The father's "punishment"
"assault!"
At Wang Lei's command, more than a dozen Blue Team members leaped out of the jungle like tigers descending the mountain and charged toward the Red Team's command post.
The red team's sentries were completely caught off guard by the enemy's appearance from this direction and were momentarily stunned.
By the time they reacted and raised their guns to fight back, Wang Lei and his team had already rushed up to them.
"Bang bang bang!"
The sound of blank rounds used in the exercise echoed in the quarry, but the Blue Team members' goal was not to engage them in firefight.
Following Lu Chen's plan, they had a clear division of labor. One group was responsible for suppressing fire and attracting the sentries' attention, while the other group headed straight for the flag representing the command post.
Wang Lei took the lead, dodging a barrage of "bullets" with a tactical roll, then quickly got up and charged toward the flagpole.
A member of the red team reacted and tried to stop him, but was held tightly by another member of the blue team who rushed up from the side.
"Brother Lei, hurry!"
Wang Lei didn't look back. He used all his strength to rush to the flagpole, leaped down, grabbed the red flag, and pulled it down hard!
The flag fell to the ground.
The moment the flag hit the ground, the entire quarry fell silent.
Everyone stopped what they were doing.
According to the exercise rules, if the command post flag is captured, it means that the command system of that side has been destroyed, and the exercise ends.
An instructor in charge of supervising the exercise came out of a nearby tent, glanced at the flags on the ground, looked at his watch, and then pressed the timer in his hand.
"Exercise over! Time taken: 1 hour and 23 minutes. Blue Team wins!"
We won!
"We won!"
After a brief silence, the blue team members erupted in thunderous cheers. They hugged each other, jumped and danced, as excited as a group of children.
Wang Lei held up the red flag he had seized, his face flushed with excitement.
They did it!
They actually followed Lu Chen's seemingly crazy plan and won this almost impossible battle!
Meanwhile, Qin Feng, arriving late, had just led his remaining troops back to the command post. This was the scene he witnessed.
He stood there, stunned, watching the cheering Blue Team members and the glaring red flag in Wang Lei's hand. His face turned from green to white, and then from white to ashen.
We lost.
He actually lost.
He lost to the "rabble" he looked down on the most, and he lost to Lu Chen, who was lying in a hospital bed.
...
The atmosphere was equally enthusiastic in the command center's monitoring room.
"Brilliant! That was a brilliant move to cut off the enemy's supply lines!"
"Who would have thought they'd abandon the high ground and rush straight to the command post? These recruits have some ideas!"
"Old Lu, your son is something else! Even while lying in a hospital bed, he can still strategize from afar. That tactical mind of his comes right from you!"
Several instructors surrounded Lu Zhanting, praising him highly.
Lu Zhanting held his teacup, his face still expressionless, but the slight upturn of his lips betrayed his current mood.
He looked at Wang Lei on the screen, being tossed high into the air by his teammates, and then glanced at his son on the ward monitor, who was nervously waiting for news while looking at a sketch.
This kid really gave him a surprise.
but……
Lu Zhanting put down his teacup, his eyes sharpening once more.
You're celebrating too soon.
After the exercise, all the new recruits assembled on the parade ground.
The blue team members stood tall and proud, their faces beaming with the joy of victory. The red team members, on the other hand, were dejected, especially their captain, Qin Feng, who hung his head and clenched his fists tightly.
Lu Zhanting walked to the front of the group, his cold gaze sweeping over each person.
"In today's exercise, the Blue Team won, and the Red Team lost," he announced the result.
A suppressed gasp came from the blue team's side.
"But!" Lu Zhanting's voice suddenly rose, like a thunderclap from a clear sky, "Do you think this is something to be proud of?"
The playground fell silent instantly.
Lu Zhanting walked up to Qin Feng: "Qin Feng!"
"Here!" Qin Feng suddenly looked up.
"You, as the commander of the Red Team, were arrogant and underestimated the enemy, making misjudgments that led to the main force suffering heavy losses in the early stages of the operation, and ultimately the command post being destroyed. Do you accept this?"
Qin Feng's lips moved, but he finally lowered his head: "I admit defeat."
"Very good." Lu Zhanting then turned to the Blue Team, "Blue Team!"
"Here!" Wang Lei and the other team members responded in unison.
"You won, are you happy?"
"Reporting, Instructor! I'm very happy!" Wang Lei replied loudly.
"Happy my ass!" Lu Zhanting suddenly roared, startling everyone. "Where did you win? You won by luck! You won because the enemy was stupid enough!"
He pointed at Wang Lei: "You, as the frontline commander, led your team into the complex terrain of the primeval jungle without guides or maps, and even encountered venomous snakes along the way! If that wasn't an exercise, and if that snake's venom had been stronger, how many of you would still be standing here?"
Wang Lei's face turned pale instantly.
"You entrust your lives to the wishful thinking that 'nothing will happen'! Is this the quality a soldier should have?"
"And you!" Lu Zhanting's gaze suddenly shifted to the outside of the group, towards the infirmary. "Lu Chen!"
In the ward, Lu Chen, who was looking out the window, felt a tightness in his chest.
"Report, here!" He instinctively tried to stand up, but forgot that his leg was still injured, and he hissed in pain.
"As the planner of this operation, in pursuit of the so-called 'surprise attack' effect, you disregarded the safety of your teammates, sending them into dangerous territory at great risk. What do you take war for? A game that can be restarted?"
Lu Zhanting's voice was clearly transmitted into the ward through the loudspeaker.
"If your plan goes wrong even slightly, if Wang Lei and the others fail to get out of the jungle before dark, if they encounter any accident, can you, the 'strategist' lying in a hospital bed, bear that responsibility?"
Lu Chen's lips pressed into a straight line, and he couldn't utter a single word.
He was only thinking about winning and devising a surprise attack, but he ignored the fatal risks in his plan.
His father was right; he had oversimplified the war.
"Lu Chen, step forward!" Lu Zhanting commanded.
"Reporting, Instructor, I..." Lu Chen panicked; he was unable to walk at all.
"I'm telling you to step forward!" Lu Zhanting's voice carried an undeniable authority.
Upon seeing this, Wang Lei quickly ran towards the infirmary.
Soon, Wang Lei helped the limping Lu Chen to the front of the line.
Lu Chen stood on one leg, looking up at his father.
"Reporting, Instructor! Recruit Lu Chen is here to receive his punishment!"
Lu Zhanting looked at him, his eyes icy: "As a tactical planner, you've been all talk and no action, detached from reality, and disregarding the safety of your comrades. Your punishment is to write a 10,000-word self-criticism, deeply reflecting on all the mistakes made in this operation. Furthermore, after you recover, you'll complete a 30-kilometer armed cross-country run. Do you accept this?"
A 10,000-word self-criticism? A 30-kilometer armed cross-country run?
All the new recruits gasped.
This punishment is far too harsh.
This is especially true for a player who has just made a great contribution to the team and is still injured.
Wang Lei couldn't help but speak up: "Reporting, Instructor! I volunteered to lead this operation, so I should take full responsibility! It has nothing to do with Brother Chen!"
“Yes! We are all volunteers!” The other blue team members echoed.
"Shut up!" Lu Zhanting shouted. "Do you even have the right to speak here? Anyone who says another word will be punished!"
Everyone immediately fell silent.
Lu Zhanting's gaze returned to Lu Chen: "I'm asking you, do you submit or not?"
Lu Chen looked into his father's cold eyes, remained silent for a few seconds, then suddenly straightened his back and answered loudly:
"Clothes!"
He knew that his father was punishing him not because he had won, but because he had won by luck and by being reckless.
He won the battle in terms of the result, but lost in terms of the process.
His father was teaching him that on a real battlefield, the process is far more important than the result. Because any mistake in the process could lead to irreversible death.
"Very good." Lu Zhanting nodded. "Wang Lei, help him back."
After saying that, he turned around and announced the disbandment.
As Lu Zhanting walked away, the new recruits began to murmur amongst themselves.
"Isn't Instructor Lu too heartless? How can he be so cruel to his own son?"
"That's right, they clearly won but they still got punished, it's outrageous."
Only Qin Feng stood there, watching Lu Chen being helped away by Wang Lei, his eyes filled with complex emotions.
He suddenly understood.
Lu Zhanting punished Lu Chen precisely because he valued Lu Chen the most.
This seemingly harsh punishment is actually a more sophisticated form of instruction.
He lost to Lu Chen not because of tactics, but because of a lack of strategic vision.
That evening, Lu Zhanqin sat alone in his office, with an exercise report in front of him.
An instructor walked in and placed a cup of tea on his table.
"Old Lu, were you a bit too harsh on your son today? That kid really did a great job today. Your punishment might dampen his enthusiasm."
Lu Zhanting picked up the teacup, blew on it to cool it down, and said nothing.
“I know what you mean. You want to give him a warning and tell him not to get too cocky,” the instructor continued. “But that kid is only fifteen years old, and he needs encouragement right now.”
Lu Zhanting took a sip of tea before slowly speaking: "On the battlefield, the enemy will not show him mercy just because he is fifteen years old."
He put down his teacup and looked out the window at the night scene.
"He was able to succeed by sheer luck today because his opponent was Qin Feng, an equally inexperienced recruit. If it had been a real enemy, his flawed plan would have only led his comrades to their deaths."
“I would rather he hate me now than see his name on the list of the dead in the future.”
The instructor fell silent. He looked at Lu Zhanting's profile; this man, who was as cold as iron on the training field, now revealed a barely perceptible softness in his eyes.
He patted Lu Zhanting on the shoulder: "I understand."
In the hospital room, Lu Chen was lying on the bed, writing a self-criticism on a piece of paper by the light of a desk lamp.
His legs were still aching, but his heart was calmer than ever before.
He knew that his father's "punishment" was actually the best gift he could receive.
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