It's better to conquer them than to command the steel torrent

Chapter 208 | Oil Thief? Take this punch!
Baima Town Military Station.

The station is designated as the 723rd Permanent Support Station of the National Defense Army, with the 120th Independent Garrison as the garrison unit. The station has a manpower quota of 527 personnel. The station's oil depot has more than 20 oil storage tanks of 50 cubic meters each, and the affiliated hospital has 120 beds.

"This old car is drafty and chilly. I should find a way to get a nice car to drive openly and honestly in the future."

After leaving the office building and getting into his car, Kong Quan, the supervisor of the military oil depot, began to complain. He deeply resented the cheap cars that were standard issue for junior and middle-ranking officers.

It was past three in the afternoon, and he was planning to go to the city to find his lover. Just thinking about her delicate skin and bright, sparkling eyes made him want to appear in front of her as fast as he could.

Just as the driver was about to leave the outpost, a convoy led by sidecar motorcycles came towards them, followed closely by a large number of armored vehicles and trucks.

Upon seeing this, Kong Quan assumed that a certain unit had just completed a field training exercise or a long-distance mobile march and came here to resupply.

With this convoy arriving, I, as the oil depot manager, am now tied up. What bad luck! It's ruining my plans!

A nameless anger rose in Kong Quan's heart, but a few seconds later he was horrified.

The group of "uninvited guests" got out of the car one after another, and the soldiers with guns were in a defensive posture, surrounding them menacingly.
There were only four or five sentries at the gate of the outpost. Compared to the two or three hundred men and the dark gun barrels of the armored vehicles, they were no match in terms of morale.

Realizing the situation was not right, Kong Quan immediately slipped away, pretending to be nonchalant as he returned to the office building to observe the situation.

The SUV in the middle of the convoy slowly drove to the front, and Shang Ke calmly got out of the car.

At this moment, Song Quan stepped forward to negotiate, and solemnly announced: "I am Song Quan, the head of the military law section of the 8th Mechanized Infantry Division. Your unit is suspected of violating military discipline. My unit has been ordered to intervene and detain the relevant responsible persons. Please cooperate."

The documents are correct, and the large group of people in front of me might be fake, but why are they even deploying armored reconnaissance vehicles to arrest people?
The sergeant on duty was extremely embarrassed and hesitated, saying, "Sir, this is quite a show of force. May I ask where this order came from, and who is in charge?"

“I’m in charge.” Shang Ke walked up to him and said calmly, “I am Shang Ke, the acting commander of the 8th Mechanized Infantry Division. Make way for me.”

The sentries looked at each other, not daring to resist, and had no choice but to obediently move the roadblocks to make way.

Shang Ke waved his hand and ordered, "Guard all entrances and exits, control the office building and all warehouses, and no one is allowed to enter or leave!"

The heavily armed soldiers then swarmed in.

The military police company dispatched a platoon to surround the military post office building, while the remaining officers and soldiers dispersed to take over the military supply warehouse and oil depot.

Upon learning that the 8th Mechanized Infantry Division had barged into his territory without explanation, the supply depot commander, Hu Xingqia, was furious and immediately went downstairs to confront the uninvited guests.

As soon as you step out of the office building, you are greeted by thirty or forty military police officers who are watching you intently, and several armored reconnaissance vehicles slowly drive in from the main gate.

So you've turned this place into an amusement park? This is outrageous!

Hu Xingqia shouted coldly, "What are you doing? Call your superiors over here!"

"What are you yelling about? I'm right here!" Shank's voice came along with the sound of brakes.

Several sidecar motorcycles and off-road vehicles sped by, and as soon as they came to a stop, Shang Ke nimbly jumped off.

"Your surname is Hu, right?" he said casually. "This place of yours seems to be hiding a lot of shady dealings. I've come here today to investigate. Please cooperate." Hu Xingqia remained expressionless, frowned, and coldly replied, "What shady dealings? That's unreasonable. Sir, you've led your troops to trespass into a military stronghold without cause. You have to give an explanation, otherwise I'm afraid I cannot comply."

When he said this, Hu Xingqia appeared neither humble nor arrogant, completely like a driver who was being bullied and was now arguing his case.

He then bluntly threatened, "May I ask, Commander Shang, since you suspect my jurisdiction of any disciplinary violations, you must have obtained authorization from the (military region) headquarters, otherwise, it's hard to say what you're trying to do with all this fanfare."

On the surface, the supply depot does seem to be in the right. The supply depot and the field troops belong to two different systems. The field troops inexplicably rushed in armed, and although they were doing so under the pretext of 'apprehending suspects,' it was still against the rules.

He thought Mr. Shang would be intimidated, but to his surprise, Mr. Shang didn't care at all and sneered, "What else can you do? Even seizing an ammunition depot and staging a coup would have to be done in the right place, right? Are you out of your mind to raise a flag and start a rebellion in Taizhou?"

Hu Xingqia was now at a loss, never expecting that the person who came to his door was a ruthless one.

With a wave of his hand, Shan Ke ordered the soldiers to storm into the office building, expel everyone inside, and seal off the meeting room, archives, and other rooms.

Officers and civilians alike were all forced to come out and gather outside, forbidden from wandering around.

Kong Quan, feeling uneasy, was also among the crowd.

Song Quan politely presented his identification as the head of the military law section and asked loudly, "Who is in charge of the oil depot?"

Kong Quan was quickly exposed.

"So you're the manager of the oil depot at the Baima Town military station? Your little business is doing pretty well behind the scenes." Shang Ke walked over, said with a smile, and then kicked him to the ground.

In full view of everyone, he punched and kicked Kong Quan, whom he had never met before.

"I'll let you sell oil, I'll let you sell oil! Isn't it great to be an oil thief? Isn't it great to resell military supplies?"

Hu Xingqia was shocked and quickly grabbed his arm and pulled him back, urgently trying to stop him: "Commander Shang, don't do this, let's talk this out."

After creating some distance, he lowered his voice and said helplessly, "Commander Shang, Kong Quan was transferred directly from outside. Such a lucrative post is not something that just anyone can take. It's really not easy for my small temple to accommodate such a big shot. Since you haven't reported this matter, let's handle it peacefully. It will be too difficult to handle if it gets out of hand."

Shang Ke inexplicably felt extremely satisfied with beating people up. He was still savoring whether there was room for improvement in the angle and force of his punches and kicks.

He dismissed Hu Xingqia's advice as nonsense.

Finance and logistics are the most lucrative departments; even the slightest leak can make someone rich. This is also the most coveted position for those with connections, whether they are officials, military personnel, or civilians.

Before Shang Ke arrived, he had actually asked the people around him about this question—who was this oil depot manager, Kong Quan?
Anyway, it's said that the momentum is quite strong, but no one can answer it because the personnel arrangements at the supply depot have nothing to do with the 8th Mechanized Infantry Division, and no one has inquired about it.

Shang Ke thought this was a case of being scared to death by human transmission. If someone were truly someone you couldn't afford to offend, they wouldn't have sent a member of their family to be an insignificant oil depot manager.

Moreover, as far as he knew, no founding father in the Great Unified Federation dared to wield absolute power, so he was determined to take charge of this matter today.

(End of this chapter)