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墨書 Inktalez
Zhang Fusheng had no idea that Huangfu Yan had already begun to take action on his side. However, they could not afford to be careless. Faced with a general who had fought with illness for forty to fifty years, everyone felt an overwhelming sense of tension and worry. For the past few days, they had been discussing and studying the upcoming battle situation every moment, with each person’s heart strung tightly like a bowstring, afraid to relax.
Zhao Lao said, "I have served as Chairman of Huaxia for seven years now. To be honest, while the military is under the control of the state, most of it is comprised of members from the Huangfu Family. Especially now that Huangfu Yan is the head of the Huangfu Family, most of the military forces are under his command. Currently, our communication with the south is still quite difficult, and we have no news at all. Therefore, it can be inferred that Huangfu Yan cannot possibly contact anyone in the south."
"Even if they could make contact, getting support from the south for Huangfu Yan would not be an easy task in today's circumstances. So, in a way, this is a stroke of luck amidst misfortune," Zhao Lao glanced at the map and continued, "This means that at most he can mobilize only a few thousand troops. For large-scale operations like this, more troops would only work against us."
"Our commanders here can only mobilize forces of up to a thousand men for battle; we have no experience in engagements involving over ten thousand troops. But Huangfu Yan is different; he participated in the last significant battle," Zhao Lao explained. "Therefore, my suggestion is to send out various vanguard teams with small forces to disperse and ambush them; this would increase our chances of success. However, we must also leave at least a few thousand on the front lines; otherwise, a single strike could break through the capital!"
Everyone nodded in agreement; Zhao Lao was right. The main issue now was that none of these people had any prior combat experience, especially against a renowned general like Huangfu Yan. Previously, Zhang Lao had been able to keep Huangfu Yan in check, but now Huangfu Yan was like a tiger unleashed, free to roam across the vast land.
"Our people within Huangfu Yan's forces have not yet returned with any news; we still do not know what the situation in Ganzhou is," Zhao Lao said, worry etched deeply into his wrinkled face. He continued, "If only we could know their movements! Based on timing, Huangfu Yan should have already made some arrangements by now; we just don't know what their first move will be."
Upon hearing this, Wang Chao realized that before their complete fallout, both the Zhang Family and the Huangfu Family had prepared extensively—down to many intricate details. While Zhang Lao claimed he was merely the catalyst for conflict, he was not the most crucial trigger; Wang Chao himself was simply an excuse for war between the two families. Once both sides were determined to sever ties completely, countless excuses could be found.
In the capital city, there were spies from Huangfu Yan's faction; correspondingly, there were also members of the Zhang Family in Ganzhou. Had Wang Chao known this earlier, he would have inquired about matters in the capital to avoid unnecessary worries—like pondering where exactly Huangfu Yan's subordinates came from. However, since no one from the Zhang Family had returned with news yet, did that mean members of the Huangfu Family had already returned to Ganzhou?
A young officer spoke up: "Since our people haven't returned yet, how can we determine whether Huangfu Yan knows about Zhang Lao's death? After all, we only just learned about it ourselves!"
It was already quite an achievement to keep Zhang Lao's death under wraps for a week; especially within the military where Zhang Lao hadn't inspected them for many days. As time passed, suspicions naturally arose among everyone. If they continued to conceal it further, it might backfire. Hearing this young officer's words prompted Wang Chao to respond first: "From what I know about Huangfu Yan, he is decisive and resolute—a capable individual."
"I believe his control over the Safe Zone is likely several times tighter than that of the capital," Wang Chao mused further. "Given this old fox's cunning intellect, he must know that there are people loyal to Zhang Lao within that Safe Zone. If he doesn't allow anyone to leave it, I doubt even a fly could escape; meanwhile, many people enter and exit the capital daily!"
Zhao Lao slapped his thigh and said, "This point we overlooked! However, every person entering or exiting has identification badges issued by the Safe Zone and records are kept daily. Zeng Tai, you are tasked with verifying this matter. Additionally, we must strictly control daily movements starting today—the capital will enter its highest level of combat readiness: only entry is permitted; no one leaves!"
"Those who enter must be closely monitored to prevent any collusion from within!" Zhao Lao said, "I will assign you five hundred troops. Go handle it immediately!"
"Understood!" Zeng Taihang saluted and hurriedly left.
"Additionally, we must send someone to investigate the movements of Huangfu Yan's army. This is always a difficult task," Zhao Lao continued. "After all, if I can think of this, Huangfu Yan can certainly think of it too. It will undoubtedly be extremely dangerous, and I wonder who can take on such a responsibility."
"I will!" Zhang Fusheng was the first to stand up and said, "I will handle this matter, no matter how dangerous it may be..."
However, Wang Chao interjected, "As the Commander of the Imperial Capital, how can you take on the role of a scout? Your mission is to stay at the Imperial Capital Safe Zone, leading the main forces as the last line of defense to protect the safety of the people in the capital. Leave this task to me. Once we ascertain the movements of Ganzhou and Huangfu Yan's forces, we will return to the Safe Zone immediately to report."
"Alright!" Zhao Lao nodded seriously at Wang Chao and said, "Then this mission will be entrusted to you. For reconnaissance, it's better to have fewer people than more. I will temporarily assign you one hundred men. These one hundred were previously led out by Lei Father and Son; they are a brave and skilled unit. However, there is one thing: they have always only followed Lei Father and Son's orders."
Upon hearing this, Wang Chao suddenly recalled that in Yucheng, he had personally killed the now-Zombie Lei Father and Son and buried them in a community's backyard. Lei Father and Son upheld a sense of righteousness, serving their country and its people—qualities that Wang Chao admired. He thought that the troops they had led could not possibly be lacking.
"Now that Lei Father and Son have lost contact and their fates are unknown, they say that if they are alive, they want to see people; if they are dead, they want to see corpses. Otherwise, aside from defending the Safe Zone, they won't follow anyone else's orders. Even if I can suppress them and make them follow you, if they harbor discontent in their hearts, I fear something might go wrong. Yet they truly are the strongest unit for solo operations in the Safe Zone."
"Back then, I personally killed the now-Zombie Lei Father and Son. Now, I will personally take charge of the troops they left behind!" Wang Chao clenched his fists and declared.
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