RMM – Chapter 33 A Surprise Move

“We’ve got it, Commander!”

The young soldier shouted excitedly, drawing the others in quickly.

“We did it? That fast?” Wang Ze asked in surprise.

“Of course! You think I’m just anyone? Once I’m in, success is guaranteed! The Blue Army probably thinks I got hit with a virus and got blocked. They have no idea I pulled a diversion while sneaking around the back—what kind of command are they even running?” His tone was both proud and slightly disdainful.

“Haha! Well said—classic diversion tactic! Xu Hong, once we get back, you’re definitely getting a major merit citation!” Li Lijian couldn’t hide the joy on his face. This was great—they no longer had to stumble around like headless chickens.

“Yes, sir! Thank you, Commissar!” Xu Hong’s voice was even more excited now.

“Hey, you’re really something, huh? Scoring such a huge accomplishment ahead of the rest of us. Once you get promoted, make sure to look after us, alright?” Wang Ze slung an arm over Xu Hong’s shoulder, teasing him like an old buddy.

“No way, this next part is your time to shine. You’ll get your shot at glory too!” Xu Hong scratched his head sheepishly with a laugh.

“Everyone gets their turn—every contribution counts. When we win big, everyone will be rewarded!”

Li Lijian was clearly in high spirits, his words brimming with undisguised excitement.

Xi Yuechen’s expression also looked much better. After letting them goof around a little, he finally spoke. “Alright, don’t get too cocky. Old Li, notify the other teams—have them continue attacking the Blue Army’s network to cover us. Also, tell the First Battalion Commander to bring his team and meet us. We’re heading to the Blue Army’s command center.”

This was undoubtedly the best news in the two days since their breakout. Everyone was fired up like they’d just taken an adrenaline shot. After being held back for so long, they could finally unleash their strength and show the Blue Army just how powerful the Reinforcement Regiment really was.

By the time the First Battalion Commander arrived with his thirteen men, it was already late in the day. The sunset cast scattered red light through the forest, making everything seem calm and beautiful. Rays of sunlight filtered through the gaps in the trees in an irregular pattern, giving the scene an almost dreamlike quality.

Xi Yuechen didn’t rush them to move. He had everyone sit down, eat what they could, and take a break. Military exercises didn’t come with gourmet meals—only limited rations of compressed food and water. If you didn’t want to eat that or ran out, you had to find your own food—wild plants or small animals. Since fires were forbidden to avoid giving away positions, they had to eat raw. And if they ran out of water, they had to fetch it from rivers. Harsh conditions were just part of being a soldier on a mission.

Now that they had a specific target, their progress sped up significantly. While avoiding the increasingly frequent and intense Blue Army patrols, they “eliminated” a number of enemy soldiers and by the second night, they had reached the outer perimeter of the Blue Army’s command center.

Moving any closer from here would be difficult. With this many people, sneaking in quietly was out of the question, and charging in head-on was pure fantasy. The team found themselves stuck on the outskirts of the Blue Army base—unable to advance, and with no option to retreat.

“Commander, what do we do now? We can’t get inside,” a young soldier behind Xi Yuechen asked quietly.

“Can’t you see the Commander’s still observing? What’s the rush? Move aside, don’t disturb him.”

Wang Ze gently patted the soldier and whispered as he pulled him aside. Didn’t you see the Commander frowning?

Xi Yuechen stared ahead at the tightly guarded traffic of personnel and vehicles, then turned to closely observe the surrounding environment, mentally calculating ways to slip in. Right now, the Blue Army doesn’t know we’ve pinpointed the exact location of their command center. And even with that, they’re already guarding this heavily. Once they catch on, it won’t just be defense—they’ll launch a full-scale sweep. Where will we hide then?

As he was deep in thought, a few military trucks approached from a distance, heading straight for the Blue Army’s command center. Xi Yuechen’s eyes lit up—an idea suddenly struck.

“Move! Over to those trucks, quickly—follow me!” he called out, then sprinted toward the trucks at high speed.

The others reacted instantly. As soon as the order came, they shifted into gear and followed their Commander.

Whatever was loaded in those trucks was wrapped tightly in heavy canvas, leaving no gaps. Trying to sneak in via the trucks wouldn’t be easy.

Because the area ahead was heavily guarded, inspection was strict, and the trucks noticeably slowed down as they approached the checkpoint, crawling forward.

After running over, Xi Yuechen’s team crouched low in the grass by the roadside, hidden by the night and out of the reach of nearby lights. Their silhouettes blended into the darkness. The soldiers in the trucks clearly weren’t expecting any surprises and didn’t bother checking their surroundings too closely, focused instead on the inspection queue—giving Xi Yuechen and his team the perfect opportunity.

Xi Yuechen motioned for the First Battalion Commander to come over and whispered something in his ear. The Battalion Commander’s eyes lit up instantly. He nodded sharply, then returned to his unit and whispered instructions to the soldiers around him.

The First Battalion Commander quietly took one soldier with him and slipped over to the last military truck in the line. They stealthily placed a few sharp objects under the front and rear wheels, then calmly returned to their original position and lay low again.

Meanwhile, Xi Yuechen grabbed a few similarly sharp items, squinted to aim, and flicked his wrist. With precise accuracy, he threw them under the wheels of the second-to-last truck. Just as he finished, the trucks slowly started moving again—and sure enough, the last two trucks came to a halt almost immediately.

Xi Yuechen and the First Battalion Commander exchanged a look, then quietly waited for what would happen next.

As soon as the trucks stopped, people from both vehicles hopped down and muttered their way to the wheels, squatting to inspect what was wrong. Before they could fully crouch down, someone appeared behind them—seemingly out of nowhere—and knocked them out cold. The same happened to the people who got off the other truck; no surprises there. They were all lying unconscious on the ground.

After a short wait with no one returning, the people still in the trucks sensed something was off and also got down to check. Each truck had three personnel, and with one already on the ground, the remaining two jumped out from both sides. But the moment they landed, they were ambushed and knocked out by soldiers already lying in wait beside the doors—so fast they didn’t even have time to react.

The whole process took only a few minutes. Xi Yuechen, the Battalion Commander, and four others quickly changed into the Blue Army uniforms of the unconscious men. Then they motioned for the rest of the team to drag those knocked-out soldiers into the nearby bushes and add a bit of extra “sleep aid”—just in case any of them woke up at a critical moment.

It had to be said—Xi Yuechen’s team seemed to have everything in their packs. Whatever they needed, they had it, like they were prepared for any contingency.

The two trucks remained motionless, which naturally attracted attention from the people up ahead. Just as they finished hiding the Blue Army soldiers, a patrol team came walking over.

“What’s going on here? Why’ve you stopped?” the officer in the lead asked.

“Reporting, sir! One of the tires blew out. We’re in the middle of changing it now.” The Battalion Commander stood up from the wheel area and reported promptly.

The patrol didn’t suspect anything, glanced at the tire, and simply said, “Hurry up and get it fixed. Security’s tight lately.” With that, they moved along to patrol elsewhere.

There was zero suspicion over the unexpected incident. One reason was the lack of familiarity between different military units, and the other was that the Blue Army had no idea Xi Yuechen’s unit had already reached their doorstep. But ultimately, it all came down to their poor vigilance. If they lost, they had no one to blame but themselves.

Once the patrol disappeared into the distance, out of sight, Xi Yuechen waved toward the grass where the rest of their group was hiding, signaling them to get on the trucks.

Upon seeing the commander’s gesture, the entire team crept silently to the trucks. They swiftly loosened the tightly tied canvas at the back, creating just enough of a gap for one person to crawl through at a time. One after another, they quickly climbed inside.

By the time Xi Yuechen and the others had finished changing the tires, Xu Hong and the rest were already inside the trucks. Xi Yuechen moved to the back, fixed the slightly lifted canvas, retied the ropes tightly, and finally climbed into the driver’s seat.

Now the last two trucks resumed movement, one behind the other. When they reached the entrance, they were let through without much scrutiny.

Following the trucks ahead of them, they eventually reached a dimly lit area. At that moment, the two rear trucks suddenly turned off the main road and quietly slipped away without anyone noticing. Within moments, they had vanished from sight.