Chapter 31: Fan Tianlei's Suffering

The person who arrived was none other than the Blue Army Commander; upon seeing Nie Huaishang, he patted his shoulder and praised him, saying:

"Good lad. The fellow outside who sniped me said you were the mastermind behind this operation, using the eavesdropper outside to successfully expose my position. You're quite good."

After praising Nie Huaishang, he turned to the people behind him and praised them as well:

"Of course, you're all quite good. You're all doing well."

He Zhijun, standing nearby, said: "Commander, you haven't seen the full extent of this lad's abilities yet."

"What other impressive feats has he accomplished? Let us all hear them and broaden our horizons."

The Blue Army Commander asked curiously.

So the Company Commander recounted how four years ago Nie Huaishang had set a trap to arrest Black Cat, extracted information from him, and thereby delivered a devastating blow to that organization.

Hearing this, everyone present was filled with boiling blood. No matter how well they performed in today's military exercise, it was still just an exercise, whereas what Nie Huaishang and the others did four years ago had saved the lives of millions of people in Donghai City.

At that time, they were still students who had not yet entered the military academy.

The Blue Army Commander nodded in satisfaction: "After this exercise concludes, I must go see the other two."

While Nie Huaishang, Zhang Xiaofan, and the others were delighted to receive the Commander's commendation in the military camp, Fan Tianlei and the other four in the Iron Fist Regiment's command post were living day by day as if they were years.

Every minute and every second was agonizing for him. Ever since he saw Nie Huaishang and the others change into their clothes, he had been filled with dread; if his guess was correct, they intended to drive their vehicle to carry out a decapitation strike.

Regiment Commander Kang and the other members of the command post watched Fan Tianlei with great interest, and even the people of the Iron Fist Regiment occasionally cast curious glances.

After all, the Regiment Commander had introduced Fan Tianlei and the others to the entire regiment in a grand ceremony, stating they were from the Special Operations Brigade, and especially Fan Tianlei, who, according to the Regiment Commander, was even a Chief of Staff.

Fan Tianlei and the others, locked up and watched by the people of the Iron Fist Regiment, felt unbearable discomfort; those looks were exactly the same as watching monkeys in a zoo.

But he had no way to do anything, after all, he was now a prisoner of Regiment Commander Kang.

Most crucially, those lads from Nie Huaishang's group were wearing their clothes and driving their cars off to carry out the decapitation strike.

Putting aside whether they could succeed, even if the four of them failed in the decapitation strike, Fan Tianlei's own combat failure had allowed those lads to carry out the decapitation.

By then, he would not escape blame and would inevitably be punished by the Company Commander; as for whether they succeeded?

Fan Tianlei dared not think about it, but he felt that Nie Huaishang and those lads were still too green and could possibly never complete the difficult and arduous decapitation strike.

Fan Tianlei could only comfort himself this way, but even if Nie Huaishang and the others could not carry out the decapitation, they would still cause casualties among the command post personnel.

By then, he would still have to bear that responsibility; thinking of this, Fan Tianlei felt his future was completely dark.

At this moment, Fan Tianlei's old friend, Regiment Commander Kang, came to visit him. Seeing Fan Tianlei as a captive, Kang beamed with joy and teased Fan Tianlei and the others, saying:

"How is it, old friend? Are you satisfied with the place I arranged for you? Such a large double room, capable of accommodating dozens of people, more magnificent than my military tent."

Seeing the triumphant expression on his old comrade-in-arms, Fan Tianlei snorted coldly: "Old Kang, don't get too cocky. Just those lads trying to carry out a decapitation strike? They have a long way to go. That Nie Huaishang only has a bit of petty cleverness."

Seeing Fan Tianlei continue to be stubborn with his words, Kang did not refute but instead nodded in agreement:

"I think what you just said is quite right. That Nie Huaishang only has a bit of petty cleverness, he's still too green, and has absolutely no ability."

Hearing this, Fan Tianlei was surprised; Old Kang was agreeing with him for the first time.

Then Regiment Commander Kang continued:

"Isn't it just capturing Fan Tianlei alive? That truly isn't any ability. Catching Fan Tianlei counts as what ability? Don't you think so, Old Fan?"

Fan Tianlei's face turned as black as a pot bottom.

"Regiment Commander Kang is right; capturing Fan Tianlei alive indeed does not count as me, Nie Huaishang, having ability."

Nie Huaishang shouted from a distance.

Seeing Nie Huaishang return, Fan Tianlei's heart gave a thud, and he thought silently: "This is bad."

Seeing Nie Huaishang return, Regiment Commander Kang was overjoyed and, ignoring everyone else, laughed and scolded: "This lad has no other abilities, but his ears are quite sharp."

"Old Kang, if you say he has no ability now, the military region leaders behind us will not be satisfied."

Dog-Head Lao Gao, getting out of the car, refuted Regiment Commander Kang.

"Those words weren't said by me; those were said by your Wolf Tooth Company's Chief of Staff Fan. I was just echoing him."

Regiment Commander Kang hurriedly explained.

Seeing Dog-Head Lao Gao get down, Fan Tianlei asked in surprise: "Old Gao, were you captured too?"

Dog-Head Lao Gao immediately snorted coldly: "Hmph, do you think everyone is like you? What I did wasn't called being captured; what I did was called a glorious sacrifice."

Hearing Dog-Head Lao Gao's explanation, Fan Tianlei waved his hand impatiently and said:

"It's all the same, all the same. It's just that I am still alive, have the chance to get out, and can continue fighting, while you will never have the chance again."

Seeing Fan Tianlei mock him, Dog-Head Lao Gao did not refute; he could only give him a "good luck" look, after all, Fan Tianlei had just mocked not only him, who was declared dead, but also the Company Commander and the Commander, who were declared dead.

Moreover, regarding the deaths of the Company Commander and the Commander, Fan Tianlei bore the main responsibility; next, Fan Tianlei would have to face a storm of fury from the two of them.

"Oh, this Chief of Staff Fan has an opinion on our fallen personnel?"

Just then, one person got out of the car. Seeing the person who arrived, Fan Tianlei stood with his mouth agape and stammered:

"Commander, were you eliminated?"

"Not only was the Commander eliminated, I was eliminated too?"

Another person got out of the car, his face ashen, and snorted coldly at Fan Tianlei.

Seeing the two of them get down, Fan Tianlei's brain immediately crashed; he truly never expected that Nie Huaishang's decapitation strike would actually succeed, and achieve such great results.

He only wanted to decapitate a regiment commander, but this fellow went and decapitated both the Company Commander and the Commander.

Looking at Fan Tianlei in the cage, the Blue Army Commander sighed to Company Commander He Zhijun:

"Zhijun, your Chief of Staff is quite good. Even with the battle fought this way, he still has the spirit to try to make a comeback."

After speaking, the Blue Army Commander turned and walked towards the regimental command room without looking back; seeing Fan Tianlei now made him angry.

As for Company Commander He Zhijun, his face was ashen as he looked at Fan Tianlei; at his age, could he not distinguish between literal and ironic speech?

Did someone have to tell him that his Chief of Staff fought the battle in such a manner and still had the face to speak before he would understand?

Looking at Fan Tianlei in the cage, He Zhijun asked with a cold sneer:

"Speak, why aren't you speaking? Wasn't Chief of Staff Fan just full of spirit, pointing at Jiangshan and giving orders? Why are you silent now?"

Fan Tianlei, seeing He Zhijun's iron-green face, felt he should not provoke the squadron commander's wrath now, especially since he had committed such a grave error.

After all, as the old saying goes, when you get beaten, you must stand at attention.