The Slanka Garrison Base.

Zhao Wei Hu stood with his hands clasped behind his back, gazing at the electronic intelligence map on the wall. His face was grave as he asked, "How many men from the 125th Army are supporting Niujiao Mountain?"

"About a regiment," the staff officer replied softly. "The vanguard is already at the engagement site."

Zhao Wei Hu fell silent.

A regimental commander beside him glanced at the electronic map and immediately interjected, "Commander, if you ask me, we should coordinate with the Third Division and strike Niujiao Mountain from two directions. While the torrential rain is coming down, we can ambush the reinforcements and wipe out that regiment."

Zhao Wei Hu pondered for a few seconds. "Get Chief of Staff Wu from the Third Division over here, quick!"

Two or three minutes later, Old Wu entered the command hall and looked up at Zhao Wei Hu. "What are your orders, Commander!"

"You should be aware of the situation, right? What do you think is the best way to extract Liu Zi?" Zhao Wei Hu asked.

"That's a no-brainer! Only air support can extract them, with ground forces waiting at a safe location," Chief of Staff Wu replied, his hands clasped behind his back.

The regimental commander who had suggested attacking immediately countered, "Why air support? With this kind of weather, this kind of visibility, our air support can only strike targets and provide a show of force. It can't carry out a complete annihilation. There's no profit to be made from that.

"If it were me, I wouldn't even open fire. I'd just circle around and come back," Chief of Staff Wu replied.

"Why?" the regimental commander pressed.

"Because you can't think of your opponent as an idiot." Chief of Staff Wu frowned slightly. "The 125th Army has suffered several major losses in a row and even lost Slanka. Recently, they've been very cautious in their military decisions. In this situation, in this weather, would they still send a regiment so quickly to support a separatist family?!"

The regimental commander frowned. "You mean, this is a trap?"

"I mean, we can't go and check if it's a trap. There's no point in doing that." Chief of Staff Wu corrected him. "Liu Zi has done his job and achieved his goal. Why should we engage them in a night battle?! If this is a business deal, every shot fired after the job is done only increases costs and increases risks."

The regimental commander was won over by this theory. He thought about it seriously and replied, "That makes sense!"

Zhao Wei Hu looked at Chief of Staff Wu and immediately complimented him with flattering words, "It's still got to be someone from the advanced command academy, someone from the general's class. Your analysis is spot on! To be honest, that's what I was thinking too, but your articulation is much better than mine."

"Haha, Commander, you're making me blush," Chief of Staff Wu replied with a smile. "Old Fei, who's in charge of this operation, isn't from a military academy either, but his tactical deployment is so well done. He's a talented man!"

"Although my language skills aren't as good as yours, I can also tell that the 125th Army's Little Black Commander has been cautious recently, but today he sent ground troops to reinforce. That's definitely not normal." Zhao Wei Hu looked at the electronic map with his hands clasped behind his back. "He's willing to bet a regiment on some damn armed group of a different race? How much capital does he have?!"

After a slight pause, Zhao Wei Hu immediately issued an order. "The staff department will contact the general headquarters and request the First Air Corps on the border to send fighter jets to support Niujiao Mountain."

"Yes!" the Slanka Garrison staff officer immediately replied.

Zhao Wei Hu turned to look at Chief of Staff Wu and said, "The instructor team you sent out can leave after training Fei Pingsheng's regiment. As for Fei Pingsheng's two thousand men, they must return to the Slanka Garrison's battle formation when the training is over. I have big plans for this man."

Upon hearing this, Chief of Staff Wu immediately changed his expression. "That's not right, Commander! Didn't you say this was negotiable? What do you mean you have big plans for him?!"

"I'll treat you to a drink."

"Am I short of a drink? Commander...!"

"Let's go, let's find a place to talk!" Zhao Wei Hu said with a smile, pulling Wu away.

...

Niujiao Mountain.

After all of the direct members of the Xue family were captured, Su Tianyu personally carried Fei Pingsheng on his back and escaped from the blasted secret passage.

At this time, although the heavy rain in the sky was still falling, the floodwater inside the mountain had already washed over the factory area. After all, this was not the final downstream location, and the water could not accumulate here forever, so it was visibly receding.

However, although the water had receded, the soldiers of the Xue family's private armed forces no longer had any will to resist. In fact, many of them began to loot on the spot.

Some went to the armory, picking out the most expensive and best weapons. Others rushed into the main building, searching the rooms of Xue Pingan, Xue Nan's mother, and a large number of female relatives, specifically seizing valuable decorations.

This chaos quickly fermented. Many comrades who had fought together in the past began fighting during the looting, even firing at each other, resulting in numerous deaths and injuries.

This incident fully proved one point: When the tree falls, the monkeys scatter.

The soldiers and officers who were still here had only one thought: The Xue family is completely finished, and I have to save something for myself and find a new way out!

About fifteen minutes later.

Su Tianyu and his group arrived at the exit of the secret passage. A large number of Third Division soldiers pressed forward, exchanging fire with the rebel army reinforcements.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Xin Xiaodong and other core members helped Su Tianyu carry Old Fei away quickly.

The fierce battle lasted less than five minutes before the regiment sent by the 125th Army received an order from the military headquarters to retreat.

The Momo government army's fighter jets were coming, and although the scale was not large, they were heading straight for Niujiao Mountain.

...

Inside the 125th Army's headquarters, the Little Black Commander stood with his hands clasped behind his back, listening to the reports from the reconnaissance unit, and cursed through gritted teeth, "Cunning Orientals! Too cunning!!"

"Yes, Commander, they were not lured into a trap," the staff officer immediately replied. "But we can work with the friendly forces' rocket artillery units to take out these dozen or so fighter jets."

"Stupid! The reason they sent fighter jets must be because they guessed that our vanguard regiment was a decoy, but they don't know how much ground force we've committed." The Little Black Commander cursed angrily. "The moment the rocket artillery units open fire, our ground forces will be completely exposed, and they will counterattack!"

The staff officer lowered his head and replied, "Then we can only retreat."

"Damn Zhao Wei Hu, I'll definitely kill you!" The Little Black Commander cursed and turned to leave. "Order the vanguard regiment to retreat!"

"What about the Xue Clan's armed forces?"

"Let them go meet God!" The Little Black Commander replied without turning his head.

For the 125th Army, the annihilation of a "taxpaying" group of the Xue family's level was indeed painful. But no matter how painful, they were still a Chinese group and were not directly led by the 125th Army. They were listening to the Azure Garment Bureau and the political factions of the upper echelons of the First District.

Therefore, for the Little Black Commander, there was no need for him to wholeheartedly risk a regiment to rescue a group of outsiders. It was obviously a very low-cost-performance proposition.

After the vanguard regiment withdrew, Su Tianyu drove Old Fei, who was still unconscious, to Slanka.