Chapter 12: As If Beyond Rehearsal

Chapter 12: As Though Outside the Exercise

The convoy entered the mountains, and the long column soon split up, each group proceeding toward its own destination.

The mess squad traveled with the Communications Company.

During this exercise, the Dagong Regiment was considered one of the most important infantry regiments, and its position was also regarded as part of the exercise’s forward area.

Stationed on the front line of operations, they would be the first to bear the brunt of any attack once fighting began. The entire regiment had prepared for combat along the way. Even before making camp, they were already under a state of combat readiness and alert.

The Communications Company was not a combat unit, but its importance was self-evident. Although the companies were stationed separately and concealed from one another, a whole company had been assigned solely to protect them. Even the regimental headquarters had never received such treatment.

Their base was in a valley surrounded on both sides by dense woodland. The trees concealed them completely and could even obstruct satellite reconnaissance. It was indeed an excellent place to hide.

The only drawback was that the trees blocked the light, making the valley even darker. Since they were relatively close to the Blue Force’s position, they did not dare turn on any lights.

They could only organize their equipment by the dim moonlight.

The mess squad where Xu Qiao was stationed was not far from the Third Squad. She could even see them sorting out the wiring on the communications vehicles.

She turned back instinctively and saw that they had brought quite an impressive amount of equipment—not only the new communications vehicles and transmitters, but even old-fashioned radio transmitters.

Yet during the previous night, half their time had been spent marching and the other half preparing breakfast and a late-night meal. They had not had a chance to rest at all.

“Our regiment is equipped with a Communications Company,” Squad Leader Wu said. “That means we’ve been assigned a very heavy communications responsibility. You could say that this area of the exercise is now using us as its communications hub.”

Xu Qiao sat down casually, watching the faint glow inside the communications vehicles and the busy figures moving in and out.

“You don’t need to be too nervous,” Squad Leader Wu continued. “But you can’t become careless simply because you’re in the mess squad.”

He could tell that she was dispirited, but he understood. Everyone had arrived full of anticipation and excitement, only to find themselves still guarding the cooking pots. It was perfectly normal that they could not accept it right away.

She could not yet take charge of the cooking, but there was no problem with having her help with the other work.

“Regret what?” Xu Qiao asked with an exasperated smile. “Even if I went back to the Communications Company, what could I do with my abilities?”

Squad Leader Wu did not answer immediately. Instead, he continued, “There are two reasons our regiment was stationed here this time. One is to test the regiment’s combat capability.”

“I really don’t know whether you’re lucky or unlucky,” Bei Chuanchuan said with a rueful sigh. “You could say you’re unlucky, but you encountered such a large-scale exercise in your very first year as a soldier. Not everyone gets an opportunity like this.”

They had marched for half the night. As soon as they reached their destination, they hurriedly established the camp and immediately threw themselves into work.

In truth, there was no tent for Xu Qiao at the camp. The exercise would not last long, and she was the only woman in the mess squad. They had neither the time nor the energy to set up a separate tent for her.

So although she had already woken, she did not move. She continued lying in the woods, enjoying the quiet while everyone else was so busy they did not even have time to sit down and rest.

Xu Qiao knew that Squad Leader Wu would not say such things without reason. She looked at him, thought for a moment, and suddenly understood.

“You mean… we’re in danger this time?”

At that very moment, with chaos already breaking out in the Red Force’s rear, Xu Qiao was still sleeping soundly in the woods.

She had thought that even in a major exercise, being assigned to the Communications Company would not give her much chance to participate. She had not expected them to be placed in such an important position.

She smiled and said that she would be careful. But at that moment, she was not worried so much as amazed by how strange the situation was.

In the end, Squad Leader Wu still could not put his mind at ease about her.

Xu Qiao finally woke from her deep sleep.

Once everyone became busy, no one had the time to concern themselves with what the other squads were doing. They could focus only on the tasks before them. When they were busy, they truly had no room in their minds for anything else.

“But you could also say you’re lucky,” Bei Chuanchuan told her. “You just happened to arrive at a time like this. Given your current condition, even if you had another month, I believe you could return to the Communications Company without any trouble.”

Cooking in the field was completely different from preparing food at home. As one part of modern warfare, the field kitchen was almost automated and could provide meals for a large number of people in a short time.

Xu Qiao, enjoying her rare leisure, had no idea that the Communications Company was already in turmoil. The exercise had only just begun, yet multiple locations had already come under attack, and one grim report after another was pouring in.

Because she was in the mess squad, Xu Qiao knew nothing about the progress or scale of the exercise, or even what was happening outside.

Bei Chuanchuan looked at her in astonishment, then laughed. “You actually have ambitions like that?”

A moment later, having suddenly found herself idle, Xu Qiao felt a wave of weariness. Holding the rifle in her arms, she began to feel terribly bored.

She stretched lazily, but did not feel like moving at all.

The entire camp had become caught up in the rush of activity. Everyone performed their own duty, keeping the Communications Company running and relaying incoming reports to the various units on the battlefield.

Bei Chuanchuan had just finished his own work. When he saw her sitting there in a daze, he came over.

“Regretting it?”

Xu Qiao glanced at him with amusement. “You didn’t think someone like me would feel that way?”

“This is the first time our company has taken on such an important role in an exercise,” he said. “In truth, everyone is as inexperienced as you are.”

The mess squad’s work was not complicated, but it was tedious and scattered. By the time they had everything ready, the communications vehicles not far away had already begun operating.

The Communications Company bore responsibility for the communications of the entire regiment and even this whole region. The task was extremely important.

A communications hub had already begun fulfilling its purpose, even though the exercise had only just started.

The field kitchen worked quickly, but the speed meant that many manual tasks had to be performed just as rapidly.

Whether she carried a rifle or not seemed to make no real difference.

The fatigue and exhaustion of the night had vanished, and even her earlier sense of disappointment had disappeared in an instant.

When she saw that Squad Leader Wu did not object, Xu Qiao did not return to the tent.

She had no reason to worry about danger here. She had experience surviving in the wilderness and knew how to avoid simple threats such as wild animals and poisonous insects.

Besides, a combat company was protecting them. There was no need to worry about their safety at all.

“That’s true, but…” Bei Chuanchuan began, then stopped himself halfway through.

He seemed to be about to say something, but in the end he swallowed the words.

Xu Qiao was startled. They had begun preparing breakfast before dawn had even broken?

“The exercise situation can change at any moment, so we have to prepare in advance,” Bei Chuanchuan explained as he rose and went over to help.

“As for whether I can return to the Communications Company, that really isn’t important.” She pointed toward the people working busily ahead of them. “They may feel as though they’re participating, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s what I want. Compared with this, I’d rather carry a weapon and face the enemy in direct combat.”

Squad Leader Wu seemed to understand her confusion. He jumped down from the vehicle and explained, “The exercise plan calls for the Red Force to consist mostly of conventional units, giving them the advantage in numbers.”

As they began establishing their positions, small units started launching attacks in all directions, keeping the Red Force in constant turmoil.

But none of that was the most important thing to Xu Qiao now. Even if the Communications Company had become one of the most significant elements of the exercise, the mess squad was still the mess squad. Wherever they were needed, they were needed to cook.

“Isn’t that why people become soldiers—to go to war?” she asked.

“Of course, but this…” Bei Chuanchuan wanted to say something, yet once again held back.

What he said made Xu Qiao laugh.

“There’s no need to think so much about it. You said it yourself—I’m already lucky enough to have an opportunity like this as a new recruit. What more could I ask for?”

Xu Qiao immediately understood. He was worried that the sudden importance of the Communications Company would make her nervous, or that being assigned to the mess squad would cause her to become overly careless.

After a sleepless night and a busy morning, she was truly exhausted. She avoided the noise and soon fell asleep in the quiet woods.

Meanwhile, the Blue Force had fewer troops, but its reconnaissance companies, special forces, and other elite units were concentrated there.

The entire Communications Company was now online, everyone occupied with their own work. Xu Qiao could not very well run over to their tent at a time like this—and she really did not want to see the contemptuous looks on their faces.

“It’s nothing more than watching the excitement from a different place.”

The exercise had only just begun. The Red Force had intended to establish its positions and confront the Blue Force head-on, but it had not expected the enemy to have no intention of fighting them directly.

Naturally, the machinery was advanced, but it still could not completely replace human labor.

Xu Qiao simply took her sleeping bag and rifle, avoided the crowd, and slipped into the woods.

All of this seemed to have little to do with her, as though it were happening in another world entirely.

Only then did she suddenly realize how pitiful an insignificant person could be in an exercise of this scale.

Thinking about it, Xu Qiao could not help laughing at herself.

She had thought that after coming to this world and becoming a soldier, she would be able to continue pursuing her military dream. She had never expected to end up here as a cook.

At the thought of that, she instantly lost all desire to keep lying down.

She sat up abruptly—and heard a rustling sound coming from somewhere in the forest.

The End