You are ordered to support the War of Resistance against Japan; China enters Level 1 combat readines

Eighth Route Army Headquarters.

At four in the morning, it is the coldest time in the deep mountains when people are sleeping the most soundly.

In the lounge next to the operations room, the senior officers had just lain down fully clothed for less than two hours. After days of monitoring the battle situation on the front lines, everyone was already exhausted.

"Knock knock knock!"

The urgent knocking on the door rang out like thunder in the silent corridor.

"Reporting to the Vice General! Reporting to all leaders! Urgent telegram from Zhicheng! Something has happened to Mr. Shen!"

The door to the lounge was pulled open almost instantly.

The vice president, still wearing a cotton-padded coat and with his hair untied, instantly sharpened his gaze like a hawk: "What did you say? What happened to Mr. Shen? Explain yourself!"

The division commander and chief of staff followed quickly out, their faces tense, and they even held their breath.

Who is Mr. Shen?

That is the anchor of stability for the entire southeastern Shanxi!

If something happens to him, the consequences will be unimaginable.

"Commendations, Mr. Shen has been assassinated! Gangcun has dispatched a special operations team of 120 men to infiltrate Zhicheng; their target is Mr. Shen!"

The communications officer, panting heavily, handed over the telegram: "However... Mr. Shen saw through the plot beforehand and is unharmed! The assassination squad was completely wiped out!"

"call--"

Everyone breathed a long sigh of relief at the same time.

The chief of staff's heart instantly settled. He slammed the white-clawed teacup he was clutching onto the table and cursed, "Damn it! You scared the hell out of me! Can't you just say it all at once?!"

The division commander patted his chest, shook his head with a wry smile, and said, "My heart was pounding in my chest. It's good that you're alright, it's good that you're alright."

The vice president took the telegram and quickly scanned it.

The further he looked down, the more his brows furrowed, and the more somber his expression became.

After reading the last word, he handed the telegram to the boss next to him.

"We really underestimated that old Japanese devil, Okamura! We never expected him to have such a hidden trick up his sleeve!"

"After all that fuss, the 250,000-strong army's four-pronged encirclement was just a ruse from beginning to end! His real target was never Shanxi Province, but Mr. Shen!"

"What?"

The boss took the telegram, read it quickly, and his eyes widened instantly.

"He's gone mad! That old devil Okamura has truly gone mad! To kill Mr. Shen, he's actually risking the entire military force of North China to cover for him!"

"My God, there's also poison gas!"

After reading it, the chief of staff gasped, and a cold sweat broke out on his back.

"Okamura really went all out! Luckily, Mr. Shen saw through it beforehand. If the poison gas had actually landed in the yard, the consequences would have been unimaginable!"

The lounge was deathly silent.

Everyone fell silent, their faces filled with lingering fear.

It's not surprising that the bosses didn't think of that.

Ultimately, it comes down to a lack of understanding.

Just like the Japanese invaders before, their lack of understanding of the 107mm rocket launcher, the Type 59 tank, and jet fighters led to their repeated defeats and utter annihilation on the battlefield.

The bosses didn't expect that Okamura would use the most advanced poison gas bombs!

The fact that Shen Wang is protected by a full-strength guard regiment is known to almost all the major powers in the world.

In this situation, sending a small team of a few hundred men deep into enemy territory to carry out an assassination is, in conventional military logic, no different from sending them to their deaths.

A moment of carelessness almost allowed Okamura to take advantage of the situation.

"Damn it! What is the Zhicheng Garrison Command doing?!"

A senior executive in charge of internal security slammed his fist on the table, his anger flaring up instantly.

"They actually managed to sneak into Zhicheng without a sound! Are the sentries on the city walls just sitting around doing nothing?"

"Did you eat too much braised pork or something?"

"Have you become so complacent after winning a few battles? You've become so arrogant and careless!"

The commander grew increasingly agitated, pointing at the communications officer and shouting, "Who is the garrison commander of this city? Drag him out and shoot him!"

"Alright, Lao Huang!"

The chief of staff stopped the furious general, a wry smile on his face: "We can't entirely blame the Zhicheng Garrison Command; we didn't expect this either, did we?"

"Chief of Staff, you don't need to speak up for them. You and the Deputy Chief of Staff have to deal with so many things every day. If you have to think about things like this every day, then what's the point of having a garrison command?"

Actually, the boss is right. The duty of the garrison command is to provide security.

What, does the boss have to remind you to be careful of the enemy every day?

"Alright," the vice president sighed.

"Now is not the time to assign blame. Now that the person has been apprehended and the danger has been averted, the most urgent task is to figure out how to completely prevent this from happening again!"

"The vice president is right."

The division commander immediately nodded in agreement: "Okamura has failed this time, but he will definitely not let this go!"

"This time it was poison gas, who knows what underhanded tricks they might use next time? We must raise Mr. Shen's security level several levels higher to ensure absolute safety."

"That's right! We need to upgrade!"

The bosses all nodded in agreement.

"The existing guard regiment is not enough! Expand it into a guard brigade!"

"Three full-strength infantry regiments, plus an artillery battalion, a chemical defense battalion, and a reconnaissance battalion, will provide round-the-clock protection for Mr. Shen's safety!"

"Anyway, we have plenty of manpower right now. Sending out an entire brigade is no problem at all!"

"And then there's the city's defenses!" another leader added.

"The security perimeter cannot be limited to the city; it must be extended ten miles outside the city walls!"

"Within a ten-mile radius, establish three cordon zones, with checkpoints and posts at each zone. Everyone entering or leaving the city must be thoroughly checked; we absolutely cannot allow any more spies to infiltrate!"

"And the air! I think we need to arrange that too! Have the flight squadron assign two fighter jets every day to patrol the airspace above the city regularly, to prevent the Japanese from carrying out air raids or assassinations!"

……

The CEOs chimed in with their comments.

Every word and every suggestion reflects the utmost importance placed on Shen Wang's safety.

Everyone knows that Mr. Shen is not only the trump card of southeastern Shanxi, but also the hope for the War of Resistance.

His safety cannot be compromised in the slightest.

After listening to everyone's suggestions, the vice president nodded heavily, making the final decision:

"It's settled then!"

"First, the Flying Tigers Guard Regiment that originally protected Mr. Shen will be immediately expanded into the Flying Tigers Guard Brigade, with a strength of 5,000 people. All equipment will be provided with priority, and the brigade will be responsible only to Mr. Shen and headquarters."

"Second, the area under the jurisdiction of the city will be expanded to ten miles outside the city, with three lines of defense set up and patrols conducted 24 hours a day. All personnel and vehicles entering and leaving the city must be checked one by one, and those without a pass will be detained."

"Third, the headquarters-affiliated chemical defense company will immediately proceed to Zhicheng and be stationed at Mr. Shen's residence, equipped with a full set of anti-poison and detoxification equipment, to prevent the Japanese army from using poison gas weapons again."

"Fourth, order the special forces of the Jin-Southeast Military Region to immediately conduct a month-long large-scale investigation of spies in Zhicheng and surrounding counties, and to eliminate all hidden enemy agents."

"Fifth, the flight squadron dispatches four fighter jets daily in two batches to carry out patrol missions over the city to prevent Japanese sneak attacks."