From the 7th Steel Company to the Synthetic Division

909th Brigade Command Vehicle.

“Brigade Commander, Ding Kai’s concerns are not unfounded. We still need to be careful and not let a small mistake lead to a bigger one,” Xu Xiaocun said with a frown.

"I called in a reconnaissance plane. It should be able to reach Tongling Mountain and Xiaomao Mountain in thirty minutes to conduct reconnaissance. I estimate there won't be too many problems on the highway," Chu Zhangang said thoughtfully.

"It seems that the 708th Brigade's defeat was not entirely due to Wang Kezheng's underestimation of the enemy," Xu Xiaocun speculated.

"Oh? What do you mean?" Chu Zhangang looked over curiously.

"Look..."

Xu Xiaocun took a deep breath and said, "We have participated in many exercises, but this kind of unconventional exercise is really rare, no, we have never encountered it before."

There are usually some standard air defense concealment, electromagnetic interference, infrared camouflage, etc., but why would they set up so many attack scenarios on the road?

I believe that the emergence of this professional opposing force has presented us with a completely new opponent, forcing us to change many of our previous ideas and habits.

Chu Zhangang was not pleased with Xu Xiaocun's high praise for the Seventh Steel Brigade.

Doesn't this boost the morale of others while diminishing our own?

So Chu Zhangang specifically corrected him, saying, "Political Commissar, it's good that you have this awareness, but you have to eat one bite at a time; you can't achieve everything in one step."

How many years have we been doing base-based training? Hasn't it been constantly being improved?

……

As Xu Xiaocun and Chu Zhangang were discussing this, Chief of Staff Ding Kai's convoy, which was leading the team to scout ahead, was suddenly attacked.

"Boom boom boom..."

A series of explosions rang out, and several cars started to smoke.

The convoy, which was moving at high speed, suddenly stopped. Soldiers jumped out of the vehicles and surrounded the convoy, looking for cover and setting up their guns to begin guarding the area.

Chief of Staff Ding Kai even got out of the car himself to observe the surroundings and investigate what had happened.

Soon, soldiers returned to report that the first few vehicles in the convoy had been hit by landmines, resulting in the loss of two vehicles and six soldiers.

Fortunately, the highway surface is very smooth and not suitable for laying anti-tank mines.

Landmines are placed on highways, making them visible from a great distance.

Therefore, the landmines planted this time were all tripwire mines, either tied or buried in the ground next to the highway, and connected by a line and stretched horizontally across the highway surface.

The car drove over and hit the tripwire, triggering a landmine on the roadside to explode.

The Black King Kong SUV that led the way was not bulletproof, so the roadside bomb still damaged it, and the people inside were presumed to have been killed by the blast.

This is the disadvantage of motorized units; they are significantly lacking in defense.

If it were a fully mechanized armored vehicle unit, roadside bombs would not pose a threat at all, and two vehicles would not have been destroyed like in the 909th Brigade.

Because the explosion was a trap, no enemies were found nearby.

Ding Kai could guess with his toes that this was definitely a trick by the Red Army to delay their march, but there was nothing he could do about it.

We could only send out two engineering squads to inspect the first 500 meters of the road.

If there are still tripwire mines, remove them all.

After arranging for people to begin clearing the road, Chief of Staff Ding Kai returned to the vehicle and reported via the vehicle radio: "9001, this is 9003. A vehicle belonging to the guard battalion ahead has struck a mine. The engineering corps is currently conducting mine clearance operations."

"Reporting to the brigade commander, the chief of staff is calling..."

The staff officer who received the report from the chief of staff at the front loudly relayed the situation to Chu Zhangang and Xu Xiaocun.

"It seems that the information revealed by this Smurf is not false." Xu Xiaocun frowned deeply, his mind racing with thoughts.

Previously, it was thought that the Smurfs were on the Red Army's side and were revealing information to mislead the Blue Army.

The information provided will inevitably be false.

But the current results are telling the Blue Team that the information revealed by the Smurfs is true.

Now we have two big problems!

Who exactly is this Smurf who leaked the information? How did he obtain the Red Army's detailed battle plan, and why did he reveal it?
Secondly, if the information above matches up, could the later parts of the Red Army's battle plan also be true?
With these two completely unanswerable questions in mind, Chu Zhangang was at a loss for what to do and had no way of judging the authenticity of the information.

He could only say helplessly, "Does this mean that the 7th Steel Brigade is really going to block us on the middle and right flanks?"

Done.

His stubborn pride and unwillingness to admit defeat made it impossible for Chu Zhangang to accept the result, and he retorted to himself, "That's impossible, absolutely impossible."

What's the big deal about losing one or two vehicles? The guard battalion still has dozens of vehicles. This loss is perfectly acceptable. The Red Army wants to delay our advance, but I'll just do the opposite.

"Immediately relay my order to the Chief of Staff: clear the blocked road as quickly as possible and continue advancing along the highway."

"Report."

Just as Chu Zhan finished issuing the order, another staff officer loudly reported: "We just received a report from the drone aerial reconnaissance. We have discovered Red Army personnel in the Tongling Mountains area, and we have also found large-scale defensive fortifications."

"Is this really true??"

Chu Zhan had just finished refuting someone's argument a second ago, only to be slapped in the face again the next, leaving him with a very unpleasant expression, yet he had no choice but to make a decision.

After thinking for a moment, I still felt it was better to believe it existed than not to believe it didn't.

He decisively ordered, "Notify the air force to send bombers to destroy all the Red Army fortifications that are visible."

After issuing one order, another one follows.

"Connect me to Commander Zhu of the artillery regiment."

"Yes!"

The staff officer received the order and quickly turned around.

"Commander Zhu, you're almost at Tongling Mountain, right? The drones have detected Red Army activity there. Have you sent anyone to confirm it?" Chu Zhangang asked.

"Brigade Commander, I have already sent a reconnaissance company to scout ahead," Regiment Commander Zhu replied.

As a standard artillery regiment, its configuration is much stronger than that of an artillery battalion, at least it is equipped with a lot of auxiliary combat troops.

The reconnaissance company was one of them.

"The Red Army is trying to make trouble for you in the Tongling Mountain area. To ensure the safe arrival of the artillery regiment, you should send the reconnaissance battalion forward to wipe out the Red Army," Chu Zhangang ordered.

"Reconnaissance battalion?"

Commander Zhu paused for a moment, then said in confusion, "The reconnaissance battalion didn't come with us. Are you sure you're not mistaken? The 3rd Motorized Infantry Battalion is following us."

“Indeed, Lao Chu, the plan has been changed. It’s the Third Battalion and the Artillery Regiment going together. Have you forgotten?” Xu Xiaocun reminded him from the side, puzzled.

"Uh……"

Chu Zhangang thought about it and realized it was true. He had been prejudiced and made his own plan the absolute core, which made him forget about what Hong Yi had done later.

He could only awkwardly say, "The Third Battalion will do. You can move the Third Battalion to the front and send your deputy regimental commander to lead the troops. They should advance at least fifty kilometers ahead."

Advance and seize all key points from Tongling Mountain to Xiaomaoshan Mountain, giving the Red Army no opportunity to exploit the situation, and cover the artillery regiment's passage through the dangerous area.

Chu Zhangang was quite adept at applying what he learned. The plan proposed by Chief of Staff Ding Kai had a very good effect on the central route; with just two off-road vehicles, they managed to evade the Red Army's ambush.

Chu Zhangang felt that this plan was very useful and planned to deploy it in the same way on the right flank.

pity.

Each path is different, so copying and pasting won't work.

"Brigade Commander, the 3rd Motorized Infantry Battalion is still behind us, thirty kilometers away," Regiment Commander Zhu said helplessly.

"what?"

Chu Zhangang raised his voice and ordered, "Order them to go there immediately. Give them half an hour and tell them it was me who said it."

"Yes!"

Commander Zhu stepped forward to answer without any hesitation.

"Commander Zhu."

Chu Zhangang felt it necessary to give them a warning and said seriously, "You must have a clear understanding that this is psychological warfare by the Red Army. How could the Red Army possibly mobilize enough troops to launch a blocking attack in Tongling Mountain and Xiaomao Mountain at present?"
This is definitely just them bluffing; you shouldn't have any concerns.

I have already called for air support. We will launch an attack on the Blue Army's blocking positions immediately. Once the 3rd Battalion has secured the key points, you must proceed quickly without lingering.

"understand!"

Commander Zhu answered solemnly, then hung up the phone and immediately gave orders to the 3rd Motorized Infantry Battalion.

The 3rd Motorized Infantry Battalion, which received orders in the rear, learned that their rear guard had been transformed into the vanguard and that they were responsible for leading the way. As a result, their marching speed was increased to the maximum.

……

The Third Battalion caught up from 30 kilometers behind, but we still had to drive another 20 kilometers or so to reach Tongling Mountain. Even at top speed, it would take half an hour.

The artillery regiment dared not advance further and could only leave the national highway to find a place to rest.

The attack belonging to the Blue Team was launched first.

After receiving the request from Chu Zhangang, the air force aviation unit assigned to the 909th Brigade quickly dispatched bombers to carry out the attack.

In about ten minutes, they flew to Tongling Mountain, over the fortifications dug out by the Red Army.

"Whoosh whoosh..."

Bombs rained down on the position like dumplings being dropped into a pot.

The engineering company worked overtime for several hours to complete the "shoddy project," which was now truly reduced to rubble.

The director's command made a decision on the spot, and the entire fortification was destroyed by the Blue Army.

The Blue Army's bombers destroyed the positions, and it took me more than twenty minutes. The Blue Army's 3rd Motorized Infantry Brigade, advancing at full speed, had also approached Tongling Mountain.

The latest developments of these two units were quickly relayed to the Blue Army command vehicle.

"Air Force report: The Red Army's position at Tongling Mountain has been destroyed."

"Commander Zhu reports: The 3rd Motorized Infantry Battalion is leading the charge and is about to reach the main peak of Tongling Mountain."

Two pieces of good news came from the right flank, which greatly improved Chu Zhan's mood, which had just been hit hard, and a confident and smug look reappeared on his face.

He confidently gave the order: "Notify Regiment Commander Zhu that the Tongling Mountain line must be controlled before dark. The artillery regiment must pass through Tongling Mountain before dark."

"How's the situation on the front lines?" Xu Xiaocun asked, puzzled.

The main problem is that the engineers have been clearing mines for half an hour now, and the chief of staff still hasn't reported the situation, which makes Xu Xiaocun feel inexplicably uneasy.

"The engineering company is still clearing mines..."

"What happened!"

Before the staff officer could finish his report, Chu Zhangang, who was furious, interrupted him, slamming his fist on the table and yelling, "A whole engineering company of men is there, and you can't even handle a few landmines? Are you trying to provoke me?"

The brigade commander suddenly flew into such a rage that no one in the command vehicle dared to answer.

It became unusually quiet for a moment.

Chu Zhangang felt increasingly uneasy and could no longer remain calm. He immediately said to Xu Xiaocun, "Political Commissar, you stay here and guard the place. I'll go up and take a look. I want to see what's going on."

"No need, isn't Chief of Staff Ding ahead?" Xu Xiaocun reminded him.

"Sigh, I'd better go. His fighting style is too defensive. If I don't go, the troops probably won't be able to move tomorrow."

Chu Zhangang didn't trust Ding Kai at all; to be precise, he didn't trust anyone. He only trusted his own "playing style."

So without waiting for Xu Xiaocun to speak again, Chu Zhangang ordered the command vehicle to pull over immediately and then sent an off-road vehicle to pick him up and take him to the front line.

The Blue Army's central force encountered some unpleasant troubles, which angered Chu Zhangang so much that he wanted to personally go to the front line.

However, what Chu Zhangang didn't know was that his troubles didn't end there; his most favored right flank was also about to run into trouble.

Because the Red Army was sent to protect the engineering company, a special operations company that was building shoddy construction projects.

They're up to no good now.

Company Commander Tuo Yonggang learned that a battalion of the Blue Army was rapidly advancing towards the main peak of the destroyed position, and the entire convoy was not on high alert.

It was as if they had already determined that the Red Army's positions had been destroyed and posed no threat to them whatsoever.

An unsuspecting lamb barges in like this, it's like a delicious piece of meat delivered right to your door. It would be a sin not to take a bite.

Anyway, Tuo Yonggang couldn't stand it.

So Tuo Yonggang immediately contacted the Red Army command post, wanting to take this opportunity to teach the Blue Army a lesson and see if he could gain any benefits.

Inside the Red Army command post where Chen Jun was stationed, everyone shared the same thought upon hearing the news.

That's it: "Do it!"

Some conservative suggestions suggest, under the premise of their own safety, to deliver a fatal blow to the Blue Army's 3rd Motorized Infantry Battalion, and then escape as quickly as possible.

The main objective is to avoid any losses on our side, and to ensure that not a single soldier is left behind.

Some radicals felt this was a good opportunity and that they should seize it to launch a major attack, not only to crush the Blue Army's morale but also to capture a few prisoners to further demoralize them.

Chen Jun considered everyone's opinions and ideas, analyzed the relative strengths of both sides, and ultimately chose what he considered the safest and most profitable plan.

That means letting the special operations company do whatever it wants, and having some fun with the Blue Army's 3rd Motorized Infantry Battalion, as long as no one is killed.

Capture prisoners if you can, but don't force it if you can't.

After all, Xiaomaoshan is the most important part. As the main core force for blocking the right flank, the Special Operations Company must not allow any accidents to happen in front of them.

"Free rein? That would be wonderful."

Upon receiving Chen Jun's order, Tuo Yonggang was so excited he almost jumped up on the spot.

He was warlike and competitive...

His eyes were filled with surging fighting spirit! (End of Chapter)