Ace Special Forces in Movies and TV Shows

Chapter 0097: Zheng Yingqi's Persistence

Cheng Cai said that the fifth class's wake-up time was based on their stomachs; they would get up whenever they were hungry. However, Wu Liuyi and Zheng Yingqi still decided to leave at three o'clock. Before leaving, they tidied up the place where they had rested, even putting the steamed buns back in their original places, and the kitchen was restored to its original state.

Unbeknownst to them, shortly after they left, their "friendly forces" from Class 5's dormitory sneaked into the kitchen, carefully examined the steamed buns, and after finding the spit-out portion in the stove, revealed a knowing smile.

Four villagers from the same village were walking up a hillside in the newly risen sunlight, picking edible plants as they went, including wild vegetables and fruits.

Several hours of marching had greatly depleted their physical strength, and they needed to eat something to maintain a certain level of combat effectiveness for the rest of the journey—after all, as they got closer to their target, they could encounter the division's reconnaissance battalion and the elite A unit at any time.

Cheng Cai, who had led the way, reached the top of the mountain. Just as he was about to take a breath, he saw the scene in the distance and immediately collapsed to the ground. The three people behind him, seeing this, thought something had happened and quickly lay down and rolled over, ready for battle.

Cheng Cai was laughing silently at this moment, and then, afraid of making a sound, he tightly stuffed his mouth shut. Xu Sanduo and Wu Liuyi were puzzled, but Zheng Yingqi understood that they must have arrived at their destination.

Sure enough, Cheng Cai sneaked back with a smile and said to Xu Sanduo, "Xu Sanduo, you really hit the jackpot... no, all four of us hit the jackpot!"

Upon hearing this, Xu Sanduo and Wu Liuyi immediately understood and followed Zheng Yingqi to the top of the mountain. The three of them crouched down to take advantage of the cover of the mountaintop and began to observe.

"To the southeast, next to a small hill, there's a small pond. After crossing the hill, there's an oak forest. There's a car waiting for us next to the oak forest—there are four spots in total, one of which is reserved!" Cheng Cai muttered to himself, his expression suddenly turning strange.

Excluding pre-selected candidates, there should be three positions, but here there are four people!

Four people!

The other three keenly sensed Cheng Cai's dazed state and turned around to see him staring blankly at them.

Zheng Yingqi immediately understood Cheng Cai's reaction, and Wu Liuyi followed suit. Only Xu Sanduo remained clueless, asking, "Cheng Cai, what's wrong?"

Cheng Cai remained silent; at that moment, he was suddenly afraid.

He was different from the other three. He was a "traitor" of the Steel Seventh Company. He joined because of Xu Sanduo's invitation. If three people had to be chosen from the four, Cheng Cai knew without a doubt that he was the one who would be excluded.

Zheng Yingqi understood Cheng Cai's concerns and despair, and he suddenly said, "Xu Sanduo, tell me, what is the motto of the Steel Seventh Company?"

"Never abandon, never give up!" Xu Sanduo answered without hesitation.

Wu Liuyi looked at Zheng Yingqi. The current Zheng Yingqi was no longer the same person he could see through at a glance back in recruit training. But Wu Liuyi was certain of one thing: Zheng Yingqi would not say, "Chengcai, let's break up."

Even if Cheng Cai is a traitor to the Steel Seventh Company.

"Did you hear that?" Zheng Yingqi's performance did not disappoint Wu Liuyi. Cheng Cai nodded, indicating that he had heard it, but he still firmly believed in his heart that he was the one who was excluded.

"So, don't worry about these useless things—the four of us will go in together, and let Old A decide who goes and who stays," Zheng Yingqi said.

Cheng Cai breathed a sigh of relief; this was better than being excluded.

"Besides, the problem is still right here. Take a look at the situation yourself." Zheng Yingqi gestured for Cheng Cai, who had been feeling anxious, to look at the situation they were facing.

Cheng Cai stepped forward with his Type 85 sniper rifle, peering through the scope. To prove his worth, he reported as he looked:

"Thirty-five men in total... five veterans... one using a Type 95 sniper rifle (Type 88 sniper rifle)... four machine gun posts... two thermal imaging posts... no vehicles... command post nowhere to be found..."

"No, that's definitely not right. Their position is a trap. The center is a low-lying area, so you can't see the command post without infiltrating. Thirty-five men, that's a platoon. Their heavy firepower is definitely more than what's on the surface!" Cheng Cai stated his discovery with certainty.

Zheng Yingqi picked up the thread: "This is a trap—our ultimate mission is to penetrate deep into enemy territory to complete the mapping work. This is something we have to hand over to Old A. Knowing Old A's character, it's no wonder they'll dig a pit for us. If we don't draw the map carefully, even if we get in, we'll be kicked out. The mapping work is definitely not that simple!"

"Do we have to sneak in?" Xu Sanduo asked hesitantly.

Wu Liuyi said decisively, "Then let's infiltrate!"

Cheng Cai took a deep breath: "You come and see how we're going to infiltrate? Unless we dig a tunnel."

Digging tunnels is obviously a joke.

Cheng Cai took Zheng Yingqi's weapon and observed through the scope. The more he looked, the more he frowned. The position was facing away from Haipaozi, which naturally made it easier to concentrate firepower and vision on the front. How could he infiltrate under such circumstances?

"A direct assault?"

Zheng Yingqi shook his head and said, "A frontal assault would require at least a company-level force—in other words, all our personnel for the assessment would need to be present before we can even consider a frontal assault. But with our light weapons configuration, a frontal assault would be suicide! Don't forget, our colleagues are the ones building the fortifications!"

It's true that scouts know scouts best; the positions set up by the division's reconnaissance battalion were entirely designed from the perspective of defending against scouts.

Xu Sanduo took the gun from Cheng Cai, observed it for a while, and then asked, "How about swimming across through the puddle?"

Wu Liuyi said with a wry smile, "At noon this time of year, the temperature in the sea is around zero degrees Celsius! It's only dawn now, and we've been hungry for so long; going into the water would be too dangerous!"

"You'll die in the water!" Cheng Cai added in a low voice.

But Xu Sanduo insisted, "Then I'll give it a try. Once we fill in the gaps, we can reach the finish line!" He looked at Zheng Yingqi as if he needed affirmation, hoping that Zheng Yingqi would give him a positive answer.

Wu Liuyi quickly said, "You can't handle this by yourself, I'll go! I'll go too! Cheng Cai, you and Zheng Yingqi cover me here."

Cheng Cai panicked and said, "I'll infiltrate too! Zheng Yingqi is better than me; he can do it alone!"

He was afraid of being left behind and not getting one of the last three spots.

The three looked at Zheng Yingqi, who was the one in question.

"I want to wait," Zheng Yingqi said, surprising them.

"Wait? Why?" Cheng Cai looked at Zheng Yingqi in surprise.

Zheng Yingqi shook his head and said, "When we were separated by the division's reconnaissance battalion, my comrades told me to wait for them here, and that they would rush into the Old A unit with me."

"Are you out of your mind?" Cheng Cai exclaimed, both shocked and furious. "Zheng Yingqi, there were only three spots to begin with! Instead of seizing the opportunity while others were still waiting, you're actually waiting for them? This is an opportunity!"

This is an opportunity!

These are Cheng Cai's true feelings. If he doesn't seize this opportunity, others will at most return to their original unit, but where will he return to?

It was the fifth squad that was abandoned on the grassland.

He would never want to go back to that place again!

"My comrades called out to me, telling me to wait for them. I didn't want them to come over and see their trusted comrades already victorious at the finish line, looking down on their defeat!" Zheng Yingqi looked at Cheng Cai expressionlessly. This was his own insistence, a persistence he learned from the Steel Seventh Company and dared not forget!

"And you two?" Cheng Cai turned to look at Wu Liuyi and Xu Sanduo.

Wu Liuyi and Xu Sanduo looked at each other, both seeing hesitation and uncertainty in each other's eyes.

Finally, Xu Sanduo spoke first: "I...I'll listen to Yingqi."

Many people come here to join the Old A unit, but not Xu Sanduo—he wants to fight alongside his comrades in the Seventh Company once again.

"Squad Leader Wu, what about you?" Cheng Cai was not surprised by Xu Sanduo's answer. He understood Xu Sanduo's trust and support for Zheng Yingqi. Therefore, he pinned his hopes on Wu Liuyi, hoping that Wu Liuyi could reach an agreement with him.

Wu Liuyi gave a wry smile: "Me? I'll go with him."

The "he" Wu Liu mentioned was undoubtedly Zheng Yingqi.

Cheng Cai gave a pale smile; at this crucial moment, he was all alone again.

"I knew I was an outsider... Fine, since you've made this choice, then I'll go by myself, I'll go by myself!" Cheng Cai was stubborn. When it came to choosing three out of four, he knew he would be the one chosen to leave. If there were more people, would he have a chance?

It's better to take a chance yourself!

Xu Sanduo stared blankly at the fragmented scene of the team. Just as Cheng Cai was about to turn and leave, Xu Sanduo stepped forward and handed him the map he had drawn. Cheng Cai hesitated for a moment before taking it. Facing Xu Sanduo, he sighed with melancholy.

When he first boarded the train, he had Xu Sanduo by his side, but now, several years later, he has no one by his side.

Just after Cheng Cai had taken a few steps, Zheng Yingqi said, "I'll go with you."

Cheng Cai was delighted: "You've changed your mind?"

"Do you think you can get across the sea every time?" Zheng Yingqi rolled his eyes. "After you go, the reconnaissance battalion will definitely be on high alert here. Then you'll have to brave a hail of bullets to swim across again. Let's go together. I'll lie in wait behind you. You go and draw the map. When you're done, just sneak away and hand over your mission."

Xu Sanduo quickly said, "Yingqi, I'll go!"

"Are you sure you, a scout who came in third in the competition, want to compete with me, who came in second?" Zheng Yingqi retorted, and Xu Sanduo shut up with a wry smile.

He tossed the Type 85 sniper rifle to Xu Sanduo in exchange for the Type 81 rifle in Xu Sanduo's hands, and instructed him: "Wait until 2 o'clock. If they don't come before 2 o'clock, I will infiltrate to scout. You guys are responsible for covering. If they come, after you're ready, launch a feint attack from the front to draw their firepower—I will take the opportunity to infiltrate and complete the drawing work."

Both involve infiltration, but the latter is clearly easier than the former. After 2 PM, infiltrating the position guarded by the reconnaissance battalion is at a "fuck you" level of difficulty. However, if someone launches a feint attack and you take the opportunity to infiltrate, the difficulty drops to the level of "damn, the difficulty of the instance has increased again."

In any case, it's much more difficult than sneaking in and conducting reconnaissance in the dark now.

Zheng Yingqi could also complete the reconnaissance with Cheng Cai, and then wait for the others with the prepared map, but this would still be cheating, and neither Wu Liuyi nor Xu Sanduo would accept such behavior.

"I really don't understand why you guys are so stupid?" Cheng Cai said angrily.

Wu Liuyi remained silent. What he cared about was something that someone like Cheng Cai wouldn't understand.

"Stop talking nonsense, Sanduo, copy the map for me," Zheng Yingqi took out his treasured rations, tore them open, and said, "We'll split them equally, let them be drooling."

Cheng Cai shook his head: "I've already eaten mine, you can have yours."

His only pride wouldn't allow him to do it—even though he was starving.

Zheng Yingqi smiled and pulled a handful of wild vegetables from his pocket: "How about we eat these?"

Cheng Cai silently accepted the wild vegetables that Zheng Yingqi offered and slowly began to nibble on them.

Zheng Yingqi finished his breakfast-style rations with wild vegetables, then took the waterproof and sealed map from Xu Sanduo. Xu Sanduo looked at his two fellow villagers for a long time before saying, "Be careful."

"Thank you for your kind words... It'll definitely be fine." Zheng Yingqi said easily, "I forgot to tell you, during my time in the guard company, I intensified my armed swimming training, and the results were pretty good."

(A genuine 6000-word answer is provided, instantly boosting credibility. Group number: 626685740, answer to the question: 666.)

Author's note: I told you not to post "666"! I told you not to post it!