From the 7th Steel Company to the Synthetic Division

From the perspective of the participating troops and personnel, they all hoped that the exercise would end in a grand and spectacular manner, rather than ending halfway through like it is now.

Chen Jun wanted to fight, Wang Hu wanted to fight, and Xiahou Lan also wanted to fight.

However, considering the need for stability from the perspective of higher-level leaders and the long-term development of the military,

They want things to stop at the right time.

Different opinions have emerged regarding the outcome of the Warrior Operation exercise, prompting the directing department to hold a press conference to address the issue.

The debriefing meeting for this exercise will be led by Deputy Commander Qian.

Reporters from all levels of military newspapers came to participate.

Chief of Staff Shen, Group Leader Tan, and the military commanders of the three participating units, including Chen Jun, Xiahou Lan, and Wang Hu, did not participate in this meeting.

Deputy Commander Qian also knew that this outcome was not what the three Blue Army units wanted.

Therefore, it was not mandatory for the brigade commander to participate; instead, each of the three participating units was asked to send a representative who could represent their respective brigade.

The 7th Steel Brigade sent Political Commissar Tian Baoguo, the Mountain Eagle Brigade sent Chief of Staff Su, and only the Tsunami Brigade had Brigade Commander Wang participating.

"Just now, I gave an overview of the Warrior Operation exercise and its achievements to you reporters. Thank you for your participation..."

After the press conference was opened by Deputy Commander-in-Chief Qian, the Q&A session with reporters began.

"As Deputy Commander-in-Chief Qian just said, this exercise ended with the Red Army successfully rescuing the expert group. However, the members of the expert group who participated in this exercise believe that the exercise is not over and they hope to continue. Deputy Commander-in-Chief Qian, what is your opinion?"

The reporter asked a very pointed question, which could be considered the most controversial point of the entire exercise. Deputy Commander Qian had already prepared his answer.

"In order to make this exercise more realistic, we followed the instructions of our superiors and made appropriate and flexible adjustments to the exercise plan during the exercise process."

On behalf of my superiors, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all the experts for participating in this exercise and for their enthusiastic cooperation.

This was the outcome we anticipated, so the exercise naturally ended once the expected results were achieved.

By having his superiors vouch for him, Deputy Commander Qian effectively silenced the reporters present and demonstrated his execution capabilities.

No one dug up any news on this issue, and then a second reporter stood up to ask a question.

"We all know that this exercise was very dramatic and creative. It started as a confrontation between the red and blue teams, but later it turned into a confrontation between the red, blue and gray teams."

Because of the appearance of this mysterious gray unit, the situation eventually turned into a confrontation between the Red and Blue forces and the mysterious gray unit. This unit is the 7th Steel Brigade of the Chinese Army.

What interests me is the opportunity to interview Chief of Staff Chen Jun of the 7th Steel Brigade, to hear his thoughts on why we chose to play a disruptive role in this exercise.

Chen Jun is no longer the ignorant man he once was; he is now famous throughout the army, and many people have heard of him.

Now that they had the opportunity to interview Chen Jun, the reporters naturally wouldn't let it pass. So, as the reporter asked the question, all the reporters perked up.

"This question will be answered by Political Commissar Tian Baoguo of our Seventh Steel Brigade," said Deputy Commander-in-Chief Qian.

"Well, Chief of Staff Chen Jun has important matters to attend to. He has a lot of work to do after the exercise. I think everyone can understand that. So I will answer your question on his behalf."

Tian Baoguo took over the topic with ease, saying, "This Warrior Action exercise is a unique exercise. The three units participating in this exercise are three very representative professional opposing forces of our army."

Because our military branches are different, our professional subjects and specialties are also different.

As a digitalized combined arms brigade of the Army, the Steel 7th Brigade, a specialized opposing force serving as the Blue Army, has only one purpose in participating in the exercise.

It's about showcasing the results of our regular training and demonstrating our characteristics and strengths as a hypothetical adversary.

A professional blue force aims to improve the training level of the red force in order to achieve victory on the battlefield, rather than victory in exercises.

As a specialized adversary force, the 7th Steel Brigade is similar to a conventional specialized opposing force.

I just had one more objective than them: not only the Red Army was our enemy, but all the Blue Army forces were also our enemies.

Therefore, disrupting the enemy's plans is one of our regular tactics and missions.

Chief of Staff Chen Jun believed that the predetermined objectives of the exercise had been achieved, and he felt he could go home, so he accepted the instructions from the directing department.

Nearly 10,000 troops were evacuated, and he and the brigade commander were indispensable in every detail. Therefore, on behalf of them and the entire Steel Seventh Brigade, I would like to express my gratitude to the media and friends who care about the development of the Chinese Blue Army.

Tian Baoguo's words were impeccable, and after he finished speaking, he stood up and saluted everyone in gratitude.

This drew enthusiastic applause from the audience.

The applause lasted for a full six or seven seconds. After it ended, Deputy Commander Qian asked the crowd, "Does anyone else have a question?"

Another large group of reporters raised their hands.

Sun Zhu was among them.

Sun Zhu was sitting in the front row, his brows furrowed, clearly in a bad mood. As the reporter with the highest military rank, he naturally had the right to ask questions in this round.

"Deputy Commander Qian, I am the reporter who covered the entire exercise in the most detail. Although there were some disruptions during the exercise, these disruptions were very close to actual combat and were accepted and actively participated in by the participating officers and soldiers."

Meanwhile, the experts I contacted were also very interested in participating in this exercise, but the final result left me feeling disappointed and embarrassed.

If it were Sun Zhu from two days ago, Sun Zhu who hadn't been in contact with the Seventh Steel Brigade, Sun Zhu who hadn't talked to Chen Jun, he certainly wouldn't have asked this question.

Because at that time he was extremely averse to "innovation" and was in cahoots with Deputy Commander-in-Chief Qian.

But ever since his trip to the Seventh Steel Brigade, Sun Zhu has opened the door to a new world. Once he stepped into this new world, he knew what the right path was.

That's why such radical remarks were made regarding the way the exercise ended.

“Old Sun, you’re an old comrade now. I think you shouldn’t have raised such a low-level question.”

Deputy Commander Qian retorted with a single sentence, implying that Sun Zhu had previously been on his side, leaving Sun Zhu speechless and only able to sit down.

Looking back on her previous remarks, Sun Zhu now feels truly ashamed.

However, just as Deputy Commander Qian was beaming with pride and had easily silenced Sun Zhu, a seasoned reporter, Brigade Commander Wang spoke up.

"Deputy Commander Qian, excuse me, I'd like to answer Reporter Sun's question."

Since Brigade Commander Wang had already offered to answer the questions, Deputy Commander-in-Chief Qian couldn't very well refuse outright. So he said, "Now, let's have Brigade Commander Wang, the representative of the Red Army, tell you how they won the victory." Deputy Commander-in-Chief Qian specifically emphasized "won the victory," but Wang Hu, representing the victorious side, didn't smile.

Instead, he said expressionlessly, "In this exercise, our Red Army completed the rescue mission, and on the surface, we have won."

As stated in this press release, under the strict organization and scientific command of our Red Army, and with the close cooperation of the Navy and Air Force, the mysterious camp of the 7th Steel Brigade was successfully captured, the expert group and reporters were safely rescued, and quickly transferred to a safe area.

However, I am very clear that our Red Army's victory was actually handed over by the 7th Steel Brigade, and strictly speaking, we did not win at all.

Because the 7th Steel Brigade withdrew unscathed without any losses, while we lost a missile unit.

Wang Hu's words were absolutely shocking, causing an uproar in the room as soon as he spoke, and all the reporters were stunned and started discussing it intensely.

The scene instantly resembled a bustling market, filled with all sorts of incredulous sounds.

The deputy commander-in-chief, who was originally feeling smug and proud, was so angry that his face turned ashen when he saw the press conference go completely off track.

……

The director's press conference is underway. The three participating units here are all large brigades with several thousand personnel, and it will take some time for them to evacuate completely.

Chen Jun, Wang Qingrui, and other members of the brigade headquarters were also waiting for the political commissar to return so they could leave together.

Just as Chen Jun, Wang Qingrui, Hong Yi, and Gao Cheng were sitting together, drinking tea and discussing the exercise, they were disappointed that it hadn't ended perfectly and had turned out so anticlimactically, which was really disheartening.

A command drone flew overhead, with a large mountain eagle emblem hanging on its helicopter.

Chen Jun and his group immediately recognized that the people who came were from the Mountain Eagle Brigade, but they couldn't tell who they were or why they had come.

Everyone had their own guesses and waited with doubt and curiosity.

The answer was soon revealed.

The person who came was Xiahou Lan, who had come before and even used tactical psychology to try to intimidate the Steel Seventh Brigade.

"The exercise is already over, what is Xiahou Lan doing here?"

Seeing Xiahou Lan approaching from a distance, Chen Jun, with a hint of doubt, got up and, along with Brigade Commander Wang and others, went outside the tent to give him a courtesy greeting.

"It's been a long time, Chief of Staff Chen."

Xiahou Lan was a very arrogant person. He and Wang Qingrui exchanged a salute, completely ignoring everyone else and fixing their gaze on Chen Jun.

"We've never met before, so how can you say we've been apart for a long time?" Chen Jun said calmly.

Xiahou Lan is like a sea urchin, with a strong personality and a constant burst of energy. Anyone who gets close to him, or he will prick them all over.

Chen Jun really didn't like people with such an overly assertive personality, which is why he was so cold towards them.

“Although we’ve never met, everything about you is in my eyes and in my mind. We’ve already clashed many times,” Xiahou Lan said seriously.

"Come, come in and have a seat, Commander Xiahou."

Wang Qingrui sensed that the two didn't get along, so he acted as a peacemaker, first leading Brigade Commander Xiahou inside to sit down where they had been chatting and drinking tea.

"Our troops have mostly withdrawn; please forgive me for only having a cup of tea." Brigade Commander Wang was quite accommodating, personally pouring Xiahou Lan a cup of tea.

Meanwhile, Gao Cheng and Hong Yi, whose personalities are more direct, both looked at Xiahou Lan with cold eyes.

"A cup of clear tea until old age, all I ask for is a cup of clear tea."

Xiahou Lan even tried to act refined, but Chen Jun didn't want to beat around the bush with him anymore and went straight to the point, asking, "Why didn't you attend the victory celebration? Instead, you went to the door of a defeated general to ask for water. What exactly is the purpose of this?"

"Not only do we need water, but we also need to wage war."

Xiahou Lan didn't keep him in suspense any longer and coldly stated his purpose.

"Hey, you're really getting worked up. What's wrong? You're not happy even after winning?" Chen Jun grinned and picked up the tea on the table to drink.

"I want to drink something that symbolizes true friendship, not a cup of disgusting urine," Xiahou Lan said, pointing to the cup.

This was clearly a provocation. Hong Yi and Gao Cheng's expressions turned even uglier as they coldly stared at Xiahou Lan, as if they were about to hit him at any moment.

"Is Commander Xiahou dissatisfied with the outcome?" Wang Qingrui asked with a smile.

"Satisfied? Heh."

Xiahou Lan sneered twice, staring at Chen Jun and said, "You are humiliating me. You are not only humiliating me, but you are also humiliating the People's Liberation Army of China and desecrating the sacred profession of soldiers."

Before this, all the tricks and schemes you played, whether clever or clumsy, I believed you were acting with conscience, with ability, and fulfilling the responsibilities of a professional Blue Team commander.

But the performance in the final scene of this exercise was definitely not the act of an upright soldier.

We've been training here for a month, hoping for your arrival and for the opportunity to discuss new tactics and research new topics together, and to explore the great cause of building a blue team under the information-based reform.

You've turned a good show into a terrible sequel, a complete mess, like putting dung on a Buddha's head. Aren't you just making a fool of us?

When Xiahou Lan said the last sentence, it was as if he had suffered some great injustice, and he was so angry that he shouted out each word.

Everyone present could understand Xiahou Lan's anger, because he did indeed have reason to be angry.

Despite the final decision of the directing department that the Red and Blue Allied Forces successfully rescued the expert team and thus won the exercise, the exercise was ultimately won.

In reality, anyone with a brain knows that both the red and blue teams were the losers in this exercise.

Because both of their units were led by the nose by the 7th Steel Brigade from beginning to end, being played like monkeys, they suffered heavy losses as a result.

Finally, they assembled a large army and launched a general offensive, but only managed to capture an empty camp. The 7th Steel Brigade did not lose a single soldier or general.

From the perspective of actual warfare, the 7th Steel Brigade, which easily escaped and completely disappeared, suffered no losses in this war and instead gained many victories. The 7th Steel Brigade was the true victor in this war.

The Red and Blue armies were merely passively carrying out the rescue, which can only be described as mitigating their losses.

Victory is far from being achieved!
It was precisely because the victory was so humiliating that Xiahou Lan, as a professional soldier, was so angry and simply could not accept the result.

The victory handed to him was a slap in the face. (End of Chapter)