70: Chapter 70: If you fall behind, you'll be beaten.
A piece of good news had just arrived, and immediately after, a piece of bad news followed.
This is truly a mix of joy and sorrow.
In the back, General Huang Wei had been keeping a close eye on the Japanese Army's naval bombardment.
"What are the casualties now?"
An hour later, General Huang Wei opened his eyes, looked at Staff Officer Chen beside him, and asked.
"The situation is not optimistic. The Japanese Army's naval guns are causing widespread destruction to the building. Fortunately, it is still night, and the Japanese Army's visibility is poor, so the shelling is concentrated in the same area."
"However, there are a large number of our Chinese Soldiers in that area."
"Give me the casualty figures."
"The bombing is still ongoing over there, so the exact number is not yet clear, but it is estimated to be in the thousands," Staff Officer Chen replied.
And that was just from the naval gunfire alone.
The losses from the fighting after storming the building were even greater.
"Sigh." General Huang Wei let out a sigh and said nothing more.
He had not expected the Japanese Army to be so bold as to directly bomb the headquarters building.
This action had indeed caused massive casualties.
By now, they had already stormed the Japanese Army headquarters building, and eliminating the people inside was only a matter of time.
At this moment, the Japanese Army's forces on the shore had basically been wiped out.
At dawn, the sun finally came out for once.
The dazzling morning sun illuminated the entire Hongkou from the horizon.
After a night of fighting, most of the Japanese Army headquarters building had been occupied.
Now, only the last section remained.
That was the Command Post of the Japanese Army headquarters.
Okawachi heard his subordinate's report and knew that there was no point in continuing the resistance now.
Therefore, he led the remaining Japanese Army troops to escape from the headquarters via a secret passage.
Before leaving, he set fire to the Command Post.
Nothing was left behind.
When the Chinese Soldiers who rushed there saw a sea of flames, they knew the Japanese Army had escaped.
They had won.
However, they didn't seem to feel very happy.
There was just a sense of relief.
It was as if everything was over.
On the other side, by the coast.
Okawachi and his men walked out from a concrete-built exit.
At the exit, a group of Japanese Army naval officers dressed in dark blue saw Okawachi and his men emerge, their faces showing mocking expressions.
"Your Excellency Commander, the headquarters is lost. How are we to explain this to the military headquarters?"
"Hmph, you don't need to worry about that." Seeing the mocking expression on the officer's face, Okawachi snorted coldly.
After they boarded the Izumo docked at the coast, a "Game Over" screen appeared before General Huang Wei and the other Chinese Soldiers and officers.
"Game Over."
[Mission to annihilate the Japanese Army Marine Corps successful; mission to prevent the Japanese Army from landing successful.]
[Battle casualty rate: 58%; enemy kill rate: 98%; comprehensive score: 75.]
Seeing the score of 75, General Huang Wei felt it was too high.
Nearly half of the troops had sacrificed themselves; although they succeeded, the casualties were too great.
Even though they won, General Huang Wei could not feel the joy of victory.
Thirty thousand men fighting four thousand, and over half were casualties.
In his view, such a record was not worth rejoicing over.
Winning was too difficult, and it was basically achieved by the Chinese Soldiers fighting with their lives on the line.
If the real battlefield were like this, it would be too tragic.
Zhou Yang, after watching the performance of the military headquarters, could not help but sigh in his heart.
"Sure enough, even in another world, one cannot underestimate others."
Although the Chinese Soldiers of this world had not experienced much war, their spirit of fighting with their lives was not weak at all.
Closing the backend, Zhou Yang immediately went to busy himself with other things.
On the other side, in the virtual conference room of the Eastern Military Region.
General Huang Wei, having just exited the game, entered the conference room.
Seeing the high-ranking officers seated there and the Supreme Commander at the head of the table, General Huang Wei felt a bit ashamed; he felt his performance in this exercise was poor.
Yet unexpectedly, at this moment, the Supreme Commander suddenly took the lead and started applauding.
General Huang Wei was stunned.
"Major General Huang, your performance in this virtual exercise was good. You successfully achieved victory in the first battle," the Supreme Commander said with a kind smile.
Upon hearing this, the worry in General Huang Wei's heart instantly lifted.
He had been prepared to be criticized, but it didn't happen.
Instead, he received praise.
After General Huang Wei took his seat, the Supreme Commander looked at the high-ranking officers below and spoke slowly: "Now that the first battle has ended, everyone, please share your thoughts."
"Although the performance in the first battle was not bad, I think it could have been better." As soon as the Supreme Commander finished speaking, Meng Yi spoke up.
"In this battle, from the very beginning, our side's disadvantage was truly too great. Our equipment was backward, and our medical services were backward. We basically did not have the advantage of time or terrain."
"We only had the advantage of people. This victory was bought by the Chinese Soldiers fighting with their lives."
"Through this battle, I saw the spirit of our Chinese Soldiers who do not fear sacrifice. I think the process of the battle is more important than the result. Even without victory, the gains made during the process of the entire battle are more than the victory itself."
After Meng Yi finished speaking, the Supreme Commander nodded slightly and said the word "Good."
"Major General Huang, after this battle, what are your own thoughts?" The Supreme Commander suddenly looked at General Huang Wei and asked.
"My biggest takeaway is... falling behind means taking a beating."
After General Huang Wei finished speaking, he paused.
The entire conference room went quiet.
All the officers present showed thoughtful expressions.
This was a phrase they had never thought of before.
But after watching this battle, they were touched by General Huang Wei's words.
Yes, such a huge gap—isn't that exactly what falling behind means? Falling behind means taking a beating.
For them, China had once experienced such history.
It was just that in recent times, such a situation had not occurred.
Having been at peace for too long and been powerful for too long, they had almost forgotten this principle.
Now that General Huang Wei had brought it up, they finally remembered this saying.
"Backward equipment, backward medical services. We could only watch helplessly as the Chinese Soldiers under our command went to their deaths."
"If our equipment were advanced and our medical services were advanced, our Chinese Soldiers would have an extra layer of protection and wouldn't have to charge into the enemy's gunfire."
General Huang Wei said several sentences in one breath.
Throughout this battle, he had been holding back a breath in his heart.
This feeling of falling behind and taking a beating was truly too uncomfortable.
The other officers, upon hearing this, could also understand General Huang Wei's thoughts.
Just a moment ago, they had watched from a god's-eye view as their own Chinese Soldiers charged forward while under naval gunfire, aerial bombing, and machine-gun fire.
Their brows had been furrowed the entire time.
This kind of battle was simply not a fight between equal levels.
To put it bluntly, it was like modern people fighting primitive people.
Subsequently, the Supreme Commander looked at the officers and asked them to summarize areas for improvement.
At the same time, they were to prepare for the next exercise.
After the meeting ended, the Supreme Commander contacted the Supreme Commanders of several other military regions.
He shared the combat video of this exercise with them.
Southern Military Region.
After the high-ranking officers of the military region finished watching the video, they all looked at each other in dismay.
"The Eastern Military Region has pulled off something big without making a sound, hasn't it?"