Chapter 989 A fragile balance
"What?! An unknown formation of armed helicopters?! Southeast direction?!"
Su Xunyun's report was like an ice spike, instantly piercing Gao Zhikai's tense nerves! His brows suddenly locked into a deep, crisscross pattern, and an extremely ominous premonition coiled around his heart like a venomous snake!
Southeast direction....
The retired troops from the 77th Regiment who returned home not long ago!
Combined with the combat radius of the armed helicopters... a force that can radiate to Lan City from the southeast and has the ability to conduct organized air assaults...
In an instant, the answer was clear in Gao Zhikai's mind: "It's the 77th Legion! They came to us on their own!"
This speculation was like a 10,000-ton boulder, crashing down upon Gao Zhikai's heart! An unprecedented sense of crisis, like a Siberian cold snap, instantly overwhelmed him! The core logic upon which he had relied, the carefully constructed structure, was facing collapse!
All his plans and ambitions were based on the fatal weakness that there was no other main corps available in the Western Theater except Gao Zhikai's 76th Corps!
Once the war zone has the second option of the 77th Corps, can Gao Zhikai still dance on the tightrope as he does now, or even implicitly coerce the war zone?
"The ghost won't go away! It really won't go away!" Gao Zhikai roared in his heart, like a trapped beast!
"Why didn't you come earlier? Why didn't you come later? Why did you just show up at this critical juncture? Lan City's dual industrial cores are within easy reach, but complications arise!"
If...if this unidentified helicopter formation really represents the 77th Army Corps, or the mysterious "Zhongzhou War Zone"...
This is not an ordinary helicopter formation, but a moment of life and death!
For a leader of Gao Zhikai's stature, being able to discern the coming of autumn from a single leaf is just basic quality, especially when it comes to his own situation, he is particularly perceptive...
Thinking of this, Gao Zhikai looked at Zou Yuan with a deeper and more reserved gaze, a dangerous madness dancing in his eyes.
'Zou Yuan must not be allowed to see anyone from the 77th Legion!' This thought exploded in his mind like thunder.
By then, under the dual pressure of righteousness and absolute force, would Gao Zhikai still have any room to maneuver? Would he still have room for bargaining?
No! It could be worse!
Today's 77th Legion is under the command of the "Zhongzhou War Zone" that appeared out of nowhere!
Although I heard they suffered heavy losses before, with this mysterious "local rich man" providing financial support behind the scenes...
Its recovery speed and sustained combat capability are probably far superior to his 76th Legion, which relies entirely on handouts from the war zone and is stretched to the limit!
As a combat veteran who had emerged from the bloodbath, Gao Zhikai knew better than anyone that logistics was the lifeblood of the military! The essence of war was a battle of logistics and fundamentals.
"Damn it! Damn it! Why did it have to happen at this time?!" Gao Zhikai's inner irritation spread like wildfire, almost swallowing him up!
"Give me two more months... No! One month! Just one month!"
As long as he can completely control Xigu and Qilihe and initially establish his own military-industrial blood-making system, he will be able to have the autonomy he has always dreamed of!
You will then have real bargaining chips at the negotiation table! You will then be able to truly break free from the noose around your neck!
But unfortunately! God refused to give him even this month! This sudden helicopter formation was simply a death warrant that snuffed out his last hope!
The 76th Legion under his command is still like a hungry chick, and most of its logistical lifelines are firmly in the hands of the war zone!
This is the fundamental reason why he obviously hates Zou Yuan but has to suppress his disgust and maintain superficial decency!
Deep down in his heart, he looked down upon military leaders like Zou Yuan:
He was a soldier, but he had the cowardly look of a scholar - he was clearly going to the battlefield, but he dressed up like he was getting married. What made him most unbalanced was that such a person could actually bully him?
How much blood had he shed on the frontier, on the frontier lines of foreign lands? How many life-or-death struggles had he endured to achieve his current position?
In the end, we have to bow down to these people who have spent almost their entire military career sitting in offices and enjoying air conditioning?!
Let them decide their life or death with just one word?! How the hell is that fair?!
The biggest "actual combat" of these people is probably the fake exercises that are like playing house, right?
The frustration of the ups and downs in the early years and the ambitions triggered by the end of the world have unknowingly fostered an obsession in Gao Zhikai's heart that is almost like a demon!
In Gao Zhikai's heart, Lan City is no longer just a military-industrial base, but is regarded by him as the only hope to break free from the shackles and be reborn from the ashes, and the only chance to ascend to heaven in this life!
What's more, he knew better than anyone that since he chose to embark on this path, there was no turning back!
If you succeed, you will soar into the sky like a dragon; if you fail, you will be doomed to eternity!
Either he ascended to the pinnacle of power, or he became a prisoner! He knew this clearly, and he believed that the old foxes in the war zone also knew it well!
That's why the sudden appearance of this strange helicopter formation had such a huge impact on him!
It was enough to instantly shatter the fragile balance between him and the Western Theater! It was enough to cause the military group he had painstakingly built and struggled to rise in the apocalypse to crumble in the blink of an eye!
Think about it! When the war zone was isolated and helpless, they dared to use seven border defense regiments to forcibly "pick peaches"! If they had the powerful support of the 77th Army Corps...
In this bitterly cold Northwest, where could Gao Zhikai find a place to stay?!
I'm afraid that what will greet him is not "assistance", but fully armed gendarmerie and cold shackles!
...
?
Although Su Xunyun's voice was extremely low, the key words "southeast direction" and "unknown armed helicopter formation" still pierced Zou Yuan's ears clearly like steel needles!
Zou Yuan keenly caught the sinister and drastic change that flashed across Gao Zhikai's face in an instant and could not be completely concealed!
The deputy commander of the theater, who was also very shrewd, had a mind like an overclocked computer. In a flash, an ecstatic guess that almost made his heart stop suddenly took shape!
An ordinary armed helicopter formation would never be able to make Gao Zhikai, the tiger, lose his composure like this!
Southeast direction...this direction...could it be?!
A long-awaited possibility was like a high-voltage current passing through the spine, causing the breathing of Lieutenant General Zou Yuan, Deputy Commander of the Western Theater Command, to suddenly become extremely rapid!
From the depths of his originally calm eyes, an incredible light filled with great hope suddenly burst out!
...
"Deputy Commander Zou, the military situation on the front line is urgent and cannot be delayed! I'm sorry to leave you, I must return to the command center immediately to deal with it!" Gao Zhikai's voice was like ice-hardened steel. He said this stiffly, his face so gloomy that water could drip out of it.
He didn't even give Zou Yuan any time to react. Before he finished speaking, he turned around abruptly, stomped his military boots on the ground, and strode away with a determined murderous look!
“Wait a minute—!”
