From the 7th Steel Company to the Synthetic Division

The news that the missile unit of the Tsunami Brigade had been destroyed quickly reached Brigade Commander Wang Hu.

"What??"

Wang Hu was greatly shocked and immediately asked, "Do you still have the ability to retaliate?"

"The entire squad was destroyed; not a single person or vehicle survived." Chief of Staff Gui's face was grim.

"How can we fight back when things happened so suddenly?"

Commander Wang's face turned ashen with rage. He gritted his teeth and growled like a wounded tiger, saying loudly, "This grudge, Chen Jun, I will remember it."

After finishing his sentence, he immediately contacted Xiahou Yuan, explained the situation on Haixiao Road, and reiterated, "Although I am willing to risk losing a missile unit, our plan to jointly encircle and annihilate the Steel Seventh Brigade remains unchanged."

"it is good."

Xiahou Lan, who had just boarded the helicopter, promised: "Our Mountain Eagle Brigade will be responsible for aerial search, air cover and fire support. You will send ground troops from the nearest location to blockade the Black Pine Forest area and take out the Steel Seventh Brigade together."

"Okay, it's settled then. Wait for my news," said Brigade Commander Wang.

……

The 7th Steel Brigade.

"Deputy Brigade Commander Gao, the Army Aviation Battalion reports that the air operation has been successfully completed. Should we return to base?" the communications staff officer asked.

"Hmm, wait a minute."

Chen Jun and Wang Qingrui had already left, so Gao Cheng didn't make a decision rashly. However, he didn't just wait around either. Instead, he asked the experts, "Deputy Director Liu, Professor Wang, do you think we should do something like this, killing two birds with one stone?"
Since the helicopter has already gone over there, why not go to Hill 708 and give them another taste of their power?

Takagi was quite audacious; not content with taking a bite out of the Tsunami Brigade, he wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to achieve multiple goals at once.

"Does the army aviation formation that was sent out have any ammunition left?" Professor Wang asked.

"There are also some rockets and air-to-ground missiles," the communications officer replied.

"Why bring them back when you've already taken them out?" Professor Wang said with a smile.

"Wouldn't launching two attacks in a row be too reckless?" said Qiu Ming, the intelligence officer.

"I understand what Professor Wang means."

Deputy Brigade Commander Gao explained, "Both of these units are currently on Hill 708, and they must be discussing how to attack us. Instead of waiting for them to attack us, we should take the initiative to strike and further deplete their manpower."

Even if it's just to bother them a little, it'll still make our presence known.

Gao Cheng's explanation was comprehensive, and Deputy Director Liu, who had been silent until now, commented with satisfaction: "Good, that's what you call having guts. I support this idea."

"Huh? Who are you going to find? Who's going to fight whom?"

Sun Zhu, who always travels around as a reporter, suddenly found himself outside the command post and came running in curiously to ask questions.

The experts had no liking for Sun Zhu, and no one offered an explanation for him.

Gao Cheng and the others from the Seventh Steel Brigade didn't want to pay him any attention either, knowing that he was a man of impure thoughts and ill intentions, and they also didn't answer Sun Zhu's question.

Sun Zhu, being a journalist, was shameless enough to say that since no one answered him, he continued, "Following you guys, I'm like I'm on a pirate ship, with no time to rest at all."

He clearly followed along out of fear of death, yet he's making it sound like he was begged to come.

This shamelessness is unparalleled.

People naturally don't want to bother with this kind of person, so no one answered him.

Sun Zhu could see that what he said was like farting, but as a reporter, his sensitivity to the latest news made him feel uneasy, as if a cat's claws were scratching at his heart.

With unwavering shamelessness, he asked again, "So, who are you talking about hitting whom?"

"Does it matter who hits whom?" Hong Yi said unhappily.

"Of course it's important. When interviewing about a live-fire exercise, the first thing to find out is who the commanders of the red and blue forces are, what their weapons and equipment are like, and the quality of their personnel..."

"The red and blue teams are no longer divided."

Deputy Director Liu couldn't stand it anymore and interrupted Sun Zhu's incessant rambling.

"Both the red and blue teams are gone, what kind of exercise is this?"

This short sentence reveals that Sun Zhu is a seasoned old fogey who only believes in rigid methods.

"It's not a question of who's attacking whom now. The Wufeng Mountain area is like a Three Kingdoms drama. The key is which side you're on," Gao Cheng asked seriously.

"As a veteran journalist, I will not take sides; I only pursue objectivity and impartiality."

Only Sun Zhu took his words seriously; everyone else almost burst out laughing. Based on his previous statements, he didn't deserve to use the words "objective and fair."

So Hong Yi mocked this point, saying, "Are you sure you're pursuing objectivity and fairness?"

Sun Zhu's skin was as thick as pigskin. Others would have felt their faces burning after being rebuked by Hong Yi like that, but he remained completely unfazed.

He stubbornly insisted, "Shouldn't we at least figure out who the Red Army and who the Blue Army are?"

"All three forces are professional opposing forces. Is it really necessary to distinguish who is the opposing force now? Aren't you just adding unnecessary details?" Professor Wang mocked.

"In the past six months, whenever the Seventh Steel Brigade appears, bizarre things always happen." Sun Zhu couldn't win the argument, so he could only resort to old stories and stubbornly argue his way out of it.

"You're right, but that's how modern warfare is."

Hong Yi spoke eloquently: "Politics, diplomacy, military affairs, personal grudges, and public opinion are all intertwined. Even a rumor on the Internet can trigger a war."

We can't judge who is right and who is wrong. From our own interests, everyone thinks the other is wrong and has their own reasons for it. From our own perspective, we all think we are the only fair one.

What some people perceive as sophistry is merely a biased perspective.

Hong Yi's words were not to be underestimated, and his reasoned and well-founded rebuttal was enough to overwhelm even the thick-skinned Sun Zhu.

He could only deceive himself and pretend he hadn't heard, muttering to himself, "The only gain from getting on this pirate ship is understanding what robber logic is and realizing how extraordinary the Blue Army's way of thinking is."

Sun Zhu was always trying to take advantage of the situation, and Hong Yi couldn't hold back his temper any longer.

He coldly retorted, "Excuse me, comrade, did we invite you here? It seems we didn't. You were the one who shamelessly insisted on coming to our Steel Seventh Brigade. We've been treating you to good food and drink, and you call us a pirate ship? Have you no shame?"

Hong Yi's words were truly devastating, starkly exposing Sun Zhu's hypocrisy.

Sun Zhu's face turned green with anger.

Gao Cheng was ecstatic, but he couldn't resist adding insult to injury: "Hey reporter, didn't you say you were going to interview someone? I'm actually quite interested. Why don't you interview me instead?"

Gao Cheng thought to himself, "If you agree, I'll roast you to death during the interview later."

"No need for that, I'd like to choose for myself."

Sun Zhu saw through Gao Cheng's ill intentions and was so frightened that she immediately refused.

"Okay, whatever you say."

The higher-ups were too lazy to listen to his rambling anymore, and instead arranged to implement the ideas they had just discussed.

Sun Zhu's eyes darted around the room, and he sensed that the brigade-level officers of the Seventh Steel Brigade all looked menacing and not to be trifled with.

Being inherently cowardly, he dared not provoke anyone and ultimately chose a seemingly easy target – Professor Wang, who wore glasses and looked quite refined!
"Professor Wang, could you tell me how you feel right now?" Sun Zhu asked, holding a recorder and moving closer to Professor Wang.

"How do I put it?"

Professor Wang smiled and said, "It feels pretty good. I've never been so immersive before. I really like this kind of observation mode."

These positive words were not what Sun Zhu wanted to hear, so he deliberately steered the conversation by asking, "Did you join the Seventh Steel Brigade voluntarily? Were you threatened or coerced? If so, tell me, and I will expose you truthfully."

When Sun Zhu said that last sentence, he seemed to think of himself as a messenger of justice.

"No one is coercing me."

Professor Wang sensed something was wrong with Sun Zhu, and his expression turned serious as he asked, "What's wrong, reporter? Do you have a different opinion?"

"hehe."

Everyone sneered. Sun Zhu's true intentions were obvious to all; only Sun Zhu himself was still putting on an act.

"It's nothing, but I think it's just your personal feeling."

When Sun Zhu didn't get what she wanted, she turned to Deputy Director Liu next to her and said, "Deputy Director Liu, could you also tell me your feelings?"

"I don't have time right now, and I'm not available for an interview. You can talk to the other colleagues." Deputy Director Liu disliked Sun Zhu and refused outright.

"Ok."

Although Sun Zhu was a reporter from the General Staff Department, he was still just a reporter, and he had no temper with the experts from the military research institute.

Because he poses no threat to the other party at all, and might even get himself into trouble.

Researchers are precious talents; their networks are beyond the imagination of ordinary people.

"Deputy Brigade Commander Gao, please connect me to the exercise command," said Deputy Director Liu.

"What is this?" Gao Cheng asked.

"I want to call the police."

The moment the words "Deputy Director Liu" were uttered, everyone present was stunned. There was clearly no connection between a military exercise and an emergency call.

Without offering any explanation, Deputy Director Liu strode over to the communications officer and said, "Connect me to the exercise command post. I need to speak with Deputy Commander-in-Chief Qian."

"Yes!"

Chen Jun and Brigade Commander Wang had previously said that they would follow the expert group's instructions on how to conduct this exercise, so the communications staff didn't ask any further questions and started operating directly.

Amidst the puzzled gazes of Gao Cheng, Hong Yi, and others, the call was quickly connected to Deputy Commander Qian's landline.

"Hello, is this Deputy Commander-in-Chief Qian? This is Liu Mingyuan, the deputy leader of the expert group."

Deputy Commander Qian, who had been anxiously awaiting news but had received nothing, jumped to his feet upon hearing the voice on the phone.

He asked anxiously, "Deputy Director Liu? Where are you now? Are you alright? Please tell me quickly, and I will send someone to pick you up immediately."

“I have something to attend to. Our expert team has officially joined the Seventh Steel Brigade. Please rest assured, exercise command, the exercise can continue,” said Deputy Director Liu.

"What? You've joined the Seventh Steel Brigade?"

Faced with such an absurd situation, Deputy Commander Qian initially thought he had misheard, explaining, "This is impossible. You must have been detained by the Seventh Steel Brigade. They must have threatened and coerced you."

Team Leader Liu, please rest assured, I will arrange for troops to rescue you with all my might. As for the misdeeds of the Seventh Steel Brigade, I will also severely punish them..."

"Beep beep."

Before Deputy Commander Qian could finish speaking, the microphone went dead.

Deputy Director Liu not only hung up the phone, too lazy to listen to Deputy Commander Qian's pointless words, but also unplugged the phone line.

Hong Yi couldn't understand what was going on and said, completely bewildered, "Deputy Director Liu, what do you mean by this? You're just harming us."

"You guys were just stirring things up anyway, so we'll just go along with you and stir up this stagnant water, making the situation even more unpredictable," Deputy Director Liu laughed.

"Well, if that's the case, then we'll just go all the way with the bad guys." Gao Cheng laughed as well.

……

708 Hill.

Tsunami Brigade Command Post.

"Immediately report our joint encirclement and annihilation operation to the exercise command." After a meeting, Brigade Commander Wang issued the order.

"it is good."

Chief of Staff Gui nodded and went to carry it out.

"Brigade Commander Wang, wouldn't it be better not to report this for now?" Chief of Staff Su of the Mountain Eagle Brigade said.

"Why?" Commander Wang asked.

"I'm worried that if Deputy Commander Qian disagrees, or if he has any new ideas or demands, should we comply or not? Complying will definitely cause delays, so it's better to start fighting first and then report it," Chief of Staff Su suggested.

"That's true."

Commander Wang suddenly realized and said, "When a general is in the field, he may not obey the emperor's orders. Let's wait until he asks us. If he doesn't ask, we'll continue the attack."

No sooner had Commander Wang finished speaking than the faint sound of helicopters could be heard from the sky.

"Chief of Staff Su, your Mountain Eagle Brigade's helicopters arrived really quickly, in such a short while." Brigade Commander Wang praised with satisfaction.

"That can't be right. How could a reconnaissance mission over the Black Pine Forest area end up at Hill 708?" Chief of Staff Su asked in confusion.

"Ok??"

Brigade Commander Wang felt that this seemed to be the case. Just as he was wondering if something had gone wrong, the helicopters in the sky launched their attack.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa..."

"Puff puff……"

The whistling of rockets and missiles descending from the sky could be heard very clearly.

Commander Wang and his entourage immediately sensed something was wrong and rushed out of the command post, looking up at the distant sky.

Upon closer inspection, it became clear that something was amiss; the markings on the helicopter belonged to the 7th Steel Brigade.

"Oh no, these are armed helicopters from the 7th Steel Brigade. The 7th Steel Brigade is about to capture Hill 708." Chief of Staff Gui's face turned pale with fright.

Their surface-to-air missile units were destroyed, which means they have lost their air defense capabilities.

If armed helicopters were to coordinate with infantry attacks, the support from the Mountain Eagle Brigade would be too far away to arrive in time, making it very difficult to hold Hill 708.

“Chen Jun dares to attack my 708 Hill? I, Wang, will fight him to the bitter end,” Brigade Commander Wang Hu said with a gloomy face.

So far, there's no indication that the 7th Steel Brigade hasn't moved an inch on the ground. Since a single armed helicopter squadron couldn't capture Hill 708, Wang Hu does have some confidence in holding it. (End of Chapter)