Chapter 512: Second Brigade Commander: I'm Really Angry Right Now

Report.

It was still dark, and Battalion Commander Huang Honghui of the Night Tiger Reconnaissance Battalion parked his vehicle downstairs, then rushed upstairs in a hurry.

He pushed open the conference room door and shouted a report; upon seeing the room already full of people, his expression immediately tightened.

In the past, meetings were usually held at the regiment headquarters, and meetings within the brigade were rare; he had never encountered being summoned for a meeting before dawn.

Report!

Huang Honghui raised his voice and shouted again, prompting the Brigade Commander at the front to finally look up at him.

"Come in, and be earlier next time."

"Yes!"

Huang Honghui let out a relieved sigh and took a seat beside the Regiment Commander.

The conference room atmosphere was oppressive and dull; no one spoke, and everyone looked as if they hadn't fully woken up.

Outside the windows the sky was pitch black with no sign of light; checking his watch, it was only 4:40, and the wake‑up whistle wouldn't sound until 6:20.

"Regiment Commander, what's happening? Why the big mobilization?"

Huang Honghui lowered his voice and asked the Regiment Commander.

The Regiment Commander, without turning his head, whispered, "Shh, don't speak, lest you spark a fire on yourself."

Huang Honghui closed his mouth and waited a while, but the meeting showed no sign of starting—could there be someone later than him?

Report, report.

Soon after, the door was pushed open again.

The panting Engineer Company Commander stood at the doorway shouting a report, but no one responded.

The Engineer Company Commander could only raise his voice again, yet still received no response.

Huang Honghui sensed something odd, and the others also vaguely sensed something amiss.

When the Engineer Company Commander shouted a third report, Brigade Commander Feng Ming stared at him expressionlessly.

"How did you get here?"

"By car."

"You came by car and arrived last, do you think you're so high‑and‑mighty?"

The Engineer Company Commander broke out in cold sweat: "The vehicle was sent to the Motor Repair Company for maintenance last night, and retrieving it delayed us a bit."

Feng Ming rolled up his sleeve and glanced at his watch: "You didn't just delay a little; you delayed a lot. There are twenty‑five of us here, one minute each makes twenty‑five minutes, which is one thousand five hundred seconds!"

"On the battlefield, a single second can cause failure, and you alone wasted one thousand five hundred seconds!"

He slapped the table: "Engineer Company is a combat support unit; it should blaze trails over mountains, build bridges over water, clear minefields, yet here you are, sending the vanguard to the rear of the formation?"

The Engineer Company Commander went pale; after the scolding he didn't even dare to let out a fart.

The others in the conference room were all as silent as chilled cicadas, not daring to breathe a single breath.

"Get out to the side and stand and listen!"

"Yes!"

The Engineer Company Commander, trembling with fear, found a seat in the back row, stood, and pretended to flip open his notebook.

Beads of sweat dripped down his chin, clearly terrified of being berated again.

Feng Ming's sharp gaze swept the room; the cadres of the Second Brigade felt a scalp‑tingling tension, quickly sitting up straight, fearing they'd be singled out for a scolding.

"The meeting starts now!"

"I gathered you so early to tell you something."

"Yesterday afternoon, when I attended a meeting at the headquarters, I heard some news."

"A certain unit of the Third Brigade performed a great feat while on an outing and is about to be awarded a Second-Class Collective Merit."

The people below wore solemn faces, listening patiently.

If it were merely a Second-Class Collective Merit, the Brigade Commander shouldn't be so angry.

Feng Ming said with a grin, "This Second-Class Collective Merit is huge! It not only alarmed the municipal bureau, but even provincial leaders called the headquarters to thank us; the banners from the police stations, education bureau, and fire brigade kept coming one after another!"

"They said the local TV station, the political propaganda office's military newspaper reporter, even wants to come specially for an exclusive interview!"

"What kind of mission could cause such a stir?"

"After inquiring, I learned that a Company Commander surnamed Lu from the Third Brigade casually helped defuse a few bombs during the outing!"

At those words, the expressions of those present changed immediately.

Huang Honghui knit his brows, wondering whether the Company Commander surnamed Lu was Lu Yang.

But on further thought he thought it unlikely; that guy wasn't an Explosive Disposal Expert, so it shouldn't be related.

The Engineer Company Commander looked as if he'd eaten a fly, instantly understanding why the Brigade Commander singled him out.

At that time the local authorities had contacted him, but because they lacked confidence, they declined.

But that couldn't be blamed on him; he truly lacked the confidence and experience to defuse an aerial bomb.

Suddenly, the Brigade Commander's sharp gaze swept over: "I also heard that the locals called our brigade, sought the Engineer Company for help, and were flat‑out rejected?"

"I can't help but ask, do some people simply lack the ability, or are they afraid of the responsibility?"

The Engineer Company Commander panicked and hurried to defend himself: "Brigade Commander, that aerial bomb is severely corroded and extremely unstable; I truly don't have the confidence..."

Feng Ming retorted, "You lack confidence? As an Engineer Company Commander, you can't handle a task that matches your specialty, yet a Motorized Infantry officer who never received systematic bomb‑defusing training managed to do it?"

"This… this…"

The Engineer Company Commander stammered, unable to speak.

Who the hell knows how that guy defused it?

So many bomb‑defusing experts couldn't get it, yet he did—did he cheat?

Huang Honghui was now certain: the Third Brigade's Company Commander surnamed Lu, a Motorized Infantry background, who defused the bomb, was Lu Yang—no escape.

But he also couldn't figure out how this guy got such dogshit luck, managing to defuse the bomb?

Feng Ming let out a cold snort: "Besides, when the call came to you then, why didn't you report upward? No request, no report, you just turned it down yourself— the Marine Corps is not yours to decide alone! In the regiment, there are other engineer companies; who knows, maybe someone could have handled it!"

"If you had reported upward then, even if our brigade lacked such talent, even if I went to another unit to borrow personnel from the Army, we might have been able to resolve the matter!"

"You didn't even go to the scene; you just heard two sentences over the phone, and as soon as you heard the words 'aviation bomb,' you got scared and started backing off!"

"Who knows, the provincial bomb disposal squad had almost finished defusing it on site, the danger was nearly gone; a soldier from the Third Brigade just casually tightened two screws, and— like a blind cat finding a dead rat— solved the problem!"

"Although Feng Ming's metaphor is somewhat exaggerated, it doesn't rule out the possibility of such dogshit luck."

"Since it's an aviation bomb left over from wartime, there are too many unstable factors."

"It could explode at any moment, or it might not explode no matter what."

"But nobody dares to gamble on it, fearing that if they lose the bet, it would cause irreversible loss."

"Those experts studied for ages, leaning toward the possibility of explosion; who knows whether the explosives inside have become thoroughly damp, completely losing any explosive potential, thus handing someone a lucky break?"

"The official details have been sealed off; the brigade commander doesn't know, and they know even less."

"But just from this, it's enough for them to imagine the rough situation."

"No wonder the brigade commander is so angry; if it were me, I'd be furious too."

"If the engineer company had taken people there, this merit and honor might have been ours."

"The First Brigade just came back with a good placement from the domestic reconnaissance competition; the Third Brigade also achieved this great feat and was even praised by the city and province; our brigade, meanwhile, has nothing to show for it, and Army Day is just around the corner."

"That Third Brigade Commander Zheng Chengfeng used to be just a deputy, working under our brigade commander; now that he's just been transferred, he's already producing results at work, inevitably making people think he was previously suppressed and buried by our brigade commander."

"Look at the brigade commander's red eyes— he probably didn't sleep well all night, possibly even got reprimanded by the superiors."

"Ah, with this matter blowing up like this, if it were me I wouldn't be able to sleep either......"

"Around, everyone was discussing it heatedly; the engineer company commander's intestines were practically green with regret."

"Back then, if he had reported it to the regiment, if he had gone to the scene to take a look."

"Even if it ultimately failed, this black pot wouldn't necessarily fall on him, and he couldn't shake it off."

"Feng Ming tapped the table, and the chatter stopped abruptly: 'I called everyone together today not to assign blame to anyone, nor to vent my anger at a particular person! But to give you all a warning!'"

"The Marine Corps has gone from two brigades in the past to three brigades now, and the competitive landscape has shifted; I don't want to be overtaken by newcomers, to be left behind!"

"In the past, including myself, we underestimated this newly formed unit; I never expected they'd stay quiet and then pull off something big!"

"In the coming time, all units will tighten training, fully preparing for the upcoming exercise!"

"He clenched his fists, his tone stern: 'In this exercise, we must not only win, but win without any doubt!'"

"Yes!"

"The meeting ends here, dismissed!"

"When the meeting dispersed, Huang Honghui was singled out and left behind, following to the brigade commander's office."

"Feng Ming pointed to the chair in front of him: 'Have a seat and speak.'"

"Yes, brigade commander."

"Huang Honghui had just sat down when Feng Ming asked."

"How much do you know about that Lu Yang?"