Chapter 943 Internal Problems

Lieutenant General Zhou Yifeng, deputy commander of the Western Theater in charge of joint logistics support, tapped the table with his fingertips and said in a serious tone:

"The Construction Corps won't give in... Then the subsequent logistics coordination we have planned, especially the issue of food supply, will probably encounter major obstacles?"

Then, Lieutenant General Zou Yuan, the deputy commander in charge of combat training, sighed heavily and said:

"It's really tricky. After all... our troops caused heavy casualties on the other side. This knot is completely tied."

He paused and added:

"The conflict was large in scale, with many witnesses, and had extremely bad consequences. Even if the leaders of both sides were willing to ease tensions, the practical resistance would be too great."

"From the perspective of the Construction Corps... their reaction is completely understandable. If it were us, we would not easily forgive them, otherwise the morale of the team would be dispersed."

"So many members of the Corps shed their blood to protect collective assets. If their leadership chooses to compromise at this moment...the internal cohesion will inevitably suffer a severe blow."

At this point, Deputy Theater Commander Zou Yuan looked around at everyone and said, "We refused to hand over the hostages despite the pressure. Isn't it because of the same consideration? In this end times, rallying the military spirit and maintaining the centripetal force of the troops is the basis for survival."

Hearing this, the deputy commander of the theater, Zhou Yifeng, nodded, his tone filled with deep helplessness:

"From a strategic perspective, cooperation between the Western Theater Command and the New Province Construction Corps is the best solution."

"We have military advantages, and the other side has food reserves. With complementary advantages, we could have quickly opened up the situation in the northwest."

"However... this bloody conflict of a vile nature and with wide-ranging impact has pushed the leaders of both sides into a corner. At this moment, any unilateral compromise by either side will have an immeasurable impact on its own internal unity and stability."

.....

After the words fell, a brief silence fell over the conference room again, and everyone was thinking about how to break the impasse...

Finally, Lieutenant General Zhang Shouzheng, Director of the Political Department of the Theater, broke the heavy silence. His voice was deep and penetrating, full of grief and indisputable determination:

"Comrade Commander, fellow Standing Committee members! My opinion is: All those involved must be transferred to the new provincial construction corps! This is not only to calm the current situation, but also to thoroughly rectify the long-standing problems in the style and discipline of the border defense forces!"

At this point, Lieutenant General Zhang Shouzheng, Director of the Political Department of the Theater, swept his sharp eyes over every general present at the meeting, and every word was of great significance:

"For a long time, out of sympathy for the difficult garrison environment of the border defense troops, we have actually been 'lenient' and too lenient and too soft in the management and discipline of the troops!"

"The harsh reality now proves that this kind of tolerance and indulgence has produced bitter consequences that are hard to swallow!"

When mentioning this, Lieutenant General Zhang Shouzheng suddenly raised his voice with a strong warning:

"Comrades present here all know this very well! Such incidents that seriously undermine the relationship between the military and the people and damage the image of the military are by no means isolated cases!"

"Before the end of the world, local governments had submitted official letters to our department many times, reporting that during the joint military and police patrols, border guards had repeatedly violently assaulted local police officers!" He paused, his tone full of a profound analysis of the root cause of the problem:

"The more serious problem is that, for a long time, due to the lack of law enforcement power over active military personnel in local governments, some people have mistakenly regarded the military as an 'independent kingdom' and 'lawful enclave' outside the national legal system!"

"After they cause trouble and break the law in the local area, they are often dealt with internally, and the result is often 'lift them up high and drop them lightly'!"

"This tendency to shield and cover up shortcomings and lax discipline is undoubtedly a disguised connivance of violations of discipline and law, and fundamentally encourages this unhealthy trend of lawlessness, arrogance and domineering behavior!"

Bang!

Lieutenant General Zhang Shouzheng, Director of the Political Department of the Theater, slammed his fist heavily on the table, making a dull sound:

"It is this long-standing arrogance that has led to the vicious development of the situation, and ultimately resulted in today's horrific, large-scale bloody conflict with extremely serious consequences!"

Speaking of this tragic consequence, Lieutenant General Zhang Shouzheng's tone was as heavy as a mountain: "This is by no means a simple case of 'hot-bloodedness' or 'improper handling'! This deeply reflects the serious problems of ideological decline, arrogance and lax discipline in some border defense forces! It is the total outbreak of the accumulated problems of peace in an extreme environment!"

"If we do not take drastic measures to resolutely rectify and completely reverse this unhealthy trend, it will inevitably lead to even bigger and more difficult political and military disasters in the future! This is related to the fundamental nature of whether the troops can maintain absolute loyalty, and there is no room for ambiguity!"

..

As the Political Department Director Zhang Shouzheng finished speaking, the senior generals in the conference room reacted differently: some nodded slightly to show their agreement, some remained expressionless, some fell into deep thought, and some clearly showed their disapproval.

In this brief silence and subtle atmosphere, Lieutenant General Dong Ping, the theater chief of staff who had not spoken before, spoke in a deep voice with a loud and penetrating voice:

"The issues pointed out by Director Zhang hit the nail on the head. I personally agree with his analysis and judgment!"

However, at this point, Lieutenant General Dong Ping, the theater chief of staff, suddenly changed the subject and scanned the audience sharply: "But we must clearly realize that now is not the right time to carry out a large-scale internal purge!"

Lieutenant General Dong Ping said in a calm tone: "As Director Zhang said, there are indeed serious hidden dangers in the style and discipline of the border defense forces!"

"However, precisely because the problem is serious and the problems are deep-rooted, we should act more prudently and adopt a more prudent and gradual approach to solve it, so as to avoid acting too hastily and causing violent turmoil!"

"According to the strategic analysis framework of primary and secondary contradictions, at present, how to survive and develop in the apocalyptic environment and ensure that the theater of war effectively fulfills its mission is the main strategic contradiction we face!"

"If we rashly 'turn the sword inward' and carry out a high-intensity purge at this moment, I am highly concerned that it will cause internal instability and even lead to the collapse of the current fragile strategic situation!"

The theater chief of staff Dong Ping emphasized: Comrades, please pay attention! This is not me, Dong Ping, as the chief of staff, favoring any unit or deliberately exaggerating! This is an objective conclusion based on a deep understanding of the current reality of the theater and professional judgment of the laws of our military organization and operation! "

At this point, the theater chief of staff Dong Ping immediately stood up, grabbed the baton in front of him, pointed to the northwest region map spread out on the iron conference table and pressed down by an ashtray, and began to conduct a clear and orderly force structure analysis:

"First, let's sort out the current available combat forces in our theater: 15 border defense regiments, several air force units, a small number of internal security forces, and the 76th Army Group." As he spoke, he moved away the blue and green flags representing the air force and internal security forces.

"Excluding the internal security and air force (whose mission attributes are different from the ground forces), the ground forces that our theater can currently rely on are these 15 border defense regiments and the 76th Army!"

Lieutenant General Dong Ping reached out again and slowly moved the red main flag representing the 76th Army from the "Lanzhou" position, his tone solemn:

"Regarding the current situation of the 76th Corps...everyone knows about it..." When mentioning this topic, the theater chief of staff Dong Ping stopped talking about it and seemed a little secretive.

After completing this series of actions, Lieutenant General Dong Ping finally gathered all 15 yellow flags representing the border defense regiments in the center of the sand table, placing them in the focus of all the generals' attention, and made a final assessment:

"Therefore, after comprehensive research and analysis, the only stable and reliable backbone forces that can be deployed in our theater of operations are these 15 border defense regiments that have undergone preliminary integration!"

At this moment, Lieutenant General Dong Ping looked around at everyone, his eyes were sharp:

"At this critical moment concerning the survival of the war zone, if we impose high pressure on these 15 border defense regiments, the chain reaction and uncertainty it will cause will almost be equivalent to seriously shaking the fundamental strength on which we rely for survival and combat!"

"The risk is unbearable!"

...