Chapter 386

After the Huagong Association's armed forces refused to leave, Yaxin didn't waste words. He simply tossed the withdrawal request to them, then turned and left.

Objectively speaking, the conflict between the Huagong Association and Su Tianyu regarding military garrison rights wasn't a matter of right or wrong.

From the Huagong Association's perspective, they had indeed contributed manpower and resources in the attack on Bana City. It was only natural that they expected a substantial return for their involvement.

From Su Tianyu's perspective, he couldn't have gone through all this trouble only to end up sharing garrison rights.

From a developmental standpoint, both the Chiyi Army and the Third Division needed territory because without a population base, the troops couldn't survive.

From a preventative standpoint, he couldn't possibly grant garrison rights to outsiders.

To put it bluntly, the relationship between the Lao Li team and the Huagong Association wasn't particularly close. Their cooperation was only due to Jiangzhou's mediation and the connection through Su Tiannan. If this fragile relationship were to break down one day, and the Huagong Association were to suddenly impose an armed blockade, controlling the output of military supplies, what could he do? Or, they could simply emulate District One, relying on their military power to secretly support a political faction, which would bring everything back to square one.

That would be like fighting this battle for nothing. Therefore, absolute garrison rights were Su Tianyu's bottom line. He would rather sacrifice some administrative power than allow the Huagong Association to interfere with military deployments.

Moreover, Su Tianyu genuinely felt that the Huagong Association wasn't qualified to discuss this matter. While they had contributed, they weren't the ones who influenced the outcome of the battle!

External economic support came from Jiangzhou and Wu Han; it was Lao An's paratroopers that turned the tide, a card that Su Tianyu himself played; and the political direction of Bana City was influenced by Booker's sudden death, a line that Da Bai had secured.

In terms of combat casualties, the major conflicts were basically over by the time the Huagong Association entered the scene.

Considering all of the above, Su Tianyu was actually quite annoyed. But that's politics – there's no absolute fairness or reason. Once disagreements arise, they can only be resolved through confrontation.

...

After Yaxin left, the garrison officer called Lao Huang and reported the situation truthfully. Lao Huang responded by saying that not only should they not leave, but they should also increase their troop presence.

As a result, a military standoff ensued.

The Huagong Association's garrison area began to increase patrols, and armored vehicles were placed in plain sight.

However, to Lao Huang's surprise, before he could even call for external support, Bana City's combination punch arrived.

Around 4:00 PM.

As usual, the Huagong Association's garrison contacted the Blackwater Corps' logistics department to request food supplies, but they were directly refused.

The Blackwater Corps' logistics department claimed that the higher-ups had issued an eviction order, and if they weren't leaving, they couldn't continue to support them.

It should be noted that the Huagong Association's garrison was also air-dropped into Bana City. They couldn't possibly carry rice and cooking oil to fight a war. At most, they brought some military rations. But after so much time, the rations were definitely gone. Recently, they had been using supplies provided free of charge by the Blackwater Corps.

With that, the Huagong Association's garrison was cut off from food supplies.

But before Wang Xiao could personally come to negotiate, around 7:00 PM, the power was cut off in the garrison area. Less than half an hour later, soldiers from the logistics unit discovered that the water supply had also been cut off.

Cut off water, food, and electricity, how long could they last?!

This move immediately infuriated Huang Peishan. He personally called Jiangzhou and Wu Han, but neither of them answered.

...

Around 8:00 PM.

In the No. 1 camp of the Huagong Association's garrison, a soldier lying on his bed clutched his stomach, his face pale, and asked his comrade, "...Does your stomach hurt?"

"A little. I think I have a bad stomach."

"Damn, we didn't even eat dinner tonight, how could we have a bad stomach?!" The soldier immediately got out of bed, grabbed some paper, and ran outside the tent, clutching his crotch.

As soon as he stepped outside, the soldier was shocked to find that the camp's toilets were full, with a line of dozens of meters long. Many brothers couldn't hold it in and were relieving themselves behind the tents.

"Holy crap, so many people...!" The soldier exclaimed in shock. Looking back, he saw seven or eight people vomiting while leaning against the tent entrance.

"Damn it, they must have put laxatives in the water! They cut off the power first, then the water."

"Those bastards in Bana City are going too far! We helped them fight the war, and they're playing dirty tricks like this?!"

"Let's go find them!"

"..."

For a time, the camp was filled with outrage, and many people were shouting to go to the administrative building to demand an explanation from Bruna.

About ten minutes later.

The officers under Huang Peishan arrived at the first camp and shouted through a loudspeaker: "Those who are feeling ill, get on the military trucks first. We're going to the hospital. All levels of officers will check the company, no one left behind!"

After organizing for half an hour, more than a hundred soldiers who were feeling ill were helped onto military trucks. The military commander and superiors in charge of the first camp prepared to leave the garrison area with the troops.

As seven or eight vehicles drove to the entrance, they discovered that the Blackwater Corps and the Third Division had completely surrounded the area.

Hundreds of military vehicles were parked on the road, blocking all the streets in front and behind.

In the lead jeep, an officer of the Huagong Association's armed forces shouted, "Move aside! Our soldiers are sick!"

Xin Xiaodong, smoking a cigarette in the car, said to Deputy Regiment Commander Yang, "Go handle it."

As he spoke, Deputy Regiment Commander Yang got out of the car and walked to the side of the lead jeep, bending over and saying, "What's wrong, brother?"

"We don't know which bastard put laxatives in the water, all our soldiers have diarrhea," the officer said with a grim face. "We have to go to the hospital now."

"That's not going to work, brother." Deputy Regiment Commander Yang shook his head. "We received orders from the higher-ups to assist the Blackwater Corps in managing this area!"

"You're outsiders too? What right do you have to manage?" The officer was unhappy. "Don't mess with me!"

Deputy Regiment Commander Yang said with a smile, "You don't know yet, do you? Two regiments of our Third Division have been incorporated into the Blackwater Corps' combat forces and are temporarily co-managing the city defense!! The order wasn't issued by the division headquarters, but by the highest administrative body in Bana City! If you don't believe me, I'll show you the documents?!"

"Stop talking nonsense! Get out of my way!!" The officer roared. "Don't force me to turn against you!"

"Can't you talk nicely?" Deputy Regiment Commander Yang frowned.

"Why should I talk nicely to you?!" The other party was really getting angry. "I'm telling you one more time, get out of my way!"

Deputy Regiment Commander Yang glanced at him, then walked to the front of the car, put his hands on his hips and shouted, "Damn it! We're all carrying guns, what are you acting tough for?! I have military orders, and no one can make me move today!"

...

Downtown area.

Jiangzhou originally wanted to avoid trouble, but he didn't expect his sister to call him personally and scold him severely!

Jiangzhou had no choice but to contact Su Tianyu, but he didn't expect that bastard to not even answer his phone, disappearing completely!

Jiangzhou was very afraid that a firefight would break out, leading to a major disaster. In the end, he had no choice but to ask Wu Han to find Da Bai.

Around 9:00 PM, outside the villa of the highest administrative officer of Bana City, Wu Han sat in his car, waiting for Da Bai to come out.

After a while, a fat figure ran out, wearing pajamas and covered in sweat: "Brother Wu, Brother Wu, why are you here?!"

Wu Han looked at him in astonishment: "Brother Bai, what...what's the situation?! Why are you panting so heavily?!"

Da Bai wiped the sweat from his face and pulled up his pants, saying, "I was working just now...!"

Wu Han looked at him speechlessly: "You're providing...door-to-door service?"

"Ah!"

Da Bai nodded in response: "I don't have a business location here myself, haha."

"Ah!" Wu Han also exclaimed in a collapsed expression.

These two "ah"s were extraordinary! They allowed Wu Han to instantly understand the future political landscape of Bana City!