Chapter 478: Discipline Must Never Yield to Privilege!

"What a disgrace!"

"All the paperwork was in order, you arrived first, and you got chased out by a bunch of Sea Training Base soldiers?"

"And you even tried to jump the fence, didn't even drive away the transport vehicle, the old face of the Sea Night Tiger Reconnaissance Battalion has been completely disgraced by you!"

Second Brigade, in the brigade headquarters office.

The Brigade Commander angrily pointed at Huang Honghui standing before him and ranted.

Huang Honghui was splattered with saliva, feeling aggrieved: "Brigade Commander, there were Military Police present at the time, and..."

The Brigade Commander didn't listen, cutting in: "What about the Military Police? Two white hats scared you stiff? I'm telling you, if you really took people to fight them and knocked everyone down, even if you got a record of demerit, I wouldn't blame you!"

"Soldier, the most important thing is to have blood and backbone; you can't control a bunch of incompetent who claim war merits but have none, claim results but have none, claim anything but have nothing. How can you have the nerve?"

"Huang Honghui, you as Deputy Battalion Commander are a total failure; like this, you still file a report hoping to be promoted to full Battalion Commander, do you think you're qualified?"

Huang Honghui was hit head‑on, cursing furiously: "Brigade Commander, I'm sorry, I'll take people to settle accounts with them right now!"

He turned to leave, but the Brigade Commander called him back: "Come back! What's the point of going now? The child is crying, knows to be fed, why did you go early?"

He jabbed Huang Honghui's head: "You, you only have brute strength, never use your brain; do you even know what big‑picture view is? If you go now, can you still claim righteousness?"

Huang Honghui, full of indignation, said: "Then, we can't just leave it like this, can we?"

"Otherwise what??"

The Brigade Commander glared at him: "This matter ends here, but the account must be recorded! Later, it will all be pinned on Zheng Chengfeng!"

Huang Honghui, shocked: "There's also Deputy Brigade Commander Zheng involved?"

"Without his backing, you thought those Sea Training Base incompetents would dare be so arrogant, you thought the Military Police would appear so promptly?"

The Brigade Commander clenched his fist, angrily shouting: "We gave a batch of average horses, exchanged for so much funding and supplies, and he kept all the premium horses tightly in his hand, thinking he acted unseen?"

Huang Honghui, surprised: "No way, Deputy Brigade Commander Zheng doesn't seem like that kind of person?"

The Brigade Commander glared: "That's the ultimate art of playing the pig to eat the tiger; even I was fooled before, never expected him to be so treacherous!"

"Early next year there will be an exercise, Third Brigade will definitely take part, I want you to crush them hard in the drill!"

"Make all those people's heads turn into dog heads!"

"Yes!"

"Scram quickly!"

Huang Honghui left the office dejectedly.

When he emerged, the Company Commander waiting downstairs hurried over.

"Commander, what did the Brigade Commander say, should we take people to reclaim the site?"

"What are we looking for? Our face is already lost, what's the point of getting it back? One lone bear, a flock of timid soldiers; if you had fought them then, even if the Military Police detained you, I'd still respect you!"

"Commander, at the time, it seemed you were the one who slipped away first..."

"I... what did I slip? I... it was a delaying tactic, to confuse them!"

Huang Honghui felt a pang of insecurity, then hardened again: "The Brigade Commander ordered, early next year exercise, must crush them hard; if we don't make them bald, see how I deal with you later!"

The Company Commander nodded angrily: "Commander, rest assured, the account is noted; if we don't beat them so badly they lose teeth, I'll go eat shit!"

"Everyone come over, come over, I have a major announcement!"

The Military Affairs Military Police team, all the Military Police returning from shift, were gathered together by the team leader.

Captain Li pulled Zhang Jiaheng forward, solemnly addressed everyone, and said loudly.

"Today is comrade Zhang Jiaheng's first day back on the Military Police post, wearing the uniform again!"

"In less than twenty‑four hours, he already corrected a suspected violation!"

"Moreover, the correction came from the elite of the Second Brigade's Sea‑Land, the Night Tiger Reconnaissance Battalion; everyone applauded his outstanding performance and integrity!"

Clap! Clap! Clap!

A not‑so‑loud applause rang out.

On one hand, because the Military Police team wasn't large.

On the other hand, everyone had just finished duty, about to change shifts, and hadn't removed their white gloves yet.

Praised, Zhang Jiaheng thrust his chest out, saluted the crowd excitedly, his gratitude toward Lu Yang deepening.

If not for Lu Yang, he would never have made it here, nor have such a chance on his first day back.

Captain Li also applauded Zhang Jiaheng, smiling, and said: "Comrade Zhang Jiaheng previously served as Military Police in the Eastern Theater Army, now transferred to our Navy post, still performing excellently."

"I hope all comrades will follow Zhang Jiaheng; especially those timid, introverted newcomers should take him as a role model."

"You are the guardians of unit discipline, defenders of regulations, you must be tough to purge unhealthy trends and curb bad habits."

"Some comrades freeze when they see those officers, don't speak up, don't enforce; that's very bad; learn from others, ask them."

"Zhang Jiaheng."

"At attention!"

Captain Li shouted.

Zhang Jiaheng immediately puffed his chest, raised his chin, looking as if 'who else but me?'

Captain Li, very satisfied with his performance, said: "You did well, handled it with balance, both deterrent and avoided a possible conflict."

"Especially that line, 'Punishment is not the goal, correcting errors is'; it's clear you have deep insight on being a qualified Military Police."

"Given your outstanding performance, I promote you to Military Police Squad Leader, hope you teach the newbies and lead them onto the right path."

"Yes, Captain!"

Zhang Jiaheng's excited hands trembled slightly.

He never dreamed that on his first day he'd become squad leader and a model for the whole team.

The happiness came so suddenly, like a dream, he was thrilled and couldn't stop.

The Military Police leader praised him again, then began assigning shift duties.

That is to say, they patrol one area in the morning, then move to another area and continue patrolling.

When assigning work, Zhang Jiaheng keenly noticed an area that seemed to be the one Lu Yang had previously mentioned to him.

As everyone knows, the Special Forces, as a confidential unit, naturally keep their base location confidential; even on their officer IDs, no specific unit information is indicated, only a string of numeric code.

But the base location cannot be moved; it's normal for nearby to have some unit's office, office buildings, or barracks and camps.

"Captain, could I swap with him? His patrol area is larger; I just arrived and want to do more work, complete more tasks."

"......"

Upon hearing this, everyone stared at each other in silence, nobody speaking.

Even the Military Police captain had a troubled expression, not knowing how to answer.

Zhang Jiaheng asked embarrassedly: "If it's not possible, then forget it; I just wanted to contribute more."

"It's not that I disagree with you swapping, but..." the Military Police captain hesitated.

That area is a hot potato; normally nobody wants to take it; if it weren't for the poor performance in last quarter's evaluation, I wouldn't even have assigned that area's work task.

Any thoughts?

Captain Li pulled Zhang Jiaheng aside, lowered his voice: "You just arrived; many things are unclear. Have you heard of the Jiaolong?"

Zhang Jiaheng nodded: "Naval Special Operations, a T0-level unit—what about it?"

The Jiaolong base is right nearby.

So what?

Don't you understand yet?

Captain Li sighed helplessly: "Those guys are living ancestors; we can't afford to provoke them. Even if we stop them, if they say they're on a secret mission, we have to let them go."

Zhang Jiaheng thought it was ridiculous: "That's clearly just a lie to fool people; why not verify it?"

"How to verify? There's no way; special operations carry out confidential missions, and we Military Police lack the authority. If it's really true, and they lose their vehicle due to our penalty causing mission failure, who could bear that responsibility?"

"Then just ignore it??"

"We didn't say to ignore it; we were just loitering nearby, which also serves as a slight reminder."

Captain Li added: "To be honest, you're indeed the bravest person I've ever seen; you dared to openly report to the garrison area, the Deputy Chief of Staff of Jiaolong Special Operations—that guy is widely recognized in the industry as sinister and cunning, hard to catch any evidence on, yet he ended up in your hands, kid—how did you manage that?"

Zhang Jiaheng gave an awkward laugh, scratched his head, and casually found an excuse to get past it.

In fact, he himself didn't know how Lu Yang managed it either.

He also didn't know how Lu Yang came to know the Jiaolong people, or how he ended up having a grudge with their chief of staff.

But no matter what, in his eyes, the current Lu Yang is practically an omnipotent god, a mysterious man.

"Captain, we are the maintainers of military discipline, the enforcers of regulations; as enforcers, we absolutely cannot yield to privilege!"

"The more like Jiaolong such a unit is, the more prone it is to arrogance, domineering behavior; the Night Tiger Reconnaissance Battalion is a prime example!"

"Relying on being the elite spearhead of sea and land forces, they completely disregard the warriors of the Sea Training Base, acting arrogantly and rudely—these bad attitudes shouldn't appear in an elite unit; therefore I believe, the tougher the bone, the more we must gnaw at it!"

"Even if it offends people, even if we take off this Military Police uniform again, we cannot compromise like with violations, bowing to corrupt practices!"

Zhang Jiaheng's impassioned speech left the surroundings silent, everyone staring at him in astonishment.

Even Captain Li didn't expect this kid to be so steadfast; even if he risked his career, he would rectify discipline and eradicate corrupt practices.

He took off his gloves and applauded Zhang Jiaheng loudly; immediately everyone else took off their gloves and applauded him.

In their eyes, Zhang Jiaheng's arrival was like injecting a new energy into the Military Police unit.

Captain Li took a deep breath and slapped his arm: "You're absolutely right; discipline must never yield to privilege! The stronger the unit, the more its soldiers are prone to arrogance, self-satisfaction, and domineering behavior!"

"Regarding the Night Tiger Reconnaissance Battalion incident, if you hadn't promptly received the notice, rushed to the scene, and resolved it in time, it might have sparked a conflict leading to irreversible consequences!"

"That area is now yours; go ahead and investigate boldly—we are your strongest backing; as soon as you find any violations, it doesn't matter if they're elite spearheads or any special operations!"

"Yes!"

Zhang Jiaheng also felt his own words boiling with passion.

He wished he could ride a rocket over right now and investigate all those violating superiors thoroughly.

The Military Police captain looked at him with great appreciation: "Do well, and next year I'll recommend you to the garrison area; once you become the tri-service Military Police, you'll know what it means to investigate heaven, earth, and air!"

"Even if it's the commander's military vehicle, as long as it's speeding or not wearing a seat belt, you have the right to issue a penalty!"

Zhang Jiaheng's eyes lit up; he pressed his legs together, raised his arm like a sword salute: "Please rest assured, Captain, I will devote myself completely, doing my utmost to maintain and rectify the navy's military bearing and discipline!"