The Ultimate War Of The Apocalypse
Chapter 274 - 268 Different Now

Chapter 274: Chapter 268 Different Now

When they entered the city, Gao Yuan and his men saw more people than they had ever seen in their lives.

The situation was far from safe, as the Indians from the western front would occasionally shell the area, with the entire Gilgit City Area under the threat of artillery fire.

Yet, from the roadside where they entered the city, there were dense rows of soldiers standing on both sides of the streets, desperately trying to hold back the civilians and prevent them from flooding into the road.

From his seat in the jeep, Gao Yuan looked at the crowd ahead and said uneasily, "Could there be too many people?"

Chen Wei replied with a wry smile, "No helping it, we just can’t stop them, we really can’t. These people are coming out on their own accord, not afraid of the shelling just to see you all. We can’t hold them back."

Gao Yuan said quietly, "I’m mostly worried about the shelling, we can’t be blocked on the road."

"Don’t worry, I’ve repeatedly made requests to the Pakistani side, you’ll quickly reach a safe area. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have arranged for such a large force to maintain order."

When the jeep flying the national flag drove onto the bridge, a roar of cheers suddenly erupted from the crowd on the other side.

Gao Yuan was startled, truly taken aback. He had never believed that humans could emit a roar as loud as a tidal wave, but now he was a believer.

The deafening cheers kept on going without a pause.

Though the plan was to pass quickly, the Pakistani military officer driving the vehicle still slowed down a bit.

On both sides, countless people waved their arms, and on rooftops and streets, even though they were positively marked with signs of explosions, what welcomed Gao Yuan and his group were cheers as loud as tidal waves.

The flag of the Fierce Tiger Brigade fluttered on the second jeep, with Yu Shunzhou and the others sitting inside; it was still that captured vehicle.

"No, this won’t do."

Yu Shunzhou said loudly twice, but though his voice was loud, it was drowned out by the cheers, and he couldn’t even hear what he was objecting to.

Yu Shunzhou stood up and waved his hands to both sides, which immediately brought the cheering to an even higher pitch.

Yu Shunzhou grinned from ear to ear. He began bowing to the people on either side but then felt it inappropriate. So he stood at attention in the vehicle, his left hand on the windshield while his right hand snapped to a salute.

The smiling Yu Shunzhou vanished, replaced by a serious face that radiated authority as he saluted the civilians back and forth.

And so the cheers rose, wave after wave, higher still.

The scars on Yu Shunzhou’s face began to shine; now he didn’t think the scars on his face were ugly. He wished he had more and larger scars to show off.

Chen Wei stood up to look back, then shouted, "This is the ’Doggie’ who blocked a whole battalion single-handedly, right? Truly an outstanding person, impressive indeed."

Well, if you put it that way, Yu Shunzhou certainly had every right to accept the cheers.

If it wasn’t for Yu Shunzhou and his team breaking through the battalion that blocked their path, crucially trapping an entire battalion’s soldiers and not letting a single one escape to report back, such a miraculous victory would not have been possible.

Annihilating the entire outpost without a single escapee was the key to the victory.

However, many were qualified to accept the cheers. In that battle, each person was a critical link, without whom success was impossible. But not everyone had Yu Shunzhou’s thick skin to comfortably receive the crowd’s cheers and even revel in it.

Consider Nie Erlong, who also felt proud and excited, but he was too shy to stand up and salute or anything like that because his skin was too thin.

Ultimately, being under enemy fire did not allow for a long walk on the streets, but Gao Yuan’s vehicle only traveled about two kilometers through the Gilgit city area before a group of people blocked their way, and cheering civilians were held back by a large number of soldiers.

The Pakistani Chief, Mahari, came to greet them personally.

Gao Yuan had seen Mahari the night before; back then Mahari was haggard, with his stubble not cleanly shaven, but now, just a few hours later, Mahari appeared clean and neat, radiant, as if he had transformed into a different person.

Indeed, happy occasions bring a spirited glow.

The vehicle stopped, and Gao Yuan stepped out accompanied by Chen Wei, approaching Mahari.

Gao Yuan saluted first and then extended his hand, shaking hands with Mahari.

"Thank you for Shenzhou’s support, thank you for your bravery!"

Mahari’s remarks were very brief, for with so many people now under the threat of Indian artillery, it wouldn’t have been appropriate to ramble on.

"This is what we should do!"

Gao Yuan’s response was just as brief, and then Mahari shook Gao Yuan’s hand several times and said, "Everything has been prepared for you, please follow me."

This time it wasn’t about entering a basement or the like, but a reinforced concrete building, and it had reinforced protection on top. It was a three-story building completely isolated by many machine gun positions all around.

To call it a building was to speak of a remote small county’s standards, but in the current situation in Gilgit, this was the most robust and safest place.

"This building has withstood four bombardments, and the artillery shells completely failed to harm it. However, for safety’s sake, we will allow you to stay only on the first floor."

After Chen Wei translated Mahari’s words, he immediately said to Gao Yuan, "It’s true, this building is very safe. It even has a basement. Originally, this was the residence and headquarters of Chief Mahari, and he gave it up without hesitation."

Of course, Gao Yuan had to express his gratitude again, but the main thing now was to get Li Yang inside and perform surgery on him again as soon as possible.

A surgery under field conditions was bound to have many unsatisfactory aspects, and right now, the first thing Wang Ning had to do was to clean the wound again to prevent a secondary infection of Li Yang’s injury.

Li Yang was carried down and then hurried to the specially arranged operating room.

Normally, since the Pakistani Chief himself came to greet them personally, Gao Yuan would definitely have to have a good talk with Mahari. However, international diplomacy isn’t so simple, and Gao Yuan and his team would certainly need to communicate internally with the Ambassador to Pakistan first.

After checking his watch, Mahari smiled and said, "The welcome luncheon is scheduled for twelve o’clock. Please try to have everyone attend. I will be waiting to host you all at the luncheon."

After another handshake and without much small talk, Mahari left with his people.

It was ten o’clock in the morning now, with two hours until the luncheon, giving them ample time to communicate internally.

"This is Yao Yi, our Ambassador to Pakistan. This is Colonel Huang Haitao, our second Military Officer. And this is Ji Shaoming, our Counselor..."

There were eleven people from the Shenzhou embassy present, and Chen Wei introduced each one. After the introductions, Yao Yi shook hands with Gao Yuan and said with emotion, "I never thought this would happen – that our motherland would really send people."

Gao Yuan was somewhat embarrassed because he didn’t know how to respond, especially seeing that everyone looked to him like they were seeing a family member, which made him even more reluctant to speak.

However, he still had to speak. Gao Yuan lowered his head, not daring to look Yao Yi in the eyes, and said softly, "Ambassador Yao, I’m sorry, but I must ask everyone... to leave the room for now. I’m really sorry, but this matter requires confidentiality. It’s okay for you and General Chen to stay."

Gao Yuan was unsure how to address Chen Wei, but Yao Yi was slightly taken aback before immediately saying, "Everyone, please leave for the moment and be mindful."

Once everyone except Yao Yi and Chen Wei had left, Gao Yuan breathed a sigh of relief, and then he said softly, "Both of you, our mission here is not actually to support Pakistan. We just happened to be here. In fact, we have another crucial task."

Excitedly, Chen Wei asked, "What mission?"

Gao Yuan hesitated for a moment, debating whether to reveal Xinghe’s identity. He had been contemplating this question for a long time. If Zhao Qiang were still here, he might have discussed it, but with Zhao Qiang gone and Li Yang unconscious, neither Panxin nor Li Jingang seemed the right people to discuss it with.

When it came down to it, Gao Yuan decided to be honest and said softly, "A mission to save humanity. I’ll explain the specifics later."

If they couldn’t trust their own foreign envoy and military officer, whom could they trust? But still, Gao Yuan didn’t want to disclose Xinghe’s identity there.

He chose not to, simply because of his extreme caution.

Yao Yi and Chen Wei looked at each other, and then Yao Yi said softly, "Then let’s talk at my place, after all, that’s where we’ve been living."

After speaking, Gao Yuan let out a soft breath and said, "I’m curious about how this place has come to be like this."

Yao Yi gave a bitter smile, shook his head, and said, "It’s all because of the hateful Sanitation Workers. We don’t blame the lovely Indian People at all. In fact, they negotiated twelve times, and Pakistan made significant concessions and showed enough sincerity to reach an agreement with the peace-loving Indians. But unexpectedly, the Sanitation Workers, who had been plotting for a long time, suddenly launched their attack."

With some anger, Chen Wei said, "There were forty-six of us. When Iborg City was suddenly thrown into chaos by an alien attack, the Pakistanis immediately sent troops to protect us. But unexpectedly, the Sanitation Workers suddenly appeared and launched their attack. We lost two people to the alien assault, but a shocking twenty-three people fell during the bombardment by the Sanitation Workers!"

Yao Yi let out a long sigh and said softly, "We’ve been holding this grudge for a long time!"

Chen Wei nodded and then pointed to a table nearby, saying, "Here’s a map, let me give you a brief explanation. Currently, the Sanitation Workers have sent units from their first, second, and twenty-first armies stationed in Kashmir and launched a two-front operation. To be fair, the Sanitation Workers’ tactic of splitting forces and pincer attacks is quite effective. They fought well."

Turning to Gao Yuan, with a serious expression, Chen Wei said, "But now that you are here, the situation will be different, entirely different!"