Chapter 13: The Price of Life

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  Meng Yao brought Fu Xiao Chong and others back to the camp, just in time to see Lu Tao standing at the entrance of the tent with a gloomy face, facing Cao Fei Biao and others, his face red and neck thick as he said something. As they approached, Fu Xiao Chong suddenly burst out laughing: "Haha, that rascal Biaozi has finally been caught by Old Lu! No matter how careful you are, no one can avoid being stolen from or remembered by a thief!"

  Why does this kid always like to watch others' jokes, especially likes to watch Biaozi's jokes? Meng Yao thought, turned his head and glared at Fu Xiao Chong, and followed up with a sarcastic remark: "You'd better not be complacent, hand in a summary by tomorrow morning, and explain why you still had one-third casualties when facing a mob."

  Fu Xiao Chong regretfully rubbed his head, almost slapping himself. Just now, with thirty-six people against nearly four hundred bandits, he had actually called himself a "falling flower and flowing water". It wasn't that they were bullying them, the things in their hands were all wooden sticks, if they had used real ones, even four hundred more would have been taken care of. How cool! Especially with ambushes, sneak attacks, and pincer movements, these guerrilla tactics were played to the extreme in their hands. In the end, only Lin Er Gou's group of over a dozen people were left, and they were actually scared to the point of wetting their pants, haha, it seemed that their courage was made of glass. However, there were also over a dozen people on his side who had been poked by their wooden sticks. What was even more unfortunate was that the battalion commander was walking right in front of him, and how did he lose his cleverness from just now? He had actually insulted Cao Fei Biao, the commander's sworn brother, wasn't this giving himself a hard time?

  "Goodness, no! Could Biaozi have really made a huge mistake? When has he ever lowered his head?" Fu Xiao thought to himself. Seeing Meng Yao's face fall as well, his heart also sank along with it.

  What? The latest model of flying reconnaissance instrument was lost due to a power failure?

  "It's all my fault for being too optimistic, I saw that there were still two-thirds of the electricity left, so I ordered it to be released, and it had nothing to do with the soldiers." Cao Feibiao saw Meng Yao also coming over, and quickly took responsibility.

  This time out, it can be said that the first battle was not favorable. Fortunately, Meng Yao had instructed Lu Tao to keep an eye on Cao Fei Biao while leading the team to show off their strength at Meng's brother's place. If he had followed his wishes and gone straight to execute the reconnaissance mission on Ma Da Hu Zi and Long Xiao Tian's two major bandit dens for the first time, it's likely that not just one scout would have returned, but several more living warriors' lives would have been lost. This is exactly what Meng Yao emphasized repeatedly at the combat meeting: advanced weapons and equipment are important and irreplaceable, but having soldiers with advanced training and tactics from later generations is even more crucial. This is also the reason why he overruled the opposition and brought out his treasured equipment, which he was not stingy about.

  Looking at Meng Yao's painful expression, Lu Tao sighed and said in a big package, "This time I am mainly responsible for the action, it is my leadership that is wrong."

  "I," Cao Feibiao looked at Lu Tao and said with a huff, "I'll go get it back tonight."

  Just then, a cold laugh suddenly came from the crowd. Everyone looked intently and found that it was Leng Mei Ren Zhou Fang Yu standing there with a gnashing teeth expression. Meng Yao was taken aback, staring at Lu Tao. How could she be standing in the team? Wasn't she not allowed to participate in any combat action? Lu Tao carefully said: "She doesn't participate in actions, but as the technical director, she is the first person to know about the reconnaissance information transmitted back." Meng Yao nodded, oh right, she was a specially appointed postdoctoral fellow after all.

  "Meng Yang, I think I should show you this," said Zhou Fangyu, handing a receipt to Meng Yao.

  Meng Yao took a look and found it was the price list of the flight reconnaissance instrument, but not its technical parameters. Staring at the single price with astronomical figures in black and white, Meng Yao's heart skipped a beat. This man-killer, what did she want to do? Force him to make a tearful farewell too?

  "Have you finished?" Zhou Fangyu stared at Meng Yao unrelentingly.

  Buy a cake, Meng Yao's heart is secretly ridiculing, suddenly smiling and saying: "You are a big doctor, help me calculate how much each of our soldiers' arms cost, how much one leg costs, and so on. Finally, give me a quote like this too. Oh, the name is written as Life Quote Sheet."

  As soon as these words came out, they shocked everyone present.

  Even the most foolish person can hear the implicit meaning in Meng Yao's words. Even Lu Tao, a professional politician, was petrified for a moment. Having worked with him for so many years, I didn't know he had such extraordinary language skills. So, it's really true that heroes emerge in chaotic times - this one stone has killed several birds, can't count them all.

  It seems that the company commander and instructor can take on both roles. Lu Tao walked with his head down, feeling a sense of crisis about his future that he had never felt before.

  Fu Xiao Chong punched Cao Fei Biao with all his might and said in a low voice, "After all, you're a dead party member, and you can bear the consequences. However, I, Fu Xiao Chong, am even more determined to die for the camp."

  Cao Feibiao smiled complacently and said, "That's what it means to be a brother. If not, I might as well take you in as my younger brother." After finishing speaking, he suddenly took another look at Fu Xiao's appearance, his tone suddenly turning serious as he asked, "I'm having a bad start, how about you? You're the leader personally leading the team, didn't you lose face?"

  Fu Xiaochong listened and immediately made a gesture with his palm, saying with a smug face, "A small dish, eleven to four hundred, how about it? Moreover, the weapons are all from the same era - all Qing dynasty fire guns."

  "It's still better to follow the head," Cao Feibiao said gloomily, embracing Fu Xiao and asking him to tell the detailed process of the trial. Unfortunately, they didn't say two sentences before arriving at the camp. The two followed Meng Yao into his tent, just about to speak when they were chased out by Zhuge Dun. "Hurry up and leave, that cold-faced killer is pestering the camp commander for an explanation, with a look of not giving up until death. You two quickly go back to your beds, out of sight, out of mind."

  The two of them had no choice but to come out again, each dispersing their own troops. Suddenly, they exchanged a glance and simultaneously thought of one thing: this beautiful woman who seemed like an ice maiden must have ulterior motives.

  The next day, after finishing the morning exercise, at the entrance of the newly built canteen, the first reconnaissance team in line for breakfast saw the freshly posted order:

  1. In recognition of Comrade Zhou Fangyu's outstanding performance and responsible attitude, a commendation is awarded once.

  2. Due to Comrade Cao Feibiao's subjective mistake resulting in the loss of our camp's valuable assets, a major demerit is recorded once. However, considering his special duties, no confinement penalty will be given for now, only one day's supply will be stopped.

  3. Except for the sentry squad and the combat training squad, all other units will start a three-week land reclamation and enclosure movement in designated areas after breakfast today.

  Additionally, the guard squad is ordered to expand the barracks to three times its current size within three weeks, in preparation for the arrival of new comrades.

  The scouts returned to the barracks with their lunchboxes, and without exception, they all stopped and stared at Deputy Squad Leader Zhang Jun. Zhang Jun waved his hand and said, "Everyone eat, but don't go in, just solve it outside."

  Listening to a burst of fragrant chewing sounds, Cao Feibiao poked his head out.

  "Hey, you've all grown up and started eating alone! He angrily circled his reconnaissance team and finally stopped beside Zhang Jun. "Where's the food you cooked for me?"

  Zhang Jun didn't say anything and simply pointed towards the kitchen with his hand.

  Cao Feibiao hastily arrived at the cafeteria, just in time to catch the last person from the guard squad coming for food. The people from the guard squad saw him and couldn't help but secretly cover their mouths and laugh. Just then, Niu Gang surrounded Cao Feibiao and started circling around him. "I'm saying, Biaozi, as a squad leader, you're not doing a great job, such a big thing happened and no one told you, how embarrassing."

  Cao Feibiao followed Niu Gang's line of sight and turned his head to see the order, which was right in front of his nose.