The last leader of the world starts with an elite infantry squad!

Chapter 1409 Go kneel outside!

Two days later, in Ha Quang District, Cao Bang Province, a secret command post was hidden deep within an unnamed mountain.

This is one of the many command posts of the 2nd Division of the 1st Military Region of Vietnam.

Despite being called a "command center," it was actually just a semi-underground shelter converted from a cave in an abandoned armory before the apocalypse, barely enough to accommodate a few dozen people.

The cave entrance is hidden behind a dense thicket on the mountainside, and can only be reached by passing through three makeshift checkpoints guarded by armed soldiers and reinforced with sandbags and wooden stakes.

A camouflage net hangs above the cave entrance, with fresh branches cut from the nearby mountains inserted between the meshes. It sways slightly in the afternoon mountain breeze, attempting to completely blend this command center into the surrounding greenery.

Inside the cave, the air was thick and heavy.

Overhead, old-fashioned miner's lamps provided dim, yellowish light that barely illuminated the core area.

Several makeshift conference tables pieced together from ammunition boxes and wooden planks were covered with a few yellowed hand-drawn maps, some old radio equipment, and several tin cans filled with cigarette butts.

The cave walls are uneven, and the seeping groundwater gathers into small streams in some corners, eventually being guided to a temporary sump.

The air was filled with the damp, musty smell, the acrid stench of cheap tobacco, the sourness of sweat, and an inescapable, invisible sense of suffocation stemming from long-term repression and fear.

At this moment, the core leadership of the 2nd Division was all present at the conference table.

Division Commander Nguyen Van Hung sat in the head seat, his posture fairly upright, with a cheap cigarette that had just been lit between his right index and middle fingers.

Sitting beside him were, in order, Deputy Division Commander Chen Mingde, Chief of Staff Wu Wenshan, Political Director Huang Guoqing, and three other core regimental-level officers.

At this moment, everyone's eyes were fixed on Li Guangzhong, who was standing at the other end of the conference table, having just returned from Pingxiang and was preparing to give a report.

Li Guangzhong stood there, his military uniform more wrinkled than it had been two days ago, his face showing the deep weariness left by his all-night journey, his eyes sunken, and his cheekbones more prominent.

But his eyes no longer held the complex light of luck and calculation that they had when he set off two days ago. Instead, they were empty, a resigned emptiness born from witnessing true power and being utterly crushed.

However, under the expectant gaze of all the leaders, Li Guangzhong's first words were like a deep-sea bomb thrown into a lake, instantly turning the entire conference room upside down!

"Commander-in-Chief Hu of the Pingxiang Forward Base demanded that we 'accept reorganization,' otherwise he would launch a devastating attack on us," Li Guangzhong said.

? ? ! ! !

What? ? ?

Accept reorganization?! Did you hear that right?! We're being asked to accept reorganization?!

As soon as he finished speaking, the conference room fell into a deathly silence, the atmosphere so suffocating it felt like water could freeze.

No one spoke; even the sound of breathing briefly disappeared.

Only the faint hum of the miners' lamps overhead and the very faint sound of underground water dripping from somewhere on the cave wall could be heard.

tick, tick-

Each sound felt like a blow to the heart.

Nguyen Van Hung's fingers trembled slightly. He looked at Le Quang Trung, his lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but he didn't say anything.

Deputy Division Commander Chen Mingde's face flushed red instantly, then turned ashen, his chest heaving violently, as if a thousand words were stuck in his throat.

Chief of Staff Wu Wenshan lowered his head, staring at the tattered map on the table, his brows furrowed in a deep knot.

Political Director Huang Guoqing opened his mouth, uttered a dry, unintelligible sound, and then closed it again.

Accept reorganization?!

These four words, like four red-hot iron nails, were driven deep into the minds of everyone present.

In their expectations, many possibilities had been considered—

In the best-case scenario, the other party has no interest in them, it's a false alarm, and they can continue to eke out a living in this mountainous area.

A slightly more troublesome situation is when the other party is arrogant, makes territorial demands, forces them to retreat, and shrinks their living space.

The worst-case scenario is that the enemy launches a direct attack and crushes them, leaving them either to die in battle, scatter, or flee into the deeper mountains to live as savages.

But I never thought of this one—

They actually wanted to reorganize them!

Not occupation, not expulsion, not annihilation, but reorganization?!

To incorporate this regular Vietnamese division into the enemy's system!?

What the hell is this?! What do they take them for?! They haven't even fought yet, and they already want the tenacious 2nd Division to surrender?!

After a brief silence—

boom!

Political Director Huang Guoqing slammed his hand on the table!

The simple wooden table was shaken violently by the slap, and the ashtray on it jumped up and crashed to the ground with a piercing metallic clang.

"What utter bullshit!"

Huang Guoqing stood up abruptly, his face flushed, veins bulging on his forehead, looking like an enraged beast.

He pointed at Li Guangzhong, his finger almost poking his face, and began to curse:

"Li Guangzhong! What the hell were you doing?! Negotiating or surrendering?!"

"Accept reorganization?! Listen to what you're saying! Our 2nd Division of the Vietnamese Army is a fully-fledged field unit! A force that guarded the nation's borders and fought tough battles before the end of the world! When did it become the Zhou people's place to talk about 'reorganization'?!"

His voice grew louder and louder, echoing in the cramped cave and making people's ears ring.

"I've fought for twenty years! I rose from soldier to political officer! What kind of battles haven't I seen?! I admit the Zhou people have tanks and planes! But this is northern Vietnam! This is our territory! The mountains are high and the forests are dense, the terrain is complex, how many of their iron lumps can they possibly drive in?!"

"So what if they get in?! It's been almost two years since the apocalypse, and it's still uncertain who's stronger! They want to reorganize me? Dream on!!"

Huang Guoqing was panting heavily, his chest heaving violently, and the muscles on his face were contorted with anger.

He looked at Nguyen Van Hung, then at the other division leaders, his voice carrying an almost pleading urgency:

"Commander! Comrades! Say something! Can you agree to this?! If you agree, what are we?! What is the 2nd Division?! How can we face our brothers after this?!"

The meeting room remained quiet, but this quiet was different from the deathly silence of before.

Just now, there was a silence born of shock. Now, within that silence, something is beginning to ferment.

Deputy Division Commander Chen Mingde's face remained ashen, but beyond his anger, a hint of... hesitation began to surface in his eyes.

Chief of Staff Wu Wenshan kept his head down, staring at the map, but his fingers began to tap unconsciously on the edge of the map, one tap after another, in a disordered rhythm.

The other regimental-level officers looked at each other, but none of them spoke.

Nguyen Van Hung remained seated at the head of the table, the cigarette that had already burned out flat between his fingers.

He looked at the furious Huang Guoqing with a complex expression, a mixture of helplessness, weariness, and a hint of... a kind of indescribable aversion to "political correctness" that is unique to those in high positions.

He understood Huang Guoqing's words perfectly well.

From an emotional standpoint, from the perspective of military dignity, and from any other angle, this direct reorganization is a humiliation.

A complete, unreserved, and humiliating experience of being thoroughly and utterly crushed.

Can……

Just then, Li Guangzhong spoke. His voice was still hoarse, but very calm.

That calmness wasn't feigned composure, but rather a kind of calmness born from being shaken, crushed, and having thoroughly seen through reality.

"Director Huang, are you finished speaking?"

Huang Guoqing was stunned for a moment, then his eyes widened in anger: "What did you say?! Who gave you the right to speak here?!"

"Get the hell out of here and kneel outside!!"