Chapter 23 Joy begets sorrow

  A few days later, Xie Xiaoshuai led the Sha Huo team to continue their daily training, and the exercise entered its final stage. As a result of Xie Xiaoshuai's ruthless tactics against the Red Army, there were major changes in the Red Army's high-level leadership, while the Blue Army seized the opportunity to launch a comprehensive counterattack, leaving the Red Army powerless to respond, ultimately leading to their defeat.

  "Hoo..." The assembly call for the entire brigade sounded, and everyone immediately put down what they were doing and rushed to gather at the main stage.

  Everyone arrived, and Lei Wei organized the team to wait for the leader's arrival. Xie Xiao Shuai found that a large group of people had come over, led by a lieutenant general, followed by two major generals, several colonels, and Ren Tian Qi was at the end, following the footsteps of the person in front. Lei Wei turned around to ask for instructions from the leader and quickly joined the formation.

  "Comrades, this time our side has won the exercise, the Viper's efforts are not in vain." The lieutenant general spoke with a loud and clear voice, heavily clenching his fist.

  "I, on behalf of the Military Region Party Committee, commend your achievements and hope that you will remain humble and diligent in your training, constantly improving yourselves. When war breaks out one day, you will be a sharp sword for the motherland to strike at the enemy's vitals. Ren Tianqi, I really want to see that squad that even makes me, as deputy commander, want to revolve around them." The deputy commander said with a smile after his commendation.

  "The sand fox is coming out, come up to the main stage." Ren Tianqi stepped forward and waved his hand.

  Xie Xiaoshuai led the desert foxes to run onto the rostrum, facing the leaders standing at attention, each with an extremely tense heart, this was the first time they were being inspected by the military district chief, holding their heads high and chests out, wanting to show their most spirited side to the chief.

  "What's with the tension? Relax, you beheaded that old fellow's commander, why weren't you tense when facing him?" The deputy commander joked.

  "Report to the superior, at that time it was a battle period, we were in an enemy state, and we should give him the due respect for a high-ranking general." answered Captain Xie Xiaoshuai.

  "Oh? A private first class, young man, what's your name?" The deputy commander was very kind to the excellent young soldier.

  "Reporting to the superior officer, I am Xie Xiaoshuai, captain of the Desert Fox Squad, codename Red Snake." Xie Xiaoshuai replied loudly with his head held high.

  "Is it you who's been causing trouble and stirring up storms in the rear of the Red Army, forcing us to scramble around like headless chickens to support you? And making me, as your deputy commander, dance attendance on you like a nanny, catering to your every whim at all hours?"

  "Report to the superior, I think that exercises are actual battles are wars. As long as we can win the war, any method can be used and any cost can be paid." Xie Xiao Shuai tried hard to calm down the tension in his heart.

  "Alright, soldiers should have such awareness. Director Liu, promote this young man, a lieutenant colonel's rank is a bit too low for the captain of an assault team, and other team members who deserve rewards should be rewarded. Prepare the documents and I'll sign them." The deputy commander turned to a senior colonel and said.

  It was precisely the major general who paid attention to Xie Xiaoshuai together with Junqu at the time of the military region's big comparison, the Minister of Military Affairs.

  "It's Director, after going back I will handle it immediately, I will put it on your desk at the fastest speed." Minister Liu responded.

  "Alright, let's head back. My curiosity is also satisfied. I didn't expect to discover such an excellent talent. Ren Tian Qi, you must continue to hone his skills." The deputy commander led the way out.

  "It's the boss." Ren Tianqi immediately responded and followed closely to see him off, not returning until he had seen him onto the car.

  On the third day, the commendation order came down. The main content was that the Sha Huo squad was not afraid of hardship and danger, deeply infiltrating the enemy's rear, with outstanding military achievements. Specifically, the deputy captain of the Sha Huo squad, Private Xiaoshuai Xie, was promoted to officer rank, lieutenant, administrative level Zhenglian, and would be sent to a military school for further study on a chosen date. The other members of the Sha Huo squad were collectively awarded second-class merit once, which was a great honor that made them all very proud, their tails almost touching the sky.

  Ren Tianqi personally awarded Xie Xiaoshuai the rank, and with the lieutenant's badge on his chest, Xie Xiaoshuai felt no ripples in his heart. Becoming an officer was a matter of course, he just didn't expect it to come so soon. Later, Ren Tianqi announced that since there was still no suitable candidate for the captain of the Sand Fox team, Vice Captain Xie Xiaoshuai would continue to preside over daily work. No one in the Sand Fox team found this order unexpected, everyone understood that no one would come to be their captain, and Xie Xiaoshuai would wear the vice-captain's hat until he dropped the "vice" prefix.

  The members of the Desert Fox squad were all immersed in the joy of receiving great honor, and privately they were all telling about their inner unrest.

  "Wooo...". The battle alarm sounded, and the Sand Fox squad was still eating in the cafeteria. Several people returned to their dormitory with a gloomy face, put on their equipment, brought their weapons, and rushed to the combat duty room for instructions.

  "Comrades, we have just received orders from the higher-ups. A high-ranking official was ambushed while inspecting work in the Nan Ka area yesterday afternoon, and all of his entourage were killed. Today, the Holy War organization claimed responsibility for this incident and released a video statement demanding recognition of their sovereignty. This is absolutely impossible - can two governments exist within our country? This is an attempt at national division. The higher-ups have ordered us to organize a rescue operation for the hostages and to severely punish that force, so they understand the absurdity of their actions." Ren Tianqi's expression was extremely serious.

  "Yes, I guarantee to complete the task." Xie Xiaoshuai acknowledged the order.

  "This is your first real battle, and the military district chief has specifically ordered you, Sha Hu Xiao Dui, to go for rescue. The other side are all religious fanatics who don't care about life or death, so you must be extremely careful." Ren Tian Qi reminded them.

  "Well, what's the specific situation?"

  "Everything is in this file, now only the location of the ambush site, after that they disappeared. The biggest difficulty in this mission lies in how to find the enemy's trail. All equipment of our Rattlesnake Squadron can be mobilized by you, as long as it helps you. Remember time is pressing, every second later we find them, the possibility of hostages being killed increases."

  "Alright, I'll go prepare then."

  Xie Xiaoshuai carefully studied the materials and found that the ambush site was surrounded by a very monotonous environment, with the city to the east, deserts to the north and south, and hills to the west, all of which were very large in area. The video was shot indoors, with weak lighting, relying solely on electric lamps for illumination. This clearly defined the search range.

  The transport plane landed at the same military airport as last time. As soon as the cabin door opened, several four-wheeled off-road motorcycles and a two-wheeled off-road motorcycle came down with the roar of the engine, and the horsepower sounded sufficient. Behind them, three people walked out of the cabin: Xie Xiaoshuai, Yin Zhilin, and Gong Mao.

  According to Xie Xiaoshuai's deployment on the plane, several people quickly disappeared into the darkness. Wang Jizhen, Caihuashe, Chen Hongjun and Zhang Jialin rode four-wheeled motorcycles in two groups to search for the desert areas in the north and south. Li Gang rode alone on two motorcycles to search for the hilly area in the west. Gong Mao drove a WZ-10 armed helicopter at the airport, taking Yin Zhilin to hover over the city, listening to all wireless communications, looking for any clues.

  The temperature in this area can reach sixty degrees during the day and drop to minus thirty degrees at night. Under such harsh weather conditions, conducting a search mission is really unbearable. The members of the Sand Fox team were basking in the joy of great honor one moment, and the next moment they started their action with a tragic fate, it's really unpredictable.

  After a whole night of intense searching, the sand fox team was speechless, and the members were all showing signs of fatigue. In such bad weather conditions, physical consumption is much faster than usual.

  In the gathering place, other members of the Sha Fox team were busy resting and adjusting, while Xie Xiaoshuai held a map to study it carefully, guessing what he would do if he were a member of the Holy War organization. How could such a simple terrain be hidden so that no one could find it?

  His fingers slowly moved on the map, guessing all sorts of possibilities, when suddenly an idea popped into Xie Xiaoshuai's mind: Could it be like this?