RMM – Chapter 32 A Scheme Within a Scheme

After two full days and three nights, Xi Yuechen finally broke through the Blue Army’s encirclement with eight men at his side.

They passed through dense forest and arrived at the prearranged rendezvous point. None of the reinforcement group had arrived yet, but that was within expectations. Xi Yuechen instructed Li Lijian and the others to sit down and rest while waiting for the other group leaders.

Of course, Xi Yuechen hadn’t summoned everyone to the rendezvous point. Even if many had undoubtedly fallen during the breakout, there would still be several hundred people left. Gathering them all in one place would be courting disaster.

He had absolute confidence in his reinforcement regiment. Not only was their training among the most grueling, but they had also participated in many missions. Though it was impossible to expect every member to escape unscathed from the Blue Army’s encirclement, at least the outcome wouldn’t be too tragic.

By dividing the regiment into dozens of small squads for the breakout, they became harder to detect and more agile. It also served to confuse the Blue Army. Xi Yuechen knew he was a major focus of the Blue Army’s attention—very likely the primary target of their assault. This was evident from the quality and number of Blue Army troops that had encircled his team.

It seemed both the Red and Blue armies regarded his reinforcement regiment as a coveted prize.

Although they had successfully broken through, it didn’t mean they were safe yet. Xi Yuechen casually appointed two people to stand watch with him while the rest rested.

After two shifts on watch, several battalion and company commanders began to arrive. Xi Yuechen observed their physical condition and complexions. His gaze relaxed subtly, and he said calmly, “Rest for now. Once everyone is here, we’ll discuss the next steps.”

Hearing their commander say this, the officers understood he was satisfied with them. Relieved, they said no more, and sat down to rest with their eyes closed.

The past few days had mostly involved long treks, with few direct engagements with the Blue Army, so their physical energy hadn’t been overly depleted. After resting a few hours earlier, Xi Yuechen had regained his strength. Leaning against a large rock, he began thinking things over.

There wasn’t much left to discuss for the upcoming mission—the goal was simple: Take out the Blue Army’s command center. The only thing left was to pinpoint its location.

The remaining squad leaders had been selected from outstanding soldiers in the regiment, or were directly led by squad leaders themselves. Naturally, they couldn’t compare to the battle-hardened company and battalion commanders, so it was expected they’d arrive a bit later. But this was also part of their training. Soldiers in the reinforcement regiment were expected to be the best—no average person could sneak in for glory or merit.

Now with a bit of peace and quiet, Xi Yuechen finally pushed all the tactical planning from his mind. Looking at his subordinates sleeping soundly around him, he let out a soft chuckle and turned his gaze aside.

He wondered what that little woman at home was doing right now. She should be getting up around this time—after cleaning up the house, she’d probably cook a meal. Thinking of this, Xi Yuechen suddenly missed her cooking, and the warmth of having her beside him while sleeping…

He couldn’t help but smile. When had he gotten so used to that little woman? And now he even missed her.

Once all the squad leaders had arrived and everyone had rested properly, Xi Yuechen gathered them to report on their respective teams.

“Commander, I led twenty-three people through the breakout. We were ambushed by the Blue Army three times en route and lost ten men. Thirteen remain,” the nearest battalion commander reported first.

“Mm, not bad,” Xi Yuechen nodded slightly. He couldn’t ask for too much—after all, the Blue Army had sent elite infantry to eliminate them. Their attack strength was formidable.

With the first report earning praise, the rest felt more at ease and quickly gave their own briefings.

After hearing all the reports, Xi Yuechen pondered quietly. Their reinforcement regiment was well-structured: three battalions, each with five hundred men—1,500 in total. After this operation, they had “lost” over 600 men, meaning they now had fewer than 900 combat-ready troops. This number was slightly better than he had anticipated.

Without wasting words, Xi Yuechen began assigning the next mission.

“You’ve all done well, but the breakout was just the first step. What comes next is the real challenge—and the first major hurdle of the mission: we must locate the Blue Army’s command center.”

He paused briefly before continuing, “Not everyone will be tasked with finding the command center. That responsibility falls mainly on my squad. The rest of you will engage the Blue Army in guerrilla tactics to continue confusing their attention. Locating the command center will be your secondary objective. Understood?”

“Yes, sir!” the officers replied in unison, their expressions turning serious.

“Remember to stay in contact. Report any situation immediately. And make sure it looks like you’re doing everything you can to find the Blue Army’s command center—use any means necessary. We need your cover.”

After finalizing the key objectives for each team, Xi Yuechen didn’t let them linger. He ordered everyone to return to their respective camps and begin operations at once.

When he first selected his squad members, Xi Yuechen had deliberately chosen soldiers with diverse strengths. Among them were two particularly outstanding in computer skills. The task of locating the Blue Army’s command center was entrusted to these two. Whether it meant hacking into the Blue Army’s network or intercepting their intel—anything was fair game, as long as they could find the command center.

As they moved deeper into the Blue Army’s territory, they searched for traces of the command post. Their pace was slower than during the breakout. Even though they stuck to remote, scarcely populated routes, they still encountered a few Blue Army patrols along the way. Seeing the Blue Army’s increasingly tight security, Xi Yuechen silently thought, Looks like the Blue Army already knows we broke through, and they’re shifting focus to defense and search efforts.

“Commander! We’ve intercepted a message from the Blue Army!” one of the soldiers in charge of cyber search shouted excitedly.

Everyone turned toward the voice and gathered around the soldier’s computer.

“Access it. Decrypt it,” Xi Yuechen commanded swiftly.

Almost as soon as Xi Yuechen gave the order, the soldier’s fingers were already flying across the keyboard.

It didn’t take long before the encryption was cracked. With that first breakthrough, the rest came easier, and soon enough, they had infiltrated the Blue Army’s network.

“Commander! We’re under multiple unknown hacking attacks!”

In the Blue Army command center, a soldier seated at a computer turned to report.

“What? Block them! It has to be that brat Xi Yuechen!” barked Colonel Luo, the same impatient officer from before, striding over and barking orders.

“They’ve already breached. Two of them can’t be stopped,” the soldier replied, a sheen of sweat forming on his forehead.

“What?! Then what are you even doing? Why are you just now discovering this? One of them must be Xi Yuechen!” Colonel Luo was clearly furious. He’d thought they had the perfect encirclement, yet Xi Yuechen had broken through with significant numbers. And now they were hacking into the network? Of course he was enraged.

“Old Luo, calm down. Let’s see if we can come up with a solution. Tch, that Xi Yuechen really lives up to his reputation,” said Lieutenant General Zhao Shenglan, the Blue Army’s highest-ranking commander, stepping over. “Xiao Qian, see if you can intercept them—or maybe plant a virus or something.”

The soldier named Xiao Qian frowned at the monitor. If they couldn’t intercept them soon, the hackers would penetrate the main system—and once that happened, the location of the command center would be fully exposed.

“I’ll try planting a Trojan,” the soldier said, then began rapidly typing. Each keystroke seemed to weigh heavily on the hearts of Colonel Luo and General Zhao.

“Got it! I’ve blocked them!” the soldier shouted excitedly not long after.

“You blocked them? Did they get access to anything?” Colonel Luo asked urgently.

“No, I managed to plant a Trojan. Looks like their connection wasn’t stable, and before they could breach the main system, the virus infected their network,” the soldier explained with a sigh of relief.

“That’s a relief,” Lieutenant General Zhao Shenglan murmured to himself. That Xi Yuechen really isn’t someone to underestimate. Good thing we stopped them. If they’d actually located the command center and destroyed it, how would I ever live that down?

“Commander! We found it!”

Back on Xi Yuechen’s side, the soldier holding the laptop shouted in excitement.