#211 - Chapter 211: Zong Zhengyue is set up
Yu Su Province, Kunfeng City, Southeast Military Region Command.
"Old Yan, why aren't you sleeping at this hour? What brings you here?" Zongzhen Yue asked, yawning.
"Old Zong, listen to me, you need to immediately arrange troops to patrol along the north bank of the Yangtze River. You're in charge of the downstream area, and I'll handle the upstream area. We must seal off the entire Yangtze River line as quickly as possible," Yan Zhengping said, getting straight to the point.
"What the hell?" Zongzhen Yue was stunned by these words.
He rubbed his eyes, thinking he wasn't awake yet and was still dreaming.
"Are you out of your mind? Why seal off the Yangtze River?" Zongzhen Yue asked.
"It's an emergency, so I'll make it brief. During the day today, the Changjing Resettlement in Jingmen City, Hanzhong Province, on my side, discovered a large number of giant ants. If these ants reach the north of the Yangtze River, the consequences will be unimaginable," Yan Zhengping said.
"You're overthinking it! They're just ants, what can they do?" Zongzhen Yue glanced at him sideways.
"Hmph! Have you considered that north of the Yangtze River, there are no more natural barriers? If the ant swarm advances unimpeded, how do you plan to defend against it?" Yan Zhengping was displeased seeing his nonchalant attitude.
After all this effort, he felt like a barber pushing a razor—putting in all the effort himself.
"What you're saying makes sense!" Zongzhen Yue nodded thoughtfully.
"But you know, my Southeast Military Region is also responsible for the security and patrol duties of the Central Military Region, so our forces are very dispersed. It's difficult to spare troops to seal off the Yangtze River right now!" Zongzhen Yue said.
"You can't spare troops now, but you will be able to once the ants cross the river?" Yan Zhengping glared at him unhappily.
"This…" Zongzhen Yue was silenced by the retort.
After a moment of thought, Zongzhen Yue asked:
"Have you reported this matter to the council?"
"I went to see Baili Ji, but that guy is stubborn and unreasonable!" Yan Zhengping said bluntly.
"That shouldn't be the case! Logically speaking, this is no longer just about one or two resettlement areas; everyone needs to work together. Baili Ji couldn't possibly lack this basic awareness," Zongzhen Yue said.
"Who says he doesn't! But that's the reality, what can you do?" Yan Zhengping said.
"Then we'll propose convening a temporary council! Can he really dictate everything by himself?" Zongzhen Yue refused to believe it.
"He brought out the wartime military regulations, saying he has supreme command and veto power," Yan Zhengping said.
"Outrageous! When did Baili Ji become a dictator?" Zongzhen Yue exclaimed in anger upon hearing this.
"Now's not the time to argue about this. We need to secure the Yangtze River line first. If we miss this golden opportunity, I'm afraid the situation will become uncontrollable," Yan Zhengping said.
"Without the council's approval, I have no authority to adjust strategic deployments!" Zongzhen Yue said, troubled.
"You people are all so rigid! Rules are dead, people are alive. Are we going to let the dead rules stifle us?" Yan Zhengping blurted out some crude language.
"Think again, think again…" Zongzhen Yue wasn't annoyed and began pacing back and forth, thinking.
Yan Zhengping watched him pacing back and forth right in front of him.
"How about this, I'll send planes to blow up all the bridges over the river first. The river is so wide, I don't believe these ants can grow wings and fly across?" Zongzhen Yue had a flash of inspiration.
Anyway, there are no more resettlement areas south of the Yangtze River, so he didn't care.
"You know what, that might be a solution," Yan Zhengping said after calmly considering it.
"Alright, let's do it!" Zongzhen Yue didn't hesitate, picked up the phone, and made a call.
Soon after, dozens of bombers took off from the Southeast Military Region and flew directly towards the various bridges along the Yangtze River line.
If they were going to blow them up, they would do it thoroughly, leaving no bridge standing.
Yan Zhengping also picked up the phone and issued the same order.
In short, they couldn't worry about so much right now. They would blow up the bridges first, just in case.
Of course, this didn't include the Changjing Bridge in Jingmen City.
By 3:00 AM, all the bridges over the Yangtze River, from upstream to downstream, had been destroyed.
"What do you plan to do next?" Zongzhen Yue asked.
"What can I do? Go back to the Southwest Military Region! Anyway, even if the ants cross the river, it doesn't have much to do with me. Why should I bother with it!" Yan Zhengping was still angry.
He was right. Except for some areas in Hanzhong Province and Shuchuan Province, all the resettlement areas in the Southwest Military Region had basically been evacuated to the low-altitude areas of Lazang.
Even if the ants crossed the Yangtze River, the Central Military Region and the Southeast Military Region would suffer the greatest losses. Followed by the Northwest Military Region and the Northeast Military Region. As for his Southwest Military Region, Yan Zhengping didn't think the impact would be too great.
"Old Yan, aren't you being a bit unfair? Are you making this my problem?" Zongzhen Yue was unhappy.
"This was originally your problem. The vast Central Plains region north of the Yangtze River is your and Shentu Fu's territory. I'm just meddling in things that don't concern me!" Yan Zhengping replied.
"No way! You must defend the upstream area of the Yangtze River!" At this point, Zongzhen Yue became more anxious than Yan Zhengping.
"Forget it, I'll go back and evacuate the resettlement areas in Hanzhong to the Lazang region as well, to avoid trouble," Yan Zhengping said.
