Zhou Ran listened to the entire message from start to finish and immediately drew three conclusions:

  Firstly, if bandits dare to attack a heavily guarded city, there can only be one reason: someone inside the city is collaborating with them.

  Secondly, the bandits are still in a state of disarray, indicating that they will not be able to launch an attack in the short term.

  Thirdly, the mastermind behind this incident must be one or a group of people whose interests in political reform have been damaged.

  Zhou Dan also put forward three countermeasures:

  Firstly, identify the insider; if there is no accident, the person who responds internally and the mastermind should be one person.

  Secondly, lure the snake out of the cave, deliberately show weakness to the enemy, not only do not recall various troops, but also create a fake appearance of emptiness in Jingzhou, and lure the enemy into the trap.

  Thirdly, take advantage of internal conflicts or the main culprit to set up an ambush and wipe out all the bandits that threaten the Xiangxi business road.

  Wang Zhenyu was overjoyed after hearing this, and he immediately got up from his seat, hugged Zhou Dan's arm and said: "Sir is really a great talent! I just met you today, it was my fault for not recognizing you earlier. Let me make amends, let me make amends. Tonight, I'll be the host, and we can all have a simple dinner together."

  After dinner, Liu Xing was appointed as the battalion commander of the directly affiliated battalion of the Travel Department, and Zhou Dan was appointed as the deputy battalion commander. The special affairs company, the instructional team, and the reconnaissance company were all incorporated into this battalion. At the same time, the task of searching for internal traitors was handed over to this battalion.

  Many years later, Zhou Lian, who had risen to a high position, would often recall this period from being an excellent student at the Third Middle School of the Army to being a fugitive wanted by the Hunan Governor's Office, and then becoming a lieutenant colonel in the Ferocious Tiger Corps. Adding to that his subsequent glorious years of smooth sailing, he couldn't help but sigh: "Life is full of ups and downs, unpredictable changes; if I hadn't met Wang Shuai in this life, even with my great talent, I, Zhou Lian, would have been nothing."

  The kindness of knowing, cannot be repaid. After becoming a proud lieutenant colonel from an escaped prisoner, Zhou Dan immediately started the investigation work. He immediately selected sixty inconspicuous young men from the training team, special operations company and reconnaissance company, disguised them, and sent them to public places such as tea houses and temples in the city without explaining their mission, just giving them a sum of money, and letting them mix with people and gather information.

  For several days in a row, there was no reliable news, and Liu Xing was getting anxious: "Brother Zhou Dang, this is the first task that we brothers have undertaken in the Hu Lao Brigade. If it fails, our faces will be lost."

  Zhou Dan drank a cup of rice wine, then picked up a peanut with chopsticks and threw it into his mouth. While chewing, he said vaguely: "Liu brother, you are also self-centered. Firstly, you and the brigade commander are relatives. Secondly, what are you not assured of when I handle things?"

  Liu Xing was annoyed by Zhou Dan's careless attitude, and he stomped his foot and left. It's better to discuss strategy and tactics with Li Zongren than to waste time arguing with this fool.

  Jingzhou City's Wangjiang Teahouse is still doing a pretty good business. Today was the first public hearing of the council, and many people went to listen in. After listening, they came out and gathered at the teahouse, sipping tea while chatting, after all, this council thing is quite novel.

  "This parliament is really not just for show, you see, even the newly appointed head of the police department was being very polite to the members of parliament, answering whatever questions they asked. A middle-aged man with a headscarf was the first to speak up."

  "Wang San-ge, you're telling me, I've lived this big and it's the first time I've seen it. And this parliament is really different from the past government offices. In the past, they only knew how to impose taxes and collect donations. This parliament is actually thinking of setting up schools, hospitals, and even talking about free education, so that everyone's children can go to school, is this for real?" Another slightly shorter middle-aged man asked with doubt.

  "I'm telling you, this is no trivial matter. I'll let you in on a secret: who do you think brought up this case? It was none other than our own clan's patriarch, Wang Zuhui. And I'm not just bragging. Among the seven major groups in this parliament, our patriarch is the regional representative, while the others are either from the Chamber of Commerce or are renowned figures." That's what Wang San'ge said with a self-satisfied smile.

  "Wang San Ge, what is this regional representative thing..."

  Looking at the enthusiastic discussion in the middle of the table, three men with a lot of flesh on their faces sitting at the outer table seemed very unhappy.

  "These sons of bitches are now gloating." One of them, a sturdy fellow, was almost on the verge of exploding in anger.

  The two men beside him hastily pulled him back: "Huang Erge, don't be impulsive, don't ruin the good things for Lao Da."

  The man called Huang Erge sat down with a scowl, still muttering: "Don't look at how lively they are today, tomorrow we'll settle the bill."

  The other two people persuaded him a few more times, and Huang Erge finally calmed down.

  They didn't notice at all that behind them, leaning against the corner of the table, a young man with an unremarkable appearance had a sharp glint in his eyes. Then, nothing happened, and the young man continued to eat with his head down.

  Huang Ergou would definitely regret his impulsiveness if he knew the young man's identity.

  This young man is named Hu Fulin, from Baoqing, not very old, exactly twenty this year. His personality is quite mature. He doesn't talk much, but his observational skills are strong, and his analytical abilities are even stronger. However, he was assigned to the training team, which led to a tragedy. Compared to physical strength, he ranked last; compared to leading troops, someone who doesn't talk much has problems with communication and command ability when interacting with soldiers. Therefore, Hu Fulin stayed in the training team for three months, while most of his peers became platoon leaders, but he was left behind and became a nominal deputy squad leader.

  If it weren't for his rustic appearance that perfectly fit Zhou Lan's selection criteria, Hu Fulin's fate might have been sealed, unable to make a name for himself in the coaching team. He would have then been assigned to an security unit as a junior officer, served out his term, returned home after demobilization, continued farming, and placed his hopes on the next generation - this is the life of most people.

  It just so happens that Hu Fulin has the same luck as Wang Baoqiang, being rustic to the extreme is also a kind of talent. This time, there was only one detective like him. And the person who caught the big fish happened to be him too. The legend of a special agent head began from here...

  Hu Fulin did not rush back to report, but quietly followed Huang Ergou and his party all the way to Huang Jianxiong's home, before slowly returning to see Zhou Lian.

  "Good, good, good!" After listening to Hu Fulin's report, Zhou Dang was overjoyed and relieved. The recent pressure had been too great, knowing that the enemy existed but being unable to catch them, now they had finally found them, naturally he exclaimed three "good"s.

  Liu Xing was about to prepare his men to capture the person, but was stopped by Zhou Dan: "Don't be in a hurry, a cooked duck can't fly, bring Xiao Hu along, we'll go see the commander."

  Wang Zhenyu listened to Zhou Dan's report and reacted the same way as Liu Xing: Since you've found him, what's the point of reporting? Why not go catch him?

  Zhou Dan asked Commander Wang Zhenyu very boldly: "Commander, are you planning to gradually eliminate these bandits later or solve the problem once and for all?"

  This remark struck a chord in Wang Zhenyu's heart. The wolf disaster has been solved, and now the biggest problem in Jingzhou is the banditry. Although he can solve the problems of the people and bandits in the lower districts through the method of sharing profits with the business town, he is indeed at a loss for what to do outside the jurisdiction. He can't bring a large group of people to Liu Xiansheng's turf in Guizhou and say, "Director Liu, I'm here to fight the bandits, and I'll leave after I finish." Ask if Liu Xiansheng believes it?

  But bringing these bandits in and eliminating them is another matter altogether. The people of Guizhou under your jurisdiction are willing to relocate, you can't be looking for trouble with me, can you?

  Wang Zhenyu was also a clever person, and when Zhou Lian asked him like that, he immediately understood the problem.

  He twirled the pencil in his hand, his eyes fixed intently on Zhou Dan's, telling him word by word: "This matter, I'll leave it to you to handle."

  Zhou Manzhong solemnly saluted Wang Zhenyu with a military salute: "Yes."

  When the three were about to leave, Wang Zhenyu spoke again: "I plan to set up a cement plant in Jingzhou and also want to repair the road. These are all labor-intensive tasks, it would be great if we had free labor. Director Zhou, what do you think?"

  Director Zhou? Zhou Luan was stunned for a moment, wasn't he the deputy captain? How did he become the director?

  Wang Zhenyu liked seeing Zhou Dang's cleverness being dumbfounded, as it gave him a sense of accomplishment. He didn't explain anything and waved his hand to let them leave.

  The next day, Zhao Dongsheng conveyed the order to Wang Zhenyu: "Appoint Zhou Dan as the middle school captain of the Military Intelligence Division of the Jingzhou Garrison Command".

  While establishing great merit Hu Fulin was also promoted to lieutenant and belonged to the Military Intelligence Bureau.

  Zhou Dan was suddenly excited, and immediately began to set up actions day and night. He tightly remembered Wang Zhenyu's words: the commander needs a large amount of free labor force...

  Zhou Ran has already caught Huang Jianxiong's tail, but Yang Shouyin and Yang Dawang's work on the contract road is not going so smoothly.

  Time has entered the middle and lower half of May, although he is old, but Yang Shouyin does not mind the hard work, still insists on participating in community work, walking around the streets, going to open blank checks one by one. After much effort, relying on sufficient tempting promises and the prestige of the old comrade, except for a few families with old grudges who were unwilling to cooperate, Comrade Yang Shouyin finally gathered dozens of large and small forces in the entire Qiandongnan area together.

  Because it's divided by the number of people, so in terms of the number of people, these households are all somewhat overstated. When added up, there are actually over 30,000 people. However, that doesn't matter, Yang Shouyin estimated that 30,000 is definitely not possible, but 10,000 people is definitely not too few.

  The latest intelligence from Jingzhou is also very encouraging. It is said that the 9th Brigade, which originally had more than 4,000 people, has recently moved a considerable number of troops. The three main regiments have gone to Huitong, Tongdao and Suining counties to assist in setting up some security detachment. Never mind, in short, there are now less than 1,000 soldiers left in Jingzhou City.

  It's less than a tenth of our own, what are we afraid of? We can just overwhelm them with sheer numbers.

  Yang Shouyin's thinking is indeed simple, after all, he has been turning around in this mountain for a lifetime. The most powerful official army he encountered was only the local garrison troops. Moreover, the local garrison troops were also very cunning, and they would consider it done if they drove you into the mountains, not even taking one step into the mountains themselves. Of course, this is not entirely to nurture bandits for their own benefit, but rather because these professional bandits are like fish in water once they enter the mountains. At this point, recklessly going in to pursue them would change the problem from how to catch up with them to how to avoid being caught by them.

  After a long time, Yang Shouyin, who was narrow-minded and short-sighted, felt that the army outside the mountain was nothing to be afraid of. He often said to people: If it weren't for Hong Jiang having Cai Jun, who was indeed good at fighting, with these three thousand soldiers in his hands, he, Yang Shouyin, would have already come out of the mountains and entered the city to become a great king.

  Now Hongjiang has become the fifth provincial reserve area, Cai Junxian no longer manages the affairs of Jingzhou Prefecture, and the Baojing Town Guard Commander's Office, which is in charge of Jingzhou Prefecture, actually sent a young man with no hair on his upper lip to serve as the reserve commander (Huang Jianxiong said), so I, old Yang, will not be polite, kill!