Chapter 149: Big Bro, Go Easy, Please Don’t Hit The Face!
Chen Jun received the order and immediately took action, first contacting Scout Shi Jin.
He asked him to communicate the detailed coordinates of the Blue Army combat vehicles, as well as the specific positions of each defensive fortification, all to the Firepower Platoon Leader.
Then he ordered the Firepower Platoon, which had already set up the mortar array, to lock onto all the armored vehicles on the Blue Army position.
Including the military vehicles at Battalion Headquarters, all within strike range.
“Fire!”
With the Third Platoon Leader’s command.
Steel Seventh Company’s first active offensive battle officially began amid the roar of the mortars firing.
To conserve the remaining shells for the upcoming major battle, the Firepower Platoon only used five mortars and fired just one salvo.
The mortar firing order had been given; next was letting the shells fly for a bit—
Time for the directing staff referees!
Meanwhile, Steel Seventh Company’s Firepower Platoon fired just one salvo, then fell completely silent, with no surprise attack launched—an extremely unusual move.
This left the division leaders at the command center baffled again about what this operation was.
The Blue Army hadn’t detected the Red Army following them—wasn’t this a golden opportunity for a sneak attack?
Firing just one salvo with minimal effect, yet exposing themselves.
Wasn’t that wasting ammo?
Moreover, with one company’s troops attacking one platoon, the numerical advantage was absolute, and paired with the initiative of a sneak attack, taking the Blue Army platoon would be effortless.
They could even get a buy-one-get-one-free, taking out Battalion Headquarters as a bonus.
Why on earth scare the enemy and waste this perfect chance?
Unfathomable.
The leaders truly couldn’t figure it out!
At that moment in Blue Army Battalion Headquarters, the Battalion Commander saw through it but was still furious at the inexplicable Red Army strike, putting him in an extremely foul mood.
To reverse the completely unfavorable situation, he didn’t want to lose so pathetically.
Unable to stay calm, the Battalion Commander called Second Company Headquarters.
“Company Commander, Battalion Headquarters just reported that the Red Army launched a sudden sneak attack, destroying Third Platoon’s vehicles—now only one infantry fighting vehicle remains. The Battalion Commander orders you to return to company headquarters immediately for an emergency telephone combat conference.”
The communicator rushed to the position and relayed the message to the Company Commander, who was studying troop deployments.
“Damn it, Third Platoon got sneak attacked too? Didn’t I tell Third Platoon Leader to maintain vigilance? Getting hit while on guard—truly useless idiots.”
Already in a bad mood, the Blue Army Second Company Commander exploded in rage at the news.
At the same time, for some reason.
He suddenly felt extremely uneasy!
From initial disdain for Steel Seventh Company to now panicking at the mere mention of them—this shift made Second Company Commander feel deeply ashamed.
He tried to control this inexplicable emotion but found he couldn’t.
Steel Seventh Company’s oppressive strength was the greatest he had ever seen.
After venting his anxious anger, he still had to obey the Battalion Commander’s orders, so the Company Commander hurriedly abandoned his tasks and jogged back to company headquarters.
He proactively contacted Battalion Headquarters via radio and began discussing with the Battalion Commander.
“The Red Army has only lost one soldier so far, basically at full strength—why did they destroy our combat vehicles but make no further offensive moves? Battalion Commander, something feels off here.”
Blue Army Second Company Commander sensed something wrong but couldn’t pinpoint the reason.
“Indeed very strange.”
The Reconnaissance Battalion Commander scratched his head and said, “The Red Army’s heavy firepower unit has arrived here—no surprise, the whole company has likely maneuvered over.
With their one company’s troops launching a surprise attack, my one platoon couldn’t hold them off.
I’m puzzled too—why didn’t they do it, and why just destroy our vehicles with no follow-up actions?”
Winning but not pressing the win, just shelling for fun?
The Battalion Commander didn’t think so!
He couldn’t fathom what Steel Seventh Company was up to.
“If the entire Red Army company is over there, that’s extremely dangerous—as soon as they attack, Battalion Headquarters could be wiped out anytime. Battalion Commander, why not… evacuate quickly and link up with me here.” Second Company Commander suggested.
“The combat vehicles are mostly destroyed—how does one infantry fighting vehicle move us?” The Battalion Commander was very troubled.
“Could it be…”
Second Company Commander seemed to realize something, eyes wide in disbelief as he said, “They destroyed the vehicles but didn’t launch a surprise attack precisely to pin down Battalion Headquarters and force us to come rescue?”
As the one caught in the trap, Second Company Commander’s reaction was indeed quick.
“The Red Army’s bizarre move can only be explained this way—but even knowing it, what can we do? It’s too late to change.”
The Battalion Commander said helplessly, analyzing, “Not rescuing means Battalion Headquarters gets destroyed, which is as good as losing.
If we let the Red Army lead us by the nose, gathering all troops for a rendezvous—combining all our forces—there might still be a slim chance.”
Knowing full well the enemy’s stratagem yet having to follow their plan.
This feeling was utterly powerless and deeply demoralizing.
“Currently…”
Second Company Commander fell silent for a moment, then gave a self-mocking smile, quite helplessly saying, “We seem to have no choice but this if we want any chance to turn things around.”
“What’s done is done—no need for more words.”
The Battalion Commander forcibly lifted his low spirits and made the final decision: “The Red Army is far stronger than we imagined—undeniable.
Our troop shortage means we can’t compete; we’re no match for them.
Now we can only gather all forces and make a final stand against the Red Army here—even if we lose, it’s better than cowardly hiding and dodging.”
The Battalion Commander recognized their predicament, no longer arrogantly thinking his one platoon could match a Red Army company—he had fully faced reality.
So he agreed to Second Company Commander’s suggestion and immediately began arrangements.
“Second Company Commander, get moving now—bring First Platoon and Second Platoon over for assembly immediately.
I’ll notify the remaining two guard-point squads from First Company to head here too, giving us a scale of twelve squads.
With the defensive terrain advantage plus numerical superiority, it’s not impossible to turn the tables.
As long as we pin the Red Army here—chase if they retreat, harass if they hold, strike if they’re tired, pursue if they withdraw—we find ways to keep wearing them down.
The Red Army’s mission deadline is only three days; dragging it out that long means we win.”
The Battalion Commander’s tactics were indeed clever, heavily flavored with our army’s traditional guerrilla warfare “Sixteen-Character Formula”—enemy retreats we advance, enemy camps we harass, enemy tires we strike, enemy retreats we pursue.
If tactical execution went well during the process, plus Steel Seventh Company making some low-level mistake.
A comeback was truly possible!
Though the odds were very low, it was better than sitting idly awaiting defeat—at least they’d tried, and losing wouldn’t leave regrets.
“Received, Battalion Commander—I’ll arrange it now.”
Reconnaissance Second Company Commander didn’t want to lose to a grassroots company; he had to grasp this last lifeline, using all his skills for one final battle.
Second Company Commander began assembling the other two platoons—everything developing exactly as Chen Jun had anticipated.
Reconnaissance Battalion Commander was also making arrangements.
First, notifying the main squad from First Company—which hadn’t deployed and was guarding the two objective points in the northwest direction—to rush over and link up with Battalion Headquarters at top speed.
Then issuing the second order: dispatch several elite reconnaissance teams for scouting.
They couldn’t just passively take hits; they needed to regain the initiative.
They must investigate key information like Red Army positions, troops, deployments, artillery positions, etc., to prepare for the upcoming decisive battle.
The Battalion Commander’s idea was sound.
As a division-level reconnaissance unit, the scouts’ professional abilities were strong—under normal circumstances, this scouting mission would be trivial.
But there’s always a stronger hand; it’s even more evident in the same profession.
Encountering someone superior meant getting beaten worse.
The confidently dispatched reconnaissance teams returned with results that left the Battalion Commander grim-faced, increasingly wary of the mysterious Steel Seventh Company.
The reason: he sent four two-man reconnaissance teams to scout outward from four directions, figuring at least one or two would break through.
Unfortunately.
The four elite lurking reconnaissance teams used their best reconnaissance techniques—three failed utterly, not even exiting the position by a hundred meters.
They were eliminated on the spot by bullets from who-knows-where, triggering their smoke grenades to emit smoke.
Steel Seventh Company’s Sniper Squad was personally trained by Chen Jun—equivalent to national team head coach training; their marksmanship wasn’t for show.
If Blue Army scouts slipped away, Chen Jun would have them practicing dry-firing at home for ten hours.
Only the fourth Blue Army team, exiting from behind the position, succeeded—Steel Seventh Company hadn’t circled back to encircle, allowing them to leave smoothly.
Seeing the Red Army sniper’s godlike marksmanship, Reconnaissance Battalion Commander was already quite satisfied with the result.
He anticipated this successfully escaped team would bring back the intelligence he wanted—at minimum, confirming if the Red Army had come with the full company.
Little did he know this reconnaissance team was extraordinarily unlucky.
By sheer coincidence.
Just then, Shi Jin’s Vanguard Reconnaissance Squad received Chen Jun’s order to circle to the enemy rear from the side, lurk, and gather Blue Army intelligence.
Specifically, clarify the numbers, firepower, and composition of Blue Army reinforcements.
Vanguard Reconnaissance Squad sneaked toward the Blue Army rear, while the Blue Army reconnaissance team circled from the rear toward the Red Army—ending up on the same side.
Thus.
Inevitably, they encountered each other on the road.
Both moving through earthen ditches and gullies, it turned into a comical “corner encounter with love.”
By now, night had fully fallen; the moonlight on the plateau was quite bright, but the ditches and gullies were dim, with limited visibility.
The instant they turned the corner and bumped into each other, both sides stared, momentarily stunned.
Neither expected to run into the other here.
But after a brief two seconds, these elites from their respective companies reacted in the shortest time.
The corner obstructed visibility, so the Blue Army reconnaissance team only saw the lead Bai Tie Jun.
Seeing Bai Tie Jun’s slim, “frail” build, they thought capturing him alive would end their mission early.
So without hesitation or thought of shooting.
They both lunged forward.
Bai Tie Jun indeed wasn’t a match for two, but thinking he had a whole squad behind him and only two Blue Army ahead.
He figured they’d be the ones running—he was already prepared to chase.
Unbeknownst to him, the Blue Army couldn’t see Wu Liu Yi and others behind due to the blind spot, so they had no intention of fleeing.
A mismatch in their thinking led to a highly amusing outcome.
Bai Tie Jun never expected them to charge; he had no time to react—being small-framed, he was pinned to the ground in one clash.
One rode his belly, one his legs.
Not even his toes could move!
“Punk, running into us black-and-white duo—you think you can escape? Run…”
The two Blue Army who controlled Bai Tie Jun crowed triumphantly, but as one casually looked up, his voice cut off the next second.
“What’s up, Brother Fei? Hurry and tie him—remove his shoelace rope to bind his feet; I’ll handle…”
The Blue Army scout pinning the legs was about to remove Bai Tie Jun’s shoelaces, but as his gaze swept forward, his body stiffened instantly.
Frozen, staring ahead!
Following their line of sight, the passage on this side of the ditch was packed with people—too many to count at a glance.
Each holding a gun, dark muzzles aimed right at them.
“Uh, Eldest Brothers, really sorry—my little brother got impulsive.”
Realizing he’d jumped into a Red Army nest, the Blue Army on Bai Tie Jun’s belly sensed trouble and could only awkwardly smile and greet.
“Impulsiveness has a cost.”
Cheng Cai grinned and called, “Brothers, the Blue Army dared to hit our guy—come on, let’s teach them a lesson.”
Cheng Cai charged first, with Gan Xiao Ning, Wu Liu Yi, and others close behind.
The confrontation exercise had only involved distant simulated fire so far—no close-quarters melee; everyone’s hands were itching.
With this chance to let loose, no one would pass it up.
Beating them wasn’t against rules anyway!
Bai Tie Jun, pinned and gasping, saw brothers avenging him and instantly gained confidence, feeling badass again.
He bellowed to fan the flames: “Brothers, avenge me! They nearly broke my old waist—you gotta help me vent this anger, rescue me quick, pin them down good, and let me kick their asses till they’re swollen.”
Bai Tie Jun’s heart-wrenching yells fired up the crowd even more.
“No, Eldest Brothers, I was wrong—really wrong.”
“Go easy, go easy—please not the face.”
Seeing the situation dire, the two Blue Army scouts knew a beating was inevitable and could only beg for mercy.
In the end, though thoroughly scared, the two Blue Army scouts didn’t actually get thrashed.
Cheng Cai, Wu Liu Yi, and the others rushing up were just playing around, scaring the Blue Army for fun.
Classic big boys fooling around!
Seeing the two Blue Army pale with fright, everyone burst out laughing.
“Alright, enough playing—mission first.”
Squad Leader Shi Jin saw they’d had their fun and stopped the warriors from fooling around further, issuing orders: “San Duo, Xiao Ning, Xie Chong—you three escort the captives back, hand them to the Company Commander and Platoon Leader Chen.
Everyone else with me—continue the mission. Blue Army showing up here means more might be ahead—stay vigilant, no slip-ups.”
Play was play, fun was fun.
But the mission couldn’t be treated as a joke.
After a quick moment of leisure fun, the Vanguard Squad split into two groups under Shi Jin’s arrangement and quickly vanished into the night cover from this spot.
As if nothing had happened here—the live capture of the two Blue Army.
