Li Guozhong

Biodata

Background / History

Li Guozhong and Division Commander Kong rose through the ranks from the same squad before becoming commanders in competing military regions. Li also previously served under Luo Bing. Elder Wang and Elder Hua have known him since childhood, and he treats both veterans with considerable deference 17 18 37 45.

Before the mechas entered service, the Southern Military Region had lost three consecutive Southeast military exercises to the Eastern Military Region. When his division received the next exercise assignment, Li regarded it as a chance to restore the reputation of all eight Southern divisions and their more than eighty thousand personnel 32.

Appearance

• Thick eyebrows and large eyes, specifically noted when Elder Wang greets him at Zhonghai Military Research Base 18.

Personality

Li is fiercely competitive and particularly sensitive to Kong’s taunts. Even when he believes the Eastern Military Region holds a major technological advantage, he insists that his troops will fight rather than accept an easy defeat. After winning, he enthusiastically returns the mockery Kong previously directed at him 17 18 45.

His professional discipline frequently gives way to excitement around mechas. Seeing Crimson Sky No. 1 leaves him speechless, while its weapons demonstrations provoke laughter, patriotic pride, and such intense shock that a guard has to catch him when he topples backward 18 20.

Li values both talented recruits and the researchers behind military breakthroughs. He moves quickly to enlist Wang Yixue and insists that Xu Fan receive substantially more money for his work. However, his admiration also leads him to construct an elaborate, unverified explanation that Xu Fan deliberately arranged the mecha’s delivery as an anonymous donation 21 22.

Abilities & Skills

Battlefield Command

• Anticipating infiltration: Keeps the First Tank Regiment in the rear despite requests for frontline reinforcements, correctly identifying the rear as a critical vulnerability 34.
• Maintaining command under pressure: Reinforces headquarters and waits for reconnaissance intelligence while enemy exoskeleton troops approach his position 34 35.
• Targeted counterattack: Sends two concealed mechas directly against Red Force headquarters once scouts locate it, securing victory through the enemy command’s capture 35 36.

Operational Secrecy

• Restricts battle assignments until shortly before combat to reduce the risk of leaks 32.
• Conceals the mechas under black cloth and holds their pilots in reserve for a surprise strike 34.
• Keeps the machines secret even from senior observers, later admitting that advance disclosure might have prevented their use because they upset the exercise’s balance 37.

Recruitment and Negotiation

• Secures Wang Yixue’s special enlistment on the evening she agrees to become a military mecha pilot 21.
• Negotiates a supply agreement with Kong while protecting his division’s existing two mechas 45 46.
• Quotes a ten-million material cost for a mecha that costs five million to build, making Kong’s contribution cover Li’s own material costs as well 46.

Relationships

• Division Commander Kong — Former squadmate and rival commander. Their competitive taunting develops into bargaining over mecha allocations after Li defeats him in the exercise 17 36 45 46.
• Elder Wang — Respected senior who has known Li since childhood. Li seeks his approval to recruit Wang Yixue and promises not to mistreat her 18 21.
• Elder Hua — Respected veteran and research-base contact who helps introduce Li to Crimson Sky No. 1 and its capabilities 17 18 19.
• Wang Yixue — Mecha pilot recruited into the Southern Military Region under Li’s direction. She addresses him as “Uncle Li” or “Uncle Guozhong” 21 22 25.
• Tong Yao — Pilot of Crimson Sky No. 2, whom Li deploys alongside Wang Yixue during the exercise and subsequent demonstrations 34 35 47.
• Xu Fan — Mecha developer whom Li admires and seeks to support financially. Li personally greets him warmly at their first meeting 21 22 25.
• Luo Bing — Former commanding officer and current superior. Li alternates between deference, joking explanations, and deliberate demonstrations intended to overcome Luo’s doubts about the mechas 37 47 48.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Discovering Crimson Sky No. 1

After refusing Kong’s mocking offer to lend him two exoskeleton suits, Li visits Zhonghai Military Research Base with more than twenty officers. Elder Wang and Elder Hua reveal Crimson Sky No. 1 as the Southern Military Region’s secret weapon. Li immediately asks whether it can fight, prompting a live-fire demonstration 17 18 19.

At the firing range, he learns that Xu Fan, a university student, built the machine in less than two days. He then watches Wang Yixue cut apart a scrapped T-54 tank with its particle blade and destroy an entire hill with its shoulder-mounted railgun. Convinced of the machine’s military value, he asks to recruit its pilot 19 20.

Recruiting Wang Yixue and Supporting Xu Fan

Li initially regrets raising Wang Yixue’s enlistment because Elder Wang has already lost a son in military service. Elder Wang nevertheless approves, and Yixue willingly accepts. Li arranges special recruitment that same evening, unwilling to risk losing a capable pilot 21.

Li subsequently theorizes that Xu Fan controlled Yixue’s phone to arrange their contact and quietly donate the mecha to the country. When she reveals its three-million price, he further assumes that Xu Fan charged only enough to repay construction debts. These are Li’s deductions, not established facts 21.

Acting on that belief, he orders Yixue to increase the outstanding payment from 1.5 million to 15 million and offers reimbursement. He also assigns her to visit Xu Fan and convey the military’s regards. Li later joins the elders in personally meeting Xu Fan at the shopping center 22 25.

Winning the Southeast Military Exercise

Li prepares the 8th Marine Armored Combined Arms Division to defend Southeast Military Exercise City as Blue Force. He receives Crimson Sky No. 1 and No. 2 in secret, then holds Wang Yixue and Tong Yao back while Kong’s Red Force attacks 32 33 34.

The battle nearly reaches Li’s headquarters before his scouts locate the enemy command post. He orders the pilots to capture everyone there within ten minutes; they reply that five will suffice. Their attack forces Kong to surrender, reversing Blue Force’s deteriorating position 35 36.

Afterward, Li explains the mechas’ destructive power to Luo Bing and agrees to maintain secrecy. He acknowledges that either machine could have overwhelmed the opposing force directly, but that revealing them beforehand might have led the chiefs to prohibit their deployment 37.

Mecha Allocation and Commendations

When Kong arrives demanding mechas, Li refuses to surrender either of his existing machines, arguing that they form a joint combat cover team. He accidentally reveals that a production line could begin operating in a week and states that its output will be twenty mechas annually 45.

Their eventual agreement gives Kong two mechas once production begins and another two each year, with Kong contributing material funding. At the subsequent ceremony, Li presents Wang Yixue and Tong Yao with five medals each, including the Special-Class Combat Hero Medal. Yixue then declares that Xu Fan deserves the honors instead 46.

Demonstrations for the Theater Chiefs

Li hosts a demonstration for Luo Bing and Zhu Guodong using live cockpit and exterior feeds. When the chiefs doubt the displayed flight performance, he tells the pilots to accelerate further. The demonstration takes the mechas into low Earth orbit and includes their abrupt diving reversal, the Paperclip Maneuver 47 48.

To demonstrate railgun range, Li authorizes Wang Yixue to fire discreetly at a Starlink satellite, which is destroyed. After the machines return, he orders Tong Yao to demonstrate a miniature missile against tank target 355. Its enormous explosion produces a mushroom cloud and triggers evacuation alarms, although the elders’ subsequent scan detects no radiation 48 49 50.

Notable Quotes

“Even if Old Kong is a tiger, we’ll still knock out two of his front teeth!” 18

“We can’t let a man of merit shed both blood and tears!!” 22

“You two have ten minutes. Capture every last one of them alive!” 35