When they arrived at the courtyard house and the celestial bridal chamber, they discovered it was a

Zhou Zheng'an led twenty soldiers forward quickly. The train doors opened, and Deputy Director Long's composed figure appeared at the entrance. He was dressed in simple civilian clothes, his face bearing the calm of someone who had been through many battles.

"Deputy Director Long, this is Zhou Zheng'an. I've been ordered to escort you." Zhou Zheng'an gave a standard military salute.

Deputy Director Long returned the greeting and shook his hand, saying, "Thank you for your hard work, Comrade Zheng'an."

As a well-informed deputy director, Long was naturally very familiar with Zhou Zheng'an's situation.

"It's no trouble at all, it's what I should do," Zhou Zheng'an quickly said. "Director Long, it's not safe here. The US might launch an attack. Let's board the train as soon as possible and head to our destination."

Deputy Director Long nodded without saying anything more, and boarded the train again under the escort of Zhou Zheng'an and his bodyguards.

Subsequently, Zhou Zheng'an ordered the soldiers to carefully load the two jeeps they had brought onto the freight cars of the train.

Of course, Zhou Zheng'an was the one who ultimately put in the effort.

This also allowed Deputy Director Long to witness Zhou Zheng'an's strength.

The reason for bringing the jeep on the train is that it will be needed later.

At the same time, two heavy machine guns were also brought onto the train.

After everything was ready, Zhou Zheng'an and the guards continued their vigilance on the train.

They were stationed in the carriages near the train's deputy director, maintaining vigilance.

Zhou Zheng'an personally stood guard at the door of the carriage where Deputy Director Long was, his expression vigilant and his eyes sharp as he observed the surrounding movements.

The train slowly started moving and sped towards its destination. The wheels rolled over the rails, making a monotonous and dull "clanging" sound, yet carrying an unstoppable force.

Throughout the train journey, Zhou Zheng'an remained vigilant at all.

Time passed second by second, and the scenery outside the window kept changing.

After a long seven-hour journey, the train finally arrived at its destination, the train station.

The area around the train station had already been heavily guarded by other volunteer soldiers, each with a vigilant expression and sharp eyes.

After getting out of the car, Zhou Zheng'an opened the jeep door and invited Deputy Director Long to get in. Then, he sat in the passenger seat and ordered five guards to follow in another jeep.

The rest of the soldiers rode in trucks behind.

Once everything was ready, the jeep started up first and sped off toward Shiji, with the truck following closely behind. The truck's wheels rolled over the road, kicking up clouds of dust as it drove off into the distance.

At the entrance of the headquarters compound, Director Mo, Chen Gengyang, and others were already waiting.

The car door opened, and Deputy Director Long got out, shaking hands and exchanging pleasantries with everyone. His hearty laughter broke the solemnity of the compound.

The jeep stopped, and Zhou Zheng'an got out first, quickly opened the door, and Deputy Director Long got out of the car.

Director Mo immediately stepped forward, extended his hand, and shook hands firmly with Deputy Director Long. A smile appeared on his face, and his tone was warm and solemn: "Director Long, you must be tired from your journey. We are relieved to have you in charge of the negotiations."

"Director Mo, you're too kind," Deputy Director Long said with a smile, his tone steady. "This negotiation is of great importance. I'm here on orders. I'll need Director Mo, Staff Officer Chen, and all the comrades to cooperate as much as possible. Let's work together to make this negotiation a success, end the war as soon as possible, reduce the sacrifices of our soldiers, and protect our motherland and our people."

Chen Gengyang also stepped forward, shook hands with Deputy Director Long, and said sincerely, "Director Long, rest assured, we will fully cooperate with your work, and we will do our best to meet any needs you may have."

Everyone nodded, their faces showing solemnity, expressing their determination.

After exchanging pleasantries, Director Mo, along with Deputy Director Long, Chen Gengyang, and others, entered the headquarters of the Volunteer Army, closed the door, and shut out all the noise from the outside world.

Inside the command post, the atmosphere instantly turned serious. Several people sat around a wooden table, on which were spread negotiation-related materials, enemy and friendly situation maps, and information on the negotiators from the U.S. side.

Director Mo spoke first, his tone serious: "Director Long, now let's discuss the specifics of this four-party meeting in detail. Please feel free to share your thoughts."

Deputy Director Long nodded, picked up the documents on the table, and slowly began to speak, his tone calm and serious: "The participants in this four-party meeting are our Great Xia, the United States, the United States, and the United States. Among them, we and the United States are the core participants. The United States and the United States, to put it bluntly, are just here to make up the numbers. They don't have much say and can't play a significant role."

Upon hearing this, the seven or eight people present couldn't help but laugh.

"So our core objective is to show the US through negotiations that we still have the confidence and strength to continue fighting, to make them afraid, so that we can end this war as soon as possible."

The group engaged in a detailed discussion about the specific details of the negotiations, personnel deployment, and security plans. Everyone actively participated, offering their opinions and suggestions in a lively yet serious atmosphere.

From the tone and attitude of the negotiations, to the specific conditions and strategies for the negotiations, and even the specific deployment of security measures and emergency plans, every detail was discussed in great detail to ensure that no oversights would occur.

The discussion continued until evening before all the specific details and plans for the negotiations were finalized.

Everyone got up and busied themselves with preparing for the negotiations.

……

A day later, just as dawn was breaking, Zhou Zheng'an led a platoon of soldiers to wait at the entrance of the headquarters.

Deputy Director Long, dressed in civilian clothes, mingled with the group, and under the cover of the morning mist, they secretly headed to the meeting command post.

The road was rugged and uneven, and the wheels made a sound as they rolled over the gravel, but the soldiers remained silent.

The meeting command post was located three kilometers away from the negotiation hut, in an underground tunnel.

After Deputy Director Long arrived, he oversaw the negotiations from behind the scenes, entrusting the specific details to Fu Anyang of the Zhili Division. On the American side, Rear Admiral Wells was the one who came to negotiate.

The first day of negotiations was already fraught with tension.

"I heard that your American army lost the battle and was too embarrassed to show its face, so you sent the navy to take the blame?" Fu Anyang said with a hint of mockery the moment he saw Wells.

Wells's face darkened, barely suppressing his anger: "I am here to negotiate on orders from my superiors, representing the entire American military."

At the negotiating table, Fu Anyang, emboldened by his victory in the Battle of Shangganling, adopted an extremely tough stance.

Whenever Wells tried to make unreasonable demands, he would slam his fist on the table and shout, "You lost the war, and you still have the right to negotiate with us? If you don't want to negotiate, then don't!"

On one occasion, just as Wells began to accuse the Chinese People's Volunteer Army of "undermining the atmosphere of negotiations," Fu Anyang stood up abruptly, turned around, and left with the delegation, leaving Wells sitting there, trembling with anger.

Hanhan and Chaochao's representatives sat to the side, their eyes darting around, occasionally chiming in with a few words, acting like two invisible people the whole time.

They knew that the initiative in these negotiations always remained in the hands of Great Xia and the United States.