From the 7th Steel Company to the Synthetic Division

“Deputy Commander Qian, I need to correct you. It was the Blue Army that attacked us. They were the ones who violated the rules. We did not attack them.”

The Red Army's chief of staff was speaking, and he was truly suffering in silence.

"I will find out who attacked whom first. You need to withdraw your people first. Your people have been staying at Xiaojin Lake Airport, and the exercise can't proceed." Deputy Commander-in-Chief Qian ordered.

"Deputy Commander Qian, I've already said that we didn't send troops to attack the Blue Army's airfield; that's utter nonsense," the Red Army Chief of Staff explained helplessly.

"Nonsense?"

Deputy Chief of Staff Qian was so angry he laughed: "I've already seen it on the surveillance footage. The airport is full of your people. Do you think what I saw is fake?"

"Why don't you look at the situation here? It's full of Blue Army soldiers, full of Mountain Eagle Brigade personnel. How could I possibly have the energy to attack the Blue Army's airfield?" the Red Army chief of staff argued.

Chief of Staff Shen and Team Leader Tan, who were sitting next to each other, noticed a significant information gap in their conversation and exchanged puzzled glances.

Who is lying?
With this question in mind, Deputy Chief of Staff Qian immediately instructed Staff Officer Huang to notify the command center to switch the main screen of the viewing platform to the camera on the Blue Army's side.

The first scene showed Red Army armored vehicles being heavily bombarded by Blue Army artillery; the scene was incredibly horrific.

The people on the viewing platform were all dumbfounded.

The Blue Army's airfield was attacked by the Red Army, and the Red Army's armored vehicle unit was attacked by the Blue Army. The problem is that both sides' brigade headquarters denied it.

This sounds so absurd that it's hard to understand where things went wrong.

How could such a bizarre thing happen?

"Don't worry, everyone, there must be some misunderstanding here."

Seeing that the atmosphere was not right, Deputy Commander Qian immediately stood up to calm everyone down.

"Deputy Commander Qian, it's okay that there's a problem on site, but you need to report it in time to avoid people waiting around and making wild guesses."

The senior colonel experts, who had previously engaged in the most heated discussions, seriously expressed their dissatisfaction to Deputy Commander-in-Chief Qian.

In other words, this expert comes from a research institution and does not belong to the combat unit system. In addition, the expert status gives him an extra layer of special status.

Otherwise, with his rank of senior colonel, he wouldn't be qualified to question a deputy commander who is only a bean.

"Here's the situation."

Faced with the dissatisfaction of the people present, Deputy Commander Qian knew he had to give an explanation.

Knowing that there was no point in continuing to conceal the truth, they could only reveal the truth: "According to the original plan, the Blue Army paratroopers were to fly over the Red Army's position in two transport planes, under the protection of J-10 fighter jets, to carry out a parachute landing and quickly occupy the position."

But just as the transport planes arrived over the position, small Red Army squads appeared around the Blue Army's Xiaojinhu Airport, launched a surprise attack on the airport, and captured it.

This forced the transport planes, which were preparing to carry out the airdrop mission, to switch from offense to defense, and to return to the airport with the paratroopers in an attempt to retake the lost airport.

That's how the scene you just saw, where the aircraft formation returned without parachuting, came about.

This scene was not part of today's exercise. The reason for this sudden change is currently unknown, and the situation is still under investigation.

At the same time, the original plan was to immediately organize a strong counterattack after the Red Army's front-line positions were occupied by the Blue Army, with special forces as the main force, and take Hill 1130 in one fell swoop.

But just now, I received a call from the Red Army Chief of Staff. The 1st Mechanized Infantry Battalion of the Tsunami Assault Brigade was on its way to reinforce when it was suddenly surrounded by the Blue Army. More than a dozen armored vehicles were damaged, and the unit suffered more than a third of its casualties.

After listening to Deputy Commander Qian's explanation, everyone present understood what had happened, but also had many new questions.

"With such a big operation by both the Red and Blue teams, didn't your directing department know anything about it?" the senior colonel expert asked.

"I don't know, I have absolutely no idea."

Deputy Commander Qian shook his head and said helplessly, "It's impossible to determine whether the order was given incorrectly or someone deliberately created chaos."

Although both the Red and Blue command posts are accusing the other of violating the rules first, I believe the truth will come out soon. Please wait patiently.

Once the cause is identified and corrected, the exercise will resume, and everyone will be treated to a professional and spectacular military drill.

"Alright, then we'll wait and see," the senior colonel expert said with satisfaction.

"Deputy Commander Qian, there's no need to start over. The exercise just now was very impressive. Although we didn't see the actual combat, it sounded very suspenseful."

Just as the senior colonel experts were looking forward to the resumption of the performance, a major stepped forward and offered a different opinion.

This young major was also an expert, and his thinking was much more progressive than that of the middle-aged senior colonel expert. He did not follow the rigid rules of drills step by step.

Following the major's dissenting opinion, several other young officers quickly voiced their support.

"Yes, let's keep acting."

"This way of playing is indeed more suspenseful and makes people look forward to it, and I think we can continue."

"I've seen too many routine drills, but this kind of unconventional drill is the first time I've ever seen one, and it really impressed me."

……

Those who support continuing the exercise are mostly young officers, ranging in rank from lieutenant to major. Although they are not very authoritative, they still represent a voice.

"Comrades, this is not a play."

Deputy Commander Qian stated clearly and seriously: "Today's exercise was a cover-up operation and did not enter the stage of independent confrontation."

Any action that deviates from a pre-rehearsed plan is a serious violation of rules and regulations. Such behavior will not be tolerated, and we will deal with violators severely.

The exercise will resume soon; please sit down and wait patiently.

As soon as Deputy Commander Qian said this, the young officers wisely shut their mouths, because they already knew the Deputy Commander's position.

In addition, the older faction of the expert group has already spoken, and they are basically on the side of re-exercising.

Therefore, the young officers naturally wouldn't go out and cause trouble.

However, not all of the senior officers present were so traditional and rigid; some of them held higher positions and had more progressive ideas.

After hearing what Deputy Commander-in-Chief Qian said, Chief of Staff Shen couldn't help but furrow his brow.

He leaned to the right and whispered, "Team Leader Tan, I'm going out for a bit."

"Ah."

Team Leader Tan was pondering where the problem lay, and nodded without saying anything more.

……

The command post of the 7th Steel Brigade.

Despite not receiving any relevant exercise assignments, Chen Jun, Wang Qingrui, and others, who should have been resting, were instead gathered at the command post, creating a scene reminiscent of a battle.

"Report."

With a clear and loud voice, Hong Yi led Tuo Yonggang in.

"Reporting to the brigade commander, the raid on Xiaojinhu Airport has been successfully completed. Please give your instructions." Hong Yi smiled, in a very good mood.

"Why did it take so long? This isn't your usual efficiency, Hong Yi," Chen Jun joked.

"To avoid being detected by the Mountain Eagle Brigade, we deliberately made the helicopters take a long detour. On the return trip, their radar kept tracking us, so we had to take another long detour. Xiahou Lan and the others still don't know who did it." Tuo Yonggang answered with a smile on his face, clearly very proud of the operation.

"Well done, great job, thank you for your hard work," Wang Qingrui praised with satisfaction.

"Chief of Staff Qiu, has your intelligence center received any information?" Tian Baoguo asked.

"Of course."

Qiu Ming walked over and said, "Now the Mountain Eagle Brigade is cursing the Tsunami Brigade, and the Tsunami Brigade is cursing the Mountain Eagle Brigade. Both sides are blaming the other for violating the rules and launching a sneak attack first."

"Hahaha."

Thinking of the comical state of the red and blue teams, everyone present couldn't help but laugh.

at this time.

"Ding ding ding..."

Chen Jun's personal cell phone rang. He took it out and saw that it was Chief of Staff Shen.

He immediately realized what was going on and had anticipated this, so he immediately reminded everyone, "It's Chief of Staff Shen calling, so don't make a sound."

When everyone heard that it was Chief of Staff Shen calling, who was most likely there to hold them accountable, they immediately became more subdued.

"Greetings, sir. I am Chen Jun."

When Chen Jun answered the phone, his breathing was very steady, and there was nothing unusual about it.

"You were responsible for both attacks, weren't you?"

Chief of Staff Shen's voice was deep and emotionless, yet it was concise and to the point, making everyone present tense.

Although the identity of the Seventh Steel Brigade was confirmed when I sat down and talked with Team Leader Tan before coming here.

They're here to cause trouble.

However, the original plan was to disrupt the exercise, but this exercise was only a demonstration rehearsal, and the directing department did not notify the 7th Steel Brigade to participate in the exercise.

The Seventh Steel Brigade's actions this time, involving tricks on both sides, were somewhat illegal.

Chief of Staff Shen wants to hold them accountable; they will all be punished.

How could I not be nervous?

Just as Chen Jun turned his gaze to Brigade Commander Wang, Tian Baoguo, Hong Yi, and others, exchanging glances, Chief of Staff Shen questioned again: "Chen Jun, answer me immediately."

Chief of Staff Shen's tone became noticeably more forceful, putting pressure on Chen Jun.

but.

Although Chief of Staff Shen put a lot of pressure on him, it was not enough to break Chen Jun; it was still within his psychological limits.

So Chen Jun remained calm and said, "Commander, are you asking me to tell the truth?"

"Nonsense, of course we told the truth," Chief of Staff Shen shouted.

"Indeed, it was all our doing. Your mission, sir, was to disrupt the exercise, so we strictly carried out your instructions."

Chen Jun's answer was calm, powerful, reasonable, and without a trace of falsehood.

Seeing how composed Chen Jun was in front of his superior, the other alien officers present, including Tian Baoguo and Hong Yi, couldn't help but give him a thumbs up in their hearts.

If they were the ones being questioned by their superiors, they would probably feel guilty before they even had a chance to speak.

Hearing Chen Jun speak so confidently, Chief of Staff Shen was momentarily stunned, unsure of what to say next.

Chief of Staff Shen did know beforehand that the 7th Steel Brigade was there to cause trouble.

But he never expected that the first shot fired by the 7th Steel Brigade would be fired in a performance exercise between the Red and Blue Armies, which was specifically intended for experts and reporters, and would ultimately lead the exercise astray.

However, Team Leader Tan remained completely unaware of the situation from beginning to end, which made Chief of Staff Shen feel that things were really difficult.

If Team Leader Tan were to pursue the matter, even Chief of Staff Shen, a high-ranking officer in the theater command, would likely be powerless to do so.

It should be noted that Team Leader Tan comes from the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, and is not someone that a theater chief of staff can handle.

But the facts were right in front of him: Chen Jun was simply following orders and hadn't done anything wrong, leaving him no way to criticize Chen Jun.

Chief of Staff Shen had absolutely no idea how to handle the situation next.

After waiting for a full five or six breaths...

Chief of Staff Shen was at a loss as to how to respond to Chen Jun, how to resolve the matter, or even what would happen.

I just hung up the phone.

With a furrowed brow and a thousand thoughts swirling in his mind, he walked back to the podium and sat down.

"He hung up without saying a word. What does Chief of Staff Shen mean by that?" Chen Jun was genuinely confused and stared blankly at his phone screen.

"So, does Chief of Staff Shen agree or disagree?" Tian Baoguo asked, puzzled.

"The fact that he hung up the phone without saying a word is really puzzling, but don't panic, nothing serious is going to happen."

As the brigade commander of the 7th Steel Brigade, and the oldest among them, Wang Qingrui's actions in stepping forward to stabilize the situation were quite effective.

"Brigade Commander, Political Commissar, Chief of Staff, we are back. The ambush mission has been successfully completed."

Just as the atmosphere in the command post was becoming somewhat tense, Gao Cheng led Wu Liuyi in from outside.

There were two teams going out on this mission: one led by Deputy Chief of Staff Hong Yi and Tuo Yonggang, and the other led by Deputy Brigade Commander Gao Cheng and Wu Liuyi's Special Operations Company.

"You came back even slower than Hong Yi and the others. Did you also take a detour back?" Wang Qingrui asked.

“That’s right, we drove around in circles for ages, and the car almost ran out of gas,” Gao Cheng laughed.

Compared to staying in the command post to direct operations, Gao Cheng preferred to personally lead the team out on missions, which gave him more of a thrill and excitement.

"This is what we took from the Red Army's command vehicle. Let's see if it's useful."

Wu Liuyi brought two soldiers in with him. After speaking, he waved to the back, and the two soldiers came forward and put a pile of things on the table.

It contained not only paper items, but also what looked like military maps and meeting minutes.

There was also a laptop, a huge, bulky thing.

Chen Jun and the others were so shocked by the sight of so many spoils of war that they didn't even have a chance to say a word.

Suddenly, Qiu Ming rushed forward in two quick steps, grabbed the laptop on the table, and skillfully removed the battery.

Seeing Qiu Ming's serious expression, Wu Liuyi asked with some nervousness, "Staff Officer Qiu, what's wrong? Is something the problem?"

The others also noticed something was wrong and all turned their attention to Qiu Ming.

Only Chen Jun suddenly realized what was happening and understood. (End of Chapter)