Ace Special Forces in Movies and TV Shows

Chapter 0121: Old A: Cut Them Down

After the training ended, the two areas were once again clearly separated.

A group of Old A members—at this time, Wu Zhe and his group did not consider themselves Old A members, even though they were wearing Old A uniforms and Old A epaulets.

So the term "Old A" specifically refers to those elderly people who are disliked by them.

The group of old A soldiers huddled together, whispering amongst themselves. Although they kept their voices down, Tuo Yonggang managed to overhear them. He excitedly shared what he had heard with his comrades—the comrades being the eleven men from the same cohort, and definitely excluding the old A soldiers.

"We're going on a mission next week; it's an exercise with friendly forces."

This was the information that Tuo Yonggang had overheard. After he finished speaking, everyone became excited.

They had been waiting for this opportunity to prove themselves in the exercise, to be on equal footing with the elite A-team members, and to let those A-team members know that there wasn't much difference between them and the elite A-team members, and that they shouldn't try to bully the elite A-team members!

"Brothers, let's work hard and show those guys what we're made of!" Tuo Yonggang encouraged everyone, and Zheng Yingqi echoed their agreement.

That evening, Liu Jiadong took the initiative to say to Zheng Yingqi, "Get me a kettle of water, and I'll give you some inside information."

"It's full of water."

"Then go and clean the house." Liu Jiadong thought of another way to make the deal.

Zheng Yingqi replied, "I just scanned it."

Liu Jiadong was speechless for a long time before saying, "You have to do something so I can tell you the inside story."

"Brother Liu, please say 'lalala'." Zheng Yingqi said gently, then drew out the sound, startling Liu Jiadong, who quickly replied, "Starting next week, there will be three consecutive exercises, the last one being against your old unit."

"Looks like it's time for Old A to cough up blood." Zheng Yingqi was somewhat pleased, but Liu Jiadong chuckled, "Back when 702 was an armored regiment, we beat them so badly they were forced to use their command post as bait. Now that they're a mechanized infantry regiment, do you think they can still make us cough up blood?"

Zheng Yingqi scoffed at Liu Jiadong's confidence. After the Seventh Steel Company disbanded, most of its core members were absorbed into the regiment. He believed that the old Seventh Company's men would lead a group of people, just as the regimental commander expected.

"I really don't know where you get your weird confidence from—we'll see how long the current 702 can hold out against our A-team!" Liu Jiadong couldn't stand Zheng Yingqi's unlimited trust in the old unit. He didn't mind such trust, but when the opponent of the trust became the old A, Liu Jiadong was not satisfied.

Because Liu Jiadong had complete trust in Lao A himself!

……

As Zheng Yingqi and his team had been anticipating, the first exercise began. Their opponent was an airborne regiment. In Tuo Yonggang's words, this regiment was the most elite unit in the airborne forces, second only to his old unit. From the contradictory introduction, everyone could tell that Tuo Yonggang valued their opponent highly.

The confrontation lasted for five days. The battlefield was unfamiliar to both sides, and the terrain was very fair. However, the opponent that Tuo Yonggang valued so much, the opponent that he believed would suffer an exaggerated casualty ratio even if the Old A team managed to take it down, lost after only five days. This was because their command post was discovered by a small team of seven men. In a near-textbook decapitation strike, this unit with a long history and glorious tradition suffered a crushing defeat.

During the post-exercise debriefing, the newcomers were excluded. Inside the room, the debriefing was in full swing, while outside, the 11 newcomers remained silent.

After a long silence, Xu Sanduo finally broke it:

"They...are very capable."

The "they" that Xu Sanduo was referring to were the "Old A" members inside the room. In this exercise, the new recruits were divided into four groups, each led by an action team from the "Old A". The new recruits originally thought that their hard work over such a long period of time should have infinitely narrowed the gap between them and the "Old A".

But the reality was harsh. In the exercise, the veterans of the Old A unit still "killed" the most enemies, while the new recruits were seen as a burden. This feeling was a huge blow to the new recruits.

Tuo Yonggang was the most silent. Although he wouldn't admit it, he knew in his heart that there was a considerable gap between his old unit and the other side in the exercise. But he never expected that such a strong army would be beheaded and suffer a complete defeat in the exercise in just five days. What disappointed him even more was that he, who was determined to prove that he was no weaker than the old A, actually became part of the casualty count not long after the start of the war.

"The second exercise is in five days. This time, our opponent is an armored regiment, a truly second-rate unit. If you can't beat them to a pulp this time, you can go back to feeding pigs!" Qi Huan put on a show in front of the new recruits, as if trying to provoke them. Perhaps the words "armored regiment" stung Xu Sanduo's nerves. This honest guy, who shared a dormitory with Qi Huan and was usually bullied by Qi Huan, spoke up against Qi Huan for the first time in front of a crowd.

"Report! They are our comrades too! Why are you treating them like this?"

"Comrades-in-arms? Ha! Let me tell you straight, the worse we cut them, the more funding we'll have—they're second-rate trash, do they even deserve to be our comrades-in-arms?" Qi Huan continued playing the villain, retorting, "Do you know what 'Old A' means? ABCDEFG, A is the boss! They're just like you, A? Pshaw, barely a C! You think a C can be comrades-in-arms with an A?"

His words were full of contempt for his allies and disdain for these newcomers.

No one refuted it anymore, not because they couldn't refute it, but because they were too disgusted to refute it.

Zheng Yingqi sighed silently. Yuan Lang's efforts to see the first reaction to facing life and death were commendable, but this method was truly heartbreaking and despairing.

No one would believe that Qi Huan is putting on an act.

This is Yuan Lang's goal: on the "real" battlefield, after a group of guys who abandoned them and spoke ill of them died, could they still uphold the true spirit of warriors?

Zheng Yingqi sometimes admired Yuan Lang's interrogation of people's hearts, which was so cold and so piercing.

After Qi Huan left, Wu Zhe remained silent for a long time before saying: "This is a quagmire, and I don't want to sink into it."

Tuo Yonggang said: This is a disgusting place that makes you want to vomit. Everyone here smells terrible. I don't want to become like them.

Xu Sanduo didn't say anything, but became even more silent.

Zheng Yingqi looked at each of his comrades, seeing that they had completely given up on the Old A, and his feelings were complicated.

I wonder how many satisfied reactions Yuan Lang will see when that day comes!

……

The second exercise arrived as scheduled. This time, the armored regiment, which had been "strengthened," did not have elite infantry like the Steel Seventh Company and could not hold back the strength of even one company of the Old A. With a firm belief in victory, they experienced a despair on the battlefield that was even more severe than that of the 702nd Company.

We are turning our attention to smaller-scale confrontations.

Zheng Yingqi, Tuo Yonggang, and Lian Hu followed an old A team and during an afternoon of "hunting," at least one platoon became their "souls."

Now, they have been called over by their allies to deal with a tough force.

Three groups gathered, and Qi Huan became the commander of the three groups. He quickly described the current enemy situation: "The enemy is an armored company, but their armored vehicles have retreated behind the woods due to the terrain, serving as fixed artillery positions."

Qi Huan's words gave Zheng Yingqi a feeling of time flowing backwards—a year ago, the Steel Seventh Company fought against the Old A under such circumstances.

"After dark, I plan to launch a surprise attack," Qi Huan explained his plan. "Only one team will be sent to raid. If successful, the other two teams will seize the opportunity to attack and expand the gains, aiming to cripple the unit. If it fails, the raiding team will lure the target into the ambush area, where we will ambush them!"

"Our group will launch a surprise attack." Liu Jiadong volunteered for the mission. His group consisted of four people, plus Zheng Yingqi's group, making a total of seven. For other units, seven people wouldn't even be enough for a squad, but for Old A, with seven people, they dared to try and take on a company.

"Okay." Qi Huan nodded, but then deliberately added, "Keep an eye on these good-for-nothings, don't let them spoil the whole pot."