Chapter 127 An Undercurrent

It was a little after two in the afternoon in the small garden of the An faction's military headquarters.

An Ze Cheng was sitting under a parasol, just now eating his lunch. Simple home-style dishes were laid out on the table, but he only took a few bites of each.

"Pa, pa, pa."

A series of hurried footsteps sounded. An Ze Cheng gently turned his head and saw his chief of staff walking directly towards him around the outside of the flowerbed. He plopped down in the seat across from him and called out, "Commander!"

An Ze Cheng put down his chopsticks. "How did the discussion go?"

"Not much result." The chief of staff frowned slightly. "I can feel that his people are a little hesitant, neither refusing nor going into deep discussion. The person is waiting outside now."

An Ze Cheng was silent, picked up his tea and took a sip. After pondering for a moment, he asked, "What's his rank?"

The chief of staff immediately replied, "Not low, someone close to him."

An Ze Cheng nodded slightly. "Alright, ask him to come in. I'll talk to him."

"Okay." The chief of staff got up and quickly left the flowerbed.

After the chief of staff left, An Ze Cheng wiped his mouth and waved his hand slightly at the adjutant. "Clear it away."

The adjutant immediately came over and deftly cleared the table.

An Ze Cheng, who usually had a good appetite, had barely touched these dishes. Clearly, beneath his calm exterior lay a turbulent heart.

After five minutes, footsteps sounded again, and the chief of staff led a strange middle-aged man into the small garden.

The middle-aged man was about forty years old, wearing casual clothes and a peaked cap. When he saw An Ze Cheng, he hurriedly took off his hat and bowed slightly. "Commander An."

An Ze Cheng said gently, "Sit down."

The middle-aged man then walked over and sat down in front of him, looking relaxed.

An Ze Cheng did not rush to speak, but drank his tea expressionlessly.

After a while, the middle-aged man became a little restless and took the initiative to speak. "Commander An, this matter is indeed difficult for me to answer. I need to ask over there first..."

An Ze Cheng waved his hand, and the middle-aged man immediately stopped talking, looking at the commander with some doubt.

After another moment, An Ze Cheng put down his teacup and asked abruptly, "How far is the First Zone's support from Dragon City?"

The middle-aged man was slightly stunned by this unexpected question.

An Ze Cheng interjected, "I'll tell you, it's three hundred and fifty kilometers. For those two divisions to run, it would take at least six to seven hours to reach the offensive area, passing through three defense zones. Anything could happen in that distance."

The middle-aged man was a little dazed, stammering, "Commander An... what do you mean by this?"

An Ze Cheng did not answer the question, but picked up his teacup again, took a sip, and after a while asked, "Do you know what the relationship between Su Tianyu and my daughter is?"

The middle-aged man seemed to understand something and fell silent.

An Ze Cheng was very calm and composed, and without any superfluous words, he said, "If you work with him, I'll just close the door and you'll have nothing."

The middle-aged man was a little dazed when he heard this. His eyes flickered and his expression became serious.

An Ze Cheng slowly advised, "What do subordinates fear most? They fear most not being able to fathom the intentions of those above. But! What they fear even more is excessively speculating on the leader's thoughts. Jiang Yuanzhen is the latter. Go back and tell that person that his position is actually very crucial. At this juncture, he has a chance to move up..."

The middle-aged man's forehead was covered in a thin layer of sweat as he sat there, carefully analyzing An Ze Cheng's words.

...

A little after seven in the evening, Dragon City Garrison Headquarters.

Tan Hengqiang and his core officers were sitting in the conference room, discussing the current military situation. Zhang Xunchen and Tan Mingzhao were also present. The meeting had been going on for a long time, and many cigarettes had been smoked, filling the entire room with smoke.

An intelligence officer came in and delivered the latest intelligence to Zhang Xunchen. He quickly scanned it and his face sank. He said to Tan Hengqiang, "Commander, there are two pieces of intelligence."

Tan Hengqiang waved his hand. "Speak."

Zhang Xunchen pointed to the document in his hand. "First, the First Zone's 3rd Armored Division and 10th Infantry Division have secretly deployed their formations. The troops led by Lao Jiang are also taking it seriously. Even the trenches and military runways have been built. I think Lao Jiang's attitude is a bit dangerous."

Zhang Xunchen paused, glanced at Lao Tan's expression, and continued, "Most importantly, Su Tianyu's side is also moving, fully preparing for war. I have received reliable intelligence that the National Unification Bureau is now contacting wartime media. Also, Panama City has received orders to stockpile war materials. It is said that Gui Mengjun of the Old Triangle even personally made a trip to the Hua District to increase the amount of military equipment being transported."

Hearing this, Tan Mingzhao frowned.

Next to him, another staff officer couldn't help but interject, "Commander, are we putting too much hope on An Ze Cheng to solve the problem? Judging from Lao An's recent series of actions, he and Lao Li's team are definitely flirting with each other. There's no need to even think about it."

Everyone fell silent upon hearing this, their faces inevitably showing some worry.

The staff officer glanced at everyone and continued, "Moreover, according to some rumors from the outside, Su Tianyu is already considered An Ze Cheng's half son-in-law. If he has any other ideas and reaches some secret agreement with Su Tianyu, we are likely to be suddenly set up and played by them." Da Feng Novel

After the staff officer finished speaking, the officers couldn't help but whisper to each other, clearly feeling uneasy.

A general stood up and volunteered, "Commander, why don't I personally go to Jiang Yuanzhen's military headquarters and talk to Lao Jiang, try to suppress things a bit. As for Lao Li's side, we can also bypass An Ze Cheng and proactively contact them. I think this is more stable. At least we can test Lao Li's true intentions."

"I think that's a great suggestion!"

"I can go talk to Lao Li!"

The officers said one after another. Tan Mingzhao sat aside, not saying a word.

Tan Hengqiang put down the cigarette in his hand, looked at everyone, and said in a deep voice, "Lao An has been lying low in Dragon City for more than four years, and has always been close to me. In your opinion, his ambition is just to stab me in the back on this matter?"

Everyone immediately fell silent.

Tan Hengqiang pointed at them and sighed. "You guys... if you think about Lao An like this, there will be big problems, because you're looking at him too narrowly!"

Everyone remained silent, but some were clearly still suspicious.

Tan Hengqiang put out his cigarette and said in a tone that brooked no refusal, "Use people without suspicion, and don't use people you suspect. Let Lao An handle this matter. I want to see what he's going to do."

...

In the Jiang faction's military operations command center, a quartz clock hung on the wall, its second hand constantly ticking.

"Tick, tock, tick!"

With the slight sound of gears, the second hand jumped to the twelve o'clock position, and the hour hand was pointing directly at eight o'clock.

Instantly, everyone in the command room turned their eyes to Jiang Yuanzhen.

Jiang Yuanzhen raised his eyebrows and waved his big hand. "Attack!"

Thirty seconds later.

"Rumble!"

Outside the window, the roar of artillery fire echoed through the night.