Imperial warlords: Cannons are the only truth

"First, we need to find a way to keep these militants calm."

"Tell Commander Li, who is in command on site, that the troops in Tanert must exercise maximum restraint before the imperial court makes a final decision."

"We must not act rashly and provoke the other side, which could result in the loss or injury of hostages..."

"Tell the militants in Tanlt that the capital is urgently discussing the conditions they have put forward."

"At the same time, a warning was issued to the Wukan militia—telling them to abide by the agreement and ensure the safety of the hostages before the 48-hour deadline!"

"Furthermore, I advise them to think carefully about whether they can truly bear the consequences of opposing the Great Qian Empire!"

"Do not be misled by those remnants of the Western Luo and lead the entire Wukan tribe down a path of no return!"

Shen Moshen quickly issued the latest instructions.

All relevant departments immediately began operating at high speed in response to the Tanlte incident.

Especially the Secret Intelligence Bureau; Chen Guyan has already declared that he will gather all intelligence information related to the Tanlt City incident within two hours.....................

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Within the territory of Shazhou—Beisha Protectorate, Tanert City.

"I am Li Weijian, commander of the 16th Rapid Reaction Division of the Daqian Zhenguo Army."

"I now have full authority to take over and handle this crisis in Tanlt City."

"The entire city of Tanert has been surrounded by our Great Qian Zhenguo Army."

“I know that the reason why your Wukan tribe has taken such extreme actions is because you have been instigated by a group of remnants of the Xiluo with ulterior motives.”

Li Weijian, commander of the 16th Rapid Reaction Division of the Daqian Zhenguo Army, was speaking through a loudspeaker from his command vehicle to the Wukan ethnic armed forces entrenched in the eastern part of Tanert City.

"As long as you recognize your mistakes and correct them in time, the imperial court may consider pardoning your crimes."

“As long as you release the hostages and hand over the remnants of the Xiro who have bewitched you, there is still room for maneuver.”

"I don't think I need to elaborate on the fighting strength of the Daqian Zhenguo Army here, do I?"

"Even at their strongest, the Western Luo Kingdoms were no match for our Great Qian Zheng Kingdom Army."

"Do you think you have a chance of winning against the encirclement of the Daqian Zhenguo Army?"

"If the situation gets out of control, the entire Wukan tribe will be dragged into the abyss because of your excessive and foolish actions!"

"You might as well think about it—has anyone who opposed the imperial court ever had a good ending?"

"You don't actually think your Wukan tribe will be the exception, do you?"

"The majesty of the imperial court is inviolable!"

"If I turn back now, I can still try to get leniency for you..."

"Commander Li!"

"Stop inciting people here!"

A shout came from the other side.

Moreover, the message was delivered in the language of the Qian Kingdom.

"Commander, they're calling out to us through a loudspeaker from the other side. Snipers have already located them."

"It was the Western Luo people who shouted!"

"However, hostages are blocking the firing position." The communications officer next to him immediately reported the latest situation to Li Weijian.

Li Weijian waved his hand, indicating that he would listen to what the other party had to say first.

"If I'm not mistaken—you must be the real mastermind behind this, right?"

"Morse Yarlin!"

"As expected of the Great Qian Zhenguo Army!" Morse Yarlin had the hostages stand in front of him and personally responded with a megaphone: "Their efficiency is indeed impressive!"

"I didn't expect that you would even know my name in less than two hours."

"How was it? My Qian Guo language was alright, wasn't it?"

"In order to better deal with you, I have put in a lot of effort to master the Chinese language!"

"Commander Li, don't try to sow discord here."

"it's useless!"

Morse Yarlin shouted in his slightly broken Mandarin, "Don't waste your time here."

Instead of wasting your time trying to sow discord, you should think carefully about how you should respond to us.

"Remember—you only have forty-eight hours to consider this."

"There are 46 hours and 27 minutes left."

"I would like to remind you again—if the 48-hour deadline has passed and you still haven't given us a satisfactory answer."

"Then, when the time limit is up, we will execute 100 hostages every ten minutes."

"At that time, we will broadcast the execution live on television."

"I guarantee—this scene will be absolutely breathtaking!"

"Oh!"

"By the way, I think Commander Li just said something like—'The majesty of the Great Qian Dynasty is inviolable'?"

"Then this matter is actually very simple."

Morse Yarlin declared arrogantly, "For you—it's simply a matter of choice..."

"You just need to think this through—is your so-called imperial authority more important, or is the safety of these 20,000 hostages more important!"

"Of course, if you don't care about the safety of these 20,000-plus Tani hostages at all, then pretend I didn't say anything."

"That depends on whether you consider them as citizens of the Great Qian Dynasty..."

"Yarlin, don't be so arrogant!"

Li Weijian immediately retorted, "You should know the way our Great Qian Zhenguo Army operates."

"We, the Great Qian Zhenguo Army, have personally created countless miracles that are beyond your comprehension. I think you, a Xiluo person, should know very well about them!"

"No test or difficulty is anything in front of our Great Qian Zhenguo Army!"

"Don't think that just because I gave you some nice advice, we really can't do anything about it!"

"Yarlin! Listen to me carefully—our Great Qian Zhenguo Army has the absolute capability and confidence to guarantee the personal safety of the people of Great Qian."

"Then let's wait and see!" Morse Yarlin shouted. "Actually, I'm also very curious about what choice you will ultimately make."

"By the way, I want to give Commander Li a special reminder here."

"If your Daqian Zhenguo Army attempts to use this 48-hour deliberation period to launch a surprise attack on us."

"I think—many tragedies that we don't want to see will definitely happen in Dongcheng District."

"Furthermore, to prevent you from making any underhanded moves—we have already planted enough bombs throughout the entire East District."

"If these bombs are detonated, not only the East District, but the entire city of Tanlt will probably be reduced to ruins."

"Even if you don't care about the safety of these hostages, shouldn't you at least consider the safety of your soldiers?"

"Of course, I'm just giving you a 'friendly reminder'."

"How to do it specifically is up to you............................."

“Yarlin!” Li Weijian immediately shouted, “I hope you can keep your promises.”

"The safety of the hostages must be guaranteed at least until the deadline."

“You have so many hostages under your control, we can provide the water and food you need for the next forty-eight hours.”

“You yourselves also need water and food, which we can provide free of charge.”

"We can arrange for someone to deliver the water and food you need."

"If you're still worried, we can requisition local people to send the necessary supplies in..."

"Thank you for your concern, Commander Li."

Morse Yarlin rejected Li Weijian's suggestion outright: "It's only forty-eight hours."

"If everyone just hangs in there, it will be easy to get through this."

"However, rest assured—we made very thorough preparations before the operation."

"Moreover, the current water and food supplies in Dongcheng District can last for 48 hours without any problems."

“As long as you don’t do anything malicious and deliberately cut off the water supply, these hostages can survive on water alone.”

"As for us, we have even less to worry about—each of our soldiers carries several days' worth of individual supplies."

"Instead of trying to outsmart me, Commander Li, you should just relay our demands to the authorities in the capital."

"We won't hesitate to ask Commander Li for anything we need."

"Forget about food and water, we'll ask for whatever we need ourselves."

"If Commander Li has nothing else to say, I think we can put this conversation on hold for now."

"By the way, if Commander Li has any new developments he'd like to discuss with me, he should call the phone at the church in the East District..."

"Let me emphasize again—General Eligu has entrusted me with full authority over the negotiations."

"Commander Li, if you have anything to say, just come to me directly."

"However, I hope that next time I discuss such a big matter with an officer of a higher rank than Commander Li, that would be even better."

"I think that would better demonstrate how much importance the capital city attaches to this matter."

Morse Yarlin's tone was full of provocation: "It would be even better if we could find a way to communicate directly with the capital..."

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"These remnants of the Western Luo are far too arrogant!"

"They think they can talk directly to the capital? They're not worthy!"

After the initial conversation, Li Weijian angrily threw down his headphones, fuming, "A bunch of ignorant bastards..."

"Commander, it seems that the armed forces of the Wukan tribe have been completely controlled by the remnants of the Xiluo."

"Trying to sow discord and cause them to fight amongst themselves is probably not going to work."

Zhao Xuehui, chief of staff of the 16th Rapid Reaction Division, sighed: "The situation is more severe than we expected."

"As long as Yarlin and his gang of Western Luo remnants are around, this breakthrough will be difficult to achieve..."

"News has come from the capital—we must prioritize the safety of the hostages above all else."

Looking at the floor plan of the eastern district of Tanert City spread out on the table, Li Weijian said in a deep voice, "We must not act rashly without absolute certainty."

"This is infuriating!" Deputy Division Commander Liu Daxing slammed his fist on the table. "I never expected that we wouldn't get to fight this battle and would instead be stuck with such a frustrating assignment!"

"If you ask me, we shouldn't give these remnants of the Western Luo a friendly look."

"Just send a commando team up to carry out a military rescue!"

"Damn it—these remnants of the Western Luo are truly incorrigible."

"All you know is how to do is use these underhanded tricks!"

"If you ask me, the most appropriate thing to do is to use the same methods on these remnants of the Western Luo Kingdom on them!"

"We definitely have to settle this score with them, interest and all."

Li Weijian sighed: "However, that's a matter for later—the court will decide how to deal with these escaped Xiluo."

"The most important thing now is—we need to figure out how to break this deadlock!"

"This situation..." Chief of Staff Zhao Xuehui shook his head helplessly, "is almost unsolvable..."

"If we resort to force to rescue them, not to mention the bombs in the East District, even without those bombs, we simply cannot guarantee the safety of the hostages during the operation."

"But if we agree to these militants' demands, the imperial court will lose face big time!"

"What's even more serious is—once this opening is made, then..."

"You must know—His Majesty has never suffered such a humiliation since leading his army out of Youzhou!"

"If this crisis is not properly resolved, it will be a disgrace to the court and His Majesty!"

"It is also a dereliction of duty and incompetence of our Great Qian Zhenguo Army!"

"Commander, what do you mean...?" Deputy Division Commander Liu Daxing asked doubtfully.

"What I mean is—no matter what, our Sixteenth Division cannot let the Imperial Court and His Majesty lose face!"

Li Weijian said solemnly, "Have the assault team thoroughly study the feasibility of a forceful assault."

"It would be best if a feasible plan for a military rescue could be devised."

"If in the end it really doesn't work out........."

"For the sake of the dignity of the court and His Majesty, if someone has to step forward and take the blame..."

"Then I, Li Weijian, will carry it!"

Li Weijian glanced at Deputy Division Commander Liu Daxing and Chief of Staff Zhao Xuehui: "Notify the division's heavy artillery units to prepare outside Tanlt City..."