Chapter 1 The Dragon City Rises

That evening, Dragon City, the Tan family villa.

A few hours earlier, Tan Hengqiang had personally inspected the troops, then changed into plainclothes and returned to his own villa.

Upon entering the house, Tan Hengqiang saw the living room filled with his relatives. There were men and women, old and young, totaling about twenty people.

"Uncle!"

"Uncle!"

"You're back!"

Upon seeing Tan Hengqiang, they all rose to greet him.

Wawa was among them, but she was preoccupied and didn't say a word.

"Mm..." Tan Hengqiang nodded to them, then scanned the crowd, finally fixing his gaze on his wife and asking, "Mingzhao?"

At this moment, Mrs. Tan was busy packing things. Hearing the question, she turned her head and said, "I've already called Mingzhao. He'll be back soon."

Tan Hengqiang thought for a moment and said, "Alright, you guys carry on. I'm going upstairs. When Mingzhao gets back, tell him to come see me."

After saying that, Tan Hengqiang walked upstairs.

...

More than ten minutes later, a military vehicle stopped outside the villa gate.

Tan Mingzhao, dressed in a smart military uniform, stepped out of the car, hurriedly entered the house, and was greeted by everyone inside.

Seeing so many relatives at home, Tan Mingzhao was a little surprised and couldn't help asking, "What's going on? Why is everyone here today?"

Mrs. Tan gently pulled him aside and whispered, "Your father called earlier and told me to gather everyone. Alright, this is none of your business. Go on up, he's waiting for you in the study."

"Okay."

Tan Mingzhao nodded to everyone in the house, then went upstairs and arrived at the study.

The study door wasn't closed tightly. Tan Mingzhao reached out and gently knocked on the door, then pushed it open and entered.

Inside, Tan Hengqiang sat on the sofa, looking at a family portrait hanging on the wall. At this moment, Old Tan's figure was slightly hunched, appearing somewhat aged.

Tan Mingzhao was a little surprised, because in his memory, his father had never shown such a side.

"You're back." Tan Hengqiang turned his head and waved to him: "Come and sit down, let's have a chat, father and son."

"Dad, what's wrong?" Tan Mingzhao asked as he walked over and sat down in front of Tan Hengqiang.

Tan Hengqiang paused, then said to his son very seriously, "Tonight, my guards will escort the family away. Tell Wawa to leave with them."

Tan Mingzhao was a little stunned and couldn't help asking, "Are they leaving with the families of high-ranking officials?"

Tan Hengqiang sighed: "No, let them leave on their own."

Tan Mingzhao frowned. He instantly understood what his father meant. Tan Hengqiang didn't have absolute confidence in the defense of Dragon City, and was even somewhat pessimistic. This could be seen from his eagerness to send his family away.

Tan Hengqiang lowered his head, picked up the teapot, poured a cup of tea for each of them, and said softly, "Mingzhao... the war has begun. I will personally go to the front line to lead the troops. However, you will stay in the city, mainly responsible for the logistics support of all the troops. If I can't hold on and the defense of Dragon City completely collapses, then you will lead people to leave from here."

Tan Mingzhao was stunned when he heard this, staring blankly at his father.

Tan Hengqiang placed a cup of tea in front of him and continued, "Mingzhao, you are my son... If you leave now, we don't even need to fight, it will all collapse. But if I transfer you to the front line, I can't bring myself to do it. In my opinion, this war will definitely be won in the long run, but in the short term, the outcome is still unknown. You stay here to hold the fort, and I'll go up there, so we each have a way out."

"Bang!"

Upon hearing this, Tan Mingzhao rose almost without hesitation and said, "Dad, I don't want to stay in the rear, I want to go to the front line with you to command!"

Tan Hengqiang glanced at him, not too surprised by his son's reaction. He took a sip of tea and said slowly, "Mingzhao, do you know why those people outside call you Crown Prince?"

Tan Mingzhao was taken aback, not knowing what his father meant by asking this question.

Tan Hengqiang put down his teacup and continued, "Because whether it's in my eyes or in the eyes of others, you don't yet have the ability to stand on your own."

Tan Mingzhao frowned upon hearing this, and couldn't help saying, "Dad, I don't see it the same way as you! I think the battle of Dragon City concerns not only the safety of our family, but also the safety of all those who are resisting with you, and their families! Moreover, if we really lose, and you... stay on the front line, where can we run to? The world is so big, where can we hide?"

"Hua District is your hiding place." Tan Hengqiang pointed at him and said softly, "You must do as I say! You and I can't both be on the front line in this battle! There's no room for discussion! From now on, you prepare yourself. I will issue orders to you later!"

After saying that, Tan Hengqiang got up, opened the door, and walked out.

"Dad, Dad!"

Tan Mingzhao shouted twice, but Tan Hengqiang ignored him and walked away firmly.

"Bang!"

Tan Mingzhao stood in the study and slammed his fist on the table.

...

At the same time, Hua District, South Shanghai City.

In a foreign affairs hotel, Su Tianyu sat on the sofa in his suite, looking somewhat anxious. He had been waiting here for a day, but the funerals of the two old generals were still underway, and Qin Yu really didn't have time to see him at the moment.

Fortunately, during this time, he had roughly completed the docking of the alliance's cooperation terms with the relevant personnel in Hua District. In the end, he only needed to meet Qin Yu to finalize everything.

After a while, the door of the room was knocked open, and Jiang Zhou walked in.

After a brief greeting, Jiang Zhou bent down and sat down, handed a document to Su Tianyu, and said softly, "Little Yu, you need to cooperate with me in putting on a show before you leave..."

Su Tianyu looked down at the document, thought for a moment, and said, "Okay, how about tomorrow night?"

Jiang Zhou nodded and added, "The Old Man will see you tomorrow morning. I'll arrange things for the evening."

"Okay!"

The two of them discussed in low voices.

...

Dragon City, All-Intelligence Bureau.

In the deputy director's office, Gu Baisun stood in front of the window, deep in thought.

"Dilingling!"

Just then, a phone rang. Gu Baisun took out a brand-new phone and answered the call: "Hello? What's the situation?"

Huang Niu's voice came from the phone: "A general offensive on two fronts tomorrow night. As far as I know, there will be a separate infiltration force entering Dragon City to carry out a decapitation operation against our high-level officials. We need to deploy accordingly as soon as possible."

Gu Baisun nodded and spoke to the other party in a low voice.

...

Night, New Lai Region.

The agreed-upon 80 million worth of arms was delivered to Mod A'meng on time.

Shortly after arriving, his chief of staff received a phone call: "Hello, General Palu."

On the phone, General Palu said with a smile, "I heard you've recently made a fortune?"

The chief of staff paused and immediately asked, "What fortune?"

"I heard that Chief Santos gave General Mod A'meng a full 80 million worth of arms in order to stabilize the interior...!"

"That's a rumor!" The chief of staff said without hesitation, "We have not received any benefits...!"