136: Chapter 136 Cairo's Reward! The Most Dangerous Sparring Partner!

Cairo, Ministry of Defense.

General Mubarak gripped the phone, his other hand unconsciously tapping on the smooth mahogany desk, producing a dull 'thump, thump' sound.

In the receiver, Fatah's voice was hoarse and urgent, the suppressed panic within it nearly causing his voice to crack.

"General, when our tanks drive in, they're just sitting ducks! The streets are too narrow; there's no room to turn at all. Their anti-tank teams are like ghosts, popping out from sewers, residential windows, and even pre-dug tunnels, hitting us and then vanishing!"

"The infantry has it even worse! As soon as our men enter a building, they step on all sorts of booby traps—tripwires, pressure plates, and even improvised explosive devices made from modified microwaves! Those snipers are like phantoms, specifically picking off our commanders and machine gunners! A single squad dares to hold up an entire company of ours!"

"The worst part is the communication! Our radios are full of static and nonsensical music; orders can't get through at all. The units have been broken up, fighting their own separate battles, completely scattered like loose sand!"

Fatah's tone rose, his words filled with frustration and incomprehension.

"General, to put it bluntly, if we hadn't finally seen red and thrown lives at them regardless of casualties, washing the ground with artillery shells, we would have already lost this exercise! Lost completely!"

Mubarak remained silent for a long time.

Even though the air conditioning in his office was running at full blast, he felt a chill down the back of his neck.

Every word Fatah spoke hit his deepest anxieties.

The Egyptian army had been comfortable for too long!

In recent years, exercises had been conducted like stage plays—everyone was nice to each other, going through the motions to produce pretty data so everyone was happy.

But what about a real battlefield?

What about when they actually had to fight for their lives?

His thoughts involuntarily turned to that neighboring country to the east.

He knew better than anyone what the Jewish army was like! Those people were best at special operations and urban warfare; every single one of them was as sharp as a tack.

If war truly broke out and the battlefield was the streets and alleys of Cairo, could his units—accustomed to parades and play-acting—hold their ground?

The answer made his heart tighten.

Fatah's words had jolted him awake from a false sense of security.

"You mean..." Mubarak's voice was a bit dry. He cleared his throat before continuing, "You want them to be our whetstone?"

"Yes! A whetstone!" Fatah's voice on the other end of the line suddenly became high-pitched, his speaking speed increasing.

"General! This is no mere Police Force; this is a damn living encyclopedia of urban warfare! SEALS, the British SAS, Alpha... the world's top special forces are all in there! Their tactics, their equipment, their electronic warfare methods—they're all things we've never even heard of!"

Fatah grew more excited as he spoke, like a man who hadn't eaten for three days seeing a royal banquet.

"Think about it, General! Let this group of monsters take the most elite battalion and company-level units in our army and drag them to Bir Tawil to be drilled one by one! Drill them to death! Let them taste what it's like to be treated as targets; let them know what real urban warfare is!"

"The most crucial part is using someone else's money to train our own troops! This money is being paid by that Lin Zhou! Where else can you find such a 'pie falling from the sky' deal?!"

"Hmm..."

Mubarak's finger stopped.

This proposal played right into his hands.

On one hand, it would allow his precious units to receive the most realistic and brutal tempering, squeezing out all the fat accumulated during peacetime!

On the other hand, it could also keep Lin Zhou's elite force with its explosive combat power firmly pinned down in that barren land of Bir Tawil, making them risk their lives every day to accompany his army, consuming their energy and ammunition so they wouldn't have time for anything else.

Two birds with one stone!

No, three birds with one arrow! He could also use this to scout out the true strength of this unit!

"Good!" Mubarak no longer hesitated, slamming his palm heavily on the desk. "I approve your plan! I will personally coordinate with the Ministry of Defense to transfer troops there in batches! Report directly to me for whatever you need—weapons, ammunition, logistics, site expansion! If you need money, I'll give money; if you need men, I'll give men!"

"Yes! Thank you, General!"

In Fatah's reply, the joy of the plan's success was no longer hidden.

The call ended.

Inside the Bir Tawil headquarters, the lingering fear and respectful expression on Fatah's face vanished, replaced by the calm of a master strategist.

He turned around, meeting Omar's worshipful gaze, and nodded with satisfaction.

"Step one, settled."

...

At almost the same time, an account named 'Cyber Free Republic Official Channel' uploaded a video to the world's largest video website.

The video title was straightforward: 'Record of the Bir Tawil Attack and Defense Exercise'.

There was no rousing background music, no voiceover commentary—only the most primitive, raw sounds of the battlefield.

The video began with a T-72 tank slowly advancing through a narrow street. Suddenly, with a thunderous boom, the tank's left tread was blown to pieces, and the entire tank was immediately paralyzed in the middle of the road.

The camera cut.

At the top of a clock tower, a sniper camouflaged so well he almost blended into the wall calmly pulled the trigger. Eight hundred meters away, a 'Red Army' officer waving a flag to give orders had a puff of blue smoke erupt from his head and 'collapsed' accordingly.

The screen jumped again.

In a narrow hallway, two 'Red Army' soldiers had just kicked open a door when they were neutralized by a 'Blue Army' soldier lying in wait behind the door using clean, efficient close-quarters combat. The whole process took less than three seconds.

From a drone's perspective, swarms of 'Red Army' soldiers surged toward the Ministry of Defense building like a tide.

Inside the building, a three-man 'Blue Army' fireteam used the terrain to hit and run, providing alternating cover, effectively toying with an enemy ten times their size.

At the end of the video, no exercise result was announced.

The image froze amidst a sky full of yellow sand. On one side was a dense mass of tanks and armored vehicle clusters; on the other was a sparse defensive line composed of a mere one hundred and fifty people.

The two armies faced off, swords drawn and bows bent.

The outcome remained unknown!

This suspenseful editing style quickly ignited the global internet!

The comment section grew by tens of thousands of layers within just a few minutes.

"Holy crap! Holy crap! This is a damn exercise? This fire intensity and tactical level are more exciting than a Hollywood war movie!"

"That sniper is way too cool! Taking out an 'officer' with one shot from 800 meters away—what kind of god-tier marksmanship is that?"

"To be fair, the Egyptian army's sea of tanks is still fierce. They must have eventually crushed them with numbers, right? If quality isn't enough, make up for it with quantity!"

"Stop showing off, keyboard warrior upstairs. Didn't you see the tactical proficiency of that 'Police Force'? Infantry-tank coordination, squad cooperation, trap placement—it's textbook level! I bet they didn't even go all out!"

"These aren't police; this is clearly a top-tier special forces unit! The Cyber Freedom Republic has some real substance!"

All sorts of analyses, guesses, and arguments emerged in endless succession.

Lin Zhou's 'Influencer Statecraft' plan had once again used the most hardcore and intuitive method to show the world the muscles of the Cyber Freedom Republic!

In Cairo, General Mubarak's orders were also delivered to Bir Tawil at maximum speed.

A commendation order was issued, praising Colonel Fatah and his 4th Armored Division for their 'heroic performance' in the exercise.

Issued along with it was a massive sum of money for expanding the simulated battlefield and strengthening logistical support, as well as a brand-new exercise plan.

A 'conspiracy' where one party was willing to hit and the other was willing to be hit was unfolding right under everyone's noses, grandly kicking off under the banner of 'friendly training'.