From the 7th Steel Company to the Synthetic Division

The report was actually quite simple: it stated that He Yazhou, as the political commissar, had privately approached the leader to plead for Wang Kezheng.

He seriously violated political rules and his duties as a political commissar, and was therefore criticized in a circular issued by the entire war zone.

The matter of privately pleading with a superior would not have been a big deal before the military reforms. It wouldn't have even been considered a public reprimand, let alone a direct reprimand.

Upon seeing this circular of criticism issued across the entire theater command, both Chu Zhangang and Xu Xiaocun deeply realized the seriousness of their situation.

Everything has really changed!

The pressure on his shoulders inexplicably increased, and his expression became increasingly solemn.

The reason for this announcement goes back to ten minutes earlier.

After discussing and analyzing the various advantages and disadvantages for their side, Chu Zhangang and Xu Xiaocun concluded that it was high risk and high reward.

Thinking about the benefits of a successful exercise, the two men's fighting spirit surged.

On the other hand, the military and political leaders of the 708th Brigade, who suffered a crushing defeat, left the meeting room with a heavy atmosphere. Wang Kezheng, in particular, returned to the guesthouse with a dark face and without saying a word.

He Yazhou, as the political commissar, couldn't bear it and decided to do something for Wang Kezheng.

So he went to Chief of Staff Shen, wanting to put in a good word for Wang Kezheng and hoping that the higher-ups could lower the punishment standard, as the severe punishment was too harsh.

If all else fails, we can share the burden with Wang Kezheng, who, as the political commissar, will also take on some responsibility.

However, He Yazhou's well-intentioned act brought him trouble. Not only did it fail to help Wang Kezheng, but he also received a scolding.

“If it were an ordinary officer pleading with me, that would be understandable. But you are a political commissar, and your ideological awareness is so low, which is a serious violation of political rules. I think you should go back and reflect deeply.”

Chief of Staff Shen severely criticized He Yazhou, then turned and left in great dissatisfaction.

He Yazhou was left standing there, looking completely dazed!
Chief of Staff Shen was very dissatisfied with He Yazhou's behavior, so upon returning, he immediately made a phone call and issued a circular criticizing He Yazhou to the entire theater command.

He Yazhou, the person involved, had already returned to his room at the guesthouse.

In the standard room shared by the two of them, Wang Kezheng also received a report from the war zone and roughly figured out what had happened.

He was deeply moved at that moment, grateful to have such a good partner as He Yazhou.

At the same time, there was also some dissatisfaction.

With a heavy heart, he said to He Yazhou, "Old He, why didn't you tell me about this beforehand? Couldn't you have discussed it with me first? Look at the mess we've made now... sigh."

"We've done this before, but I didn't expect the leader to be so strict this time," He Yazhou said with a wry smile.

"Why are you doing this to yourself?"

Wang Kezheng said angrily, "What does it have to do with you that I was punished? I, Wang Kezheng, am already a dead tiger. Do I need you to follow me to your death?"
Look at this, the 708th Brigade just suffered a defeat, and I, as the brigade commander, received a severe warning. That's embarrassing enough. Now you, the political commissar, have been criticized in a war zone notice. How do you think our 708th Brigade is going to survive from now on?
After we return to the camp, how can we face our 708th Brigade veterans and the martyrs who shed their blood and sacrificed their lives?

You really shouldn't have done that. You really shouldn't have gone to see the leader behind my back. This reprimand is so unfair.

What's wrong with us...?

As Wang Kezheng spoke, he became so emotional that his eyes turned red and his nose stung, making it impossible for him to continue.

He Yazhou felt equally guilty for disgracing the 708th Brigade, his eyes turning bloodshot.

Aside from overwhelming emotions, he couldn't utter a single word.

"call--"

Wang Kezheng angrily exhaled, forcibly suppressing his tears, and said, "It's my fault. I didn't fight this battle well. It's all my fault, Wang Kezheng, who has tarnished the reputation of the 708th Brigade."

As he spoke, he couldn't hold back his emotions any longer, and Wang Kezheng slapped his thigh and stood up abruptly.

The result was that everything went black, and he collapsed straight down.

"Old Wang, Old Wang."

He Yazhou was startled by the sudden situation. He rushed over to support Wang Kezheng and then quickly picked up the phone in the room to call for emergency medical assistance.

When Chu Zhangang and Xu Xiaocun got into a deep conversation, Chu Zhangang wanted to go over and comfort Wang Kezheng and He Yazhou.

Just then, an ambulance arrived, and the guesthouse corridor became noisy as Wang Kezheng was carried out on a stretcher.

The doctor initially diagnosed him with high blood pressure and rushed him to the nearest military hospital for emergency treatment.

……

The news that Wang Kezheng had developed high blood pressure and was sent to the hospital quickly spread throughout the entire Langshan base, and almost everyone knew about it.

As a seasoned officer who had infiltrated the military, Chu Zhangang certainly didn't want to miss this opportunity.

While sending Political Commissar Xu Xiaocun back overnight to prepare, he also planned to take the opportunity of visiting Wang Kezheng the next day to have a good talk with him.

Wang Kezheng led his 708th Brigade in a real battle against the Steel 7th Brigade.

Even though they suffered a crushing defeat in this exercise, the 708th Brigade and Wang Kezheng are still the only units in the entire army that have had contact with the Steel 7th Brigade so far.

If we're talking about who knows the Seventh Steel Brigade best right now, Wang Kezheng definitely has the right to speak on that.

That was exactly what Chu Zhangang was planning.

They wanted to learn about the Steel Seventh Brigade through Wang Kezheng, and gather as much information as possible about it to prepare for the upcoming attack on the Steel Seventh Brigade.

Chen Jun's high-ranking officers in the 7th Steel Brigade also received news that Wang Kezheng had fainted from anger.

Gao Cheng and Commander Wang, being straightforward individuals, didn't notice anything amiss, nor did they connect the incident to the exercise.

However, Chen Jun keenly sensed the problem.

The clue lies in the fact that when Chen Jun was reviewing the information of the 909th Brigade, he discovered that the brigade commander, Chu Zhangang, had studied at the National Defense University. Previously, before the confrontation with the 708th Brigade, Chen Jun had seen information about Wang Kezheng at the National Defense University.

Following this information, Chen Jun discovered that the two of them were actually classmates in the same year.

One was a participant in the first phase of the exercise, and the other was the successor in the second phase. They were also classmates and had an extraordinary relationship.

Chen Jun had ample reason to suspect...

In order to obtain more intelligence about the Steel Seventh Brigade in the upcoming second phase of the exercise, Chu Zhangang will definitely contact Wang Kezheng.

Therefore, Chen Jun decided to err on the side of caution and believe it to be true.

He decisively notified Tuo Yonggang, the company commander of the special operations company, to send Cheng Cai and Xu Sanduo to the military hospital, and also notified the electronics division to send several technicians.

They were put into a special agent team to find a way to install a listening device in Wang Kezheng's room.

Cheng Cai is naturally quick-witted and has a unique talent for foreign affairs and negotiations. Xu Sanduo, on the other hand, is capable and a skilled worker.

The two teamed up and set off from the base overnight. That same evening, under the pretext of checking and testing the electrical circuits, they went to the room where Wang Kezheng had been admitted to the hospital.

While Wang Kezheng was still under monitoring in the ICU, the listening device was installed in advance.

The two then returned to their car outside, took off their power company worker uniforms, turned on their equipment, put on their headphones, and began listening.

……

Early the next morning.

As expected, Chu Zhangang appeared at the hospital and, just like Chen Jun had encountered, found Wang Kezheng. After exchanging a few pleasantries and asking about his health, he got straight to the point.

"The commander asked you to reflect and summarize. Have you figured out the reasons for the failure? Tell me about it," Chu Zhangang asked expectantly.

"Oh, so that's why you came all the way here to see me." Wang Kezheng suddenly realized.

"Haha."

Chu Zhangang smiled awkwardly and said, "We're like family, we're old classmates, right? We should help each other out if we can."

After all, I've now followed in your footsteps; we're in the same boat now.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Wang Kezheng didn't understand.

"Didn't you hear what happened at the meeting that day? The second phase of the exercise was when I was fighting against the 7th Steel Brigade," Chu Zhangang reminded him, speechless.

"Oh, right, right, now that you mention it, I remember."

Wang Kezheng slapped his thigh and said, "That day, I was completely stunned. My head was buzzing, and I really didn't hear what the commander said."

After saying that, Wang Kezheng suddenly became excited, sat up abruptly from the hospital bed, clapped his hands and shouted, "Great, great!"

"Okay? How is it okay now?" Chu Zhangang was confused.

"Brother, it's great that you're in charge of the second phase. Give the Steel Seventh Brigade a good beating, especially that kid named Chen Jun. He's too arrogant, absolutely too arrogant. You have to avenge me."

Wang Kezheng paced back and forth in the ward, his hopes for revenge pinned entirely on Chu Zhangang.

“Brother, I would like to help you get revenge, but I know nothing about the Steel Seventh Brigade. Your 708th Brigade lost, so I really have no idea whether the 909th Brigade can win,” Chu Zhangang said with a wry smile.

"That's alright. Although I lost, I've basically figured out their tactics," Wang Kezheng said confidently.

"Brother, I made a special trip to see you. Our friendship as classmates comes first, but secondly, I really came to learn from you. You absolutely must tell me why you lost, so that I'll know what to do next when I play against him."

Chu Zhangang spoke very sincerely, and even added a sentence at the end to completely move Wang Kezheng: "Brother, I'll help you get revenge."

Hearing this, Wang Kezheng felt relieved, and a long-lost smile appeared on his face. He said happily, "With your words, my illness is completely cured, brother."

Wang Kezheng and Chu Zhangang chatted enthusiastically and quickly formed a united front.

Little did they know that every word they said was transmitted to the car outside, where it was overheard by the electronics company's technicians and simultaneously sent to the base's intelligence center.

"My failure this time was mainly due to underestimating my opponent." Wang Kezheng's self-reflection was quite commendable.

If he hadn't underestimated his opponent this time, he wouldn't have lost so quickly.

"Just as I guessed. Otherwise, with the strength of the 708th Brigade, they couldn't have lost so quickly." Chu Zhangang subtly offered a compliment.

"There's another point. The chief of staff of the 7th Steel Brigade is named Chen Jun. That kid's got some skills. He does have some new tricks up his sleeve when it comes to fighting, and he has his own unique style," Wang Kezheng said.

"Brother, then tell me quickly about the new features of the Seventh Steel Brigade," Chu Zhangang asked expectantly.

"Actually, it's not really new. The tricks he used have appeared in foreign armies and in Arab-Middle Eastern airport wars before," Wang Kezheng said.

"Then how come you still lost?" Chu Zhangang asked, puzzled.

"You should say I underestimated my opponent."

Wang Kezheng said with great frustration, "I never expected that the theater command's own exercises and its own troops would dare to be so unruly and reckless."

The troops were still on their way to the assembly point, meaning the exercise hadn't even started yet, when they launched a surprise attack on my brigade headquarters and captured it.

At first I thought it didn't count, but to my surprise, the director's office actually made a ruling, and the leader even thought he played well and publicly supported their reckless behavior.

The scales are tipping completely in their favor. How could I possibly not lose this performance? How could I not be furious?

Wang Kezheng is a typical proponent of traditional tactics. He insists on doing things step by step and on being very disciplined in battle.

Therefore, in his mind, he had not done anything wrong, and he was still unwilling to admit defeat.

"Oh dear, they're messing around with the rules during the exercise, and the commander is still supporting them. If this continues, how are we going to fight in future exercises?"

Chu Zhangang frowned, looking worried, but appeared to fully support Wang Kezheng.

“Before you came, I thought about it repeatedly. I had actually seen this kind of tactic used by the Steel Seventh Brigade in foreign military research materials before, but I never dreamed that this kid would bring it over and hit me on the head. Now, there is nothing that cannot be done, only things that cannot be imagined,” Wang Kezheng said.

"The key issue is that none of us really know what the Steel Seventh Brigade is all about, or what its organizational structure is. That's the most troublesome part."

Chu Zhangang brought up this topic intentionally, hoping to elicit an answer from Wang Kezheng.

"Actually, it's not that I wasn't wary of the 7th Steel Brigade. Before the exercise started, I pulled up all the information on the Zhurihe Blue Army and reviewed the defeats of the major theater commands one by one to find out the reasons for their failures."

Wang Kezheng spoke indignantly, "But I didn't expect that kid named Chen Jun wouldn't stay obediently at the Wolf Forward Base. He ran behind me and set a fire. Do you think acting is like this?"

"His fighting style is indeed very despicable, and it's not the behavior of a gentleman at all," Chu Zhangang said in agreement.

"Political Commissar He and I didn't take the Seventh Steel Brigade seriously. We never expected that they, as the defending side, would take the initiative to launch a sneak attack. If I had known they would do this, I wouldn't have brought out the guard battalion. We have a unit at home. As soon as they come down, I will wipe them out immediately."

Wang Kezheng, full of hindsight, finished speaking and then sighed, "Alas, it's too late to say anything now. I can only blame myself for underestimating the enemy."

"I've seen this kind of tactic before. It's something that the US Marine Corps and British special forces often do. Regular troops don't do it like this."

Chu Zhangang frowned as he spoke, not taking it seriously, but his heart tightened.

If the 7th Steel Brigade can do things that special forces do, then it means that the 7th Steel Brigade must have special forces units, and their combat effectiveness is quite remarkable.

This is a unit where everyone is a top soldier, a terrifying trump card that can launch a decapitation strike at any time.

Chu Zhangang had to remind himself of this.

To avoid ending up like Wang Kezheng in the upcoming exercises and operations, and being captured by the Steel Seventh Brigade's special forces. (End of Chapter)