Chapter 1

It was exactly 8:00 PM. The Dragon City, the administrative building.

Air raid sirens wailed incessantly, and the roar of bombers grew closer and closer.

Personnel from the All-System Bureau, along with Li Yuan, secretly escorted Li Mingsheng out of the administrative building according to the planned schedule.

To mislead and divert the enemy's attention, four armed convoys set off simultaneously.

These four convoys departed in different directions, and even the internal security personnel were unsure which vehicle Li Mingsheng was in.

Because of the impending war, the streets were deserted. The convoys sped away unhindered and soon disappeared.

"Wuwu—"

Not long after they left, the air raid sirens became even more deafening!

"Boom, boom!"

In the blink of an eye, rows of bombers flew over and dropped a large number of bombs on the administrative building!

The earth trembled violently, flames erupted on the ground, and the entire administrative building collapsed in a roar, turning into ruins amidst billowing smoke!

But due to thorough preparation and timely evacuation, this bombing, although massive, caused almost no casualties.

…

Meanwhile, within the Dragon City's urban area, in a desolate, war-torn ruin.

Yuan Biao led his three hundred soldiers, moving silently through the ruins without making a sound.

Halfway through, seeing the distant explosions, Yuan Biao immediately raised his fist, waved it behind him, and signaled to stop.

Everyone stopped immediately, waiting for the next instruction.

Yuan Biao looked at the burning flames in the distance and turned to a nearby communications soldier, asking, "Have they evacuated?!"

The communications soldier looked down at the tactical instrument and quickly received intelligence from the front. He whispered, "They have evacuated. Our reconnaissance units have already moved."

Yuan Biao nodded and said, "In that case, there's no need to rush forward. Continue searching!"

"Yes!"

The communications soldier nodded and began communicating with the intelligence personnel at the front through the tactical instrument.

Yuan Biao paused, turned to the deputy captain Ni Huan, and said, "We'll split up from here. Make sure all targets are clearly identified, and any orders must be reported to me!"

Ni Huan immediately replied, "Understood!"

Upon receiving the order, the group split into four smaller teams and quickly disappeared into the ruins.

…

At the same time, inside one of the convoys that left the administrative building, Li Mingsheng sat in the back seat of one of the cars, frowning in thought.

Just then, Li Yuan, sitting in the passenger seat, turned around, handed him a Bluetooth headset, and said, "Leader, please listen to this."

Li Mingsheng reached out and took the headset, asking, "What's the situation?"

Li Yuan explained, "It's someone from Xiao Yu's group who wants to speak with you."

"Alright." Li Mingsheng nodded, put on the headset, and said, "Hello?"

A steady male voice came through the headset: "Mayor Li, from now on, all your actions will be under my command."

Li Mingsheng replied without hesitation, "Okay."

The other party continued, "Your convoy will encounter an explosion ahead. However, don't panic..."

The two began to plot in hushed tones.

…

On the outskirts of the Dragon City, Wang Xiao led the nearly ten thousand soldiers of the First Independent Combat Brigade as they advanced towards the city. On the way, they encountered resistance from the garrison defense forces and engaged in a firefight.

Because the First Independent Combat Brigade launched a surprise attack, and the main force of the garrison was deployed to the defense zone outside the city, the defense force inside the city was relatively weak. They were immediately subjected to artillery fire and were unable to hold out for very long, so they were quickly broken through by Wang's forces.

Wang Xiao's unit was originally a strengthened brigade, and after receiving its official designation, it absorbed many more people, hence its massive size of nearly ten thousand soldiers.

…

Meanwhile, at the Dragon City's frontline defense base.

In the brightly lit operations command room, a large number of military personnel were busy processing battlefield information.

Tan Hengqiang stood next to the sand table, holding a meeting with his core commanders. Around them stood at least twenty guards, protecting Commander Tan's safety.

Just then, a military intelligence officer ran over, saluted Tan Hengqiang, and loudly reported, "Report! News from inside the city, Anhe Street in the south of the city has been attacked by the First Independent Combat Brigade led by Wang Xiao! They have approximately ten thousand troops, launched an unprovoked attack, scattered our forces, and disrupted the Dragon City's border defenses! At the same time, two of their units have taken advantage of the chaos to enter the city!"

"Bang!"

Hearing this information, Tan Hengqiang couldn't sit still. He slammed his hand on the sand table and roared angrily, "What's going on? Why is this group also rebelling? How the hell are we supposed to fight? There are hundreds of thousands of troops pressing in at the front, bombing and naval fleets! And now an entire brigade is rebelling in the rear. What the hell is the administrative faction doing?"

The surrounding commanders dared not speak, and the room was silent.

Tan Hengqiang frowned and said to the communications soldier beside him, "Get me An Zecheng on the phone!"

"Dilingling!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the phone on the table rang. The communications soldier picked up the phone, spoke a few words, and then handed the phone to Tan Hengqiang, "Commander, it's General An on the phone!"

Tan Hengqiang grabbed the phone, suppressed his anger, and asked, "What's the situation inside the city?"

An Zecheng said directly, "Don't worry about the situation inside the city, someone will handle it. You just need to ensure that the frontline defense zone doesn't collapse, or Dragon City will be in serious trouble tonight!"

Tan Hengqiang thought for a moment, gritted his teeth, and said, "Such a large brigade is rebelling, why didn't we get any warning in advance?"

An Zecheng said helplessly, "How can you prevent this kind of thing? Some people thought we could win yesterday, and some people think we'll lose today. In the meantime, who knows how many people have taken money from District One. Under high pressure, there are bound to be opportunists jumping out."

Tan Hengqiang clenched his fist and finally said, "Resolve this rebel force as soon as possible!"

The two hung up the phone. After thinking for a long time, Tan Hengqiang turned to look around and asked, "Where's Lao Zhang?"

A nearby commander said, "Chief of Staff Zhang didn't come today. He went to the city to deploy city defense tasks and hasn't returned yet."

Tan Hengqiang said dissatisfied, "What's going on? We're fighting a war, and the Chief of Staff is missing? Call him immediately and tell him to come back!"

"Yes!"

…

Dragon City border defense zone, the People's Army First Army headquarters.

In the operations command room, as the officers were holding a meeting, the door was suddenly pushed open, and someone shouted inside, "The Army Commander is back!"

Everyone was stunned, turned to look, and Xin Xiaodong, wearing casual clothes, walked in, surrounded by a group of guards.

Upon seeing him, everyone felt as if they had found their backbone, and they all breathed a sigh of relief, saluting and shouting, "Army Commander!"

Xin Xiaodong waved his hand, "Let's skip the formalities. What's the situation now?"

Chief of Staff Wu stepped forward, his face grave, and said, "The situation is not good..."