Chapter 472: Your Troops Were Pierced by Lu Yang

Gurgle gurgle~

Sea-Land Third Brigade, in the brigade headquarters Cafeteria.

In front of Zheng Chengfeng is a classic Chaozhou‑Shantou beef hotpot.

He lifts a piece of beef with a slotted spoon, puts it into a special dipping plate made of garlic, soy sauce, and sesame oil.

The wonderful feeling makes him shake his head and sway, breaking into a theatrical chant: "Having eaten Chaozhou‑Shantou beef hotpot, Navy Commander, can't compare to me~"

At that moment, a sweating Xiong Yao, clutching a notebook, comes from outside: "At such an early hour to be hot‑potting beef, you're too extravagant? I opened my eyes at five past five and have been busy nonstop ever since!"

Zheng Chengfeng laughs and hands him a set of bowls and chopsticks, then ladles a bowl of soup: "The beef just arrived; before it went into the cold storage, the Cook Squad said they wanted to test its freshness. As the Brigade Commander, I can only take on a bit of extra toil."

"Give it a try, see if the quality's still good?"

Xiong Yao sips the soup, bites the meat, and indeed the quality is excellent.

"Zheng Chengfeng, back when we were in school, how did I not see that you're such a monkey spirit?"

"Pulling a white wolf with empty hands, passing it off as good, honestly you've figured it out; not doing business would be a waste of talent."

"At the Sea Training Base, you've hidden the best batch of troops, packaging a large number of medium and low‑quality horses as premium ones for others, swapping so much funding, equipment, and Logistics supplies back."

"If it were me, I really couldn't pull this off; a man must have face!"

Zheng Chengfeng laughs heartily: "Old classmate, you're now the Chief of Staff of the Third Brigade; these items, each entry, you must record them properly, never be sloppy."

Xiong Yao retorts: "You don't actually think that just with this little, you can build a rapid reaction force, do you? It's almost an impossible mission."

"Do you know how much effort and budget I spent when I was in the Army building a reconnaissance battalion?"

"The weapons, equipment, and supporting facilities of a rapid reaction force will only be more, never less!"

Zheng Chengfeng chuckles: "We poured in so much, and in the end it was a soldier from a grassroots unit who single‑handedly punched through it?"

Cough, cough cough!

Xiong Yao chokes hard, then coughs violently.

He hurriedly wipes his mouth while scrambling for a rebuttal.

"That's just an example!"

"Anyway, your troops were pierced by Lu Yang."

"Are you done yet?"

"That much money tossed into water still makes a splash, only to be trampled by a two‑and‑a‑half‑year recruit, and the Brigade Commander got knocked out."

"That's enough, you're endless, huh? In a Division, how many like Lu Yang can you find? Normally a single reconnaissance battalion can crush any grassroots unit!"

Zheng Chengfeng picks a piece of beef for him, signaling not to get worked up: "I'm not belittling you; I just want to tell you that the reconnaissance battalion you built was at best a decent ordinary unit, still stuck in a fixed template."

"And the formation of this rapid reaction force won't follow the old path; it'll take an entirely new wild route."

"What kind of wild route?"

"Abandon greenhouse cultivation, let them grow wildly; everything must be earned by themselves."

Zheng Chengfeng explains: "This team is more like a startup; each participant's base salary isn't high, but the equity shares dividends. The better the unit develops, the higher the allowances, benefits, and the faster the promotions."

Xiong Yao's eyes light up: "That's clever, directly tying each soldier's fate to the unit's future growth, truly achieving shared glory."

Zheng Chengfeng nods: "For ordinary people starting a business, the hardest part is the first pot of gold; now that's solved, if we see progress within three months and achieve some results later, we can secure more investment!"

"By then, you as Chief of Staff won't be just a Chief of Staff; I as Acting Brigade Commander won't be acting any more!"

Hehehehehe!

Watching the two middle‑aged officials in their forties sit in the Cafeteria, laughing foolishly at the Chaozhou‑Shantou beef hotpot.

The back‑kitchen cook soldiers are genuinely baffled, even suspecting whether this batch of beef has any contraband; is it a performance for people to eat, or just a silly grin while eating?

Xiong Yao looks around, lowers his voice and asks: "Later, if those guys realize they've been duped and come after you for settlement, what then?"

Zheng Chengfeng is unfazed: "What settlement? Supporting unit construction is just what we should do. We didn't touch their principal; it's the surplus from the annual military budget, why not use it where it counts?"

"Moreover, when those people originally asked for funds, they were all crying poverty, selling misery, even pretending to have no money when they did."

"So, they won't repay? Aren't you afraid of being poked in the spine?"

"It's not that we don't repay; we're postponing, repaying slowly, in an orderly, planned manner."

"In short, just don't repay, huh?"

"Sigh, just keep that in mind, don't say it out loud!"

Pfft, hahaha......

Xiong Yao and Zheng Chengfeng stare at each other, smiling slyly.

They were schoolmates, each a veteran fox in their own field.

Now that they're partners, it's truly a strong‑strong alliance.

Add Lu Yang, the little fox, and it's like a mountain stream meeting a kindred spirit.

With them around, they blaze trails over mountains and build bridges over water; the Third Brigade's construction work could never be anything but booming.

In this situation, the rapid reaction force's construction could never follow old templates; if we don't take some wild routes, don't resort to any crooked methods, it would be a disservice to the mischief brewing inside them!

Of course, all of this is premised on supporting unit development, helping the Navy cut costs and increase efficiency, building a more comprehensive maritime defense system, and advancing national defense construction!

"By now, Lu Yang and his team should be arriving soon, right?"

"I'd guess it's about time; they called me twenty minutes ago saying they'd set out."

"Then I'll finish up here and head over?"

"No rush; there are a few work matters to discuss with you. Once you arrive, they'll first do weeding and a big cleanup; the camp has been a mess for a while, they'll hustle all morning and finish it."

"Alright, let's eat quickly, then get back to business."

As soon as the words ended, Zheng Chengfeng's pocket phone rang.

He pulls it out; the caller ID shows Pan Yuan, the current Instructor of the Second Company, Gao Feng's new partner.

"Hello, what's up?"

"Your side is a bit noisy; speak slowly, I didn't hear clearly?"

Seeing Zheng Chengfeng's tone change, Xiong Yao looked up at him doubtfully.

"What happened?"

Zheng Chengfeng made a shushing gesture, indicating to talk later.

"What, you've arrived at the place but they won't let you in? Have Lu Yang and the others arrived yet, or are they still behind, not here yet?"

"Those barracks aren't empty, are they? Who dares to block the entrance—are they Army personnel? Have they communicated properly?"

"Not the Army, but the Navy?"

Zheng Chengfeng furrowed his brows, glanced up at Xiong Yao.

Xiong Yao immediately realized what was going on and immediately went over to the phone.

"Ask them what right they have to occupy the camp and block your entry—have they rebelled?"

"Don't worry about it; I expect Lu Yang and the others will be here soon. He has the execution documents—just take them out and order them to scram."

"When things are settled, give me a call back. That's it, goodbye."

As soon as the phone hung up, Xiong Yao pressed: "What's wrong? What happened?"

Zheng Chengfeng, bewildered: "The camp's been taken over, and they're running some training inside—no idea what they're up to."

Xiong Yao worried: "Could it be that the plot's been exposed, someone realized they were duped and is deliberately causing trouble for you? Or maybe it's Zhao Haishen stirring things up?"

"Probably not; they said on the phone they've been here a few days already. I guess they saw the barracks were empty and just used them for training."

"Can't rule out that possibility."

"How about this: once you finish what you're doing, drive over there—just to be safe."

"Okay."