Soldiers Assault: Starting from the 7th Steel Company

Chapter 171 Robbery Leads to Success
In contrast to the gloomy mood on the Blues' side, the Reds' side was in high spirits.

In a large conference room, many colonel-level officers expressed their opinions and suggestions, which were generally to use air and firepower superiority to launch a saturation attack on the Blue Army's positions. After the Blue Army's manpower was exhausted, the armored units would cover the infantry as they charged forward!

Sitting on the platform, Gao Jianjun, as the chief referee of the Spring Thunder No. 1 exercise, would not easily express his opinions.

But he intends to sit here and listen for a while today.
Watching the Red Army commanders and soldiers talking loudly, Gao Jianjun was somewhat displeased, because the Red Army's offensive methods were still the same old ones, without any innovation.

It should be understood that the original intention of holding this exercise was to explore the modernization and upgrading of military tactics in the new era. This is why the forces of the Red and Blue sides were distributed so disparately, so that the Red Army would have enough time and space to try out new tactics and strategies.

Unfortunately, the Red Army was clearly prioritizing stability.

The old mechanized warfare approach is becoming less interesting, especially since the Red Army's exercise commander, Deputy Commander Sun, clearly didn't take the instructions from his superiors to heart and only wanted to win by following the established procedures.

However, this kind of complacent mentality is not what this army needs.

Why was this exercise codenamed "Spring Thunder No. 1"? The main purpose was to awaken, like spring thunder, those who cling to outdated thinking and are unwilling to look forward.

"Should the commander go and check on the Blue Army's preparations?" His secretary, Zhao Pingyi, walked over and asked softly.

Gao Jianjun did not respond; he simply closed his eyes and leaned back in his seat.

Zhao Pingyi understood.

Sometimes, no response is also a form of answer.

As Gao Jianjun's secretary, he had a thorough understanding of the ins and outs of this matter.
-
A few days later, the Spring Thunder No. 1 military exercise began as scheduled.

At the start of the exercise, the Red Army launched a frenzied attack on all of the Blue Army's positions.

With absolute air superiority, the Blue Army's resistance became extremely difficult, and within just two days of the start of the battle, their defenses were under attack in multiple places.
The senior officers of the exercise's judging panel were intently watching the large screen displaying the offensive and defensive postures of the red and blue forces. Seeing the increasingly precarious situation of the blue team, several of them began to whisper among themselves.

"What on earth is the Blue Team doing? They're just getting beaten up by the Red Team like this?"

"What else can we do? The Red Army's advantage is too obvious, there's no way we can fight this battle."

"Yeah, if we put you in charge of the Blue Team, do you think you could turn the world upside down even though you have nothing?"

While everyone was discussing the matter, Gao Jianjun could no longer sit still. He got up, walked to the small conference room next door, took out his phone, and dialed Cheng Guoqiang's number to ask him about the situation there.

When Cheng Guoqiang volunteered to take on the role of commander-in-chief of the Blue Army, he was somewhat worried. After all, although the Blue Army had the full support of the A Brigade and a missile battalion had been borrowed from the Second Artillery Corps, its strength on paper was indeed too weak.

Missile forces are not all-encompassing; the main problem is their small number, and without precise positioning, missiles will lack accuracy.

Unexpectedly, on the other end of the phone, Cheng Guoqiang was not depressed at all because of the recent unfavorable situation. He just told Gao Jianjun with full confidence that he would definitely do a good job in the exercise!
With Cheng Guoqiang's words, Gao Jianjun felt reassured.

Since this guy has been his partner for many years and never makes boastful claims, the fact that he said this means he must have two plans.

Gao Jianjun wondered if this variable was Chen Jiang's information technology squadron.
Gao Jianjun knew about Gao Cheng's matchmaking efforts for Chen Jiang and Chu Ning, and he indeed had high hopes for his future nephew-in-law.
“What kind of skill is it to win a battle when things are going smoothly? A soldier should have the courage and ability to fight to the death.” Gao Jianjun looked at his secretary Zhao Pingyi and muttered to himself.

At this moment, Chen Jiang was leading Wu Liuyi's squad at high speed across the vast plains.

Based on limited intelligence obtained from aerial reconnaissance, the Red Army's command post was nearby, but this "nearby" was not exactly close; the reconnaissance planes only informed them of an area spanning several tens of kilometers.

This cannot actually be blamed on the aerial reconnaissance personnel. The main reason is that the Red Army had absolute air superiority, and they could only do this task in a very limited amount of time. Even so, the exercise command still determined that the poor high-speed reconnaissance plane was shot down.

In other words, Chen Jiang and his team had to rely on this meager intelligence to continue their reconnaissance mission and pinpoint the exact location of the Red Army's command post.

Moreover, they didn't have much time left, because Cheng Guoqiang told them that they could only have a maximum of 6 hours, which was also the longest the Blue Army could resist the Red Army's attack.

If this time is exceeded, the Blue Team will be completely wiped out.

The missile units might also lose their maneuverability, allowing the Red Army to pinpoint their assembly areas and destroy them with airstrikes.

But how easy is it to find the other person's location in such a short time?

The terrain here is extremely vast, and if the Red Army's command post was hidden under some underground facility, it would be really hard to find.

In addition, Chen Jiang only brought a small group of people to infiltrate the area. In order to expand the search area as much as possible, the team was broken up into several groups to conduct reconnaissance separately.

They were all equipped with the latest multi-functional individual communication system, and each group was equipped with several drones and an electronic jammer.

After being modified according to Chen Jiang's suggestion, this small drone can be used for a variety of purposes, including the bombing capability that he had been longing for.

When Professor Chen saw Chen Jiang's design proposal, he was truly amazed by his incredible thought process. Unfortunately, the current drones were too weak to carry large bombs. In the end, they could only carry specially made small hand grenades. By pulling out their safety fuses, they used special safety clips to ensure that the grenades would not explode.

Once it reaches the target, it is dropped from above, and the timing is perfect for detonation.

This is also the source of Chen Jiang's confidence in boasting to Cheng Guoqiang that he could complete the "decapitation" mission even without missile units.

But no matter how advanced the weapons are, the key is still to pinpoint the exact location of the enemy's command post.

"Team Leader Chen, we can't keep running like this. First, it's easy to expose our position, and second, everyone's energy is almost depleted. If we encounter the enemy, it might affect our combat effectiveness." Wu Liuyi is now a squad leader, equivalent to a platoon leader. He's no longer the machine gunner he was in the Steel Seventh Company; he has to learn to think and has developed a holistic perspective. "Yes, Team Leader Chen, I see some comrades are already panting heavily." Cheng Cai has now become the squad's top sniper. He clutches his QBU-88 5.8mm sniper rifle tightly to his chest. With his marksmanship, this rifle is definitely a formidable weapon.

Chen Jiang glanced back at the dozen or so team members following behind him. They were all elites in the squadron. After Chen Jiang became the squadron leader, their training became more scientific than before, so armed cross-country running has always been one of their strengths.

However, this time, mainly because they lacked air superiority, they had to rely on their own two legs to travel at great distances. In addition, they were carrying a lot of equipment, and these all-powerful special forces elites were already showing signs of fatigue.

With the support of the system, Chen Jiang has fully recovered from his previous serious injuries, which can only be described as a medical miracle. However, despite his extremely strong individual combat ability, he still has to take care of his subordinates.

“Okay, let’s take a break at that waterworks up ahead. There’s a water tower there; we can see far from there and maybe make an unexpected discovery,” Chen Jiang pointed ahead.

Since the company commander was willing to let everyone rest, the short distance ahead was nothing, and everyone cautiously explored forward.

Upon closer inspection, it was discovered that there were people on duty at the water plant. When the old man on duty saw Chen Jiang and his group in full field gear, he was quite surprised.

However, he quickly calmed down and warmly invited them inside to rest.

After a brief conversation, Chen Jiang learned that the other person was also a retired veteran who had been assigned to work as an administrator at the water station. Because it was the weekend, there was no one else at the water station, and he was the only one on duty.

He happened to run into Chen Jiang and his group, and he was hoping these young men could chat with him more to relieve his boredom.

"The equipment nowadays is really good. Back then, we used Type 65 semi-automatic rifles." The veteran looked at the automatic rifles Chen Jiang and his men were carrying. The workmanship was definitely top-notch, and he couldn't help but feel envious.

Not to mention their other equipment.

"Veteran, times are constantly changing, and our equipment is also advancing rapidly. Only in this way can we protect our people from being bullied by foreigners."

Chen Jiang's words stirred the veterans' hearts. They then went to the kitchen to get some food to treat everyone. While eating, they chatted, but for reasons of secrecy, they mostly listened to the veterans' stories.

When Chen Jiang later suggested going to the top of the water tower, the veteran immediately understood. "I guess you want to go to the top of the tower to scout, right? The ladder on that tower hasn't been maintained in a long time; it's dangerous. If you want to know anything, you should ask me. I've lived here for most of my life; I'm practically a living map of this place."

Upon hearing this, Chen Jiang was overjoyed.

Indeed, climbing up the water tower was just to use binoculars to look at the situation in the distance, but the people in the Red Army command post must have been very careful, so the probability of finding any clues through ordinary observation was very low.

Since the veteran knows this place like the back of his hand, it would be easier to just ask him.

So Chen Jiang asked him if he had seen any soldiers or convoys like theirs stationed in the vicinity.

"Comrade, you've come to the right person. Several days ago, a large number of troops gathered here."

Upon hearing the veteran's words, not only Chen Jiang, but also Cheng Cai and Wu Liuyi gathered around, asking, "Which direction is it in?"

The veteran pointed in one direction outside, "That way!"

Chen Jiang immediately asked, "Are there any buildings in that direction? Something sturdy, especially those with underground levels."

"It seems there was an unfinished building. It was originally supposed to be a shopping mall, but the developer ran away with the money when it was almost finished. I remember there was a basement under this shopping mall."

Chen Jiang was overjoyed upon hearing this.
This should be it!
The abandoned building, which no one uses, has a basement underneath. It should be noted that at that time, it was not common for buildings to use cast-in-place reinforced concrete. Most residential buildings were still paved with five-hole slabs, so it was unlikely that there would be a basement.

Only those buildings originally intended for large structures like shopping malls would use the cast-in-place method, and would also include basements. However, basements built during this period were unlikely to be used for underground parking lots because there were very few private cars, so the basements would be relatively small.

But it is precisely because of this that such a basement, with its high-quality materials and numerous load-bearing columns, is exceptionally sturdy. If Chen Jiang were a commander of the Red Army, this would certainly be the best choice to avoid missile attacks.

With a general direction in mind, the food the veterans brought out to feed everyone no longer tasted appealing. Time was of the essence, and they had to race against time to get to the site and see if it was indeed the Red Army's command post.

The veterans knew they all had missions to fulfill, so they simply gave them some rations to take with them and filled their water bottles; the rest was up to fate.

Following the veteran's directions, Chen Jiang and his team conducted a preliminary reconnaissance and indeed discovered that the shopping mall was full of hidden secrets.

Because there were multiple hidden sentries in what seemed like an undefended place, this was because Chen Jiang's perception was extremely strong, and he could see corners that ordinary people couldn't see.

However, Chen Jiang and his team had no way of knowing whether the building could be shot down by a missile or what the specific situation inside was. In order to ensure the accuracy of the intelligence, Chen Jiang decided to send people in disguise to conduct reconnaissance.

He originally wanted to go by himself, but considering his recent fame, he was worried that he would be recognized and captured, which would be extremely embarrassing. So after careful consideration, he decided to give the opportunity to Cheng Cai.

Cheng Cai still looks like a student, but most importantly, he's quick-witted and adaptable.

Cheng Cai certainly lived up to expectations. After changing into the T-shirt and jeans that had been prepared beforehand, he looked exactly like a college student returning from a weekend break. The fact that he was also carrying a backpack definitely increased his credibility.

"Stop, what are you doing?"

Suddenly, two men rushed out and blocked Cheng Cai's way. They were also in plainclothes, but Cheng Cai could tell that they were elite soldiers who had been trained.

If Cheng Cai were to fight two against one, his chances of winning would be quite good, but if the other side had reinforcements or if they alerted the enemy by calling for help, then it would be a losing proposition.

Thinking of this, Cheng Cai put on his dramatic act.
"Brothers, I have no money, I'm just a poor student."

(End of this chapter)