The Red Era: Living in Seclusion in a Siheyuan as a Boss

Chapter 754 Mediation Successful!!

Kang Laoda took a deep drag on his cigar, his eyes growing increasingly sinister. He turned to his adjutant and whispered, "Get the reconnaissance company out immediately and keep a close eye on the government army's every move."

In addition, notify the brothers in the east of the city to set up explosives at all the alley entrances, ready to detonate them at any time.

The adjutant took his orders and left. Boss Kang walked to the battle map and tapped his fingers heavily on the eastern part of the city.

The spiderweb-like alleyways there were his carefully chosen battlefield—the narrow streets would restrict the movement of the government's armored forces, while the densely packed houses provided excellent ambush points.

He suddenly grinned maliciously and took out a yellowed blueprint from the drawer, on which the route of the old city's underground drainage system was marked in red.

"Go and fetch the engineering battalion commander," Kang Laoda ordered the guards at the door.

Before long, a burly man covered in mud rushed over. Boss Kang pushed the blueprints in front of him: "Open up all these passages within three days."

"Remember, do it discreetly." The engineering battalion commander nodded knowingly and stuffed the blueprints into his close-fitting oilcloth bag.

At that moment, a few sporadic gunshots suddenly rang out from the west of the city, and Boss Kang abruptly pushed open the window.

A strange red light appeared on the distant horizon, and the sound of armored vehicle tracks crushing could be faintly heard.

He clenched his fists, his nails digging deep into his palms—the government forces had indeed acted overnight.

"Report!" The communications soldier rushed in, flustered. "The reconnaissance company has discovered that the government army is surrounding the east of the city, and Commander Aung San's guard regiment has already occupied the city hall!" Upon hearing this, Kang Laoda burst into laughter, the sound of which seemed particularly eerie in the empty command post.

He stubbed out his cigar and drew his sidearm from his waist: "Order all battalions to proceed according to Plan No. 2. Tell the brothers to remember—we must block every alleyway, and make the government army pay a bloody price for every step forward!"

"Hmph, this is our old city. This time I will not give it up so easily, not even the government army."

"Yes, I'll go down and arrange the troops immediately." The adjutant saluted Kang Laoda and turned to go down to arrange his own troops for a counterattack.

Just then, a communications soldier stumbled in, panting, and said, "Reporting..."

"What's wrong? Why are you so panicked?" Boss Kang frowned, thinking that something bad had happened again.

"Report, Boss Kang, the government troops in the west of the city are... are..."

"What are you doing? Explain yourself clearly..." the adjutant said anxiously upon seeing this.

The communications soldier swallowed hard, finally catching his breath: "Boss, the government army is retreating! Their armored units suddenly changed direction and are retreating towards the outskirts of the city!"

Kang Laoda's pupils suddenly contracted, thinking he had misheard. He grabbed the communications soldier by the collar: "Are you sure you saw the front line clearly?"

"Absolutely true! Our scouts have confirmed that the main force of the government army is indeed withdrawing, leaving only a small number of guard troops behind!" the communications officer hurriedly replied.

Kang Laoda slowly loosened his fingers from the communications soldier's collar, but the muscles on his face tensed even more.

He turned and stared at the battle map, then suddenly grabbed a red pencil and drew a huge question mark in the west of the city. "This isn't right," he muttered to himself, cigar ash falling onto the map. "That old fox Aung San Suu Kyi, I've dealt with him for over a decade. He's a greedy fellow who never does anything that doesn't benefit him."

"He's leaving the old city, such a lucrative prize, untouched. He just said he'd leave without a second thought. He was just now swearing that we should withdraw from the old city."

The adjutant next to him suddenly lit up and whispered, "Boss, has something happened to the government army?"

Or perhaps, Lang Laoda's fleeing army has launched a counterattack?

Kang Laoda slammed his fist on the table, making the teacups rattle. "This is impossible! Lang Laoda's troops were scattered by us long ago, where would he get the guts to retaliate?"
"We're being lenient by not pursuing him." He strode to the window, where the dust kicked up by the retreating armored vehicles in the distance had not yet settled.

Suddenly, as if he had just thought of something, Kang said to his adjutant with delight, "Tsk tsk... do you think it might be that people 'over there' are putting pressure on the government army?"

Besides them, I really can't think of anyone who could make the government army back down and force Commander Aung San to hand over the old city that he had worked so hard to seize.

Kang's adjutant also said happily, "Boss, I think that's true too."

When we first entered the city, the government army commander Aung San, who occupied the western part of the city, was aggressively demanding that we withdraw from the old city, even resorting to threats of force.

In such a short time, they hurriedly left without uttering a sound.

I think the government's military must be under immense pressure; no one else but "the other side" would help us.

Kang Laoda squinted, his fingers unconsciously stroking the handle of the pistol at his waist.

The cawing of crows outside the window added to the eerie atmosphere in the command post.

He suddenly turned to the communications soldier and said sternly, "Try to contact Brother Zhang immediately, send a message using Codebook No. 3, and ask—" He stopped abruptly halfway through his sentence, staring at the ticking clock on the wall. The hour hand was pointing to nine o'clock, perhaps Zhang Jin and his men had not yet finished their mission.

After thinking for a moment, Kang said, "Let's leave it at that for now. Since the government army has withdrawn from the old city, let's ignore them for the time being."

"Have the troops quickly deploy to the west of the city, and also eliminate any remaining forces under Boss Lang, as well as those die-hard elements."

"Yes!" The adjutant turned and went to arrange the defense of the old city and to eliminate the remaining forces of Boss Lang.

Kang Laoda relaxed and turned around to look at Lang Laoda's office.

Actually, a few years ago, this was originally Boss Kang's office. Later, Boss Kang was driven out by Boss Lang, and this office became Boss Lang's office.

Now, after many twists and turns, this office, which symbolizes the power center of the old city, has finally returned to its own hands.

Kang Laoda walked slowly towards the large office chair upholstered in genuine leather, his fingers tracing several familiar scratches on the desk—marks he had carved with his military knife years ago.

The afterglow of the setting sun shines through the blinds, casting dappled light and shadow on the wall.

He suddenly noticed a half-framed photo sticking out from the corner of the bookshelf. He went over, pulled it out, and saw that it was a photo of Boss Lang and the head of the local chamber of commerce.

In the photo, Boss Lang is beaming with pride, raising a glass to celebrate something.

Kang Laoda sneered and casually threw the photo frame into the trash can, the metal frame hitting the can wall with a crisp sound.

He strolled to the window and looked down at the old city where the smoke of war had not yet dissipated.

Outside the window, the old city, ravaged by war, was still shrouded in smoke, with several black plumes of smoke twisting and rising into the leaden sky. In the distance, sporadic gunfire could be heard – his troops were clearing out the last resistance.

Kang Laoda took a deep breath of the air mixed with the smell of tobacco and gunpowder, and the familiar scent made his tense nerves relax slightly.

After years of enduring hardship and countless open and covert attacks, they have finally driven Boss Lang's forces out of the old city.

He stroked the mottled bullet marks on the windowsill, recalling Zhang Jincheng, his close friend in life and death, and the strong support from the mysterious superpower behind him.

However, the joy of victory was fleeting. Boss Kang's gaze turned sinister, and his knuckles unconsciously tapped against the window frame.

Although Boss Lang was defeated and fled, he was not executed.

As long as this major threat remains unresolved, the old city will never find peace.

He stubbed out his cigar and squinted through the billowing smoke—this game of power was far from over.

In addition, the government forces of Boss Lang, who had been temporarily allied with him in the attack, suddenly turned against him and wanted to take all the spoils of victory for themselves.

If it weren't for the pressure from the "mysterious superpower" on the government army, how could that bastard Aung San have willingly given up the prize he had in his grasp? Kang Laoda thought that with Lang Laoda's defeat and retreat to Old City, his alliance with the government army was now merely nominal. To gain a foothold in Old City, he needed to rely heavily on the support of "the other side" and work hard to eliminate the threat posed by the "flour" (government forces).
Secondly, from then on, the old city resolutely implemented the replanting plan proposed by Zhang Jincheng. In the future, the planting of Yingsu in the Kang family's territory of the "Jin San area" will be severely cracked down, and cash crops such as rubber, sugarcane, corn and rice will be planted instead.

Thirdly, in order to prevent warlords like Lang Laoda and Mi Gao, who rose to power through "flour," from ruining the hard-won favorable situation, they must be completely eliminated.

As Kang Laoda was deep in thought, there was a sudden, urgent knocking on the door.

"Come in!" he said in a deep voice.

A staff officer pushed open the door and entered, his face beaming with barely concealed excitement: "Reporting, boss! Our reconnaissance team has discovered traces of Boss Lang's troops in the mountains fifty kilometers northwest of the old city!"

"What?" Boss Kang turned around abruptly, his eyes flashing with a sharp light. "Are you sure it's Boss Lang's troops?"

"Yes, boss, our scouts didn't alert them. Instead, they followed them to a mountain stronghold..." the staff officer replied confidently.

Kang Laoda strode to the battle map and pressed his finger heavily on the location in the northwest mountainous area.

"Good! We've finally found this old fox's hiding place. Hahaha... Boss Lang, you son of a bitch, you can't escape now..." His voice was slightly hoarse with excitement. "Pass on my order: immediately mobilize the First and Third Battalions, bring heavy weapons, and set off tonight!"

The staff officer hesitated for a moment: "Boss, no way."

Upon hearing this, Boss Kang flew into a rage. He was now single-mindedly focused on eliminating any future troubles, and when his subordinates tried to stop him, he immediately lost his composure: "Why?"

"Boss, you don't know, that mountainous area has a complex and extremely dangerous terrain. It is backed by the Sawen River and surrounded by towering mountains, making it difficult for the large force to deploy."

"Brother Lang's troops are stationed in this mountain stronghold called Langzhai. It's easy to defend and difficult to attack. The main force can't get up there, and the small force can't pose a real threat to the enemy." The staff officer reported the situation to Brother Kang.

Kang Laoda frowned, his fingers repeatedly tracing the mountainous area on the map.

The staff officer was right; that area was indeed easy to defend and difficult to attack. Back when Boss Lang was playing games, he relied on the natural defenses there to escape encirclement and annihilation several times.

He took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.

“You’re right, I was too hasty.” Boss Kang nodded slowly, a sly glint in his eyes. “However, now that we’ve found his lair, we can’t let him get away with it.”

The order was passed down to the reconnaissance company to continue surveillance and ascertain their deployment.

In addition, find a way to send a few clever brothers disguised as mountain villagers to infiltrate and scout out the situation in Langzhai.

The staff officer was about to leave after receiving his orders when Boss Kang suddenly called him back: "Wait, tell me immediately when Brother Zhang and his assault team return."

"Yes!"

As Kang Laoda watched the chief of staff leave, he hoped that Zhang Jincheng and the others would return soon.

Unbeknownst to them, Zhang Jincheng and his commando team had become the backbone of Kang Laoda's heart.

Now that he has learned of Boss Lang's whereabouts, Boss Kang is eager to eliminate any potential threat and prevent any future problems.

Kang Laoda strolled back to his desk, his fingertips unconsciously tapping the surface.

"Report!" Another urgent report rang out from outside the door.

"Come in." Boss Kang's voice carried a hint of anticipation.

The one who pushed open the door this time was Director Li from the communications department. He was holding a telegram in his hand, and his face was full of undisguised joy: "Boss, Captain Zhang and the others have sent a message that their mission has been completed and they are on their way to the old city!"

Kang Laoda suddenly stood up, the chair scraping against the floor with a screeching sound.

He rushed over to Director Li and grabbed the telegram.

After reading the contents, Boss Kang laughed loudly, "Good, great! I didn't expect that Brother Zhang and his Sharp Sword Commando Team would not only successfully eliminate the 'biological' threat set up by Boss Lang, but also defeat the 16th Division of the Old City Allied Army stationed in the northern part of the Old City, led by Sang Duoma, and the division commander Sang Duoma was killed on the spot."

I was just worrying about how to deal with this Sangduoma and his armored forces when, lo and behold, Brother Zhang actually helped me take care of it all.

In addition, they also destroyed Boss Lang's "Factory No. 4" as well.

"Brother Lang is completely finished now. Without all that, his dream of making a comeback is just that—a pipe dream."

"Hehehe, congratulations, boss! From now on, the old city will belong to our Kang family army." The staff officer was also overjoyed. The better their boss did and the stronger he became, the brighter their future would be.

Nobody wants to go back to the days of uncertainty and dependence on others after being driven out of the old city by Boss Lang.

Back then, Kang Laoda led Zhong and his more than a thousand miserable soldiers out of the old city, and after many twists and turns, they finally escaped to the area controlled by Duan Yu, the son-in-law of Kim Jong-un in the southern region.

Although Kang Laoda's safety was guaranteed by his son-in-law, he also lost the opportunity to rise to power.

Duan Yu was no pushover either. Although he took in and protected his father-in-law's miserable army out of kinship, he also subtly and overtly restricted Kang Laoda's strength to prevent him from becoming too powerful and inviting trouble.

Therefore, before Zhang Jincheng personally went to Mengla to contact Boss Kang, Boss Kang's strength had not improved much in the past few years.

On the one hand, it was Kang Youwei's hidden virtue and perseverance that led to his eventual triumph; on the other hand, it was also related to Duan Yu's vigilance.

Now things are much better. Without having to swallow his pride and beg his son-in-law, Kang Laoda, with the help of Zhang Jincheng and others from the assault team and the "great power" behind him, allied with the government army to defeat Lang Laoda and drive him out of the old city.

Although the government army quickly turned against Kang Laoda after driving away Lang Laoda, their relationship almost broke down and a major war broke out between them.

If a major war were to break out between the two sides, the happiest person would undoubtedly be Boss Lang, who would be like a stray dog.

Now, under the mediation of "over there," the government army has been forced to retreat from the old city, leaving Kang Laoda to occupy the place alone.

However, Kang Laoda was not entirely without worries. First of all, his strength had not yet recovered, and he only had a little over a thousand of his own troops. Adding the more than a thousand surrendered troops of Lang Laoda at the Laoyaling defense line, the total was only a little over two thousand.

Moreover, these more than a thousand enemy soldiers who surrendered were forced to do so to save their lives, and their morale was low. They would collapse at the slightest sign of trouble.

It's impossible to win a war with such an army; it would be good enough if they didn't cause trouble. Kang Laoda would only dare to use them with peace of mind after a period of reorganization.

Therefore, one can imagine the pressure Kang Laoda faced when confronting the government's army under Aung San.

In addition to the threat posed by the ZF army under Aung San, the 16th Division armored forces of Sam Da Ma stationed in the north of the old city also gave Kang a major headache.

Despite being called a division, the 16th Division of the Allied Forces of Sandoma only had less than a thousand men.

However, the thousand men under Sangduoma's command are not someone that Boss Kang can afford to offend at present.

This is because it is a fully mechanized force, with five T-62 main battle tanks produced by Polar Bear, as well as more than a dozen armored personnel carriers.

Such equipment might be considered very outdated in other places, but in the "Kim Jong-il region," it is an absolute behemoth.

It's a pity that Kang Laoda's troops didn't even have such equipment; the better ones were antique cannons and heavy machine guns.

Now things are much better. The armored forces under Sang Duoma, which had been giving Kang Laoda a headache, were completely wiped out in one battle by Zhang Jincheng and his assault team. Lang Laoda's source of wealth, Factory No. 4, was also destroyed in the process.

Kang Laoda was overjoyed to discover that his current situation had suddenly become very advantageous.

(End of this chapter)