Restarting life in Siheyuan

At this time, Li Xiaojun was drifting on the distant high seas. He had just received a radio message from Zheng Xun that the situation had deteriorated rapidly, beyond his expectations.

The riots have spread over a large area. Not only the urban area of ​​Coconut City, but also the nearby urban areas and small towns near the urban area have been seriously affected. Countless Han people have suffered. Stores have been smashed and shops have been robbed. Some thugs have even broken into homes and committed violence. The whole island is in chaos, and there is a trend of further spread.

Zheng Xun, who was far away in the port area, quickly organized the nearby Han people with the support of several Chinese businessmen. Dozens of households near the port area have evacuated to the hotel, and nearly 200 people have been organized, each doing their own job, relying on the large amount of supplies stockpiled in advance to hold on. However, there are still many families who are waiting and watching, closing their doors and windows, hoping that the riots will end soon.

The riots broke out quickly in the harbor area. The hotel's large amount of supplies and beautiful waitresses were like a beacon, attracting the thugs to abandon some small shops and residents and attack the hotel again and again. Relying on its solid fortress, favorable terrain, and strength in numbers, the hotel easily disintegrated the thugs' several attacks with only wooden sticks, even without exposing hot weapons.

The hotel suddenly stood out in the commotion, like a firefly in the dark night. Although the light was very faint, it brought hope of life to countless compatriots. Word of mouth spread that many families were taking every opportunity to move closer to the hotel, including many compatriots outside the port area who were also trying every means to move closer.

The roads leading to the port area are now full of roadblocks and thugs. Zheng Dayong can only organize people to go out and provide support many times, and he has brought back many compatriots. However, facing the increasingly chaotic port area, Zheng Xun has no confidence in waiting for the freighter to arrive and then leading everyone to move.

There is strength in numbers, but if they retreat, the large number of women, elderly people and children in the team will be a huge problem. It is too difficult to lead these people safely to the port, which is still under the control of the locals.

Moreover, Zheng Xun already knew that more and more compatriots from towns outside the port area were moving closer to him and were trying every means to rush to the port area. The hotel must not be evacuated at this time!
The riots in the port area and the tragic plight of their compatriots made the soldiers around Li Xiaojun excited and they all asked to fight, but Li Xiaojun was still thinking calmly.

The safety of the hotel should not be a problem now, but it is hard to say if it continues like this. In addition, Zheng Xun’s message just now has shown that he already knows that more and more compatriots are moving towards the hotel, and the hotel cannot be evacuated!

Now the road leading to the dock from the port area is full of roadblocks and thugs. Although the distance is less than five kilometers, it is difficult for so many people to evacuate to the port smoothly, unless weapons are used. However, as long as weapons are used, the situation will quickly deteriorate further.

The fleet on their side only has one chance to intervene, and the intervention of the fleet will inevitably attract the enemy's navy and air force. If they intervene too early, they will not be able to receive many people, but if they act too late, Zheng Xun and his men may be surrounded again.

There was still too little intelligence. After much consideration, Li Xiaojun decided to let Zheng Xun expand the search and support efforts to pick up more compatriots. The leader arranged a fleet to pick them up, and the ship to pick them up was a 10,000-ton cargo ship. There were less than a thousand people in the hotel, young and old, and the gap was too big.

Zheng Xun in the hotel was also discussing with Zheng Dayong at this time. It was indeed too passive to wait for their compatriots to come closer. They had been training for several years for this moment and various plans had been formulated.

"Commander, with so many of us, passive defense is too inefficient. We need to revise our support plan!"

Zheng Xun did not respond to Zheng Dayong's suggestion immediately, but looked at Zheng Dayong's bloodshot eyes. Because he had seen too many tragic situations during several outings, Zheng Dayong's eyes were already bloodshot, and Zheng Xun was a little worried about his condition.

"Commander, don't worry. I am a soldier. Anger will not make me lose my mind." Zheng Dayong's tone was relatively calm. He also knew what Zheng Xun was worried about.

Seeing that Zheng Dayong was still rational and not blinded by hatred, Zheng Xun was relieved. "How about this, let's stick to the original plan. Now we will split into two groups. You lead 50 people to the east, and I lead 50 people to the west. We will search in both directions while mobilizing everyone to evacuate. After four hours, no matter what the situation is, we must withdraw."

Zheng Dayong shook his head. The current situation was changing too fast, beyond the two's initial understanding. This plan was no longer appropriate.

"Commander, the understanding when this plan was formulated is very different from the current situation. I think it is necessary to adjust it. Also, the hotel is now the top priority. You are the commander-in-chief and must not leave easily." Zheng Dayong directly questioned Zheng Xun's arrangement and put forward his own new ideas.

After hearing this, Zheng Xun's face was a little heavy. Zheng Dayong's words made sense, but his suggestion was quite radical, and he had to use weapons! He hesitated and couldn't make up his mind for a while. The huge pressure made him stand up and walk around the room uneasily with his hands behind his back.

According to Zheng Dayong's suggestion, we cannot defend the hotel but must take over this area and conduct regional defense. Even if there are many people in a stronghold, they will be surrounded and killed. We must persuade those large Chinese business families to retreat here, pick up guns together and guard an area. Only in this way can we receive more people. Otherwise, let alone receive any support, we will be surrounded and killed slowly.

But several big Chinese merchants are not in the port area, but in the suburbs of Yegan outside the capital, which is dozens of kilometers away. In this situation, running dozens of kilometers! Without strong armed forces, don't even think about it. In the final analysis, weapons must be used.

"Dayong, have you ever thought about this? As long as we use weapons, the confrontation will escalate, and the riots will inevitably intensify rapidly. It will be even more difficult for our unarmed compatriots to get close."

Zheng Xun was still hesitating. Now, there were occasional gunshots from the thugs outside, but they were sporadic. If hundreds of guns appeared here, an armed confrontation would soon occur, and the garrison would surely show up. The risk was too great. With more than 200 people on his side, even after several years of training, they would definitely not be a match for the garrison. What's more, he only had light weapons, including only twenty RPGs, which he had obtained at a great cost.

Zheng Dayong was a little anxious when he saw that Zheng Xun was still hesitating. Zheng Xun was the commander-in-chief of this operation, and he was only responsible for military support. But the situation had come to this point, and Zheng Xun seemed unable to make up his mind to take the initiative, which made him increasingly passive.

"We can't hesitate any longer. Mr. Zhu said that the enemy garrison will definitely take action. We can't wait any longer! If we stay in the hotel, the situation will only deteriorate further. The final result will be that we will be besieged and will just let everyone wait to die passively."

Although Zheng Xun had also been on the battlefield, he only followed behind and observed the command of the autonomous region's commander. He was indeed not as clear about the crisis of the current situation as Zheng Dayong, a soldier who had experienced life-and-death battles.

Zheng Dayong's words again woke Zheng Xun up in time. Indeed, the cause of this riot was the rebels. Now the city is in a mess. Although this place is hundreds of kilometers away from the city, it will always affect here. Mr. Zhu predicted at the time that this riot will sweep the entire Thousand Islands Country.

"You're right. Tell me, what should we do now?"

Seeing that Zheng Xun finally came to his senses, the two of them discussed in a low voice again and decided that they had to abandon their earlier plans and make a suitable new plan.

"Report, another group of thugs is coming, this time there are a lot of people, estimated to be no less than 300 people, and they are driving a lot of cars, and they seem to be carrying a lot of long guns." The alert clerk came over quickly to report. The two were shocked, several nearby police stations had lost control, and many guns had been leaked, but they were all short guns. This time it was a long gun, and trouble was indeed coming.

"Please inform everyone to be on guard with guns. Do not shoot or expose your guns without my order."

Seeing that Zheng Xun still had some hope, Zheng Dayong could only shake his head, and the two of them quickly went to the rooftop to observe.

I saw several pickup trucks leading the way on the street far downstairs. In the cabins of the pickup trucks were more than a dozen thugs holding long guns, and behind them were hundreds of thugs running rampant with weapons.

Some were wielding machetes, some were holding iron rods, their faces were filled with madness and cruelty, as if they wanted to swallow up the entire world in their atrocities. Their figures shuttled through the streets and alleys, like a dark torrent, sweeping over. In the nearby low streets and alleys, more dark shadows were gathering.

"It seems like this won't end well." Zheng Xun sighed. These are not just 300 people. When they all gather together, there will be more than 500 people, and there will be more people gathering behind. The hotel is now a ray of hope. It not only brings guidance to compatriots, but also attracts flies because of the hoarding of too many supplies.

"It's impossible for no one to die. Make up your mind." Zheng Dayong pleaded with red eyes.

In order to avoid exposing his strength and attracting the attention of the garrison, Zheng Xun repeatedly asked for forbearance and never used weapons. Now forbearance is no longer useful. This is already a battle, not an armed fight. Zheng Xun understands that he has to let a more suitable person take command.

"Dayong, you take command. You have more experience than me in this situation. Don't worry, I will obey your command." Zheng Xun sighed and handed over the command.

The situation deteriorated too quickly. The previous few times, there were dozens of people involved. They tried to attack the hotel with knives, but naturally they were beaten back. Now there are more than ten spears, and if they don't use their guns, they will be seeking death.

"Okay, I'll arrange it." Zheng Dayong was still very calm. He called a few team leaders and after a simple arrangement, everyone quickly went to prepare, and the two of them also quickly went downstairs.

Thanks to several years of unremitting training, the hotel staff acted quickly, and when hundreds of thugs rushed to the front of the hotel, they were ready.

The sky gradually darkened, and the afterglow of the setting sun barely penetrated the thick clouds, sprinkling mottled light on the rugged streets. At this time, this group of vicious thugs were screaming with hideous smiles.

Several leaders jumped off the pickup truck, their eyes revealing ferocity. Then, a dozen thugs with guns also jumped off the truck, and the scene was extremely tense.

The first man to get off the bus was a burly man with dark skin and a face full of traces of time and battle scars. He was wearing a black combat uniform embroidered with golden patterns, looking mysterious and majestic, and his eyes were deep and cold, as if he could see through the fear in people's hearts.

The other one looked more cunning and sinister. He was thin, pale, and had a cunning gleam in his eyes. He wore a white shirt with a black tie on it, and looked like an elegant gentleman. However, his smile was creepy.
Hundreds of thugs followed closely behind, holding machetes, sticks, and even homemade explosives, with fanaticism and violence burning in their eyes. They seemed to be driven by some evil force, like a group of demons crawling out of hell.

"This is Qi Qiangwang!" A compatriot who escaped quickly pointed out, "The other one is Ajiachang. These two are both well-known villains in this area. They are both veterans!"

"Oh." Zheng Dayong was a little surprised after hearing the introduction, but after all, he was a soldier who had experienced countless life and death situations, so he was still very calm. Zheng Xiaojun on the side was a little nervous and excited, he did not have the calmness of his elder brother.

The hotel's door has been blocked by countless sandbags, and the windows on the first floor have also been blocked by sandbags behind the guardrails. If you want to attack the hotel, you can only enter the backyard. The backyard is a large courtyard surrounded by several buildings of the hotel and restaurant, with a garden, a parking lot and a small square. The passage to the outside world has been blocked by a tall iron gate.

The thick walls were covered with barbed wire with razor blades, shining coldly in the evening light.

Zheng Dayong looked at the layout of the hotel. It was quite tight. Two small teams were hidden under the wall. They had to prevent the wall from breaking through and support the compound at any time. They had to be responsible for outflanking at critical moments. Dozens of people were already holding weapons and hiding under the sandbag bunkers not far from the iron gate. Time was too short, so more people were hiding in various bushes. There were more than 200 young and strong men holding long sticks and other ordinary weapons, divided into several teams, seemingly ready to fight to the death with the thugs.

Zheng Xun was responsible for organizing young women to perform medical care on the battlefield, while the older women were responsible for logistical support and childcare. Everyone did their job and waited for the battle to begin.

"Ajiachang, we must succeed in this operation without any mistakes. The Han people in the city are waiting for us to conquer them, and we have wasted too much time here." The burly Qi Qiangwang whispered to another leader beside him.

Ah Jiachang nodded slightly, his face was pale, and his eyes were sly. "Don't worry, big brother, I have already arranged it. These guys are all carefully selected by me, and they will definitely take over this place."

Qi Qiangwang sneered. He knew his partner's cunning and insidiousness. "That's good, but I still want to remind you not to underestimate those targets. Since they can gain a foothold in this chaos, they must have their own means and strengths."

Ajiachang smiled slightly, seemingly not caring about the boss's reminder. "Brother, don't worry. I have sent our elites to find out their situation. I believe there will be news soon."

At this moment, a thug hurried over to report: "The other side has deployed hundreds of people in the compound, just like last time, all armed with sticks and kitchen knives."

(End of this chapter)