Chapter 562: I, I killed myself?

The sky was faintly light.

A military vehicle slowly entered the parking area where the exercise director's office was located.

In the rear seat, Feng Ming leaned against the seat, dozing, with a faint snore coming from his nose.

The young soldier driving turned his head, twice wanting to wake the brigade commander, but then decided to let him sleep a bit longer.

Just as he hesitated whether to wake him, Feng Ming suddenly snorted, startling himself awake.

"Hmm, where are we?"

"Brigade Commander, we've arrived at the director's office."

"We're here, why didn't you call me?"

"We just got here too."

The young soldier hurriedly got out of the vehicle to open the brigade commander's door.

Feng Ming wiped his mouth with his sleeve, got out, did a quick stretch of his stiff limbs, then put on his wide-brimmed hat and walked toward the director's office tent.

"Brigade Commander..."

At the entrance, the brigade training section chief was already waiting in advance.

Feng Ming grunted: "How did it go? Did you succeed?"

He had naturally reviewed the Red side's exercise plan, and even the air strike plan had been his proposal.

Just as the exercise began, this happened out of the blue; he guessed that Lu Yang and his unit were either crippled or had already withdrawn early from the exercise.

Precisely for that reason, on the way here he could close his eyes and rest without any burden, feeling no urgency at all.

The training section chief said with a bitter face: "We succeeded, but..."

"But what?"

Feng Ming questioned: "You didn't wipe them out completely, letting part of them escape?"

The training section chief: "They did flee, a large part; this strike only destroyed two Blue army transport vehicles, some materiel and equipment, and a dozen or so soldiers."

Feng Ming frowned: "How could this be, with two armed helicopters dispatched together, striking while the Blue army was on the march and utterly unprepared, yet resulting in only such light casualties?"

"Um, um..."

Seeing the other party hem and haw, Feng Ming also didn't want to dwell on it.

After all, the exercise had just begun; gaining even a slight edge was not bad.

Next, we'll settle the score bit by bit; after all, there are plenty of opportunities.

The training section chief still wanted to say something, but Feng Ming directly raised his hand to cut him off, giving him no chance to continue, and walked straight into the tent.

At that moment, there weren't many people in the tent, and only about half the seats were taken.

But once it got light, observers would arrive in dribs and drabs, and then the crowd would grow.

"Report, chief."

"Come in, have a seat."

Cai Zhengbang nodded at him, indicating he should sit down.

The seats had been arranged in advance; before him was a table with a nameplate bearing his name, and a bottle of mineral water.

"You came pretty early, huh?"

Feng Ming had just sat down when he teased Zheng Chengfeng beside him.

Zheng Chengfeng replied lightly: "The early bird gets the worm."

Feng Ming gave a heh-heh cold chuckle: "Shouldn't it be that the early worm gets eaten by the bird?"

Zheng Chengfeng smiled, didn't take up the joke, but his slightly smug expression left Feng Ming puzzled.

Clearly we were the ones who struck first and gained the advantage, yet it seems as if the advantage lies with your Blue army—did you get it backwards?

Zheng Chengfeng had just arrived and hadn't yet learned what had happened earlier.

Moreover, according to past experience, the first few hours after the exercise starts are both sides' preparation period.

Even if there is combat, it's mostly friction between small reconnaissance units, with mutual probing being the main focus.

So he naturally didn't think in that direction, still believing Zheng Chengfeng was just saving face, hence forcing himself to hold on.

More importantly, the screen ahead showed Lu Yang and others carrying big and small bundles, marching like ants moving house, which confirmed the earlier report from his subordinate.

Feng Ming coughed and spoke up: "Blue army, do you lack mechanized transport? How come this unit, as soon as it arrived, is relying on eleven-foot marching?"

Zheng Chengfeng naturally caught the mocking tone: "Transport is just a carrier; no matter how good the equipment or how advanced the weapons, what use is it?"

He pointed to his head, saying calmly: "War ultimately comes down to people, to brains."

Feng Ming couldn't help but laugh: "Old Zheng, I know you're unhappy, but there's no need to speak sarcastically here."

"Yes, our Red side launched an air strike right at the start, catching your ground forces off guard—we indeed struck too hard."

"But you must understand, the exercise is like real combat; we did this to forge and improve your strength."

"You need to be broad-minded, let it go, and not take it to heart."

Zheng Chengfeng turned his head to look at him, also laughing: "How could I take it to heart?"

"It's true that your Red side succeeded in the sneak attack, and it's also true that our Blue army countered effectively."

"That bit of loss, exchanging it for one of your armed helicopters, is neither a loss nor a gain."

Feng Ming's smile first stiffened, then gradually faded.

He turned his head to look at the subordinate who had reported earlier, saw the subordinate's guilty, embarrassed expression, and immediately realized the other was telling the truth.

Chief Director Cai Zhengbang, seated in the front row, had heard their earlier conversation clearly, and thus succinctly recounted what had happened before.

Upon confirming that one of our armed helicopters had been shot down by the Blue army with a man-portable air-defense missile, Feng Ming's face instantly turned ashen.

He wasn't unable to accept an exchange; mutual consumption of forces in battle is quite normal.

But using an armed helicopter to trade for two vehicles and a dozen soldiers still feels like a poor deal, given that armed helicopters are few in number.

Just after arriving, a plane was shot down, which will have a certain impact on the upcoming battle layout; otherwise the Blue Army has no such concern.

Unless a helicopter can directly replace Lu Yang, that little bastard, this deal is a loss no matter how you count it.

Moreover, anyone who knew about this situation beforehand would never have taken the initiative to put pressure on Zheng Chengfeng.

As a result, he ended up unable to get off the platform, putting himself in a very awkward position.

But he didn't find one, and Zheng Chengfeng actually offered him an out: "That move by the Red side was indeed something we didn't anticipate; choosing to march on foot was forced. If another one or two air raids come, who could endure it?"

Feng Ming: "That's also an old tradition of the Army; this distance shouldn't be a pressure for them. It's just a pity about those few vehicles and the supplies inside them."

"By doing this, the food and ammunition resources on your defensive positions also decrease accordingly, and the pressure should be huge, right?"

Zheng Chengfeng let out a sound, not caring much: "Not a big problem; no guns, no cannons, the enemy provides them for us."

"Heh." Feng Ming sneered: "If you have the skill, why don't you come and try to snatch a look?"

"Just kidding~"

"I took it seriously."

"By the way, those two troop transport vehicles that were bombed earlier were sponsored by your Night Tiger out of affection."

Feng Ming's eyes widened, and the corner of his mouth twitched.

Sitting to Zheng Chengfeng's right, Xiong Yao also quickly added.

"Brigade Commander Feng, those weapons and ammunition in the vehicle were also sponsored by the various units of your Second Brigade."

"……"

Feng Ming's mouth twitched, and he was already cursing inwardly.

He originally thought the vehicle supplies belonged to the enemy, but after all that trouble they turned out to be swindled from his own side.

Our own armed helicopter successfully destroyed our own vehicles and supplies; then, in a lapse of attention, someone was struck by a missile and blown down—what kind of situation is this?

So does that mean: I, after all my scheming, ended up killing myself?

Feng Ming gently closed his eyes and adjusted his mindset by taking a deep breath and exhaling slowly.

When he opened his eyes again, it was as if nothing had happened.

"In the first encounter, your men luckily escaped and avoided disaster."

"But that doesn't mean they can dodge the second or third times either."

"Just wait and see; this unit won't last long before being completely annihilated."

Zheng Chengfeng frowned: "It seems there are still follow‑up moves?"

Feng Ming smiled and admitted: "You thought it would end that simply—how naive. Watch closely and see how your men get completely wiped out, how they get thoroughly kicked out of the exercise!"

Zheng Chengfeng gave no reply, but was mentally calculating what other follow‑up moves this guy had prepared…