From the 7th Steel Company to the Synthetic Division

"Come on, sit down."

Chu Zhangang was quite pleased with the feeling of easily controlling Chief of Staff Ding. He then got up from behind his desk and gestured for Chief of Staff Ding to sit on the sofa.

He even personally opened the kettle, poured a glass of water, and walked over to deliver it to Chief of Staff Ding.

Chief of Staff Ding was about to happily take the teacup when Chu Zhangang suddenly quickened his pace, lowering his hand to place the cup on the coffee table.

This action seemed too deliberate; it was clearly meant to put Chief of Staff Ding in a bad light.

Chief of Staff Ding stretched out his hands and caught nothing but air. His hands hung there awkwardly, but he didn't dare to get angry. He knew that Chu Zhangang was going to cause him trouble.

He could only awkwardly withdraw his hand and forcefully pretend that nothing had happened.

Chu Zhangang put down his cup and sat down, leaning back on the sofa with his legs crossed. He said meaningfully, "Ding Kai, you and Hong Yi are old comrades-in-arms, aren't you?"

"Hey, why is Captain Hong always picking on me?"

The underlying meaning of these words is quite clear: to get Chief of Staff Ding to take a stand and obtain the information he wants from Chief of Staff Ding.

"Brigade Commander, don't worry about it."

Chief of Staff Ding said with a forced smile, "Captain Hong has always had this bad temper. He's been like this for so many years, you know that."

He's definitely not here just for you; it's all about work and training. I can guarantee that.

“I believe Lao Hong wasn’t targeting me. I’ve mentioned it to Chief J at least twice to promote Hong Yi. He’s an outstanding military talent, but he… well…” Chu Zhangang deliberately stopped halfway through his sentence.

"Brigade Commander, please speak frankly."

Ding Kai and Hong Yi had indeed known each other for many years. Thinking that his old friend had a chance this time, he looked at Chu Zhangang with hopeful eyes.

"You should find an opportunity to talk to him and see what he thinks. I am the brigade commander and he is the battalion commander. You have all seen it in every meeting. It's not that he is afraid of me, it's that I am afraid of him. How can this be considered a good situation?"

Chu Zhangang is an award-winning actor, and when he talked about this, his face showed such a wronged expression that even Chief of Staff Ding couldn't bear to look at him.

However, Chu Zhangang's performance was not over yet. He continued with a bitter expression, "You know, my battle plan as a brigade commander was carefully considered, wasn't it? It wasn't just something I gave orders on a whim."

But every time he tries to shut me up, it really makes me gasp for breath. I know he's doing it for the good of the 909th Brigade, and I don't want to criticize him, but I'm in a difficult position.

The expression and demeanor of Chu Zhangang were so lifelike that Chief of Staff Ding seemed to see the bitterness in Chu Zhangang's heart and was determined to help Chu Zhangang solve this problem.

But he was also worried that he wouldn't be able to solve it.

He could only cautiously say, "I have indeed known Hong Yi for a long time, but is it really appropriate for me to discuss matters between you and him?"

"Among the leaders of this brigade, you are the one with the closest relationship with him. I can only ask you for help," Chu Zhangang said sincerely.

"Alright, alright, then I'll take care of this."

Seeing that Chu Zhangang had entrusted him with such an important matter, Ding Kai felt very valued, and his eyebrows shot up with joy.

"Okay, then go and do it."

Chu Zhangang didn't get up to see him off; he simply nodded while still sitting with his legs crossed.

……

909 Guesthouse.

Xu Xiaocun personally arranged three rooms. He had already arranged rooms for Wang Qingrui and Tian Baoguo, and then came to the last room, Chen Jun's room.

"Chief of Staff Chen, this is your room. You must be tired from your long journey. Get some rest."

The political commissar gestured to the room next door and then added, "You rarely come all this way, so how about I accompany you to visit a few tourist attractions tomorrow?"

"No need, thank you. We're going back tomorrow; we still need to visit the 708th Brigade," Chen Jun politely declined.

"Alright then, goodbye."

Xu Xiaocun didn't try to stop them, and waved his hand before preparing to leave with Hong Yi and Commander Zhu.

"Oh, wait."

Chen Jun quickly stopped Xu Xiaocun and pleaded, "Political Commissar Xu, I have a few questions to ask Captain Hong. Could you perhaps ask him to..."

Chen Jun didn't say anything more, but made a gesture that everyone could understand.

"Okay."

Xu Xiaocun agreed without hesitation and said happily to Hong Yi, "Captain Hong, this is a great opportunity. Chief of Staff Chen is no ordinary person. You should have a good talk with him."

"Yes!!"

Hong Yi agreed without hesitation.

Hong Yi, who is single-minded and has no other thoughts but work and tasks, has a very simple and pure mind.

Hong Yi genuinely admires true military experts like Chen Jun, unlike the hypocritical Chu Zhangang.

Having the opportunity to communicate with Chen Jun face-to-face in private was a rare and precious opportunity for him; he would regret missing it for the rest of his life.

Even though Chen Jun is only in his twenties, he is already in his thirties.

He didn't feel ashamed at all.

Chen Jun was able to earn 23 cents in his twenties, while Hong Yi was only able to earn 22 cents in his thirties. Hong Yi considered this the strongest proof.

"Alright, you guys chat, I'll be going now." Political Commissar Xu waved goodbye.

"Political Commissar Xu, please take care."

"Political Commissar, please take care."

After Xu Xiaocun left, Chen Jun and Hong Yi opened the door and said, "Come on, Captain Hong, let's go in and have a good talk."

"Yes, please go first."

Unlike Chu Zhangang, who always gave him a cold shoulder, Hong Yi treated Chen Jun with great respect.

"Ok."

Chen Jun didn't stand on ceremony and pushed open the door to go inside.

Hong Yi followed closely behind and entered the room, closing the door behind him.

Just as Xu Xiaocun reached the entrance of the guesthouse, he ran into Ding Kai, who was looking for Hong Yi. Ding Kai, who was worried about how to talk to Hong Yi, quickly called out to Xu Xiaocun.

"Political Commissar, Political Commissar, it's so good to meet you. I want to talk to you about something."

Ding Kai moved closer to Xu Xiaocun and said with a hint of helplessness, "It's like this, the brigade commander asked me to talk to Hong Yi, but you know his temper, so I feel it's not appropriate for me to talk to him."

"Okay, then I'll go talk to him."

This was exactly the job that a political commissar should do, and Xu Xiaocun accepted it on the spot.

"That's great, thank you very much, Political Commissar." Ding Kai breathed a sigh of relief. ...

Inside Chen Jun's room.

Chen Jun and Hong Yi had already sat down at the table next to them and had been chatting for a while.

“We flew to Fuxiao City eight days ago, all on commercial flights, all as construction workers, and then changed our identities to farmers after landing,” Hong Yi said.

"So, you've been lying in wait under the 535 defense line for a full seven days?" Chen Jun asked in surprise.

Being in hiding meant not being able to make any big moves, let alone cook, which meant eating cold food for seven whole days and having to camp in the open air in the forest.

This is something that ordinary troops cannot do.

What surprised Chen Jun the most was that Hong Yi was able to train such soldiers at the grassroots level.

"Yes."

Hong Yi nodded and explained in detail: "One company will go in first as the vanguard to check on the situation of their families, and the other two companies will follow in succession."

"We didn't find anything, and we even set up surveillance in the woods, but there wasn't a single trace. How did you manage to do it? How did you hide? I'm really interested to know," Chen Jun asked with great curiosity.

Although Chen Jun is also a master of jungle special operations, this does not prevent him from learning from Hong Yi.

There is no end to learning, and there is nothing to be ashamed of.

"it's actually really easy."

Hong Yi smiled faintly and said, "In order to prevent electromagnetic waves from leaking secrets, I require all members of the special operations brigade to turn off all wireless and wired communication devices after entering the infiltration area, and communicate only using the most primitive sign language and manual transmission."

Only before launching the general offensive was the wired telephone line established to maintain contact with the brigade command post.

The most difficult part was surviving in the wild. We only brought three days' worth of food, but the main force couldn't catch up. We could only survive by eating insects and catching rats.

pity……"

At this point, Hong Yi gave a wry smile and said, "Before we even had a chance to launch a general offensive, you wiped out both the left and right flanks."

We've spent so many days preparing, putting in so much effort and hard work.

In the end, nothing was accomplished, which was really disheartening.

"The fact that over three hundred people could remain calm and survive proves that their daily training was very effective and their survival skills are excellent. These are things that our Steel Seventh Brigade needs to learn from," Chen Jun praised.

"When I was studying abroad, I learned some things from foreign special forces, which were very helpful to us. After I came back, I shared them with everyone. I heard that you have a special operations company. My experience is just like showing off my limited skills before an expert," Hong Yi said modestly.

"Captain Hong, I'm a very straightforward person. I wear my likes and dislikes on my sleeve."

When Chen Jun said this, Hong Yi's expression clearly changed, and there was a hint of joy in his eyes, because that's just his personality.

Sensing that Hong Yi's mood had improved, Chen Jun smiled and continued, "To be honest, meeting you makes me feel like we've known each other for ages."

"Really? That's my honor." Hong Yi was embarrassed by the compliment.

……

Chief of Staff Ding handed over the task of talking to Hong Yi to Political Commissar Xu Xiaocun. He had just returned to his room to change his clothes when he came out and encountered Regiment Commander Zhu, who had taken the initiative to find him.

"Chief of Staff, wait a moment."

Regiment Commander Zhu caught up from behind. Ding Kai turned around, saw him, and immediately laughed, jokingly saying, "Deputy Brigade Commander Zhu, are you inviting me to dinner?"

"The order hasn't been announced yet, so it's a bit early to call me that. Besides, the regimental commander and the deputy brigade commander are at the same level, so you should just call me regimental commander," said Regimental Commander Zhu.

"It's different, completely different."

Ding Kai gestured for Regiment Commander Zhu to walk alongside him, saying as they walked, "The disbanding of the artillery regiment is an inevitable trend in military reform. There are no regimental commanders in brigade-level units. You were transferred to the position of deputy brigade commander, so it's already lucky that you were able to stay."

After all, you served as the artillery regiment commander for so many years and have a deep affection for it. Your transfer to deputy brigade commander is a gesture of goodwill from your superiors.

"That's not what I wanted to talk to you about," Commander Zhu said somewhat awkwardly.

"Just say what you're thinking. You're about to join the brigade's leadership team, and we'll be working together from now on, so don't have so many concerns," Ding Kai reassured him.

"I think we really need to seriously consider Captain Hong's opinion," Commander Zhu said.

"Didn't you disagree with Hong Yi's statement?" Ding Kai asked, puzzled.

"Yes, I made it clear at the meeting that I disagreed with his assessment of a 30/70 split between achievements and shortcomings. However, the problems he mentioned in our brigade are real, but I feel that our brigade commander did not take them seriously and did not give them much attention," Commander Zhu said worriedly.

"Why would you suddenly have such a thought? Don't you also think that if you deny your achievements, you'll have no face to face the soldiers in the regiment?" Ding Kai really couldn't understand.

"That's right, that's what I said at the meeting. I agree with the idea of ​​not being discouraged and encouraging each other."

Commander Zhu emphasized, "But we can't ignore the problems that have been exposed in the specific work arrangements that follow."

If we were to deceive ourselves and hide away all the problems that have been exposed, that would be letting down all the officers and soldiers of the brigade, and even more so, failing to live up to the expectations of the theater command.

Commander Zhu, like Hong Yi, was clearly sobered up by the disastrous defeat in this exercise.

They recognized the problem and wanted to make positive changes.

"Oh, you mean the next training arrangements? I think you shouldn't rush things. The brigade commander will consider it. He's also worried because we didn't perform well this time," Chief of Staff Ding comforted him.

"From what I've seen in the last two days, I haven't noticed anything about him that seems anxious," Commander Zhu said seriously.

“Rongsheng, you still don’t understand our brigade commander. He sees things and does things differently from others. No matter how important the matter is, he can remain calm and composed.” Ding Kai said seriously.

"Complacent and self-assured?" Commander Zhu declined to comment.

"That's right, that's what you call the three stages of life: keeping your composure, being able to bend down, and holding your head high." Ding Kai was still speaking well of Chu Zhangang.

It seems that being under constant pressure from Chu Zhangang has given Ding Kai a strange sense of confidence in Chu Zhangang.

"Where did these three realms of life come from? I don't understand."

Commander Zhu disagreed with this view. In his opinion, Chu Zhangang simply didn't take it seriously, only cared about creating a facade, and didn't want to face the problems at all.

"Hmm, do you go fishing?" Ding Kai wanted to find a different approach so that Commander Zhu could understand.

"I don't fish, but I can braise fish," Commander Zhu said with a smile.

"I'll take you fishing with the brigade commander sometime. He's an absolute master at fishing," Ding Kai suggested.

"I'm very busy with things right now, so I don't have the leisure or time," Commander Zhu said meaningfully.

"There's a lot to learn about fishing. Our brigade commander has learned a lot from it," Ding Kai said admiringly.

“We’re military personnel. Leading troops into battle and conducting training is our daily routine. What kind of success could he possibly achieve by fishing?” Commander Zhu didn’t believe it at all.

In fact, Commander Zhu and Hong Yi are somewhat similar; they are both down-to-earth pragmatists.

Chu Zhangang is a proponent of self-interest, and the chief of staff is emulating him. (End of Chapter)