135: Chapter 135 A Exercise Result That Satisfies Everyone

The desert daylight was torn apart by the continuous sounds of explosions and gunfire.

As the exercise entered its second day, Fatah's "Red Army" changed its tactics.

They no longer relied blindly on frontal tank assaults. Instead, operating in squads, they utilized drones for high-altitude reconnaissance and multi-path infiltration, attempting to engage He Jun's "Blue Army" in close-quarters combat through the complex urban building clusters.

The battle once fell into a stalemate.

Mark Smith and his squad repelled three charges by the "Red Army" in an abandoned shopping mall.

With every attack, the "Red Army" tried new tactics: the first was a frontal assault under the cover of smoke grenades, the second was a surprise attack through ventilation ducts, and the third was even an infiltration disguised as civilians.

But each time, they were detected in advance by Mark's squad using pre-set tripwire flares, infrared sensors, and booby traps (all exercise props), before being isolated and annihilated.

The floor of the level they were on was covered in various dyes representing "casualties," and the air was thick with the smell of gunpowder, sweat, and face paint.

"Boss, we're low on ammo! Only two basic loads left! These Egyptians are like mad dogs; their tactics are getting craftier!" Mark growled into his throat microphone as he swapped in his last magazine, leaning against a concrete pillar.

The laser sensors on his body had already flashed alarms several times due to the close-quarters firefight.

"Hold on. You've successfully held up a reinforced company of theirs," He Jun's voice remained steady, with the clear sound of keyboard tapping and the electronic hum of data flow in the background.

"Their command system has been partially hacked by our electronic warfare team; I can see their troop movements. Reinforcements are arriving soon."

Just as he finished speaking, a large hole was blasted into the side wall of the shopping mall. Of course, it was just a high-explosive stun grenade used for the exercise, but the resulting blast wave, dust, and debris still left Mark and the others covered in grime, their ears ringing incessantly.

"Damn it! They brought tanks to the ground floor! This isn't standard procedure!" a squad member shouted, cursing as he was knocked to the ground by the shockwave.

The barrel of a T-72 thrust rudely through the gap, followed by a coaxial machine gun spitting simulated fire, providing indiscriminate suppressive fire inside the mall.

In the face of absolute firepower superiority, any sophisticated tactics became meaningless.

A few hours later, the situation on the battlefield reversed.

Inspired by this, the Red Army commander, Omar, began to mobilize armored forces at any cost to forcibly demolish the buildings held by the "Blue Army."

The multiple anti-tank teams deployed by the "Blue Army" were spotted one by one by thermal imagers on the infantry fighting vehicles accompanying the tanks as they tried to approach, and were "picked off" from a distance by Red Army snipers who had been waiting for a long time.

Tanks and infantry fighting vehicles formed a mobile steel fortress, gradually encroaching on the Blue Army's defensive zones.

The clock tower where "Falcon" was located was "hit" by a 125mm shell. The entire top structure "collapsed" in a simulated special effect, forcing him to abandon this excellent vantage point and make a thrilling escape via zipline to another building under covering fire from allies.

He Jun's underground command center also suffered a simulated attack by bunker-buster bombs. The power system was judged "destroyed," the backup power kicked in, and the command system screens went half-dark, with signals becoming intermittent.

The battle continued until the morning of the third day.

When the last group of "Blue Army" soldiers ran out of ammunition in front of the "Ministry of Defense Building," they relied on abandoned cars and sandbag fortifications, using their last stun and smoke grenades to put up a stubborn resistance. Eventually, they were overwhelmed by the Red Army's crushing numerical advantage, and the exercise directorate announced that the "Desert Shield" exercise had ended in a pyrrhic victory for the Red Army.

When the news broke, a burst of hearty laughter rang out in General Mubarak's residence in Cairo.

"I told you! How could a bunch of mercenaries working for money possibly stop a national regular army!" General Mubarak said, his face beaming with joy as he read the battle report.

But he didn't know that this result was achieved under strict orders that the Police Force was not allowed to use heavy anti-tank weaponry.

The battle report was very detailed: The "Blue Army" possessed extremely high tactical proficiency and incredible individual combat capabilities, particularly excelling in using terrain and psychological warfare, which caused massive casualties for the "Red Army." The loss ratio had once reached a staggering 1:7.

But ultimately, in the face of the "Red Army's" mass charges at any cost and overwhelming heavy firepower, they were all "annihilated."

"This Fatah did a good job! Although the casualties were a bit high, he finally took that Lin Zhou down a notch!" Mubarak said to his adjutant, Saleh. "Give him a commendation!"

Saleh agreed on the side, but he harbored a trace of doubt in his heart. This battle report was less a victory announcement and more a self-reflection paper bought at a heavy price.

Meanwhile, at the Red Army headquarters in Bir Tawil, the atmosphere was completely unrelated to the joy of victory.

Fatah looked at Omar, who was exhausted but had a spark of excitement in his eyes, and the officers behind him who stood straight despite their injuries, and nodded in satisfaction.

"How do you feel?" Fatah asked.

"Colonel, although we won, it was far too lucky," Omar said, his face showing no pride, only gravity.

"If this were a real war, we would have lost at least half our men. Their tactics are too flexible; a three-man team could lead one of our platoons on a wild goose chase. Their use of urban terrain is practically textbook. We were completely led by the nose."

"Exactly," another officer added. "Our armored units were sitting ducks in street fighting. Our communications were suppressed, our vision was limited, and infantry-tank coordination was almost non-existent. They even used civilian drones with practice grenades to attack our tanks' top armor. If we hadn't relied on sheer numbers and heavy artillery in the end, we wouldn't have won at all."

This was exactly the effect Fatah wanted.

He walked to the large electronic sand table and pulled up the battle replay: "So, do you now understand the gap between us and the world's top special forces in urban combat? Their numbers were less than one-fifth of ours, yet they nearly paralyzed all our offensives for the first two days."

Everyone fell into silence, contemplating with grave expressions.

"In this exercise, I wanted you to bleed out and have your pride shattered!" Fatah's voice suddenly turned sharp. "From today on, you have only one task: to learn! Learn everything they know! Including their electronic warfare suppression, trap setting, and squad coordination tactics!"

He looked out the window. He Jun was leading his "prisoners" out of the "Ministry of Defense Building" in a neat formation.

Those one hundred and fifty men, though the "defeated party," showed no sign of dejection.

They walked with vigorous strides and sharp gazes. While turning in their equipment, they methodically checked each other's "injuries." There wasn't a hint of despondency; instead, they displayed the unique, lean, and tough temperament of hunters who had just completed high-intensity training.

Fatah picked up the encrypted phone and dialed the number for Cairo.

Once the call connected, his voice mixed with awe and lingering fear as he reported to General Mubarak at the Ministry of Defense: "General, although we won, it was a pyrrhic victory... This Police Force is simply a pack of monsters preying in the city."

"General, I have a request. To improve our ability to handle future urban counter-terrorism warfare, I suggest we have this unit continue to serve as our 'sparring partners'!"