From the 7th Steel Company to the Synthetic Division

Xiahou Lan is truly brave.

A venomous attack is truly ferocious.

This overwhelming, all-encompassing barrage of attacks showed absolutely no respect for the other side, leaving the colonel speechless with rage and his face burning with shame.

Faced with such a powerful Xiahou Lan, his attitude was already so clear.

Is there anything else I can ask?

It's obviously pointless now.

"Alright, that's enough for today's conversation." The colonel had no choice but to end the conversation.

"Thank you!"

Xiahou Lan raised the corners of his mouth slightly, stood up, saluted, and strode away.

The whole process was swift and efficient.

……

909th Brigade Operations Conference Room.

As the commander of the 909th Brigade in the upcoming exercise, Chu Zhangang made a special trip to the 909th Brigade to hold a meeting to discuss how to deal with the attack from the Steel 7th Brigade.

"I believe we are quite confident in our first battle against the combined air and sea force of the 7th Steel Brigade."

Ding Kai, as the brigade commander, stood at the front and confidently reported to Chu Zhangang: "First of all, Chen Jun of the Seventh Steel Brigade is our old rival."

We figured out his weaknesses in the last encounter, and over the past year, we have never stopped our intelligence gathering against the 7th Steel Brigade, especially against Chen Jun.

A thorough investigation has been conducted into his personal preferences, temperament, personality, and style, sufficient to support a tactical analysis of him.

Ding Kai is still the same as before, spouting empty rhetoric with exceptional fluency, without uttering a single useful word.

However, Chu Zhangang really fell for this trick. Even if he changed, he was still a leopard that couldn't change its spots. Or perhaps his obsession with defeating the Steel Seventh Brigade was too strong, and he couldn't care less about anything else.

So when he heard Ding Kai's confidence, he said with great satisfaction, "Good, very good. With this data, we can take the initiative."

"We can't just focus on Chen Jun, can we?"

As the political commissar, Xu Xiaocun couldn't stand it any longer and had to take on the role of military supervisor in his capacity as political commissar. He pointed out: "We still have shortcomings in our laws, we don't know what tactics the Seventh Steel Brigade will use, and we can't neglect information."

"The political commissar is right."

Chu Zhangang now highly approves of Xu Xiaocun, and immediately elaborates on his words: "Although Chen Jun is the real commander behind the Seventh Steel Brigade, we need to keep him under control."

At the same time, we must pay more attention to their tactics, especially their coordinated operations from the air, sea, and land; we must thoroughly study these.

"There are some."

Ding Kai quickly replied, "In response to the enemy's characteristic of attacking from the sea, we have strengthened our blocking forces on the front of the Chenghai defense line."

Meanwhile, behind our frontal defenses, we have deployed a long-range rocket artillery battalion that can cross the Chenghai defense line and launch long-range strikes directly at the sea.

The goal is to keep all enemy landing ships at least 100 kilometers away, preventing them from reaching the shore within two days.

Even if the special forces of the 7th Steel Brigade and the Marines attempted a forced landing under the cover of the air force, they would not be able to take down my Chenghai defense line in a day.

If they can hold out for three days, Chen Jun's integrated air and sea warfare strategy is destined to end in failure.

Ding Kai finally offered some useful tactics: using rocket artillery to suppress landing ships was indeed a viable method, but this tactic was clearly not his idea alone.

This is not.

Zhu Rongsheng, who was then the chief of staff, stepped forward and added: "This time, we have set both long-range rocket artillery battalions to be deployed on a mobile basis."

They first concealed themselves in the woods 30 kilometers north of the Chenghai defense line and waited for orders. Once satellite reconnaissance confirmed that the ships of the 7th Steel Brigade were moving toward our defense line, the two long-range artillery battalions came out and entered the firing positions.

At the same time, I also have a disguised long-range artillery company that will conduct feigned deployments after the start of the war and carry out virtual launches at opportune moments to deceive the enemy and prevent the 7th Steel Brigade from responding.

Zhu Rongsheng's explanation was more in-depth and thorough, and he answered the question about the entire battle strategy.

It is clear that this trick of playing the real and fake Monkey King did not come from Brigade Commander Ding Kai's mind, but was a tactic devised by Zhu Rongsheng.

"Zhu Rongsheng, that's a good idea."

Chu Zhangang naturally knew the ins and outs of the matter. He knew better than anyone how much Ding Kai was shrewd, so he only praised Zhu Rongsheng.

He then went on to say, "Fighting Chen Jun requires a mix of feints and deception."

Doesn't he like to pull off street brawls? Well, let's fight fire with fire, give him a taste of his own medicine, and keep him busy dealing with it.

When Ding Kai saw Zhu Rongsheng being praised by Chu Zhangang, he realized that his performance was not good enough.

He quickly added, "I've also formed a special intelligence reconnaissance team, which will be used to keep a close watch on Chen Jun for the first three days of the war."

As soon as he enters the land area of ​​the exercise, his location will be pinpointed and he will be apprehended in a lightning strike.

Ding Kai's words were indeed very bold, shocking everyone present. Even Political Commissar Xu Xiaocun had never heard of such a thing before and asked in astonishment, "What? You actually devised a plan to arrest Chen Jun?"

"Yes."

Ding Kai thought his plan was excellent and proudly admitted, "After the decisive battle 2001 exercise, Deputy Chief of Staff Chu gave me the strategic deployment of 'shoot the horse first to shoot the man, capture the king first to capture the thief.'"

Our 909th Brigade's Information and Intelligence Center tracked and studied Chen Jun's whereabouts for a year through various channels and technological means.

It has been discovered that Chen Jun is the same person as the "Heavy Artillery Shell" fanatic from the military forum.

With a single order from the commander-in-chief, the special reconnaissance team can capture the kingpin within ten minutes, at any location and in any situation.

After hearing Ding Kai's explanation, Chu Zhangang was overjoyed.

With great satisfaction, he sighed, "I thought that after I left the 909th Brigade, you would give up on this project. After all, none of us can guarantee that we will run into our nemesis, the Steel 7th Brigade, a year from now."

Chu Zhangang's thinking is logically sound. Normally, after the previous brigade commander leaves, the next brigade commander will make adjustments.

In particular, the new brigade commander is unlikely to carry out the orders left by the previous brigade commander.

That's why Chu Zhan was so surprised.

"Old leader."

Having finally won over Chu Zhangang, Ding Kai seized the opportunity to express his loyalty again, saying, "This is what we believe: although the target is Chen Jun personally, as part of modern high-end information reconnaissance, it is also a very good training exercise."

During the year we tracked the King of Thieves, our reconnaissance methods underwent three updates and upgrades as wireless communication and network technologies were upgraded.

This has inadvertently greatly improved our brigade's information reconnaissance capabilities.

Therefore, based on the principle of training for combat, we have made this a crucial training program and have been working tirelessly towards it ever since.

Ding Kai spoke very seriously, as if he had put in a great deal of effort. "Well, that's quite true; it's like the saying, 'The flowers you plant with care may not bloom, but the willows you plant unintentionally may thrive,'" Xu Xiaocun said with a smile.

“Then I will borrow this idiom and write a poem to give to Commander Ding.”

Chu Zhangang, as if possessed by Li Bai, picked up his teacup, took a sip of tea, and slowly said, word by word: "Intentionally planting flowers, they don't bloom; unintentionally planting willows, they grow in rows. Although Chen is a turtle in a jar, the braised turtle falls to the dust."

To be honest, this poem is very poorly written. Apart from the fact that it consists of seven characters, everything else is incorrect.

However, Chu Zhangang was, after all, the deputy chief of staff of the army group, so they had to give him some face. Xu Xiaocun and Zhu Rongsheng both gave him three polite claps.

Just three times.

Not a single extra beat.

Only Ding Kai reacted strongly, shaking his head as if he had suddenly realized something, saying, "Although Chen is a turtle in a jar, the braised turtle has fallen to the dust. The old leader is reminding me."

Do not let your guard down, and never underestimate the enemy. Only by truly capturing Chen Jun and making him our prisoner will we have achieved our goal.

Chu Zhangan has heard Ding Kai's over-interpretations so many times that he's become numb to them.

So there was no reaction, he just said calmly: "I think that Chen Jun and his professional enemy brigade, although they had a difficult start, are in line with the trend of military reform."

It's not that it's dispensable, but rather that it's timely, and we have to acknowledge its existence.

Therefore, this showdown with the Steel Seventh Brigade should be a showdown of the best. Chen Jun is not only an old fox, but also a slippery eel, who could slip through your fingers at any time.

We must demonstrate determination and resolve, and more importantly, we should showcase our strength to defeat them.

……

The 909th Brigade was holding meetings to discuss the exercise, and Chen Jun was unable to return to headquarters, but that didn't stop him from remotely directing the operation.

After working together for several days, Gao Cheng and Hong Yi finally finished writing the operational plan for this exercise, and then sent it to Chen Jun at headquarters overnight.

After reviewing the report titled "Steel 7th Brigade Cluster Amphibious Landing Operation Report" on his military laptop, Chen Jun, to prevent leaks, did not use the headquarters' landline but instead used his own mobile phone to call back to the brigade headquarters.

Gao Cheng, Hong Yi, and Brigade Commander Wang were all in the conference room, waiting for Chen Jun to make the call.

As soon as the call connected, Chen Jun said directly, "President Gao, I have read the contract you sent, and I think it is excellent. We can sign it on a later date."

However, I believe that paragraph 6 of Article 3 and paragraph 1 of Article 5 still need to be revised. I will send you my comments in a document; you can receive them on your computer.

Chen Jun deliberately used a business-like tone to avoid being monitored for sensitive words.

"Mr. Chen, you're too kind. We're all just exchanging information. Let's have another meeting at tomorrow's board meeting to discuss this further."

Gao Cheng also used deceptive language, and after finishing his business, he added, "How is President Chen's health in the capital? Is he in a good mood? I heard there have been a lot of thunderstorms in Beijing recently, so please be careful when you go out."

This is an implication about the progress of the investigation; if things are going well, then they're naturally happy, and if things are going badly, then they're naturally unhappy.

"It's alright now."

The investigation is still ongoing, and Chen Jun has no way to give a direct answer.

However, he added, "There's another thing. I met Mr. Xia and Mr. Wang from Haitian Group here. They are interested in joining us. This would greatly increase our strength and hopefully turn things around."

Upon hearing that Xiahou Lan and Wang Hu had also arrived in the capital and stood on the same side as the Seventh Steel Brigade, becoming friends with each other, Gao Cheng was immediately in high spirits.

"Great! Then I wish you success soon. We're waiting for you to come back and sign the contract."

With his biggest worry now resolved, Gao Cheng finally smiled. After a few more casual words, the two ended the call.

"What did the chief of staff say?"

As soon as Gao Cheng put down the phone, Wang Qingrui couldn't wait to ask.

"We will receive the Chief of Staff's proposed modifications to the operational plan shortly. We'll discuss it again then, and we should be able to resolve the issue."

Regarding the investigation into the Operation Warrior exercise, the situation seems to be improving.

Upon hearing Gao Cheng's account, Hong Yi, Wang Qingrui, and the others, who had been worried, breathed a sigh of relief, their moods easing considerably.

"They probably won't keep holding on to it forever, right? The exercise time is getting shorter and shorter," Hong Yi asked.

"Probably not. He said he ran into Wang Hu and Xiahou Lan at headquarters, so they were probably called in for a talk. It seems they've formed a defensive alliance," Gao Cheng said with a smile.

"That's great. I was worried that he would be fighting alone and might get angry, which would be bad," said Political Commissar Tian Baoguo.

"Since those two brigade commanders have gone and are fighting alongside us, it's a good thing for us." Wang Qingrui also smiled.

……

Things are looking up at the Seventh Steel Brigade. It is expected that the matter will be resolved in the next few days, at which point Chen Jun will be able to return and continue to take charge of the overall situation.

Wang Kezheng's work on the 708th Brigade, the last remaining unit in the exercise, is also progressing smoothly.

During the day, Wang Kezheng led his reconnaissance soldiers to not only complete the reconnaissance of the area near the municipal government, but also to conduct a preliminary survey of Chenghai City.

A preliminary topographic map of Chenghai City has been completed.

Even on nights when it was inconvenient to observe, Wang Kezheng still actively devoted himself to his work, and specially gathered the veterans who had retired from the 708th Brigade and lived in Chenghai City for a gathering.

As the saying goes.

Even a powerful dragon can't suppress a local snake.

The 708th Brigade, a powerful force, has come from afar. If they want to successfully take over Chenghai City, having a local strongman guide them will definitely make things much easier.

And the veterans living in Chenghai City are undoubtedly the best candidates to become local strongmen.

Despite the fact that the veterans of the 708th Brigade who had retired and lived in Chenghai City, and who happened to be in Chenghai City at that moment, only three were eventually summoned.

Wang Kezheng was already very satisfied.

The four met at the home of one of the veterans. They were a little reserved at first, since Wang Kezhen was a brigade commander and the three veterans were non-commissioned officers and conscripts.

However, Wang Kezheng was an approachable person with a very straightforward personality, and everyone quickly relaxed.

"Old Zhang was in the same class as me back then, and he was my class monitor. Now that we've run into each other, I have to call you 'Old Class Monitor'."

A man in his forties wearing a white shirt stood up and saluted after he finished speaking.

"Old Li, don't be so formal."

The veteran, nicknamed Lao Zhang, chuckled and said, "After I retired from the army, I returned to my rural hometown. Later, some of my old comrades from the 708th Brigade in Chenghai City arranged for me to come to Chenghai to work."

So I started driving a taxi, made some money, and then brought in a few veterans from our 708th Brigade to form a 708th Veterans Club. Now, life is alright. (End of Chapter)