freenovelworld Chapter 1403 Attack Plan
Chapter 1403 Attack Plan
ten minutes.
Perhaps longer, perhaps shorter, in the process of numbly waiting, Li Guangzhong has lost his sense of time.
He stood there like a wooden stake nailed to the spot, his eyes lowered, not daring to look at the huge screen or at anyone on the platform.
He could only stare at the concrete ground three inches in front of his feet, at his combat boots covered in mud and worn at the edges, and at the grime that had somehow gotten on his trousers and now seemed particularly glaring.
The command center was bathed in a uniform, cold white light, with no shadows and nowhere to hide.
He could hear his own breathing, heavy and erratic. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest, one beat after another, as if it were about to burst out.
His back was soaked with cold sweat, which clung stickily to his skin, making him want to move but he dared not.
'My pose must look ridiculous, right?'
He dared not think.
The occasional glances from the technical officers around me, the figures getting up and walking past the control panel, the hushed conversations, and the occasional equipment notification sounds...
Everything reminded him that he was an outsider, an intruder standing there.
Like a cockroach that has wandered into a precision instrument.
No, it's like a cockroach that's been put in a transparent glass bottle and placed on a display stand.
He suddenly remembered a time when he was a child in Hanoi, when his school organized a visit to the "National Construction Achievements Exhibition".
One of the display cases contained a specimen of a rare giant beetle captured from the primeval forests of the Mekong Delta.
The beetle was pinned to a foam board with a steel needle, its six legs curled up and its antennae drooping. Under the bright spotlight, it looked so...so helpless.
He is now that beetle.
However, what pinned him down wasn't the steel needle, but the screen, the real-time monitoring footage, the command center that left him nowhere to hide, and the imposing figure that never looked back at him.
finally--
A slight noise came from the platform.
Li Guangzhong shuddered and subconsciously raised his head.
The burly figure moved.
Colonel Hu Xiangqian slowly turned around.
He was very tall, at least 1.85 meters, with broad shoulders and a thick back. Even in his loose combat uniform, one could see the outline of his strong muscles honed by years of high-intensity training and combat experience.
His face looked younger than Li Guangzhong had imagined.
It wasn't his youthful age—he already had faint wrinkles around his eyes and his skin was a bronze from long hours of outdoor work—but rather his... vitality and spirit.
A spirit full of energy, unwavering will, and seemingly never to be crushed by anything.
His eyes were not large, but extremely bright, with a sharp and calm gaze, like a hawk surveying its prey, or like a deep pool from which no bottom could be seen.
At that moment, those eyes were looking at Li Guangzhong.
Their gaze fell on him, slowly sweeping over him from top to bottom.
Li Guangzhong felt that the gaze was as if it were real, carrying some kind of invisible pressure, which made him subconsciously take half a step back.
Then, he saw a fleeting look deep within those eyes.
A kind of indifference that is condescending, accustomed, as if looking at something unimportant but just happens to be in sight...
Li Guangzhong clearly saw his own image in that gaze.
A thin man, dressed in an old Vietnamese army uniform, standing awkwardly under the light...
His hair must have been a mess, after being jostled around in the transport vehicle all the way and standing at the command center entrance for so long; it was impossible for it not to be messy.
His face was definitely showing signs of fatigue; his eyes were sunken and his cheekbones were prominent—the result of long-term malnutrition.
His clothes were definitely stained, his cuffs were worn, and his trouser legs were covered in mud, a stark contrast to the neat and clean uniforms of the soldiers from Zhongzhou around him.
And the most fatal thing is that his hands... oh no, his hands are empty now.
That black duffel bag, the "sincere gift" containing 100 pounds of gold and a box of gems, now lies forlornly on the floor outside the command center, like a pile of scrap metal waiting to be collected.
He was like someone stripped of all his packaging, all his reliance, and all his trump cards, standing naked in front of the other person.
The other person merely glanced at him.
Just one glance.
That one glance shattered all his mental preparation, all his self-comfort, all his "although that's how it is, but..."
Hu Xiangqian withdrew his gaze, seemingly showing no particular interest in him as a person.
He raised his hand and waved to the side.
The major who had just given the report immediately stepped forward and handed him the folder. Hu Xiangqian took it, casually flipped through it, glanced at a few lines, and then nodded slightly.
Throughout the entire process, he did not say a single word to Li Guangzhong.
Li Guangzhong stood there, unsure of what to say or do.
Should he take the initiative to speak up?
Should I say, "Hello, I am Major Le Quang Trung, Staff Officer of the 2nd Division of the Vietnamese Army"? Or should I salute first?
Should we use Chinese or wait for a translation?
he does not know.
Before setting off, Division Commander Nguyen Van Hung and several division leaders discussed various possible scenarios—an arrogant enemy, a wary enemy, a greedy enemy, a refusal to enter… but no one discussed this one:
The other party doesn't care at all!
Completely indifferent!
We don't care who you are, what your "sincerity" is, or what you're here for.
It's like... like a person facing a stray dog that suddenly appears in their own yard.
He might glance at it, but he wouldn't specifically squat down to talk to it; he would just continue doing his own thing.
If the dog is sensible and leaves on its own, then it's gone.
If the dog is disobedient and dares to bare its teeth, then hit it with a stick.
Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.
Thinking about all this, Li Guangzhong suddenly felt his throat go dry, as if there was a wad of cotton stuffed inside.
Finally, Hu Xiangqian, the commander-in-chief of the Pingxiang Forward Base, closed the folder and handed it to the major next to him.
"The 2nd Division of the 1st Military Region of the Vietnamese Army?"
The sound was not loud, and could even be described as ordinary, but it had a peculiar penetrating power, clearly reaching Li Guangzhong's ears.
As soon as he finished speaking, Li Guangzhong, like a drowning man grabbing onto a piece of driftwood, nodded hurriedly, leaned forward slightly, and replied in his heavily accented and somewhat broken Chinese:
"Yes, yes, yes! Reporting, sir! I am Li Guangzhong, Major Staff Officer of the 2nd Division! By order—"
"Ordered to deliver something?"
Hu Xiangqian interrupted him, his tone remaining calm.
Li Guangzhong was taken aback for a moment, then realized what he meant and nodded repeatedly, "Yes, yes, yes! Our division commander sent me—"
"Gold?" Hu Xiangqian interrupted him again.
Li Guangzhong's face flushed red instantly.
gold.
What he once thought was "sincerity" now sounded light and airy coming from the other person's mouth, like talking about a few stones picked up by the roadside.
“…Yes.” He lowered his head, his voice so low it was almost inaudible.
The command center was silent for a few seconds.
Those few seconds felt like an eternity to Li Guangzhong.
Then, Hu Xiangqian spoke.
This time, his tone changed slightly; it was no longer purely indifferent, but carried a hint of... perhaps what could be called "stating the facts" calmness.
"Your base is in Ha Quang District, Cao Bang Province, right?"
Li Guangzhong's heart skipped a beat, and he looked up.
Hu Xiangqian didn't look at him, but turned slightly to the side and pointed to the huge screen.
"Your division headquarters is located northeast of the county town, near that nameless hill. There are several caves there; before the apocalypse, they were armories, but now you've converted them into a command post and supply depot. Am I right?"
Li Guangzhong opened his mouth, but no sound came out.
Hu Xiangqian continued, his tone remaining calm, as if he were reading a report he already knew by heart:
"You have three main regiments. The first regiment's defensive line is on the north side of the county town, guarding the highway leading to the border; the second regiment is deployed in the mountains on the east side of the county town, using several high points to build simple fortifications; the third regiment is on the south side of the county town, responsible for protecting the passage to the south and the rear base. You also have an artillery battalion, equipped with old 122mm towed howitzers, with its position set up in a mountain valley on the west side of the county town, over there is an abandoned quarry, right?"
The color drained from Li Guangzhong's face little by little.
"Your forces, at best, have fewer than four thousand men ready for combat. Your heavy weapons are pitifully scarce; mortars, recoilless rifles, and rocket launchers are limited in number, and ammunition is even more limited."
"Most soldiers are malnourished, and their training level... I just saw it on the screen, and you should have seen it too."
Li Guangzhong was completely stunned.
He opened his mouth, as if trying to say something, but nothing came out...
What could he say?
Should you praise the other person for being right? Or should you directly beg for forgiveness?
The other party definitely knew, knew everything perfectly well, even better than him and his superiors about the entire 2nd Division...
After all, the division commander had no idea that a soldier had just been scratching his backside in the trench and even smelled it...
Hu Xiangqian looked at his stunned expression, but his face remained largely unchanged.
He simply stood there, his imposing figure like an iron tower, his hands hanging naturally at his sides, his gaze calmly looking down at the "envoy" who had come from the south.
Then, he said something that completely broke Li Guangzhong:
"The plan to strike you was completed yesterday."
Li Guangzhong: ? ? ? ?