Desperate people, accept the seed of my soul!

Chief of Staff Liu Jianguo looked up at Zhao Yuanzheng's profile.

His face was expressionless, neither angry nor disappointed, only displaying a calm, almost cold, assessment.

"Before becoming the deputy director of the operations department, Song Mingcheng served as the brigade commander of the military region's independent brigade for three years."

Liu Jianguo said in a low voice.

"Logically speaking, they shouldn't be so easily frightened."

"Because he was afraid of dying."

Zhao Yuanzheng said.

"He wasn't afraid of dying when he was sitting on the command platform because he was in the rear."

Bullets couldn't hit him, and blades couldn't touch him, so he dared to order overwhelming fire and was willing to trade other people's lives for credit.

Only when the blood-stained blade was pressed against his neck did he realize what death felt like.

After finding out, he was ruined.

Zhao Yuanzheng pressed a red button on the control panel in front of him.

A line of encrypted communication code pops up on the screen above the button, with the channel name displayed as "Operations Department Supreme Command Link".

This link is authorized by the Political Affairs Committee of the Grand Sukōen and can only be activated when the current commander is unable to effectively perform his duties.

Once activated, all command authority at the front line is automatically transferred to the next higher-level commander.

In other words, from now on, Zhao Yuanzheng will directly take over the entire encirclement.

Song Mingcheng was stripped of all command authority on the spot.

Any orders he issues are no longer valid.

The communication channels echoed with responses from commanders at all levels on the front lines, one after another.

After confirming all the responses, Zhao Yuanzheng pressed the transmit button on the walkie-talkie and spoke his first words to the 30,000 officers and soldiers on the front line.

"All troops, listen up! Target: Song Dynasty! Open fire immediately! Kill them on the spot, at all costs!"

There was a brief silence on the communication channel.

Then the voice of the frontline commander rang out, filled with disbelief.

"Minister Zhao, there's Vice Minister Song and six other commanders in the command vehicle. The hostages are in the target's hands. If we open fire now—"

"I know."

Zhao Yuanzheng interrupted him.

"From the moment he was kidnapped, Song Mingcheng was prepared to sacrifice himself."

If a public official falls into enemy hands, their only responsibility is not to become a bargaining chip for the enemy.

His presence has become a burden to the entire army.

Every second that is delayed increases the morale of the encirclement and the greater the chance of the Song Dynasty escaping.

"This is not a decision I made alone."

Zhao Yuanzheng's voice turned somber.

"When the Political Affairs Committee authorized me to activate the highest command link, it clearly granted me full authority, including the final assessment of the battlefield situation and the authorization to exempt hostage casualties from liability."

All consequences will be borne jointly by the Political Council and myself.

Chief of Staff Liu Jianguo stood behind him without saying a word.

He knew Zhao Yuanzheng was telling the truth.

Before activating the highest command link, Zhao Yuanzheng had already spoken with the duty officer of the Political Affairs Committee.

The committee member only said three sentences.

Are you confident?

"have."

"Then do it. The Political Council will share all the responsibility with you."

This determined the fate of the eight hostages trapped within the encirclement.

Liu Jianguo sighed inwardly.

He had followed Zhao Yuanzheng for many years and knew his old superior's style of doing things.

The biggest difference between Zhao Yuanzheng and Song Mingcheng is that Zhao Yuanzheng is not afraid of death.

Twenty years ago, when he was still young, he led a company to fight a group of armed men for three days and three nights on the border where the mountains were blocked by heavy snow. When they ran out of ammunition and food, they finally captured the position by bayonet fighting.

He still has three pieces of shrapnel in his body: one in his left lung, one in his right leg, and one below his skull, only two millimeters away from his cervical spine.

In that battle, his troops suffered more than half their casualties, including his deputy.

After the war, someone asked him if it was worth it, since so many people died.

He only said one sentence.

"A soldier's life belongs to the country, not his own."

Now he's going to apply that same phrase to Song Mingcheng.

Song Mingcheng's life belongs to the country.

The country needs him to die now.

He cannot live.

Zhao Yuanzheng pressed the intercom and issued the final order to the entire channel.

"All units, target locked, full firepower! Avenge our fallen comrades, restore our nation's dignity! Attack!"

As soon as the order was given, the encirclement was moved again.

The first to open fire were the armed helicopters.

The four helicopters suddenly pulled up from their hovering positions, and the machine guns simultaneously unleashed six jets of fire.

Twenty-millimeter cannon shells rained down from the sky, leaving six burning whips in the night sky as they lashed fiercely at the highest point of the ruins.

This time, there was no hesitation or scruples. The shells landed in an area of ​​fifty meters around the Song Dynasty, including the commanders who were suspended in mid-air by blood chains.

Song Mingcheng heard the roar of the propeller suddenly become louder.

He looked up and saw six fiery red bullet chains crashing down on his head.

His pupils dilated to their maximum size in an instant.

"Stop! Zhao Yuanzheng, are you crazy! I'm still down there!"

He roared, his voice almost swallowed up by the explosion.

No one answered him.

The machine gun shells have already fallen.

The first shell struck the surface of the Blood Shield, and the blast wave created a hole the size of a washbasin in the shield.

The second shell entered through the breach and landed less than three meters in front of Song Mingcheng. The shockwave from the explosion sent his body flying like a rag doll.

His ears were filled with the deafening roar of explosions, a piercing buzzing sound that made him unable to hear anything else.

He didn't even know how many pieces of shrapnel were embedded in his body. He only felt that his left leg below the knee suddenly lost all feeling. When he looked down, he saw a fist-sized hole that had exploded in his calf, a bloody mess.

"Stop! Stop! You can't treat me like this! I am Song Mingcheng!"

His voice was hoarse, and his face was covered in tears, snot, and blood. He screamed out his last words.

"You can't kill me! I'm your commander!"

Another shell landed.

The shot was aimed directly at him; he only saw a flash of white light, and then he could see nothing at all.

The shell hit Song Mingcheng directly in the upper body.

After the explosion, his upper body disappeared.

The remains of the two legs slid off the broken blood chain, tumbled in mid-air, and then fell into the rubble of the ruins.

The deaths of the other six commanders were equally gruesome.

The two were instantly blown to pieces by machine gun shells, their flesh and uniform fragments mingling and scattering in the blast wave.

Three people were hit in vital areas by shrapnel from the grenade; their necks, chests, and abdomens were torn apart by the shrapnel, and blood gushed from the wounds, soaking the blood chain wrapped around their waists.

The last commander died the quietest.

His blood chain was severed by the shockwave of the explosion, and he fell from mid-air, crashing onto the rubble.

He wasn't dead yet; he struggled to raise his hand, trying to call for help.

But the second wave of aerial fire had already arrived. A shell landed two meters away from him, and after the explosion, all that remained where he lay was a charred crater.