Liang Fei left, but the soldiers of the reinforced platoon erupted into an uproar.
"Sir, you aren't really leaving, are you?"
"To hell with that transfer order! Let's march to station headquarters to protest—they need to know our reinforced platoon isn't made of clay!"
"Exactly! The commander has led us to win merits time and again. Who gives them the right to reassign him just like that? And they even sent that bastard Liang Fei!"
"What does that lapdog know besides sucking up and tormenting people? During the last drill, his reckless commands nearly sent the Third Squad tumbling off a cliff!"
The soldiers talked over one another, their voices a turbulent mix of reluctance to part with Lu Zhao and sheer disgust for Liang Fei.
Lapdogs of high officials had never been well-liked; they did the dirty, exhausting work on their superiors' behalf, offending countless people along the way.
Liang Fei had targeted Lu Zhao and sabotaged others as well; among the rank-and-file soldiers, his reputation had long since hit rock bottom.
Lu Zhao raised his right hand slightly, and the men instantly fell silent.
"This is an order," he said. "Obeying orders is a soldier's bounden duty. I will discuss the specific issues with higher-ups. All of you, return to your posts.
"As for the flood-prevention plan for the high-water season, pay no attention to Liang Fei. If any issues come up, report to me at any time."
Discontent was written across everyone's faces, but Lu Zhao's prestige outweighed everything. They had no choice but to snap to attention and salute: "Yes, sir!"
This was Lu Zhao's bedrock of confidence. Within the reinforced platoon, his word carried more weight than any paper order, driving into every soldier's heart like an iron pestle.
Lü Jinshan could use a sheet of paper to reassign his post, but he could never erase his prestige.
Unless he dared to replace the entire reinforced platoon.
Yet the Ant Ridge border defense station was merely a battalion-level unit where many sub-units were not even at full complement; where would he ever find enough men to replace an entire reinforced platoon?
The handover proceeded swiftly. At three in the afternoon, Liang Fei arrived with all the files to submit to Lu Zhao.
Seated at his desk, Lu Zhao went over the flood-prevention plan without even looking up. Leaving Liang Fei standing there, he asked, "Staff Officer Liang, before serving as operations and training staff officer, you probably never worked in a duty company, did you?"
Liang Fei replied, "I was commissioned as a junior officer right out of the military academy and served as operations and training staff officer..."
"So you've never served at the grassroots level," Lu Zhao cut in forcefully. "Do you know how many villages and towns lie across the Ant Ridge area, or the usual paths the flash floods take?"
Liang Fei furrowed his brow, hesitating for merely two seconds.
"Answer me, Captain Liang."
The calm voice carried an inexplicable pressure that left Liang Fei breathless. Stifling his agitation, he answered, "No..."
Lu Zhao pulled another dossier from a drawer and instructed:
"This details the layout of the surrounding villages and towns, along with the routes water beasts have taken over the years. Our primary duty is prevention and observation; the hunting and extermination is left to the local police, so warnings must be issued without delay.
"Furthermore..."
The greatest challenge facing the Ant Ridge border defense station was not drug traffickers, but the flash floods that struck every July.
In summer, the southwest monsoon swept in vast volumes of rainfall from the sea, causing the waters of the Miye Sanjiang to swell drastically until several waterways linked directly to Ant Ridge. Unlike the Divine Land of Shenzhou, where the Federation routinely purged demon beasts, the Miye Sanjiang was entirely lawless territory, home to a rough estimate of over a thousand entrenched factions, large and small.
Beneath the three mighty rivers lay a water beast den teeming with innumerable demon beasts, which were flushed toward Ant Ridge during every high-water season.
To the Miye Sanjiang region, hundreds or thousands of demon beasts coming ashore was of little consequence; so long as it was not a full beast tide, ordinary demon beasts could not devour that many people.
Much like man-eating tigers in ancient times, severe cases might wipe out an entire village, but to a vast dynasty, it was of little consequence.
The Federation, however, could not turn a blind eye. A single demon beast slipping through would severely endanger public safety and disrupt the people's production and daily life.
The border defense station's duty was to provide early warnings: hold them back wherever possible, and report whatever could not be stopped to the interior for local police to handle.
The rise and fall of casualties each year depended on the accuracy and promptness of their warnings.
Now that this duty had temporarily fallen to Liang Fei, Lu Zhao hoped from the bottom of his heart that the man would fulfill his responsibilities.
Once everything was thoroughly briefed, Lu Zhao handed Liang Fei a thick stack of documents and instructed him once more: "The preliminary work has mostly been arranged. You only need to follow the plan step by step.
"We may have our differences, but in the end, we serve the people. I hope you will at least place the safety of the people and their property above all else."
If Liang Fei only wanted to pad his record, Lu Zhao was willing to do him that favor.
If not, Lu Zhao would have no choice but to leave him a commander without troops.
Liang Fei nodded in acknowledgment, though how much sincerity lay behind it was anyone's guess.
Lu Zhao picked up his few office supplies, stood up, and left the office, moving up into the brand-new administration building.
As operations and training staff officer, he had an office to himself, where the hum of the air conditioner dispersed the sultry mountain heat.
***
Word that the handover had gone smoothly reached Lü Jinshan's ears.
He had naturally kept a close eye on the duty company, prepared with contingency plans for any potential clashes.
The ideal scenario would have been for Lu Zhao to incite an uproar with his troops, giving Lü Jinshan the pretext to crush them with heavy-handed measures—and if Zhang Like joined in, he could purge them all in one fell swoop.
Within the Federation, insubordination by frontline soldiers against superiors was never tolerated; if it truly happened, it would be suppressed without hesitation.
By the same token, Lu Zhao and Zhang Like were unlikely to be that foolish, so Lü Jinshan had harbored little real expectation.
After finishing his report, his deputy, Chen Hongtao, voiced his concern: "Station Chief, Lu Zhao hasn't pressed the matter further, but Liang Fei has no frontline experience after all, and this was an eleventh-hour replacement. I'm afraid problems might crop up when the time comes."
He paused, watching Lü Jinshan's expression.
By now, displeasure was plain on that round face, but Chen Hongtao had to press on.
Flood prevention was the border defense station's top priority, concerning the lives and agricultural production of the people across the nearby three counties and eighteen townships.
This was no longer the age of prosperity from a decade ago; grain yields hovered constantly around the warning line, making all agricultural production critically important—a fact repeatedly stressed every year by the Circuit Politics Bureaus everywhere.
No matter how much you scheme and fight, Lü Jinshan, you can't make a mockery of human lives, can you?
As deputy station chief, he was theoretically on equal footing with Lü Jinshan, and Chen Hongtao intended to live up to the post he held.
"I believe we should have Lu Zhao assist and provide guidance concurrently, only stepping fully into his new post once the flood season has passed."
He offered a moderate, safer compromise.
Leaning back against his chair, Lü Jinshan waved his hand in refusal. "The plan is already well arranged. Where would so many risks come from? Is our border defense station incapable of functioning without Lu Zhao?"
Stifled by this specious sophistry, Chen Hongtao felt a tightness in his chest.
Without Lu Zhao, the station would certainly keep running, but over the past two years, it was precisely because Lu Zhao and his reinforced platoon anchored the front lines that the Ant Ridge defense zone achieved zero mistakes and zero casualties across multiple flash floods.
Behind that "step-by-step execution" lay Lu Zhao's formidable frontline command and absolute control over the reinforced platoon.
How could Liang Fei compare to a Dijing graduate?
Lu Zhao had a life force of over thirty points; Liang Fei didn't even have half of that.
Chen Hongtao and Lü Jinshan stood at an impasse.
This was their sharpest divergence in recent years, and the consequence of Lü Jinshan's fraying authority.
The essence of power was the will to enforce one's intent even in the face of opposition.
Even in the face of a lateral transfer, Lu Zhao had the reinforced platoon to carry out his will, whereas Lü Jinshan's ability to enforce his will was steadily unraveling.
Chapter 37