Chapter 4

  "Run faster, fast! Remember not to drop the weapon in your hand. Damn it. Don't you want your life?!" This was the scene on the entire training ground, with the curses and shouts of each team leader coming over from time to time.

  I took a look at their entire training and gazed out at the dense forest surrounding the valley, and an idea suddenly popped into my mind. I glanced over at Zhou Lun who was watching the training with a distracted expression and said: "A-Lun, they've been training for over a month now. Under such intense training, I think they should be pretty good by now. Although they still need to continue practicing. But since we only have so much time left before we leave, why don't we divide them into two teams and...

  Zhou Lun didn't wait for me to finish and said: "Military exercise."

  I smiled and looked at Zhou Lun's wise eyes, saying: "Working with you, I have to say one thing: 'That is easy'." After that, both of us burst out laughing.

  Watching all the captains sitting in the newly built military camp, discussing which team's players performed particularly well and so on.

  I took a look at them and said, "Brothers, let's keep it down! (How does this sound like an underworld gathering? Haha, never mind, just think that the protagonist and all you brothers have a particularly good relationship)"

  Everyone was quietly watching me, and I cleared my throat as usual: "You've all been leading this group of new recruits for a long time. As we can see, most of the people present here are about to leave. Except for Teacher Zhao Zhe and Brother Zhang Zhitao. So, I discussed with Zhou Lun and Peng Ying, and decided that you two will each take half of the troops to conduct a military exercise in the mountainous area outside the valley. Other team leaders are not allowed to participate. You will be the judges of the battle together with me." After finishing speaking, I took out the topographic map of the mountainous area taken by a small drone from the table and handed it to Zhao Zhe and Zhang Zhitao: "Study this map today. The exercise will officially start tomorrow at 7:00 pm."

  Zhao Zhe sat in his own tent, with several soldiers who had performed well in peacetime training standing beside him. "You see, tomorrow night we will begin to fight against the Blue Army in this vast area," he said, pointing to a large forest outside the valley. "Both sides have exactly the same weapons, and each of our teams has been assigned three wireless radios."

  One of the soldiers, who had been through nearly two months of military training and had a slightly darkened skin tone, also exuded an air of a soldier. This soldier thought for a moment and then said in Mandarin, which he had learned over the past two months and was now quite proficient in: "Captain, look." He pointed to another valley outside the surrounding forest area of the mountain valley and said: "This is another relatively treacherous area in the entire Pingfeng Mountain range." Looking at Zhao Zhe, he saw his affirmative gaze and continued: "I reckon the battalion commander's intention won't be limited by time, but rather how we can effectively utilize the external terrain to ensure our base's safety. Recently, there have been new movements from De'an Prefecture (near present-day Shiyan, Hubei Province), although it's chaotic today, I think the garrison at De'an Prefecture seems to be making some unusual moves."

  Zhao Zhe nodded affirmatively and said, "En, Li Yun is right. According to the scouts' reports, such things do exist. Alright, continue with your ideas." After finishing, he looked at the other soldiers beside him and said, "Later, you all will also share your thoughts. What I need are soldiers with ideas, so it won't be in vain that Vice Captain Zhou has been teaching you for two months."

  Li Yun took a sip of water from his tea cup and continued, "Captain, you see this mountain valley is called Luoyan Gorge. When I was young, I went there once, and both sides are steep cliffs. The middle is relatively empty." After finishing, he pointed to several other areas on the map and said, "Captain, look at these places, within the entire forest area, there are water sources in these few places. I think that if we can bring enough water sources and split out a small team to attract the attention of the Blue Army, making them tired. Then when the Blue Army sets up camp here, they must drink from this water source. So we will send a few forest action experts upstream to release a debilitating drug, and I think the Blue Army will definitely look for a safe place to guard against, and they will choose Luoyan Gorge. Then we will ambush around it, and we can definitely annihilate the Blue Army."

  Zhao Zhexin nodded in satisfaction and said with praise, "Not bad, Li Yun's arrangement is indeed very detailed." After finishing, he looked at the other soldiers and said, "Li Feng, Zhang Yu, what do you think?"

  That young man named Li Feng looked at the map and thought for a few minutes before saying, "Captain, I don't quite agree with my brother's opinion."

  Zhao Zhemian smiled and looked at Li Feng, then glanced at Li Yun and said: "Li Yun, it seems that your brother has decided to have a real showdown with you. Haha"

  "Captain, I think although my brother's entire plan is quite perfect, the Blue Army isn't that stupid. According to Deputy Commander Zhou's modern warfare theory, we can't put all our eggs in one basket. Let's make some preparations. First, let's still follow my brother's plan and dispatch a portion of our forces to attract the enemy's attention and harass them as much as possible. If the poisoning plan doesn't work out, then that small portion of our forces will lure the Blue Army to Luoyan Gorge, even if it means sacrificing those troops, we must achieve our goal. Meanwhile, the rest of our forces will take a detour to the rear of the Blue Army, first taking out their communication equipment so they lose contact, and then defeating them one by one."

  Zhao Zhe appreciated Li Feng's slightly shy expression and nodded secretly, then looked at Zhang Yu with great interest.

  Zhang Yu is tall and has a high forehead, his ancestors came from Shanxi, he still speaks with a hint of Shanxi accent, he has a beard on his face, there is a scar on the left side of his face that was left by a branch scratch.

  "Captain, Li Yun and Li Feng both make sense. Li Yun has come up with a plan and tactics, while Li Feng has made some complementary suggestions to ensure we don't miss anything. However, I think the Blue Army is also trained with us, so they will likely be on guard against something. Therefore, I suggest we don't use radios at all in this exercise. Radios are only suitable for large-scale military operations, and in this environment where technical military strength is balanced, we should use direct and effective methods to attack them. As the Art of War says, 'Warfare is a deceitful art.' We can divide into five groups of three people each and launch a surprise attack on the enemy at points A, B, and C on the map. The rest will follow Li Yun's plan."

  Zhao Zhe nodded and said, "En, your plan is indeed very good. But have you considered that if they connect their three wireless radios together, our plan may be quickly exposed, and in the end, it may even lead to them defeating us one by one. So I'll add a little more: strive to seize their wireless radios as soon as possible, and make them deaf and blind. Also, remember to tell all the soldiers: 'When narrow roads meet, the brave win!'"

  At this time, Zhang Zhitao's room was also brightly lit. The room was filled with smoke and several people were holding cigarettes in their mouths, which was the Chinese tobacco that Zhang Zhitao had brought from his original world. He was ruthless enough to bring two boxes of them in the car. Zhang Zhitao extinguished the cigarette butt in his hand, looked around at the people studying the map while smoking, and said: "You've all been looking for so long, now it's time for you to express your opinions. Let's see if Deputy Commander Zhou's teachings over the past two months have really opened up your minds."

  Several other soldiers looked at me, and I looked at them. Finally, only one soldier stood up and said: "Captain, I think they will definitely set an ambush in this place of Luoyan Gorge. From my understanding of Li Yun brothers, they will definitely do so, because the two brothers are most familiar with the terrain of Lin District in the entire mountainous area. I think we should guard against their move."

  Zhang Zhitao looked at the other soldiers who didn't say a word, and angrily shouted: "Look at you, look at you, all of you." After finishing, he waved his big hand and said: "All of you can go out. Jiang Xiaozu can stay behind."

  Zhang Zhitao walked around the map for a few laps and said, "Xiao Zu, look. Should we divide 2/3 of our troops to ambush at Luyuankou ahead of the Red Army, while another part of our troops follow their plan and enter Luyuankou? Then we can launch a comprehensive pincer attack."

  As I watched the sunset slowly fall, I stood on the front platform and looked at the soldiers wearing camouflage uniforms. Except for the red and blue markings on each person's arm, everything else was the same. I walked forward, saluted all the soldiers, and said: "There is still one hour and thirty minutes before the exercise officially begins. Now you will set off collectively. You are not allowed to attack along the way. You are not allowed to reconnoiter. Wait for my signal before engaging in formal combat. Do you understand?"

  "Understood!" all the soldiers shouted in unison.

  I nodded in satisfaction and said, "Next, let's synchronize our watches." Everyone raised the Flyda quartz watch on their left hand that we had distributed. I continued, "Let's start!"

  Watching all the soldiers leave under the leadership of Zhao Zhe and Zhang Zhitao. I looked at a few people next to me and said, "Brothers, are you itching in your hearts? There's no way we can only watch. Let's go take a look at the strategic operations room. By the way, dispatch a reconnaissance plane to take a look at their situation."

  In the dense thicket of trees, a soldier said to the person beside him, "Captain, according to the message just passed on by Li Feng from the first squad, the enemy has taken the bait. And some soldiers have already drunk water from the river."

  Zhao Zhe's face was already painted with camouflage. The cat said, "Alright, let's act according to plan. This time we'll definitely be able to beat Zhang Zhitao until he's picking up his teeth from the ground." After finishing speaking, he picked up his gun and said, "Let's go!" Then a team of people disappeared into the dense forest.

  In the combat office, I looked at them and said: "Haha, this Zhao Zhe is really something, actually putting laxatives in the river. Luckily the source of the water is from our side, otherwise we might have to spend a day in the toilet too." After finishing, I looked at Zhou Lun and asked: "Arun, who do you think has the upper hand in this exercise?"

  Zhou Lun glanced at the side of the intense battle map, also at Peng Ying who was frowning and shaking his head from time to time. He couldn't help but sigh in his heart about this war strategy madman. Walking up front, he patted Peng Ying's shoulder and said: "Little Shadow, Ah Xiao asked you what your view is on the outcome of this exercise."

  Peng Ying didn't even lift his head, and hummed in agreement, continuing to fiddle with the flags on the map: "My point is, although the Blue Army has lost some of its military strength at first, the Red Army's military strength is too scattered. By the time the Red Army reaches Luoyan Gorge, they will be met with a powerful ambush by the Blue Army." After finishing speaking, he continued: "However, it's also possible that the Red Army may counterattack due to their scattered forces. In short, one sentence sums it up: 'A narrow road encounter, the brave win!'". He couldn't help but chuckle twice: "Haha, this is interesting. This time there's something to watch."

  Zhou Lun looked at the map, turned around and said to me: "Yes, A Xiao, I also think so. But these two team leaders probably didn't make any tactical plans, I think these plans were made by their soldiers below. Otherwise, how could they have such a weak awareness of modern warfare?"

  The other team captains also nodded in agreement standing beside him.

  Zhang Zhitao whispered loudly beside him: "Hurry up, we must arrive at Luoyan Gorge before 5 o'clock this morning." After finishing, he scolded himself in a low voice: "It seems that smoking has ruined your bodies. We need to control it from now on."

  At this time, Jiang Xiaozu walked over and said: "Captain, the radio of the first squad has lost contact with us. Another radio that we have deployed in the forest to roam around is still maintaining communication."

  Zhang Zhitao nodded and said, "En, it seems that Zhao Zhe's old man is bound to clash with us at Luoyan Gorge. Heh heh, tell the second radio station to attract some of their attention in my name. Let them issue fake orders on my behalf." After finishing speaking, he looked at Jiang Xiaozu who was about to leave and added, "Oh, don't forget to encrypt it." Then, he couldn't help but think of his 15-man team, all of whom had a martial arts background, and smiled again.

  Zhao Zhe glanced at his watch and asked Li Yun beside him: "How many of them did we just annihilate? What were our losses?"

  "Captain, we annihilated thirty Blue Army soldiers. The Blue Army now has ninety-five people left. We lost fourteen men. Our side still has one hundred and sixteen people. The main force has eighty-six people left. The other three small squads are currently searching around."

  Zhao Zhe smiled, a very sweet smile. After listening to Li Yun's answer, he said: "Alright. It's almost four o'clock. Is there a recent road here that can quickly reach Luoyan Gorge?"

  A team of ten people were searching. One of them said: "Tie Tou, how much longer do we have to turn around? I really want to hurry up and get to Luo Yan Gorge to join the battle."

  The one called Tie Dan stopped in his tracks, turned around and looked around, saying: "Everyone be careful. Now is the darkest time before dawn, also the most tired time for us, everyone must be on high alert, otherwise we may be eaten by them at any time." After finishing, he led everyone to continue walking forward.

  A pair of bright eyes on the tree watched the conversation under the tree. A smile was on his face. The blue military emblem on his arm was even darker in the dark forest. He waved his hand at the back, and a soldier with camouflage paint all over his face made two "gugugu" sounds like a bird call. The two climbed down the tree and walked forward, touching each other. Other soldiers on the trees in front received the message and fixed their targets as they watched the Red Army soldiers pass by, hugging each other and pulling off the opponent's red emblem with all their might. The opponents were eliminated before they could even speak. (According to the exercise rules, close combat only requires pulling down the representative emblem of each army to win, declaring the opponent dead. Gun battles use processed bullet heads that hit the body with a red color, but do not harm the body, and the sound of the gun is still the same as real bullets.)

  The soldier who sent the message walked forward and looked at the Red Army's disobedient eyes, saying: "Next one team. There is still one left. According to the report of the three scouts in front, they are now rushing to Luoyan Gorge."

  Zhao Zhe looked at the Luoyan Gorge in front of him, which seemed even darker before dawn. The troops were about to enter the gorge in a serpentine manner. Zhao Zhe suddenly stopped and said, "Wait a minute. I feel something is off. Let's rest outside first, recharge our energy, and wait for daylight before engaging them head-on. It seems that's the only way now."

  Zhang Zhitao looked at the light below getting brighter and brighter. After a moment of contemplation, he said: "It seems that our plan has also been seen through by them. Get ready immediately. Give them a surprise attack."

  A flare shot up into the air. The two armies began to engage in formal combat, with both sides' firepower being roughly equal. It all came down to individual soldiers' skills and bravery.

  Zhang Zhitao's "Special Forces" also caught up from behind, but lost five men. Both sides completely abandoned any tactics and were fighting solely on morale.

  The sun was high in the sky, I watched the battle between the two sides, and finally Zhang Zhitao eliminated all the Red Army's forces with only five people left.

  I looked at the soldiers of both armies and said with a bit of disappointment: "All of you, lift your heads up. You lost to your own comrades, but won a miserable victory that's nothing to be sad about. I can tell you clearly, just these 260 men going out can withstand an army of 3,000 Qing soldiers, let alone those miscellaneous armies that can withstand even more. And you haven't even used our advanced cannons yet. You should all feel proud."

  "Alright, I hereby issue an order: 'I appoint Zhao Zhe as the Defense Officer of our base. Zhang Zhitao is in charge of gathering a group of reliable soldiers for further training according to the special forces' training model. The selected special troops will form our first special forces unit, which will be called the Blood Dragon Special Forces (thanks to Xue Hai's friend, author of 'Earth Empire', for letting me use his name as a cameo)'"

  Next, a summary of the rehearsal was made. Finally, it was decided that I and Ah Lun would select two soldiers, Lei Ting and Wu Shuang, from the outstanding performers. The others who were preparing to go out also selected their own soldiers to go with them. After all, we are not from this era, so sometimes we still can't adapt to the perspective of this society.

  Zhu Ao Zheng sat in his office, looking at the construction progress report brought by Han Zhi and Xu Jin. He nodded in satisfaction: "En, not bad, being able to use the waterfall's water impact to generate electricity is really good. At least our basic power supply can be guaranteed." After finishing speaking, he continued to read on: "En, this Li Za Zu is indeed good, able to buy so many basic materials from outside."

  I walked into Grandpa's office and knocked on the door: "Grandpa, may I come in?"

  Grandpa happily replied from inside: "Come in, Xiao."

  I walked up to Grandpa's desk and said, "Grandpa, what's making you so happy?"

  Grandpa looked at me and said, "Hehe, Ah Xiao has finally solved the economic troubles that have been plaguing us. Yesterday, during your rehearsal, Mr. Li brought back a large quantity of raw materials for making matches from outside. We will soon be able to sell them in the occupied areas of Manchu. Mr. Li has already set up sales points everywhere."

  I smiled and said: "Grandpa, you can also put your mind at ease now. Hehe."

  I sat in the chair opposite Grandfather and said, "Grandfather, the exercise is over. We are also preparing to leave here for other places three days later. The soldiers here can fully protect the safety of the base and even expand outward." I swallowed a mouthful of saliva and continued, "Also, I have established a special forces unit. The name of the special forces unit is Blood Dragon. What do you think, Grandfather?" After finishing speaking, I looked at Grandfather.

  Grandpa stood up with a smile, walked around the room and said: "Ah Xiao, you are already a general, no longer the child of the past. You need to grow up. I won't interfere with these things anymore. You have to learn to make decisions on everything. Do you understand?" He continued: "You must know how to obey others. Rome wasn't built in a day. The world can't be conquered by one person alone." After that, he said: "Alright, I won't see you off anymore. A man should learn to be strong and brave." Then he waved his hand at me and said: "Alright, go back and prepare. You'll set out early tomorrow morning."