When you're in the Wolf Pack, your ability to obey orders becomes stronger.

Chapter 161 Special Operations Brigade Confrontation: Reconnaissance Soldiers Must Be the First to Move Out!
Xu Ge's words drew everyone's attention.

"Really? You got cash?" Li Dongshui asked curiously.

The veterans all looked over.

Xu Ge shook his head: "No."

Li Dongshui rolled her eyes: "Tch! Then why are you even calling out?"

"Once we get to our training camp, I can have my dad bring us cash," Xu Ge said with a smile. "Just tell me how much you need in advance!"

The dormitory of Class 9 fell silent instantly, and everyone stared blankly at Xu Ge.

"What did you say? What do you mean, 'your dad should send it over'?"

Guo Yuanshuai, who was lying on the bed, suddenly sat up and realized what was going on. "You mean, the training camp this year is in your hometown?"

Xu Ge nodded and laughed heartily: "That's right!"

"you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure. My dad just said there are a lot of soldiers at the train station every day, and he even saw some of our Wolf Brigade members!"

Xu Ge relayed what his father had said.

Whoops!

The others immediately surrounded them.

"Where is Xu Ge's hometown again?"

"It seems to be the Central Plains."

"The Central Plains? I don't remember having anything like that there..."

"Shut up, everyone!"

Guo Yuanshuai gave a low rebuke, and everyone immediately fell silent.

"So, this year's training camp will be at the Queshan Special Training Base!"

Guo Yuanshuai frowned and whispered, then looked at Xu Ge, "From now on, only we know about your hometown in Queshan. Don't tell anyone else!"

"Ah? Why?"

Not only Xu Ge, but everyone else also didn't know what the old squad leader meant.

Guo Yuanshuai looked at the veterans: "None of you have been to Queshan, but I have. It is the second largest training base in our country, second only to Zhurihe on the grassland. As long as you are stationed there for training, there will definitely be a combat exercise near the end of the training!"

Furthermore, Xu Ge just mentioned that his father saw many people from different branches of the military, so it's very likely that this exercise is a joint military exercise involving multiple branches!

"Damn! We need to bring our civilian clothes!" Niu Sanxian said immediately.

The other veterans also turned serious.

Kaiyoumu asked, puzzled, "Squad leader, you just said that Queshan is a special forces training base. If it's an exercise, it'll be between special operations brigades. But are there any rivals for our Wolf Brigade in the country? Don't we need to be so cautious?"

Do you even know what home-field advantage is?

Guo Yuanshuai said irritably, "Yes, if you bring any army from the whole country to the Northwest, our Wolf Brigade has never lost as the opposing force. But what if we go to Queshan?"

"The Central Plains Fierce Tiger Brigade's base is over there; that's their territory. They know exactly how many fruits are on which tree in the mountains. If you were thrown in there, you probably wouldn't even be able to find your way out!"

"The Fierce Tiger Brigade?"

Su Liujun was taken aback. "Squad leader, could it be the same unit that almost captured the brigade commander alive during the cross-country exercise more than ten years ago?"

Guo Yuanshuai nodded and said seriously, "That's the one. They are a well-known special operations brigade in the Central Theater Command. Our brigade hasn't been there for the past ten years or so. If our opponent is the Fierce Tiger Brigade again this time, I'm afraid..."

Xu Ge was somewhat shocked: "Our hometown has such a powerful unit? Sergeant, why don't you let others know where my hometown is?"

"Because walls have ears."

Guo Yuanshuai said seriously, "Your hometown is in Queshan, so you must be familiar with that area. This is our advantage. It can be used to surprise the enemy during the exercise. But if the enemy finds out and is prepared, then it won't work."

Before Xu Ge could even speak, Li Dongshui asked, "Squad leader, there's nothing wrong with us talking here. Do you think our Wolf Brigade has any spies from the enemy? Besides, isn't the exercise supposed to be held after the training camp ends? That's several months away..."

“However, we must start taking precautions now!” Guo Yuanshuai said in a deep voice.

What Xu Ge and Li Dongshui couldn't understand was that after Guo Yuanshuai said those words, the veterans nodded in agreement, not at all feeling that the squad leader was making a mountain out of a molehill.

"Seriously, squad leader? This is way too much!" Xu Ge couldn't understand it. "It's just an exercise, why is it being treated like a war?"

"Exercises are like fighting a war! Especially in this day and age, if there are no battles to fight, where will the soldiers' merits come from?"

Guo Yuanshuai said seriously, "In a sense, exercises are more important than fighting, because they are an important basis for testing whether troops can go to the battlefield and whether they can fight on the battlefield!"

"It's not that bad..."

"No, it's absolutely true, not an exaggeration at all!"

Before Li Dongshui could say anything more, Su Liujun spoke up, "You two new recruits have no idea what the troops participating in the exercise will go to in order to win!"

"How badly?" Xu Ge and Li Dongshui asked immediately.

Su Liujun: "Three years ago in Zhurihe, a reconnaissance squad leader from the Blue Army came to our camp six months in advance to herd sheep. Every day he would lead a flock of sheep to wander around the surrounding mountains and sleep in the sheepfold at night."

This guy spent half a year herding sheep, he reeked of sheep dung, and his hair was practically infested with maggots, but he still managed to find the location of an entire artillery battalion!

Xu Ge and Li Dongshui: "Holy crap!!!"

Did they arrive six months early and end up sleeping in the sheepfold for the entire six months?

That's an amazing move!
"Let me tell you two, in a confrontation between two special operations brigades, the first to be deployed will definitely be the reconnaissance troops! From the moment you step into Que Mountain, the reconnaissance and counter-reconnaissance between the two sides begins. Any stranger around you could be a reconnaissance agent for the other side!"

Guo Yuanshuai lit a cigarette, seemingly reminiscing about the past.
"That year in Queshan, our Sixth Company had just arrived when we were immediately assigned to carry out reconnaissance missions. During the entire training period, I never returned to the camp tent. I spent every day at the homes of the villagers in order to investigate the personnel configuration of the Fierce Tiger Brigade. I was practically becoming a son-in-law of the villagers!"

Everyone swarmed around: "Squad leader, tell us more about the fellow villager's daughter!"

"What are you talking about? She likes noodles while I like rice, it's not a good match!"

Guo Yuanshuai waved his hand, "Go, go, go! Hurry up and wash up and go to bed early. We have to get up early tomorrow!"

The crowd dispersed and all looked at Xu Ge: "Father Xu, the cash flow for this training camp depends on you!"

Xu Ge gave me a look that said, "I'll take care of it. I'll have my dad take the day off tomorrow to go to the bank and withdraw cash. Don't worry, kids!"

. . .

. . .

The next morning at six o'clock, the reveille was blown.

Everyone immediately got up, washed, packed their bags, and began packing their belongings.

Lunch was served at 6:20, and by 7:00, everyone had boarded the vehicles, and the convoy headed straight for the national highway.

At first, the sheer number of hundreds of troop carriers on the cement road inside the regiment's garrison was already quite large. But once they got onto the national highway and joined up with other units' convoys, they instantly transformed into a long, winding line stretching for several kilometers!
Local police cars weaved back and forth to direct traffic, sirens blaring to slow down any private cars that were about to overtake.

Xu Ge even heard a traffic policeman shouting in a thick Mandarin accent, "Hey! Don't overtake us! If you do, we'll have to bring you back!"

Before everyone boarded the vehicle, Battalion Commander Zhang Hua emphasized again that, since the Spring Festival travel rush was not yet over, they must give way to civilians they encountered during the journey.

However, the Wolf Brigade's relocation had been planned for months in advance. Night City Railway Station had already opened a green channel, so boarding the train went smoothly for everyone. The only slight discomfort was being constantly photographed up close with their phones. This journey was all too familiar to Xu Ge, as it was essentially a return trip via the same route.

"Let me tell you, it takes about a day and a night to get from Yecheng to Zhangye, and then you can transfer in Zhangye to go directly to Queshan."

After boarding the train, the people from the Sixth Company were assigned to one carriage. Xu Ge found a seat by the window and sat down, exchanging a smile with Kaiyoumu.

"Haha, this is exactly where we met!"

Li Dongshui struggled to stuff his backpack onto the rack, then plopped down opposite Xu Ge, complaining, "This train clearly has both soft and hard sleeper berths, so why were we assigned hard seats?"

“Soft sleeper berths are sold to passengers, and we only have a portion of hard sleeper berths, so there aren’t enough to go around,” Su Liujun shook his head. “Only the deputy squad leader in our class has a hard sleeper berth.”

Niu Sanxian and Wang Lin were bending down and arranging several backpacks in a row in the aisle.

"What are you doing?" Xu Ge asked curiously.

"Making the beds? You guys aren't planning to sleep sitting on chairs tonight, are you?" Niu Sanxian said, then casually lay down on his backpack.

"No, aren't you blocking the aisle? What if someone needs to use the restroom?"

"This is your first time participating in the training camp, so you're not used to it yet. You'll get used to it tonight."

Xu Ge didn't even need to wait until evening; by noon, he already knew what Niu Sanxian meant.

The entire corridor was filled with veterans, their snores rising and falling.

Some people who needed to use the restroom climbed over the backs of the chairs on either side, while others simply took off their shoes and stepped over these people.

The veterans lying on the ground covered their lower bodies with their hands or turned to the side to make room for them.

Everyone was so accommodating; no one complained that I was in their way, and no one blamed me for needing to pee. There wasn't a single complaint throughout the entire process; it was incredibly harmonious.

When it was time to eat, the train attendants didn't go into the carriages; they just took out the meals one by one from the connecting area, and the soldiers passed them to the back.

After the train passed the Tianshan Mountains and night fell, the soldiers in the entire carriage let loose completely.

People were lying on the luggage racks, in the aisles, on the backs of the seats, on the tables, under the tables, and even on the washbasins in the connecting areas between the carriages.

Xu Ge's sense of smell was already very sensitive, and he was so overwhelmed by the smells of feet, sweat, and other unidentified odors that he couldn't fall asleep.

Li Dongshui was already asleep in the seat opposite Xu Ge, with her legs draped over Xu Ge's thighs.

Xu Ge now regrets sitting by the window, as it's very inconvenient to get in and out.

"Ge Bao? Ge Bao?"

Suddenly, a familiar sound came from the connecting area between the carriages.

Xu Ge looked up and saw Guo Yuanshuai waving at him. He immediately pushed Li Dongshui's leg down and stood up.

Li Dongshui rubbed her eyes and woke up, groggily asking, "What?"

"The squad leader wants the two of us to come over!"

"Oh!"

Using tactical maneuvers, the two nimbly and skillfully climbed over the backs of rows of chairs.

Guo Yuanshuai was standing between the legs of the seventh squad leader, smoking a cigarette, when he looked at Xu Ge and asked, "Why aren't you sleeping?"

Xu Ge truthfully replied, "Squad leader, I can't sleep right now. Let's talk when I'm too sleepy to sleep anymore."

"I'm in the lower bunk of number 19. You two can go to my bed and take a nap for a while," Guo Yuanshuai said, pointing to the hard sleeper carriage behind him.

Xu Ge shook his head: "Squad leader, you have a back injury, you sleep by yourself. We're both healthy enough to handle it!"

"Stop talking nonsense and go!"

Guo Yuanshuai said irritably, "I've been lying down all day, and now I just want to come out and stretch my legs. I'll come and wake you guys up when I'm tired."

"Oh, okay, thank you, Vice Squad Leader!"

Xu Ge and Li Dongshui walked to the back and quickly found compartment number 19, where the lower bunk was indeed empty.

Xu Ge didn't recognize the people sleeping on the other five beds; he guessed they were patients from other companies.

"How are we going to sleep on this one bed?" Li Dongshui asked.

Xu Ge lay down directly on the bed, turning his body to the side: "You sleep on the outside, with your butt facing me!"

"Why should you sleep inside? Let's switch!" Li Dongshui protested.

Xu Ge ignored him, closed his eyes, and prepared to sleep; he was indeed extremely sleepy.

Just then, because he was close to the partition of the carriage, Xu Ge heard the hushed voices on the other side, which sounded somewhat familiar.

"Did you hear me? You sleep outside, I'll sleep inside!" Li Dongshui raised her voice when Xu Ge ignored her.

Xu Ge grew impatient: "Are you looking for trouble? We should be grateful we have a place to sleep, and you're still being picky..."

"Oh, it really is you two!"

A head popped out from the doorway; it was Zhang Qian, the female soldier squad leader who had accompanied them to Shiquanhe last time. "I was wondering why her voice sounded familiar."

Seeing that it was someone he knew, Xu Ge was also surprised: "Squad Leader Zhang Qian, what are you doing on this train?"

"Why can't I be here? Aren't I a member of the Wolf Brigade?"

Zhang Qian asked with a grin, "Without our communications company, you'll just be feeding mosquitoes with your eyes closed!"

“That’s not what I meant. Didn’t you logistics people go there by plane with the brigade headquarters?” Xu Ge explained.

"There's not enough room on the plane."

Zhang Qian glanced at the two of them, then smiled at Li Dongshui and said, "Little Shui Shui, is there no place to sleep? I have a spare bed. Do you want to come over?"

Li Dongshui's eyes lit up: "Really?"

"Of course it's true. Are you going to sleep or not? If not, I'll let someone else have it," Zhang Qian said. "I only made an exception for you because we're friends."

"An exception?" Li Dongshui asked, somewhat puzzled.

Xu Ge had already figured out what was going on in the next sleeper compartment, but he didn't say anything. Instead, he urged, "Squad Leader Zhang Qian is just trying to be helpful, so hurry up and go!"

"Oh!"

Li Dongshui followed Zhang Qian to the next room.

The next moment, the female soldiers' exclamations rang out.

"Hey, what brings a male soldier here!"

"Oh no, where are my pants?!"

"Still a new recruit? Tsk tsk, such a clean-faced little guy!"

The teasing voices from across the street sent a chill down Xu Ge's spine next door; it felt like a spider's den.

The next second, a figure hurriedly fled back, not even complaining about the location, and lay down right next to Xu Ge outside, trembling.

(End of this chapter)