It boosted Han Xin's confidence in himself to see his soldiers so enthusiastically going about their work. Han was their leader and he must be doing something right to make his soldiers feel this way. Looking back on the past couple of days there had been plenty of successes. He and his small army had taken control of the nuclear weapons of two of the largest and most impactful countries in the world.
Of course Han had made some costly mistakes. Perhaps his biggest mistake was not sending near enough soldiers to kill Qi Lian and Qi Wei prior to their escape from the Red Tide military installation. If he hadn't made that error he likely would have been sitting in the Fort Tilden now, getting ready to launch the nuclear attack. Also if he could do it all over again he would have sacked Russia first, and then hit the U.S. That was only with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight though. The information he had at the time of the attack was incomplete.
Han realized that he had been arrogant and underestimated his enemies. It was because of this the good doctor was dead. So was Qi Lee. Han felt a great deal of regret because of the deaths of those two. Both died because of him underestimating Qi Lian. Not to mention the many Red Tide soldiers who had died as a result of him underestimating the U.S.
Yet here the Red Tide soldiers were, putting Han's plans into place happily. Han had managed to cultivate personal relationships with many of the Red Tide soldiers, something that he was quite proud of. This was likely the source of their loyalty for him. They understood that he did not wish to see any of them die, indeed that was contrary to his plan. He needed as many Red Tide soldiers as possible in order to repopulate the earth once the majority of the human population had been destroyed. In his original plan he had intended to even pick up the second "batch" of Red Tide soldiers. But Qi Lian and Qi Wei had forced him to accelerate his plan and abandon this idea.
Just thinking about all the problems Qi Lian had caused him made him angry. She had created a level of self doubt in Han that had not existed before. But now that self doubt had disappeared. His brilliant plan had started rolling, and his trap had been set. He knew Qi Lian would step right into it. This is exactly what Han wanted.
Han walked around the restored lighthouse that he was standing in. The sun was setting on yet another day. There were a few clouds in the sky that were colored pink in the distance. Han was standing at the top of the lighthouse, where the light used to be. Everything around him was freshly painted white. Behind Han stood a Red Tide sniper who was ready to kill anyone who came near to the lighthouse. Of course this would be nowhere near enough to stop Qi Lian.
At the base of the lighthouse was gray colored masonry. This had been recently redone as well, as part of the restoration. Surrounding this section of the lighthouse were homemade landmines, which had been planted as a nice surprise for any invading force that Qi Lian assembled. And in the midsection of the lighthouse was masonry that had been painted bright red. In each of the windows of this section of the house stood more Red Tide snipers, helping to further ready the building for an attack.
If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
In the area surrounding the lighthouse, there were numerous evergreen trees. Hiding in this wooded area was the balance of the Red Tide soldiers. These men and women were ready for hand to hand combat with the attacking force.
The structure, combined with the fact that it sat on an island, proved to be a perfect place to hold battle. And the moment Qi Lian attacked this place, she would fall victim to Han's trap, and ultimately that would lead to her demise. Han smiled at his plan, this would be something that Qi Lian did not think about.
"Qi Jiguang tell me how preparations are coming with the landmines." Han instructed.
"Sir, all the land mines have been set." Qi Jiguang replied.
"Excellent, and are all the men and women at their posts?" Han asked.
"They are sir, we are completely prepared for battle at this point." Qi Jiguang answered.
"OK, how about our troops cracking the nuclear codes? How far along are they and how many have reached Fort Tilden?" Han wondered.
"Only about 10 or so have arrived at Fort Tilden thus far sir. We have sent a few more who arrived here to head to Fort Tilden as well. All remaining soldiers have been ordered to Fort Tilden as soon as their method of travel permits rerouting. It appears that we may have lost a few soldiers in transit though sir. Several have completely unknown whereabouts." Qi Jiguang explained.
"No doubt this is the work of the American super troops. It matters not though. We will soon be rid of all of them. I originally had hoped to convince some of them to join us, but their loyalty to their government has cost them their lives. They can burn with the rest of the human population." Han said.
Han and Qi Jiguang came down out of the tower of the lighthouse. As they did they made sure to check on each soldier in the lighthouse. They verified everyone was in position, and that everyone was prepared for battle. After checking each station inside the lighthouse, the two men carefully exited the structure. The landmines had been marked with an isotope which could be made visible to some special goggles that had conveniently been supplied by the Chinese military. This was a tactic the Red Tide soldiers were well versed in from their training. Using the goggles the men could easily avoid the landmines, while their attackers would not be so fortunate.
Now Han Xin and Qi Jiguang walked around the wooded area of the island. Han took a deep breath at one point during the walk and noted the wonderful smell the mixture of evergreens gave off. This was something he had never been able to experience in the Chinese military installment. In fact there wasn't a single tree to be found there.
"Ah you smell that Qi Jiguang? We may as well take a moment to enjoy it. I have no idea when we will be able to smell such an incredible odor again." Han stated.
"I do smell it sir, it is quite nice." Qi Jiguang responded.
"I think that everything is in perfect order. This is exactly as I had imagined it. But now I believe it is time to implement the final part of this plan that you and I discussed earlier." Han said.
"Yes sir, follow me. I have that portion of the plan taken care of as well." Qi Jiguang replied.
"Excellent!" Han exclaimed as the two men walked to a private corner of the island.