From the 7th Steel Company to the Synthetic Division

As darkness fell completely, a new round of battle began.

On the Blue Team's side, Brigade Commander Chu Zhangang personally led the way, giving the group of leaders watching the game from the director's office a vivid lesson in courage and boldness.

The Red Army didn't rest after nightfall either, and launched another major operation.

The 3rd Motorized Infantry Battalion on the right flank had previously been blocked in their attack on the mountain, losing two entire platoons of soldiers. They were truly terrified of the Red Army and dared not make any further moves.

But as night fell, his broken courage returned.

Under the orders of Commander Zhu of the Right Rifle Artillery Regiment, the Third Battalion launched another attack under cover of darkness.

This time, an entire company was dispatched to launch an attack, simultaneously charging towards the Red Army's position from both sides and the front, intending to take the position in one fell swoop.

However, the Red Army is making a big move and cannot give up the position to the Blue Army for the time being.

Therefore, the special operations company had to enter the position and take over the previous role of the engineer company, guarding the trenches and blocking the advancing Blue Army.

The engineering company that had been separated was finally able to return to its normal duties.

Under the orders of Chief of Staff Chen Jun, they went to the other side of the road, dug several holes in the mountain, and buried a large amount of explosives inside.

By blasting down the steep slopes of the mountainside, the road below was buried.

The requirement is that at least 10,000 cubic meters of rocks must be blasted down so that thousands of square meters of rocks will be piled up on the road, forcing the Blue Army on the right flank to clear the obstacles before they can continue moving forward.

That means they can't move until at least dawn!

If the Blue Army stays in Tongling Mountain long enough, it can greatly deplete the morale and spirit of the Blue Army soldiers, making it easier for the Red Army to end the battle at Xiaomaoshan.

The engineers are digging holes and planting explosives, and the special operations company has to buy them enough time.

The Blue Army's 8th Company Commander, who was in charge of the attack, was very experienced. He determined, based on the defensive pressure he faced during the attack, that the Blue Army's defensive strength far exceeded that of the enemy at noon.

It was clear that if they continued to charge forward headlong, the enemy forces would suffer heavy losses.

The company commander immediately contacted Regiment Commander Zhu and said, "Regiment Commander, we are approaching the Red Army's position, but it seems that the Blue Army has received reinforcements. Their firepower is much stronger than this afternoon's, and we need artillery support to take it down."

"Alright, report the target's location immediately. I'll arrange for the artillery company to provide cover for you," Commander Zhu said decisively.

"Yes!"

The battalion commander ended his call with Regiment Commander Zhu and immediately began calibrating the precise location of the Red Army's position, then sent the coordinates to the artillery regiment command.

Upon receiving the precise coordinates, Commander Zhu immediately ordered the artillery company to set up their cannons and launch an artillery attack on the location.

What a coincidence.

The Red Army had just purchased explosives, and after the engineering company reported to the command post, Chen Jun decisively ordered everyone to withdraw from the position.

Leave the position empty for the Blue Army to attack at will. As long as the road can be blocked, even if the Blue Army takes the position, it won't be of any use.

Vehicles can't climb mountains!

The Red Army had just withdrawn from their position when shells from the Blue Army's artillery regiment flew in, and the on-site referee determined that the position had suffered heavy damage.

There was still no simultaneous report of casualties, because no one had actually died.

The command post never reported the number of casualties, leading the Blue Army to mistakenly believe that not reporting casualties was the rule, and they never considered that the Red Army had no casualties.

It is indeed quite absurd that no one was injured or killed despite the repeated air and artillery bombardments.

It's understandable that the Blues didn't think in that direction.

The Blue Army's Eighth Company, which had been pinned down at the foot of the mountain, learned that their position had been completely destroyed and immediately led their troops in an attack.

Hundreds of people rushed up, creating quite a lively atmosphere.

But when they rushed to the position with anxious hearts and sweating profusely, they found no Red Army soldiers there.

Fallen soldiers cannot move on their own and can only stay in the trenches.

If there are no soldiers in the Red Army's positions, there is only one possibility: no one was hit at all, and the Red Army had already fled before the artillery attack.

"Were these Red Army soldiers like slippery eels?"

After finally reaching the Red Army's position, the Eighth Company Commander was ready to enjoy the fruits of victory, but it all came to naught, leaving him feeling extremely upset.

Even after successfully capturing the Red Army's position, he didn't feel much joy.

The other soldiers in the Eighth Company were in a similar situation; they were all prepared to collect the "corpses" of the Red Army, but when they arrived, they only found a barren battlefield.

Therefore, their astonishment and confusion were no less than those of the Eighth Company Commander.

While the Eighth Company was in a daze...

"Boom, boom, boom..."

Suddenly, a series of deafening explosions rang out, their power so great that the entire mountain shook.

The Blue Army soldiers who had just climbed onto the position were terrified and immediately lay down on the ground to take cover, not knowing where the explosion had come from.

……

On the Zhonglu Expressway.

Xu Xiaocun was really worried about Chu Zhangang, so he also took a car and ran to the vanguard.

Upon getting out of the car and seeing Chu Zhangang standing proudly to the side watching the vehicle pass, having already completed his task of clearing the way, Xu Xiaocun jogged over and complained, "Old Chu, why did you go up and clear the mines yourself? That was really too dangerous."

“If I didn’t do it this way, it would take until dawn to get through this road.”

Chu Zhangang was very satisfied with his performance. He took the bottled water handed to him by the civil servant, opened it, tilted his head back, and gulped it down.

It would be a lie to say I wasn't afraid or nervous.

Chu Zhangang had been on tenterhooks the whole way here, his clothes soaked with sweat, and he desperately needed to drink some water.

“Now that the road is open, a major problem has been solved, and we can finally catch our breath. We should take this opportunity to go to the campsite ahead and get something to eat,” Xu Xiaocun said.

The 909th Brigade needs to cover 1,500 kilometers, and it's impossible for them to drive straight without eating or drinking.

Therefore, plans were made before departure, and several campsites were set up along the way so that the troops could get a good rest every day.

"Political Commissar, I think our next step should be to study measures to deal with psychological warfare and harassment, otherwise the troops will be dragged down if things continue like this."

Chu Zhangang is now terrified of Chen Jun and is extremely worried and anxious, so much so that he can't even eat.

"Yes, the exercises we did before were all very conventional and methodical. We lack experience with this kind of approach, and we haven't done enough training in this area, so we seem to be in a lot of trouble when we try to respond."

Xu Xiaocun sighed and said helplessly, "It's only the first day of the march, and the Red Army has already made us look like this. It's really embarrassing."

The 909th Brigade is among the top-tier combat forces in the Capital Theater. In the past, when participating in exercises, their marches were always smooth sailing.

It wouldn't be like this now, with all sorts of bumps and accidents along the way.

As the military commander, Chu Zhangang felt this even more deeply and fully understood that the Steel Seventh Brigade was a tough nut to crack, and he no longer underestimated it in the slightest.

But if he were asked to admit he was inferior to the other party, his pride wouldn't allow it. So even though he knew Xu Xiaocun was telling the truth, he didn't comment, but instead changed the subject and asked, "Staff Officer Zhang, how far have we traveled so far?"

"Reporting to the brigade commander, the central route has advanced 220 kilometers, and the campsite is 260 kilometers away," Staff Officer Zhang replied.

"What?! Only 220 kilometers? That's an average speed of only 23 kilometers per hour? You call that motorized? Even an oxcart is faster than that."

Chu Zhangang was so angry that he wanted to curse after the car was rolling backwards on the highway.

However, there was something that made him even angrier.

"I just received a call from Regiment Commander Zhu on the right flank. The Blue Army engineers blasted open a section of the Tongling Mountain watershed, causing a landslide that buried the road. They are currently trying to clear it," Staff Officer Zhang reported again.

"What?! They blew up the mountain?" Chu Zhangang was completely dumbfounded.

The Central Expressway was finally opened to traffic with great difficulty, and it was only through the personal efforts of this brigade commander that it was finally completed. As a result, the Red Army immediately blocked the right flank.

This isn't a traffic jam at all.

It was practically gambling with Chu Zhangang's heart.

"That's too much, absolutely too much."

Xu Xiaocun gritted his teeth in anger and said furiously, "It seems that the Seventh Steel Brigade is determined to go all out and try to trap us on this long march."

Both sides in the battle now have clear strategies and are aware of each other's intentions.

The Red Army is on the road; blocking the road means victory.

The Blues will fight a positional battle; they will win as soon as they reach Nanshan.

"Have Commander Zhu and the others calculated when the road will be cleared?" Chu Zhangang asked anxiously.

"Commander Zhu said there was too much collapsed earth, and the engineering battalion wasn't with them. They don't have any large engineering machinery, so they can only clear it manually, which is extremely difficult. It's estimated that the road will be open to traffic around 8 a.m. tomorrow," Staff Officer Zhang replied.

"hehe."

Upon hearing that it would take ten hours or so, Chu Zhangang was so angry that he laughed, muttering between laughs, "Tomorrow morning at eight o'clock, what a fine eight o'clock in the morning."

It takes a day and a half to travel just 200 kilometers. There are still 1,300 kilometers left. Can we finish the journey? Will we be able to reach the Anxi River ferry the day after tomorrow?
"It's simply impossible. Without solving these problems, even thinking about going to Wolf Mountain is a pipe dream."

Don't blame Chu Zhangang for his strong reaction. If any brigade commander were in his position, the troops would be plagued with troubles, and even the strongest heart would break down.

At this moment, the chief of staff jogged over and shouted from four or five meters away, "Commander Zhu and his men are blocked. Can you please tell me if we can change our marching route?"

"Change the marching route?"

Chu Zhangang's eyes darted around, sensing an opportunity, and he immediately asked, "How do they plan to leave?"

"Taking National Highway 702, we'll bypass Tongling Mountain from the east, and then Xiaomaoshan ahead. It's expected to add over a hundred kilometers to our journey," the chief of staff said.

"Walk more than a hundred kilometers?"

Chu Zhangang quickly calculated in his mind that traveling more than 100 kilometers was clearly more advantageous than being stuck in traffic for more than ten hours.

He immediately looked at Staff Officer Zhang and said, "Give me the map of that area."

"Yes."

Staff Officer Zhang moved very swiftly, opened his satchel, rummaged around for a moment, pulled out a military map, and handed it over with both hands.

Chu Zhangang used a flashlight to take a picture of the map and studied the route in detail.

"Is this route safe?" Xu Xiaocun asked, his heart pounding.

If you don't encounter any trouble on the way, even if you take the national highway, it only takes two or three hours, which is at least ten hours less than taking the original route.

"The road conditions are good. It was just renovated last year, so there shouldn't be any problem for our car to pass."

Two seconds after the chief of staff finished speaking, he added, "The main problem is that the Red Army doesn't know that we're going to take a detour, so it's unlikely they'll set up an ambush along the way."

"Commander, look..."

Xu Xiaocun was now truly tempted, and his eyes were filled with eagerness as he looked at Chu Zhangang.

"so……"

Chu Zhangang didn't want to change his original plan because he thought it was the most perfect one, but now he had no choice but to make changes.

According to the situation, the third motorized infantry battalion was to remain and clear the Tongling Mountain pass, while the artillery regiment could change course and go there.

Furthermore, troops must be dispatched to Anxi Ferry in advance to control the ferry crossing and boats. We must not allow the Red Army to pull any tricks on us at this crucial location.

"Understood, I'll make arrangements right away."

Chief of Staff Ding Kai, who had just been dejected, jogged off with renewed vigor to make arrangements.

……

The Blue Army command was unaware that the right-wing artillery regiment was preparing to take a different route.

Furthermore, Chu Zhangang was extremely cunning. He deliberately cleared the road through Tongling Mountain by the Third Battalion of Motorized Infantry, creating the illusion that they would continue to take this route.

This was done to mislead and lull the Red Army into a false sense of security, creating better conditions for the artillery regiment's advance.

At this moment, Chen Jun and other high-ranking officers of the 7th Steel Brigade were all in the command post studying tactics and strategies, each of them holding a lunchbox.

This is to save precious time, allowing us to eat while keeping track of the dynamic changes on the battlefield.

So that tactics can be adjusted at any time.

Although the 7th Steel Brigade effectively hindered the Blue Army's rapid advance through various means.

However, Chen Jun, Gao Cheng, and the others knew very well that Chu Zhangang would not be easily stopped on the way; at most, he would only delay the Blue Army's journey by a day or two.

Fortunately, Chen Jun did not expect that such a small trick would be enough to successfully drag the Blue Army to its death on the road.

If they're this bad, they don't deserve to be rivals of the 7th Steel Brigade.

Chen Jun has prepared powerful trump cards for the Blue Army's left and right flanks, but he hasn't used them immediately because the time isn't right yet.

Once they have a complete grasp of the 909th Brigade's internal and external affairs, that will be the 909th Brigade's true demise.

Under Chen Jun's leadership, the Red Army is steadily and methodically engaging in a battle with the Blue Army, and is currently on the offensive.

As the Blue Team passively responding to the attack, the 909th Brigade can only react to each move as it comes.

This puts the troops' fundamentals to the test.

It also involves the adaptability of high-level command.

After the first day of the march, the Blue Army had witnessed the Red Army's tactics and realized how difficult their opponent was.

Under immense pressure from the Seventh Steel Brigade, Chu Zhangang and Xu Xiaocun had no choice but to exercise caution.

Just like with the 7th Steel Brigade, they didn't even spare mealtimes, having civil servants bring food to the command vehicle while they ate and discussed how to deal with the 7th Steel Brigade. (End of Chapter)