191: Chapter 191 Shocking Change at the Border: Chinese Engineers Captured

Behind the lights were the silhouettes of several behemoths—three T-90S main battle tanks, the 125mm smoothbore guns on their turrets reflecting a cold, icy glint under the lights. Behind the tanks, dozens of fully armed India mountain infantry followed in the shadows.

"Listen up, you people inside! You have illegally invaded the sacred territory of India! Drop your weapons immediately and walk out with your hands on your heads! Otherwise, we will use force to eliminate you!"

A voice speaking English with a heavy India accent came through the tank's loudspeaker, echoing through the silent jungle, filled with condescending arrogance.

Second Lieutenant Wu Suo took a deep breath and shouted back in English, "This is the territory of the Greater Myanmar Federation! We are a legal surveying team! We have internationally recognized survey permits! Please retreat immediately to avoid any misjudgment!"

"Permits? Hahaha!" A mocking laugh came from the loudspeaker. "Myanmar's permits are invalid on Indian territory! I'm counting to ten! Ten, nine, eight..."

"Captain! What do we do?" a soldier asked, his voice trembling. Faced with steel behemoths and a numerically superior enemy, fear was instinctive.

Wu Suo glanced at the pale-faced Chen Ming, then at the two young soldiers behind him, and gritted his teeth. "Do not open fire! We are too few, and the disparity in firepower is too great! The President has said that a soldier's life is more important than momentary pride! Drop your guns, we... surrender."

"But Captain..."

"Execute the order!" Wu Suo growled, being the first to place his QBZ-191 rifle on the ground and raise his hands high. The two soldiers' eyes turned red, but they followed suit. Chen Ming also raised his hands; his laptop and surveying equipment were still left in the tent.

"Seven, six, five..."

The counting stopped.

The tank's hatch opened, and a young officer wearing a beret with a smug expression poked his upper body out. He was Captain Varun Kapoor, the nephew of the 57th Mountain Division commander, a typical second-generation military officer who had relied on connections to snag a company commander position in this "easy to earn merit" border unit. He was even holding the latest iPhone, the camera pointed directly at Wu Suo and his group.

"Yo, quite obedient, aren't you." Varun whistled, said something in Hindi to the soldiers beside him, which drew a burst of laughter. Then he switched to English, addressing the phone camera (he was "livestreaming" on a popular India social platform), and said in an exaggerated tone: "Look, my dear fans! This is the fate of illegal invaders! They surrendered obediently like frightened rabbits! This is the majesty of the India Army!"

Several India soldiers rushed up, roughly pinning Wu Suo and the other two to the ground, and zip-tied their hands behind their backs. Chen Ming was also shoved, his glasses falling to the ground.

"Hey! This one seems to be from the Dragon Nation?" a soldier noticed the small Dragon Nation flag patch on Chen Ming's work uniform.

Varun's eyes lit up. He jumped off the tank, walked up to Chen Ming, and shoved the phone camera almost into Chen Ming's face. "Wow! Look what I've caught? A 'panda' from the north? Are you a spy, Mr. Engineer? Here to help your warlord friend steal our land?"

Chen Ming suppressed his humiliation and spoke in as calm a tone as possible: "I am a citizen of the Dragon Nation, an engineer invited legally by the Myanmar government for technical cooperation. Your actions violate international law. Please release us immediately, or you will trigger a serious diplomatic incident."

"A diplomatic incident? Hahaha!" Varun acted as if he had heard the funniest joke. He turned to the camera, "Did you hear that? He said a diplomatic incident! I'm so scared!" His expression suddenly darkened, and he grabbed Chen Ming by the collar. "Listen, you yellow-skinned pig, I'm in charge here! You invaded illegally; even if I shot you on the spot, it would be legal self-defense!"

He released Chen Ming, stepped back, and shouted arrogantly at the camera: "Listen, Zhang Cheng! I don't know if you, the head of this swindling operation, can see this! Your soldiers, and the engineers of your Dragon Nation daddy, are in my hands now! Want them back? Fine! Bring your ransom and crawl on your knees to New Delhi to beg me! Remember, on your knees!"

He turned off the livestream and waved his hand spiritedly: "Take them all away! Lock them in our temporary detention center! Let these uncivilized barbarians get a good taste of an India prison! Oh, and keep that Dragon Nation guy in solitary; he's a good bargaining chip!"

Naypyidaw, Presidential Palace, late at night.

Zhang Cheng was awakened by Old K's urgent knocking. When he walked into the study wearing a bathrobe, Li Lanzhi was already there, her face filled with worry. Old K was expressionless as always, but his eyes were colder than usual.

"Master, an urgent telegram from the border." Old K placed a freshly translated telegram and a tablet in front of Zhang Cheng. On the tablet, a clip of Varun Kapoor's arrogant "livestream" was playing.

The study was deathly quiet, with only Varun's grating voice echoing from the tablet: "...crawl on your knees to New Delhi to beg me!"

Zhang Cheng looked at Second Lieutenant Wu Suo pinned to the ground on the screen, looked at Chen Ming with his collar grabbed and glasses fallen to the ground, and looked at Varun's nauseatingly smug face. His face was devoid of expression, but those who knew him knew this was the dead silence before a storm.

Li Lanzhi was trembling with rage: "How dare they! Engineer Chen is an expert specifically introduced by Commissioner Zhao Gang to help us! This is kidnapping! This is an act of war!"

Zhang Cheng didn't speak; he picked up the telegram and read it again. It detailed the conflict process, the situation of the captured personnel, and the movements of the India army detected by frontline reconnaissance—a reinforced battalion and a tank company were assembling in the disputed border area.

"Casualties?" Zhang Cheng's voice was calm.

"Three of our men were captured, including the Dragon Nation engineer Chen Ming. No deaths, no injuries. The other side did not open fire but used armed coercion," Old K answered matter-of-factly. "According to intelligence from the 'Shadow Blade' infiltration, the lead officer is named Varun Kapoor, a company commander under the 57th Mountain Division, and his background is..."

"I don't care who his father is." Zhang Cheng interrupted Old K and gently set down the tablet. He walked to the window, looking at the peaceful night view of Naypyidaw outside, with the lights of factories flickering in the distance.

"Three men, and one of them is a brother from the Dragon Nation." Zhang Cheng seemed to be talking to himself. "This Varun, he likes to livestream? He likes to make people kneel?"

He turned around, and a chilling hostility finally emerged in his eyes: "Then let him, and his masters behind him, watch a good livestream."

"Old K."

"Present."

"First, order the 'Shadow Blade' brigade's Night Owl unit to deploy immediately. Objective: Infiltrate the India border camp and rescue all captured personnel. I want that Varun Kapoor brought back alive. Remember, alive." Zhang Cheng's tone was indisputable. "Letting him crawl back on his knees is too easy for him. I want him to experience, consciously and completely, the feeling of falling from the clouds into a cesspit."

"Second, order Zhao Yuxun. The 1st Battalion of M1A2 tanks belonging to the 1st Army's 'Titan' Division is to secretly advance immediately to the Meng Hong Valley on our side of the border and hide using the reverse slope terrain. Bring our PCL-181 truck-mounted howitzer battalion up as well, and have them aim at the areas where the enemy might assemble. Without my orders, not a single shot is to be fired. But I require them to be able to plow that river valley within five minutes of receiving the order."

"Third, notify Wang Yuanshan. The Rocket Force DF-17 hypersonic missile unit is to enter Level 1 alert. Target parameters: All known India military bases, command centers, and radar stations along the line from New Delhi to Tezpur. Similarly, no firing without orders. But I require them to be ready at all times, with their fingers on the buttons."

A series of orders, heavy with murderous intent.