From the 7th Steel Company to the Synthetic Division

Chief of Staff Gui explained in great detail that the actions revealed by the Mountain Eagle Brigade so far have been consistent with the intercepted intelligence, but Director Wang is still a little worried.

He frowned and asked, "How's our deployment going? Hopefully, we haven't given ourselves away with anything."

"will not."

Chief of Staff Gui shook his head affirmatively, walked to the wall and said to the deployment map hanging on the wall: "I have ordered the first battalion's communications radio and some high-powered radios to accompany the small detachment."

Moreover, the radio communication was functioning normally, providing the Mountain Eagle Brigade's electronic reconnaissance with a complete set of camouflage signals.

The Mountain Eagle Brigade mistakenly believed that our 1st Battalion had been mobilized in full force, while our 3rd Battalion was rapidly maneuvering from the 7th Division towards Xiaojinhu Airport. These actions led the Mountain Eagle Brigade to mistakenly believe that we were about to outflank and encircle their command post.

"Force him to abandon his plan to intercept and kill my Third Battalion, concentrate two battalions in the Third Division to encircle and annihilate my First Motorized Infantry Brigade, and then launch a counterattack to intercept and kill my Third Battalion."

After listening to Chief of Staff Gui's calculations, Brigade Commander Wang was honestly quite shocked.

After moving a chair to the side and sitting down, he stared at the map on the wall and said in a deep voice, "This wishful thinking is not something Xiahou Lan can pull off on his own. Once he falls into the trap, the Mountain Eagle Brigade will surely perish."

After Brigade Commander Wang finished speaking, he suddenly remembered something and asked, "Oh, by the way, has the missile unit arrived yet?"

"It's in place."

Chief of Staff Gui nodded and said, "We secretly infiltrated the Third Division last night and deployed six launch points to ensure that after the Mountain Eagle Brigade's transport planes enter our ambush zone, the first wave of attack will cause them to lose at least three aircraft."

The second wave of attacks forced him to leave, and no paratrooper dared to jump.

We also dispatched a special operations team equipped with twenty man-portable air-to-air missiles; our best result was ensuring they never returned.

"it is good."

Commander Wang slammed his fist on the table with satisfaction and said, "Yesterday I deliberately leaked some intelligence to the Seventh Steel Brigade, just to let Chen Jun and the others know that we came to Wufeng Mountain not to be anyone's sparring partner."

We have our ideas and our methods, and this is also a warning to them: don't interfere, or we'll eliminate them next.

"Brigade Commander, the Mountain Eagle Brigade's planes will be taking off in five minutes," Chief of Staff Gui said, glancing at his wristwatch.

"The show is about to begin."

Commander Wang stood up abruptly, his eyes filled with excitement and elation.

It was as if victory was already within reach.

Meanwhile, at the Xiaojinhu Mountain Eagle Brigade Command Post, Xiahou Lan was playing cards with the Chief of Staff and the Political Commissar, seemingly completely unconcerned.

There was no tension before a major battle; it felt more like a vacation.

"A pair of Js."

Xiahou Lan threw down two cards and casually asked, "Have there been any anomalies in the reconnaissance signals from Zone 3 and Zone 8?"

"Reporting to the brigade commander."

The communications officer stood up and reported: "So far, no abnormalities have been found. The 1st Battalion of the Tsunami Assault Brigade has entered Division 3 and is marching from east to west along Highway 453. The electromagnetic wave response is very strong."

The reconnaissance unit of the 8th ward has been sending back real-time surveillance footage; the 3rd Battalion of the Tsunami Assault Brigade is advancing rapidly.

The chief of staff glanced at the time and then gave the order: "Instruct all aircraft to start. The specific boarding time will be determined by my command."

"Yes."

The communications officer turned around and returned to the operating instructions.

"Brigade Commander, you hesitated for so long. I thought you were going to play some absolutely amazing card, but you just gave me this?" The Chief of Staff laughed as he looked at the pair of checkmarks.

“That’s right, is there a problem?” Xiahou Lan asked.

"hey-hey."

The chief of staff smiled calmly and threw down two cards.

A pair of A's.

"I didn't play those two cards. I made a mistake." Xiahou Lan pretended to take back the pair of hooks he had just played.

"Hey, eh, eh."

The chief of staff reacted swiftly, pressing down on the cards to prevent Xiahou Lan from taking them back. He teased, "You made a mistake with your cards? Who would believe that? I've been watching those two cards of yours for ages. You were holding onto them, unable to make a decision. I finally waited for you to play them, how could I let you take them back? Haha."

“That’s right, how can you cheat at cards? You can’t take back a card that’s been played.” The political commissar also said with a smile, not giving Xiahou Lan any chance to cheat.

"These are the two I want to offer."

Xiahou Lan threw two more cards on the table, as if he had really made a mistake.

"Let's stop playing. If we keep going, we'll both be in chaos." The chief of staff said meaningfully, putting down all the cards in his hand and joining them with the cards on the table.

"Okay, let's stop playing, stop the game."

Xiahou Lan immediately covered all the cards, ending the game between the three.

"Hey old buddy, I've noticed you've been looking preoccupied since last night. Is something wrong?" the political commissar asked as he covered the card up.

"It seems the brigade commander is hiding something. Tell us and we'll analyze it for you," the chief of staff said.

"I went to the Seventh Steel Brigade last night. I achieved my main goal, but unfortunately I didn't see Chen Jun. I'm still not sure what to do," Xiahou Lan said, frowning.

It was as if only by seeing Chen Jun in person could a certain matter be resolved.

"Could it be that Chen Jun is intentionally avoiding us?" the chief of staff speculated.

“We really need to take Chen Jun of the 7th Steel Brigade seriously. I’ve heard that this guy never plays by the rules in battle, and his opponents are basically stunned when they lose to him.” The political commissar’s expression also turned serious, showing his fear of Chen Jun.

“It doesn’t seem like he’s deliberately avoiding us, it’s not his style, and besides…”

Xiahou Lan pondered and analyzed, "We intentionally didn't notify them beforehand, giving them a surprise attack. It's impossible for them to know we were coming in advance, so they deliberately hid and didn't see us."

"Didn't you manage to intimidate them last night? Are you afraid it won't work?" the chief of staff guessed.

Xiahou Lan's high-profile and arrogant behavior at the Seventh Steel Brigade last night was indeed intentional; he had his own purpose.

One of his objectives was to intimidate and threaten the 7th Steel Brigade, making them hesitant to make decisions.

"Correct."

Xiahou Lan nodded and said, "Yesterday I gave their brigade commander and political commissar a warning, meaning that they should not cause any trouble for us this morning, and that we would wipe out the Tsunami Assault Brigade's battalion this morning."

"I feel……"

The political commissar said with a smile, "We have definitely achieved our goal. After all, the Steel Seventh Brigade has not made any moves so far in the exercise." "But Chen Jun is the core of the Steel Seventh Brigade. I really have no idea what his attitude is."

Xiahou Lan took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled and said in a deep voice, "As a new type of combined arms unit, and more importantly, a professional opposing force, their ideas and concepts must be different from ours."

"They are definitely different, but how different can they be?" The chief of staff didn't seem to care much.

"Different perspectives lead to different logics."

Xiahou Lan said decisively, "They can do things that we think are impossible, and within their logic, it must be reasonable."

For example, yesterday I threatened them, saying that if they fought us, they would definitely lose. And if they try to ambush us again, they'd better watch out. Do you think they won't come back?

Xiahou Lan tapped the table and guessed, "I think that's probably not the case."

Upon hearing Xiahou Lan's words, the political commissar and brigade commander also felt that the Seventh Steel Brigade was probably not so easy to handle, and their expressions became serious.

And Xiahou Lan's guess was indeed correct.

At this moment, the command post of the 7th Steel Brigade was not in a state of combat readiness where it was not prepared to participate in the battle, but rather in a state of readiness to enter combat.

“If Xiahou Lan enters Division Three, he’s really doomed. Wang Hu is no pushover.” Qiu Ming handed the documents he’d gotten from the intelligence center to Chen Jun across from him as he spoke.

"How did you know?" Gao Cheng asked curiously.

"We also have operations tomorrow, so all our intelligence units have been deployed."

Qiu Ming, who was in charge of the intelligence fusion center, was most knowledgeable about intelligence from all sides and immediately explained: "Our satellites and drones have been keeping an eye on a missile battalion of the Tsunami Assault Brigade."

The duty officer told me late last night that the Red Army's missile battalion was active. Later, it was discovered that they moved to the third district and then went silent. There were at least eight to ten vehicles involved; it didn't seem like they were heading to attack Xiaojinhu Airport.

All the intelligence from the entire brigade is gathered by Qiu Ming. After he sorts and organizes it, he selects the appropriate information to report to the brigade headquarters. The intelligence he provides is definitely accurate.

"Are you sure the 1st Battalion of the Tsunami Assault Brigade is making a feint and not actually going to attack Xiaojinhu Airport?" Chen Jun asked.

"Through electromagnetic wave filtering and directional analysis using a detection system, we discovered that half of their radio signals were empty, suggesting it might be a disguised radio network circling in the mountains. Unfortunately, their purpose in making this feint is unclear," Qiu Ming said with a hint of regret.

"That must be related to their missile battalion; these signals are covering the missile battalion," Hong Yi deduced.

"You mean, Wang Hu of the Tsunami Assault Brigade wants to use this opportunity to catch a big fish?" Wang Qingrui asked.

"No one gets up early without a reason, and that's pretty much it," Hong Yi said with certainty.

……

Mountain Eagle Brigade.

"Report to the brigade commander, radar has detected a target."

The information reported by the staff officer was crucial, immediately alerting Xiahou Lan and the others, who all turned their attention to the large screen.

"This...this is a fleet of aircraft, a fleet of armed helicopters." The chief of staff was stunned.

Xiahou Lan, who had been sitting, could no longer contain himself and jumped up, ordering, "Identify them immediately. I need to know what they're here for."

"Reporting to the brigade commander."

Another staff officer stood up and reported, "It can be confirmed that they are not aircraft from the Tsunami Assault Brigade. It is very likely that they are aircraft sent by the 7th Steel Brigade, possibly to launch a surprise attack on us."

"I command..."

Xiahou Lan did not hesitate and decisively ordered: "First, notify the duty aircraft to take off immediately and prepare for battle. We must not allow them to threaten our command post."

Second, notify the 1st and 2nd Airborne Battalions to immediately cancel the airborne operation.

Third, notify the Y-8 Squadron to take off immediately.

Xiahou Lan issued three orders in one year, and the communications staff immediately relayed them to the relevant units via radio.

……

On the viewing platform.

After listening to Ai Jia's explanation, all the guests and experts thought the exercise would proceed as usual and were eagerly waiting for the plane to arrive.

After waiting here for so long, and with the appointed time long past and the sky still completely empty, everyone finally couldn't take it anymore.

"Comrade Lieutenant."

A major asked loudly, "Didn't you say the exercise was proceeding according to plan? How come so much time has passed and there's still no movement?"

Were both units ambushed by the 7th Steel Brigade again? Are we going to get tricked here again?

The major's words represented the thoughts of others, and immediately a cacophony of discontent arose, turning the viewing platform into a noisy mess.

"Everyone, I'm so sorry, I'll go ask the former deputy commander-in-chief right away, please wait a moment."

Ai Jia calmed everyone down a bit, then approached Deputy Commander Qian from the right rear and asked, "Deputy Commander Qian, the expert group is asking if they've been tricked, why the exercise hasn't started."

Deputy Commander-in-Chief Qian is also having a headache, and he can only communicate with the directing department by phone.

"Get to the bottom of this immediately. Why has the battle plan, which was sent last night, changed again this morning? I need an explanation from them."

Deputy Commander Qian hung up the phone, sighed helplessly, and said, "Why would I play a trick on them? I didn't even know I'd been tricked."

At this point, Deputy Commander Qian composed himself and said in a formal tone, "Comrade Aijia, the current situation is that the exercise plan has not changed, but the tactics have changed."

"Why did it change?" Ai Jia asked.

"You're asking me? Who am I supposed to ask? It's all because of the Steel Seventh Brigade that came in and messed everything up."

After complaining, Deputy Commander Qian explained, "The current situation is that the Tsunami Assault Brigade is preparing to launch a large-scale ambush operation in Division Three."

In that case, the Mountain Eagle Brigade might fall into a trap…

Upon hearing that there were new developments, a group of reporters and experts couldn't help but leave their seats and surround Deputy Commander Qian.

Deputy Commander Qian continued, "Because two airborne battalions are about to board the plane and fly to Division Three, while a squadron of the Tsunami Assault Brigade has already infiltrated Division Three."

You probably wouldn't believe it, but they've deployed only surface-to-air missiles, specifically targeting the Mountain Eagle Brigade's air force. Now they're just waiting for the Mountain Eagle Brigade's six transport planes to arrive.

The Tsunami Assault Brigade is fully prepared. The first wave of attack will focus on six missiles, aiming to shoot down three transport planes of the Mountain Eagle Brigade.

The second wave of attacks will take down one enemy unit first, so the rest won't dare to come, much less parachute out.

After hearing the former deputy commander's words, the crowd was in an uproar, and a reporter asked in surprise: "Then the Tsunami Assault Brigade has won a resounding victory."
Shooting down four large transport planes at once would be a pretty impressive feat, wouldn't it? (End of Chapter)