The People's Hearts

A moment later, Chiang Kai-shek seemed to have calmed down from the previous confrontation, and he put on a gentle expression.

"Mei Ling, there's something I need you to do."

Song Mei Ling looked at him without speaking.

"Don't you have a good relationship with the young lady of the Gu Family, Gu Ruiyu?"

Gu Ruiyu was one of Zhang Xueming's fiancées.

Chiang Kai-shek's lips curved into a meaningful arc.

"I'd like you to contact Zhang Xueming through her."

"Deliver a message for me."

He walked up to Song Mei Ling and spoke word by word.

"Tell him, a wise bird chooses its perch. The path his father is taking is a dead end."

"As long as he's willing to abandon the darkness and embrace the light, and come to my side, I, Chiang Kai-shek, will grant him the position of army commander."

"Starting as an army commander!"

This was no longer persuasion, but outright incitement.

He wanted to poach from the Feng Army, and from its very core.

Song Mei Ling listened quietly, her long eyelashes drooping, concealing all emotion in her eyes.

She neither nodded nor shook her head.

She remained silent.

The grasslands of Ulan Province stretched out boundlessly.

The wind blew, and waves of green grass rolled, reaching the horizon.

A torrent of steel was slowly emerging from this sea of grass.

The treads crushed the grass, emitting a dull roar.

This was the Feng Army's Eighth Brigade, a mechanized unit composed entirely of tanks, armored vehicles, and trucks.

The battle-hardened elite who had just routed the White Bear Country at Xingxing Gorge.

Brigade Commander Zhang Xueming sat in the lead armored command vehicle, his expression calm.

Ahead, a large patch of black dots appeared on the horizon.

The black dots grew in number, converging into a sea of people.

They were the herdsmen of Ulan Province.

Dressed in festive attire, holding horses and hada scarves, they stood in the path of the road, waiting quietly.

"Brigade Commander, it's our herdsmen brothers."

The driver slowed the vehicle.

Zhang Xueming raised his binoculars and saw the faces at the very front of the crowd, seeing the pure admiration and joy in their eyes.

He lowered his binoculars.

"Relay my order."

His voice spread through the entire steel dragon via radio.

"All vehicles, shut down. Everyone disembark and proceed on foot."

As the order was given, the roar of the engines gradually faded.

The cold steel behemoths fell silent.

The vehicle doors opened, and Feng Army soldiers in uniform jumped out, straightened their ranks, and stood in formation.

They carried their weapons on their backs and marched in neat steps, following Zhang Xueming towards the crowd on foot.

They walked across the land they had defended with their blood.

This was the most basic respect for the land and its people.

The herdsmen erupted.

They hadn't expected this heroic unit, which had defeated the White Bears, to approach them in this manner.

"Young Marshal Zhang!"

"The heroes have returned!"

Cheers soared to the sky.

The herdsmen surged forward, surrounding the soldiers.

Warm milk cakes, fragrant mare's milk wine, sturdy cowhide boots, and sharp curved knives were thrust into the soldiers' arms as if they were free.

"Take them! Take them all! This is just a small token of our appreciation!"

"Well done! You've brought honor to us Chinese people!"

The soldiers' faces, still bearing traces of gunpowder, were now lit up by enthusiastic smiles, revealing their own simple, honest grins.

A little girl with a braid and rosy cheeks pushed through the crowd and ran up to Zhang Xueming.

A little shy, she held up a wreath she had made from wildflowers and offered it to Zhang Xueming.

"Big brother, this is for you."

Zhang Xueming bent down and smiled as the little girl placed the wreath around his neck.

"Thank you."

"Big brother, can you guys not leave?" the little girl asked, looking up with her big, hopeful eyes. "If you stay, the bad guys won't dare to come."

An elder with white hair walked over, leaning on his cane, and patted the little girl's head.

"Young Marshal, please don't take offense. This child saw with her own eyes how the White Bear soldiers stole our cattle and sheep and bullied people."

The elder's voice was full of weariness.

"She's scared."

Zhang Xueming squatted down, meeting the little girl's eyes, and said earnestly.

"Big brother promises you, the bad guys will never come again."

He stood up and scanned the faces of all the herdsmen present.

"My fellow villagers, I have an announcement to make."

"Starting today, the Feng Army's First Division and Third Division have secretly entered Ulan Province. They will replace us and guard this place forever."

The crowd was silent for a moment, then erupted in thunderous cheers.

The elder trembled with emotion, his lips quivering, unable to speak.

Zhang Xueming steadied him.

"Elder, this is just the beginning."

He pointed to the distance, to the vast, boundless land.

"Within three years, a railway will be built here. Within five years, I want to establish our own wool mills and canning factories on the grasslands of Ulan Province!"

"I want our cattle and sheep to become clothes and military rations, transported north of the pass! I want everyone to know how good our Dongbei produce is!"

"I want every child here to be able to study and read!"

The elder could no longer stand and his knees buckled, about to fall to his knees.

"No, you mustn't!"

Zhang Xueming reacted quickly, catching him before he could fall.