Reborn as Zhao Ruilong of Handong, I will defy fate.

Chapter 321 Head-to-Head! There's No Way Out!

early morning.

A military-plated car drove out of Yanjing city.

After driving along the winding mountain road, we entered a small courtyard nestled in the woods.

Ge Junshan, who was admiring the red leaves, glanced slightly at the car.

That imported Mercedes, with its license plate starting with "Yan V," is truly impressive and imposing.

Ge Junshan turned around and continued to look at the red leaves covering the mountains and fields, the forests dyed in layers of color as magnificent as a fiery sunset.

"Old Ge, what a fine mood you're in! You actually have the time to come and admire the autumn leaves!"

Hearing the loud and deafening shout, Ge Junshan did not turn around.

Holding onto the railing, I admired the magnificent red leaves.

"The autumn leaves in early November are the most beautiful and stunning!"

Wearing a military overcoat with three stars on his shoulders, Gu Maoyuan sneered.

"But their beauty won't last long; they'll wither and fall off soon!"

Ge Junshan laughed and said, "It's a cycle of growth and decay every year!"

"Isn't having one beautiful month enough? How can you expect it to always be that beautiful?"

Gu Maoyuan scoffed.

Hands on hips, gazing into the distance.

The mountains and fields are covered in red leaves, stretching as far as the eye can see.

The autumn wind rustled.

The two stood by the railing, looking at the red leaves without saying a word.

After a while.

Ge Junshan then said with some regret:

"I was really looking forward to it before the 21st century."

"I feel that with the arrival of the new century, there will be a new atmosphere and new changes, and everything will become exceptionally wonderful."

"But in the last two years I have found that the new century is indeed different. The times are changing faster, and I am getting old."

Gu Maoyuan glanced sideways at Ge Junshan.

He had a smile on his face, but his temples were already silver, and the wrinkles on his face were very obvious.

Upon closer inspection, there do appear to be some age spots...

"How come you're aging faster than me? You look like an eighty-year-old man!"

Ge Junshan chuckled to himself, "Unlike you, I exercised a lot in the army and have good physical fitness."

"Bullshit!"

Gu Maoyuan turned and looked into the distance.

"You're clearly overthinking things, scheming and worrying too much, obviously using your brain too much!"

"But what can I do?"

Ge Junshan turned slightly to the side, leaning against the railing, and asked:

"If all those young men were as outstanding as Zhao Lichun, why would I be worrying myself sick?"

Gu Maoyuan's pupils contracted slightly, and he gave a heavy, cold snort:

"It's not that Zhao Lichun is outstanding, but his son Zhao Ruilong, who's hiding behind the scenes, is really fucking weird!"

"He was a liberal arts student who had just graduated from university and spent seven years in prison, but when he came out, he knew all kinds of high technology."

"It's harder for others to make money than to eat shit, but he's like a master thief, able to continuously bring in more than 300 billion US dollars from abroad for investment."

"Moreover, besides being technically skilled and good at making money, this little rascal is not only dedicated to the country and its people, but also has a forward-thinking vision and unique mindset, which is truly incredible."

Ge Junshan gave a bitter smile.

"Perhaps this is a talent that only comes along once in a century!"

"With talents like him, our Dragon Kingdom can develop, grow stronger, and prosper even faster!"

Gu Maoyuan sighed with emotion:

"From a broader perspective, having him is a blessing for the country!"

"Putting everything else aside, his massive investment in high technology and promotion of industrial transformation and upgrading are beneficial to the long-term development of our Dragon Kingdom."

"But the problem is, Zhao Lichun and Lu Changsheng, whom he strongly supports, are not on our side at all. On the contrary... never mind, I won't say anymore!"

Ge Junshan sneered.

"One is his biological father, and the other is his father-in-law."

"If he doesn't support either of them, who do you think he should support? Should he support us?"

"Furthermore, whether it's the high-quality economy, the military-civilian integration strategy, or the recently promoted military reform plan."

"Anyone needs big thinking, a broad perspective, and great courage to dare to think and act. Do you think any of us have that ability?"

"Even if we get Zhao Ruilong to write the report and proposal for us, look at our group, who among us is willing to go all out to put it into action?"

Gu Maoyuan retorted defiantly, "Who says we don't dare to do it? We're not good-for-nothings, nor are we cowards who just want to eat and wait to die!"

"In fact, we had similar ideas about what they were doing a long time ago, but we hadn't fully developed them or taken any action."

Ge Junshan frowned, and said with a look of disdain:

"Stop trying to pat yourself on the back, okay?"

"You might as well say that what we need is a God of Wealth like Zhao Ruilong."

"It can provide a continuous stream of financial support, so that any problems or troubles can be solved with money!"

Gu Maoyuan laughed and said, "If someone could get me one or two trillion, I could do something spectacular too!"

Ge Junshan rolled his eyes.

He turned around, leaned on the railing, and continued to stare blankly at the red leaves.

When he celebrated his birthday last month, he thought that 2001 was almost over.

Aside from the US launching a war against Afghanistan under the pretext of counterterrorism, nothing else major is likely to happen.

Even if China officially joined the WTO, in his eyes it was something that had been decided long ago and was not a big deal.

But never imagined...

As the year drew to a close, Zhao Ruilong's father-in-law, Lu Changsheng, unleashed a move even more ruthless than his father, Zhao Lichun's.

This guy actually proposed to adapt to the development of the new era and carry out military reforms aimed at winning informationized modern warfare.

Moreover, the scope, depth, and intensity of this military reform have reached unprecedented new heights.

As the United States has just mobilized a large number of troops to wage a major counter-terrorism war in neighboring Afghanistan, it has flexed its muscles with a variety of advanced weapons.

To bomb a few terrorist tents, they can travel thousands of miles from their homeland, deploying stealth bombers to Attukhan, dropping precision-guided munitions, and then refueling in the air before returning to their homeland.

The long-range strike operation, which covered nearly 20,000 kilometers, fully demonstrated their powerful global strike capabilities. For China, this was no less than being forced to watch a show of making an example of someone.

Since the outbreak of the Gulf War ten years ago, the United States has used multiple high-intensity, fast-paced regional wars to prove that we are now in a high-tech era.

If war breaks out, and the navy cannot control the sea and the air force cannot control the air, then no matter how many tanks, artillery, and infantry fighting vehicles the army has, it will be nothing more than a sitting duck.

and so……

Against this backdrop, Lu Changsheng's proposal to reform the military from a practical combat perspective is tantamount to occupying the moral high ground, and who would dare to say no?

Who dares to say that with China's current command system, weaponry, and training capabilities, it can win a high-tech, modern war against the United States without using nuclear weapons?

No one would object to defending our country!

Therefore, military reform is naturally imperative!

If we simply follow Lu Changsheng's plan, then the newcomers will be happy while the old ones are sad.

What is a newcomer?

Naturally, they are knowledgeable, cultured, and understand high-tech warfare.

As for the old friends...

Naturally, this refers to those 'old relics' still living in the last century, the era of mechanized warfare.

But these "old fogies" have been accumulating seniority for many years, and now their positions are quite high.

Take Gu Maoyuan, who is in charge of logistics, for example.

Asking him to use digital and information technology to carry out logistics construction in the new era is obviously asking too much of him.

But if he doesn't step down and instead continues to cling to power, he might end up in an awkward situation and lose face.

"Hey, Lao Ge, what do you mean?"

"Besides yourself, do you also think I'm old?"

Gu Maoyuan asked with a furrowed brow.

He was seething with anger.

Even the biting autumn wind cannot extinguish it.

"You're not old, you're just stuck in a rigid mindset and can't keep up with the new era."

Before Gu Maoyuan could refute, Ge Junshan quickly added:

"Don't be so defiant!"

"If you can't win on the battlefield, everything else is meaningless!"

"Once the realistic combat exercises are over next year, you'll know whether you should withdraw or not!"

"I……"

Gu Maoyuan said, cursing:

"Damn it, how powerful can a heavy combined arms brigade be?"

"I refuse to believe that a brigade with some information technology and integrated operations can defeat a heavy mechanized infantry division!"

Ge Junshan shrugged.

"I don't understand military affairs, nor do I understand war."

"So let's stop arguing and see who comes out on top in next year's exercise!"

Gu Maoyuan clenched his fist.

“That bastard Lu Changsheng not only has the surname Lu, but he also comes from our army.”

"Instead of trying to help the army gain more benefits, they want to streamline the army!"

Ge Junshan looked at Gu Maoyuan as if he were a fool.

With this kind of mindset and perspective...

Retire early; it's in the best interest of the country and its people!

"What kind of look is that? Did I say something wrong?"

Gu Maoyuan asked angrily.

Ge Junshan shook his head and chuckled awkwardly.

"You didn't just say something wrong, you're fucking biased!"

"What the hell era is this? Isn't it only natural that the army's status has declined?"

"Do you think that with an iron will, you can defend your country and win a modern war?"

"Even an old man like me knows that if a real war breaks out, they'll throw all sorts of precision-guided munitions from afar, and you'll suffer heavy casualties before you even see them!"

Gu Maoyuan gritted his teeth.

“I didn’t say that other branches of the military are not important. I also know that we now have three-dimensional warfare and system confrontation.”

"I just want to say that Lu Changsheng is such a traitor, and he's really not fair to our army big brother."

"If we really follow his plan, we'll have less than thirty heavy combined arms brigades in the future. That's way too few, isn't it?"

"Even if we eventually manage to build thirty heavy combined arms brigades, it's still far too few. On average, there won't be even one per province!"

Ge Junshan scoffed and retorted, "Then why don't they complain when their navy doesn't even have an aircraft carrier yet?"

"you!!"

Gu Maoyuan raised his hand and pointed at Ge Junshan, saying with a bitter and resentful expression:

"Something's not right with you, Lao Ge!"

"I get the feeling that you're backing down!"

Where has your fighting spirit gone? Where has your ambition gone?

"Why aren't you objecting at all now? It's like you've resigned yourself to your fate?"

Ge Junshan leaned on the railing, gazing into the distance.

"Oppose what? What's there to object to?"

“They always seize the moral high ground, using the banner of serving the country and the people, so how can you oppose them?”

"Moreover, they have plans, measures, and strategies, while we don't even have a decent reason. How can we object?"