43: Chapter 43 Neighboring Countries in Panic—Is a World War Imminent?

In the urban area of Southern Jiangsu, major hotels and guesthouses.

All foreigners received a "friendly" notification.

Knock, knock, knock — —

"Mr. Smith?"

Two uniformed police officers knocked open the door of a certain five-star hotel:

"Due to the large-scale military exercises to be conducted in this city, for your personal safety, please leave the city of Southern Jiangsu within four hours."

"We have arranged a dedicated car for you, which will take you to Jinling or Shanghai."

"If you need, we can help you rebook the nearest flight."

"Please cooperate."

The blonde-haired, blue-eyed American businessman Smith was stunned:

"What? You want to drive me away?"

"I am here to talk about business! I still have three days of itinerary planned!"

"I have a legal visa! You have no right to expel me!"

"Very sorry, sir."

The police officers were expressionless, their eyes cold:

"This is a temporary military control, not targeting any individual."

"Please leave within four hours."

"If you do not cooperate — —"

His hand pressed on the pistol at his waist, and his other hand flashed handcuffs:

"We will take coercive measures and put you on a permanent blacklist, prohibiting entry."

Smith looked at the gun and handcuffs, his Adam's apple rolling, cold sweat streaming down his cheeks.

"OK, OK... I'll leave..."

He raised both hands, his voice trembling:

"I'll leave... I'll leave right away..."

Similar scenes were staged simultaneously across Southern Jiangsu.

All foreigners — — whether tourists, businessmen, international students, or foreign enterprise employees — — were all politely invited out of the city of Southern Jiangsu.

Even some staff members of foreign consulates received advice from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs:

"In view of the upcoming large-scale military exercises in the city of Southern Jiangsu, to ensure the safety of your country's personnel, it is recommended to temporarily evacuate to neighboring cities. Our side will provide all necessary assistance."

Although the phrasing was extremely polite, the tone — — allowed no room for discussion.

Four hours later, all foreign nationals within the city of Southern Jiangsu were completely cleared to zero.

At the same time.

Intelligence agencies around the globe all received urgent intelligence regarding Daxia's abnormal military deployments.

Monkey Country, Hanoi.

In the Oval Office of the Presidential Palace.

The fifty-three-year-old president Ruan Wenming was leisurely sitting on a leather sofa, holding a cup of drip coffee, crossing his legs and reading the news.

Bang!

The door of the office was suddenly pushed open violently, the door handle hitting the wall and making a loud noise!

"Mr. President! Something terrible has happened!"

Chief of Staff Mark rushed in, his face pale, cold sweat streaming down his forehead:

"Som... Something huge has happened!"

"What's wrong?"

Ruan Wenming frowned, discontentedly putting down his coffee cup:

"What kind of behavior is this? Panicking like this!"

"Daxia — —"

Mark panted heavily, his voice trembling:

"Daxia is carrying out an unprecedented large-scale military buildup!"

"And — — the gathering location is right in Southern Jiangsu!"

"The straight-line distance from our border is only 880 kilometers!"

What?!

Ruan Wenming jumped up from the sofa abruptly.

The coffee cup in his hand dropped to the ground with a smack, shattering into pieces, coffee splashing all over the floor.

"Y... You what did you say?!"

His face instantly turned pale, his lips trembling:

"Daxia is gathering troops?! I... Is it targeting us?!"

"Un... Uncertain!"

Mark tremblingly opened the folder:

"According to the news sent back by our intelligence personnel in Daxia."

"Daxia has transferred a large number of elite troops, all gathered in Southern Jiangsu!"

"And — —"

He swallowed a mouthful of saliva:

"They have activated Level 1 combat readiness!"

"National railways suspended! Expressway controlled! Airports closed!"

"Level 1 combat readiness?!"

Ruan Wenming's voice went out of tune, his whole person tottering:

"Th... That's a state of war!"

"It's over... It's over..."

He paced crazily in the office, cold sweat pouring like rain on his forehead:

"It must be that we went too far recently!"

"Last month's South Xia Sea conflict! We shouldn't have been so tough!"

"And last week, we detained their fishing boats!"

"We angered them! They are going to strike over!"

"What to do? What to do?!"

He suddenly turned around, grabbing Mark's shoulders:

"Mark! Order immediately! The whole country enters a state of war!"

"Mobilize all forces! Complete martial law on the border!"

"Drag our tanks, fighter jets, missiles — — all to the northern border!"

"Quick! Go quickly!"

"Yes!"

Mark was just about to turn around when he suddenly stopped again.

"Mr. President... There is even worse intelligence..."

"Still more?!"

Ruan Wenming was almost breaking down:

"What time is it? Finish it all at once!"

"We..."

Mark's voice became even more desperate:

"Should we immediately ask the USA and Japan for help?"

"Because the forces gathered by Daxia this time — —"

He took a deep breath, his voice trembling:

"They not only mobilized conventional forces, but also dispatched — — Heavy Combined Arms Brigade!"

"A full five Heavy Combined Arms Brigades!"

Boom!

This sentence was like a bolt from the blue, striking on Ruan Wenming's head!

His whole person stiffened in place, his face turning from pale to ashen dead grey.

Heavy Combined Arms Brigade — —

That was the absolute trump card of the Daxia army!

Equipped with type 99a main battle tank, 04A Infantry Fighting Vehicle, PLZ-05 Self-Propelled Howitzer...

A single Heavy Combined Arms Brigade had firepower comparable to the sum of their entire national army!

And now — —

Directly dispatched five?

"Five Heavy Combined Arms Brigades?!"

Ruan Wenming's legs softened, and he slumped directly onto the sofa.

However, not long after, he suddenly laughed.

"Haha... Hahahaha..."

The laughter grew louder and louder, until tears were laughed out.

Mark was terrified:

"Mr. President?! Y... You okay?!"

"Hahahaha!"

Ruan Wenming laughed out of breath, holding his stomach:

"Mark... What did you just say... How many Heavy Combined Arms Brigades did they dispatch?"

"F... Five..."

Mark was completely dazed, not understanding why the president suddenly went crazy:

"Mr. President, this is not a funny matter! Five Heavy Combined Arms Brigades! We simply cannot block them!"

"Hahaha! Five! Five!"

Ruan Wenming laughed even more happily.

He stood up, walked behind the desk, opened the small refrigerator, and took out a bottle of iced beer.

Pop!

Opened the bottle.

Glug, glug — — drank more than half the bottle in one breath.

"Awesome!"

He wiped his mouth and let out a long breath:

"Mark."

"Y... Yes!"

Mark looked at him in terror.

"War mobilization canceled."

Ruan Wenming waved his hand, his whole person relaxing:

"Right, by the way, give a holiday to the national soldiers."

"They haven't returned home for so long, they must be homesick."

"Let them spend time properly with their wives and children."

What?!

Mark was completely dumbfounded, his eyeballs almost falling out:

"Mr. Pr... President?! Y... You plan to surrender?!"

"We haven't even fought yet! How can we surrender without a fight?!"

"Surrender?"

Ruan Wenming smiled, sat back on the sofa, and lit a cigar again:

"Mark, oh Mark, you've followed me for so many years, why is your brain still so unconditioned?"

"I ask you — — how is the combat effectiveness of Daxia's Heavy Combined Arms Brigade?"

Mark was stunned for a moment, then nodded fiercely:

"Extremely terrifying!"

"The Heavy Combined Arms Brigade is the absolute trump card of the Daxia army!"

"A single brigade has hundreds of type 99a main battle tanks, hundreds of 04A Infantry Fighting Vehicles, and hundreds of PLZ-05 Self-Propelled Howitzers!"

"It is also equipped with HQ-17 air defense missiles, reconnaissance drones, electronic warfare vehicles, engineering bridging vehicles..."

"Firepower configuration comparable to the sum of our entire national army!"

"And — —"

His voice became even more desperate:

"The Heavy Combined Arms Brigade is not a simple stacking of equipment; they have a complete combat system!"

"Tanks, infantry, artillery, engineers, communications, logistics — — various arms highly coordinated!"

"Can independently complete all tactical tasks from reconnaissance, Breakthrough, encirclement to annihilation!"

"This kind of unit is a meat grinder in modern warfare! The king of land warfare!"

"Once war breaks out — —"

Mark gritted his teeth, his eye sockets turning red:

"Our troops... won't last three days..."

"That's right!"

Ruan Wenming patted his thigh and smiled proudly:

"Mark, let me ask you again."

"If Daxia sends one Heavy Combined Arms Brigade to fight us, can we withstand it?"

Mark fell silent.

After a long while, he slowly shook his head:

"Can't withstand it..."

"A single Heavy Combined Arms Brigade is enough to sweep across our entire border defense line..."

"Then isn't that it!"

Ruan Wenming flicked his cigarette ash, crossing his legs:

"They have dispatched five Heavy Combined Arms Brigades!"

"And more than a dozen light combined arms brigades!"

"Total troops exceeding 100,000!"

"Thousands of tanks! Thousands of armored vehicles!"

"Such a scale — —"

He looked at Mark and said slowly:

"Do you think — — they came to fight our small country?"

Boom!

Mark was struck by lightning, his whole person stiffening in place.

Right... This is an army of over 100,000!

And Monkey Country is simply not worth Daxia using such terrifying force!

A single Heavy Combined Arms Brigade would be enough to beat them black and blue, throwing away helmets and armor!

Now dispatching five?

That's not using a butcher's knife to kill a chicken — —

That's using a nuclear bomb to kill an ant!

"You... You mean..."

Mark suddenly reacted, his eyes wide round:

"Their target is not us?"

"Of course not!"

Ruan Wenming proudly blew a smoke ring, patted Mark's shoulder and continued:

"To be able to make Daxia use five Heavy Combined Arms Brigades and also activate the national Level 1 combat readiness."

"None of it has anything to do with our small shrimp."

"So you can rest assured ten thousand times."

"Daxia's target is the Pacific Ocean, not us."

"Listen to me, give the soldiers a holiday, let them go home and hug their wives."

"In this kind of situation where immortals fight, we just need to stay far away."

Mark suddenly came to his senses, and his whole body let out a sigh of relief:

"Understood! I'll go arrange it right now!"

"Wait — —"

Ruan Wenming called him back:

"By the way, make a call to the USA and Japan."

"Just say..."

He smiled very sinisterly:

"Daxia has gathered 100,000 troops and five Heavy Combined Arms Brigades in Southern Jiangsu, suspected of making a big move in the Pacific Ocean."

"Let them be careful themselves."

"Yes!"

Mark saluted and left.

In the office, only Ruan Wenming was left alone.

He looked toward the east, muttering to himself:

"Daxia, oh Daxia... What on earth are you going to do?"

"100,000 troops..."

"This is going to pierce the sky..."