Chapter 1 The Military Defense Zone

A military defense zone is very large. Although Li Yuan was stopped at a checkpoint with a battalion commander present, it didn't mean that a whole battalion of soldiers was stationed there.

Defense zones require dispersed deployments. Generally, a company-level unit would be stationed at the entrance of a battalion's area. However, Li Yuan brought two full battalions, and there were helicopters scouting ahead.

With so many of them, the one company of soldiers definitely couldn't hold them back. So, after being shot and falling to the ground, the battalion commander immediately shouted, "Don't fire, don't fire... Call the regimental headquarters, quick!"

...

One minute later.

In the An faction's military headquarters in Dragon City.

An Zecheng held the landline phone, asking in disbelief, "What?! They forced their way through the checkpoint and killed people?! How many casualties do we have?"

"Reporting, Military Chief, two are dead, four or five are seriously injured, and a dozen are slightly injured." The regimental commander immediately replied, "My battalion commander... is also seriously injured. I'm afraid he won't make it. He took two shots."

Hearing this, An Zecheng's face flushed red as he questioned, "Where are they? Have they been found?"

"No suspects have been found yet," the regimental commander replied tacitly.

An Zecheng immediately retorted, "Go to the defense zone and keep an eye on them yourself. See if they can find anyone, and tell me immediately if there's any news!"

"Yes!"

"Clatter!"

An Zecheng slammed down the phone, kicked over his chair, and roared with his hands behind his back, "Call the guard regiment commander in! Summon all staff members in the military headquarters to assemble!"

"Yes!"

The guard immediately saluted.

...

Outside the 55th Army's defense zone, there were many continuous rolling mountains.

At the hillside of a high mountain, a group of people took advantage of the darkness to enter a newly excavated military reserve warehouse inside the mountain.

The area was crisscrossed with tunnels, connected to air-raid shelters and concealed artillery concentration positions, making the terrain complex.

In the darkness.

Xiao Long, one of Tan Mingchao's men, turned around, waved his hand, and said to everyone, "Quiet down, everyone, quiet down!"

The families of the involved military officers heard this and all fell silent, looking forward.

"We'll wait here for a while. Don't rush to go out yet. We'll leave when our backup is about to arrive." Xiao Long pointed upwards and said, "Did you hear that? There are helicopters searching above. Let's try not to get close to the entrance; it's easy to be detected. There are anti-radar and anti-thermal detection devices inside. It's very safe here."

Everyone nodded upon hearing this, not saying much.

After Xiao Long finished instructing everyone, he immediately walked to the outer edge of the crowd and took out a pack of cigarettes with his men.

Next to the entrance, the people sent by Chief of Staff Wu stood together in a group, observing the surrounding scene.

"Clatter!"

Xiao Long lit a cigarette, took a deep breath, and looked up to see Zhang Hao in the crowd.

Since this was an important military area, the power system was definitely complete, and the space was also bright.

When Zhang Hao turned to observe, he happened to see Xiao Long staring at him. The two exchanged glances and frowned unconsciously.

Zhang Hao paused for a moment, then immediately turned his face and looked towards Fei Pingsheng's side.

Xiao Long took a deep drag of his cigarette, sizing up Zhang Hao's profile with a strange look in his eyes.

...

Inside the 55th Army's defense zone.

Li Yuan stood beside the convoy, his mentality collapsing.

Just because of that battalion commander, they wasted so much time that it was now dark, and the convoy was lost.

With helicopters patrolling and searching overhead, Li Yuan gritted his teeth and cursed, "An Zecheng's 55th Army must be in cahoots with Tan Hengqiang. They're doing this on purpose!"

"What do we do now?" An officer in the car asked.

"Ring-a-ling!"

Just as he finished speaking, the phone in Li Yuan's pocket rang. He glanced at the caller ID and immediately pressed the answer button, "Hello?!"

"What's the situation on your end? Have you found them?!"

"Don't even mention it. We were delayed for a bit by that garrison battalion commander, and the convoy was lost." Li Yuan said through gritted teeth, "Now there are helicopters searching above. I'm telling you, Team Leader, they definitely can't run far, because we were following them very closely. I estimate they're hiding in some big mountain nearby. There's absolutely no way they've left the country; there's not enough time!"

Zhou Xian paused for a moment, "Okay, listen up. You start searching outwards and block off the main roads leading out of the country. I'll bring the main force there immediately. We'll dig three feet into the ground tonight to find these people!"

"Okay, I understand!" Li Yuan replied.

The two ended the call. Zhou Xian urged the driver, "Drive faster! How long until we leave the city?!"

"About twenty minutes. Our office is in the north of the city, but we have to go to the south, which means we have to cross the entire city," the driver replied.

"Drive faster!" Zhou Xian urged.

...

A few minutes later.

Inside the An faction's military headquarters conference room, An Zecheng stood by the phone with his hands behind his back, his face extremely gloomy.

"Ring-a-ling!"

A phone rang.

"Hello, this is An Zecheng."

"Military Chief, we've noticed that the 77th and 78th regiments' helicopters have left our defense zone, and the ground troops led by the investigation team have also left the country."

"Have they found the people?" An Zecheng asked this question for the second time.

"No!" the regimental commander replied.

"Wait for my orders!" An Zecheng hung up the phone and walked straight towards the door without saying a word.

"Whoosh!"

A group of direct descendants of generals followed An Zecheng's footsteps closely and came to the military headquarters courtyard.

"Clack!"

An Zecheng grabbed an M-series automatic rifle from a guard, skillfully switched it to single-fire mode, and fired at the sky.

"Bang!"

A gunshot pierced the night sky.

"Guard Regiment, assemble for me!! Transfer the Fourth Regiment outside the city into the city," An Zecheng roared in a loud voice, "Immediately, right now!"

"Whoosh!"

A large number of stationed guard soldiers rushed out of the barracks.

An Zecheng pointed at a staff officer and shouted, "I'll give you three seconds, just three seconds, to find their people's location for me!"

The staff officer saluted directly and replied, "I already asked the other party's location clearly during your first call with the First Regiment."

Without saying a word, An Zecheng walked out of the courtyard with his gun in hand. His body, though over fifty years old, was still straight, and his pace was as fast as the wind. His eyes, usually kind and cautious, were now extremely gloomy.

...

Inside the military reserve warehouse.

Xiao Long walked to Zhang Hao and the others and said, "Don't worry, we have backup personnel on the outside. They'll be here soon."

"Okay, no problem." The Chief of Staff Wu's people nodded in response.

"Hehe, it's been tough on everyone. Take a rest!" Xiao Long greeted everyone and turned to look at Zhang Hao, "Hey, brother, were you in the old Ninth Army before?"

Zhang Hao paused for a moment and shook his head, "No, why do you ask?"

"Hehe, it's nothing," Xiao Long reached out and patted Zhang Hao's shoulder. "I mistook you for someone else."

Tianhong Port.

Su Tianyu stood inside a warehouse owned by the association, his face serious as he finished explaining the mission to Yao Dou Dou and the others, "I'll do it with you!"

"Damn, this job of yours... isn't easy!" Yao Dou Dou responded with a helpless smile.