"Okay, everyone, have a good rest after dinner, and make plans tomorrow morning to prepare to enter Ailao Mountain."

Zhang Xiangnan walked out of the barracks with the arrogant Liu Kaifang, leaving behind a sound of awkward compliments.

"Hello, Captain."

"Well, continue patrolling."

After leaving the camp, Zhang Xiangnan came to Zhang Shuguang.

"What's wrong, son? Are you feeling unwell?"

"No, they are just a group of irrelevant people. If you hadn't happened to take this job, you probably would never have met them in your life." Zhang Shuguang turned his head to look at his father.

Zhang Xiangnan took out a cigarette and lit it. "You showed off before you left. I thought you were mad. Captain Liu just gave them a hard time."

"Just because I'm not angry doesn't mean I can let them slander and ridicule me. I also don't want Captain Liu to suffer because of me."

"Good son, so generous!"

Seeing that his son was really not angry, Zhang Xiangnan threw away the cigarette butt. The father and son stood side by side, looking at the Ailao Mountains not far away.

The Ailao Mountains in the dark night are like a dormant ancient beast, revealing a sense of oppression in its silence.

Tomorrow they will go deeper into it and face unknown challenges.

The next day, just as the sky was getting light, wisps of smoke rose from the camp. The soldiers were busy with their own things, and the expert group also walked out of the barracks.

Professor Zhong and Professor Hong are the oldest, but in the best condition.

The young people were yawning one by one, obviously they didn't sleep well last night.

"Professor Zhong, Professor Hong, how did you sleep last night?"

Zhang Xiangnan had already inspected the camp and arranged for Hu Jianpeng to look for the nearby indigenous people to see if he could find some guides.

"I slept very well. I was surrounded by soldiers from the People's Liberation Army. I felt at ease and safe when I slept."

The two old professors do academic research outside all year round, and it is common for them to sleep in the open air.

"Okay, there's a stream less than fifty meters to the east. There are soldiers along the way. Go wash up first. Breakfast will be ready soon. After breakfast, we'll have a meeting."

Zhang Xiangnan raised his hand and pointed in a direction.

"Okay, thank you for your hard work, comrades."

During breakfast, in order to avoid embarrassment, Zhang Xiangnan and his son did not go to the barracks in the middle.

After breakfast, it was time for Tong Wei and the escorting police to go back.

Fearing that Zhang Xiangnan would bring up the box of Hongtashan Mountain, Tong Wei led his men away in a hurry, as if they were running away.

Tong Wei had just left when Li Lixin reported that Hu Jianpeng had brought some fellow villagers from nearby.

"Okay, let's arrange for the fellow villagers to have breakfast first. I will meet them with the expert group at the meeting later."

After three years of undercover work, Zhang Xiangnan was promoted to the head of the group after returning. He became more mature and meticulous in his work.

He cannot just be the one to talk about the dangers of Ailao Mountain. The opinions of the local villagers nearby are more convincing than his.

After the experts had finished cleaning their lunch boxes, Zhang Xiangnan asked Li Lixin to invite the experts to the temporary command center.

Zhang Shuguang, Company Commander Liu Kaifang, and four platoon leaders attended the meeting.

"The main purpose of asking everyone to come here is to formulate a plan for exploring Ailao Mountain and to determine the command authority for this operation."

Without any empty talk or clichés, after everyone sat down, Zhang Xiangnan got straight to the point.

"Captain Zhang, before we came here, the higher-ups had already worked out a specific plan for our actions.

Professor Zhong led a team to explore the distribution of minerals in Ailao Mountain.

If the quantity is large and has mining value, superiors will arrange for engineers to enter the site.

Professor Hong led a team to observe the precious animals and plants unique to Ailao Mountain and record them in the Longguo Wild Animal and Plant List.

You are responsible for the safety and logistics of this trip, and there is no need to discuss the action plan and command authority."

Professor Zhong and Professor Hong frowned and remained silent, and naturally some young people could not sit still.

"This comrade said it very well. Obeying orders is a soldier's duty, and protecting the people's safety is a soldier's mission. I have no intention of seizing power."

Zhang Xiangnan didn't get angry but laughed instead, and even agreed with the young college student's point of view.

"What does Captain Zhang mean?"

A group of experts and scholars looked at each other, confused by Zhang Xiangnan's words.

At the beginning, they said they would formulate an exploration plan and determine the command of this operation. Now they say they will obey orders and have no intention of seizing command. Isn't this contradictory?

"We have a certain understanding of Ailao Mountain and have reported it to higher authorities. I wonder if they have informed you?"

"Before we set out, our superiors specifically pointed out the difficulty of this journey; otherwise, we wouldn't have arranged for military escort. However, no matter how dangerous or difficult the journey may be, it won't stop us or shake our resolve."

"The whole country is working together as one, contributing to the development of our country. No difficulties can stop us or make us shrink back."

"Our revolutionary martyrs climbed snow-capped mountains, crossed grasslands, crossed the Chishui River four times, sacrificed their lives, and shed their blood to win the final victory.

Compared with them, what are the difficulties and dangers before us?

Before leaving, I had already written a suicide note. If I die for my country, it will be a worthy death."

The experts and scholars were all passionate and looked ready to die.

“Everyone has said it well, the construction of Dragon Country cannot be separated from all of you who have lofty ideals.

But then again, we are here to achieve results and complete our goals, not to die.

Let’s not discuss this for now. I have hired a few fellow villagers nearby to act as guides.

They have lived around Ailao Mountain for many years and are more familiar with the situation there than we are. Let them give us a detailed introduction.”

Zhang Xiangnan signaled to Li Lixin at the door of the barracks, and Li Lixin quickly invited several villagers in.

Three people came in one after another. According to their identification, two of the three fellow villagers were Hani and one was Yi.

"Hello, sir"

The young man in the front was rubbing the corner of his clothes nervously.

"My fellow villagers, don't be nervous. We are a people's team. Do any of you speak Chinese?"

"A little bit."

The last middle-aged Yi man answered in stiff Chinese.

At that time, the concept of Mandarin had not yet been popularized. Whether in the army, factories, or university campuses, there were all kinds of accents.

If the only difference is the accent, you can still barely understand it if it is spoken slowly, but this is not the case for languages ​​unique to ethnic minorities.

Zhang Xiangnan asked the Yi fellow villager to talk about Ailao Mountain. The Yi fellow talked for a long time, but the expert group was completely confused and had no idea what he was talking about.

"Captain Liu, go find a Hani soldier and a Yi soldier who are fluent in Chinese and have them act as temporary translators."

Fortunately, there was no regulation on serving in a different place at that time, and there were many Yi and Hani soldiers in the border defense forces in southern Xinjiang.

"Reporting to the commander, all leaders, and experts, according to this fellow villager, Ailao Mountain is a cursed place and a place of exile. You can only move around the periphery and must not go deep into the depths of Ailao Mountain."