Early the next morning, Zhao Yi, accompanied by Ma Ping'an, once again drove swiftly along the roads of the Military Region.
Ma Ping'an drove with full concentration, while Zhao Yi sat in the passenger seat, resting with his eyes closed.
The four individuals—Li Daniu, Gao Huowang, Fan Lei, and Qin Fengyun—whom he had brought back from the 369th Regiment yesterday, had already been settled in the dormitories at Xiao Qingshan Training Base.
The supplementary procedures for personnel transfers were handed over to the civilian and logistics staff within the training base.
Today, Zhao Yi's objective was to visit the Fierce Tiger Regiment of the Armored Division to recruit the 'Soldier Kings' from their unit.
Twenty-five minutes later, Zhao Yi and Ma Ping'an arrived at their destination.
"Instructor Zhao, welcome, welcome!"
However, what Zhao Yi hadn't expected was that the Fierce Tiger Regiment seemed to have known he was coming; as soon as he got out of the car, the Commander and the Regiment's staff officers came forward to greet him.
"Commander Li, the purpose of my visit this time is to select a few soldiers from your esteemed regiment to join the Special Forces."
Zhao Yi, accompanied by Ma Ping'an, exchanged a few pleasantries with Commander Li Zhi of the Fierce Tiger Regiment, then got straight to the point.
Upon hearing Zhao Yi's words, Commander Li Zhi's face revealed a knowing smile.
Although Zhao Yi had arrived unannounced, he was well-prepared.
The matter of Zhao Yi getting Zheng Renyi drunk yesterday and taking away several 'Soldier Kings' from the 369th Regiment was no secret; any soldier in the Military Region who paid attention to such matters would know about it with a little inquiry.
For a time, the main leaders of various units were all on edge, talking about Zhao Yi as if he were a plague god, fearing that he would suddenly come and snatch away their own 'Soldier Kings'.
But Li Zhi was not afraid; he had already prepared a comprehensive countermeasure:
"The Special Forces is a key project of our Military Region, and our Fierce Tiger Regiment, both emotionally and rationally, should support and cooperate with your work."
"However, it's truly unfortunate that our Fierce Tiger Regiment's soldiers conducted a surprise training mission last night, and all the soldiers of the regiment are currently not at the base..."
Li Zhi spoke with a sigh, his face full of regret for the bad timing, but in his heart, he was already secretly overjoyed.
This was his, Li Zhi's, protection plan for his regiment's 'Soldier Kings'!
Directly sending the entire regiment out for training!
Surely, you, Zhao Yi, can't make a deployed training unit withdraw entirely just for you, can you?
Li Zhi felt like he was Zhuge Liang reborn, able to come up with such an unassailable strategy.
On the other side, Zhao Yi also understood.
His visit to the 369th Regiment yesterday and taking Li Daniu and others had already alerted them; now, all units in the Military Region, especially those with 'Soldier Kings', were on guard against him.
However, Zhao Yi had to admit that Li Zhi's move was indeed effective.
If the people weren't there, no matter how eloquently he spoke, or even if he got Li Zhi and his group drunk, it would be useless.
"However, Instructor Zhao, since you've already come, why not take the opportunity to tour our Fierce Tiger Regiment? Stay for lunch."
Li Zhi spoke politely, with a smile on his face.
After all, Zhao Yi was a young backbone cadre in charge of the Special Forces for the Military Region; although he couldn't give him the 'Soldier Kings' from his unit, he also didn't want to sour his relationship with Zhao Yi too much.
"Alright, thank you, Commander Li."
Zhao Yi sighed inwardly and nodded in response.
He had already guessed that other units in the Military Region were probably also on guard; even if he and Ma Ping'an immediately drove to the next unit, the other party would likely be as prepared as Li Zhi.
However, Zhao Yi's eyes flickered; he had also thought of a countermeasure in his mind.
Of course, this method would require a bit of time before it could be used.
Before that, Zhao Yi intended to tour the Fierce Tiger Regiment and see the armored units of the 1980s.
Before long, Zhao Yi and Li Zhi chatted along the way and arrived at the Fierce Tiger Regiment's tank depot.
"Instructor Zhao, take a look; these are the treasures of our Fierce Tiger Regiment, the 59-style tanks."
"Later, I'll take you to the vehicle yard to see the 63-style armored vehicles."
Li Zhi proudly introduced them to Zhao Yi.
Zhao Yi looked at the steel behemoths before him, his heart also filled with emotion.
The 59-style tank, even in the current era, was not considered particularly advanced, yet it was being introduced to him like a treasure by Li Zhi, the Commander of this tank regiment.
In this era, although the nation's weaponry had developed for a period, there was still a considerable gap compared to the top level on Blue Star.
The soldiers in the unit also used these less advanced equipment to confront potential enemies.
Even in terms of tactics, due to the backwardness of weapons and equipment, a 'one for many' pre-enactment strategy was formulated:
Once war broke out, they would have to compensate for the backwardness in weapons and equipment with numbers and lives.
Zhao Yi truly wanted to bring future weapons and equipment, drones and robot dogs, to show Li Zhi.
Just as Zhao Yi was feeling emotional, a bald head suddenly emerged from the side of the 59-style tank in front of him.
No, that's not right.
Zhao Yi looked closely and realized that what had emerged was not a bald head, but a soldier with a very neatly shaven flat-top haircut.
"Xu Zhongxin? What are you doing here?"
Seeing the flat-top soldier suddenly pop out, Commander Li Zhi was first stunned, then his expression turned a bit displeased, and he spoke with a mix of reprimand and inquiry.
Zhao Yi, seizing the opportunity, used his Insightful Eyes to check the flat-top soldier's panel:
【Name: Xu Zhongxin】
【Age: 19 years old】
【Virtue: 51】
【Intelligence: 39】
【Physique: 53】
【Beauty: 41】
【Labor: 50】
【Potential: 8.3】
【Talent: One-Track Mind】
【One-Track Mind: As long as it's something Xu Zhongxin is determined to do, he will complete it no matter what obstacles he encounters; it's hard to say whether he is persistent or stubborn; based on this, Xu Zhongxin possesses a slightly stronger willpower than ordinary people.】
"Commander, didn't you ask me to stay at the base to clean?"
"I saw that our tank was a bit dirty, so I thought I'd get some water and wash it."
Xu Zhongxin showed a simple, honest smile, while also displaying the bucket and rag in his hand to Li Zhi, indicating that he was not lying.
"Wash what? Xu Zhongxin! Did I tell you to wash the tank?"
"Don't you know that the tank depot must maintain ventilation and dryness, otherwise the parts will rust?"
Li Zhi frowned and reprimanded.
Although most of the Fierce Tiger Regiment's soldiers had been deployed for training, he had kept a few soldiers to clean.
Of course, those who remained were naturally soldiers with poor training results, what the Military Region usually referred to as 'good-for-nothing soldiers'; Li Zhi didn't think Zhao Yi would take a liking to such soldiers.
And Xu Zhongxin was precisely such a 'good-for-nothing soldier'.
Of course, this didn't mean Xu Zhongxin deliberately didn't serve well; it was just that in his daily training performance, Xu Zhongxin's performance could only be described as clumsy and poor.
"Huh?"
Xu Zhongxin, who was being reprimanded by Li Zhi, was a bit flustered and stood there dumbfounded, not knowing what to do.
Li Zhi took a deep breath; in front of Zhao Yi, he couldn't continue to reprimand Xu Zhongxin, so he just waved his hand:
"Clean this place up later and go back to where you're supposed to be!"
"Yes, Commander!"
After Li Zhi finished speaking, he turned to look at Zhao Yi and found that Zhao Yi was observing Xu Zhongxin, feeling somewhat embarrassed and giving a couple of awkward laughs:
"Instructor Zhao, this is Xu Zhongxin, a soldier from our regiment; I left him and a few others at the regiment headquarters to clean up."
"Who knew he'd take it upon himself to come to the tank depot? It's my fault as the Commander for not educating him well enough usually."