Courtyard House: From Deputy Division Commander to Civilian, Progressing All the Way

A gust of autumn wind swept through the empty workshop, stirring up the waste paper on the ground.

Looking at the empty core workshop, Liu Haizhong dropped the key in his hand with a "clatter" to the ground.

He suddenly remembered what Lin Fan had said before he left—"The quota of 10,000 tons of steel next month depends entirely on you."

A bone-chilling cold shot from the soles of his feet straight to the top of his head. Liu Haizhong's vision went black, and he collapsed to the ground.

This isn't a power grab; it's a death knell that could explode at any moment!

At this time.

A military train, fully loaded with equipment and personnel, has already sounded its long whistle along the vast railway line.

It rolled towards the safe, towering mountains of the Great Southwest.

Lin Yang stood halfway up Yuquan Mountain, looking at the thick clouds in the distance.

The chaos in Beijing has only just begun.

And in this grand scheme, he has already placed the most crucial pieces.

········

Several months have passed in the blink of an eye.

The first snowfall of 1966 was more intense than ever before.

Fine snowflakes, mixed with the howling north wind, swept across the streets and alleys of Beijing like blades. There were hardly any pedestrians on the streets, only a few torn pieces of big-character posters swirling in the air before being frozen to the ground by the mud and snow.

Yuquan Mountain, a top-secret military control area.

A Beijing Jeep without any license plates, without its headlights on, silently drove into the third guard post of the compound like a silent, nocturnal beast in the wind and snow.

Before the car had even come to a complete stop, the door was slammed open.

A burly figure wearing a heavy military overcoat and a fleece hat stepped out of the vehicle. He strode across the thick snow, making a sickening crunching sound.

He Yuzhu, who was guarding the entrance of the small building, was wearing a training uniform without shoulder insignia and holding a Type 56 semi-automatic rifle. When he saw the person who came, he immediately straightened his back, and a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes.

"Old Chief? Why are you in Beijing at this time?" He Yuzhu lowered his voice and quickly stepped forward to lift the heavy windproof cotton curtain.

Li Yunlong was covered in snow powder, his face ashen. He ignored He Yuzhu's pleasantries, and without even taking off his overcoat, strode into the corridor, his voice hoarse as if two pieces of sandpaper were rubbing together.

"Where's Yoko? Is she inside?"

"The commander is in the operations room on the second floor. Political Commissar Zhao is also there." He Yuzhu keenly sensed that something was wrong and immediately led the way.

Push open the heavy soundproof door to the second-floor operations room.

The room was very well heated, and the air was filled with a strong smell of tobacco.

Lin Yang, wearing a black turtleneck sweater, stood in front of the huge national military map, holding a red and blue pencil, marking the coordinates of several heavy industry relocation bases on the map.

Zhao Gang sat on the sofa, holding a newly delivered internal reference document, his brows furrowed.

Hearing the sound of the door being slammed, the two turned around at the same time.

"Old Li?" Zhao Gang jumped to his feet, dropping the internal report he was holding onto the carpet. "Weren't you supposed to be overseeing operations on the front lines in Fujian? Who told you to leave your post without permission! There are spies everywhere in Beijing now, do you know how dangerous that is?!"

Li Yunlong ripped off his fur-lined hat and slammed it onto the coffee table. His bloodshot eyes were now brimming with an undeniable glint of tears.

"Danger? If I hadn't come soon, our Northwest Iron Triangle would have been torn apart!"

Li Yunlong, like a furious lion, braced his hands on the coffee table, his chest heaving violently.

Lin Yang's eyes instantly turned cold. He put down the red and blue pencils in his hand, walked up to Li Yunlong, and spoke in a steady voice that carried a chilling sense of oppression.

"What happened? Tell me slowly, the sky isn't falling down."

Li Yunlong took a deep breath of the smoke-laden air, gritted his teeth, and uttered a few words, one by one:

"Ding Wei, something's happened. He's been secretly detained by a group of rebels from the northern military region!"

boom!

These words were like a bombshell, exploding in the operations room.

Zhao Gang's face turned deathly pale instantly, and he gasped, "This is impossible! Ding Wei is the chief commander of the northern border defense, commanding a large army and responsible for keeping an eye on the Soviet Union's million-strong steel torrent. Who dares to touch him? Without the Central Military Commission's order, who has the authority to arrest a powerful army commander of a major military region!"

"What a load of bull!" Li Yunlong slammed his fist on the coffee table, making the teacups rattle. "Do those people even need transfer orders these days? Just label you a 'capitalist roader' and a 'warlord,' and those incited lunatics below will dare whip you with belts!"

With red eyes, Li Yunlong pulled over a chair and sat down heavily, painfully burying his hands in his hair.

"I just received the secret telegram this morning. It was sent by a guard company commander under Ding Wei, who risked his life to send it out."

Li Yunlong raised his head, his eyes filled with deep-seated hatred.

"Ten days ago, the Revolutionary Committee of the Northern Military Region tried to storm the front-line command post, claiming they wanted to seize power. You know Ding Wei's temper; he's even more impulsive than me. He immediately drew his gun and ordered the guard battalion to set up a cordon. Anyone who dared to cross the red line would be shot on the spot for treason!"

"Ding Wei held the command post, but he couldn't guard against the stab in the back by his own people. The newly transferred political commissar from the military region, surnamed Ma, was a complete opportunist. On the surface, he kept Ding Wei calm, but in secret, he colluded with the rebels."

"Three days ago, a man surnamed Ma lured Ding Wei to a guesthouse in Shenyang under the pretext of holding an emergency defense meeting. As soon as Ding Wei entered the meeting room, he was subdued by dozens of rebels wearing red armbands who were lying in wait. His sidearm was taken away, and his bodyguard was put in solitary confinement."

Li Yunlong's voice trembled as he recounted, "Those beasts said Ding Wei was obstructing the revolutionary masses, that he was a local tyrant in the army, and a stubborn agent of the bourgeoisie. They secretly imprisoned Ding Wei in an abandoned air-raid shelter on the outskirts of Shenyang, subjected him to relentless interrogation throughout the night, and even resorted to torture!"

The operations room was deathly silent.

Zhao Gang trembled with rage, pointing north and cursing, "Absurd! This is utterly ridiculous! Ding Wei lost three toes to frostbite at Changjin Lake and fought the Japanese with bayonets in northwestern Shanxi! If he's a bourgeois, is there any proletariat left in this world?! That Political Commissar Ma is destroying his own defenses! If chaos erupts in the north because of the absence of his commander, who will bear the historical responsibility?!"

"All they care about now is power! They don't care about the country at all!" Li Yunlong suddenly stood up, grabbed Lin Yang's arm with astonishing strength.

"Yangzi, I flew here secretly in a military transport plane this time. I've handed over the defense of Fujian to the deputy chief of staff." Li Yunlong stared intently into Lin Yang's eyes. "You're quick-witted and full of ideas. Give me a word: are you in or not? If you nod, I'll take your internal security task force right now, storm Shenyang tonight, rip that damn Political Commissar Ma's head off, and snatch Old Ding out!"