Chapter 576: Even Shouting Won

"Quick, escort Director Xiao Tang immediately for evacuation!"

"Chief, do we really have to leave? I feel fairly safe here."

"Your position has already been exposed, and we still haven't located those three Blue Army troops; they might be hidden somewhere nearby. The logistics warehouse has been bombed, and if any more problems arise, the consequences would be unimaginable!"

"But I can locate their positions…"

"No time left, this is a Headquarters order! Third Platoon Leader, drive and take Director Xiao Tang to this location immediately!"

"Yes!"

Director Xiao Tang packed his belongings into a laptop bag, hurriedly followed the Third Platoon Leader onto a jeep, and prepared to move to a safe zone.

After getting in, Director Xiao Tang asked, "Are we the Red side's only logistics warehouse?"

The Third Platoon Leader replied, "There's a backup, a small one, with limited ammunition stockpiled."

He worried that Director Xiao Tang, as an information‑technology specialist, might not understand command tactics or grasp the current situation, so he voluntarily explained, "As the landing offensive force, our weapons and equipment are all shipped in from the sea."

"The bombed warehouse was a transshipment hub; supplies need to be allocated to frontline units as needed."

"But the most pressing issue now is that the front line is stretched too far, making logistics a huge problem."

"Transporting from sea to land and then driving to the front takes at least twenty‑something hours for a single trip."

"In the exercise, both sides have limited ammunition; even if resupplied, the amount won't be large. If we can't resolve the battle quickly, dragging it out will be detrimental to the Red side."

Director Xiao Tang furrowed his brow and began to think seriously.

Considering the current situation, he suddenly made a bold conjecture.

"When I was at the military academy, I took a class on depth strategy."

"The weaker side keeps retreating, using terrain to delay and stretch, ultimately exchanging space for time…"

The Third Platoon Leader was struck by this insight, as if a revelation, his arm hairs standing on end.

If that's true, it's terrifying; the Blue Army is playing a grand chess move.

"Director Xiao Tang, you're amazing—you just enlightened me; the current situation really does resemble that!"

"That's the fog of the participant; the observer sees clearly."

Director Xiao Tang modestly said, "My information technology can discern the enemy's movements and probe their deployments, but it cannot truly know their intentions; if that's the case, the upcoming battle will enter a truly critical phase."

"Logistics have been cut off, and we can't resupply the front quickly; the small warehouse can only provide very limited aid."

"If we can't swallow the remaining Blue Army forces in one bite soon, we may face a very strong counterattack."

"Then the Blue Army positions we barely captured over these days would have to be retreated unchanged; all the Red side's efforts from the start would be wasted."

"Worse still, our weapons and ammunition will become extremely restrained, and we will be overall very passive…"

The Third Platoon Leader gripped the steering wheel tightly, his complexion turning grim.

Indeed, one should never underestimate any opponent at any time.

Even though the Third Brigade has just been formed, even though the Blue Army's hard power is inferior to the Red side's.

But as elite troops selected and reinforced by the Army, their experience and wisdom in ground combat are absolutely not to be underestimated.

The Third Platoon Leader's mind was a mess now, worrying about the frontline while not knowing where those three sabotaging Blue Army soldiers had gone, and also about their subordinate, Li Tieniu.

This matter's impact is huge, even directly affecting the upcoming battle's direction.

"They say you're not afraid of ten thousand, only of the one in a million; yet that 'one in a million' appeared in their company, their platoon."

After the exercise ended, not only Li Tieniu but also himself, the Company Commander, the Instructor, and even the Battalion Commander all had to take the blame.

Li Tieniu is straightforward and diligent, his only flaw being a slow mind and simple thoughts; he just doesn't know how those Blue Army riffraff managed to get over there.

They even used an entire set of rhetoric to swindle the kid round and round.

First a special forces soldier, then foreign aid, then an invitation to join the Jiao Long.

This scam looks sloppy and riddled with holes, but for a raw recruit with less than a year of service and not much guile, it basically works perfectly.

In previous exercises, opponents have disguised themselves as Military Police, using MP authority to fool them, and now it's happening again?

If they'd swapped in a veteran with over two years' experience, they'd be more cautious, wouldn't be so easily duped, and at least report upward for verification.

But now it's too late to say anything; the Third Platoon Leader can only think about whether he can remedy the situation.

After reaching the location, he'll report Director Xiao Tang's information upward, prompting higher command's attention and devising a plan to counter the Blue Army.

"I'll get you to the spot in a moment, then report upward immediately; then…"

"I think it's best to do it now."

Director Xiao Tang said gravely, "The battlefield changes in an instant; a one‑second delay could cause a shift. You drive; I'll contact higher command and report this hypothesis first."

The Third Platoon Leader gave an OK sign: "Your considerations are thorough."

He took out the radio and handed it to Director Xiao Tang, but just as Xiao Tang pressed the push‑to‑talk to contact Headquarters, the vehicle jolted violently.

Bang!

The left front wheel hit a protruding sharp stone, the tire burst instantly, and the vehicle lost balance.

Both inside turned pale with fright; the Third Platoon Leader slammed the brakes and gripped the steering wheel tightly.

But because of the speed, it finally barreled into the adjacent woods, crashing heavily into a tree.

The tree was snapped at the trunk, the hood deformed, but fortunately both were buckled in seatbelts and unharmed.

Yet the sudden incident left them dazed, their minds blank.

Director Xiao Tang saw double, her neck and shoulders throbbing from the seatbelt; she turned to look at the Third Platoon Leader in the driver's seat and saw blood at the corner of his eye.

"Y‑you, you're bleeding!?"

"Huh?"

The Third Platoon Leader recovered slowly, glanced at the rearview mirror, and saw only a skin scrape, nothing serious.

"Looks like a flat tire."

"You stay in the car; I'll get out and check."

Third Platoon Leader undid his seat belt, pushed open the car door, staggered over to the front of the car and took a look—sure enough the tire had blown out—and then he walked back onto the road ahead.

He picked up a sharp, pointed stone from the ground, thinking it was the culprit; but just as he was about to go back, preparing to change the spare tire, he suddenly noticed many such irregular sharp stones on the ground ahead.

Moreover, each stone seemed to have been prearranged by someone, fixed in the ground in a staggered, orderly pattern.

The sharp side faced up, with the base half-buried in the soil, thereby increasing stability.

"Not good!"

Realizing it was a trap, the Third Platoon Leader felt a chill down his spine and immediately tried to rush into the car to get his gun.

But he never expected that, as he neared the car door, Lu Yang, who had been lying in wait for a long time, struck him in the neck with a hand knife, knocking him out instantly.

The passenger-seat Director Xiao Tang was originally dazed, still unclear about what had happened; but upon seeing a figure completely covered in mud, like a beggar chicken, who had just knocked out the Third Platoon Leader, he was instantly frightened pale.

"You, you're from the Blue Army?!"

"Correct."

"You actually used mud to block heat diffusion and evade my thermal tracking?"

Lu Yang grinned like a lump of stinky mud, revealing a corner of his inner lining: "Not only is it mud, the inner lining of this combat uniform is made of foil material, which itself can retain some heat without letting it spread."

He said this while smirking, walking toward Director Xiao Tang.

Director Xiao Tang panicked, pushed open the door, and ran around the car, circling him, playing at circling the pillar like the Qin King.

She shouted a warning, her voice trembling: "Don't come over, don't come over—if you come any closer I'll call for help!"

Lu Yang gave a hehehe evil laugh: "Go ahead and shout, even if you shout your throat raw, it won't help!"