Division Commander Du Shaoqing.
Xu Le was both unfamiliar and familiar with this name. Before these few days, he didn't even know that the 3rd Military Region had an unbreakable Iron Seven Division, much less that the division commander of the Iron Seven Division was called Du Shaoqing. But after Zou Yu's warning over the phone, he had developed a natural sense of vigilance towards this name.
Du Shaoqing. These three words were written as thin as bones, but they were filled with the aura of steel. When read aloud, these three monosyllabic words seemed to have some sort of lethality when they came out of anyone's mouth. Even Lan Xiaolong, who said them with a hint of worry, still felt this way.
Xu Le was silent for a long time.
The reason why this division commander's name could make him feel so emotional was all because of those two fearless officers and the tolerance the base had for the Iron Seven Division. Combined, it seemed that when people mentioned this division commander, their emotions would become somewhat unnatural, and they would feel a sense of reverence from the bottom of their hearts. But … this was just a division commander.
Just as he was about to ask Lan Xiaolong about the Iron Seven Division, the officers who were making a ruckus suddenly quietened down. This was because Zhou Yu had just walked over to the table in the corner with a glass of wine in his hand. Everyone quietly watched this scene.
Everyone laughed and drank while Xu Le sat alone in the corner. This couldn't be considered a deliberate exclusion; it was just a natural boundary between the instructor and the students. Moreover, the two sides hadn't gotten along very well in the past few months. But Zhou Yu's action seemed to be breaking some sort of boundary.
Zhou Yu smiled and lowered his body, clinking his glass with Xu Le's and said, "These past two months, you've been teaching them attentively. They're actually very grateful, but they just can't bring themselves to come over."
Xu Le didn't think about the Iron Seven Division again. He laughed self-deprecatingly and said, "It's just work."
Zhou Yu had once followed the entire development of the MX mecha in the Nutshell Engineering Department, so he naturally knew that Xu Le had really given his all in these two months, teaching all he knew about the MX mecha to these officers.
The Federal military didn't have a standard tutorial for the MX mecha in the first place. What Xu Le did was beneficial to the Federal military, but its effects could be maintained for a long time.
Xu Le looked at him and smiled. In the past two months, Zhou Yu had not had much personal contact with him. He knew very well that this was some sort of unspoken rule in the military camp, so he did not understand why the other party wanted to break this rule today.
Zhou Yu seemed to have guessed what he was thinking. He smiled warmly and said, "We're about to graduate. There's no need to worry about anything else. Regardless of what others think, I still have to thank you."
"You're the one who doesn't need to thank me. With your understanding of MX, you'll be able to grasp it immediately even without these lessons." Xu Le downed the wine in his cup in one gulp. His chest felt slightly spicy, and he exhaled a breath that reeked of alcohol. Pursing his lips, he smiled and said, "Just like how you were in the First Academy's Mecha faculty. You're still number one."
Zhou Yu broke the invisible dividing line in the canteen. After a moment of silence, a person whom Xu Le had not expected also walked over with a wine cup in his hand. This officer had a serious expression on his face. He lightly clinked his cup with Xu Le and said in a deep voice, "Commanding officer of the West Woods Special Mecha Battalion, Hua Xiaosi … Thank you, Instructor Xu, for your hard work these past two months."
Xu Le stared at Hua Xiaosi's dark face and was speechless. The spicy feeling in his chest turned into warmth. He smiled but didn't say anything. He only drank the full cup of wine that Lan Xiaolong had poured for him and drank with the other.
Hua Xiaosi gave him a formal military salute and then turned around to return to his own table.
…
…
There wasn't any irreconcilable hatred to begin with. The stiff mood between Xu Le and the officers was mostly caused by the unique atmosphere in the military camp. This kind of mood came and went quickly.
The officers had already noticed that after the assessment, Instructor Little Xu no longer wore those damn sunglasses. His smile was so amiable that it was as bright as the sun. When they looked back, they realized that the sarcastic and mean instructor in the past was just a mask that he had deliberately put on.
And after Xu Le perfectly demonstrated his ability from theory to actual combat, the humiliation and shock they had received in class was gradually thrown to the back of the officers' minds. With this kind of situation as a prerequisite, Xu Le only needed an opportunity to break the silence between him and the officers. Zhou Yu and Hua Xiaosi's toasts were precisely this opportunity.
A small and thin officer walked over with a smile and said, "First Military Region's Mechanical Automation Research Institute, Captain Lin Ai."
After saying this, this captain drained the wine in his cup in one gulp, gave a military salute, and then turned to leave.
"Second Military Region's 11th Automated Army Group, Major He Lei."
"Federal Fleet's Circular Base, Captain Misereu."
With this as the beginning, after a moment of contemplation, more and more officers walked over with wine cups to toast Xu Le. In the end, they actually formed groups of two or three. There was an endless stream of people who came and went to toast.
…
…
Other than the solemn and formal introductions of the troops and military ranks they belonged to, during the process of toasting, Xu Le and the officers were silent. They didn't say a word, but their eyes were filled with smiles. Xu Le's eyes were smiling like two crescent moons. Their gazes met, and there was an indescribable tacit understanding.
Lan Xiaolong smiled as he poured wine for Xu Le. His cup was never empty. After a round of toasting, the two bottles of strong wine he had brought over had long been finished.
The crowd around the table gradually dispersed. Lan Xiaolong looked at the gradually intoxicated Xu Le and couldn't help but sigh in praise. "Wine doesn't make one drunk, but one gets drunk … The friendship between teacher and student, the relationship between teacher and student, you've taught so many future cornerstones of the Federation. In the future, on the battlefield, just how abundant of a capital will this be?"
It was unknown what kind of emotion it was, but it made Xu Le feel that the cafeteria was filled with a solemn and warm feeling. He drank close to two jin of strong wine, and his drunkenness had long entered his brain. He narrowed his eyes and looked at those officers who were at the peak of their lives. He thought that perhaps in a few more days, they would follow their respective troops to the front lines. In the battle against the Empire's invaders, they would spill their hot blood in exchange for the peace of the Federation's people. These faces, whether fat or thin, beautiful or ugly, perhaps would never be seen again in the future …
With this thought, hot blood poured into his chest.
If it were someone else, perhaps at this moment, they would have slammed the table, stood up, and gathered the officers in front of them. They would loudly and powerfully speak about youth, hot-bloodedness, and sacrifice. However, Xu Le was just Xu Le. He couldn't do this kind of thing. He remained silent as usual. He narrowed his eyes and looked at those officers. He put the bottle to his mouth and drank the remaining wine in the bottle in one gulp. His chest wasn't carefree, but at least it was somewhat satisfying.
However, there were still five officers in the cafeteria. They sat silently at their small tables. They didn't take advantage of the alcohol to play with those officers, pour out their hearts, or curse the Empire's dogs. Instead, they coldly watched all of this.
Lan Xiaolong stared in that direction. He moved close to Xu Le's ear and said softly, "The five officers who didn't toast … are all from the Iron Seventh Division."
…
…
The officers from the Iron Seventh Division naturally wouldn't toast to Xu Le. However, whether it was because of the Iron Seventh Division's strict discipline or some other reason, the five officers at the table didn't even pay attention to the other officers. It was a bit strange in the cafeteria.
What shocked Xu Le wasn't this strange atmosphere, but Lan Xiaolong's reminder.
He originally thought that the Iron Seventh Division only sent two officers to the base for training. At this time, he had already beaten them to the Army general hospital. He didn't expect that there were actually five officers from the Iron Seventh Division in the base.
The Federation specially organized an anti-terrorism exercise and carefully selected 30 officers to participate in this secret training. It was hoped that these people would be able to independently support a side of the war in the future. However, just the Iron Seventh Division alone took up seven of the spots!
How many divisions were there in the Federal military? The Iron Seventh Division alone took up one-fifth of the quota. Xu Le's heart was filled with endless shock. What kind of division was this? How strong was the training level and military quality of this division to be able to achieve such shocking results? To be able to train such a division … What kind of person was Du Shaoqing?!
Thinking about the matter between himself and the Iron Seventh Division, and how he had just destroyed two officers from the Iron Seventh Division who had limitless futures, Xu Le's drunkenness actually subsided a little. His eyes were still bright, but he narrowed them even more.
Lan Xiaolong saw his mood and asked with a frown, "You don't know about the Iron Seventh Division?"
Xu Le shook his head.
When Lan Xiaolong realized that he was not a real soldier, he showed a look of understanding.
…
…
From Lan Xiaolong's description, Xu Le learned about the shocking history and exceptionally strange current situation of the Iron Seventh Division.
The Seventh Mechanic Division of the Third Military Region, during the second defensive war of the Federation, ushered in a bloody battle at the Huiming Corridor in the West Woods. Facing three reorganized brigades of the Empire, the division alone completed an unbelievable mission on Administrative Planet 5460, which bought precious time for the Federation's main forces to surround the Empire. However, the Seventh Division paid a huge price for this, suffering heavy casualties and losing a large number of people. It could be said that the entire division was buried in that planet filled with blood and smoke …
During the post-war reorganization, the Seventh Division, whose division commander and company commander all died on the battlefield, almost had its designation revoked.
However, at this time, the Federation's news channel broadcasted a tragic video recording of the Iron Seventh Division's sniper attack. This caused a huge uproar within the Federation. The Veteran Association, which had already begun to show its power at that time, organized an angry demonstration that directly surrounded the Parliament Hill and the President's Residence.
Under this kind of pressure, the Federal military had no choice but to withdraw the order to revoke the Seventh Division's designation. Instead, they announced that they had begun to rebuild the division. Whether it was equipment or personnel, they allocated to the Seventh Division according to the status of an absolute ace. They also gave the Mechanic Division the title of "Iron Seventh Division".
The glory of the Iron Seventh Division spread throughout the universe until the God of War, Li Bofu, left his division. Only then did the First Military Region's 17th Armored Division completely overwhelm the Iron Seventh Division, establishing its position as the Federation's number one division. The once glorious Iron Seventh Division, due to certain reasons, gradually disappeared from the Federation's people's memories.
"Why is that?" Xu Le held the beer bottle tightly and listened to Lan Xiaolong's narration seriously. His mood fluctuated along with the bloody history of the Iron Seventh Division. His vigilance and resistance toward the name Iron Seventh Division gradually turned into a trace of disappointment.
"There are many theories, most of which are related to the evaluation of Battle 5460. Many big shots in the military have always had doubts about the process of that battle. Later, due to the pressure of public opinion, they rebuilt the division, but they didn't want to pay attention to it anymore … It seems to be a scar on our history."
Lan Xiaolong said faintly, "Those big shots are long dead. No one knows the truth of history. However, just as the Iron Seventh Division was stationed in S3 for decades and was so lonely that only the name of the Iron Seventh Division remained, Du Shaoqing, who had graduated from the First Academy, came to this forgotten corner … "
The story of the Iron Seventh Division began once again.
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