Chapter 22: The General Sets Out

  The Hexi Corridor in April is dry and has little rain, with temperatures that are neither cold nor hot.

  Such climate is indeed the best time to launch a war.

  Ma Bufang chose to launch a campaign towards Ganzhou at this time, with an imposing momentum. Firstly, he did not want to give Ma Zhongying too much time to recover and prepare. Secondly, in such weather, the cavalry of the Ma family could best display their combat style of continuous battles without any losses.

  The war atmosphere in Gansu Province, Ma Zhongying could not have been unaware of it.

  If Ma Hongkui's troops were approaching, Ma Zhongying might consider whether to stab Gan State's defense from behind.

  However, it was his archenemy Ma Bufang who came instead.

  Ma Zhongying understood that if Zhangye was not held, with Ma Bufang's character, he would absolutely not let him settle in Suzhou. Therefore, he is now tied to the same rope as Sun Zhen of Zhangye.

  After careful consideration, Ma Zhongying felt that it was still necessary to have a good discussion with Sun Zhen to see if he could help do something.

  Of course, he would not send troops. In his view, if he could let Ma Bufang and Sun Zhen fight each other to the point of mutual destruction, and then have him step in to clean up the mess, that would be the most ideal outcome.

  As the highest official of Hexi Province, Ma Zhongying thought it was still necessary to probe Sun Zhen's true situation.

  So, under this mutual calculation of both sides, Ma Zhongying and Li Ruofeng met.

  Ma Zhongying arrived in Ganzhou just in time for Li Ruofeng's gathering of troops, preparing to head towards Shandan County.

  At that time, there were also Ma Zhongying's appointed officials of the Ganzhou Municipal Government led by Wu Yingqi, and Huang Wentong, the principal of the Fifth Middle School in Ganzhou.

  These were the original staff and advisors invited by Ma Zhongying. When Ma Zhongying left Ganzhou for Su Zhou, except for Zhang Shaoya who followed him, most of the others stayed in Ganzhou to engage in local political and economic governance.

  Although Sun Zhen secretly seized control of Zhangye from Ma Zhongying, he did not openly oppose Ma. In the eyes of Wu Yingqi and Huang Wenzhong, Sun was a tiger general under Chairman Ma's command, with his troops stationed in the Zhangye area, sufficient to provide protection for their new policies.

  These progressive people have always been firm opponents of warlordism, and they only hope to have a strong armed force to guarantee the implementation of their new policy, without asking whether this armed force is under the control of Chairman Ma.

  Supporting the new government, of course, means supporting Chairman Ma. This is what Wu Yingji and other Gansu provincial officials think. Therefore, even if Ma Zhongying leaves Gansu for Suizhou, they can still get along very harmoniously with Sun Zhen and his troops.

  The sky of Ganzhou school field is windy and sunny.

  Under the fluttering military flags, 8,000 fully armed soldiers stood in neat formation, their heads held high and chests out, waiting for the order to rush into battle without hesitation.

  In front of the square formation were twenty-four brand new 75mm mountain guns with blue light, forty-eight 60mm mortars, twenty-four 80mm mortars, fifty-four heavy machine guns and one hundred and two Browning light machine guns.

  Ma Zhongying didn't respond to the loud shout of "Commander Ma has arrived" from the guard, his eyes were completely fixed on the heavy weapons in front of him.

  Li Ruofeng was shaking hands with Sun Zhenzhuang Yu and others, heard the sound, exchanged a glance with Sun Zhen, then led by Sun Zhen, they went together to welcome Ma Zhongying.

  From a distance, Li Ruofeng gazed at the tall and handsome Marshal Ma, and in his heart, he couldn't help but mutter: "Damn it, how did this guy end up looking even more impressive than me?"

  "Chairman Ma, you've arrived with such grandeur, why didn't you give us a heads up beforehand? We would have gone to welcome you!" Sun Zhen said indifferently as he walked alongside Ma Zhongying.

  Ma Zhongying finally came back to his senses, and with a lingering gaze, he pulled his eyes back from the heavy weapon that had made him drool, forcing a stiff smile as he returned Sun Zhen's courtesy, saying: "The good situation in Hexi Province is about to be threatened by the invasion of the Qinghai warlord forces. At this critical moment, as the provincial chairman, I must come to boost the morale of the soldiers going into battle."

  Sun Chen then whispered a sentence in Ma Zhongying's ear, and Ma Zhongying's body trembled slightly upon hearing it. He cast his gaze at Li Ruofeng, who was three paces behind Sun Chen.

  Li Ruofeng calmly walked up to Ma Zhongying, wearing a military uniform but without saluting, and stretched out his right hand, smiling at Ma Zhongying: "I'm Li Ruofeng, Chairman Ma, I've long admired you."

  Ma Zhongying stretched out his hand a bit unnaturally and shook hands with Li Ruofeng, then immediately let go, staring at Li Ruofeng's expression stiffly and saying: "Are Sun Zhen and the others all your people?"

  He is still young, Ma Zhongying doesn't have that kind of calm and composed demeanor that a superior should have.

  "For now, we are all supporters of Chairman Ma." Li Ruofeng replied irrelevantly: "Including Sichuan Business Corporation."

  Li Ruofeng pointed out the four Tong Shang companies at this time, and the implication was very obvious. Don't be surprised, I've been eyeing the Hexi Corridor for a long time.

  Ma Zhongying was stunned for a moment, and it took him a long time to come back to his senses. He forced a smile, laughed, and said: "Mr. Li's kindness, Zhongying will always remember in his heart."

  After that, he warmly hugged Li Ruofeng and took the opportunity to smile as usual, but gritted his teeth and whispered in Li Ruofeng's ear: "You're ruthless, this abacus is loud enough!"

  Li Ruofeng was also smiling, hugging Ma Zhongying and whispering in his ear: "We both have grand ideals and goals, I think we should cooperate on a deeper level."

  "What do you mean?"

  "I think this isn't a place for a long conversation, we can find somewhere to sit down and have a good talk."

  "Is it now, or after this battle is over?"

  "I'll go along with it; whatever Chairman Mao decides is how it will be decided."

  "Go, to your command center, now!"

  "My pleasure, Chairman Mao!"

  Under the astonished gaze of the crowd, these two men chatted and laughed without care, looking like long-lost good brothers who didn't care what others thought, leaving Sun Zhen and Wu Yingji behind, walking towards the outside of the school grounds.

  Sun Zhen quickly reacted, seeing that Ma Zhongying was dragging the young master, he hastily ordered Qi Dongming and Fei Dicong to immediately set out to meet the enemy on the Shandan East Line, not waiting for Li Ruofeng.

  Then, with a single order from Qi Dongming, the 8,000 soldiers turned left in unison, their military formation intact and their morale high, as they marched towards another large gate of the drill ground.

  In the big yard of the Gansu Provincial Military Command, a row of 15 Dodge six-wheeled trucks was parked, with green canvas covering the cargo compartments, making it impossible to see what was inside.

  In front of the truck, 368 Hellfire Warriors, dressed in field camouflage uniforms and fully armed, stood at attention.

  Gao Lei was also among them, his slender figure standing out particularly against the sturdy Germans and Russians.

  When they saw Li Ruofeng walking far away, this group of people who looked a bit slow stopped their conversation and whispering to each other, quickly lined up and stood at attention.

  Gronimov, with a golden buzz cut and a long scar from his right temple to the left side of his face, walked towards Li Ruofeng in large strides, holding a steel helmet in his left hand. He asked in a Northeastern accent, expressionless: "Young master, can we set off?"

  Li Ruofeng casually waved his hand and said, "Stay where you are."

  "Yes! Young master." Gromov gave Li Ruofeng a Russian military salute, then narrowed his eyes and swept Ma Zhongying with an ominous gaze before turning back to his team.

  Seeing this group of foreign devils with an aura of murder, Ma Zhongying's gaze was stunned again, and he asked dully: "This... is this also your subordinate?"