Chapter Thirty-One

  I and Liu Hu were on a plane for the first time, I was okay, but Liu Hu was not normal from start to finish, from being curious to now pale face, motionless, I got angry just looking at him. I sighed. Later, I couldn't help but think about what would happen this time, and secretly thought about how to talk to Commander Yao.

  After more than three hours of flight, the plane finally landed. As soon as I walked out of the cabin, I saw that there was a car waiting for me. When I entered the command center conference room, I saw Commander Yao sitting alone with his eyes closed, meditating. I walked over and said softly: "Commander, I'm here."

  Commander Yao's eyes slowly opened and he said to me: "You're here!"

  "Yes, Commander."

  "Alright, sit down." Commander Yao said after finishing his sentence, picked up the teacup on the table and took a sip of tea before saying: "Wait for a moment to go to Zhongdu, just you and me!"

  "Ah! Going to Zhongdu?" I had just picked up the teacup on the table and was about to take a sip, but when I heard Commander Yao's words, my hand shook and the water almost spilled out.

  "What's wrong?" Commander Yao asked, looking at my situation.

  "It's nothing, just a bit unexpected."

  "Unexpected? Hehe, I was telling the Chairman that you can guarantee to take down Xizang New Delhi and definitely defend it, only then did the Chairman ask us to go."

  "What?" I exclaimed in surprise.

  Commander Yao frowned and looked at me, asking: "Don't tell me you still don't have a plan?"

  I couldn't help but smile wryly: "Commander, my plan was just to occupy the eastern part of Xizang, I didn't think about attacking New Delhi!"

  Commander Yao listened and suddenly stood up loudly saying: "Then why did you submit a request for battle report?"

  I helplessly said: "Commander, I was just fighting in the western part of Xizhou, who knew that I would suddenly bring down someone else's capital?"

  "Doesn't Western Delhi include New Delhi?" Commander Yao bellowed. "Have you even looked at a map?"

  I also stood up and said loudly: "New Delhi is the capital, it should be viewed separately."

  Commander Yao sighed and said, "If you want to continue fighting in the Western Front, you must take down New Delhi. Only then is it possible to move the Chairman and change his attitude, and this is still just a 'possibility'."

  I sat down and said: "If it's New Delhi, just 3 divisions, I'm afraid it won't be enough!"

  Commander Yao said: "No need for you to say, I am asking if you have any plans?"

  I said: "The plan is nothing more than moving the final goal of my Winter Thunder Plan up a bit."

  "Be more specific," said Commander Yao.

  "I said immediately: 'My plan is to concentrate the strength of 3 divisions to solve the enemy's 6th division, and at the same time, logistics supplies will follow continuously; after solving the 6th division, **take down New Delhi in one fell swoop.'"

  Commander Yao smiled and said: "Is the 6th Division so easily settled?"

  "I sneered and said, 'They are fundamentally two grades below us in terms of equipment, weapon usage, and individual combat; their commanders have conservative ideas, are rigid and bureaucratic; they are also not good at fighting a war of attrition or against the wind.'"

  "But we also need timely logistical support."

  Commander Yao nodded and said, "That's settled, how are we going to defend it?"

  I hesitated for a moment and said: "There is a best way, but..."

  "Hurry up and say it."

  "Heh heh! I plan to organize a peasant uprising in the West Village and also plan to overthrow local tyrants, fight against landlords, and redistribute land."

  Commander Yao's eyes lit up and he excitedly said: "Haha, interesting! Fake army, dividing the land, not bad!"

  I said: "This was what I originally planned to implement in the east."

  "Alright, kiddo! You said you didn't have a plan."

  "There was no plan, this is a plan to take down the East, only now adding New Delhi."

  "Alright, let's eat lunch first and then we'll go."

  "Alright, okay."

  "Let's go now."

  "Yes."

  After dinner, Commander Yao brought his secretary, and I brought Liu Hu and a group of 4 people to board the plane directly, flying straight to Zhongdian.

  It was already past 6 pm when we arrived, and we got on the car that came to pick us up and went straight to the Military Commission. I didn't even have time to observe carefully before entering the building with Commander Yao. After going through multiple checks, we entered the conference room. I saw an elderly man who looked very spirited looking at us, and only heard Commander Yao salute respectfully saying "Chairman". As soon as I saw him, I saluted and shouted: "Chairman, Tang Ning reporting for duty."

  "Haha, put down, sit, sit." The chairman smiled and invited us to sit down. We put down our hands that were saluting and sat on the two sofas below the chairman's seat. The chairman smiled and asked: "How was it? Was the road tiring?"

  Commander Yao and I both said, "Not tired, not tired." The Chairman then asked, "Haven't you had dinner yet?"

  "No, let's report our work first, Chairman," said Commander Yao.

  "The chairman said: 'Alright then, let's get down to business. Afterwards I'll invite you all to dinner.' He said to me: 'You're Tang Ning, aren't you?'"

  "Yes, Mr. Chairman." I replied immediately.

  The chairman smiled and said: "This year is 21 years old, yeah, young and promising!"

  "That's the leadership's promotion and the organization's trust."

  The chairman nodded and said: "I heard that you have your own views on the issue of Xizang, I invited you this time just to hear what you have to say face-to-face."

  I calmed my tense mood and said, "Chairman, after fighting against Xi Zong for some time, I can see that the weapons of the Xi Zong army are outdated, their combat thinking is rigid, and they belong to the type of being overconfident but underperforming. The enemy in front of us now is only the 6th Division of Xi Zong, and we are fighting on the Henghe Plain, which is extremely advantageous for our army. Moreover, the enemy has no more tricks up their sleeve, I can guarantee that we will take New Delhi."

  The chairman said, "Go on."

  "I continued: 'Xizang has been under the colonial rule of the British Empire for over 100 years, and the people have lived in poverty, with a huge gap between the rich and the poor. However, Xizang has only been independent for a decade or so, and the people cherish the difficulty of building their country, so they suppressed these contradictions. But as soon as our army occupies their capital, the Xizang people will immediately collapse, social contradictions will erupt, and we will immediately win over the grassroots people, help them distribute land, fight against local despots, and transplant our domestic system. In a short period of time, those lower-class citizens will be won over, I will reorganize a loyal Xizang puppet army, establish a puppet government, adopt the policy of 'using barbarians to rule barbarians', thoroughly solve the problem, so that both New Delhi and eastern Xizang can be held. That's all I have to say.'"

  The chairman listened without saying a word, lit a cigarette and began to think quietly. I didn't dare disturb him, so I just waited like that. Commander Yao also looked at me but didn't say anything. Time passed minute by minute, until the chairman extinguished his cigarette with force, I knew the chairman's decision had come. Indeed, the chairman spoke up, saying: "Little Tang, your method is very innovative, I think it's worth a try! However, this will put pressure on our finances, just thinking about logistics makes my head ache! Moreover, now my big brother in the north is not at peace, and we've just fought a war with the Green Empire. Internationally, we're very isolated, almost without friends!"

  I didn't respond after hearing it. At this time, the secretary of the chairman came in and said: "Chairman, we have just received a notice from Xizang at the United Nations through a special channel."

  The chairman said: "What did he say upstairs?"

  The secretary said: "The main point of the Xizang side is that our country ignores international conventions and unreasonably occupies more than 700,000 square kilometers of Xizang's territory."

  The chairman sneered, "He's indeed a wicked person who accuses others first." The chairman stood up and took a few steps, saying, "Since we're both aggressor nations now, having invaded over 700,000 square kilometers of his land, let's continue to occupy it. Let's take 7 million more, I want to see what he has to say then." Then he said to the secretary, "You go prepare, later I'll have a meal with Commander Yao and Little Tang."

  "Yes, I'll go and arrange it now." The secretary said and left.

  The chairman said to me: "Just stay in Zhongdu for these two days and go out for a stroll if you have nothing to do."

  "Yes."

  "Alright, Yao Yuan will stay for two more days and go out with Xiao Tang."

  "Alright, Chairman!" Commander Yao continued: "Chairman, does the 201st Division of Little Tang still count as part of the Northwest Military Region? Is the 201st Division an independent division or is it subordinate to which army?"

  The chairman thought for a moment and said: "Well, yes, it was overlooked at the beginning. Let's do this, the 201st division has 18,000 people when fully manned, so let it become an independent army directly under the command of the Military Commission."

  I was overjoyed when Commander Yao said: "Is this okay?"

  "The chairman said: 'How can it be? It's settled then.'"

  "Yes."

  "Thank you, Chairman!"

  The chairman smiled and said: "Xiao Tang, I hope you won't disappoint the organization's trust in you."

  "I resolutely said: 'Yes, I will listen to the chairman,'"

  The chairman listened and smiled: "It is listening to the country."

  "Yes."

  "This is the chairman's secretary coming in: 'Chairman, it's all arranged.'"

  "The chairman said: 'Let's go and have dinner.'"

  "Yes."

  At the dinner table, the chairman asked me: "Little Tang, what's your view on the domestic situation now?"

  "I replied: 'No.'"

  The chairman was slightly surprised and said: "Why?"

  I said: "I have been in the army all along, I have been fighting all along. Soldiers are to obey orders and obey the chairman."

  The chairman listened and burst out laughing, saying: "That's exactly how a soldier should be."

  I let out a silent sigh and then heard the chairman say: "Xiao Tang, you must remember that soldiers are to defend their homes and country."

  "Yes."

  After dinner, I and Commander Yao bid farewell to the chairman and returned to the guest house to rest. I was so tired that I fell asleep as soon as I lay down. When I woke up, it was already bright outside, and when I looked at the time, it was 6:23. After washing up quickly, I went next door to find Commander Yao. When I arrived at Commander Yao's place, I found the door open, and I went in to see him talking to an old man wearing a military uniform. Commander Yao saw me standing at the door and gestured for me to come in, saying softly: "Little Tang, come in, don't stand at the door."

  I said as I walked: "I just arrived too."

  The old man next to Commander Yao said, "This must be Tang Ning!"

  "Right," said Commander Yao. "Sit down quickly, I'll introduce you. This is Comrade Yang Zhitong, commander of the Central Plains Military Region, and this is Tang Ning, whom I just mentioned."

  I listened to the introduction and immediately stood up and saluted, saying: "Commander Yang is good."

  Commander Yang Zhi also stood up with elegance and returned the courtesy, saying: "Comrade Tang Ning, hello."

  Commander Yao said: "Don't be polite, everyone sit down."

  I had just sat down when I was frightened by what Commander Yao said and turned pale in an instant, almost fainting.