An Ze City gently instructed, "Go and rest. Once you wake up, it will all be over."

After saying that, Old An hung up the phone cleanly. Su Tianyu sat in his chair, slightly dazed.

Since his debut, Gou Liuzi had never been protected like this, except when he was with Old Li. Everything he had now was basically earned through his own passion, recklessness, and wisdom.

But this feeling of being "cared for" was pretty damn good.

Su Tianyu sat there for a moment, then said to himself, "Alright, watching the show is fine too. It's not bad."

With that, he got up and left the small room, returning directly to the conference room. As soon as he entered, he ordered Gu Baishun, "Notify Xin Xiaodong to stay put and not stick his neck out. Tell him to lie low in the Haiyan Pit!"

"Okay!" Gu Baishun nodded, reached into his pocket, took out his phone, and dialed a number.

...

Five minutes later, Haiyan Pit defense zone.

Xin Xiaodong hung up the phone, still muttering to himself, "Stay put and don't stick my neck out? Isn't that calling me a turtle? Did I offend the leader? Is there a deeper meaning to this? Is he saying I'm too conservative...!"

Fei Pingsheng leaned in and asked softly, "Any new instructions from above?"

Xin Xiaodong looked a little strange as he relayed the orders to everyone.

Soon, the entire Min Army was huddled in the defense line, quietly awaiting new orders from above.

...

At twelve o'clock at night, a line of military vehicles drove into the An Faction's front-line position.

Soon after, An Ze City, accompanied by his chief of staff and the guard regiment, strode into the camp tent.

The tent was full of An Faction's officers of all ranks, who were currently gathered around a sand table discussing the upcoming tactics.

When they saw An Ze City enter, all the officers turned around, stood up straight, with their legs forming a straight line, and saluted him, "Commander!"

An Ze City nodded slightly with his hands behind his back.

A division commander in charge of the front-line command walked over quickly and asked, "Commander, Jiang Yuanzhen has been brought over. Do you want to see him now?"

An Ze City thought for a moment and said softly, "Yes, let's see him."

"Okay." The division commander immediately called the guards to bring the man in.

An Ze City sat on a chair in the tent, drinking tea and listening to the officers report on their work.

Not long after, the tent flap was lifted, and Jiang Yuanzhen was brought in by two soldiers.

At this time, Jiang Yuanzhen's military uniform was disheveled, and he was covered in dust. His hair and face were covered in blood, which had already begun to congeal.

His hands and feet were in shackles, and he looked very disheveled, in stark contrast to the imposing Major General Jiang from two hours ago, who had shouted that he would flatten the An Faction.

An Ze City took a sip of tea, glanced at him, and said softly, "Sit."

A soldier moved a chair over, helped Jiang Yuanzhen sit down, and removed the handcuffs from his wrists.

Jiang Yuanzhen glared at An Ze City with a gloomy look. Then he reached out and took a pack of cigarettes from the table, lighting one himself.

An Ze City ignored him, crossed his legs, and drank his tea. The other officers in the room remained silent, simply watching Major General Jiang with cold eyes.

Jiang Yuanzhen took a puff of smoke, as if he had regained some strength, pointed at An Ze City, and cursed, spitting, "Damn it! You're just a petty person! Even if you caught me, I won't submit to you! The Dragon City is in such a complicated situation because of you troublemakers! One day, you will become sinners of history!"

An Ze City looked at him calmly, not paying any attention. He knew that if he said even one more word to this utterly defeated Major General Jiang, he would lose.

The division commander next to him couldn't stand it any longer. He walked over with a cold expression, and with a "pa" sound, drew his pistol from his waist, pointed it at Jiang Yuanzhen, and cursed, "You damn loser, what are you pretending for?! You don't accept it? Come on, come out, I'll fight you one-on-one!!"

As he spoke, he was about to make a move, but An Ze City shot him a look.

The division commander gritted his teeth, put away his gun, and retreated to the side, but still watched Jiang Yuanzhen with cold eyes.

...

At the same time, a line of military vehicles was speeding along the highway. Zhang Xunchen sat in the car, looking anxious, constantly urging the driver, "Faster, drive faster for me!"

The driver stepped on the accelerator, the speedometer kept jumping, and the engine made a heavy roar.

Zhang Xunchen took out his phone and dialed a number, asking anxiously, "What's the situation on the First Army's side?"

The voice of an intelligence officer came from the phone, "We just found out that Jiang Yuanzhen is being threatened by An Ze City and is leading his officers to the An Faction's front-line command. Their entire army is caught between the An Faction and the People's Army. Any slight movement will surely lead to the annihilation of the entire army, with no chance of escaping. Plus, his father and brother are in their hands. He has no choice."

Zhang Xunchen frowned and pressed, "Do you know anything about An Ze City's movements?"

The other party replied, "An Ze City may have already arrived at the front-line command."

Hearing this, Zhang Xunchen felt very irritable. He had a vague feeling that An Ze City had been preparing for this for a long time and would definitely make a big deal out of it.

Thinking of this, Zhang Xunchen said urgently, "Continue to inquire."

"Yes!" The subordinate hung up the phone.

Zhang Xunchen put down his phone and urged the driver again, "Faster! Also, send a car ahead to communicate with the sentries along the way and prevent them from hindering our progress!"

"Understood!" The adjutant in the passenger seat took out a walkie-talkie and began to shout, ordering other cars to clear the way ahead.

...

At twelve fifteen at night, on another highway on the outskirts of Dragon City.

Several military vehicles belonging to the Jiang Faction's military department drove out from along the Dragon River, speeding along the road, with rolling yellow sand and smoke billowing behind them.

All of Jiang Yuanzhen's direct line officers were sitting in the car, their faces gloomy and silent. Among them, Jiang Yuan and the old chief of staff were in the same car.

Their expressions were not good either, especially Jiang Yuan, whose facial muscles twitched from time to time. He rubbed his face vigorously and turned to ask the driver, "How much longer?"

The driver looked at the map and said, "Reporting to the commander-in-chief, it will take about half an hour to reach the An Faction's front line."

Jiang Yuan nodded and said nothing more.

The old chief of staff next to him looked at him and advised him earnestly again, "Xiao Yuan, listen to me, you can't go."

Jiang Yuan looked at him with a livid face.

The old chief of staff paused and said in a deep voice, "If you don't go, we still have a chance. If you go, your father will die."

Jiang Yuan frowned and said, clenching his fists, "If I don't go, you..."

The old chief of staff reached out and patted his leg gently, "Xiao Yuan, trust my judgment. Old An definitely wants to reorganize the First Army. It's enough for us to go. The First Zone will definitely protect our First Army. An Ze City won't dare to act recklessly!! Old Tan won't tolerate him if he messes around, understand?"

Jiang Yuan's eyes were gloomy, his fist clenching until his knuckles turned white, and he fell silent.

...

At the same time, the Garrison Command.

Tan Hengqiang walked into his office and answered the phone, "Hello, Commander-in-chief!"

"Hengqiang ah." The voice of the commander-in-chief of the First Zone Chinese Corps rang out from the phone, "The two divisions outside the line, have they been stopped?"

"Yes, I gave the order." Tan Hengqiang admitted frankly, without dodging.

"Jiang Yuanzhen has had contact with the higher-ups, he...!"

"Commander-in-chief!! The Jiang Yuanzhen First Army incident is my family matter." Tan Hengqiang directly interrupted his superior.

"...Hengqiang, whether it's a family matter or a public matter, people in the system must abide by the rules. Letting the First Zone reinforcements pass won't affect anything. Why make the atmosphere so tense?"

"Commander-in-chief, since you've said so, then I'll be direct too." Tan Hengqiang responded with a cold face, "The First Zone bypassed me, contacted Jiang Yuanzhen privately, and opened fire in advance, creating opposition with the Administrative Faction! This matter... is no longer a simple problem of climbing onto the stove from across the pot, but someone is putting Tan Hengqiang's head on the fire." (隔锅台上炕: a forced marriage; doing things out of order)

"You're exaggerating."

"...!" Tan Hengqiang chose to remain silent, without answering.

"If we abandon Old Jiang and the First Army, who else in the Chinese Corps will dare to work for the higher-ups in the future? Who else will dare to work for the First Zone Faction?! The opposition is very strong in this matter. If you don't compromise, it's very likely... it will cause war ah." The commander-in-chief said faintly.

Tan Hengqiang was silent for five seconds and responded powerfully, "If war breaks out, the entire territory of Dragon City will fly the Tan banner!!"

………………

Three chapters completed.