When the situation was not clear enough, Weiss did not hastily move with the 1st team, but after an objective and thorough weighing and analysis, he ordered all the students of the team to deploy defense on the spot. He organized everyone into 5 detachments, assigned 5 trainees whom he recognized to be the commanders of each of the 5 detachments, and summoned them to give face-to-face lectures: first, the 1st to 4th detachments were each responsible for one direction, and the 5th detachment served as the reserve; The second is that each detachment should set up 1-2 secret posts on the periphery of the guard position, and the third is that all the trainees should be told not to load their guns for the time being, and that live ammunition should be placed in the lower right pocket of their jackets and used at any time.

Once it was all set, Weiss climbed the broadleaf tree again. After the "enemy soldiers" descended from the sky and rushed into the woods in a rage, there were no violent gunshots or explosions in the woods. It didn't take long for him to see his cadets walking out of the woods with their hands down, and the "enemy soldiers" wearing red armbands each carrying several rifles.

Weiss counted sixty or seventy of his students, some of them still had camouflage branches and leaves stuck in their backs, and some of them were black from top to bottom, like coal diggers who had just come out of the coal hole, but except for a few who needed the help of their companions, the rest could move around on their own. From this point of view, the trainees had suffered "accidental hits" before, and there were no heavy casualties as imagined.

What's going on?

Weiss was wondering when he suddenly heard Nikolai say, "They must be using an airburst bomb!" ”

Airburst bombs, to put it bluntly, are similar to fireworks bombs, wrapped in black powder in paper shells, equipped with simple time-delay fuses or special trigger fuses, they look the same as ordinary shells when they explode, but the actual lethality is much smaller, it is said that a few steps away at most burn hair and skin, a little further away is just to hear the sound.

If you think about it carefully, the stormy shelling just now is indeed different from the situation during the live-fire training.

If the two flying ships really used air-burst bombs, the scene just now may have been part of the exercise at all.

I was still grief-stricken just now, but I didn't expect the plot to take "sharp turns" one after another, this routine is really too deep!

Thinking of this, Weiss was so relieved that he hurriedly climbed down the tree and called the third-year students in the squad to ask about the past exercises, but the answer he got was...... None of the two large-scale exercises and several special exercises in which they participated received such "treatment."

Is it because I am rare and strange, or is there something else hidden?

More importantly, what should you do next?

For Nikolai's safety, the most appropriate course of action was undoubtedly to rush over and surrender to the "enemy" and return to the rear as their prisoners of war. In this way, it is far away from the potential dangers faced by alone in the field, but at the same time, it also ruins the possibility of the 1st team continuing to earn exercise points and even create good results in this conference exercise......

Should Nikolai be put in unknown danger for the sake of the team's honor, or should he sacrifice the team's interests and honor for the sake of a trumped-up threat?

Weiss didn't ask Nikolai for advice, because he knew what the "stubborn gentleman" would do.

After some careful consideration, he selected two clever sophomores from the 5th detachment and ordered them to follow the road they had come to go back to reconnoiter the "enemy situation", and as soon as he spotted the soldiers who had disembarked from the transport ship, he immediately led them to this side.

The two second-year students were surprised by this, but in recognition of Weiss's personal ability and prestige, they accepted the assignment and quickly ran towards the area where the "enemy soldiers" were.

Eventually, Weiss climbed the tree again and used his stunt to scout from a distance.

The cadets who came out of the woods were being taken onto the transport ship by soldiers wearing red armbands. The light transport ships of the Ulster Free Federation Army can carry 400-600 heavily armed soldiers under normal circumstances, and the soldiers who have landed on the ground before are only more than 100 people, and there is obviously a lot of spare space on the ship to accommodate "prisoners of war".

According to the rules of the exercise, these prisoners of war can be rescued, but their combat effectiveness after liberation will be reduced accordingly.

At the same time, the hidden transport trucks also drove out of the woods one by one, but only one car and eight trucks were counted, and one car and three trucks did not appear. It is likely that it was damaged by the fierce artillery fire that had been used earlier.

After the cadets who laid down their arms boarded the transport ship one after another, the soldiers wearing red armbands also withdrew to the glade in groups. After about a quarter of an hour, two of the four cars that had previously disappeared drove out of the woods, one of the carports burned clean and the other cab blackened.

There were also 2 vehicles, presumably completely destroyed in the shelling, and were not seen until the last group of landing soldiers returned to the transport ship.

The transport ship slowly rose into the air, and two thick and deep indentations could be seen on the ground where it had stayed.

Seeing this scene, most of the students of the 1st squad hiding in the forest breathed a sigh of relief.

Weiss was the only one who frowned.

The "enemy" marines did not go deep into the woods to search and reconnoitre, and the two cadets they sent out did not come into contact with the "enemy...... Is it a bad thing or a good thing that the opportunity to get Nikolai out of danger has slipped?

Weiss got down from the tree and stood under it, with his waist crossed and his head bowed, and he was stunned for a while.

Nikolai climbed down the tree: "They are gone." Maybe...... It's not as bad as we feared! ”

"Maybe!"

"What do we do next? Continuing west? ”

Weiss didn't answer, but turned his head to look at Nikolai quietly, although his expression and tone were as if nothing had happened, the surging tide in his heart was only a little more.

Seeing Weiss staring at him, Nikolai looked down at his clothes and boots a little uncomfortably: "Is there something wrong with me?" ”

"Nope. I was just thinking...... We had enough supplies for 4 days, and after another 2 days to the west, we were on the 'enemy mainland'. The difficulty has increased, and the score rate of the exercise has also increased, which is kind of interesting, huh? Weissdau.

Nikolai still had his head bowed, struggling with the small section of roots that were sticking out of the ground. He started to tap the tip of his boot, and then the more he thought about it, the more upset he became, so he kicked it a few times.

"yes, it used to be interesting, but now...... Sometimes, I really hate my last name. ”

Weiss was relieved as usual: "Fate has arranged our origins, so that we have a certain mission from birth, but we do not have to succumb to the arrangement of fate, we can be true to ourselves and live the life we want." No matter how bad it is, we can be willful once in a while and do what we like to do, right? ”

Nikolai smiled bitterly: "Yes, you are right, we should strive to be true to ourselves and live the life we want, but for people like me, even if I am willing to change myself, others may not be willing to let me get my wish!" ”

Weiss teased with ease: "Yes! Who is like you, who participates in the exercise with a string of bodyguards, and is also a bodyguard paid for by the government! ”

If this kind of cynicism came out of the mouth of others, it would have been crushed by Nikolai, but Weiss only got a familiar look.

"Alright! The thought of leaving Brooks and the group of soldiers he had brought with me felt a lot better. Nikolai said.

"Oh, poor Major Brooks, this is where he should be stomping his fists in anger!" Weiss said.

The two looked at each other and finally smiled.

The more difficult the situation, the more important it is to maintain an optimistic and positive attitude.

After a short time, two flying ships that attacked and captured the main force of the 3rd Battalion of the Provisional Battalion of the Basston Student Regiment swept over the woods, and Weiss and Nikolai hid under the trees without moving or saying a word, voluntarily giving up their last chance to get a quick return ticket.

As the two flying ships flew away, Weiss looked at Nikolai quietly, knowing in his heart that the responsibility of protecting this Mr. Leibold would fall entirely on his shoulders.

When both teams of aerial ships had completely disappeared from sight, Weiss gathered the 1st squad and personally informed all the cadets of his decision: although his battalion headquarters and the other two squadrons had been "devastated" in the exercise, and their squad had been reduced to a weak and lone army, they would continue to fight and eventually lead to victory under the glorious tradition of the Basston Student Corps.

These second- and third-grade students are the age of youthful enthusiasm, and under the encouragement of Weiss, they all regained their strength. They packed up their minds, packed their heavy bags, set up a battle march, and walked towards the depth of the "enemy". On the way, two cadets sent to reconnoiter caught up, and also brought back nine cadets who were lucky enough not to be captured, all of whom belonged to the 2nd squad, which was the advance detachment that set off ahead of their companions. According to their descriptions, the artillery fire of the "enemy" flying battleship appeared to be fierce, but in fact it was not very destructive, and the shells were deliberately beckoned to places where no one was around, which was exactly the result of Weiss and Nikolai's observations.

The 1st Squad, which had been strengthened, encountered the "enemy" flying warships conducting aerial reconnaissance and search twice that day, but fortunately they were not many in number, the target was not large, and they had already had the experience of dispersion and concealment, so their whereabouts were not revealed on both occasions.

Before nightfall, Weiss and his fellow students rested for two hours near the edge of the woods, and waited until it was dark before they came out of the woods, carefully crossing an open area more than ten kilometers wide and barely sheltered. They hurried for a moment, not daring to carry it with them, and as soon as they reached the woodland to the west of the open area, a second-class cruiser appeared in the night sky, with its searchlights on, like a giant octopus hunting in the deep sea, with its teeth and claws on its rampage.

The more frequent the appearance of the "enemy" flying ships, the more relaxed Weiss's mentality became, because once there was a danger to Nikolai's life, as long as they made a big noise, they would soon be able to get support from the air......