After Qian Peng, the company commander of the 1st Company of the 3rd Battalion of the 2nd Regiment, played by Chen Yu, reached a cooperation agreement with Wu Qingshan, the company commander of the 1st Company of the 2nd Battalion of the 3rd Regiment, the two sides immediately began to explore the hot spring.

With the joint efforts of more than 400 people from both sides, a snow pit more than 40 meters deep was dug out in just 2 hours. They were very lucky, as the entrance to the hot spring cave was right below them.

With trepidation, the geothermal energy experts brought by Wu Qingshan quickly began the exploration and evaluation of the hot spring.

The geothermal energy expert's surname was Li, and his given name was Li Hongwen. He was a middle-aged man wearing glasses, a tattered cotton-padded coat, and a woolen melon-shaped hat. His face was red from the cold. He didn't even have a decent scarf, let alone a face mask, which showed that he hadn't been doing very well at the Fire Seed Base before.

Therefore, he cherished this opportunity to explore the hot springs and hoped to change his fate through this mission.

After all, if there really is a large geothermal resource here, it still needs to be developed, right?

Then he could get a good job with his professional skills, and might even gain the favor of the higher-ups at the Fire Seed Base, thus escaping the life of a beast of burden where he was always hungry, cold, and had to work hard.

Li Hongwen carefully operated the detection instrument in his hand; the faint light emitted by the instrument stood out brightly in the dim cave. As the data was continuously collected and analyzed, a look of surprise gradually appeared on his face.

"Company Commander Wu, preliminary survey results show that the hot spring water here is plentiful and the temperature is stable, and the underground heat source is likely to be deeper and wider than we expected!" Li Hongwen's voice was filled with barely concealed excitement.

Upon hearing this, Wu Qingshan's lips curled into a smile. He patted Li Hongwen on the shoulder in encouragement: "Well done, Lao Li! Your professional knowledge is crucial to us. This time, our Third Regiment has made a great contribution!"

Having experienced these things in his previous life, Chen Yu already knew them. Although he remained calm, he was still unusually excited.

At the same time, he said to Wu Qingshan with some displeasure, "Wu Lian, what do you mean by saying that your Third Regiment has made a great contribution? Without the help of our Second Regiment, would you have been able to find this place? This is the result of the joint efforts of both of our regiments!"

Wu Qingshan was taken aback, then realized that what he had just said was indeed inappropriate, and quickly smiled apologetically, "Yes, yes, Company Commander Chen is right. This is the result of the joint efforts of our two regiments, and neither can be missing. Haha, look at my mouth, I just say things when I'm happy."

Seeing this, Chen Yu stopped pursuing the matter and said seriously, "Alright, now is not the time to dwell on these things. Let's get back and report as soon as possible!"

At this point, Chen Yu turned to Li Hongwen with a serious expression and said, "Expert, you must take responsibility for what you just said. If it turns out that the geothermal resources are not what they seem, and you are lying about military intelligence, you will be subject to military law."

Upon hearing this, Li Hongwen's expression hardened, and he quickly assured him, "Qian Lian, don't worry. Although I, Li Hongwen, am not good at physical labor, I have full confidence in my professional abilities. I personally collected and analyzed all the data from this exploration, and there is absolutely no falsification in it. I am willing to take full responsibility for my report."

Seeing Li Hongwen's resolute attitude, Chen Yu nodded and said, "Alright, then we'll trust you this once. However, to ensure everything goes smoothly, we still need to conduct another detailed survey and assessment before reporting to the base's higher-ups."

Wu Qingshan agreed, saying, "Yes, we must ensure the reliability and development value of this geothermal resource in order to report back to the base's higher-ups."

Therefore, they decided to reorganize their workforce to conduct a more in-depth exploration and assessment of the hot springs. Li Hongwen continued to be responsible for operating the detection instruments and collecting and analyzing data.

Over the next few days, they continued to delve deeper into the hot spring caves to conduct a comprehensive exploration and assessment of the geothermal resources. Li Hongwen, with his professional skills and responsible attitude, successfully collected a large amount of accurate data, providing strong support for subsequent development.

After multiple explorations and assessments, they finally confirmed the reliability and development value of this geothermal resource.

Both sides immediately reported the situation to their respective leaders, who, of course, knew the importance of the hot spring to the Fire Seed Base, and thus vied to claim credit from their superiors.

The two sides argued fiercely over this. The commander of the Second Regiment insisted that he had sent people to capture Wenshui Village and should take the credit. The commander of the Third Regiment, on the other hand, believed that if it weren't for the accurate detection and confirmation of the geothermal resources by Li Hongwen, the geothermal energy expert he had dispatched, this discovery might not have been able to be transformed into practical value so quickly. The two commanders held firm to their positions and could not reach an agreement, and the atmosphere became tense.

As a result, no one cared about the process of taking Wenshui Village.

The villagers of Wenshui Village retaliated by setting fire to the village in an attempt to perish together with the villagers. No one investigated how many people died in Qian Peng's company. Instead, it became a bargaining chip for Wang Zhihui, the commander of the Second Regiment, to claim credit.

After all, they made such a great sacrifice. How could the Third Regiment possibly expect to reap the rewards right away?

However, just as the two sides were arguing fiercely, Zhou Bo, the regimental commander, stepped in to smooth things over.

He analyzed the matter from a fair and impartial perspective. According to him, since the information about Wenshui Village was relayed back by Li Liguo from the transport team, the credit should naturally go to Li Liguo.

After all, Li Liguo did not belong to any regiment of their Fire Seed Battle Group. The reason why the Second Regiment was able to get the intelligence first was just because they happened to be there. If Li Liguo had met the First Regiment when he returned to the base to report the situation that day, would the credit have belonged to the First Regiment?

They've all returned to base, so this intelligence must belong to the base. It's unreasonable for Wang Zhihui from the Second Regiment to intercept it.

As for the Third Regiment, since the hot springs in Wenshui Village have already been seized, the base will definitely send people to explore if it wants to develop them. The experts are already at the base, so why would you, Zhao Xiaojun, need to send them over? These experts aren't even from your Third Regiment!

Therefore, the real credit belongs neither to the Second Regiment nor the Third Regiment, but to Li Liguo, who provided the intelligence, and the wise leadership of the base's high command.

Upon hearing Zhou Bo's explanation, the commanders of the Fourth and Fifth Regiments nodded in agreement. After all, they hadn't gained anything, so why should Wang Zhihui and Zhao Xiaojun take credit?

They were happy to see their efforts come to nothing.

The general of the Fire Seed Legion also agreed with Zhou Bo's statement and expressed his intention to greatly reward Li Liguo for making the greatest contribution.

This also received the support of Li Yi, the leader of the base and commander of the Fireseed Legion.

With the base leader having already made his stance clear, what could Wang Zhihui of the Second Regiment and Zhao Xiaojun of the Third Regiment possibly say? Naturally, they could only accept the fact that their efforts had all come to naught.