their heads to take a look under the light, the one-eyed dragon Chang Fei saluted and shouted, "Report to the commander, I drew the attack lot!"
Zhao Weihu turned around: "Are you having any trouble?"
"No!" Chang Fei shook his head.
"You might die!" Zhao Weihu roared again.
Chang Fei saluted: "The Second Regiment of the Chi Army is fearless and unafraid of death!"
"Gather the people." Zhao Weihu waved his hand: "Everyone else, in ten minutes, send off my brothers from the Second Regiment."
"yes!"
The officers saluted collectively.