Chapter 1086 Accident

Ning Province, Xihai Town, Western Theater Command

At this moment, a video conference concerning the future direction of the two major forces in the northwest is taking place in a conference room 50 meters underground.

After a few days, the atmosphere between the Western Theater Command and the New Province Construction Corps became more solemn than last time.

On the Western Theater Command side, Wei Jingfang, Zhang Shouzheng, Zhou Yifeng, and Dong Ping were all present with serious expressions.

On the other side of the screen, the core leadership of the New Province Construction Corps also made their first collective appearance, sitting on either side of Qin Yue, each with a stern expression. It was obvious that both sides had conducted intensive internal consultations and heated debates over the past three days.

The meeting entered into the difficult substantive negotiation phase right from the start.

Qin Yue spoke first, his tone was calm but with an unchangeable bottom line:

"Commander Wei, after careful study by our Corps Standing Committee, we agree in principle to explore oil field cooperation. However, we insist that this cooperation must be conducted in the form of a joint venture and co-management."

He clearly laid out the plan: "We will own 60% of the oil field rights, and you will own 40%. However, this 40% interest is not given for free. You must exchange it for weapons, ammunition, medicines, and medical equipment that we urgently need."

This plan, seemingly a concession, actually kicks the ball back and firmly grasps the principle of "equivalent exchange", attempting to place the Construction Corps as an equal partner rather than an object of charity or coercion.

After hearing this, Wei Jingfang's brows knitted together instantly. Without any hesitation, he firmly refused: "Impossible!"

His voice was firm and decisive: "Captain Qin, you should be aware that the core of our cooperation with the Zhongzhou Theater is to exchange energy for survival supplies."

"If we first trade precious munitions for oil fields, and then trade the oil fields for munitions, what will become of us? It's just a waste of money, a pointless waste! This plan goes against the original intention of our cooperation, and we absolutely cannot accept it!"

With Wei Jingfang's tough stance, the negotiations instantly came to a deadlock.

After a moment of silence, Wei Jingfang took a deep breath and proposed an alternative plan for the Western Theater:

"Since we can't agree on the distribution of rights and interests, let's try a different approach."

"The security of the oil fields is a matter of concern! The New Province is vast, and its defenses are relatively weak. To ensure the absolute safety of this energy lifeline, we can dispatch a fully-organized elite force to the oil fields to assume primary defense."

"As for the Corps, you only need to focus on production, and we will take care of security. This is also a form of deep cooperation and can greatly reduce your defense pressure."

However, this proposal seemed to have touched the most sensitive nerve of the Construction Corps. Before the words were completely finished, a deputy corps commander beside Qin Yue immediately objected in an extremely excited tone:

"That's even worse! If our safety is handed over to you, what say will we have? Won't we be at the mercy of others?"

"I need to remind you that we haven't forgotten the lessons of the Hami Wind Power Base!"

Upon hearing this, the other corps leaders nodded and looked alert. If it were before the Hami conflict, the corps leaders might not have been so cautious.

But since the Hami incident, especially the Western Theater Command's stubborn reluctance to deal with the issue, this "domineering" attitude has inevitably caused the Corps' leadership to have a strong fear of the Western Theater Command.

If they dare to deal with the grassroots of the Corps today, will they deal with us tomorrow?

So it was under such concerns that Wei Jingfang's so-called protection was tantamount to invasion in the eyes of the Corps' leaders.

Just as the two sides were arguing with each other, the atmosphere was becoming increasingly tense and they were about to quarrel—

Beep!Beep!Beep!

A rapid encrypted communication prompt sounded in the conference room of the Construction Corps. The sharp sound broke the deadlocked noise.

A staff officer walked quickly to Qin Yue, whispered a few words, and handed him a telegram he had just received.

Qin Yue just glanced at it casually at first, but the next second, his pupils suddenly contracted, and the blood color on his face faded at a speed visible to the naked eye, replaced by an extreme shock and uncontrollable anger!

He stood up with a jerk, his hand holding the message trembling slightly from the exertion. He looked up abruptly, his eyes like two red-hot irons, fixed on Wei Jingfang's face across the screen. His previous restraint and composure vanished, and his voice became hoarse and low with extreme anger, as if squeezed from the depths of his throat:

"Wei...Jing...Fang!"

He shouted the other person's name word by word, and almost poked the message in his hand in front of the camera:

"Please explain to me! Why did our 3rd patrol encounter your fully-organized, heavily-equipped border defense regiment 20 kilometers from our side of Heishankou?!"

"This is the 'cooperation' you keep talking about?! This is the 'order' you promised?! While you were negotiating with me via video, your troops had already sneaked in right under my nose!!"

"What on earth do you want to do?!"

This roar was like thunder exploding in the conference room.

On the Western Theater Command side, the expressions of all the standing committee members changed instantly. Wei Jingfang's eyes twitched slightly. He never expected that the carefully planned covert deployment would be exposed in such an unexpected way at such a critical moment!

Chief of Staff Dong Ping subconsciously looked at Wei Jingfang, Deputy Commander Zhou Yifeng took a deep breath, and Director Zhang Shouzheng's face also became extremely ugly.

The negotiation table, which was just a verbal exchange, was instantly pushed to the crater of a volcano of tension and imminent explosion by this sudden military confrontation!

The air in the conference room dropped to freezing point.